#but like in a “’hey ur old enough can you drive us here cause we dont feel like it lol k thnx’

[itsmebytch001]

How about a yandere Morales family x reader who is friends with miles because they used ti go to school together that is very clearly neglected. Sometimes sleeping on the streets, never home, always eats a lot at their house yet still remains relatively malnourished and Jeffe finally decides after seeing some bruises on the reader to take matters into his own hands and use his position as police captain to “foster”(kidnap) the reader who is very not onboard.

Or if ur not comfortable with that then they genuinely start fostering the reader and they are not having a good time adjusting to present parents that make them eat 3 meals and be home at 9 stuff like that

You and Miles met at around 9 when your family moved to Brooklyn, he got on with you and once he started bringing you home it was instantly obvious to both Rio and Jeff that something was wrong, you were always messy and disheveled, wearing unwashed torn clothing with shoes with the soles beginning to come off You were 9 but could pass for 7 and barley knew how to use cutlery, and once they eventually met your Mom and Dad it became apparent that though they were not malicious of outwardly abusive, they were massively neglectful.

It became routine that you would come over every Friday, shower, and eat dinner, and take food home with you, Rio would hand you 3 tubber wear boxes full of all sorts of her cooking, and sometimes they would even give Miles old clothes. Jeff would always drive you back home since no 9 year old can be expected to trek it form one brough to another, and once he pulled up outside your building he would escort you back to your front door, and with the few gimpses he saw of your home, bugs crawling, a water collapsed ceiling tile, the brow carpet, not brown because it was brown, but the collected filth he knew that this place, and these people were not fit for a child to be raised.

Jeff entered his home, Miles had been put to sleep while Rio sat on the couch with a glass of wine.

Rio: "So how was it?"

Jeff sat down in a huff next to his wife.

Jeff: "That place looks like a trap house Rio, it had black mold" he rubbed his hands over his face.

Rio: "Is it possible you could just...take her?"

Jeff: "No, not yet not with out probable cause"

Rio: "Is a house with black mold and uncaring parents not enough?!"

Jeff: "No, not for awhile"

Rio: "Dios mío, well...the least we can do is keep her clean and fed huh?"

Jeff: "I guess"

Rio: "What about social services?"

Jeff: "That'll just mean to lose her to the system, we won't be able to keep an eye on her"

Rio: "Oh...I'll give Miles some extra lunches to pass on to her come Monday" She said gulping down a swig of red.

Jeff: "Good idea"

And it was because of their efforts to keep you fed that you finally grew, now you actually looked your age, and needless to say The Morales had brought you into their family not as a guest, but as a member. And for your 11th birthday since by this point you had turned up to school with solles shoes Rio brought you new trainers, while Jeff brought you a selection of new tops.

Of course you being uncustomed to such kindness you responded oddly.

Rio: "Happy birthday baby" She handed you a box, and once you opened it it revealed new shoes!

Y/n: "...are these for me?"

Jeff: "Of course there for you Y/n, it's your birthday!"

Y/n: "I'm not sure if I should take these, I'm very grateful I'm just not sure what my Mom will say"

Rio: "What do you mean?"

Of course you parents had noticed you putting on weight, coming home in new clothing and initally they were grateful to Rio and Jeff for helping out, but it felt more and more like they were taking you away, or like they were trying to replace them.

Miles had also reported you coming to school less at less by the time you were 12, your attendance got so out of hand that eventually Jeff came to do a house visit, he knocked on the door, Your Mom came to the door.

Jeff: "Hey Diana, uh I'm here to do a wellness check on your Y/n"

Diana: "Oh, Jefferson sure, I guess"

Jeff: "Can I come in?"

Diana: "Sure" And so your Mom escorted Jeff back to through your home, when you finally saw the extent of the condtions you were living in, and it was terrible. Opening the door to your room Jeff could see your mattress was on the floor with no sheet, all your clothing lived in pile since there was no wardrobe and you sat on the floor drawing in just a massive t shirt.

Diana: "See, she's well isn't she?" She sassed at him, all Jeff wanted in this moment was to snatch you up take you home and get you cleaned, and in some clothing that actually fit so you didn't look like just a head floating in fabric, but of course being a police capiatin made that legally impossible.

Y/n: "Oh, Hey Mr Morales"

Jeff: "Hey Y/n"

Y/n: "What are you doing here?"

Jeff: "just a wellness check"

Diana: "Your well aren't you Y/n?" She's not asking you, she's telling you.

Y/n: "...Yeah I'm fine"

Diana: "We good officer?"

To be honest, if he were social services he could take you but he simply did not have the authority, Jeff was hushed back into the hallway by Diana.

Jeff: "Diana, Y/n's been out of school for 2 weeks now, why hasn't she been in school?"

Diana: "She's been sick"

Jeff: "Well she looks fine"

Diana: "Then why are you here doing a wellness check?"

Jeff: "Ugh, Diana, If Y/n dosen't turn up to another day of school, I'll get CPS you under stand?"

Diana: "are you threating me?"

Jeff: "No, I'm doing my job" he said waving you goodbye as he exited the house.

Jeff and Rio sat with their son at the dinner table, Rio and Jeff had been cracking a plan to file for emergency custody of you for awhile now, but since you aren't blood they knew it wouldn't be easy, but they also thought it would be good as ask Miles what he thought about the idea of taking you in full time.

Rio: "hijo, what would you think about Y/n moving in with us?"

Jeff:" Full time"

Miles: "Like, forever?"

Jeff: "Yeah..."

Miles: "Is that possible?"

Rio: "It might be"

Miles: "I'd like that"

And so with Miles on board Rio and Jeff started the paper work process to file for emergency custody, and with the helps of CPS they finally had a case, but it wasn't enough, they needed proof of abuse not just neglect, and so they waited, 2 whole years for such proof to emerge.

You had come over on anther Friday for dinner as you often did and had been doing for the past 5 years now, but something was deeply off, you were quite, timid and apprehensive to speak, but the thing that really worried Rio was all the concealer you were wearing on your left eye, honestly it was strange that Jeff didn't notice since the makeup wasn't yours, it was yours Mom's the shade wasn't quite right and drew more attention to your eye, and what was underneath it.

She didn't want to adress it in front of everyone so she waited until later in the evening to confront you about it, while you wear in the bathroom, getting ready for your shower she knocked on the door, before you took off anything of course.

Rio: "Y/n...Can we talk for a sec?"

Y/n: "Uhh yeah I guess" You opened the door to her as she closed the door behind her.

Rio: "Baby, I can see your wearing a lot of makeup, especially round your eye, and I just wanted to check if everything was okay?"

Y/n: "Yeah Yeah...I was just trying to do come conclear"

Rio: "Uh huh...well, could you take it off for me please?"

Y/n: "...no"

Rio: "And why not"

Y/n: "I...I just want to shower Mrs Morales"

Rio: "Y/n we've been over this, You call me Tita, and really why won't you take off all that makeup?"

Y/n: "Tita...please I don't want to talk about it"

Rio:" So something is wrong, huh?"

Y/n: "...I don't want to talk about it"

Rio: "I don't care, your staying at my home I want to see whatever your hiding" she said sternly, handing you a makeup wipe.

And so you compiled begging to rub off all the makeup you had spent about half a hour applying, despite anticipating what she would see it still hurt her to see you with a black eye.

Rio: "Oh...Oh Y/n My poor baby"

Y/n: "Can...Can you please not tell Jeff"

Rio understood why, but this was the proof of abuse they needed.

Rio: "Was it your Mom?"

Y/n: "Yeah...but please don't tell Jeff"

Rio: "This is an assault, you need to tell Jeff he can help you"

Y/n: "I really don't want her arrested"

Rio: "I know... but if she's hitting you it's clearly worse than we thought"

Needless to say it wasn't a pleasant experiecne having to show your bruised face to Jefferson and Miles, though he obivoulsy wasn't happy that you were attacked but this was the proof they needed to push for custody, now all they needed was to report it and make a record of the incident, but it was so obvious you were tired and due to the circumstances, Jeff firmly belived the courts wouldn't to too upest if they kept you just one night.

Jeff: "Y/n...We think its best if you stay with us for awhile"

Y/n: "Like...this weekend?"

Jeff: "Well, maybe a little while longer"

Y/n: "But my Mo-"

Jeff: "If your Mom is hitting, I can't just let you go back"

Y/n: "But what about my stuff?"

Jeff: "I can drive over tmorrow and pick you up whatever you need"

Y/n: "I can't...I can't just leave what if she-"

Jeff placed a hand on your shoulder.

Jeff: "Y/n, we will take care of it, you understand?"

Y/n: "...okay"

Rio: "I'll pull out the couch for you M'kay? I'll lend you a pair of my PJ's"

Y/n: "Okay, yeah please""

It was all so fast, you didn't realise in agreeing to stay the weekend in their minds you were agreeing to being their daughter...

To be continued...

Feel Free to give me Dad! Aaron or Morales Family suggestions!

[likearecordbb]

about your post on the recent discourse...

it's honestly so confusing to me because like,, you say that ppl pointing out how members of this fandom will make neil very stereotypically 'feminine' is reinforcing the idea of 'masculinity' as one thing and 'femininity' as another.... and i get that we should get rid of these labels. but at the same time... the content itself that ppl are criticising (the ones that 'feminize' neil) are already doing just that. that's why they're criticising it.

i can't point out how ppl are reinforcing the idea that a relationship should have a 'man' and a 'woman', without... saying that that's what they're doing. the writer themselves already sees relationships this way and 'masculinity' and 'femininity' as two different distinct things. that's exactly *why* they're writing neil this way while keeping andrew close to canon.

there's nothing wrong with neil being stereotypically 'feminine' of course. but to act like it's somehow misogynistic for me to go to these ppl and be like 'hey, u shouldn't view mlm relationships through the lens of a hetero one! it can be very harmful' is weird to me... *especially* considering these stereotypes that ppl are pushing onto neil come from misogyny themselves. (ppl making neil much much more emotional than he is in canon while keeping andrew very stoic)

idk, like... ur simultaneously saying that we shouldn't view relationships as needing a 'man' and a 'woman'... while defending people who are doing just that and creating content which reinforces just that.

it's one thing to say 'we shouldn't view masculinity and femininity as two distinct and different things!'/'we should get rid of these labels all together cause they're meaningless'... but if i look at the content that u make/consume and it's practically, if not entirely, all andreil conforming to heternormative stereotypes... then i can't help but feel like ur not as detached from the idea of 'masculinity' and 'femininity' as u would like to believe... i trust the ppl who say these ideas are meaningless while not changing the canon characters because they seem to be sticking to their words.

people will just say that they prefer writing andreil is this heternormative way... they'll just say it what they like or what they're most comfortable writing without ever questioning *why* they prefer it this way.

and if they're projecting.. well then, *why* this couple? why pick an mlm couple to project what is often the experience of a cis woman in a relationship? why pick this mlm couple when there are others that do fit the stereotypical heternormative dynamic? idk. like,, u can do this ofc, but ppl can also call u out on ur shit.

there's an undeniable reason that neil is exclusively the one that ppl pick to make more stereotypically 'feminine'. and there's a reason this type of content is also so popular. and it's certainly not wrong to point this out.

You know, I can see all of these points that you're making. For me, the overall issue of this is very complicated. I am also super uncomfortable with the imposition of heteronormative roles onto...well, onto any relationship, regardless of the identities of the people who constitute it. I was raised smack dab in the middle of the gay community by lesbian moms (together 38 years now, jfc, can you imagine??), so that "man/woman" thing was never something that I grew up internalizing or normalizing. I can recognize that this may give me a bit too much of a sense of objectivity.

However, I'm also like...I've been ruined by grad school. The "feminizing" word makes me really uncomfortable because it starts to stray for me into gender essentialism territory. It also seems to foundationally differentiate between "masculine" behaviors and "feminine" behaviors and I just really hate that? Lesbian moms, trans daughter, bi (and late-in-life trying to see where on the ace spectrum I might fall) self, I've just met so many people with so many expressions of gender and sexuality and I just... Idk, I automatically resist anything that feels like it's upholding "masculinity" and "femininity" as real (as in, not constructed) things. And then I also am like, well, I've known SO MANY gay men who behaved in the ways that the discourse constructs as "feminized" and then I start to feel like, what about these men? Are they less 'men' because of it? How would it feel for that man to read these things saying his identity expression was a problem or a bad stereotype? Do I read *Neil Josten* within that context... no, not really. I think Neil has a 'not enough emotional expression' problem way before he has a 'too much emotional expression' problem.

I'll say here what I often say to my students in complex discussions: I don't have answers. I don't think I'm right and anyone else is wrong. I just have complicated thoughts and feelings and concerns about some of the things that sometimes seem to be left uninterrogated.

So, I do 100% get the need to be vigilant about the imposition of a "man" (dominant, emotionally constipated, sexually driven, stoic) role and "woman" (emotional, needy, teary, dependent) role onto relationships with two (or more!) men or women. I would also argue that we need to get rid of that idea in hetero relationships, too, because it's super damaging. I just wish we could find a way to talk about that that didn't feel like it was accepting this idea of femininity as a given? And I definitely agree that it's problematic when the 'bottom' in a relationship is depicted as the one who's soft and silly and weepy. (Have you read TJ Klune's Tales from Verania series? A VERY fun world that does that not at all and it's great). I'm not saying these things are not worth confronting--I'm just really uncomfortable with the way the conversations are often framed around a concept of femininity/feminizing. It feels like shrapnel, I guess? Like, 'ugh stop feminizing Neil he's not weepy and uwu he's a badass' feels inherently to me like it's making femininity and badassery mutually exclusive? Maybe I'm just looking for a caveat or footnote in the argument that acknowledges that that is constructed *for women too*? And is a part of, like, a larger heteronormative patriarchal structure? And not something that we can just all obviously agree is the way the ladies (should?) behave?

One other question I've been dying to ask, though, is: where are these fics? I don't think I've ever read something where Neil is crying over Jack being mean to him or anything. Maybe if I start to see hints of that characterization, I just close the tab and never end up getting to the 'worst' of it?

Although, if what you said earlier about the "content that u make/consume and it's practically, if not entirely, all andreil conforming to heternormative stereotypes..." was referring to me, then... idk what to say to that. I don't think that's what I do. The heteronormative relationship that you're describing isn't one that I enjoy, desire for myself (or anyone else), or have any interest in reproducing.

Does this clarify what I'm trying to say? I guess it's a really long way of saying, in the old insufferable grad school tradition: well, first we have to define our terms. Because I'm not sure we're all coming up with the same thing when we use the word "feminizing" and that probably has a lot to do with why we keep having this exact same conversation over and over and over again.

If I missed any specific point you'd like to pick at in more detail, please let me know--my very sad platonic life partner (who had to put her beloved 15-year-old poodle to sleep yesterday) and her mom are waiting for me to drive them to the stores for a distraction, so I'm feeling a little time pressure.

[georgescatcafe]

heaven can wait (we’re only watching the skies)

rating: t warning/s: slight internalized homophobia pairing/s: dreamnap genres/tags: high school au, friends to lovers word count: 6,639 summary: Dream was initially going to go to prom with him. Not, like, as a date, but… as a friend. Just two guys hanging out together. They’d go together and hang out and make fun of the people there, maybe, and they’d eat food that neither of them trusted to be good and they’d see if the punch was spiked and they’d have fun. Together.

And then Sapnap had checked the school website to find the rules changed. Only students from their school allowed, no exceptions. And Dream was homeschooled in a program completely separate to the school.

It sucked.

And now here Sapnap is, emptily drinking soda and watching a basketball game featuring teams he honestly doesn’t even care about. And thinking about Dream.

+ao3

;;

“Dude,” Sapnap says into the phone, staring blankly at the school’s website, “I have, like, zero interest in prom now that you can’t come. That rule is so stupid.”

“It is, but you’re not sneaking me in and getting suspended,” Dream replies.

“That’s only if I get caught,” Sapnap argues, “which I won’t.”

“Don’t even risk it.” Dream sighs, and Sapnap lets out one of his own in agreement. “Just go, and think about what we can do the next day—ice cream, maybe a drive to the beach, hey! Monday is Skip Day, right? Let’s stay the night at the beach. That’s awesome, right? Prom and then all that?”

“Prom without you, though?” Sapnap isn’t convinced.

He can see Dream’s frown crystal clear in his mind. “Don’t throw away unforgettable experiences just because of me. Besides, aren’t some of your friends going?”

“Our friends,” Sapnap corrects, even though that’s not entirely true. In freshman year, before, they were always more Sapnap’s friends than Dream’s, and even then, there weren’t that many in their group—just Sapnap, Dream, a guy from chess club, and two guys from the egamer group that met once every too many months.

Dream lets out a breath. “Our friends,” he agrees, nonetheless. “So isn’t that enough?”

“It’s just not right,” Sapnap says. “You belong in my unforgettable experiences, Dream.”

“Don’t go waxing poetic on me, Pandas,” Dream scolds, though it’s hard to take him seriously with both the nickname and the fondness creeping into his voice. 

“I’ll do it,” Sapnap repeats, “sneak you in. I’ll do it and I’ll get away with it and it’ll be fun. For both of us.”

“Sapnap,” Dream tries one last time, and he sounds so tired, so utterly exhausted, that Sapnap cuts him off.

“Fine,” he says, “you win. You’re not going, and I’m going without,” Sapnap swallows, “without you.”

;;

Come the final day to buy tickets, however, and Sapnap is still without one for himself, and without a suit, and without a date, and without a plan on getting to prom. He eyes the ticket booth warily, knowing if he chooses not to buy one today, it’s over for him.

Janson, one of the guys from the egamer group, takes a seat at the lunch table next to him. “Are you going?”

Sapnap stares at the booth for another second before shrugging. “Not really my scene.”

“Your scene?”

“Loud,” Sapnap replies, poking halfheartedly at his soggy rice, switching to the fruit drowning in juice. “Lots of people. I don’t really care.”

“Is it ‘cause you don’t have a date?” Janson asks. “Because yeah, that sucks, but no one actually cares, dude.”

Sapnap glances over at him for a second before shrugging once more and finally taking a bite of his weird blueberry mush. “I know. It’s not ‘cause of that. I just don’t really want to go.”

Janson studies him before nodding and stirring his own blueberry mush around with a spoon. “Suit yourself. We’ll miss you, though.”

At that, Sapnap laughs. “You don’t have to lie for me. But thanks, man.”

Janson gives him an easy smile. “Any time.”

;;

The hardest part is telling Dream.

But Sapnap wasn’t lying when he told Janson prom isn’t his scene. It is a lot—lots of people, lots of noise, lots going on in general. He doesn’t care about nor want that. He’d rather take a quiet night at home watching basketball with his dad on the couch over getting knocked between sweaty girls and guys while bass shakes the floor beneath him. Maybe, if he doesn’t make him too angry, Sapnap can even convince Dream to come over before their scheduled meeting the next day.

He can only hope Dream understands as he types this all out in a late night Discord message explaining what happened. And then he tries to throw himself into a game of CSGO, and when that doesn’t work, a game of League. When that doesn’t work either, he just rises out of his chair and flops pathetically onto his bed, closing his eyes and praying for sleep to come fast.

When he wakes up, it’s to six new messages from Dream—a rare sight—and two missed calls. Sapnap stares at the notifications until his eyes sting.

Dream: i mean, it’s ur choice, but i rly don’t want u to regret this sap

He won’t. 

Dream: and as it turns out, my older sister has something going on this weekend, so we can’t meet up either :( sorry :(

That’s… okay. It’s fine. Sapnap gets it. Just a weekend for himself, then.

Dream: are u sure u don’t want to go? r u sure u’re sure?

Dream: i sound naggy ik i just don’t want u missing out on these things

Dream: ok?

Dream: sap?

Sapnap types his response—he won’t regret it, sucks about this weekend but it’s fine, Dream’s not being naggy, really, and sorry, he was asleep—then hits send and tries not to feel too bad about everything.

Unsurprisingly, “everything” doesn’t include the prom itself. Sapnap really couldn’t care less about the actual prom.

;;

The rest of the week passes by quickly, and before Sapnap knows it, it’s prom night, and he’s sitting on the couch next to his dad, basketball game on the TV and soda can in his hand. And then it’s time for prom to start, and the ball is tossed into the air. Briefly, Sapnap wonders if Janson scored a date—though he consoled Sapnap over his lack of one, he never talked about his own. 

Sapnap wonders what Dream is doing, why they didn’t decide to simply meet up tonight. Maybe he was sleeping? Playing Minecraft? Maybe he was thinking about Sapnap?

Maybe he was thinking about Sapnap.

Sapnap blinks, and the score changes from 12-8 to 12-11. From the other side of the couch, his dad leans closer to the TV. Sapnap sends a glance back to the kitchen, wondering if they still have those chips he likes. His dad crunches on cheddar Ruffles. 

Dream was initially going to go to prom with him. Not, like, as a date—not like that. That’s weird, but… as a friend. Just two guys hanging out together. Maybe they’d match, probably not, but they’d go together and hang out and make fun of the people there, maybe, and they’d eat food that neither of them trusted to be good and they’d see if the punch was spiked and they’d have fun. Together. 

And then Sapnap had checked the school website to find the rules changed. Only students from their school allowed, no exceptions. And Dream was homeschooled in a program completely separate to the school.

It sucked.

And now here Sapnap is, emptily drinking soda and watching a basketball game featuring teams he honestly doesn’t even care about. And thinking about Dream. 

Sapnap downs the rest of his soda. “I think I’m going to go play some League.” He stands and crushes his can in his hand.

His dad doesn’t look away from the TV. “Don’t stay up too late.”

“I won’t,” Sapnap says, but he doesn’t even know if his dad’s heard, since he’s already back in his room, door slammed shut behind him, can tossed into the trash and chair creaking as he falls into it.

Despite his dad’s words, Sapnap games late into the night, and when he wakes, his head hurts from the way he’s had it pressed to the desk, asleep for however many hours. He shakes his computer mouse till the monitor comes on and he stares at it blearily as he realizes he managed to close out of his games before falling asleep. His Discord is empty, no new messages, no missed calls, and he sighs before sending a message to Dream.

Long day?

He closes out of the app before spinning around and heading out of his room to scrounge for breakfast. His dad isn’t in the living room, though the bag of Ruffles he’d been eating from sits there on the coffee table, empty, and the remote still rests on the arm of the couch. Sapnap can only assume he headed to bed after the game ended.

Once in the kitchen, he searches through the fridge before deciding to just eat a bowl or two of cereal. Part of him is still into the fanfare of prom, and he’s filled with a quiet shock at how mundane Sunday morning feels, in comparison to what was likely a crazy night for a bunch of seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds. Sapnap bites back a derisive snort. Last night was so crazy for him. Totally.

But it was his choice, and he doesn’t regret it. 

Now if he had gone, he’d regret that he’d gone without doing everything he could to get Dream there. And that’s a regret he just couldn’t live with. 

Sapnap sets his now empty bowl in the sink.

Skipping prom? Yeah, he doesn’t regret it.

;;

Come two weeks later, and Dream is sitting next to him on a park bench telling him about a different prom, one they can go to together, one without rules, without limitations.

Sapnap doesn’t even need to hear the rest of it before he’s agreeing, throwing an arm around Dream’s shoulders and talking quickly about how great the night will be. 

“It’s actually themed,” Dream finally interrupts him, holding a hand up and stopping Sapnap mid-daydream.

“Oh?”

Dream nods. “Decades. Got any ideas?”

He doesn’t. When he tells Dream as much, Dream sighs, staring out at the empty swingswet, the swings swaying slightly in the summer breeze. Sapnap sighs too, though he watches his friend, not the playground. “We could do, like, Dad Rock. Seventies, y’know?”

At that, Dream laughs, full and loud, and Sapnap smiles by reflex. Dream rests his chin in his palms, elbows digging into the tops of his thighs. “Remember when we read The Outsiders in eighth grade? What were they called? We could be those.”

“Oh,” Sapnap bites back a snort, “uh, greasies? No,” he and Dream speak at the same time, “greasers!” The laugh he’d been keeping down finally breaks free, spilling past his lips as Dream grins. “We could be those. We’re hot.”

“So hot,” Dream agrees, though he’s still giggling slightly, turning away from Sapnap so the other can’t see his smile, but his shaking shoulders give away his amusement.

Sapnap grins, bright, happy. “When is it again?” he asks.

Dream leans back, head tilting back so he can stare up at the clear blue sky. “A month from now. June 7th. Think you can go?”

“Uh, yeah,” Sapnap says, like it’s obvious. (Because it is obvious. Even if he couldn’t, he’d find a way to go. He’s just that loyal. To Dream, specifically, but that’s not important.) He clears his throat at his own thoughts. “I definitely can go.”

Dream looks to him, then, small smile on his face. “Awesome.”

Sapnap smiles back. Awesome.

;;

May trudges on like its stuck in the mud, Sapnap counting down the days until this rule-less prom. Dream was pretty sparing with the details, only saying it’s date and theme, and Sapnap can’t help but itch with the need to know everything. When he questions Dream for more info, however, the other shrugs him off, turning the tables and asking him if he’s settled on a decade yet.

“I thought we were choosing together,” Sapnap tells him over a Discord call one night, prom finally only a week away.

“So nothing?” Dream asks. “Let’s meet up tomorrow; we’ll figure it out then.”

It’s a plan, and come eleven in the morning, he and Dream are meeting outside of the city’s mall. “This feels kind of stupid,” Sapnap admits when they go through the sliding doors leading to Macy’s mens’ department. “Like, wow, we’re really putting effort into it.”

“Says you when there’s only a week left,” Dream replies. “Putting effort into it means having had our costumes in our closets since the day I told you about it.”

“True,” Sapnap replies, picking up a paisley tie from the clearance table. “What is this?”

Dream takes it from him, setting it back down. “Something we definitely don’t want.”

“Yeah,” Sapnap keeps his eyes on it as they walk away, “no shit.”

They don’t buy anything from Macy’s mens’ department. For an hour they wander aimlessly up and down the mall, more time spent talking rather than looking. It’s only until Sapnap’s stomach rumbles that the two of them realize they’ve gotten nothing done. Their feet finally take them to the food court.

“Shopping for a prom outfit is hard,” Sapnap says into his fries, while Dream nods in agreement shoving a chicken nugget into his mouth and staring down at a greasy spot on the table. “I mean, my feet hurt, and we haven’t even bought a t-shirt or something.”

“We haven’t even gone inside a store,” Dream replies.

Sapnap groans, shoving a fry in his mouth. “This is so stupid.”

They walk the mall again, this time going into various stores, pointing out ridiculous gag gifts and Sapnap picking up more hideous ties. Finally, Dream grabs a leather jacket off the Dillard’s clearance rack and tugs it on over his shoulders. It’s military-style, almost, the shoulders strong, and when Dream turns, it stretches broad across his back before tapering off at his waist. Sapnap swallows. It fits Dream well.

When Dream turns back around, Sapnap’s eyes shoot back up to his face, and he hopes his face isn’t as red as it is hot. He grabs the jacket next to it, also a large luckily, and puts it on. Dream gives him a thumbs up when he turns around to show it off.

“Looks good,” Dream says, and his cheeks aren’t red, and Sapnap isn’t disappointed about that.

They buy the jackets, think about what shoes they own, then buy some cheapy black shades.

“I don’t know if I can do my hair like they did,” Sapnap tells Dream when they go back through Macy’s and pass some grooming kits, jars of pomade on the shelf next to them.

“I might be able to,” Dream says, studying his reflection in the mirror on the post next to the grooming kits. He’s always kept his hair cropped pretty close, but Sapnap knows it’s been awhile since he’s gotten it cut, bangs starting to grow in the front, actually almost reaching his brows. Sapnap thinks it suits Dream, but he sees the way Dream always tries to push his hair back, though it always flops back into place.

“Maybe,” Sapnap agrees. “I think the glasses and jacket should be enough if you can’t though, right?”

Dream glances at the jars of pomade before nodding. “Right.”

;;

Dream and him got their licenses at sixteen, but Dream says he can pick Sapnap up Saturday, “don’t worry about gas money.”

“Are you sure?” Sapnap asks Saturday morning, both about the picking-up and the gas money.

“I’m sure,” Dream replies. “Just be out in front of your house before six, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Sapnap says. “You don’t think our parents want any pictures, would they?”

“Of course not,” Dream answers. “Your dad taking pictures of the two of us?”

“My stepmom maybe,” Sapnap laughs, but she left the house that morning, heading to the city to do her own business. She’s not going to get any pictures of them.

Dream laughs too before he finally says, “See you later then,” and Sapnap is left rushing to get dressed.

He feels giddy, almost, heart racing and stomach turning over itself. His hair has grown out much like Dream’s has over the school year, him never bothering to get it cut or trimmed, and he gives up on the pompadour when it comes out a wet looking lump on the top of his head, strings of hair falling in his face. He sighs and rinses out the product in the sink, leaving it to air dry and drip droplets onto his white t-shirt. By 5:45pm, he’s sweating, face flushed and chest tight, stomach still doing flips, and he ties his mostly dry hair back into a low ponytail, hoping it’s not too off-brand. Finally, he pulls on his jacket, though it feels restrictive and hot with the summer air and his nerves, and he has to stare at himself in the mirror for the next ten minutes repeating to himself that it’s just Dream and that it’s not romantic and that he’s acting like a freak, stupid and quite possibly into his best friend. (But he’s not.)

Then he marches himself out to his curb and sits.

Dream pulls up a couple minutes after six, his hair actually done Greaser-style, and damn it, he looks good.

(Sapnap can think that. He’s not blind. Anyone could see that his best friend is attractive. It’s just a general thing. Not a thing.)

When he gets into the passenger seat, Dream grins at him from behind matching dark sunglasses. “Looking good.”

“We look hot, man,” Sapnap says, a lot more casual than he feels.

The grin doesn’t leave Dream’s face as he puts the car in drive and takes off down the road.

Sapnap honestly doesn’t know where his nerves have come from—how is this prom any different from the school one, like, actually? How is Dream and him going to this one any different from them going to the high school’s? They won’t know anyone at this one, he’s pretty sure, but who cares? Isn’t that better for them? He glances over at Dream, who’s got his wrists crossed over the steering wheel as they speed down the highway to their destination.

It’s just Dream. Sapnap is just excited. It’s normal. It’s Dream.

He lets himself relax.

;;

“What the fuck?” Sapnap whispers to Dream when two girls pass by them looking straight out of some period piece. “I thought you said this was decades themed?”

Dream looks just as perturbed, brows furrowed as a girl and a guy dressed like pirates enter after the Victorian girls. “Guess they meant all decades,” he replies.

Sapnap stares at him before they reach the check-in counter where a woman with her face painted like a member of KISS checks their ages and directs them to the room where the prom’s held.

Madonna plays loud over the speakers, and Sapnap eyes a kid who spins his hands around his face while a small group of onlookers watch in awe. He glances over at Dream, who continues to face forward, leading him over to an empty table, undisturbed. When they sit down, Sapnap turns to the dance floor, where the Victorian girls are, twirling and laughing, and where a boy looking straight out of the 80s sways with another who wears a hat like Jamie from Mythbusters and suspenders attached to plaid, fitted pants. Sapnap watches them for another second before turning stiffly to Dream.

“Where are we?” he asks carefully.

“Sapnap,” Dream starts, but a look from Sapnap has his mouth shutting fast. He stares right back before sighing, leaning back in his chair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—I mean, I knew, but I didn’t think it’d—look, we can leave. It’s fine.”

“Well,” Sapnap huffs, dropping his gaze to his lap, where his fingers grip the denim of his jeans tightly, knuckles turning white, “it’s not fine, but—I don’t really want to leave. I like—I wanted to go to prom with you.”

A laugh, and Sapnap looks over quickly to see the 80s boy tugging the Mythbusters hat’s jacket over his shoulders. Sapnap thinks he might be sick.

“Not like that,” he adds.

“Right,” Dream says.

The booming of the bass rattles Sapnap to his core, along with the table. Even the hand Dream has placed on it doesn’t stop it from shaking. Sapnap wonders what would happen if he were to take Dream’s hand. Dream pulls it back and drops it into his lap. Sapnap tightens his hold on his jeans.

“I am sorry,” Dream tells him. “But I didn’t really think you’d mind. We’re friends, Sapnap. Why does where we are have to change that?”

“It doesn’t,” Sapnap replies, but people can misunderstand. People will misunderstand. He tells Dream as much.

Dream frowns, leans forward. Sapnap doesn’t meet his gaze. “Sapnap,” Dream says, “why would they misunderstand?”

Because they match. Because, under the table, their feet knock against each other. Because when Sapnap looks at Dream, the rest of the world disappears, and he’s certain the rest of the world knows it.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sapnap mutters. “They just would.”

Dream says something. It’s lost to the sound of Rihanna, declaring that a bitch better have her money. Sapnap’s foot taps quickly against the floor, and this time, when it brushes up against Dream’s, he readjusts, feet no longer under the table. Dream sighs, resting his chin on his palm. 

Finally, he looks to Sapnap again. “Does it bother you that much?”

“Does what bother me?”

Dream stares at him for a second before looking out at the dance floor. “Them misunderstanding?”

“Doesn’t it bother you?” Sapnap asks.

Dream is silent for so long after that Sapnap almost forgets he’s waiting for a response. “No,” Dream says at last. “It doesn’t.”

Sapnap doesn’t know how to reply to that.

They just sit there after that, watching the crowd wax and wane, change based on the song playing. Dream pushes himself up out of his chair when a familiar number starts. He holds out a hand. “Come on.”

Sapnap stares at the hand. “Dude, he says, “what.”

“Dance,” Dream replies. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“What the fuck?” Sapnap lets out a laugh, glancing over at Mythbusters hat and 80s boy. They’re laughing over something on 80s boy’s phone, foreheads resting close together, cheeks flushed pink in the dim light that hangs over their table. He looks back at Dream. “No way.”

“It’s ‘Come on Eileen,’” Dream says, but Sapnap is resolute, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. They hold a short staring contest before Dream sighs, looking away. Sapnap doesn’t even have the chance to puff up at his W before Dream is reaching forward and taking him by the arm, pulling him out of his seat and to the dance floor.

“Dream!” Sapnap argues, trying to pull away, but Dream’s hold on him is lethal and Sapnap is unwillingly pulled into the circle that’s formed, one arm tugged behind Dream’s back by Dream’s free hand, and the other tossed over a girl’s shoulder. She gives him a bright smile before the circle begins to move, slowly, ever so slowly, then quicker.

It’s like a treadmill, Sapnap thinks, watching his feet and making sure not to step on the girl’s sparkly slippers. Her laugh is loud even with the music blasting and Sapnap starts to gain some of her enthusiasm as the chorus hits. And then a laugh comes from behind him, and he can’t help but look over his shoulder. 

Dream is already grinning at him. Sapnap couldn’t stop himself from grinning back even if he tried. The circle speeds up, and soon Dream is a constant cackle in his ear, Sapnap joining in as the group turns this way and that, before they all jump to a stop and kick a foot in the center.

Sapnap is awkward, slightly off-balance the way he holds on to Dream’s back and leans towards the girl, her shorter than him. He’s running out of breath quick too, kicking quicker and quicker before they’re spinning again and again, all smiling, all laughing, some singing, some panting, and Dream brings their heads closer together as they share one more laugh before the song is fading out, and then it’s just them alone, the others retreating back to their seats or to their own friend groups, just Dream and Sapnap breathing in each other’s exhales.

“That was fun,” Sapnap admits, and Dream nods, arm still around Sapnap’s shoulders, his other one eventually coming up to join it. Sapnap still has an arm around Dream, though it’s slipped so his hand rests at the small of Dream’s back. He swallows.

Dream notices his discomfort, and the smile falls from his face. “Sapnap,” he says.

Sapnap shakes his head. “It’s fine.” His fingers curl into the soft leather of Dream’s jacket. “They can misunderstand.”

I want them to misunderstand.

Sapnap looks up at the same time Dream lets go. “What?” he asks. Dream starts to take a step back, but Sapnap doesn’t let go. “No, you don’t get to—Dream, what did you say?”

“I—,” Dream’s eyes are wide, startled, scared, and Sapnap can’t help but think this isn’t fair. He stares Dream down, and eventually, Dream stares back. When he speaks, he can barely be heard over the music, even with the minimal distance between them. “I want them to misunderstand.”

It’s like he took the words straight from Sapnap’s brain, putting them out there for everyone to hear. Sapnap feels sick, and the feeling only grows when his head falls forward to rest on Dream’s chest. “What the fuck,” he says.

“Sorry,” Dream apologizes above him.

“What—no,” Sapnap’s face screws up, even though Dream can’t see, “you don’t get to apologize, dude. What the hell.” Sapnap feels a weight then on his back, hesitant then heavier. Dream’s hands. He closes his eyes. “What the hell,” he repeats.

“Let’s go back to our table,” Dream says. Sapnap nods, standing up straight, but Dream just pulls him into his side then, and Sapnap thinks about resisting, thinks about getting mad, maybe even leaving (but without a car, without Dream, where would he go?), but in the end, he just lets himself fall more into Dream, the other bearing his weight easily, leading them over to the table they had left.

When they sit, Dream stares down at his hands. Sapnap stares at him. “How long have you known?” he asks.

“About what?” Dream replies.

Sapnap shrugs.

Dream studies him for a second before looking back at his hands. “About myself, since maybe always. About you…?” He smiles then, bitter. “Maybe just as long.”

Sapnap sucks in a breath.

Dream looks over. “What about you?”

“I don’t know,” he answers. “I think—I think I didn’t want to know.”

Dream snorts derisively. “With your dad, I wouldn’t want to know either.”

That gets a laugh out of Sapnap, but it’s dry, empty. “Hey,” he defends his dad halfheartedly, “my dad isn’t that bad.”

The bitter smile on Dream’s lips twists into downright acidic.

Sapnap sighs. “I’m glad it’s you.”

Dream looks at him. Sapnap stares back.

“You’re my best friend,” he tells him. “I can tell you anything.”

“Me too,” Dream replies. “I’m glad it’s you too.” And then he frowns, looking out over the crowd. “But I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”

Sapnap is too, but he doesn’t tell the other that. Instead, he shrugs. “Could be worse,” he says. “I could hate you right now. But I don’t. I think I feel about you how you feel about me.” The last sentence is hard to get out, like bile in his throat. He hopes Dream doesn’t realize that.

When Dream smiles at him, then, he guesses he doesn’t. “I,” Dream looks back down at his hands, “like you, Sapnap.”

And that’s the truth, isn’t it? Dream likes Sapnap, and Sapnap likes Dream. Now Sapnap just needs to figure out what to do with that.

“I like you too,” he says, and Dream turns to him, eyes wide, as if they hadn’t established this already—maybe, for Dream, they hadn’t, “but I don’t know—I don’t know if this is good for us, Dream.”

“We’re best friends,” Dream starts to respond, but Sapnap cuts him off.

“Exactly.” He pulls his jacket tighter. “I don’t want to lose that.”

“We don’t have to,” Dream replies. “Why can’t we be both?”

“Why isn’t what we are already enough?” Sapnap argues. “I can’t afford to lose you, Dream. You’re my favorite person.”

“You wouldn’t lose me,” Dream denies. “You’re the one that was willing to cut me from your life for losing.”

“We were ten,” Sapnap scowls. “That’s not the same.”

Dream doesn’t reply. He knows it’s not.

The upbeat ABBA song playing does not match the mood that’s settled over their table. Sapnap drags his shoe along the floor. Dream drums his fingers against the table.

“Should we have not said anything then?” Dream asks. “Do we act like this never happened? Because I don’t know if I can do that.”

Sapnap doesn’t think he can either. Nonetheless, he shrugs.

Dream huffs. “Look,” he says, “you’re my best friend. I like you. If we stay friends, I’ll still like you. If we become more,” he swallows, squaring his shoulders, “and that doesn’t work, we’ll still be friends in the end. Okay?”

Sapnap doesn’t entirely believe him, but when he meets Dream’s gaze, Dream looks so determined, so resolute, that Sapnap finds himself echoing an okay. Then the clouds part, and Dream smiles. Sapnap tries to smile back.

The ABBA song ends and a much more recent pop song begins to play, but neither of them move, choosing instead to sit in a still silence that leaves Sapnap wondering what Dream is thinking.

Sapnap squeezes his eyes shut, shoving his curiosity aside to instead gaze out at the dance floor. The girl that was next to him in the circle bounces around three other teenagers, light-colored hair a kaleidoscope of colors in the everchanging club lights. When she spots Sapnap staring, she smiles, throwing up a peace sign. Sapnap gives her a small wave. Their eyes stay locked for another second before she makes a little motion towards Dream and Sapnap looks at him, only to find Dream already looking back. Sapnap sighs before rising from his chair.

“Your turn,” he says, hand already extended out towards the other.

Dream doesn’t hesitate in grabbing his hand and letting Sapnap pull him up.

Sapnap leads them to the dance floor, fully prepared to halfheartedly bop his head to the song playing, but then—and of course it’s just his luck—the minute he steps onto the wooden panels, the song changes to something mellow… and slow.

So very slow.

He turns to Dream, eyes wide in alarm, but all Dream does is smile.

“Don’t back out now,” he says.

Sapnap glares at him. “You wish.”

Dream laughs before putting a hand on Sapnap’s waist and an arm around his neck. Sapnap lets out a harsh breath but doesn’t pull away, just follows Dream’s lead, pulling him close. The emcee is saying something probably absolutely humiliating, but Sapnap ignores the queen (oh God, the emcee is a drag queen, how did he not realize that upon walking in?) in favor of focusing on Dream, on not stepping on his toes, on not bumping into other dancers, on not getting lost in the other’s eyes, however stereotypical it may be.

Dream lowers his head until their foreheads almost touch, and Sapnap is painfully reminded of 80s boy and Mythbusters hat. He looks down to the floor.

“Pandas,” Dream whispers, and Sapnap curses his heart for jumping.

“What?” he replies, still looking down.

“Look at me,” Dream urges.

Sapnap shakes his head, but then the arm around Sapnap’s neck becomes just a hand, and then that hand is traveling up, up over his neck, to his ear, fingers curling around his jaw, forcing Sapnap’s gaze from the floor.

“I’m sorry,” Dream says.

Sapnap finds himself stuck staring into Dream’s eyes. “Why?”

“You didn’t go to prom because I wouldn’t be there, and now we’re at a prom together, and you’re not having fun because I’m here.” His thumb strokes across Sapnap’s cheek—Sapnap hopes he can’t feel the heat under his skin. “So I’m sorry.”

“I’m having fun,” Sapnap replies, automatic.

“Because having me confess me to you and forcing you to dance with me and taking you to a fucking,” he breaks their gaze only to look around demonstratively, “gay prom is fun for you.”

But even with his reply being automatic, Sapnap finds it true. It’s not conventional, and he’s felt vaguely nauseous this entire time, but the dance circle was fun, and just standing here with Dream, swaying back and forth, it’s fun too. And there’s something nice about having everything out in the open. He and Dream like each other.

Wait.

He and Dream like each other. He and Dream like each other. Dream likes him.

“You like me,” Sapnap whispers.

Dream still hears him. “Yeah,” he replies, easy, “I like you a lot.”

“I think I missed that,” Sapnap says, louder. “You like me.”

Dream stares at him. “Yes,” he replies. “I like you.”

Sapnap stares back before he removes his hand from Dream’s waist to put it on his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of Dream’s t-shirt as Sapnap tugs him down into a kiss. Dream’s lips are surprisingly soft for the amount of times Sapnap has caught Dream biting at them, and Dream himself is surprisingly gentle when he brings his other hand up from Sapnap’s waist to cradle his jaw. Sapnap lets out a quiet exhale when they pull apart.

Dream is looking at him, but his gaze is distant, his mind somewhere far away.

Sapnap lets go of his shirt to shove him slightly. “Dream?” he asks, wondering if he might’ve just ruined everything, despite Dream’s insistence that a change in their relationship wouldn’t affect their friendship.

“I think people might misunderstand us now,” Dream says.

Sapnap can’t help it—he laughs. “You think?” And then Dream is laughing too, pulling him in for another kiss even as the song changes and the floor becomes crowded with everyone else coming to dance.

The tension now broken, neither of them suggest leaving the dance floor.

;;

By the time the prom is ending, Sapnap’s feet hurt, and he’s sure his lips are red from the amount of times Dream has kissed him. They’re both giddy with teenage excitement, and Dream is singing a pathetic rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” words slurring together and pitch way off.

Sapnap laughs as Dream knocks their heads together, pushing him away with one hand while the other wraps around his waist to pull him closer. “You sound so bad.”

“You love it,” Dream murmurs into his ear, and Sapnap grins even as his cheeks flare red.

“You wish,” he replies.

“I most definitely wish,” Dream says, head now tilted to rest atop Sapnap’s own.

“Did you drink?” Sapnap asks, suspicious, though he’s pretty sure he and Dream only got water. “Are you drunk?”

“You know I’d never drink,” Dream replies before the most shit-eating grin takes over his face. “Actually, I’m just drunk on love.”

Sapnap rolls his eyes. “Now you’re just acting stupid.”

“But I mean it.”

Sapnap looks at him. Dream looks back. Sapnap shakes his head as they reach Dream’s car. “Don’t be dumb.”

“Okay, so maybe not like… love love, but I love you, Sapnap.” Dream leans against the door. “And it could turn into love love one day. If you let it.”

Sapnap stares at him. Dream stares back.

“It’s just a possibility,” he says, hand coming up to pat Sapnap’s cheek. Sapnap continues to stare until Dream leans forward to bump their noses together. “I won’t bring it up again.”

“Next month,” Sapnap finally replies. “Bring it up next month.” He pushes himself away from Dream to go to the passenger side. “Now unlock the car. It’s hot as fuck out here.”

;;

The car ride is spent in an easy silence, though Dream keeps glancing over at Sapnap every once in a while, always looking on the verge of saying something.

Finally, Sapnap snaps. “What is it?”

Dream has clearly been waiting to be asked. “You said next month.”

Sapnap frowns. “Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t I?”

“So we’ll still be together next month?”

Sapnap’s eyes narrow. “Are you assuming we’re together now?”

“Yes.”

Fuck. He’s right to assume that. So much for Dream being the one to forget their friendship in order to pursue a relationship. Dream knows him too well. (It’s perfect.)

“I love you too,” Sapnap says. “As a friend.” He looks out the window. “But it could be love love one day too.”

He doesn’t need to look over to know Dream is grinning, and when a finger brushes his own over the glovebox, not asking for permission but not not asking for permission, Sapnap can’t stop a grin of his own from spreading across his face and lets Dream lock their hands together.

;;

A knock on the door startles Sapnap in the middle of his studying. He looks up from his notes to see Dream leaning in the open doorway.

Sapnap raises a brow. “Since when have you knocked?”

“Since British exchange students started chewing me out whenever I’d come in without knocking.” Dream smiles at him before looking into the room, green eyes searching.

“George isn’t going to jump out at you from behind the door,” Sapnap says, stretching out in his chair before rising to properly greet his boyfriend. “Besides, he likes you; he’s just a bitch.”

“Of course a bitch like you would say that,” George interrupts, his small frame almost invisible behind Dream, who turns around with a guilty look on his face. “Hi, Dream,” George says, shoving past him to toss his bag in his desk chair and collapse onto his bed. “I don’t like you, by the way.” He lifts his head slightly to look between Dream and Sapnap. “Either of you. I hate you guys.”

“We hate you too,” Sapnap replies cheerily before grinning at Dream and pulling him down into a kiss that Dream eagerly returns.

“Can you not?” George asks, even though they all know he doesn’t really care. “I already feel single enough, thanks.”

“Like you could ever feel single,” Dream teases. “You know nearly everyone here is into you.”

George pushes himself up onto his elbows to stick out his tongue. Dream sticks his own out too.

Sapnap laughs before picking his keys up from off his desk and checking that his wallet is in his pocket. “We’re heading out,” he tells George, who hums and nods, flopping back onto the bed. “Let me know if you want us to pick you up dinner.”

“That’s so sweet of you, Sapnap,” George says, “to go out of your way just to get dinner for me. I didn’t realize I mean that much to you.”

“You mean the world to me, George,” Sapnap replies, even as his hand links with Dream’s and George flips him off. “But seriously, we’ll get you something if you want.”

“It’s fine.” George waves a hand. “Go be in love or whatever. Better somewhere else than where I can see it.”

“True, true,” Sapnap says, even though his favorite hobby nowadays is antagonize George, which sits right under spend time with Dream. 

They leave the Brit alone to head out to Dream’s car, and it’s there that Sapnap finds them imitating the pose they had the night of prom. He hides his smile in Dream’s neck as Dream wraps his arms around his shoulders.

“Hey, Sap,” Dream says.

“Yeah?”

“Remember how you said ‘next month’?”

Sapnap lifts his head slightly to look through the car window. “Yeah.”

“Well, it’s been next month, and then it was the month after that, and the one after that, and then there was—”

Sapnap barely stops himself from rolling his eyes. “I love you, Dream. Now let go of me; I really am hungry right now.”

“Right, of course. Of course,” Dream releases him, “but for the record, I love you too. Like, love love.”

Sapnap shoves him even as a smile begins to show at the corners of his lips. “Yeah, I love love you too.”

[sneezefiction]

meet the family

Tsukishima x Reader - Scenario

request: “hii gracie🥺 i've kinda been obsessed with ur stuff recently and just wanted to a scenario with tsuki having a s/o (fem reader but idrc honestly) who has really protective brothers and has to like try and "earn" their respect idkkk but yea im totaallyyy not requesting this cause i have really protective brothers.... :/ anyways again i love ir stuff hope u have a good day:) -🕊”

a/n: ahhh i enjoyed writing this so much !! it really helped me tap into Tsukki’s personality a bit more. thank you so much for the request <3

warnings: anxiety, low self-esteem

wc: 1050

---

“They’re gonna hate me.” 

“No, they won’t.”

“They’ll think I’m lame.” He counters.

“But you’re not.” 

“How long do we have to stay for?”

“It’s just dinner, Tsukki, you’ll be fine.” Your reassuring voice helping calm his nerves, even if just by a little bit.

The questions and statements are scattered throughout the length of the car ride. Tsukki’s fingers lightly drumming on his thigh. Trickling down the window, the tapping of gentle raindrops doing their best to soothe the passengers inside. You delicately place your free hand onto his, the other carefully gripped around the steering wheel.

You glance over.

He cleaned up so nicely for tonight, knowing how important it was for him to meet your family. You helped him pick up a pair of skinny, dark jeans and a dressier top. The colors in the shirt made his beautiful, honey-brown eyes pop. 

And you love those eyes… but right now they’re anxious.

It took many months of dating and several brutally honest, late-night conversations, but you eventually learned just how severely Tsukki struggles with self-confidence.

Your heart sinks, knowing the internal dialogue going on inside him. The one that’s at war with his more logical side. Tsukishima has learned how to stand up against the darker demons, but that doesn’t mean he’s not ferociously battling to find his worth.

However, tonight is especially rough because there’s one tiny detail he can’t seem to get over.

Your brothers.

From how you described them, he was pretty sure they’d want nothing to do with him. That he’d be regarded as a piece of trash, in need of throwing out. 

Because Tsukishima isn’t exactly a sweet guy.

He’s also not fazed by others disliking him. He already dislikes himself enough as it is. So confidence doesn’t affect how he lives his day to day life… but it definitely affects how close he is willing to get to a person. 

In all honesty, Tsukki showcases his worst traits so that only those who really want to be near him, will stick around in the end.

But somehow, even with his rudest comments and his standoffish demeanor, you gravitated toward him. You made it clear that this wasn’t a short term interest. You aren’t some shooting star, acting as a wish giver, getting his hopes up only to sail right past him.

He doesn’t deserve you.

He’s sure your brothers will realize this and make it known to you.

But, for now, you actually want him.

And you make him feel wanted.

So here he is, one year into the relationship, mentally preparing for his demise. All for you.

You pull up in the bumpy, gravel driveway, your palm still warming up the top of his hand. Car doors click open and shoes crunch around on the pebbly ground.

You make your way up the steps of your old, familiar home, a heavy wave of nostalgia washing over you.

Tsukki follows right up, meeting you at your side and gently grasps a couple of your fingers. It’s his way of saying, “I’ll be okay.” You let out a breath you hadn’t even realized you’d been holding in.

A couple knocks on the door and you’re welcomed swiftly by warm, enthusiastic faces. Your two brothers bring you into a group hug of sorts as you reconnect for the first time many months. 

Their gazes then wander over to Tsukishima, eyes looking up and down, sizing him up, identifying their sister’s first longterm boyfriend.

Tsukki holds his stoic face for a moment and then lets a friendly smile shine through. He has perfected the art of squashing his nerves in front of normal human eyes. Only you can tell he’s grappling with his mind in this moment.

“Boys, meet Tsukishima. Tsukishima these are my brothers!” You introduce calmly, signaling your brothers to greet him with the same energy they gave you.

“Hey, Tsukishima, how goes it?” One of the two speaks up.

“Nice to meet you both. It’s going fine, the drive was really pleasant.” Tsukki responds cordially.

“Oh, I’m sure it was. Both of you come on inside.” The other replies, leading you indoors.

You make yourself at home, kicking off shoes and hanging up your jacket.

You turn around only to realize that your boyfriend is suddenly missing along with the other two boys.

Poor fella, I hope they don’t do anything strange, you hope to yourself.

---

Ah, of course. Confrontation, my favorite, Tsukki mentally remarks. Apparently, even under stress, he still manages to drip in sarcasm.

Your brothers have quietly pulled him aside in the short time you took your eyes off him.

Oh, what he would give to be back at home, lying down and listening to music with your arms wrapped around him.

But the thought is short-lived. He’s eye to eye with your family and needs to take whatever shit he needs to take to get through tonight. 

“Look,” The taller one of your brothers starts, “clearly y/n likes you a lot.”

Not exactly the most intimidating way to start an interrogation, Tsukki muses.

“And we want her to be happy…” continues the other.

Tsukki nods slowly, waiting for the “but.”

“So are you willing to do that for us?” They finish, one of them setting a firm, trusting hand on his shoulder.

“Because we want to like you, but first we have to like how you treat our y/n.”

Tsukishima’s eyes widen only by a fraction, but he’s sincerely confused. He was expecting something… tougher? Scarier? Hell, he’d anticipated being roughed up at least a little bit.

But it was nothing like what he’d imagined. It was short and to the point. They just needed to know that he would be there for you, since they can’t always be by your side, fending of your enemies and fears.

Their question isn’t a difficult one to answer.

He wants what’s best for you because he loves you. He would do anything to make sure you were secure and cherished.

The words come easily to Tsukishima’s lips.

“...Yes. You can trust me with y/n.” Tsukki nods thoughtfully. 

“I won’t ever hurt her or let anyone touch her.” He promises them. It’s simple, but honest.

He was overthinking it the entire time. Your brothers didn’t want him out of your life… they just wanted you protected. Safe and cared for. Treated with respect and integrity.

They don’t hate him.

They don’t think he’s lame.

But it’s definitely not “just dinner.”

No, this is just the beginning of Tsukishima’s proving himself to you. Proving himself to your family, that he can love you well.

That he can defend you.

Fight for you.

So he reconvenes with you for dinner with a newfound conviction, thanks to your brothers.

He now knows he has to be confident. Confident in himself and in his choices.

If not for him, at least for you.

[fydream]

even if it is, just for tonight | p. js

☌ genre: jisung x reader, slice of life(ish), fluff, angst?, high school!au? kinda.. i wouldn't say it's a college!au but it's the summer before you move to college, the mood is a teenage coming of age movie where the main characters sneak out and do things but like not illegal things yk, best friends to lovers because i'm a sucker for that!!, inspired by life is strange episode 3 + we go up era/the we go up mv teaser + the perks of being a wallflower, mentions of ex-boyfriend!jaemin, say hi to skater boy!renjun!!! also say hi to college boy!johnny!! they're more of a touch and go but they'd appreciate a hello :-)

☌ songs/playlist: 🎵(yes these go in order of the story,,, the most important songs though are "aint it fun by" paramore and "fallingforyou" by the 1975 and maybe "is there somebody who can watch you" also by the 1975)

☌ word count: 7.3k!! 

☌ warnings: food mention, cursing, uhh breaking and entering? i wouldnt really say that but it's more off you jumping a fence and trespassing lol, also this is semi proof read lmao sorry

☌ author note: this is dedicated to my dear friend cam!! (@huangsilks​) happy birthday i love you <333 here's a lil fic bc ur senior year got cut short and as much as i wish i could give it to you, i cant, and im so sorry about that. so take this fic in return <33 mwah // all i want to do is live in a teen coming of age movie is that too much to ask for? and that's on the media romanticizing your teenage years!

☌ disclaimer: this has no relation to htbah!jisung at all. this is a completely different universe. thank you.

─ 10:45pm;

The last day of summer vacation is always fun until you realize that the sun has started to set and the inevitability of tomorrow starts creeping into your thoughts.

So what were you doing on your last day (or night in this case) of summer? You weren't doing anything special, just looking through your room and going through the various photos you had put up on your walls, recalling past memories from your previous years in high school.

Tomorrow night you were leaving your small town and moving across the country to attend college. Needless to say you were excited to move away and get a fresh start but the one thing you weren't ready for was to say goodbye to everyone.

You didn't have a going away party like everyone else, you decided not to because that meant you were actually leaving. Though your bags were packed and your room was put together, it didn't feel like you were going to college. The realization hasn't hit yet, it just felt like another normal night. You were busy looking through one of the memory boxes you had in your room when you felt your phone buzz, indicating you've gotten a text.

[sungie: hey]

[sungie: wanna go on an adventure?]

[you: wtf? the sun set already, if i get caught i'm done for!]

[sungie: c'mon.. live a little]

[sungie: im picking you up in five, get ready :)]

Park Jisung. Your best friend since, well, since elementary. He's the boy who you grew up with, the boy who you happened to survive all of high school and middle school with, he's also the boy who happened to capture your heart doing the simplest things you could imagine.

He was your first crush, but not your first boyfriend.

He also happened to be the boy who was always there for you, no matter what. So if you were going to spend your last night in the town you grew up in, why not spend it with your best friend, Park Jisung himself?

Seeing as that he was already on his way, it left you with no choice. Grabbing the closest hoodie near you, you silently made your way to your front door where you slipped on your shoes before heading outside as quietly as you could.

It takes a few minutes before you see a familiar car pull up on your childhood street. Approaching the vehicle, you hear music playing that's only being muffled due to the windows that are rolled up and the doors being shut closed.

"Hey." He says lowering the volume as you open the door to his passenger seat. "Are you ready?"

"You're fucking insane." You snort as you buckle your seatbelt. "Wake up my whole neighborhood why don't you?"

"I mean.. Only if you want me too.." He teases, placing his hand on his car horn.

"Don't you dare!" You squeal, trying to grab his wrist before he could attempt to wake up your whole neighborhood. To no avail, you failed which resulted in a fit of laughter from him.

"C'mon. Live a little." He says once more before driving away from your. house, turning out of your neighborhood and onto the empty streets.

"Where are we going?" You ask, watching the streetlights pass by.

"It's a surprise."

"That's so ominous."

"I know."

"Could you at least give me a hint?" You whine.

"I'll give you one word."

"I'll take whatever I can get."

"Okay, the word is playground."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" You ask, shooting him a glare.

"Hey! you said you'll take what you can get, and I'm giving you one word." He defends.

"You're annoying." You mumble, turning away from him to look back out the window.

"So I've been told." He snorts, focusing his attention back on the road.

Your first stop of the night is the playground of your elementary school.

It was kind of unexpected because the last time you were here was probably when you attended school here, years ago. To be honest, you were expecting to be taken to the park near your house. The playground there was mostly abandoned due to all the kids on your street growing up, you would still see other children playing on the swings or sliding down one of the tube slides but those were on good days. Most of the time it was just empty.

"School?" You ask confused, watching as Jisung unbuckles his seatbelt and opens his door to step outside, you doing the same. "Jisung, we're way to big for this playground, you know that. Why are we even here?"

"You'll see." He says, grabbing your hand to drag you over towards the gate that they used to fence off the playground. ”Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" You ask, earning a wink in response. "Oh my god.. Jisung no!"

Before you could realize what was about to happen, the hand that Jisung was using to hold yours was now being used to help pull himself over the chain linked fence that lead to your school's playground. After successfully throwing himself over the top of the fence and landing on the other side with a light thud, he smiles at you. "Your turn."

"What the hell?! No way!" You protest. "I can't even climb a fence! You know this!"

"Actually. That's false." He confidently states, knowing he’ll win this argument. "You climbed a fence Junior year when you were hanging out with Johnny Suh and his friends."

"What? Who told you that?!" You exclaim.

"Just a little someone who's name begins with a little 'Ren' and ends with 'Jun.'" He says playfully, sending you a little wink.

"That brat!" You whisper yell. "That’s the last time I tell Renjun something.." You add, mumbling.

"So, your turn." He repeats, gesturing towards the gate in front of you.

"I can't believe I'm fucking doing this." You mumble before continuing to hoist yourself over the metal fence. Your landing wasn’t as smooth as Jisung’s, seeing as you almost lost balance trying to get down from the top resulting in Jisung having to catch you so you didn’t break an ankle or something.

"See? That wasn't so bad." He snorts, letting you go.

"I hate you." You scoff. "Why are we even here again?"

"I'm glad you asked." He says smiling, grabbing your hand once more. This time, instead of leading you to a fence you had to jump be brings you to a small play structure. It takes you approximately a minute for you to realize where you were and where he was taking you.

"Right here." He says pointing to a red tube slide. "Our first stop of the night. This is where we first met, remember? You practically shoved me down this slide because you wanted to go down it and I was in your way."

You chuckle as the first memory of you and your best friend plays. "Of course? How could I not remember? I got called into the office afterwards because some kid told one of the teachers that I was bullying you. To this day, I still don't know who told on me."

“It was Wendy, if you wanted to know.” He adds. “She told me after she told on you.” He shrugs.

“Of course it was..” You mumble, hopping up to sit against one of the bottom steps that led up to the slide.

"Is this what we came here for?" You ask, looking up at the boy who was currently climbing up the side of the playground structure.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" He yells loud enough for anyone in a five mile radius hear. Maybe it’s because of how quiet it is at this time of night, or maybe it’s because he just got louder whenever he was with you. But those were besides the point, if there were any cops around right now you two would definitely have gotten caught thanks to Jisung.

He makes his way to a safer spot, where he can jump down from the top of the playground. Despite the fact he moved you still scold him for his reckless actions. "Don't do that!! You’re going to get hurt! What happens when you jump off of something and finally break your ankle, hm?"

Jisung shrugs in response. "Well you see, it hasn’t happened yet. You can even check, I’m fine. It’s okay."

"You stress me out, you know." You scoff, turning away from him to walk towards the monkey bars that were once too tall for you, but now are nothing compared to your height.

"I know." He shouts from across the playground. Because of how quiet it was with just you two being there in the dead of night you could hear his footsteps along the playground structure. You could hear it creak every now and then, making you wonder if it was Jisung causing then noises of if it was just because of how old the structure is. You think about how long it's been here, how many children have played in the exact spots you were standing in and how many more will until they decide to finally remodel or get rid of it.

"It's been ages since I've been here." You whisper, running your hand along the cool, metal railing as you climb the short steps that lead up to the top, where Jisung was waiting for you.

"I know right? Do you remember this spot?" He asks, taking a seat on the platform, which barely has enough room for both of you. "We used to sit here and gossip about who we thought were cute in the fifth grade." He snorts.

"Yeah.. And when people tried to come up here you'd yell at them for the password." You laugh. "That was really fun. A simpler time." You add, going back replaying through some of your memories which were long forgotten.

For the next couple minutes you and Jisung just sit there, reminiscing to when you were both small children, where your only worry was your guy's spot on the playground being stolen.

“This is nice..” You think to yourself. “It feels the same, just like the good old days.”

"Uhm." Jisung coughs, getting your attention. "We better get going. There are more stops to go and well, we don't have all night do we?"

"Oh. Yeah." You sigh, not wanting to get up from your spot. "Where are we going now?" You ask.

"You'll see." He says, flashing you a grin.

You smile, rolling your eyes at the boy in front of you, who was now attempting (and failing) to slide down the slide in front of you.

"It’s not slippery anymore." He frowns.

"Well, yeah." You giggle, making your way down the same way you came up. "It's been years Sungie. What'd you expect?"

"I dunno. The same amount of slipperiness?"

"You're silly." You tease, lightly pinching his cheek. "Let's go." You’re about to walk away when Jisung grabs your wrist, stopping you from waltzing away to his car.

"Are you sure?" He asks. "You were kinda hesitant to jump a fence you’ll sure you'll be ready to do whatever else I have planned for tonight?" He teases.

"Depends." You hum. "Are we going to get into any kind of trouble?"

"That's up to us."

"Then of course I'm down." You say, dragging him back the way you entered.

─ 12:23am;

The next stop is in the city near your small town. To be more specific it's the rooftop of one of the many parking garages your city has. Jisung's car is the only car parked right now due to the time being nearly twelve thirty in the morning, and you just can't help but wonder why you spent the last half an hour driving to an empty parking garage.

"Okay Park Jisung, why are we here?" You ask, leaning against the railing to look outwards for any sign of reason.

"Well first of all, if you're looking for the reason why you're on the wrong side." He chuckles, leading you towards the opposite side of the rooftop. "And if you look to your left you'll see a small venue." He says in one of those touristy guide voices, earning a giggle from you.

"Hey! Isn't that where we-"

"Saw our first concert?" He cuts you off, finishing your sentence.

"Yeah.. I remember that night. We skipped school that day to make sure we made barricade." You snort.

"It was definitely worth missing a pop quiz and two weeks of being grounded." Jisung comments.

"You act like you didn't sneak out every night during those two weeks." You joke, lightly punching his arm.

He gives you a small pout and a fake "ow." in response. "Well, yeah?" He replies. "How else was I going to see my best friend?"

"Anyone ever told you you're annoying?" You ask rolling your eyes, leaving the edge of the rooftop to walk towards the center.

"Mmm." He hums, looking up to indicate that he was thinking. "I don't think so."

"Well, you are." You say before asking "So why the rooftop?"

"I'm glad you asked." He starts, pulling out a tiny speaker from his jacket pocket. "Remember how you said you were kinda sad that we haven't gone to a concert in a while?"

"Mhm."

"Well congratulations y/n l/n because here I have a tiny speaker that'll make it feel like we're having our own mini concert on the top of this garage building tonight!" He exclaims in a fake announcer voice.

Giggling, you smile at him before going along with the joke. "Oh wow? My own private concert? Right here? Right now? With the only relevant person in my life? How could I even think about passing that up!?"

Jisung snorts before handing you the wireless speaker, allowing you to connect your phone to it. The first song you play is "Ain't It Fun" by Paramore for the sole being of it being that song.

"Paramore?" Jisung asks, a bit confused on why you chose this song out of all things to play.

You smile at him before placing the speaker on the ground. Taking both his hands you say, "Jisung. It's fucking Paramore! Do you not remember this song? This is the one we used to blast on my speakers in my bedroom whenever we had a good day. I miss that. Now c'mon! Dance with me!" You giggle, dragging him away from the speaker and to an emptier spot in the parking lot. And so he does. It's not any choreography or anything, it's just you two jumping around on a rooftop to one of your feel good songs. A carefree moment to be exact, where it feels like nothing really matters anymore.

Jisung smiles, backing away from you to watch as you jammed your heart out. If anything, he would give everything just for you to have this moment forever. He knows how stressful life can be, not to mention how hard you worked just to barely make it into your dream school. He also knows how hard it is to feel alone, so he really isn't surprised that your chose thing song because it was your song. Jisung knows a lot more than you could ever know, so if it means he only has one night left to give you everything, then so be it.

Before you know it you watch as he runs towards you, engulfing you in a hug. Shocked, you try your best to look up towards the boy who had you in his arms. If you weren't this close to him you probably wouldn't have noticed the slight glossy look over his eyes, deciding not to touch on it for now and just accept the hug as the song fades into background noise.

"You're leaving tomorrow." Jisung whispers, before pulling apart from the hug, placing his hands on your shoulders. "You're leaving, tomorrow." He states once more this time, more softly while looking at you in the eyes. "You're gonna go off to some college and find a new, maybe get a new boyfriend, and even get a life of your own."

"You know I'll never replace you." You respond back, voice barely above a whisper. You were looking at the cement on the ground or the buildings that were only light being lit up by the various lights around or the night sky, which you definitely haven't seen in a while. You were looking anywhere, everywhere that wasn't your best friend, because you knew for a fact if you looked at him in this moment you would cry.

"But hey," You say speaking up, finally getting the courage to look him in the eye. "That all starts tomorrow. I'm still here right? We still have what? Like twelve hours? So let's make the most of it while we still can, okay?"

Jisung looks down at you before giving you a sad smile. "Actually it's seventeen hours." He sniffs, letting out a light laugh.

"Okay? So? I've got seventeen hours to spare, do you have seventeen hours to spare?" You ask, teasingly.

"You can have all my time in the world, y/n." Jisung replies, pulling you back into the hug.

"Glad to know." You giggle. "Because I'm willing to give you all of mine."

Soon enough the song ends and you hear the beginning of Fallingforyou by The 1975 start to play.

"Hey," Jisung whispers. "I- Uhm. You know this song reminds me of you?" He says.

"It's does?" You ask, voice muffled due to the fact you were speaking into his chest. "Why?"

"Oh god." He starts. "You can't make fun of me for this though." He says pulling away from the hug.

"I won't. I promise."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."

"Okay well.." He starts, walking away from you. "Here goes nothing.." There's hesitation in his voice and you can't tell if it's because what he was going to say would hurt you or if he just never planned on telling you. It's silent for a few seconds before he breathes in and let's out a sigh.

"I used to like you, y'know."

Though this is just the start of his sentence you wonder why it already began to hurt. Perhaps it could be because he started his thought off with 'I used to like you.' Used to, meaning not anymore.

"Back in the beginning of Sophomore year, when I saw that you started dating Na Jaemin I realized how much I liked you. And when I saw how much you were with him and how much fun you were having with him I couldn't help but wish that were me.. I couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if I figured out my feelings before you got with him. And even after you two broke up, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I just confessed to you, out of the blue."

"Is that so?" You ask, walking towards the boy who was now seated on the hood of his car.

"Yeah." He whispers, looking down so he didn't have to face you.

"Well, then I have a confession to make." You state, hoping onto the empty space next to him to take a seat. "I used to like you to."

"You did?"

"I did." You hesitantly state.

"Oh.." He whispers. "How long ago?"

"A while ago." You say softly. "I never wanted to risk anything because I didn't want it to affect our friendship. I didn't want to imagine what would happen if we ended up breaking up on a bad note. I didn't want to risk losing my best friend."

"Oh." He sighs.

"What do you think would've happened if we dated?" You ask.

"I dunno actually. I mean, I don't think much would really change.. We're already pretty close, and we basically act like a couple anyways. Just look at us right now." Jisung responds.

You didn't realize it but currently you were snuggled up against his side, with his arm wrapped around you. If Jisung didn't point it you probably wouldn't have noticed. "We do everything together, and we always bring each other gifts. We even went to prom together, remember?"

"Well yeah.. as friends."

"That's besides the point. I'm talking about how people see us y/n. Go ask anyone, Donghyuck thought we were dating."

"He doesn't count. Donghyuck thinks everyone is dating." You snort.

"Okay, then ask Renjun. The reason why he told me you jumped that fence was because he thought that Johnny was gonna steal you from me."

"He did?"

"Yeah. His exact words were 'You're girlfriend just jumped a fence to hang out with J. Suh and them. I'd be careful if I were you, Johnny's known to steal each other's girls.' You should've seen how confused I was and how awkward it was to explain to him that we weren't a couple." Jisung laughs. "He was so confused."

"He thought we were dating?"

"Yeah."

"Jisung." You state, looking up at him. "This is my last night here. And before you tell me to shut up and enjoy the moment I want to tell you one thing, okay? It's really really important to me and I feel like if I don't tell you this right now, I may never will."

"Geez, you're dramatic." He jokes. "What's so important anyways?"

"I still like you."

"Oh.." He whispers. "Oh? Wai-Wait. You still like me?"

You nod.

"Like.. like-like?"

"Yes, like like-like." You chuckle.

"O-Oh.."

There's a moment of silence before anyone says anything else. The only things making noise are the sound of distant cars that you hear drive by, along with the wind as it decides to pick up a slight breeze. Your phone is still playing music but you can barely hear it over your light breathing, which to you, sounds like the loudest thing on world. Your head is occupied with thoughts on why you decided to confess right now and Jisung is left trying to process what you just told him. It only lasts for a few seconds, a minute at most, but it feels like an eternity.

"Hey y/n?" He says softly. You snap your head up, looking towards him. Half of you is ready to hear whatever he has to say while the other half of you is worried that you just ruined everything with four little words. "Yeah?" You ask as your voice cracks a little.

"I still like you too."

"You do?"

"I do."

"So the question becomes, what are we?" You whisper, looking back down at the ground. "I leave tomorrow."

"That doesn't mean anything.." Jisung mumbles.

"What are you talking about? Yes it does. It means everything."

"No, it doesn't." He states, jumping off of his car hood to stand in front of you. "Think about it, you leave tomorrow right?"

"Yeah.."

"Well, like you said. You're still with me right now and we've still got-" He stops, taking a second to glance at his phone to check the time. "About sixteen and a half hours to spare.. So, why not make the most of it?"

"What are you implying?"

He sighs, taking a step closer to you to grab both your hands and pull you off his car hood himself. "Will you, y/n l/n, be my girlfriend? Even if it is, just for tonight?"

You squeeze his hands, unsure of what to say. Of course you want to say yes, this is one of the moments you've been waiting for! Something you never expected to happen! So why were you feeling so unsure?

Maybe it's because you knew this wouldn't last forever, or maybe it's because it was your best friend. Either way, each option had it's pros and cons. You just couldn't figure out which ones outweighed the other.

If you say yes, then you would've got to experience your long term crush being your boyfriend. But it also meant it would end in less than 24 hours, and what if you didn't want that? Sure long distance is an option, but would you be able to do it?

If you say no.. Then what would happen? Would tonight just end up awkward? You didn't want to pine after some boy for so long, and you sure didn't want Jisung to feel embarrassed, especially since both of you just confessed to each other.

So what do you say? You don't have all the time in the world to pick an answer.

"If I were to say yes.." You say, speaking up. "Do you promise nothing will change between us afterwards? Will we still be friends after that?"

"We can be friends." He says. "Or we can be more than friends. We can be whatever you want. I just want you to be happy."

You sigh, letting go of his hands, only taking a second to look at him.

"What?" He asks, moving to get closer to you.

"Nothing." You sigh. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"About.. us.. You know..  What are we going to do once the sun comes up?"

"Cry and then kiss some more?" He jokes, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

"Sungie.. I'm being serious. What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know, y/n. If I'm going to be honest I don't want to think about it either.. I didn't think that far ahead!"

"I know you didn't but we have to talk about it. It's bound to happen."

"What is?"

"Us.. breaking up.."

"You didn't even accept my offer and you're already thinking about us breaking up?" He asks. In his head it sounded okay, but by the look on your face he can tell it came off differently.

"What?" You ask.

"We could always do long distance y'know.."

"Sungie. Look at me." You sigh, looking at him in the eyes. "I'm moving across country and you're staying here, without me. What did you think was going to happen?"

"I didn't think anything was going to happen! I just wanted to spend one night with you as my girlfriend!" He yells, and you take a step back at the sudden volume change.

"You expected me to say yes?"

"No! Of course not! I didn't even plan any of this! I prepared for the worst, but then you brought up the whole liking thing and it just.. I don't know?! Gave me hope?"

"I don't know.. what'll happen when the sun comes up, y/n. I don't know what'll happen at all. I just want you to be happy.. and if that means we have to finish this night as just friends, then I'll be okay with that. We can pretend like nothing happened and we can just go on-"

"What if I don't wanna pretend like nothing happened?" You ask, cutting him off.

"What if.. I wanna say yes, but I'm just too scared to?"

"Why would you be scared?" He asks.

"Because.. if I do.. and this happens to be the best night of my life.. I don't want it to end."

"The answer I want to give you is, 'it doesn't have to end.' but that would just be a broken promise on my part." He sighs, giving you a sad smile. "But the answer I will give you is, we can make the most of it, but that's only up to you. So I'm asking you again, y/n l/n. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes." You sigh, nodding your head reluctantly.

He pulls you into a hug and even though it's just a hug, it's one of the best hugs you've ever experienced. It's more on the comforting side, which would explain why you felt warm and at home. But it different from the hugs you've shared before.

"So where are we off to now?" You ask, ready to officially start tonights adventure. It comes out more muffled due to the fact that you're still holding each other.

"You're so eager." Jisung pouts. "Can't we just stay like this for a while?"

"I suppose so.. It's nice."

─ 3:06am;

The third stop of the night is diner just a couple minutes away from your high school. It's open 24hours meaning you'd see students come here after dances and school events, two of them being you two. One of the convenient things about this place was that it also had a small arcade connected to it. Maybe it was just a marketing strategy, but it worked so this is where you spent the majority of your free time.

"Hungry?" He asks, pulling up in the parking spot in front of the entrance door.

"Why are we here?" You ask, glancing over at the radio to check the time. "It's three am.."

"So?" He asks. "Let me take you on a date. We can even share a milkshake if you'd like." He teases.

"How romantic." You snort.

"Y/n!! I'm being serious!" He whines. "Do you know how badly I've wanted to take you on a date here?"

"Well.. Technically we have gone on one, multiple to be exact." You claim.

"Oh yeah? Name them."

"Our study sessions for SAT's?"

"I meant a proper date! You call suffering together while we complain about the future a proper date?!" He exclaims.

"Okay then how about all the times we came here after a dance or sport event hmm?" You ask.

"Those don't count! We went as friends!"

"I like to count them as dates.." You admit. "After all, they're the best ones I've been on."

"Oh really?" He asks. "Better than the ones that Na Jaemin has taken you on?"

"Uh, yeah? Of course?"

"Take that Jaemin!" He exclaims, causing you to giggle.

"What's your deal with him anyways?" You ask, curious on what he has to say.

"Well.. he's the person I'm competing with, right? For best boyfriend?"

You roll your eyes. "It's not a competition. Besides, if it was, then you'd automatically win." You tease. "So are we going on a date or what?"

Jisung giggles. "Yeah. Let's go."

The diner is empty. There isn't anyone but a lone police officer, drinking a cup of what you assumed to be coffee; two girls who happen to look like they're on a date, and another boy, who seemed to be around you and Jisung's age, working on paper of some sort.

Taking your seat in a familiar spot you look past Jisung (who was seated in front of you) and out the window behind him. You still have a few more hours until the sun comes up, but seeing the moon slowly make it's way down hurts just a bit.

"Hey." Jisung says, drawing your attention back at him. "You zoned out a bit there, you're not falling asleep on me are you?" He teases.

"Pffft! You wish!" You say a little bit too loudly, earning a glare from the cop seated a few booths away from you.

"So about that milkshake.." You trail off. "What flavor did you get?"

"Strawberry."

You scrunch your nose at his answer. "Why?"

"I dunno." He shrugs. "It's pink, I thought it'd be romantic."

"You're cute."

"I know."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I'll take it as one."

"I- Nevermind."

"Whaaat?"

"You're lucky you're cute."

"You think I'm cute?"

You scoff at him. "Of course I do."

"Ah, okay. Cause I think I'm cute too." He snickers.

"Hey!" You gasp, earning a light laugh from him.

"It's okay I think you're cute too." He says scrunching his nose.

You stick your tongue out at him, looking away to fake being upset.

"Ah boo hoo. Don't be like that."

You're just about to argue back when the waitress who took your order earlier places down the milkshake that Jisung ordered in the middle of you two. She also drops two straws on the table along with it. Both of you thank her and after she leaves you decide to ask Jisung a question.

"Hey Sungie?" You ask, ripping off the paper wrapping to your straw. "Why this place?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

With a smile, you shake your head no at his response and he lets out a sigh.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yeah!" You nod. "Why?:

"This is where I realized that I was in love with you."

It takes a second for you to process what he had just said. It doesn't hit you right away but the more that you think about it, the more you realize what he meant.

"O-Oh.. Here?" You ask, as if you were unsure of where you were.

He nods in response and watches as you try to put together the pieces of how he figured out he loved you.

"Why?" You ask. "It's not like we've done anything special here. The most we've done is come here after prom.. and the rest of the dances I guess, but prom is the only one that I can really think about."

He giggles. "It doesn't have to be a big event for it to mean something y'know. I realized I was in love with you the summer going into sophomore year. You remember how we came here that night? After I so happened to convince you to sneak out and come to the movies with me?"

"Duh!" You exclaim. "How can I ever forget that?! I had to climb out my fucking window for you, do you know how scary that was? And we had to walk all the way there because neither of us could drive yet!"

"Hey in my defense I said that Johnny could've driven us. You just didn't wanna get caught!"

You roll your eyes at him. "No. That is not why, and hey! Don't try to make this conversation about me! You're the one who's supposed to be explaining stuff right now!"

"Damn." He scoffs. "Ya caught me. Well, anyways, before I was rudely interrupted-"

"You're the one who asked me a question!" You defend.

Ignoring you, he continues. "You remember how we were sitting in this spot, complaining about sophomore year before it even started?"

You nod.

"Well you were going off on some kind of rant- I don't even remember what it was about- but you just kept talking and you didn't seem to notice that I wasn't listening because I was too busy admiring how you looked. Maybe it was because it was the middle of the night, and both of us were very much sleep deprived but for some reason, it just hit me. I don't remember what it was about you, but it was that moment when I realized 'oh my god. this is what it's like to be in love.' y'know? Like you're finally realizing what it's like to be in love with someone, rather than just loving someone. Do you get what I mean?"

You shake your head no.

"Oh c'mon!" He whines. "I can't be the only one who knows what I'm talking about! It's like finally realizing what all the love songs are about, it's just like.. some kind of feeling! And it was just different how I felt from you, being my best friend, and you, being the person I had a crush on. I don't know how to explain it.. but it was just.. amazing."

"Yeah?" You ask.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Is that so? Well.. then maybe I do know what you're talking about."

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"You just did it."

"Wha- huh?! What did I do?"

"You're cute." You giggle.

"You weren't listening, huh?" He says, smiling.

"Nope! Not at all."

"So you do know what I'm talking about then?"

"Of course I do."

"You're so cute." He giggles.

"I know." You respond.

"I'm glad we agree."

─ 5:22am;

The last stop of the night is some place familiar. You didn't expect this location as much as you did others, so when Jisung decided to park here you didn't know what else to say.

"We're at.. your place?"

"Yeah." He nods, walking towards the gate that lead to his backyard.

"We're not going inside?" You ask, confused on where you were going.

"Pffft. Inside? Why would we go in there? Now c'mon, let's go."

Following Jisung into his backyard is nice. You see a lot of roses and plants that hug the side of his house. As you continue to walk you get various memories from when you two would hang out back here, before you got bored and decided that there was more to the world than Jisung's backyard.

"Okay. Do you want to go first? Or do you want me to?" He asks once you reach a ladder that lead to the roof of his house.

"You chose a ladder?" You whine. "Why didn't we just climb out one of your windows or something?"

"Because y/n!" He teases. "Where's the fun in that? Besides we've already done that before, why not do something different tonight?"

"You mean climb a ladder to sit on your roof instead of climbing out your bedroom window like we normally do?"

"See you do get me! That's exactly what I'm saying." He exclaims. "Now c'mon, up we go!" He smiles.

It's nicer than you expected. You don't know how or when he did it but he already had not one, but two blankets prepared. You assumed he put it here before he left to pick you up or he just asked one of your friends to leave them here. Judging by the fact that they didn't feel freezing cold, and that the ladder was already propped up to the side of his house when you got here, you assumed he asked Renjun or Jeno to leave them here.

"So.." You start.

"Please don't ask why I chose my own house." He jokes.

"Okay well first of all, I wasn't." You defend. "I was gonna ask what are we doing on your roof at five in the morning, but now that you mention it.. Why did you choose your house? We could've gone to so many other places."

He gives you a confused look, allowing you to ask, "What?"

"Please tell me the second question was a joke." He sighs.

You give him a smile and he pats the empty spot next to him, signaling for you to take a seat.

"Okay y/n, since you wanna know so badly, I'll tell you, yeah?" He asks, clearly annoyed at the fact that he chose his own house for gods sake.

You giggle. "You don't have to answer it you know. I know why."

"Okay, then I'll ask you. Why?"

"Because," You tease in a sing-songy voice. "Where else would we have gone? Technically, we started tonight at my place so why not end it with yours? We've spent a significant amount of time together, right?" You ask and he gives you a nod in return.

"Exactly. So it would just make sense that we have two halves of one whole, right? You pick out the places, and I bring back the memories. Right?" You explain.

"Congratulations. You've figured it out."

"Of course?" You giggle.

"Do you wanna know why we're up here though?" He asks.

"Yeah sure, why not?"

"It's because we can see the sunrise better from here. Yeah we used to just sit on the roof and talk in the middle of the day, or we'd watch the sun set, but we've never really watched it rise together before, y'know?"

"Really?" You ask. "Are you sure about that? We've pulled all nighters together before!"

"Yeah but one of us is either half asleep or just not paying attention."

"Hmm. I guess you're right about that." You hum.

"Do you promise we'll get a pretty sunrise?" You ask.

"Christ y/n. I don't control the weather! Who do I look like, mother nature?"

"Hey, mother nature is badass!" You scold. "She could literally end everything right here, right now."

"I suppose so." He hums, wrapping an arm around you to pull you closer to him. You rest your head against him and for a while you two just sit there in silence, no words just being said. Just the sounds of your breathing plus some birds chirping due to the current time. It's nice and comfortable. It feels like home.

You feel yourself about to start falling asleep when Jisung starts talking.

"I'm really gonna miss you.. y'know." He sighs, turning his head to look at you. If he didn't know you any better he'd think you actually fell asleep, it's only the sound of you humming the word "yeah?" that informs him you're still awake.

"What's the thing you're gonna miss most about me?" You ask.

"You expect me to chose one?" He asks, only earning another hum in response.

"Okay.. Well.. For starters, I'm going to miss seeing you everyday. I'm gonna miss not being able to text my best friend 'hey let's hangout today' and then just sitting in my room playing Mario Kart with you for the next three hours. I'm gonna miss your little roasts that you'd pull on me whenever I do anything stupid. I'm gonna miss our boba runs we used to have each week. I'm gonna miss causing chaos on the rest of our friends because how else are they going to prepare for trouble if there isn't two of us? There's so many things that I'm gonna miss about you that I could just go on and on about but we don't have enough time for that." He sighs.

"Really.. I'm just gonna miss you."

A second passes before Jisung decides to speak up again. "Are you gonna miss me too?"

"That's a silly question." You sigh. "Of course I am dummy. You expect me to not miss you? What am I gonna do without my partner in crime? My best friend and technically my boyfriend? You expect me to move across country and not miss you at all? Are you insane?!"

"Only a little." He jokes, earning a light punch from you.

"If I could take you with me I would."

"So why don't you?"

"Where are you gonna live? My fucking closet? I can't let you do that, you'll get too cramped in there." You joke.

"I guess.." He pouts.

"So.. What's gonna happen.. between us?" He asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're watching the sun rise, aren't we?"

"I guess.. I just didn't expect it to fly by that fast.." You mumble.

Another moment of comfortable silence passes before either of you say anything. This one lasts for about ten minutes, fifteen at most, with the only sounds being your shallow breathing catching your attention. It's comforting, just being like this. Laying on Jisung's side while having his arm wrapped around you and a blanket hugging you both. The wind picks up a breeze every now and then making you shiver a bit due to the lack of warmth but that only makes you snuggle closer to Jisung in hopes of stealing his body heat.

"Thank you.. for tonight." You whisper. "It's all I could've asked for."

"I'm really glad you liked it. I'm just happy I got to spent time with you before you left." He chuckles.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"Yeah?"

"So much."

The sunrise is pretty. It's one of the best ones you've seen in your entire life. It consisted of pinks, and yellows, and a little bit of purple. Though there were wispy clouds in it, it was like the earth was telling you it's okay to move on and go. Some may say it would be a perfect way to end a beautiful night,  or in your case, the perfect way to say goodbye.

[the-ss-zemyx]

PVP(umpkin Spice Lattes)

Zexion and Arpeggio are Discord friends. They chat in private messages, raid in Verum Rex together, and may or may not have feelings for each other.

Ienzo and Demyx are college roommates. They hate each other, for the most part. At least they can both agree on pumpkin spice lattes.

Happy 2nd Zemyx Day of 2020!!

Specifically for today, the S.S. Zemyx Discord Server hosted a collaborative fic-writing event! Over the course of the past five days, four of our writing members teamed up on a Google Doc in one glorious, inspirational, chaotic, frankenstein-esque fic-writing bonanza! That's right, the fic you're about to read is the product of -four- people's efforts!  Enjoy!! :D

(A HUGE thanks to my co-writers: Aliceslantern, Ennarcia, and Carbonpixel. This was a hell of a lot of fun to do and I'm immensely proud of us!! - Mod Arxsia)

Also available on AO3!

__________

      Demyx hated his roommate. Okay, no, hate was a strong word, and Demyx did his best to be a friendly, outgoing sort of guy, so ‘hate’ was definitely too strong a word. He liked to make friends. Having friends was nice. Having friends was very nice, and so, he tried to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But his roommate was a different story, and Demyx did not like his roommate very much at all.

At least he was easy on the eyes, because everything else about him got on Demyx’s last nerve. His name was Ienzo, but his name might as well have been "Jerk," with a capital J. When he wasn't hogging the Internet bandwidth doing God-knows-what on a chunky Alienware laptop, he was lecturing Demyx on the virtues of keeping the floor free from dirty clothes and giving empty soda cans a proper burial in the plastic wastebasket by the door. Lame. Also, he was a little condescending. That jerk . 

One day, Ienzo burst into their dorm room with the gusto of a hurricane aiming to speak to a manager about a botched coffee order. He swung his laptop bag onto his mattress. It bounced when it landed. "Out," he commanded.

Demyx looked up from his phone. He sat with his legs crossed on his own bed, his Discord app open to a private message thread on his phone. In a few minutes, one of his server friends, a guy with the display name "The Cloaked Schemer" but going by his Discord handle, Zexion#1309, would be starting a voice call with him. It was kind of a big deal--they had been chatting in their shared server for almost a year, and in private messages for almost as long, but they had yet to actually speak to each other. "I'm actually busy," Demyx said.

"I don't care. Out."

It turned into an argument, of course, neither yielding and probably disturbing their neighbors with the yelling. Yep, Demyx didn’t like his roommate one bit. 

He ended up in the lounge by the kitchen, utterly fuming, cursing his idea to “go rando” with a roommate all the while. It’s the best way to make friends, Demyx , his mother had told him. What better friend than a roommate?

Very funny.

At least he’d been able to grab his phone. Of course, Zexion was wondering where the hell he was. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Do you need to reschedule?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: roommate’s being a dick and kicked me out. Sorry!

The Cloaked Schemer: Ah, I too am having roommate troubles. I can sympathize. I know too well what it’s like when one’s privacy is denied.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: he’s driving me NUTS! 

The Cloaked Schemer: Have you tried talking to him about it?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: He didn’t exactly uh seem receptive to talking

The Cloaked Schemer: It’s always a good idea to try for maturity first.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I did! Not my fault the guy wasn’t having it.

Anyway. Id hate to let that guy take up any more time.

Hru?

The Cloaked Schemer: Doing as well as I can, I suppose. I’m enjoying my classes so far. It seems a little easy, but then again, it is only one of the first weeks. Things should pick up more by midterms.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ure too smart zexy. And didnt you skip a grade?

The Cloaked Schemer: A year, yes. I don’t think they call them grades in college.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Considering some of the people ive met, couldve fooled me.

The Cloaked Schemer: If I’m hoping to have a grad degree within five years, I have to fast track it. I’d rather not spend much more time in undergrad than necessary.

Though I am especially resentful that, despite the fact that I am technically a sophomore, I’m considered enough of a freshman to still be required to dorm.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: That blows

But dude, ure here. Might as well try to enjoy the journey, yaknow?

The Cloaked Schemer: Oh, Arpeggio. Your naivete is too obvious sometimes. It’s sweet, I think.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: har har

The Cloaked Schemer: I am disappointed though. I was looking forward to meeting you--in a manner of speaking. You’re probably one of the most sane people from our Verum Rex server.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Issa game, bro. Some of them, idk, take it a little too seriously

The Cloaked Schemer: Well, aspects of it are worth being taken seriously, but I understand what you mean.

Though the ship wars are grating.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ha! Yeah.

The Cloaked Schemer: We’ll have to find some other time, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Mann i was hoping to see if you sound as smart as you type

The Cloaked Schemer: You flatter me.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Do you think if we lived near each other we would hang out?

The Cloaked Schemer: If it’s all the same, I’d prefer to keep my location anonymous.

At least for now.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I know. Just a hypothetical question

The Cloaked Schemer: I’d like to say yes.

But for all I know, you’re actually a forty year old serial killer who lives in his mother’s basement.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: harsh

You listen to 2 many true crime podcasts 

Anyway, I g2g. See if the roomie will let me back in. Got homework.

The Cloaked Schemer: Enjoy your night, Arpeggio.

Hopefully one of us has a good one.

Demyx closed the app and repocketed his phone. He flopped back on the lounge couch, eyes squinting at the fluorescent lights above and his limbs ragdolling in uncomfortable directions. A good night, huh? It’d be better if he could spend time in his own room without having to engage in guerilla combat whenever he wanted to exist in his own space. Wishful thinking, he thought.

__________

      Ienzo stared at the chatlog open on his computer screen. The circle next to Arpeggio’s icon turned a dull gray, and the remaining bits of Ienzo’s hope for decent conversation dulled with it. He had finally caught up enough with his classwork to have some free time to spend, finally arranged to voice chat with Arpeggio, finally gotten Demyx to leave the god-forsaken room so he could have the one conversation he’d been looking forward to for weeks , and now… nothing. All that planning, gone to waste. Another wave of irritation hit him, and suddenly he was out of bed and grabbing his keys. He needed some tea.

Ienzo didn’t get tea at the coffee shop, despite his plans. The alluring, hipster scent of pumpkin spice hit his nose instead, and he caved before he could stop himself.

The college employed students as baristas in the campus coffee shop, as part of the work-study financial aid, so it wasn’t uncommon to see one’s peers at the shop. “Hey, Ienzo,” Riku said. It was getting late; chairs were already on top of all the tables. They’d met in Ienzo’s anthropology class.

“I’m not too late, am I?”

“I can bend the rules for you.” He went back behind the counter. “What’ll it be? Your usual?”

He blushed guiltily. “Pumpkin spice. Please.” Curse that glorious, wonderful scent.

He smirked. “Coming right up.”

“I know it’s dreadfully popular.”

“Yeah, cause it’s good ,” Riku said. “As long as you’re not one of those “half-caff, no whip, vanilla and almond, five shots” type of people.”

“Why complicate coffee so much?”

Riku handed him the paper cup. “At that point, just drink coffee-flavored syrup.” There was a pleasant lull for a moment. Riku began cleaning the espresso machine. “So why are you out so late? Don’t you have an early class tomorrow?”

Ienzo grimaced. “My roommate and I got into a fight.”

“...Again?”

“We are not well suited for each other.” A sigh. “I went to the Residence Life office to try and apply for another room, but the period for that is over. I was told, and I quote, “unless he’s hurting you, tough it out.””

Riku chuckled. 

“He is simply-- obnoxious ,” Ienzo continued, the pressing need to vent taking over. “Slobby, loud, and always around at precisely the most inopportune times. I was supposed to have a call with a good friend of mine, and it took some doing just to get him out.”

“Right, your Discord friend.”

“You have a good memory.” Ienzo swished the coffee around a little; it was slightly too hot to drink.

“The one you have a crush on,” Riku said with a grin.

Ienzo flushed painfully. “I do not have feelings for him,” he said.

“Dunno. You managed to bring that call up in almost every conversation we’ve had. If he was really just your friend, would you be that excited? Enough to hype about it for weeks?”

Ienzo shrugged. “I do not know where he’s from, I don’t know his real name, I don’t even know what he looks like. For all I know, he only uses he/him pronouns online.”

“And?”

“I just… see no reason to desire something I cannot have.”

Riku wiped at the counter. “Oh, don’t be so doom and gloom,” he said. “If the call matters so much, it’s going to happen eventually.”

“I know.” He smiled. “Well, thanks for the tea and sympathy. Er, coffee and sympathy.” 

“Any time.”

“Enjoy the rest of your night.”

“You too. Play nice.” 

“Just promise to bail me out if things go awry, will you?”

“Ha, on my salary?” Riku winked.

Ienzo left the coffee shop. He didn’t want to return to the dorms yet, but the fall night was calm and quiet. He checked his phone (maybe Arpeggio was free? Though he did say he had homework…).

As a stroke of luck, he had a message waiting for him.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I have a room again! \o/��

the jerk was gone when I got back!

The Cloaked Schemer: How fortunate for you. I assume you’re flying through your homework now?

Mel0d10us N0cturn3: nope! :p 

this science paper is kicking my ass!

Im really no good at this sort of thing

The Cloaked Schemer: Do you have any tutors available? Ordinarily I’d love to help but it might be easier and more private to go there instead.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: \o/

We actually do have one of those tutoring centers I think! Thanks for the idea!

Don't want you to waste your special brain-powers on little ol’ me lol

The Cloaked Schemer: I’d hardly call helping you a waste of my “special brain powers.”

It’s not a bad idea to check your local resources though.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: o7

Don’t think I’m gonna make any progress on this paper tonight tho lol

The Cloaked Schemer: Giving up already? I didn’t have you pegged for a quitter.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Awww, come on! Don’t guilt meeee

My poor brain!

It’s mush!

;-; will you not spare some mercy for my poor mushy brain?

The Cloaked Schemer: I suppose just this once, provided you use your resources and go to the tutoring center.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: o7 Yes sir !

First thing in the morning!

My mushy brain thanks you for your mercy and endless kindness!

Ienzo’s cheeks grew warm, but whether it was from the message on the screen or the sip of pumpkin spice coffee currently running down his throat, he neither knew nor was willing to explore.

Despite the late hour, there were plenty of students milling about campus, taking up their little spaces. It had taken him some time to find an empty bench to sit on, but one eventually caught his eye and he claimed it immediately, sitting down with his coffee in one hand and phone in the other.

The sky was inky black, dotted with stars, the sun long gone by now. Nights were starting to grow just a tad chilly, the beginnings of autumn seeping into the atmosphere. It was Ienzo’s favorite season and the aroma of pumpkin spice wafting past his nose was just what he needed to make up for the disappointment of having his voice call with Arpeggio abruptly cancelled.

Well, maybe not entirely. He’d been really looking forward to hearing Arpeggio’s voice for the first time, but this did nicely enough, he supposed. It was better than sitting around stewing in annoyance over his damned roommate anyway.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: so what are you up to right now?

The Cloaked Schemer: It’s a lovely night out. I needed some tea. Got coffee instead.

What is it about pumpkin spice that’s so irresistible? 

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Never wouldve pictured YOU as a devotee of the PSL.

The Cloaked Schemer: Guilty pleasure. 

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: theyre so good. I can’t have that many of them cause caffeine makes me SLEEPY

The Cloaked Schemer: Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me at all.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: whats that supposed to mean?

The Cloaked Schemer: Nothing derogatory, I assure you.

Though the idea of you being hopped up on caffeine amuses me.

You seem like one of those people who has energy all the time.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: i wish

The Cloaked Schemer: I should--begrudgingly--head back to my room.

You should try working on that paper.

I mean it about the tutor.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: yeah, yeah. I hear ya

Hopefully your roommates not being a dick anymore

The Cloaked Schemer: Fat chance. M3l0d10us N0cturn3: enjoy your coffee~~

__________

      Demyx sat for a long time looking at that exchange. He could’ve heard Zexion say those words. He was just so painfully smart, but Demyx could listen to him say anything. About anything. For hours.

He showered and got ready for bed, hoping that Ienzo would stay gone. But as it was, he was back. Ienzo scowled in greeting.

“Nice to see you too,” Demyx muttered. He noticed the coffee cup Ienzo had set down. Ienzo seemed to live on caffeine and spite. 

“I needed to clear my head, as I do not have the luxury of privacy.”

“Well I gotta sleep somewhere,” Demyx said. He crawled into bed. Ienzo rolled his eyes. Demyx saw him grab his own shower caddy and head out to the communal bathroom. He thought he smelled--he blinked. Slowly, ever so slowly, he got up, crossed over to the cup, and sniffed it.

Of course he likes pumpkin spice lattes, Demyx thought bitterly. Ugh.

He went back to bed and fell asleep listening to music.

__________

      The universe thought it was just so funny. Demyx had taken Zexion’s advice and the tutor he’d met with was his jerk of a roommate. At least Ienzo was unhappy too, if the scowl on his insufferably nerdy face was anything to go by.

“What are you doing here?” Demyx blurted before he could stop himself.

“I work here,” his jerk of a roommate answered in response, “as a tutor, for my work study. I take it your procrastinating finally caught up to you and you need some last-minute help?” Did he really have to be so damn condescending though?

Demyx hiked his backpack strap a bit higher on his shoulder and rapped his fingers on the tutoring center's reception desk. Ienzo could glare daggers at him all he wanted from his seat at the computer behind the desk, but the curious eyes of the other tutors and students around meant that he would have to maintain decorum. They both would, lest Ienzo lose his job and Demyx lose his tutoring privileges. He took a deep breath. "I need help with a biology paper."

Ienzo's expression tightened. "Would you like to make an appointment?"

"No? You said it yourself: this is last-minute." Demyx tapped on the desk. "I need to talk to the science tutor on duty, please."

"It seems like we're both out of luck tonight, then," Ienzo replied dryly, absently clicking at something on the computer monitor. "I'm the science tutor on duty at the moment."

"You? Gross." 

"I'm not particularly happy about it right now, either."

Demyx considered his options, and cringed at his conclusions. His paper was due in two days, and it was only half-drafted. Without a passing grade on the assignment, he would set himself up to fail the class. Petty squabbles were not worth the hit to his GPA. He sighed. "Well, can you help? I'm kind of desperate, here."

Ienzo returned the sigh. "Fine. Follow me."

Demyx followed Ienzo around the reception desk to a square table in the far corner, a plastic chair on each side. Ienzo alighted onto the seat closest to the wall. "This better not be a waste of time."

Demyx pulled his laptop out of his backpack before sitting down across from Ienzo. "Has anyone ever told you that you have excellent people skills? Because if they did, they lied to you."

Ienzo rolled his eyes. Yep , Demyx thought, amazing people skills. They were off to a great start. Getting through this paper was going to be agony. "I'm paid to tutor, not practice social niceties."

The laptop screen lit up as Demyx swiped one finger over the trackpad. A screenshot from one of his more memorable raids in Verum Rex guarded the rest of his files behind his login password. Demyx typed his password as quickly as he could, shooing the image of his and Zexion's avatars away before Ienzo could ask any unwanted questions. Evidently, he did not type fast enough. 

“Verum Rex? You're familiar with it?” 

Demyx nearly jumped, shoulders tensing. He knew Ienzo was there; that shouldn’t have startled him as badly as it had.

“Duh? It's only the best MMO on the market right now. Not that you would know, since you're so committed to the whole 'smug asshole' thing,” He snarked on reflex, feeling slightly guilty about it afterwards. Ienzo was being friendly for once, or was at least making something of an attempt at it. Yikes. Demyx wasn't usually one to make low blows like that. He opened the Biology folder on his computer and selected the draft of his paper, making an effort to get along with Ienzo while they were forced to sit together. "Please help me with this? If you would be so kind, please?" Demyx made praying-hands in Ienzo's direction in apology.

Eyebrow rising - was it just one, or both? - Ienzo shot him a look, obviously unamused in the slightest. “If you’re trying to be cute, it’s not going to work.”

Demyx pouted and opened up his biology paper, turning the laptop toward Ienzo. “Fine, fine, just help me?”

Rolling his eyes yet again, Ienzo was just about to lean in to read what Demyx had so far, when the familiar sound of a Discord ping had Demyx scrambling to turn the laptop back toward himself. Shit. He’d forgotten to close his Discord window before showing up at the tutoring center.

While Demyx closed the Discord app, Ienzo watched him carefully, contemplative. “You use Discord?”

Turning the laptop back, Demyx gave him a look, half in disbelief because surely Ienzo was too much of a nerd, but not in the cool way, to know what Discord was, and yet he did. Shit, it would be really awkward to end up in a server together. “Yeah, who doesn’t use Discord these days? I mean, especially if you play games or are into, I dunno, any fan community stuff.”

For a moment, Ienzo said nothing, slowly turning to look at Demyx’s biology paper on the screen. “Alright, let’s see what we have to work with so far, if anything.”

Demyx sighed. Asshole.

__________

      Was this some kind of joke? Ienzo was being pranked, wasn’t he? Any moment now Demyx would start laughing about wasting his time and walk out, like the lazy slacker he was. Halfway through, he half collapsed on the table.

“This is impossible,” Demyx whined. “You don’t really understand this stuff, do you? You’ve gotta be lying.”

Ienzo felt his eye twitch. “Not all of us are lazy fools who give up after 15 minutes. Why are you even here?”

“Because my friend said I should, and I trust his advice. He never leads me wrong, so even if I have to spend time with you , I’m gonna do this.” 

"Your friend sounds like he has the sense that you very much lack," Ienzo deadpanned, scrolling through Demyx's paper. He took stock of the misformatted section headings, missing in-text citations, and the off-center data table in the middle of the mess. The topic of the paper did not appear in any of Demyx's written work. "Can you tell me what this assignment is supposed to be? I can't tell from what you've given me."

"It's…" Demyx shrank back in his seat. "I don't know what it's supposed to be. My professor gave us all a table of data-results-things and told us to organize and analyze them. I don't know what he wants, exactly."

Ienzo huffed, and almost slammed Demyx's computer closed on the spot. Thankfully, his better faculties kept him from breaking Demyx's laptop. "There's your problem. You can't complete an assignment if you don't know what the assignment is . Email your professor for clarification and request an extension. If you do it early enough, they might grant you leniency."

"Really? That's your advice? Beg my way out of it?"

"Not begging. Requesting. It shows forethought, self-awareness, and emotional maturity, even if you don't actually possess any of those things. The adage of faking proficiency to gain proficiency has some truth to it." Ienzo pushed the laptop over to Demyx. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

Demyx's arms crossed, and his expression took on the quality of a betrayed toddler. "You didn't even help me with what I came in for, asshole."

Ienzo waved away Demyx's indignation with a dismissive hand. "There's only so much I, or any tutor, can do without having a good idea of what your professor expects. Emailing is the best advice I can give right now."

"So if I email my professor, you’ll help me?” 

“I give you my word.” A promise made in haste, if only to appease the barest responsibilities of his job. Hopefully Demyx wouldn’t make him live to regret it.

Not long after Demyx was gone, Ienzo checked his Discord app, surreptitiously on his phone behind the reception desk, to find a message from Arpeggio.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Zexy, this worst thing ever just happened!

My roommate is my tutor!

Save meeeeeee

The Cloaked Schemer: That is peculiar. Though colleges are small worlds, so I hear.

What did he have to say re: the paper?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Ugh he couldn’t even help

Because I had licherally no idea what the professor wants

I mean, the dude has an F on ratemyprofessor so

He said to email and beg for clarity and an extension

The Cloaked Schemer: ...That is sound advice, actually.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Youre taking his side???

The Cloaked Schemer: Not exactly.

But in academic situations, it always looks good on you to take the initiative and seek help when you need it.

I guarantee the professor will work with you, and perhaps be able to refine that same assignment in the future.

If he’s worth his salt, he’s seeking to improve himself the way you are.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I GUESS

You wanna do a raid tonite? 

The Cloaked Schemer: Alas, I, too, am a college student with coursework.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: RUDE

Ienzo leaned back in his chair in the campus library. How coincidental, he thought. He’d just given Demyx the same advice. Then again, college papers--especially in the sciences--were not always diverse on the gen ed level. He recalled Demyx’s paper; he should’ve asked him to see the email, or post, or handout with the assignment on it. Chances are the moron had merely misunderstood.

Demyx liked Verum Rex. Perhaps they could have this to talk about. Ienzo wondered who he mained. Probably Yozora, he thought with a sneer. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Actually, I can do one raid.

ONE. Brief. Raid.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Thats more like it! \o/

One raid turned into two, then Ienzo ended up staying in the library, at the tutoring center, until it closed.

__________

      Demyx begrudgingly took Ienzo’s advice. After his marathon raid session with Zexion, he sent a brief email--agonizing over the wording--to his professor, who responded almost instantly with an apology. Several students had already asked him about the assignment, it turned out, so he was going to extend the entire class’s deadline. But if Demyx needed a few days after that, he could have it.

“You were right,” Demyx murmured out loud, as he read the email the next morning. 

“Of course I was,” Ienzo said, not looking up from his desk. “See? All it takes is a little maturity.”

The irony. Demyx grimaced. He looked over at him. “So you’ll help me?”

“When--and only when--I am on duty,” he said. “I have a life outside of work, you know.”

Demyx wondered how true that was. Ienzo spent a lot of the time in the room if he were not in class or in the library. Did he have friends? Did he go to societies? He nearly asked. Then he looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time in weeks. He had bags under his eyes, and was washed out, books spread in a circle around him. “Outside of studying, too?”

Ienzo opened his mouth, then shut it. “I am not here to socialize. I am here for a degree.”

“But don’t you… have any friends?”

“Of course I do,” Ienzo said, just a little too quickly. 

Like he would honestly tell Demyx. “Sure,” he said, shutting his laptop and tucking it into his bag. “Well. I got class. I’ll see you at the center later?”

“Much to my chagrin,” Ienzo responded evenly.

Demyx’s day was ordinary other than that. After the professor clarified what he wanted in class (and, to Demyx’s immense relief, it was much less daunting than what he’d thought), he stopped by the library to check out some books which might point him in a vague direction. Ienzo could tell him if they were any good. He stopped by the coffee shop to grab a croissant and a coffee, and, on impulse, got one for Ienzo as well. The idea of it made him nervous. Maybe I’ll say they made an extra by mistake, he thought. He already knew Ienzo drank them.

There Ienzo was, sitting in the office. “It’s you,” he said in an unreadable tone.

“It’s me.” He cleared his throat. “Um…” He thrust out the coffee without saying anything else.

“Is this for me?”

“Uh, yeah.” He felt his face heat--though why? 

Ienzo took it, looking confused, and sniffed the small hole in the lid. “Oh,” he said softly.

“I wasn’t sure if you liked--”

“No. I do. That was kind of you.” He blinked, his expression odd, slackened; Demyx realized it was without malice. “Let’s get to work, shall we? I don’t want this to take any longer than it has to.”

Ienzo helped him structure the paper, and reviewed proper citations with him. It would take a little work, but seeing it outlined, Demyx felt a lot less overwhelmed. Something he thought was a mammoth project would maybe take an hour or two to write.

“Once you have it written, come back and I can help you with grammar and syntax,” Ienzo said.

“Awesome.” He took a deep breath. “I feel… a lot better now.”

“One typically does when one stops procrastinating,” Ienzo said. He leaned back in his seat. For a second--but just one--he sounded like Zexion, all firm and proper, genteel without being rigid.

__________

      "You got your grade back already?"

Demyx beamed as he held his laptop screen-out, his browser logged into the university's online grading system. One score was listed under BIO 101, labelled "Paper 1." The percentage displayed next to the assignment name was higher than Ienzo expected from Demyx. "I didn't completely fail!" he practically cheered.

"So you didn't," Ienzo agreed, nodding slightly at the number from his desk. "It's amazing what a bit of work will do."

Demyx dropped himself onto his bed and turned his laptop. He bounced on the mattress a few times while he looked at the number. "This is the best news I've gotten all semester and it's the best feeling. Is this what it's like to be a genius and get good grades all the time?"

Ienzo returned his attention to his own laptop, where a half-drafted essay mocked him with its blinking text cursor and nonsensical thesis statement. He clacked another line of bullshit into the document. It was for English class, he reminded himself. Any answer was correct if it could be argued well. "No, not really. You get used to it."

"I… I should thank you," Demyx said, after a beat of silence. "For your help. I wouldn't have had anything to turn in at all if you hadn't told me to email my professor."

Another line of bullshit trailed across the screen. Ienzo squinted at it, unsure of what he had typed. "Don't mention it. It's my job."

"But still. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Ienzo could hear Demyx shuffling on his bed. "So… you play Verum Rex?"

"Fairly regularly, yes."

"Do you do raids or multiplayer at all?"

Ienzo shot Demyx a warning glance. "I already have a raiding group. I'm not looking for another one."

Across the room, Demyx had tucked himself into bed, his Star Wars sheets pulled all the way up to his chin. He blinked at Ienzo unceremoniously. "Jeez, forget I asked. No need to be snippy about it."

Demyx's head disappeared under the covers, and Ienzo returned his attention to his essay. At least, he tried. The Discord notifications in the corner of his screen kept distracting him.

Eventually, Ienzo admitted defeat and opened Discord. All of the messages were from Arpeggio.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: hey, do we have an opening on our raiding party?

Zexion?

Oh nvm he said no

What are you up to?

I'm taking a victory nap after getting a good grade on that paper I had to 

write a while back

My roommate is typing something and he's so loud

What is he writing that makes him so angy

The Cloaked Schemer: I am also typing angrily at something

It is a universal collegiate experience

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: still so angy tho

Are you angy atm?

The Cloaked Schemer: I am… frustrated

I'm meant to be dissecting the themes in a short story but I feel like I'm only spewing garbage on the page

Perhaps if I present the garbage with enough conviction, I will be able to maneuver through this class

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: if youre writing it, it's definitely not garbage :P

you need to have more confidence in yourself, Zexy

The Cloaked Schemer: Ha. I think my roommate would disagree

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: well then he's a bum

Tell him that

Arpeggio says so

Ienzo looked back at Demyx, cocooned in spaceship bed sheets and doing who-knows-what under the cover of bed linens. He thought he saw the flash of a phone screen through the fabric, but the light disappeared as quickly as he caught it.

The Cloaked Schemer: I'll pass. He seems busy.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Busy doing what? Bum things?

The Cloaked Schemer: I certainly hope not. We're in the same room right now.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: oh. Awkward

The Cloaked Schemer: I’ll say.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: so you know ive been thinking

The Cloaked Schemer: Have you? What a concept.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ha ha.

Its been a while since we tried voice chatting

Maybe we could try again?

The Cloaked Schemer: You would want that?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I want to hear your voice. To see if youre actually as smart as you write

Maybe youve got, like, a transatlantic accent, or something. Thatd be cool

Ienzo blinked, staring hard at the screen. His heart beat a little faster. It was so hard to determine tone through text. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Maybe I’m not as cool as I seem.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: highly, HIGHLY doubt it

Youve kept me sane

I really appreciate our

Ienzo saw him type “thing” and then frenetically edit to “friendship.” He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.

The Cloaked Schemer: The feeling is mutual.

A long, long pause. Ienzo did not know what else to say. His face was burning.

The Cloaked Schemer: Normally I’d rather be caught dead than admit this.

But it does get somewhat lonely here.

It’s nice to have someone to talk to.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I know what u mean

Sometimes i feel like i dont really know who i am

And like college is supposed to be about finding that

But its hard.

The Cloaked Schemer: You don’t have to tell me twice.

Part of why it’s so easy to exist in online spaces, in games. Appearance doesn’t matter. It’s like being a more concentrated version of oneself.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Do u feel like a more concentrated version of yourself?

The Cloaked Schemer: When I talk to you.

Ienzo’s heart was pounding. He thought he heard Demyx sigh across the room. Was he typing too hard?

Arpeggio started and stopped typing several times, just making Ienzo more nervous. What is he going to say? Did I push it too hard? Was I too forward?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Me too, Zexion

I wish we knew each other. Like, irl

Getting to do raids in person

That would be so fun

And i dunno, maybe do other things

Go out to eat. Go to the movies. Maybe go dancing.

Do u like clubs?

The Cloaked Schemer: I’ve never been.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: it takes some getting used to

But the energy of a crowd is electric

Especially with people you know

Oh god oh god oh god , Ienzo thought. His hands were trembling. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Where would we go to eat?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: anywhere you want

Well. on a college students budget anyway

-laughs in poor

The Cloaked Schemer: Ah, so, five star cuisine, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Just dont order the lobster

In all seriousness. We need to vc sometime

The Cloaked Schemer: Yes.

There’s going to be a raid event on Saturday. Perhaps then?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Depends on if i have the room :/ 

Wanna say yes so bad

The Cloaked Schemer: I know the feeling.

I suppose if I get desperate enough I can rent out a study cubicle in the library.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Awww you’d do that for little ol’ me?

The Cloaked Schemer: Yes, I

His finger slipped, hitting the enter key a moment too soon before he could even finish the thought in his head. His hands felt almost clammy, the inner mechanizations of his mind working on overdrive, as if trying to race against the pitter-patter beat of his heart. Shit. Perhaps… Riku was right after all? Had Ienzo, usually so level-headed, actually developed a crush on Arpeggio? It was utterly nonsensical, and yet he couldn’t deny that he felt a comfort with Arpeggio that he didn’t feel with anyone else he knew, online or offline. Was it possible to fall- ...to develop a smattering of feelings for someone based on typed text alone?

Well, wasn’t that a theme in literature? Two people falling in love over written letters? For all Ienzo knew, there could very well have been instances of it happening in real life, in the days of old, long, long before the age of technology and the internet. A pair of penpals, miles and miles of distance between them, communicating through the written word; it could happen, couldn’t it?

Hold on. When the hell did he turn into a sap ? Frowning, Ienzo ran a hand over his face, feeling like a lovestruck fool.

No. No, this couldn’t be a crush. Just because it was so easy to talk to him, just because they’d been talking for a year or so by now, it didn’t mean-

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Zexy?

You ok?

Shit, how long had he zoned out for? 

The Cloaked Schemer: Sorry. Got distracted.

But regardless, I think we should aim for Saturday.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Great!

Hoping we don’t get interrupted by our dick roomies

The Cloaked Schemer: Quite. It’s a date, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Yes :3

Ienzo took a deep breath. Regardless as to whether or not this was practical, it seemed that Arpeggio reciprocated his flirting.

Wait. Ienzo looked at the screen, cheeks heating up as he realized he’d typed the word ‘date,’ and Arpeggio said ‘yes .’ He couldn’t deny the little flutter of his stomach in that moment.

__________

      Demyx set his phone aside, his heart beating heavily in his chest, his face bright red. He swallowed. There was no way sleep would come easily now, and it probably wouldn’t be until Saturday.

He thought about the nature of crushes. He’d never seen Zexy’s face, or heard his voice, but he was so adept at weaving words in the way Demyx wanted to be with music. He tried to imagine him, what he might be like.

He rolled onto his back. Ienzo’s frenetic, noisy typing had stopped. Demyx sat up, rubbed his eyes, and pretended he’d been napping the whole time. “You good?”

Ienzo shut his computer quickly, like he’d been doing something questionable. “Yes. Fine.” He was a little out of breath. What the hell had he been writing?

Demyx blinked. “I’m gonna go get a coffee,” he said instead. “Want me to bring you one back?”

“Sure,” Ienzo said, his face flushed.

Demyx shook his head. Well. If Ienzo needed to take care of that he had at least a few minutes now. “Cool.”

The whole time he was at the coffee shop, he kept thinking about Zexion, all their little conversations. It was evolving, and evolving fast. Demyx knew from brief experimentation with dating apps that just because a person sent you some flirty words didn’t mean anything would come of it. For all he knew, Zexion lived in New Zealand, or something.

That didn’t stop him from wanting it.

He drew a deep breath, exhaled. Well. Saturday he would find out.

Demyx wasn’t going to let Ienzo ruin his chances of meeting Zexion. He decided to strike preemptively, pausing at the door of their dorm room and sucking in a breath, steeling himself. He could do this. He could ask his roommate for the room for one night, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Hey, so, I have a thing Saturday,” he said vaguely. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t coming off as strongly as he intended, but he could still try. “Mind if I hang here alone for a few hours?”

Ienzo glanced up. The flush was gone, and he seemed much more composed. “Yes, that’s fine. I was going to go study anyway.”

“Study? Don’t you ever have any fun?”

“Perhaps I find studying fun,” Ienzo said.

“Suit yourself.” As he passed on his way back to the bed, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Ienzo had Discord open.

__________

     Friday night, Demyx barely slept. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. Crushes didn’t usually… hit him this hard. It’s dumb. It’s so dumb. His loneliness was getting to him. Even Saturday morning, there were some hours until the events started. He looked at his DM history with Zexion. They’d spoken briefly, only to confirm a time and place for their characters to meet and chat. He sat at his desk, his hands trembling, as the game booted up.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: You ready?

The Cloaked Schemer: Of course.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Cool.

My mic isnt like great

But you can still hear me

He was shaking. He was shaking. “Get it together,” he muttered to himself.

The Cloaked Schemer: You’re a broke college student. I’m not expecting a professional setup here.

Though I will say my booth is pleasantly soundproofed.

Let me connect.

And Demyx thought his heart might stop. I’m so gay, he thought. A second later he heard that familiar call connection. He twitched a little, and his mic clattered loudly on the floor. Shit!

“Arpeggio? Are you alright?”

“I just dropped the--”

A long, long pause.

He knew that voice.

“Zexion?” He picked up the mic and set it down.

“Arpeggio?”

“I dropped the mic.” Demyx swallowed.

“You…” Zexion fumbled for words. “Speak a little more, please.”

“Is that really you?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re in a library right now.”

“And you had an event… Saturday.” 

“Ohh my god,” Demyx mumbled. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, just that he was feeling a lot of it. “Ienzo. You’re Zexion?”

“It’s an anagram,” he said, his tone numb.

“Seriously, this whole time--”

“Evidently.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but at the same time, there was something warm in his chest.

Wait, no. No. This was Ienzo, and they hated each other--

Demyx realized he was panicking. He also, vaguely, in the back of his mind, realized the call had disconnected.

Demyx spent the next few minutes desperately trying to control his breathing, trying to not focus on how Zexion- No, Ienzo- was so disgusted it was him that he’d immediately dropped the call.

Of course. Of fucking course. The universe hated him. The universe had it out for him, surely. Why else would this have happened? He finally meets this sweet, smart, wonderful guy who takes him seriously and actually likes talking to him, on a regular basis , and then… And then… It turns out to be the very same roommate who hates him. That would just be his damned luck, wouldn’t it?

Grabbing his pillow, Demyx face-planted into it, pressing it furiously against his eyes to stop them from burning, to stop the tears that threatened to spill. Of all the people it could’ve been. Why Ienzo ? 

Demyx had been nervous enough as it was, afraid the person on the other end would think him annoying - his voice, his tone, the way he just couldn’t fucking shut up sometimes when he got excited about something. Alternatively, the filter between his brain and his mouth was immensely weaker than the filter between his brain and his fingers, and he could’ve said the wrong thing, unable to stop himself in the same way his hand can catch itself on the enter key before hitting it, or quickly delete the message before Zexion could read it.

But this was so much worse, because Ienzo already knew him, already had an impression of him, and that impression was far from good. It’s no wonder he disconnected the call so suddenly. He likely couldn’t stand hearing the truth any longer, stomach churning with disgust, head filled to bursting with regret, and not just regret over the voice call, but everything .

An almost entire year’s worth of conversations, soiled now, because Demyx was, well, Demyx . A slob. A slacker. An idiot. He wasn’t worth Ienzo’s time, and now he knew he wasn’t worth Zexion’s.

A sharp ache spread over his chest, cold and numbing, all of him tense with it. He… liked Zexion. He very genuinely liked him, so excited to get to talk to him, his bristling nerves aside. All week he’d thought about it, daydreaming, wondering what the person on the other end would sound like, if he’d love that voice as much as he loved the text on his Discord screen.

It no longer mattered, not when it was now clear that Zexion - no, Ienzo , was utterly disgusted with him.

It was over. It was all over - their friendship, a year’s worth of personal conversations, these budding feelings he was beginning to have, or that he’s been having for a while now…

On the flipside, was Demyx disappointed that it turned out to be Ienzo? He… didn’t know the answer to that, still reeling in the fact that Zexion, his dear friend and crush, hated him. The pillow was starting to suffocate him and he instinctively pulled it away from his face, eyes still burning. He sucked in some deep breaths and just when he was finally on the cusp of calming down, his door swung open so fast Demyx feared it’d break off the hinges. 

Ienzo leveled him with a determined stare. “You.”

__________

      Ienzo sat.

And sat.

And stared, and sat some more.

He was dizzy. Slowly, so slowly, all the pieces clicked together. The coffee. The references to Verum Rex. How they were always just missing each other. The whole tutoring scenario. Good god . So this person he’d been harboring feelings for this whole time was--

He pressed a hand to his forehead. And yet, a small part of him… was relieved?

It could be…

No, it couldn’t be anything! They hated each other! They’d complained to each other about each other more times than Ienzo could count. They had--

Ienzo felt the walls of the study booth begin to close in around him, pushing the breathable air out of the room. His ribcage constricted around his lungs, and his heartbeat pounded at his temples. He gathered his laptop and microphone in his arms and burst out of the room, chest heaving.

He braced himself against the outer wall of the study booth and willed himself to breathe normally, his head tilted all the way back to rest on the door. This was real life, and he was fine. He would be fine, anyway, with a bit of finessing. Okay, perhaps a little more than a bit.

Ienzo retrieved his backpack and stowed his equipment inside as he analyzed the situation. Arpeggio and Demyx were the same person. A strange revelation, but not world-ending. He could find another raiding party. He could join another server. There was more than one person with whom to play Verum Rex.

But--

Ienzo caught himself zipping and unzipping the top pocket of his backpack, more forcefully than necessary each time. A new server didn't sound appealing. A new raiding party, even less so. He would have to chat with new people, learn their idiosyncrasies and fighting styles, learn their pseudonyms and remember how they differed from their usernames. It all sounded so… hard, and boring, and unnecessary. 

He zipped his backpack closed for the last time and held it at his side by its tiny top handle. Its back straps kicked at his calves as he raced out of the study area, through the main lobby, and into the courtyard. His mind was set. His choice was clear. The only thing to do was follow through.

Ienzo made a beeline back to the room. He found Demyx sitting cross-legged on his own bed, his computer accessorized with a small budget microphone and his face awash with something that looked like guilt. His eyes widened when Ienzo crossed the threshold. 

"You." Ienzo's statement rang out like a gong.

Demyx swallowed. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk." Ienzo shut the door behind himself. It slammed closed, though Ienzo had not intended for that. 

"...yeah." Demyx turned back to his computer, fiddling at the USB port where his microphone connected to the rest of the machine. "Ienzo, I--"

"Shut up." Ienzo stalked into the room, single-minded. He stopped at the edge of Demyx's bed. "Shut up and listen, for once."

Demyx's shoulders rose to his ears. He stayed quiet.

Ienzo dropped his backpack to the floor. Though his fingers trembled, his resolve held firm. The moment of reckoning was upon him. "Did you know?"

Demyx shook his head.

"Did you want to know?"

He responded in a whisper, pained and hushed. "I wanted to meet Zexion."

Ienzo's hands trembled faster. He balled them into fists to compensate. "And now that you know," he said, "do you regret it? Wanting to know? Learning the truth?"

A tear trailed down Demyx's downcast cheek. "No."

Something deep inside Ienzo wanted to reach out and wipe away the tears that followed, while Demyx's breath caught in gasps over his laptop keyboard. Ienzo steeled himself. "I… don't regret it, either."

"You don't?" Demyx looked up and met Ienzo's gaze with caution. Aside from the red tinge at their edges, his eyes looked almost hopeful. 

Ienzo softened, relaxed his fists. "I don't want to find a new server, or a new raiding party."

Sniffling, Demyx nodded. "I don't, either."

"I don't want to stop talking to Arpeggio," Ienzo continued, his heart playing timpanis in his chest. "He is a close friend of mine."

"He's also your lazy roommate." Another tear escaped, this time going down the side of Demyx's nose. Demyx wiped at it with the heel of his hand. "Ienzo, I--"

"We've had differences. We've also had commonalities, albeit in virtual space. There's no reason we cannot bring the two together."

"Ienzo--"

"There's no reason we should be at each other's throats. We--"

"Ienzo!" 

He blinked. The drum performance in his chest missed a beat, then started from the top at full speed. "Yes?"

Demyx unplugged the microphone from his computer, sighed, and tossed it to the far edge of his bed. "I don't think that will work."

Ienzo frowned and crossed his arms. He was beginning to remember why he and Demyx didn't get along in meatspace. "Why, pray tell, is that?" he asked.

Demyx swallowed again, more conspicuously than before. "It's just… I…"

Ienzo leaned forward, his head cocked to the side. "You what?"

"I, um, I…"

"Go on. I don't have all night."

Demyx pushed his computer aside and drew his knees into his chest. "I… shit. I had a thing for Zexion." His shoulders hitched with sardonic laughter. "Shit. Fuck. This sucks." He reached behind himself for his pillow and buried his face in it. "This is so embarrassing," he whined, his voice muffled.

Ienzo's budding anger deflated. "You… you did?"

Demyx nodded into his pillow. "Uh-huh. And now you know, too."

Ienzo opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't make the words in his head form coherent phrases. His throat sputtered with half-formed consonants instead. Words. For fuck’s sake, wasn’t he good at words? Why was this suddenly so damn hard?

"This is the worst," Demyx groaned. "Just kill me now. Make it look like an accident. Tell my family I loved them. Don't let my sister take my bedroom at home."

Ienzo's faculties returned in the bumbling, clumsy way that drunkards stumbled home from dank local pubs. "I... don't think that will be necessary," Ienzo managed, through his own confusion.

"No?" Demyx put his pillow back in its place, and faced Ienzo with dried saline clumping in his eyelashes. "What, are you gonna torture me instead? Make me regret being born? Because you're a little late on that front, buddy, I already do."

Ienzo took a deep breath. His crossed arms dropped to his side, then held each other at the elbows. "I may have developed… similar feelings. For Arpeggio." Ienzo's mouth went dry. The drum performance upgraded itself to a full marching band drumline, twenty-five snare drums pounding paradiddles and rolls in synchronized sweeps. 

A silence consumed the space between them, interrupted only by Demyx's sniffling and Ienzo's heartbeat. It stretched into the abyss and the stratosphere in equal measure, and stung more acutely than the idea of never speaking to Arpeggio again.

Demyx broke the silence by clearing his throat. "So…"

Ienzo coughed. "So..."

"Are we…" Demyx unfolded his legs and swung them over the side of his bed. His hands grasped at his mattress, and his head hung from his shoulders  "Are we, y'know… do we still, like…"

"Do you want to be?" Ienzo shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Friends, cohorts, party members, server mutuals? Or…"

"Or what?" 

"Or…" Ienzo trailed off. Or what, indeed? Friends with benefits? Significant others? Boyfriends? The mere thought made Ienzo's palms sweat. "Or…"

In the moment between Ienzo's efforts to name his emotions and act on them, Demyx had sprung up from the bed and slipped his hands around the sides of Ienzo's face, his thumbs resting just below the apples of Ienzo's cheeks. His breath tickled at Ienzo's nose and lips. "Or… this?"

Heat seared at every inch of Ienzo's face. If he could feel Demyx's breath, Demyx could feel his as well. "...I suppose, yes."

"In that case," Demyx murmured, somehow purring and wavering at the same time, "tell me no." He rested his forehead on Ienzo's. "Tell me no, and we won't. I promise. Things can go back to normal."

A whimper, wholly undignified and unbidden, escaped from Ienzo's higher register. "I can't," he whispered.

Demyx leaned forward, and Ienzo followed. At some point, they met in the middle, and the world's axis shifted two degrees to the left. It was a tentative press of lips, but Demyx’s hands on his face kept him anchored. It didn’t feel like Ienzo thought it would, and self-consciousness invaded. Suddenly Ienzo felt very young and immature; vulnerable .

But… after a moment or so, not so much. Demyx was so warm against him, and Ienzo realized it was a learning curve, one he was picking up with his usual speed. He was shaking a little in disbelief. It was so-- nice.

Demyx pulled away and brushed his fingers across his cheek. "You're trembling."

"Forgive me. I--" He swallowed.

"No, it's cool." Demyx pulled away and smiled, brighter than Ienzo had ever seen someone smile before. "Do you… want to go again?"

Ienzo did, very much so. "I'm not opposed, per se, but I think we should… explore our relationship a bit. Perhaps starting with our mutual interest in pumpkin spice flavors." 

“Sounds like a plan to me, Zexy,” Demyx grinned.

__________

      Riku set the pair of pumpkin spice lattes down on the little square table in the back corner of the coffeeshop, glancing at Ienzo, then Demyx, then back at Ienzo, one eyebrow shooting up into his hair. “Is the world ending? Did I miss a memo on the corkboard in the back room?”

Ienzo coughed. He was vaguely aware of the heat rising in his cheeks. Damn it all to hell. Of course Riku was here, why would it have been anyone else? Sighing, he gestured to Demyx, bracing himself for the inevitable bit of humiliation, courtesy of the one friend who knew about his very apparent crush on his Discord friend. “Riku, meet Arpeggio.”

Riku’s other eyebrow shot up into his hair. “You’re shitting me.”

Demyx looked across the table at Zexion, clearly trying to fight the incoming of a shit-eating grin. “You talked about me to people?”

"Only the unimportant ones," Ienzo said, picking up his cup and sipping loudly.

“Psh,” Riku spat with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, and every damn minute of the day. If I had a dollar for every time you made heart eyes at the ceiling while talking about him, I could quit this job and pay off my tuition.”

Ienzo balked at that, nearly choking on his latte. “It was not that often.”

Waving a hand, Riku corrected himself, looking pointedly at Demyx. “Wait, no, he’s right. I’m forgetting that half the time, he’d be complaining about his horrible room-”

“Shouldn’t you be behind the counter?” Ienzo hissed, glaring at Riku. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Demyx’s gaze flicking between him, like he was watching a game of ping-pong. “Or should I text Sora and Kairi about all those little hearts you like to draw around their names on the garbage receipts every time they come in?”

"Go ahead. I'm ninety percent sure they're both into me, anyway."

Ienzo pulled his phone from his pocket and brandished it at Riku. "Are you willing to test that theory?"

"Make sure you write it down," Demyx chirped, blowing into the hole in his drink's lid. "If you write it down, it's science. I learned that in Biology this semester."

"I'll do more than that," Ienzo said, tapping on his phone screen with both hands. After his phone played a short 'whoosh' sound, he placed it face-down on the table. "Images sent. Now we wait for our results."

Riku scoffed, then balked, then turned beet-red. "You're an asshole," he hissed through his teeth.

"Relax. I was just kidding,” Ienzo said with a glint in his eye that Demyx barely caught.

"Forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical." Riku scowled for a moment, but eventually softened into a smirk. "Whatever. Enjoy your Discord date, Casanova." He knocked on the table once before returning to the checkout counter.

"Discord date?" Demyx asked, taking a swig of his pumpkin spice latte. "I thought we were hanging out in real life."

"Let's not split hairs. We're about to see a show." Ienzo jutted his chin in the direction of the cafe's front door. As if on cue, Sora and Kairi burst through it like a duo on a mission.

“Oh Riiiiiiiiku!” they chorused in sing-song at the top of their lungs.

"Sometimes," Ienzo said, turning back to Demyx, "I like to watch the world burn."

“Yeah, I know. That’s actually kind of hot,” Demyx admitted, taking another sip of his latte. "Remind me not to piss you off again, though."

[capricornus-rex]

heey, i was wondering if you could make an imagine with cal, in which he likes the reader and everyone knows but she is oblivious to it. Thanks in advance and sorry if my english isn't perfect I am actually Brazilian. Love ur writing btw

Hey there! I could definitely make it, hence this fic hehe ;) It was fun writing it because an oblivious reader is a first for me. You’re welcome and don’t worry, your english is fine! I hope I didn’t use any difficult words in the fic for you. And thank you! Hope you like the fic 😁😊💕

“The Two Faces of Bracca”

Cal Kestis x Reader

Tags: Non-Jedi! Reader, Oblivious! Reader

Masterlist

The rain had stopped for once in Bracca.

Cal’s division was granted a half-day. It has been a while since they last received such a privilege—that is technically a work benefit—after working on the new acquisitions for a whole week.

“See ya later, Cal!” Prauf waved as Cal walked away.

“Yeah, you too!” the young boy waved back.

He navigated through the inside of the gigantic machinery: shimmying through tight spaces, scaling grates from one level to another, and swung on ropes between large gaps. Cal was a natural at this—after all, he practically grew up here. After passing by a few more workers who have recognized him—and his purpose—they point him to a direction the moment they meet eyes with him; Cal, in turn, nods back at them as a silent thanks, then continues on his way.

He traverses through a series of winding turns in halls that are now tilted sideways due to the position of the ship, risky climbs that involved grabbing on rickety ventilation grates, and climbing up a thick cable as the last part of his route to reach the bridge of an abandoned Republic frigate.

“Hey, [y/n]!” he called as he pulls himself up to the ledge of the opening.

You immediately stop your welding, took off you mask and acknowledged his presence.

“Oh Cal, hey there,”

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

He walked up to you and stood next to you, glancing over your shoulder and studying whatever it was you were tinkering.

“What are you still doing here? Today’s a half day!”

“Oh, right. I clocked out earlier with the rest of you guys, I just went back to finish this.”

“A speeder?”

“Yeah, well, sometimes the lifts barely fly or that the pilot droid’s busted so I figured this would be a better alternative—it’s only a prototype. I think it isn’t conducive for driving yet. I was just about to finish for today.”

You blanketed the speeder with an old canvas tarp and prepared to get yourself cleaned. Cal willingly helped you out in putting away your tools.

“So, are you going to Qeb’s blow-out tonight? His treat, he says.”

“Oh, that was today?”

Cal nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely be there!” you beamed.

“Great! I was… I was thinking we’d go there together.”

“I’d really love that, Cal,”

You could’ve sworn you spotted some color on Cal’s cheeks—even in the dimness of the sky and under the roof of your hideout. You bite your lip and pretend that you didn’t notice it.

“Well, that should be all of your stuff. I gotta go and get changed too.”

“Sure, I’ll see you tonight then,”

“Meet me at the scrapyard’s entrance gates?”

“Of course,”

Cal dismissed himself and left the bridge in the same path he got there. As soon as he got far enough from the bridge, he smuggled a celebratory smile and hissed a very private “Yes!” as he exited your hideout.

Cal met up with Prauf shortly after his visit to you.

“Oh, there you are, kid! Where have you run off to?”

“I just went to [y/n],” Cal couldn’t resist the smile curling up in his lip, it was one of those unconscious yet natural smiles. “I asked her to come with to Qeb’s little party at the pub.”

“So, it’s a date then?” Prauf teased, seeing that he was hopelessly smitten.

The warm color returned to Cal’s cheeks and he has no full control of it. The boy stammers his way to a coherent answer. Prauf bellowed in an endeared laughter.

“Come on, it’s not like that…” Cal defended.

“Oh, Cal, I think it is like that!”

Cal shrugged off the teasing and headed back to his place—an abandoned Venator that he has made into his home. He sheds his black-and-orange poncho on a makeshift rack—one of the many makeshift fixtures that he has resourcefully crafted ever since he’s called dibs on the abandoned ship—followed by removing the top part of his jumpsuit and then proceeds to get himself cleaned.

It was quiet inside his Venator home, but it was a peace that he had grown accustomed to.

He splashes a handful of cold water onto his face. He tilts his face away from the basin, letting the droplets trickle down his neck, his collarbones, and finally down to the groove in the center of his chest. The moonlight shines over the mirror with his foggy reflection, he gently scratches away the grime that collected on his face which he subsequently rinses off. He sighed under the moonlight, then scoops water into his cupped hands and brings it to his mouth. For his finishing touch, he combs and rakes his scarlet hair back like how he always have kept it.

Donning a fresh, black jumpsuit and a second poncho that looks exactly the same as the one he hung, he exits the Venator and makes his way to the entrance gates of the scrapyard—exactly where he promised you and he would meet.

“There you are,”

Your voice caused Cal to spin around until he spots you standing next to him. This was his first time seeing you with your hair down, since you always wear it in a ponytail during work. He examined you from head to toe: a black shirt under a navy blue, sleeveless leather coat, beige pants, and black boots. A new sight from your usually scrapper’s blue jumpsuit and poncho.

“Have you been waiting for a while?” you hummed.

“No, no. Not really,”

“Oh, that’s a relief. Thought I kept you waiting.”

“No, you didn’t. Don’t worry,” he smiled.

Cal walked by your side on the way to the pub, the both of you shouldered through the dense crowd in the city. It wasn’t an easy route though, some of the people accidentally bump or brush against your shoulder or arm as you follow the flow of the foot traffic. Cal decided to put his hand on the small of your back—which somehow made you flinch—guiding you while keeping you close to him.

“You look great, by the way,” Cal bashfully said, in the very little window of time where neither of you are pushing your way through the traffic.

“Thanks, you too.”

Eventually, you’ve arrived to the bar where the get-together was happening. It seems that they were about to start when you and Cal came in. There weren’t many who came, but most of them were from work—ones that you worked closely with and the friendlier ones too. All of you shared a table, exchanged stories about the past week over some drinks.

“I saw [y/n] work on something cool earlier,” Cal blurted and now everyone wants in on it.

“Oh? Let’s hear it!” Qeb, the Besalisk host, insisted.

“Nah, it was only a prototype. It’s a speeder I modified that can carry a few kilos of scrap—in case the lifts are busted.”

“Dibs on the first test drive once you’ve finished it,” Cal casually blurts.

“You got it,” you smile before bringing your glass to your mouth.

At the corner of his eye, Cal saw that Prauf was looking at him funny—but the scrapper boy clearly knows the message that his friend was trying to send. When you have put down the glass, it was too late for Cal to make the move for now. The conversation evolved into a banter of engineering tips, then it eventually transitioned into a recollection of each other’s funny stories that happened at work.

Apparently, the night was still young for Cal and you, even after Qeb’s get-together treat. Cal waited until Prauf, Qeb, and the others have left. He gently nudges you on the arm.

“Come on, follow me.”

A smirk plays along his face and takes a step ahead of you. Intrigued, you willingly followed; fortunately, the foot traffic was sparse, which made it easier for you to catch up to him. Cal led you back at the scrapyard, but along the way, you realize that it’s a route that’s unfamiliar to you.

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, you’ll see!”

The farther you got, the more interesting this became.

“Careful when climbing the cable. Hope you’re not afraid of heights!”

“I’m kinda used to heights!” you chuckled.

The faint creaking of the cable that you were climbing on somehow worried you, but you didn’t let it ruin the fun; the sound of the twanging sound of the cable made your heart skip as you scaled it.

“Whoa!” you gasped when the cable loosened and jiggled, you were still clinging onto it—and you were only mere inches away from the ledge where the rope ends.

In that same split second, you felt Cal’s tight grasp on your arm, you tilt your head up and meet eyes with him.

“Don’t worry, I got you!” he reassured you.

You were startled from the near-death experience that you couldn’t say anything, though he sensed your gratitude.

“Come on, give me your other hand.” He coaxed.

You linked arms with one another and he pulls you up. He loses his footing causing him to stumble to his back, on the other hand, you landed on top of him while he was still clutching you in his arms. You gently lift your heads, exchanged glances at one another, and saw color fill your cheeks. The two of you communicated in small chuckles and shy stutters.

“Sorry,” you mumbled as you bring yourself to your feet, offering him your hand which he gladly takes.

The cycle continued when you pull him up to his feet, his weight nearly made you lose your footing, but he caught you just in time by wrapping his arm around your waist.

“Got you—again.”

Cal releases you after a few seconds and then beckons you to follow him again.

“Are we close?”

“Yup!”

At last, he has led you to the highest point in the scrapyard, atop another Republic command ship but he has brought you to the roof of the main command center—or the bridge. The cold air was breathtaking, as well as the sight that the scrapyard has to offer—silhouettes of ships as far as the eye can see, dark indigo clouds looming in front of the pale, ivory moon.

“Oh wow…” you sighed. “I don’t think I’ve never seen a view of the scrapyard like this before.”

“Wait till you see Option B.”

He chuckled a bit, brings his finger to your cheek, and gently angles your head to the other direction.

The second view stole what little air remained in your lungs. It was a citywide view of Bracca: gigantic hologram projections of advertisements danced between blinding neon lights of every color, speeders and pods sped through in neat lines as they leave trails of lights from their taillights, even the people dotting the streets added some color.

“Oh God…” you gasped. “Why didn’t I see this before?”

“Pretty cool, huh?” Cal said while producing two cans of Jawa juice that he apparently bought earlier at the pub while you weren’t looking. He offered you the second one and clinked cans with one another.

You conversed while staring into the neon light-filled horizon of Bracca. The two of you had the same pose of propping your chins over your fists while sightseeing side-by-side.

Both of you spent the night with more stories, whether they were from the distant pasts—way before either of you ended up in Bracca—your plans for the future, the present, or shallow secrets. No detail was spared from this intimate conversation. In fact, it was one of the very rare moments that you actually open up—Cal was the only person you trusted and he has the same sentiment for you.

Your contagious laughter made Cal’s stomach fill with butterflies as he shared one story about himself as a child involving a cookie jar that didn’t belong to him, conspiring with one of the elderly keepers, and splitting the bounty—which were the cookies—until two in the morning.

When it appeared that neither of you have any more stories of your past to tell, you shift back into the topic of this place that he has brought you to.

“Do you always come here?”

He shakes his head, “Just occasionally.”

“I’m surprised you’ve kept a scene like this to yourself for so long. It’s just so pretty up here.”

“Yeah,” he cooed, then turned his head to you, his next word was a soft whisper. “Pretty.”

Cal watched the streaks of neon flicker as mere lines over your eyes, their glow mingled as they illuminated your face altogether, a smile slowly curls up at the corner of his lips; you slowly turn your head to him, never have you ever been this physically close to him you could practically kiss him.

You shoot him a bashful smile before returning your attention to the cityscape. Seeing your smile was always enough for him, he examined your features once more—for some reason, you looked somewhat a different person when not in your scrapper’s uniform. Nevertheless, he released a long, contented sigh, savoring the night with you by his side.

[taegis-gf]

A little help from my friend - Part 2

Hiiiii! Part 2, I know this is months apart but I only write when I can!

Part 1 Here!

Word Count - Around 3K

Rated M - warnings: thigh riding,  sex lol

It had only been a day after you and Taehyung had done what you did before he texted you.

It was like he wasn’t even bothered about what you had done and you hadn’t stopped thinking about it, it had consumed your every moment for the past 24 hours, you sighed loudly as you glanced at the text.

Movie night at Namjoons!!! hope ur coming!!

How was he back to being his same old self with you so fast?

After about 5 minutes of staring blankly at your wall, your phone buzzed again. As you looked down it was a text, from Jungkook this time.

hey, hope ur coming to namjoon’s, i want to see u :)

You let out a long groan of frustration, you were going to go to this stupid movie night.

*

As you arrived at Namjoon’s doorstep you took a deep breath, this didn’t have to be weird if you didn’t make it, right? Nothing had changed between you and Taehyung, at least that’s what you tried to convince yourself as you knocked on Namjoon’s door.

“Y/N!” Namjoon greets you warmly, pulling you in for a hug.

“Hey Namjoon, did I miss the start of the movie?” You asked, knowing your internal debate had caused you to be late.

“No no of course not, you know how we are, we haven’t even picked the damn movie yet.” He laughed as you followed him down to his basement which had been renovated into a small but decent living space where you all liked to hang out from time to time.

As you followed him down the stairs and into the space you quickly glanced around to see the two small couches already being taken up by 5 boys, Namjoon had his own chair that he didn’t let anyone sit on, so there you were standing like an idiot with nowhere to sit. You played it off, going to sit on the ground.

“Woah!” Jimin – you knew him but definitely not as well as Namjoon and Taehyung – started, “I saved you a seat right here Y/N.” he said tapping his lap. You scoffed and rolled your eyes “In your dreams Park.”

“Oh, you are.” He said, smirking at you. Why are men disgusting?

“Hey if there’s anyone’s lap you should be sitting on, it’s Jungkook’s, am I right?” Namjoon chimed in and you could have slapped him then and there.

You glanced at Jungkook who gave you a small smile and you couldn’t help as your eyes glanced to Taehyung for a small second who had his face buried in his phone, typical.

“You mind?” you said looking at Jungkook.

“You want to sit on m-my lap?” He asked stuttering a little, his eyes widening.

“No you idiot,” You scoffed. “I just meant can I sit on the floor where your sitting and lean my back against the couch.”

“So you want to get in between his legs?” Jimin asked, still smirking.

As you sat on the floor you just rolled your eyes, boys were tiring.

Taehyung, however, who was usually the nosiest in any room at any given time, was being eerily quiet, acting like his phone screen was the most interesting thing in the world. You let out a small sigh, you really hoped it wasn’t because of what you had asked of him.

As the boys finally agreed on a movie and turned off the lights you asked Namjoon if he had any snacks.

“There might be some in the kitchen, go up and check.” He said casually. 

Namjoon had said a long time ago that he wasn’t treating anyone that came to his house like guests otherwise he wouldn’t get a moments peace, so if you wanted something you were getting it yourself.

You got up and started walking up the stairs, making your way to the kitchen you didn’t even realise Taehyung had been behind you until you turned only to be a few centimetres away from his face.

“Jesus Taehyung you scared me half to death.” You said after nearly jumping out of your skin.

“Sorry,” he said giving you a small smile, “just decided I wanted something sweet to eat.” And you could have sworn he said it in such a way, you were the something sweet he was referring to.

“Oh.” Was all you said, before turning your back to him, opening a cupboard. You spotted some cookies on the top shelf and decided to reach for them, as suspected you were too short and after a small struggle, you felt Taehyung press behind you, his crotch pushing into your ass for a short second before he grabbed the cookies and moved away from you again. 

“Can you stop that.” You said, your cheeks heating.

“Stop what?” Taehyung asked, feigning innocence. 

“You know exactly what you’re doing Taehyung!” You said, feeling frustrated.

Taehyung walked forward, pinning you against the counter.

“This is so stupid, but… I cannot stop thinking about you. What have you done to me? Do you have a magic pussy?” He asked, breathing heavy.

You could’ve laughed if he hadn’t been standing so close to you, moving in slowly, putting his lips to your neck in short sweet kisses.

“Taehyung, give it a rest…we can’t do this…Jungkook…”

“I don’t mind sharing,” Taehyung said, still working on your neck.

“I know your freaky ass doesn’t, but I doubt Jungkook would be happy about this.”

You could barely concentrate on what you were saying as Taehyung kissed and licked at your neck, pressing his clothed crotch against yours.

“Hmm you are so pure, I can’t stop thinking about how I wrecked you, are you sore?” He asked.

You were a little, Taehyung had made you sure you felt what had happened. 

You gave him a small nod.

“That pretty pussy of yours took me so well, you did amazing for your first time.”

You couldn’t believe how bold Taehyung was being with his words but truth be told, you loved it.

You wanted so bad to egg him on, to have him take you out to his car and fuck you until you couldn’t remember your own name.

Like he was reading your mind, he spoke, “How do you feel about car sex?”

You let out a small moan as he looked at you his pupils blown out.

“Such a pretty sound.” He said.

“Fuck…Tae…I can’t. It was a one-time thing. I did this so I could finally get the courage to fuck Jungkook, remember?”

Taehyung frowned a little.

“I know.” He said sighing a little. “But it was so fucking hot. I didn’t know it was going to be like that.”

You groaned a little.

“Taehyung…we have to go back downstairs people will begin to wonder where we are.”

“Okay okay,” He said, finally moving away from you, but you couldn’t lie, you already missed the feeling of him against you.

You took a deep breath, trying to compose yourself.

As you both walked downstairs you tried to act casual, even pretending to look at your phone as you walked towards where you were sitting.

“What’d you get?” Namjoon asked and you waved the cookies in the air before throwing them to him, you didn’t feel hungry for food anymore.

“Sweet!” He said ripping open the packet like some primal animal.

“Y/N!” You heard Taehyung say. “Come sit on my lap, at least it’s not weird that way.” 

You were going to kill him. If you protested too hard people would wonder why - you and Taehyung had always been comfortable with each other.

You looked behind at Jungkook and he simply shrugged, not seeming too bothered.

You let out a heavy sigh as Namjoon switched the lights off again, trying to find your way over to Taehyung in the darkness, you reached out your hands. Taehyung responded by grabbing them and pulling you down to him. You fell into him awkwardly, grunting in annoyance.

“I don’t know what you’re hoping to gain from this.” You hissed at him, keeping your voice low. Luckily it was dark, and the movie was loud.

Taehyung let you adjust yourself and once you had perched yourself at the edge of his knee, you sighed heavily, this was exhausting.

Before you could even realise what was happening Taehyung began shaking his knee causing you to spread your legs to plant your feet on the floor so you wouldn’t fall. Your core landed directly onto Taehyung’s meaty thigh and you nearly groaned out loud, this boy was smart.

Taehyung leaned forward, “I’m so glad you wore that little skirt, do me a favour and move your panties to the side.”

You took a shallow breath, surely he can’t be serious?

“Do it for me, baby, just shift them over a little.”

You nervously looked around, no one was looking at you.

As if a woman possessed you quickly lifted a little and did what Taehyung had asked, moving the lace to the side so that your core laid bare on Taehyung’s jeans. You quickly retrieved your hand from such an inappropriate place, what the fuck was wrong with you?

Taehyung just watched you, feeling so turned on he nearly came in his boxers.

“Good girl, now use me.” Was all he said.

You hesitated, far too nervous to even do anything let alone grind yourself on his thigh.

Taehyung shifted his thigh and little and felt the full sensation of his thigh against your bare core.

And fuck did it feel good, you moved your hips a little, keeping a slow and steady pace, you could not risk getting caught.

Just a few days before you had never done anything sexual in your life, how did you end up here?

“Come on babe, ride me properly.” 

Jesus Christ, it took everything in your being not to moan.

You picked up the pace a little, you were practically dripping onto Tae’s thigh. 

You needed more, you needed him inside you, this wasn’t enough.

“What’s wrong? Why are you slowing down?” He whispered in your ear.

You were so turned on you didn’t even care how crude you were being when you whispered back.

“I want you- your ya know…” You practically whined.

Taehyung couldn’t get both of you up fast enough and then all eyes were on you both.

You tried your hardest to look normal, but you weren’t sure if it worked.

“Guy’s I’m just going to drive Y/N home then come back, she said she thinks she’s getting a migraine.”

A valid excuse, considering you did get them frequently. Taehyung was a good liar.

“I can drive you home Y/N.” Jungkook piped up and you immediately felt guilt. What the fuck had you been thinking sneaking away with Taehyung? You felt so stupid being blinded by lust, you were better than that.

“Yeah, that would be great Jungkook. Thanks.” You said.

“But-” Taehyung began to protest and you shoved an elbow into his ribs. 

Jungkook smiled at your agreement, standing up and leading you upstairs.

Your phone began to ding and you already knew who it was.

You quickly glanced at your phone, scanning just a few messages.

U know our fuck was gonna be  sooooo good!!!

Cnt believe u left w him THAT horny

Wait…ur not gonna fuck him… r u?????

You nearly laughed out loud, turning your attention away from your phone and focusing on the back of Jungkook’s head. As you followed him out to his car you grew a little frustrated you had basically blue-balled yourself, you had been so close to coming just a few mere minutes ago.

“You okay?” Jungkook asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You quipped.

Horny was an understatement. 

As you got into Jungkook’s car you found yourself unable to keep your eyes off him, watching the veins in his arms as he changed gears, watching the concentration on his face as he kept his eyes forward. He was stunning and you no longer had the fear that was holding you back the last time.

As he pulled up at your apartment you felt insatiable.

“Do you wanna come in?” You asked him casually.

“I thought you had a headache?” He said, his eyebrows furrowing, you noted how cute he looked doing that.

“Yeah, I kind of do, but I still wouldn’t mind some company.” You pouted. “We could watch a movie or something, maybe finish the one that was on in Namjoon’s.”

Jungkook nodded slowly unsure what you were really getting at.

“Yeah sounds good.” He said.

As you led him into your apartment you shut the door and watched him as he settled himself on the couch. He had on jeans this time around, tight around his thighs you noticed how much they accentuated the shape. Fuck was the only thought you could muster. You could still feel the wetness that had gathered at your entrance and you wanted nothing more than to finish what you started, even though it had been Taehyung who had started it.

“So what do you wanna watch?” He asked, he was shifting about a little, he looked almost uncomfortable and you wondered why.

“I don’t know, were you enjoying the movie at Namjoon’s? I’m sorry I dragged you away.” You said as you sat next to him, not too close but close enough so you were nearly touching his side. 

You were being tactile, but you couldn’t help yourself.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t paying any attention to it, for the most part, I was thinking about how jealous I was of Taehyung the whole time.” He said, still looking forward.

Your eyes widened in surprise, you knew he hadn’t seen what you had been doing, but if the mere thought of you with Taehyung had made him jealous…

God you were so turned on it was bordering sinful.

“You know…” You began. “If you wanted me to sit on your lap all you had to do was ask Jungkook.” You said, smiling-what you hoped looked-seductively at him.

It was Jungkook’s turn to look surprised.

You took your chance to straddle him again. You were ready this time and the excitement boiled in your stomach making your core throb. 

Jungkook kept his hands at his side for a moment, a little bit stunned at your actions.

But when you bent your head to kiss him he slowly raised them to your hips once again putting you in the same position you had been in a few nights ago. 

“I’m sorry about the other night.” You said breathily between kisses.

“I didn’t mean to leave things like that, truth be told I just got scared.” You admitted, breaking away a little to see his reaction. 

Jungkook just smiled at you sweetly.

“I’m relieved to hear that, if I’m being honest I thought you’d lost interest after kissing me, I thought you didn’t find me attractive or something…” He trailed off.

God was he serious? You had made someone as beautiful as him feel inferior?

“No god no, are you kidding me? Have you seen you?” You rambled

But Jungkook merely chuckled, more than eager to kiss you again, he closed the space between you once more.

Jungkook kissed you so intensely it made your damn head spin.

You didn’t know what was turning you on more, the feeling of his tongue in your mouth or the fact that his hands how now made their way down to your ass.

As you both found a comfortable rhythm you found yourself getting so worked up you started to grind down on Jungkook’s noticeably hardening cock.

A small moan left your lips as you finally got some relief and Jungkook copied your sound clearly loving the sensation as well.

“God you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?” Jungkook moaned in between kissed.

“Definitely not as long as I have.” You replied, struggling to get your breath back.

You mewled a little, grinding down onto him more, you could not get enough of him.

You slowly pulled away, to pull off your shirt and leave you in your bra, it wasn’t anything fancy but the look on Jungkook’s face could tell you it was more than enough.

“Do you know how sexy you are?” He asked his breathing was heavier now, he looked flushed and a light sheen of sweat was beginning to appear above his brows.

“Hmmmmmmm, I could say the same about you.” You said as you removed yourself from his lap, standing up you began shedding more clothes and started moving towards your bedroom, Jungkook couldn’t get up fast enough, following you whilst shedding his clothes, when you opened your bedroom door you felt him grab at your waist walking with you over to the bed you both lay down Jungkook on top, only in his underwear now and you boldly decided to reach down and palm at his length.

Jungkook let out a moan of relief finally getting some real friction.

You rolled him over and took your place straddling his hips, looking at him you reached down and pulled down his boxers finally freeing him.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” He asked, his chest was heaving as he stared at the image of your hand holding his hard dick.

“Hmmm.” Was all you said as you glided your hand slowly back and forth over him.

 You slid your flimsy underwear to the side and began to slowly lower yourself onto him, gasping at the sensation as you began to have sex for the second time in your life. 

Jungkook let out a low groan as you finally took in his full length.

“Please,” Jungkook whined as he opened his mouth in pleasure.

You slowly began to move, not entirely sure what to do in this new position, rotating your hips for a few seconds to adjust to the pressure, it wasn’t long before Jungkook grabbed your hips and thrust into you.

“Fuck, keep doing that.” You said as he began to piston his hips.

You both got lost in each other as your pleasure began to build, it wasn’t long before Jungkook flipped you over and began fucking you into the bed. You bit down on your lip to keep yourself from being as loud as you wanted to be. 

“I wanna hear you, babe, don’t hold out on me.” He said, panting and smiling.

“Please fuck me harder…feel’s so fucking good.” 

Jungkook let out a groan at the sound of your words happily obliging to your request.

He thrusted harder and faster and you could feel your orgasm approaching.

Jungkook reached his hand down and began rubbing at your clit sloppily but it was enough for you to let out a small yelp, your pleasure intensifying.

“Want you to come for me, please, I’m so close,” Jungkook said.

“Me too, ah fuck- I’m so close too.” You replied through moans.

Jungkook was slowing down but the pressure on your clit grew rougher and you bucked your hips up chasing your orgasm that was about to crash down on you at any moment.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” You half yelled as you orgasm washed over you.

You were so lost in the immense pleasure you felt you couldn’t even focus on the feeling of Jungkook pulling out of you only to come all over your stomach you only smiled at the feeling.

As you slowly came back to reality Jungkook spoke first.

“I made such a mess baby I’m sorry.”

“Mmmm, don’t worry, it felt good.” You replied. You slowly reached a finger down and rubbed into on your stomach picking up a little bit before popping your finger into your mouth relishing in the taste.

“Oh fuck.” Was all Jungkook could manage, his breathing still heavy.

You laughed a little, mind fleeting back to Taehyung for a minute you silently thanked him before following Jungkook into the shower.

[bellero]

I Want To Love

Request: request-  heya !! could you maybe write a sister Winchester fic where the reader is being like really irritable and emotional bc she’s struggling with her sexuality, and is like really upset bc she wants to be able to have a girlfriend without feeling afraid of what other people think? and she’s afraid to open up to Sam and Dean about it bc she thinks they won’t understand ? ahhh sorry if this doesn’t make sense 😅 I’ve never requested anything b4. (Also ur fics inspired me to get back into writing !❤️)

Characters: Dean Winchester x Sister!Reader, Sam Winchester x Sister!reader, reader x female!OC.

Warnings: homophobia, internalised homophobia, swearing, anxiety.

Author Note: I’m going to slowly work through my requests. It might take some time but please be patient<3.

----------

You were lying on your bed in the dusty motel room, your brothers were out interviewing a witness on for a case. You had read reports of a ghost that was harming residents of an old, abandoned house. You were scrolling through a tag you had found on twitter, it warmed and broke your heart simultaneously. You loved that these people were proud and comfortable with living life 100% authentically, but it also made you sad knowing you’d never be able to do that. It broke your heart knowing you’d never be able to publicly love a woman. It’s nothing to do with your family, god no, your brothers have never cared about that stuff. As long as you were happy, they were fine. However, you had always had this internalised shame for being gay. 

The door opened and your brothers walked in, “how’d it go?” you asked placing your now locked phone on the bedside table. Sam and Dean took off their jackets, Sam was sat at a small table with his laptop open and Dean was sat on the bed next to you “well, you were right. It’s definitely a ghost attacking these victims” Sam said, you did a small fist bump which caused them to smile at you, “luckily the person wasn’t cremated. Her remains are still in her grave, we’re gonna grab some food and head over” he explained further. You nodded your head and scooted to the edge of the bed “does this seem like a safe enough hunt for me to partake in?or...” you asked. Dean shot you a look,  

“kiddo, you know you have to rest up that ankle. I’m fine with you coming with us and helping out with the research but you gotta take care of yourself” you let out a groan and flopped onto your back, “fine” you grumbled. You had injured your ankle two weeks ago during a Wendigo hunt, it wasn’t broken, just badly sprained but that didn’t stop your brothers from overreacting. Dean stood up and hovered over you, “you hungry?” he asked, you nodded your head and sat up “you left me for three hours with no food in the motel room and no money. Of course I’m hungry, you idiot” you glared, he put the palm of his hand on your head and pushed you so you fell back onto the bed, you let out a laugh and kicked his leg, “can we go to that diner we drove past on the way here?” you asked, Dean nodded his head and turned to Sam who was typing away on his laptop, “Sammy, you coming?” he asked, Sam nodded his head and shut down his laptop. Your brothers left the motel room before you but quickly jumped when you pushed your way between them and ran towards the Impala, “I call shotgun!” you yelled at Sam whose eyes widened as he chased after you, Dean rolled his eyes but had a fond smile on his face as he watched the two of you fight over the front seat. Eventually Sam picked you up and moved you away causing you to flip him off.

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

The car stopped outside of the diner, you jumped out and walked in-between your brothers. “I’ve never been this excited to eat in my entire life” you muttered under your breath. Dean swung an arm over your shoulders “we are so related” he said causing you to let out a snort of laughter.  

You stepped into the diner followed by your brothers you inhaled the smell of freshly baked food, Sam motioned to an empty booth near the back, you walked over, Dean slid in next to the window and you sat next to him, Sam sat opposite the both of you. You leant over Dean slightly and grabbed a menu, you opened it and began looking through your options.  

You heard footsteps skip over to where you were sat, “Hi, I’m Sophie and I’ll be serving you today, can I get you anything?” you looked up and felt your heart stop beating, your eyes widened slightly so you quickly adverted them back to the menu. You felt Dean elbow you in the side causing you to glare and hit him back “you having anything?” he asked, you nodded your head and glanced back at the waitress “yeah, I uh, could I have a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a water... please” you stuttered out with an awkward smile, you cleared your throat and handed her your menu, she took it out of your hands “awesome, be back soon!” She walked away, you followed subtly with your eyes, you quickly snapped out of it and shook your head. You look at your brothers who were smirking at you “what?” you asked somewhat defensively “you got a little flustered there, huh?” Dean asked, you narrowed your eyes at him and shook your head “no, I just think I’ve seen her somewhere before, that’s all” you swallowed nervously, luckily, they left it alone.

You were talking about the case when the waitress came back with your drinks, “I’ll bring your food out in a sec” she said with a smile, you let out a deep breath and took a sip of your water, you had said one sentence to this girl and you were already smitten and flustered, you put your water back on the table “how long do you think it’ll take to salt and burn the bones? I don’t really wanna be in that motel room on my own for hours. That place is creepy” you muttered at the end whilst taking another sip of water, “hopefully not too long, it’s a pretty cut and dry case” Sam explained, you nodded your head and let out a small yawn, “did you even sleep last night?” Dean asked, you shrugged your shoulders, your brothers knew that shrugging your shoulders was another way of you saying “no”.  

Sam sent you a look of disapproval, “you need to sleep, Y/n. We don’t want you getting hurt on a hunt because you become sleepy” you looked at him and rolled your eyes, you went to speak but was interrupted by the waitress coming back over with your food “here you go! One chicken salad, and two bacon cheeseburgers with fries” she handed Dean’s over and then yours, you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion when you felt a piece of paper on the bottom of the plate. When Sam and Dean weren’t looking you pulled out the paper,  

hey, I don’t usually do this but I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime?  

Here’s my number, let me know!

-Sophie.

You sucked in a breath a smiled a little, you quickly tucked the piece of paper in your jacket pocket and grabbed the salt and tomato ketchup, “so what’s the plan of action?” you asked whilst sprinkling salt over your fries, Sam grabbed it out of your hand and frowned “stop using so much, it’s not good for you” you and Dean shared a look before shaking your heads, “and we’re gonna drop you off back at the motel and then drive over to the cemetery” you nodded your head and grinned, it gives you a perfect opportunity to meet with Sophie.

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

Your brothers had just left to finish the hunt, you had been pacing the motel room for a solid ten minutes. You collapsed onto your bed with a sigh and unlocked your phone. The cemetery was about a half hour drive away, it’d take another half hour the dig up the grave, if not more and another half hour drive back. You had around an hour and a half, two hours at the most.  

You typed Sophie’s number into your phone and started typing out a text,  

Hey, it’s the girl from the diner. I’m free tonight if you wanted to hang out? My brothers are out for a few hours and I'm getting a bit bored. My name’s Y/n by the way!

You threw your phone down on the bed and let out a sigh, ‘the text sounded so stupid’ you thought, you walked over to the sink and went to turn on the tap to get some water when you phone binged, you ran and dived on the bed. You opened the message and grinned.

Hey! I didn’t actually think you’d text, but I’d love to hang out. I’ve got about an hour left on my shift here if you’d like to keep me company, it’s been a real quiet night. Also, I like your name, it’s cute x

You let out a small laugh and buried your face in the blanket. You’d never been this flustered over a girl before. Granted this was the first time you’d actually tried to flirt with a girl. You shot her a text back.

I’d love that. The place we’re staying at is 10 mins away. I’ll see you soon? X

You clicked send and went to put your phone down before you quickly typed out another one.

Also, your name is cute too x

You let out a smile and grabbed your jacket, you wrote out a quick note and placed it on the table,

Got a bit hungry so I’ve headed back to the diner. Call when you’re back – Y/n x

You slipped your jacket on, pocketed your phone and some of the money Sam had left for you and walked out of the door.

---------

You were slightly freezing when you entered the diner, it was a cold night and you were fairly certain your hands had turned blue. You cupped your hands over your mouth and breathed hot air into them. You looked around and spotted an empty booth near the back tucked away in the corner, you walked over and sat down. You shrugged your jacket off your shoulders and rested your arms on the table. Letting out a sigh you pulled out your phone and checked the time, you had maybe an hour and a half before your brothers came back, you were snapped out of your thoughts when somebody placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of you.  

You looked up and smiled, you tucked your phone away and grabbed the hot chocolate. ”Hey” you breathed, she sat down across from you with a small smile on her face, she had deep dimples on both sides of her mouth, her emerald green hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail and the apron she was wearing had coffee stains over it. “Hi” she giggled, “how’re you?” she asked, you nodded your head “I’m good, thanks for the hot chocolate. It’s freezing out” she nodded and smiled “it’s fine, your lips were practically blue. I didn’t want you to stay freezing” she looked down for a quick second and looked back up at you “so, I’m guessing you aren’t from around here?” she asked, you let out a small laugh and shook your head. You took a quick sip of hot chocolate, “no, me and my brothers are from Lebanon. We travel a lot though for... work” you furrowed a brow whilst you tried to explain the complexity of your situation, “hunters, right?” she asked.  

Your eyes widened which made her laugh, “I mean c’mon. You guys roll into town days after a mysterious murder? Plus this a small town, one of our regulars came in and told me about how some guy knocked on his door claiming to be FBI but then started asking him about cold spots and flashing lights” you let out a small breath and started laughing. You looked up at her and tilted your head “how did you find out about the things that go bump in the night?” you asked, she sighed “my dad use to hunt a lot. One night he went out to hunt a vamp nest but he didn’t come back... we don’t know if they turned him or killed him” her voice was quiet and her eyes were downcast, you reached over and grabbed her hand “I’m sorry that happened to you, I know what it’s like to loose somebody you care about... it’s not great” you sympathised, she slowly laced your fingers together and smiled softly “yeah, I guess it helps talking about it... my mom acts like it didn’t happen, she’s in denial about the whole thing so talking to her is pretty useless” she explained, you gave her hand a gentle squeeze which caused her to look up at you “you can talk to me” you offered, she smiled and nodded her head.  

It had been about half an hour since you arrived, you had talked a lot about hunting, she had asked you about what it was like living with your brothers, you asked her about school. She was a little jealous about the fact that you didn’t have to go.

“I swear Sam is so overbearing with school stuff. The second we found the bunker he started researching schools in the area” you laughed whilst eating a fry, “we came to a compromise that he would just home school me instead, I thought it’d be awful but it isn’t too bad” she let out a laugh, “what did Dean think about it all?” Sophie asked with a fond grin on her face, you shrugged your shoulders “he didn’t really care... I mean don’t get me wrong, he did try to talk me into going to school a couple times but when he realised I wasn’t budging he gave up, left it all to Sam” you smiled, it’s rare you get to recounter the good memories you shared with your older siblings, it was nice being able to talk about them this way.

Sophie looked at you for a few seconds and you stared back, “are you out yet?” she asked, you froze slightly but managed to shake your head, “I’ve been debating it... I know they wouldn’t care, they’d be happy for me either way but I’m still just so scared, y’know? I mean, even I’m still battling with myself about the whole thing... I just don’t think I’m quite ready, I’m almost there. It’s just going to take a little more time, I think...” you trailed off, it was her turn to grab your hand this time, “whatever you decide to do, I’m here for you. You don’t have to rush this, take your time” she said rubbing her thumb across the skin of your hand. You smiled softly and clasped her hand in yours, “thank you, it means a lot” she smiled and brought your hand up to her mouth and gently placed a kiss on your knuckles, “anytime”.

Your little moment was interrupted by your phone ringing, you sighed and answered it,

“Hey, Dean.... I’m at the diner, got a bit hungry but I left a note...” you rolled your eyes, “I didn’t call or text because I didn’t want disrupt you guys” Sophie stifled a laugh, you grinned at her “nah it’s fine, I’ll walk back, kay see ya!” you hung up the phone and huffed out a breath which causes Sophie to let out a laugh “never have older brothers, they suck” you rolled your eyes, she smiled and nodded “duly noted” she checked the time whilst you looked around the empty diner “wanna help me close up?” you nodded your head and stood up, you helped her collect the dishes and clean them, it was quiet but it wasn’t awkward. It was comfortable. It felt right.

You were drying and putting the dishes away whilst she cleaned them, “hey, Y/n” you turned and was met with soap suds to the face, your lips quirked at the sound of her giggling, “I’m glad you found that funny” you said whilst wiping them off your face, you grabbed a handful and covered her head with it, you were both laughing, you handed her the towel as she dried off her head whilst you wiped your face with the other one, you placed your towel on the counter and looked at her “you uh.. You missed a bit” you said pointing, she tilted her head to the side, “let me just-” you gently took the towel out of her hand and patted the part of her head that was still damp with soap suds, you cleared your throat as you put the towel back down, you turned your back and finished drying the rest of the dishes, you grabbed for a cup when you felt her grab your hand, you looked at her to find her already staring at you. You smiled softly, “hey” you whispered, she laughed “hey” she stepped closer and you could feel your heart jump into your throat.  

You looked down as she intertwined her fingers with yours, you smiled softly and gave her hand a small squeeze. With a slow exhale you looked up to find that she was pretty much toe to toe with you. She reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear, she went to speak when a knock on the diner door sounded, you stepped away and looked over to the door, you had let out a groan of annoyance when you saw your oldest brother stood there, Sophie shot you and amused grin when she walked over and unlocked it allowing him to enter.  

You stepped out of the kitchen, “Dean, I told you I was going to walk back” you said, he shrugged his shoulders, “it was getting late, plus I don’t think you’d wanna walk back in that” he gestured outside, you pulled a face at the sight of the pouring rain.  

Dean turned to Sophie, “you need a ride home?” he asked, she shook her head but grinned over at you “nah, I'm good. I’ve got a car” she pointed towards the red Jaguar. Dean nodded in approval “is that the 1994 XJS model?” he asked, his interest suddenly peaked, Sophie nodded her head. You looked at Dean, “so, are we heading back or?” you asked, he snapped out of whatever trance he was in “sure, grab your stuff, I’ll go wait in the car” he walked out and jogged towards the impala.  

You turned back to Sophie, “I’m sorry for him. He sees a nice car and turns... weird...” you trailed off as you slipped your jacket on, she shook her head “it’s fine... so this is goodbye, huh?” she said, your turned towards her with a small frown on your face and shook your head “no, absolutely not. I’d love to see you again... I’m about an hour out, so it’s not too far” you shrugged, she smiled and nodded “I’d love to see you again too... we’ll have to plan something” you nodded, it was silent for a while “what were you going to say? Before Dean interrupted...” you asked, she stepped forward “I was just wondering if I could kiss you...” she trailed off looking down at the floor, you smiled softly and stepped closer to her, you were eventually toe to toe again, she looked up at you “okay” you spoke softly.  

--------

You ran towards the Impala, the rain was coming down a lot heavier. You opened the passenger door and sat down, you closed the door and turned your hands towards the heaters “I hate the rain” you grumbled. Dean chucked and slowly drove out of the parking lot.  

It was silent for the majority of the car ride, that was until Dean spoke up. “I uh... I wasn’t interrupting anything back there, was I?” he asked, you froze and turned to him. You quickly shook your head, “no, I was helping her clean up and got soap on my face, there was still some in my hair so she was getting rid of it” you spoke, you hated lying to your brother but it was easier than the truth, “you sure?” he asked, you nodded your head, “okay” he spoke.

You jumped out of the impala and into the apartment, throwing your jacket and phone onto the bed, “hey, Sammy. Gotta pee” he laughed when you raced past him into the bathroom, Dean walked in after you and shook his head, “dude, what took so long?” Sam asked, Dean shrugged off his jacket and sat on the bed “I was waiting for Y/n, she made friends with that waitress from earlier” Dean explained, Sam furrowed his brows at his brother, a sign he knew there was more. Dean let out a sigh “I think I may have interrupted something... I don’t know, when I asked her about it, she lied. Do you think she’s hiding something?” Dean asked, Sam pondered for a moment “possibly, but we shouldn’t grill her about it. She'll tell us eventually” Sam said, hoping his idiot of an older brother would listen.

Dean sighed, he was about to talk when your phone interrupted him, you had a text. Dean looked down at your phone and then over to Sam whose head was wrapped up in research. He subtly grabbed your phone and flipped it over so that the screen was facing him.

Hey, I had a lot of fun tonight. It was great meeting you... I guess we could count this as our first official date? I hope we can see each other again... soon...  

-Sophie x

Dean’s eyes widened, “I knew it” he muttered causing Sam to look up from his computer in confusion, “I knew I was interrupting something, read this” he said standing up, he passed the phone over to Sam who read the text out loud, Sam raised his eyebrows.  

You opened the door, “what’re you looked at?” you asked, your eyebrows furrowed when Sam hid whatever was in his hand by his leg, “what’s that?” you asked. Your two brothers looked at each other, silently communicating, “no... no you are not doing this weird telepathy thing. What is it, what’re you hiding? We said no more secrets, remember?” you explained getting frustrated. The boys looked at each other, Sam let out a sigh and held out your phone.  

You furrowed your eyebrows and snatched it away from him, “why were you looking at my phone?” you asked defensively, you saw that you’d had a text from Sophie, you read it and froze. You felt tears rush to your eyes and you started shaking, “you read my text?” you asked not looking at either of them.  

The silence was deafening, “why the hell would you do that? Haven’t you ever heard of privacy? God, I can’t believe you did this!” you yelled, you walked towards the door but was stopped in your tracks by Dean grabbing your arm. You yanked it out of his grip and glared at him, “what?” you spat causing his gaze to harden, “hey, you don’t get to run out. We need to talk about this” you rolled your eyes, “talk about what? You already know what it is, you invaded my privacy!” tears filled your eyes, “you had no right to do that. You had no right to look through my phone, either of you!” you walked over to the bed and sat down, “I wasn’t even ready to tell you guys... Every time I’ve thought about telling you I’d just choke up. It was like the words were in my mouth, but I just couldn’t say them” you explained with tears rolling down your face, “I mean, I’ve felt so isolated and alone because I couldn’t talk to anybody about it, it feels like a weight on your shoulders and it’s so exhausting, carrying it is so exhausting” you whimpered, you didn’t notice that your brothers were now sat on either side of you with tears in their eyes, “hiding this, it’s been so difficult... there’s always been a part of me that hates the fact that I like girls. It absolutely despises it. Which sucks because I can’t change who I am and I don’t want to change who I am... I don’t know what to do” you finished, quiet whimpers leaving your mouth.

Dean grabbed your hand, “I’m proud of you... I can’t begin to imagine how you’re feeling... I’m sorry I invaded your privacy” he paused and looked at Sam, “we both are, but you don’t have to go through this on your own. We’ve got your back, kiddo” he said whilst brushing away your tears with his thumb, “Dean’s right, Y/n. Sure we don’t know how this feels but we can try our best to understand” he knelt down in front of you, “but you’ve gotta talk to us. We can’t help if you keep things bottled up.” he picked up your phone and held it out in front of you, “I think the best place to start would be to text that girl... she clearly cares about you. You can’t be scared forever, sweetheart” you took the phone out of Sam’s hand and sighed, you placed it beside you.  

You rested your head on Dean’s shoulder and grabbed Sam’s hands in yours, “I love you both, so much” you whispered, “love you too” “love you too, kiddo” they replied back.

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Forever Tags-

@winchesters-favorite-girl @girl-with-a-fandom-fettish @keira-willow  @max-peralta @assbutt-still-in-hell @internationalmusicteacher @rosie-winchester  @hero-ically  @waywardnewcomer @hi-my-name-is-riley  @rosegoldquintis   @wegoddessofhell @saturn-aka-six @paintballkid711 @wecantgiggleitsafandom @daughters-and-winsisters @anxiouslymalicious 

[madgeinvoltronland]

Thank the Stars

Tonight (April 21) we can see the Lyrid meteor shower in my country. Since I used that event for my contribution to the Kidge zine last year, and since I never posted it, it seemed like a good time to do so, even if I’m not really into Voltron anymore.

Rating: General As he gazes upon the stars, Keith realizes how much of a sap he is. The good thing is, Katie is just as bad as him. 

As he was waiting in line to board his bus, Keith realised he had been wrong. So wrong. One would think that students wouldn’t want to get up this early for the 5 a.m bus back home. But here he was, among students still half asleep, nowhere close to boarding anytime soon. 

But it was worth it. 

The sooner he left, the sooner he’d be back home, back with Katie.

He hadn’t seen his girlfriend since New Year; too busy trying to pass his first midterms to go see her, and her too busy with her last year of high school. And he missed her. Hearing her distorted voice during their daily phone calls wasn’t enough. He needed to see her, run his fingers through her hair, and put his arms around her shoulders to keep her close. She fit perfectly against his side, her warmth all against him the best way to sooth him, and he missed it all.

He was so busy thinking about finally reuniting with his girlfriend that he spaced out, holding out the line when it was his time to board. The guy behind him complained, pulling him out of his thoughts, and he quickly found his place. It was not the most comfortable, but it was cheap, and in a few hours, he would be together with Katie again.

Just as the clock stroke 5a.m. his phone buzzed. 

[Katie] Hey hotstuff. Didnt miss ur bus?

[Keith] Hey shortstuff. All ready to get back pain. The things I do for you

[Katie] Aww u sap ♥

Keith was about to answer when the driver announced they were departing, and which stop they’d make. He looked outside, watching the scenery at first, then up to the sky, where the few stars you could see above the city shone brightly.

And Katie was probably right about him because that sight immediately reminded him of the day they got together.

Katie loved space, just like everyone in her family. She was following in her father’s footsteps, aiming to work for NASA. And Keith, while he was interested in space exploration, mostly loved seeing the way her face lighted up when talking about it. So when he had realised the Perseids were around the corner, he had asked her if she wanted to go camping with him, where they could see the stars without light pollution in the way. So, maybe he was indeed a sap.

But honestly, she was just as bad as him.

[Keith] Like you’re one to talk. Remember last summer? The perseids?

[Katie] Yea. We spent hours loading ur car, but it broke

Sure, that wasn’t his proudest moment. He had known for a while that his car was having problems, so it should have been no surprise. But that wasn’t his point.

[Keith] And you found a way to bring the stars to us

As soon as they had realized that they couldn’t go, she had asked him to give her a few hours, and then join her at her place. It was a strange request, but even then, he couldn’t say no to her.

[Katie] And?

[Keith] You’re a sap too

[Keith] You projected the nasa direct just to confess

When he’d gotten to her house, she had led him to the attic, where strangely enough a round camping tent had been installed. She had grabbed the sleeping bags he’d bought over and gone inside, leaving him utterly confused, until he had joined her.

She had set up her laptop and a projector inside. The projector was facing some kind of dome-shaped mirror, and the reflected projection followed the curve of the walls, giving the impression you were surrounded by a screen. Katie had instructed him to get comfortable while she finished setting up everything, so he had sat on his sleeping bag. The sound of cicadas and wind ruffling through leaves slowly filled the place. 

And when the night sky replaced whatever was on Katie’s screen, projected all around them, he couldn’t help his awe. It was almost like they were out camping, the only things missing being the smell of grass and the bugs (which was probably a good thing). She had managed to make them travel, without actually going anywhere.

[Katie] And ill never listen to Lances ideas anymore, that was dumb

He knew her enough to know that it was just her embarrassment talking. She had been just as embarrassed that night.

Lance’s idea of the perfect confession was to set the perfect mood. Not that dumb, but when their trip got canceled his alternative was… so Lance-like. 

Katie had waited for him to voice his awe to tell him that it wasn’t as magical as she had wanted, though there was something that could make it better. 

Keith being her boyfriend. 

Even with the dim light of the projector as their only light source he had been able to see her blush. Which got worse when she’d started word vomiting, confessing that she had planned on asking him out during their trip. That when it got canceled, she’d called Lance in a panic, asking him what to do. That he had been the one to suggest that pick-up line. That she’d went with it because every other time she had tried to confess, he either didn’t get it, or she had lost her nerves. That if he wasn’t interested, she hoped they could still be friends.

He had stopped her then, grabbing her hand to stop her rambling, intertwining their fingers to anchor himself.  To this day he could still remember how fast his heart had been beating. But he had been elated, smiling while he reassured her that he was more than interested.

As anxious as the whole confession had made them feel, leaning toward each other had felt right, natural. It was merely a peck, but that soft kiss had melted the tension in the room, and they had laid back together to enjoy the projection.

[Keith] I liked it

The gesture was sweet, and with Keith leaving for college a few weeks later, he barely had time to do something for her in return. They barely had time to see each other period. But maybe that could change… If he remembered correctly, there was another meteor shower happening in April…

It was a good thing he still had data left and it didn’t take long for him to look it up on his phone— the Lyrid meteor shower, scheduled April 22 to 24, right during his break.

Now he just needed to see if Katie was free, so he called her.

It didn’t take her long to answer.

“Hey, I was just replying. You’re okay?”

Her voice was rough, she was probably short on sleep, but it worked for him. She would catch up on what he was planning if she was too awake.

“Everything's fine, just need to ask you something real quick.”

She yawned. “Ask away.”

“Are you doing anything this week?”

She groaned and for a while, the only sounds he could hear were ruffling and cursing. Keith almost felt bad for making her get up.

“No,” she finally answered, “free all week.”

“Good, cause I have a late birthday present so don’t plan anything for Monday to Wednesday.”

“Urg, where’s my pen now…”

More ruffling could be heard, and Keith couldn’t help it, he chuckled.

“Don’t laugh at me Keith Kogane, this is all your fault. You could have waited till we were together.”

“Guess I’m lucky you love me.”

It took her a few seconds to answer, but when she did her voice was soft, and he could picture her blushing.

“Exactly.”

“I’ll let you sleep a bit more. See you when I arrive?”

“See you.”

He hung up with a smile

He’d have a lot of things to plan, but he couldn’t wait to finally take her on that long overdue trip. He’d need to borrow or rent a car, because his old one was still not trustworthy, but this time, it was going to happen. 

 The soft music coming from the radio was the only sound in the car as they drove out of the city. Katie had to be honest, she was kind of curious. Keith had kept his plans a secret, and she had refrained from looking into it despite how much she wanted to know. If Keith wanted to surprise her, she wasn’t going to spoil him the pleasure. 

If only he wasn’t frowning and looking displeased right now.

He was looking at the road like it had done something to offend him. Which didn’t make sense, because they were alone, and it wasn’t bumpy or anything, so it was all smooth driving. 

“Hey,” she tried to grab his attention by putting her hand on his arm, “is something wrong?”

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and sighed, finally relaxing his shoulder.

“It’s just the weather…”

She looked up and, sure enough, you could barely see the sky behind the clouds. But at least it didn’t look like it would rain, and she pointed it out.

“That’s… still not enough,” he answered, his fingers drumming against the wheel. 

There was obviously more on his mind, but Katie knew when to push, and when to give him time. He would talk eventually, and the car fell silent once again.

It didn’t last.

“It’s the Lyrid meteor shower tonight.”

And suddenly, everything made sense.

Their conversation when he was coming back from college, his sudden phone call… It wasn’t just any birthday trip. It was a second attempt at their failed first-date-slash-confession-date. And as much as she wanted to play it cool, the attention made her shy.

Katie Holt, the high school genius who always speaks her mind, rendered speechless by a date plan. It was still a nice feeling, and she couldn’t help but smile as she grabbed Keith’s arm again.

“We still have some time, maybe the sky will clear. And if not, there’s still tomorrow.”

Keith smiled, and he let go of the wheel with his right hand to hold hers.

“I know, I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

“You’ll call me a sap but,” she took a deep breath, and looked straight ahead to try and hide her blush. “A trip just the two of us is already pretty sweet.”

And as they held each other later that night to keep warm, eyes glued to the sky, they both thanked the stars for bringing them together.

[dvp95]

quiet on widow’s peak (10)

pairing: dan howell/phil lester, pj liguori/sophie newton/chris kendall rating: teen & up tags: paranormal investigator, mystery, online friendship, slow burn, strangers to lovers, nonbinary character, trans character, background poly, phil does some buzzfeed unsolved shit and dan is a fan word count: 2.8k (this chapter), 32.4k (total) summary: Phil’s got a list of paranormal experiences a mile long that he likes to share with the world. Abandoned buildings, cemeteries, and ghost stories have always called his name, and a particular fan of his has a really, really good ghost story.

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

They try everything. Sophie handles the cameras and phones while Phil and Chris spend way too long cleaning up files on their laptops and doing what they can to get any clear images out of the mess. It's no use. By the time PJ returns from driving Dan home, all they've accomplished is figuring out that the corruption is on their devices, not on the exported files. No matter what they do, the videos and pictures they took have the effect of being scrambled, like someone has pressed fast forward and also put a noise filter over them. The sound is no better - there's a high-pitched sort of ringing in all of the video and audio recordings that Phil can't understand the source of. Some files won't open altogether.

"How does this even happen?" Sophie mutters, bent over Chris' phone with a furrowed brow. "There's nothing left. Like, at all."

"We still have footage from the first night," says Phil. He's trying his very best to stay positive, but this is unbelievably frustrating. They experienced something last night, even if they can't agree on what it was, and they're supposed to start driving back to Brighton before it gets too dark. They don't have time for this. "With the shadow, you know."

His friends make grunts of irritated agreement. Phil knows that all of them are disappointed and a little angry about the lack of evidence for their hellish night, almost like they went through it for nothing, but he doesn't have anything comforting to say.

Phil has never been very good at comfort. He's good at distracting people and forcing optimism, but seeing such visceral emotions from his usually mild housemates makes him want to retreat into himself. He takes his glasses off to rub at his eyes, fighting off a budding headache.

"That's not really enough for a video, though, is it," says PJ. "I mean, you're not going to convince anyone with just a shadow."

"Well, we can't stay to try and get more," Chris says with a little huff.

"I can," Phil points out. He doesn't think he wants to, really, because this whole situation skeeves him out and going back alone would not help, but he needs there to be a purpose to his friends' suffering or he'll never forgive himself. He stares at his unfocused laptop screen, full of files that don't work, and wonders if they're going to bother to try and stop him. "I mean, you guys all have work tomorrow. I don't have anywhere to be. And I kind of want to see this through, so I can, like… take the train home when it's done."

There's a moment of quiet. Phil feels his shoulders tense at the possibility that he's going to have to argue his way into this. It's his job. Plus, he already knows his parents are going to have a problem with him staying longer to investigate, and fighting with yet another set of well-meaning people is more than he wants to do.

"Normally I'd be like, whatever," says PJ. "You know what you're doing and you do this sort of shit alone all the time. But, Phil, how the fuck do you think the paralysis will work if you're by yourself?"

"I won't try to sleep there," Phil decides, shoving his glasses back onto his face. "That's the only time it's happened, right? When people are already falling asleep?"

PJ's mouth twists unhappily, but he doesn't protest further. Phil wonders if he's actually won this argument or if PJ is just too tired from bickering with Dan about cryptids, or whatever they talked about on the drive. Thinking about Dan is a distraction, and not exactly a welcome one. Phil doesn't know how he feels - or even if he should be feeling anything at all - and he doesn't want to add that crisis on top of the one he's already dealing with.

"So you're just going to go there," says Chris. "Alone. And then poke around and go home?"

"That's what I do in most haunts."

"Fair play. Carry on."

It's almost funny how quickly PJ's expression nosedives into aghast. "What? That's it? You're not putting up more of a fight?"

"Why bother?" Chris asks with a little shrug. "He's a stubborn bellend."

"Hey," Phil half-heartedly protests. His friends don't deign to acknowledge it.

"You should bring a sigil with you," says Sophie. Her voice is soft and tired, but her eyes are kind in a way that PJ and Chris don't bother to be. "Why don't you bring something down that you'd have on you, and we'll all put something on it?"

"Really?" Chris asks. It's impossible to tell what he's thinking. Phil doesn't know if he thinks the idea is good or stupid, but he nods after Sophie does. "Alright, we can do that."

PJ is looking off into the distance while cogs seem to turn in his head. "Something you'll have physically on you, Philly, since we can't put it on your skin itself. Let us draw on your glasses or jacket or -"

"Knickers," Chris chimes in.

"Or your knickers," PJ agrees, far more solemnly than Phil thinks is necessary.

It doesn't seem like it'll actually help, but Phil feels so much affection and gratitude for his friends wanting to protect him in any way they can that he doesn't argue.

Phil doesn't really like the idea of going to the Wilkins place alone, either, but he's a lot more comfortable doing that than dragging his innocent friends along for the awful ride again. He thinks about Sophie's kind eyes staring up at the ceiling blankly, the way PJ gasped when he woke up, Chris trying to hide his own concern about the situation, and he feels his resolve stiffen even more.

Maybe he is a stubborn bellend. This is his responsibility, though. It's not right for him to keep asking for help. Phil lets the conversation flow to what snacks they're going to get for the drive and thinks about how he's going to break the situation to his parents.

--

It doesn't feel as satisfying to shut the door of his childhood bedroom, now. Maybe it's the fact that he's too mature to slam it, or maybe it's that the room itself isn't the haven it used to be. All the neutral colours and boring pieces of art are like a constant visual reminder that his life isn't here anymore.

He doesn't want it to be here. That isn't the problem. It feels stupid if he thinks about it for too long, but he grew up in this house. He's got scars from the sharp corners of the old furniture and more memories than he has in any other singular location. Sure, it makes sense that his parents are retiring and want to downsize from a big, empty house, but Phil really isn't comfortable with this level of change. He kind of assumed he'd always be able to come visit and feel at home again.

Phil sinks onto the mattress. For a long moment, he seriously considers going to sleep. It's barely past seven, but he didn't sleep well this morning. At least if he's unconscious he doesn't need to deal with the crushing weight of his parents' disappointment and worry.

The decision is made for him when his phone buzzes with a notification from Tumblr.

tell ur parents thanks for letting me stay and tell pj thanks for bringing me home and tell urself thanks for the uhhhh experience lmao its deffo not one im gonna forget anytime soon

Phil huffs a laugh and gets comfortable. You're very welcome. I'll tell them when I come out of hiding.

arent you in a very small car on your way to brighton mate… how tf do you manage to hide in there when youre huge

Oh I'm not in the car, I'm still at my parents' place. It's a long story and I hate typing a bunch on my phone. Phil grimaces at himself for the way that sounds, like he's cutting off any questions Dan might have before they ask. He sends another message. Voice call me on Skype or something if you wanna hear about my no good, very bad day.

He doesn't expect Dan to actually call him, let alone immediately, but Phil's phone starts buzzing with a Skype call before he's collected himself enough to find his headphones. He's still detangling while he answers with a sheepish, "Oh, hello!"

"Hi," says Dan. Their voice is low and amused, and Phil can't believe how nice it is to hear after only a handful of hours.

"I'm woefully unprepared, as per usual," Phil rambles, finally getting his headphones in and grinning at the bland wall in front of him. Nobody is here to judge him for it. "You, er, got home alright?"

"Obviously yes," says Dan. "So, you had a bad day?"

"'Cause you had a bad day," Phil sings back to them. The sound of Dan's giggle makes any embarrassment worth it, he thinks. "Yeah, uh, it was rough. So we wanted to look over the footage from last night to see what the camera caught, y'know, but… I don't know how, I don't have an explanation for it, but everything is corrupted. Our audio, our video, our photos. They're all beyond repair."

There's a few moments of silence, where Phil would think Skype had frozen if he couldn't still hear the faint music on Dan's end. Then, "What? You - what? We don't have anything?"

Phil likes the sound of 'we'. He probably shouldn't.

"We tried everything," Phil explains, his heart feeling heavy all over again at the reminder that they spent hours terrified for nothing. "But the corruption isn't even in the exported files, it's on our devices themselves. Chris' phone, our cameras… they're all fucked."

"If you're swearing, it must be fucking serious," says Dan. Phil wants to interrupt then, explain that his policy on bleeping out curses is more about staying monetized and keeping his parents happy than any personal morals, but Dan has already shot past the topic at the speed of light. "So basically we've got no proof we were ever there, let alone that something weird happened - which I'm not saying is some kind of fucking paranormal shit, by the way, but it was weird - and now you've got nothing to make a video with and I never should have told you about this place to begin with?"

"Dan, breathe." Phil waits until he's sure that Dan is at least trying to follow the directive. "It's okay. I'm glad you brought me here. And that's why I'm still in town - I'm going to get more footage."

"Not alone, you're not," Dan says fiercely.

"Peej and the other Scoobs already went home. I just didn't go with them."

"I don't care where your friends are," says Dan. Phil can almost see their hand waving dismissively. "You're not going back there alone. End of story."

The clear insistence in Dan's voice should be getting Phil's back up against the wall. He hates being told what to do with his own projects, needs to be in complete control whenever possible. Instead, he finds himself thinking that it's sweet of Dan to worry like that.

Christ, but he's got it bad.

"I'm still in town either way," Phil says, picking at a loose thread in his sleeve absent-mindedly. "Which my parents are, uh, not thrilled about."

"Really?" Dan sounds genuinely surprised. "They seem like they really love you, mate."

Love has never been the issue. That feels strange to think, cocky almost, but Phil has never really worried that his parents won't love him. Even with the secrets he keeps from them and their fears about the way he lives his life, the worst he's ever expected is disappointment. That just isn't the way their relationship works.

"Oh, they do," says Phil. "But they hate my job, and they think that it's stupid of me to keep investigating a place that clearly doesn't want to be investigated. They believe in ghosts and demons and all that jazz, y'know, they think I'm inviting evil into my life, so they said they'd let me stay here while I work but that we're going to have a 'serious discussion' about my life trajectory when I'm done."

"Ouch. I'd hate that conversation."

"Trust me, it's going to suck. I just got the preview today, and I already know I'm going to want to run away to Iceland."

There's a beat. Then, Dan says, "At least when you're there you can look into the hidden people. You know, the Icelandic elves or whatever that live in a parallel world. That seems up your alley."

"Your mum lives in a parallel world," Phil mutters.

Dan giggles. The sound of it is soft, like they're aware of their own volume, and Phil remembers that Dan lives in some kind of housing with a bunch of other students. He still loves the sound, so much so that he drifts into a nonsensical daydream of making Dan laugh as much as possible and almost misses Dan's voice coming through his headphones again.

"Since you're still in town," Dan is saying, and Phil makes a conscious effort to tune back in, "you should come by the shop tomorrow. I have an early class, but I'm starting work at eleven."

The prospect of seeing Dan again is such a good one that Phil doesn't even hesitate before he's agreeing. It'll be a bit of an effort to get out of bed early enough to avoid his parents and catch Dan for a good amount of time, but Phil feels like it's definitely going to be worth it. He likes Dan, likes being around them if absolutely nothing else, and the ill-advised butterflies in his stomach aren't enough to make him fall on the side of finding this a bad idea.

It isn't until after he's hung up and getting himself a sandwich so he doesn't have to eat an awkward dinner with his parents that Phil realises he's going to have Dan all to himself tomorrow. Well, to himself and to whatever patrons come into the coffee shop. The force of those warm eyes, just focused on him… it's going to test Phil in a way he's not sure he's ready for.

He turns away from the fridge and almost jumps out of his skin.

"Mum," he complains, free hand clutched to his chest. "Don't just stand there, you scared me!"

A smile tugs at Kath's lips, but her arms are crossed and her eyes are staring into Phil's very soul. He feels cornered all of a sudden, like he ought to be clawing for escape.

"Philip," she says, all warmth. There's that slight edge that he remembers so clearly from mishaps as a child, but for the most part it seems like she isn't here to lecture him. He imagines that's going to come from both of them. "This thing that you insist on doing… it's dangerous. You must know that, love."

Phil doesn't actually know that. For the most part, his career hasn't given him anything but boredom and a complex about his own creativity. It's just the odd cases, the ones like the Wilkins house, that get him squirrelly.

"I know, mum," he says anyway. It isn't worth the argument. "But this is my job."

"It doesn't need to be," she presses, and Phil realises that his assumption was very, very wrong. They're going to divide and conquer. She continues like she hasn't noticed the way his whole body is tensing up. "You have such a wonderful mind and loads of ambition, my dear. And that imagination! Gosh, you could do anything that you set your mind to."

Anything he set his mind to - if he actually tried. Phil can hear the words that she isn't saying, that his dad will have no trouble voicing later, and he feels the familiar burn in his throat like he's going to start crying.

He won't. He doesn't cry much, as a rule, but he's well-acquainted with the sensation of holding it back.

"I know that I can," says Phil quietly. He looks down at his sandwich. He isn't very hungry anymore. "Mum, I'm not - I don't do this because I - you know, I like my job."

That's not exactly the truth anymore, but Phil is also well-acquainted with the art of lying to his mother. She doesn't need to know about the doubts that plague Phil, the way that he's felt like he's slogging through videos until they catch his interest properly. That's something he can figure out on his own. He forces his eyes back up at her to drive the point home with a sincere, pleading sort of look.

Her mouth twists, unhappily this time.

"You need to grow up sometime, Phil," she says, so soft that it almost cushions the devastating blow of her words.

Almost.

[sassyduckqueen]

30 days of Lukanette- First Meeting

So it would be called Lukanette September but i started it really so it will be going through October too. Hence the 30 days thing. Yay. Based on the Captain Hardrock episode. 

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“Hey, Luka,” Juleka’s voice made him look up from where he was playing his guitar on the deck. She pushed back her hair and mumbled shyly before clearing her throat. “So… um… my friends are coming over to help with the set up of tonight’s gig and I was just wondering if you could.. -”

“Hide while you set up because I’m too handsome for your friends to see?” He joked, smiling before playing rolling his eyes. “Is this to do with Operation Adrinette again?”

“W-what?! You’re not suppose to know about that!” She gasped, clearly embarrassed but he chuckled lightly and stood up before lightly kissing her cheek.

“I think it’s sweet that you’re trying to help your friends fall in love,” He mumbled, sliding the guitar to his side. “Don’t worry. I need to do my mediation anyway so I would be in your hair but I can’t make any promises about Mom,”

“I’ll work out something,” She mumbled. He chuckled and walked towards the stairscase.

“Just come and get me when you need me,” He stated before going below the deck. He headed into his room and placed his guitar on the bed before sitting cross legged. He closed his eyes and began to relax his mind as he listened to the sound of the world. He could hear the sound of the water, splashing about on the sides of Libarty and gradually, he lost track of time. Soon or maybe not, he heard the sound of people joining Juleka and his mom. He recognized Ivan and Rose’s voices but then voices he didn’t know became part of the gathering sounds. He listened carefully before let out a deep breathe, continue to zone out as he thought about the music festival. Juleka was so excited when his mom had suggested they do their own concert. She had practically invited all of her classmates and it sounded like a few of them had came by. He couldn’t help but smile. He was glad she was making friends. Especially that girl… Maria… Mary… he couldn’t quite remember her name as Juleka used mumbled her words and had only spoken about a couple of times but what she did say was great. This girl had made it her mission to help Juleka break the curse of the school photo. He hoped that she would be there so he could thank her for that. Eventually, the sounds of footsteps could be heard coming towards his room. He guessed that everything was ready and that Juleka was coming to get him but he then realized he didn’t recognize the footsteps. They were too light to be a male but not timid enough to be Juleka. Definitely wasn’t Rose as she would have been shouting his name and well, his Mum wouldn’t be walking to his room. She’d just yell. The person seemed to walk as if they were in a slump and their heart music matched. They finally came in and for a second they were fine.

“Urrg!” They gasped, confirming that it wasn’t the people he knew but he figured it was probably one of Juleka’s friends. He heard them step forward and could feel their eyes on him as he breathed in slowly before he slowly opened his eyes and smiled. She was really pretty in his eyes. Blue blue eyes, a simple style in fashion that suited her and her hair was tied back in cute bunches. However, she instantly lost herself and panicked, stuttering her words. “Ah… err.. Hey… my n-name’s Mamer.. um… Ma-Ma-Marinette. Er.. your mum’s sent me down.. ur… the groove… um… the group’s waiting for you,”

“Hello, Ma-Ma-Marinette,” He replied, placing his hand near his mouth as he chuckled but she instantly looked hurt. He realized he must of embarrassed her and frowned as he realized again that he just isn’t good with words. “Sorry. I tend to make more with this,”

He picked up his guitar and strummed the strings. Instantly, her eyes went wide with surprise so he smiled and lightly patted the bed. She sat down as he watched her.

“That’s strange,” He mumbled, closing his eyes. “It seems you have something like this inside your heart,”

He played a mellow tune on the strings as she listened. He opened his eyes to look at her and smiled as she smiled back before she closed her eyes as he continued playing. She placed her hand on her heart as she listened to his music before he slowly closed his eyes as he continued to play.

“How do you do that?” She asked as he came to a stop. He leaned on his guitar and looked towards the floor a little.

“Music is often simpler then words,” He stated, looking towards her as she got up and walked over to his Jagged Stone poster and pick collection. She lightly picked up one of the picks to have a look at it before looking up at the poster.

“You like Jagged Stone’s music?” She asked with curiosity. He smiled as he watched her.

“He’s my favourite singer,” He replied, getting up and swinging his guitar on his back. He walked over and stood next to her.

“Mine too,” She replied then she noticed he had moved next to her. She briefly lost her cool again, almost dropping the guitar pick but she managed to catch it. He thought it was cute.

“You can have it if you like,” He smiled, looking down at her. “I’ve got plenty,”

“O-oh… T-thanks,” She gasped, blushing a little as she looked at him.

“I think I better go and join the groove you said,” He suggested, rolling his eyes playfully. Instantly, she got embarrassed again.

“Did I really say that?!” She gasped, moving her hands over her hair before hunching her back as if ashamed. “Oh, nooo,”

“You’re a funny girl, Marinette,” He stated, hoping to make her feel less embarrassed as he walked out to head to the deck but not before stealing a look at her. She really was pretty. He heard her sigh softly as he headed upstairs. He walked over to the amp and started to set up as Juleka set up.

“You took your time,” She mumbled to him. “You didn’t scare Marinette, did you?”

“I don’t think so,” He replied. “I just did what I usually do when I meet a pretty girl,”

“You played her your guitar...” She dead-panned as he smiled a little.

“So what if I did,” He mumbled, stealing a glance at her as she walked over and sat next to her friend. “She’s pretty, funny and she seems very kind,”

“And she’s in love with someone else,” Juleka mumbled as he closed his eyes to play his guitar a little.

“Are you ok, girl?” The girl next Marinette asked. Juleka had said her name was Alya.

“Um hmm,” Marinette replied before he felt her eyes on him again. He opened and looked over at her, smiling at her with a kind of sly look. Marinette blushed a little.

“I think Marinette the compass has found herself a new statue,” Alya hinted.

“What?! Luka? No way.” She gasped, looking away before glancing over at him. “You’re been ridiculous,”

She sucked in a little bit of air as he focused on the guitar.

“Sure, he’s cool and nice and everything,” She stated, looking at him as she held her face in her hands, completely unaware that he was listening. “But there’s only one statue that drives this compass crazy,”

It took every bit of his strength not to laugh as she literally did a hand action to show what she meant. Fortunately, his mum had perfect timing.

“Ho, ho! Sailors! Let’s give them a show!” She shouted, moving her hand in a flick motion before looking at Luka. “Whenever you’re ready, Luka,”

He grabbed the cloth that covered a tall something and pulled it down, revealing a huge set of speakers before looking at it. Alya and Marinette stared at the monstrous speaker as Melanie offered them some earplugs. Of course, they would need them. He liked to play as loud and as clear as he wanted but sometimes, it could be too loud for others so ear plugs were a necessary thing.

“You’re gonna need these,” She states as they take them out of her hands. “Believe me,”

Once he was sure they were both wearing them, he lifted his hand and struck the strings with his pick. The sound blasted out through the speakers and he was pretty sure several cars had been over turned. Marinette, Alya and Nino were all looking surprised and a little bit frightened but Melanie was just sat there happily. He wasn’t surprised. She had been to several of their band practices. Of course then the police turned up. Luka bit his lip as two helicopters, three boats and three cars surround the boathouse before he looked at Juleka.

“Was that too loud?”

“What do you think?” She rolled her eyes as the policeman got out of the car,

“Mrs. Anarka, are you completely out of your mind? I'm reading 160 decibels!” He gasped, showing her a piece of equipment. “That's 10 times the sound of a jet engine! You just can't do this. You'll have to play something else!”

“It's the National Music Festival today Officer Roger! My crew's allowed to play whatever they want!” She argued back, causing Luka to frown. He really didn’t mind turning down the volume as long as he got to play.

“It's a music festival, not a noise festival. If you don't turn the volume down, I'll ban your concert altogether!” Roger threatened. Luka went to say something but Marinette got there first.

“Uh, maybe we could turn the volume down a bit Captain? Then there'd be no more problem, right?” She pointed out but his mother wasn’t hearing anything. He knew better then anyone that she was a stubborn, old goat. It’s her way or the high way sometimes.

“No, out of the question. I didn't name my galleon Liberty for nothing, you know! It's a matter of principle!”

“Mum, please. Let’s just turn down the music,” He stated, walking over before turning to Roger. “We’ll be allowed to play if we tu

“Of course,” Roger agreed.

“Out of the question! Haven't you ever heard of freedom of speech, Roger? This is me home! I will do as I want!”

“Do you have a document stating you can moor your houseboat in this location?”

“The Seine belongs to everyone!” So that’s a no. He thought.

“You are not allowed to moor here without a parking permit! Which means you can't play your concert here either. Not to mention this incredibly messy deck!” He gasped, handing her tickets. “Public visual disturbance you get a ticket! And this decoration it's too decorated! Another ticket!”

“Yayha!” She yelled out as she ripped up the ticket before laughing. That didn’t go down well with Roger.

“You asked for it, One more ticket for making me use too many tickets, one more for your attitude, one because I can't sleep, one more because I'm seasick, one more because I say so...” He went on and Luka could see his mom get angrier and angrier. Roger left soon but his mom stormed off into the bridge as he frowned deeply to himself  before walking over to Marinette. Before he could say anything to her, a black and purple smoke suddenly started to spread over the ship, beginning to transform it. Marinette looked around panicked.

“Oh no,” She gasped as the ship completely transformed.

“Raise the mainsail me deck hands!  Let's get swashbuckling around here!” The familiar voice of his mother shouted but it seemed different then normal. He looked over and saw a different woman in her place. She was dressed like a pirate with short red hair and yellow eyes.

“Mom?” Juleka questioned as he stepped forward.

“What's going on?” He demanded as the other looked at her.

“Your mom has weighed anchor, me lad. I'm Captain Hardrock and today Paris's timbers are about to be shivered by my cannons,” She cackled as she looked through her telescope that had previously been her sword. “Westward ho, Liberty next stop, Jagged Stone at the Eiffel Tower,”

The ship shifted and began to sail in that direction.

“Soon, there will only be one concert in Paris only one Music Festival. We will destroy all the others. Now, get to your instruments and rock those decibels!” She ordered but Luka stepped forward.

“Mom please, you can't ruin the Music Festival,” He begged as Marinette stood next to him.

“You can't force people to listen to your music!” She reasoned.

“No way we're playing like this!” Ivan piped up, getting nods of everyone else.

“Mutiny? On my ship? Liberty, seize these scallywags and throw them down into the hold!” She ordered, pointing her sword at them. Instantly, chains came at them in all directions. Rose and Juleka were chained together as were Nino and Alya and Ivan and Melanie. The chains then wrapped around Luka, chaining him to Marinette before the floor literally opened, causing them to fall and roll into the deck before it closed up.

“Is everyone ok?” Luka asked, worried that someone might have gotten hurt.

“No real injuries,” Alya reported. “Just chained up to my boyfriend,”

“Yeah, we’re as good as we can be, dude,” Nino added in.

“Juleka? Rose? You ok?” Luka asked.

“We’re fine, Luka. So is Ivan and Melanie,”

“Marinette? You ok?” He asked, trying to look over at her.

“Y-yeah… I’m use to Akuma attacks,” She mumbled but then realized what she said. “Um.. I mean-”

“Yeah, we all are,” Alya pointed out. “Always seems to happen around us. And we’ve had a lot in school,”

“Yep but Ladybug and Cat Noir will save us!” Rose gasped.

“I hope they should up soon,” Luka mumbled before trying to move and struggle. “No good. These chains are tight. Ah if only I had learn how to pick locks instead of guitar,”

“That’s ok.. I like your music,” Marinette smiled as she looked down. A few seconds later, the chain loosed and felt off as the padlock opened

“Wow, how'd you do that?” He asked. She looked flustered.

“Uhh, I, uhm...” She gasped before pulling out the pick he gave her. “With this,”

“You're amazing,” He smiled, looking at her softly. “A real magician Marinette,”

“You think so?” She gasped as he offered her his hand to help her up. He nodded and she blushed a little before placing her hand on her arm and looking at him. “Oh, it was nothing, uh, amazing, really?”

“Excuse me, but some of us are still chained up here you know,”.  Alya interrupted before they heard Captain Hardrock coming. “Marinette, she's coming,”

“We'll come back, I promise,” Marinette gasped as Luka and her ran out of the room. He grabbed his guitar and used it to seal the door. It only buy them a little bit of time but enough to try and escape. He rushed over to a porthole and opened it as Captain Hardrock began to try and kick down the door.

“Go,” He ordered but Marinette shook her head.

“I can’t swim,” She squeaked, causing him to frown. He then rushed open to the bed and pulled out a large hidden draw underneath it.

“Hide in there,” He ordered.

“What about you?” She asked.

“Don’t worry about me,” He smiled, making her worry but she got into the draw. “There should be a button on the side that will slide it open once she’s gone. You’ve got the akuma alert app on your phone right?”

“Yeah… I’ll use it to inform Ladybug and Cat Noir,” She smiled as he closed the draw. She heard him rush over to the porthole again as the door gave in.

“Run, Marinette quick!” He shouted, making her realize he made it look like she got off the ship. She couldn’t help but admire him.

“Seize him.!” Captain Hardrock ordered, causing Marinette to hear the chains coming towards Luka and him yelling out as he struggled against them before been pulled away. She heard footsteps as Captain Hardrock looked outside.

“She won't get very far,” She mumbled before leaving the room. Marinette felt around and pressed the button, opening the draw. She sat up as soon as it was open.

“Phew, that was close,” Tikki stated as she flew up. Marinette looked at her.

“Tikki, I have to save my friends,”

(***)

“Luka, did Marinette get away?” Alya asked, worried about her friend.

“She’s still on board...” He admitted. “But she’s activated the akuma alert app to alert ladybug and cat noir,”

“Excellent,” Alya grinned. “That app is a life saver literally,”

“Yeah...” He mumbled, worried. “I hope mum.. I mean Captain Hardrock doesn’t capture her,”

“She’ll be fine,” Melanie smiled, trying to reassure him. “We’ve had enough akumas at our school so Marinette knows what to do. We have akuma drills once a week,”

The sound of a door opening and someone coming down the stairs made everyone tense and look towards the door but it wasn’t Captain Hardrock who came through it.

“Ladybug,” Alya gasped, happy to see the heroine. Luka couldn’t help but be happy. Marinette managed to activate the alert. Ladybug looked at them then broke the chains with her yo-yo, freeing everyone. To his surprise, she walked over to him and offered him her hand. He took it and she helped him up. He placed his hand over hers as he looked at her with concern.

“Ladybug, is Marinette okay?” He gasped, worried.

“She's safe,” The heroine confirmed, causing relief to flow through his mind. “She's the one who alerted me,”

“That girls unbelievably brave,” He smiled, noticing the small shy smile that Ladybug did before she summoned her lucky charm. She frowned a little, unsure of why it had given her a chain.

“Huh? Another chain? Some pliers would've come in more handy,” She mumbled before turning to the teens. “Don't worry, guys, I'll find a way to get you out,”

She rushed off back upstairs, leaving them downstairs. Luka watched her leave before rushing into the room where Marinette was.

“Marinette?” He gasped but found the draw she should be hiding in was empty. He really hoped his mum hadn’t recaptured and had her tied to the rigging. He rushed back to the others. “Marinette is gone,”

“Don’t worry. Ladybug must of taken her off the ship when she got here,” Alya reassured, making him nod. He opened that was the case but before he could do anything else, they all feel the ship lurch in a different direction then suddenly, it felt like it went up a ramp before it slammed onto the ground and came to a stop before falling on it’s side then rust started to spread everywhere before it completely turned into dust. Luka just looked around in complete shock as Ladybug purified the akuma and his mum turned back to normal.

“Pound It!” The two heroes shouted, fist bumping each other.

“What happened?” His mom asked, confused as she sat on the floor. Cat Noir looked at her.

“Oh not much, you just had a bout of... Seasickness,” He explained before his ring beeped. "Time to raise the sails my lady,”

With those words, he was off and Ladybug threw the chain up in the air, shouting the magic words that would fix everything. Luka was completely amazed as one minute he stood on the grass, the next he was back on a completely restored  It was like none of it happened.

“Enjoy your gig,” Ladybug suddenly stated, confirming it had happened. “Bug out,”

He watched her fly off before he remembered Marinette. He looked around but she still wasn’t around. However, a few minutes later, she ran back on board. He rushed over.

“Marinette! You’re ok!” He gasped, surprising her.

“Y-yeah… I’m glad you are too,” She smiled, causing him to smile back as Roger made sure the sound wasn’t too loud. He tested Luka’s guitar, Rose’s voice and Juleka’s bass. He mentioned that it was technically over the legal limit but he let it slide as it was the music festival. Luka grinned as Marinette smiled. He went to talk to her but he soon lost her attention as a blonde haired boy came onto the ship.

“Hi everyone,”

“Watch where you're walking, the-” She stuttered as Adrien processed to trip over the old keyboard. He picked it up and opened the case as Nino and Luka rushed to help him.

“Adrien are you okay buddy?”

“Nah it's all good, I-” He grinned before actually looking what was inside the case. “Whoa, an original ZX20.4, I love the sound of this instrument,”

“Aww, that old thing,” Anarka shrugged. “No one knows how to play it,”

“I know how to play it,” He declared as Luka offered him a hand.

“Great, welcome to the band Adrien,” He smiled, happy to have made a new friend but he had an inkling that this was who Marinette liked.

“Thanks, uhh,”

“Luka,”

“Thanks Luka,” He smiled before he waved at Marinette, who blushed. Luka looked over before looking at Adrien.

“You like her?” He asked but Adrien lightly chuckled.

“Yeah,” He replied, causing Luka’s heart to drop slightly before he looked over at her. “She’s a great friend of mine. How could I not like her,”

“She is great,” He agreed, only he meant it in a way Adrien didn’t.

[dylinski]

Mess I Made

Anon: Hey, can i do a request about Stiles and Isaac? Love triangle Isaac/Stiles/Reader or Reader dating one and cheating with the other. 

Warnings: SMUT SMUT SMUTTY SMUT. Language, Angst, Alcohol, Oral (female receiving), ROUGH SEX, Light bondage, Cheating.

Relationships: Isaac Lahey/Reader, Stiles Stilinski/Reader

Word Count: 3394

Author: @dylan-obrien-fanblog

A/N: Sorry it’s so long, I just aint messing around with that shit. This is the first REALLY smutty fic I’ve written, so I hope it’s okay. Hope this is what you wanted anon. Thanks for the idea. I was also inspired by this song if you wanna give it a listen while you read. Please don’t hate me for the ending.

Laying on the edge of the bed, your back faced his back. You don’t know when things changed, but they did, and without warning. Most nights you slept back to back, ignoring one other while you slept. Well, while Isaac slept. You would spend most of the night awake, wondering where things went wrong. Was it something you said? Something you did? Were you both just drifting apart? He wasn’t the same after Allison died, she was his best friend, but it had happened almost 2 years ago. It’s not like he was bottling those emotions up either. Whenever he was hurting, he was open and always talked to you about his problems. You were the picture perfect example of communication. Were .

You could hear his breathing and pictured the rise and fall of every breath. You missed feeling his chest against your back at night, knowing you were safe in his arms. Deciding to escape the torture from the reminders of how things used to be, you got up from bed to get a snack. When you got to the kitchen, the clock on the microwave told you it was 3AM, but you weren’t surprised. You hadn’t been getting much sleep lately. Thankfully things had been quiet around Beacon Hills the last couple months. Everyone needed a break after being almost brutally murdered by the town.

You popped some popcorn and sat down on the couch in the moonlit room. You hadn’t checked your phone since you laid down so you decided to look and scroll mindlessly through the internet. When your screen lit up, you were surprised to see a text message from Stiles. He was the last person you thought you’d hear from. He didn’t stay long after the whole murderous town mess and went back to Quantico. Although you guys were pretty close before he left, as time went on his texts and calls became less frequent. Despite being surprised, you still smiled as you looked back to the memories you shared in high school and the many times at basically saving the world. You opened the message.

Stiles: hey! i’m back bitches! i’m visiting my dad. it’s been a while, so i thought u might want to grab a beer or something

Y/N: hey there stranger. i’d love to go out. i think i’m free friday if you’re still around. how long are you staying?

You sat your phone down and clicked the button on the remote to turn on the tv. Reruns of your favorite sitcom were on, so you let that play while you enjoyed the popcorn. Your phone buzzed in your lap and it slightly startled you. Who would be up this late? Your question was immediately answered when you saw who the text was from, and it was no surprise. Stiles.

Stiles: are u free right now?

Stiles: i haven’t heard from anyone else and i can’t sleep

Stiles: on that FBI schedule lol

Y/N: you mean Stiles schedule.

Stiles: don’t call me out like that lol

Stiles: so u wanna meet up?

Y/N: meet up where? it’s 3AM.

Stiles: oh shit, u right

Stiles: uuuuuuuuummmmmm

Stiles: u could come here?

Stiles: my dad’s working the night shift

You stared at the message and watched as the cursor blinked at you, waiting for your response. You looked over to the door that led to your bedroom and didn’t want to leave Isaac here alone. Knowing Stiles, there would be alcohol involved and you’d probably end up crashing there, like old times. After sitting and considering your two options, buzzing broke your train of thought.

Stiles: did you pass out?

Stiles: if ur too tired it’s all good

Stiles: we can hang out friday at a decent hour

Stiles liked to send multiple texts at a time and your phone kept buzzing, in a rush to get him to stop bombarding your phone, you impulsively replied.

Y/N: STILES STOP

Y/N: i’m awake, i’ll be over in 30 minutes

You decided to leave a note so that Isaac wouldn’t freak out when he woke up and found you missing. You doubted he even would, with how things were lately. You put the dirty bowl in the sink, grabbed some clothes from the laundry, and jotted down the note for him. You grabbed the keys to your car and headed to Stiles’.

When you pulled up to the house you were startled that Roscoe wasn’t there, but then you remembered that Scott had him. Stiles had said something about Roscoe not making the drive to Quantico. You pulled into the driveway, next to a Ford Taurus, typical FBI car. Stiles must have heard you drive up because as you got out of the car, you could see someone’s eyes and nose sticking through the blinds in the front window. Those are some FBI surveillance skills right there, Stiles. You walked up to the door and before you could knock, the door opened.

“HAAAAAY!” Stiles greeted you with a big hug, holding a beer in his hand. You gave him a look that made him roll his eyes. “I may have started without you.” You scoffed at his explanation for his behavior and walked past the buzzed boy.

“I guess I'll just have to catch up.” You walked over to the counter and popped the top of a beer. You cheered your bottles from across the room.

“Hell yeah!” You shook your head at him as you laughed and headed over to the couch where the TV was on. Folding your legs under you, you sat next to Stiles and were reminded of the many nights you’d sat in this very spot, watching movies with your old friend. You smiled at him and he noticed from the corner of his eye and smiled back.

“So tell me about Quantico.”

“Well, if I did, I’d have to kill you.” Stiles spoke with a straight face that lasted all of 5 seconds. You grabbed the pillow behind you and smacked him with it, erupting an echo of giggles from both of you.

“Really Stiles, tell me what’s been going on. I haven’t heard from you in months. I didn’t know if you were alive.” The last statement was a joke, but not empty of disappointment.

“Honestly nothing that exciting. I got benched after the whole Derek operation and well, getting shot. You know, with him getting away and everything.They don’t typically appreciate that. Mostly been riding a desk since then. It’s the worst, but they have me doing a lot of intel stuff. And you know how much I love to research the shit out of shit.”

“Oh shit! That’s right, your toe.” You couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Stiles with 9 toes.

“You wanna see?” He started to pull up his leg when you screamed.

“EW. GOD NO. PUT THAT AWAY STILINSKI.”

“Didn’t take you for a weak stomach.” He laughed at you.

“It’s not that, I just hate feet.” You smirked at him as he smiled at your discomfort. You both found yourselves unable to keep up the conversation so you enjoyed each other’s company while watching tv.

Somewhere along the way, and four beers later, you found yourself curled up against Stiles with his arm around you and his fingers mindlessly twirling the ends of your hair. You started drifting off but caught yourself and looked up to see if Stiles was still awake too. He was already looking down at you, a smile on his face. You smiled back, but were curious as to how long he had actually been watching you. It flattered you, so you snuggled deeper into him and he squeezed you, bringing you in close. As you looked back to the tv, he broke the silence.

“I had almost forgotten how beautiful you are.” Your gaze immediately flew back to Stiles and it was full of confusion. He was still looking at you with his whiskey eyes, full of affection and warmth, and playing with your hair. You were loving all of this, but it didn’t feel okay that he told you that you were beautiful. Your mind immediately flickering to Isaac and what he would think of this. So you shot up, pulling away from him, as far to your end of the couch as you could get.

“What? Did I do something?”

“Actually, yes. You called me beautiful.”

“I don’t have the greatest knowledge of women, but I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to get mad when someone calls you that.”

“Stiles, you’re drunk and don’t know what you’re saying.” He frowned at your words and furrowed his brow as he looked away, as if you punched him in the gut. Now feeling guilty, you scooted closer to him and put your hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...I was just caught off guard.”

“It’s okay. I get it. I wasn’t trying to make you feel uncomfortable. I know you’re with Isaac.” He kept his eyes on the TV while he spoke, but he rested his hand on top of yours and pulled it to his face. The feeling of his lips on your hand sent shivers down your spine, a feeling you hadn’t felt in ages. You shifted your hand from his lips to his cheek, causing him to turn and face you. Staring into his sun-kissed eyes, it was like you were staring at the sun, sparking a fire inside that had long burnt out.

Without hesitation, you flew in and kissed him, wrapping your arms around his neck, leaving you both surprised. You pulled away for a breath and Stiles took the break to speak. “What…what was that for?”

“I don’t know.” You huffed breathlessly.

“Can we do it again?” All you could muster was a nod as you went back in for the kill. This time the kiss had more passion as Stiles grabbed you waist with both hands, pulling you in. Unable to get close enough, you threw a leg over his lap, straddling the beautiful boy. Your pelvis instinctively began to move in slow circles in sync with your breaths that you stole between kisses. He moaned at your motions, so you took advantage by pushing your tongue past his lips. Your body’s moving to meet each other, your hands moved down his chest and clenched at his shirt. He looked up at you through his lashes, biting his lip and reached down to remove the cloth. Your hands rested on his bare chest as your lips found each other again, fingers leaving white trails that faded just as quickly as they appeared. You reached down and removed your shirt, thinking it only fair. Stiles smiled lustfully at the removal and bit your bottom lip, causing a moan to escape. You plant wet kisses down his jaw to his neck where you leave a purple mark that stirs something vicious in the man.

He slides his hands under your ass and stands up as you wrap your legs around his waist. Refusing to break your locked lips, he starts walking you down the hall. The breath is knocked out of your lungs when your back hits the wall. Stiles uses his knee to hold you up while he unhooked your bra, throwing it to the floor. You drop down to your feet as he unbuckled his belt, but your hands soon follow because his were taking too long. You pull out his belt and wrap it around his wrists. He growls at the development and you pop the button on his khakis, pulling them down to his ankles to step out of. You grab him by the belt where his hands meet and pull him into his bedroom.

You pull him around and then push him onto the bed. You remove your shorts and walk up to him as you crawl up his body, kissing his stomach where the hair disappears into his briefs, causing his body to shudder. You work your way up to his chest, kissing each nipple. Now at his shoulders, you bite, leaving tiny teeth marks, then licking the red skin to soothe it. Holding his arms over his head, you kiss his neck and work your way up to his nose where you leave a peck. You pull back and look into his now black eyes, full of lust and you can’t help but smile from ear to ear.

You lean down and kiss him again, then whisper in his ear, “have you ever thought about me like this?” All he can muster is a nod and a whine as he reaches for your lips with his own, but you pull back, denying him. “You’ve dreamed about me, haven’t you?”

“I have.” Stiles breathed his words, his breaths shallow and heavy as his desire became unbearable.

“Do you want me, Stiles?” You kiss him hard, breathing into his lips as he licked yours.

“I want you so bad, Y/N.”

“Tell me what you’re going to do to me.” You undid the belt around his wrists and he shot up, grabbing your waist in a grip that you know will leave bruises.

“I want to taste you.” Stiles growled his words as he flipped you over and kissed down your neck, leaving purple marks, then biting your shoulders. He made his way to your tits and squeezed one while he took the other in his mouth. He sucked hard on the peak, leaving it red and sensitive. He teased the point with his tongue, licking and flicking. He then tugged on it lightly with his teeth, causing you to writhe beneath him. The movement against his hardened cock making him arch his back as he let out a moan. He licked down your stomach to the hem of your panties. He grabbed them with his teeth and pulled them down your legs.

He took the panties and held them to his face, inhaling the musk of your core. “I made you so wet, didn’t I?” You nodded, biting your lip. He purred at the thought and stood up, grabbing your ankles and pulling you to the edge of the bed, as you let out a yelp from the sudden jerk. He kicked your legs apart and kneeled down between them. Without warning he licked your folds, your body shuddering from the surprise. He found your bundle of nerves with his tongue and sucked and licked methodically, sending sensations up your core. He pushed his tongue inside of you, licking your walls and his nose hit your hardened nub as he moved his tongue. He moved his mouth back to your clit and pushed two digits into you slowly, causing you to gasp. Your noises made him smile and chuckle with excitement, vibrating through your body pushing you to your edge. Your hips began to push back to meet his finger thrusts, so he added a third digit and sharted pumping faster. Your back arched as a small scream developed in your throat.

“That’s right baby, cum for me.” He spoke the words without leaving your clit. They shook through your body, breaking the barrier that was holding it all back. Your body shook as you came into his mouth, eyes rolling back and body limp. He stood up, licking his fingers and lips, taking in as much of you as he could. He crawled back up to meet you, and kissed you harshly. “Oh, I’m not done yet.”

He flipped you over onto your hands and knees and smacked your ass, leaving a red handprint. He pulled off his briefs and grabbed your waist with one hand while pumping himself with the other. You shudder when he rubbed his cock against your folds as he hit your overstimulated clit. He found joy in that and smacked your ass again, leaving another mark. “Just fuck me already.” You shouted and with that he pushed himself into your core as far as he could go. You gasped and arched your back as he entered and moaned as he slowly pulled out. He pushed back in, more harsh this time and held it as he wiggled his hips.

He began thrusting at a rapid pace that hit you in all the right places. If he kept it up you wouldn’t last long. You pulled away from him and stood up, spinning him around and pushing him to the bed. You sat on top of him and grabbed his cock to line him up with your entrance. You slid down on him and started to ride his member up and down in figure 8’s. He threw his head back, moaning at the motions as his back arched. Pressing down on his chest, you threw your head back, adding to Stiles’ moans. Your nails tore down his chest, leaving trails of red, raised skin. “I’m not gonna last much longer if you keep that up babe.” He mumbled under his pants.

He turned you over onto your back and placed himself inside you again. You wrapped your legs around his waist as high as they could go so he could hit your g spot. “Oh god, yes. Right there.” You moaned as he vigorously pounded into you. The room filled with moans and skin against skin.

“Come for me baby.” Stiles was close and knew you were too. Your walls throbbed against his cock and he leaned in and bit your shoulder to keep himself from cumming before you did. Through his bite, he whispered your name and that was all you needed. Your body shook as your gates burst and your eyes rolled back. Not long after, you could feel Stiles’ release inside you, spraying your walls with his warm seed. He pumped a couple more times, more slowly, riding out both of your highs. He immediately left, but you were too tired and weak to bother asking. He returned shortly with a wet cloth. You winced when he wiped your folds as the cold touched your overwhelmed bundle of nerves. He wiped himself off and fell onto the bed next to you. He pulled you into his arms, but you were both too tired to cuddle. You fell asleep quickly and deeply.

———

You were woken by your ringtone, your head pounding from the hangover. Confused as to where you were, it suddenly dawned on you what had happened. Eyes wide, you saw Stiles sprawled out next to you, drool at the corner of his mouth. His arm was on top of you, so you attempted to move it without waking him. He twitched as you moved, but readjusted himself, still sleeping. You remembered drinking, but not that much to do something so stupid.

Your phone started ringing again and you ran to your shorts on the floor, silencing it before it could wake up Stiles. Reluctantly, you looked at the screen and saw you had 4 missed calls and 6 missed messages. You couldn’t find your underwear, so you pulled on your shorts. Following the trail of clothes, you found your bra and your shirt. You put both of them on, then sat down on the couch where the night started. You opened up your phone.

Isaac: hey, saw your note. when will you be back?

Isaac: it’s 11am, where are you?

Isaac: are you okay?

Isaac: Y/N, did something happen? please answer me.

Isaac: Y/N?

Isaac: that’s it, i’m on my way.

Just as you read the last text, there was a knock at the door. Your body went into shock and you were silent, but internally you were screaming. What the fuck do I do? There was a second knock and you realized that it could wake Stiles up, so you ran to the door. When you answered it, it took everything you had to keep your composer.

“Isaac? What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t answering my calls.” He looked passed you and down the hall, his eyes widening. “Where’s Stiles?” He tried to look past you but you blocked his view by stepping out and slightly closing the door behind you. He immediately averted his eyes to you. He leaned in and sniffed you and you knew exactly what was going to happen next.

[ohhicas]

I've only been into comics for a few years, but I've read enough of the old Flash stuff where I adore the classic incarnations of the Rogues. Honestly curious here: what's it like to be a fan of James Jesse back when he was retgonned around 10 years ago and see him brought back but now all mwahaha crazy evil? I'm way more used to Axel (and all that off-panel character development in Nu52, thanks DC) but even I find this kinda weird. Was James ever crazy evil in any arc?

^- me 90% of the time someone says James is coming back to recent media & it’s not a direct continuation of the comics prior to 2004

[ Warning: this is gonna get long and be full of a lot of assumptions. I can never form solid statements and things will get jumbled, because I suck at presenting things ]

[ this is my can of worms hill and you opened it so I’m dYING HERE ]

I mean, back in the earliest ages, no Rogue had a real personality to speak of? They were just “1960s Bad Guy in a different outfit” at the very start, with quirks! Like James having a thing for toys and nuclear powered flying tricycles. It wasn’t until that era ended that they started getting real distinct and into what a lot of ‘classic’ James fans loved and appreciated? 

(I think at least, I’m just One Person here pretending like I even understand HALF of what the ‘classic’ fandom enjoyed. I’m wildly speculating just going off what fanworks I’ve seen produced.)

(I don’t have all my scans anymore but I’ll toss in scans when I have them)

But that’s when we started getting things like James actually having specified friendships with certain people

or clear distaste towards others, and when you could tell he was more of a wild card than the others. Or when he decided to fuck off and hang out in Hollywood with Blue Devil for a bit, even siding with Kid Devil to deck out Captain Boomerang. 

Or when he decided to fuck off to Gotham, to mess with Catwoman by pretending he didn’t know who she was, but absolutely knew who she was because of how she walked and carried herself, but James being James was like “mmmmm long con, nope”

hey lil Cold, gimme all ur guns and don’t question why I’m in drag xoxo

Even then, he wasn’t shown to be vicious yet! He’d hopped around various places, was still considered A Rogue, A Criminal, and as far as any comic reader could tell by trying to count up how many civilians may have been crossfired at, he had no On Purpose deaths racked? Like, the only thing you could really argue was he may have made someone drive their car off a cliff once, but I’m like 98% sure they’re fine. He’s not a murderer, he’s just here for a laugh and a long-con for funsies because he know he can get away with it!

AND THEN WE GET A LITTLE OLDER, LITTLE DARKER

[ I’M PUTTING A CUT HERE CAUSE AFTER I THREW IT INTO DRAFTS, I REALIZED I GOT REALLY LONG, I’M SORRY IF MY LAYOUT SUCKS ASS FOR THIS. ]

little more 90s Hair. Little more 90s stereotypical “But what if EVERYONE WENT TO HELL” demon plots against Satanic Hockey Hair Neron. And James? still wasn’t evil? He was a little dismissive when everyone ELSE died sure but he still in the end turned around like “nghgng I’m THE ONLY ONE”, purposely got his ass down there, regretted it, and then beat Neron at his own game to save the entire fucking world. Because! He could! And he did it so well. STILL NOT EVIL, even when he had a chance right then and there to take over everything alongside Neron should he so desire. Like, two words, maybe some under the table BJs depending on how you feel about that pairing (I don’t), and bam. He would’ve bested nearly any other villain in the DCU save like, Satan himself. Or i guess one of those world destroyers. But we’ll get back around to those BOY HOWDY WE WILL GET AROUND TO THOSE. 

So James! Saves! The world! Sorta! Later they fight Neron again and his kid he somehow had somewhere down the road (it sounds like I’m complaining, i’m not, I love Billy and Mindy both I just wish they showed up like… ever again?) and he sTILL SAVES EVERYONE. 

Piper helps by their 90s ponytails combined. 

Somewhere around here, because dates and timing aren’t my strong suit, he also goes and messes with Bart for a bit. It’s pretty much a Spy Vs Spy episode, but with less bloodshed. 

ANYWAY IT’S AFTER THIS POINT THAT THINGS GET… where I think the majority of “James is a Low Rate Joker” comes from? 

For some unknown goddamn reason, in between issues (James wasn’t a Super Frequent Rogue? He’d show up, sure, but in the huge run of the series he’d just kind of vanish for 20 issues at a time and you’d go “welp, guess he’s still alive”) James went super-cop? like, the FBI? For some reason? Hired James “I am a probably still wanted felon, a man who has escaped jail numerous times, probably never served a full sentence, known Trickster and liar” Jesse. to the FBI. And for so many issues it’s like he legit just. Did this. He threatens to shoot Piper who he was up until this very moment, considerably very close friends with (as far as comics would show Rogue/Rogue friendships), unwilling to help his friend clearly framed for murder of his parents and losing his mind by the day. Despite James talking Hart down a little on the whole ‘THE MAYOR IS ROSCOE ADN NOBODY BELIEVES MEEEEEEEE” thing. 

Also he steals Digger’s dead ass corpse? 

FBI James is a fucking enigma. Here he is standing up for Gay Rights even though Piper is like “mm maybe I should forgive my abuser??”

BUT. AFTER THIS? WE GET COUNTDOWN WHICH IS JUST. Countdown is. IT’s a problem. James’s personality is IMMEDIATELY HORRIBLY u-turned into “well we need SOMEONE to be the Bad Guy to Piper’s Good!” DESPITE. ALL THESE YEARS OF COMICS.This is the shit you’ll see people who don’t know better or just want a reason to hate the Trickster (despite being 100% okay for them to just say he’s annoying/they don’t like his tights/acrobats are stupid) reference. James is, suddenly, very abruptly, a homophobe. Like an “ew don’t touch me” level homophobe because I’m pretty sure DC snorts cocaine and threw a dart at a board for “how could they make these two fight” and landed on GAY RIGHTS IS TRENDING. 

BUTSTILL IN THE FUCKING END OF ALL OF THIS?After so many issues of James being a complete fuckass prick? 

springboards himself from his current job of being railroad face putty to catching bullets to make sure Piper wasn’t gonna die. Without knowing the proceedings of this entire plotline, James out of nowhere after so much gaybashing, still finds it in him to leap into the path of multiple bullets and save Piper. Because, yknow, he’s evil!

Later it’s shown he’s been working to take everyone down (y’know, like when he was in the FBI) and left Piper specific helpful notes to do it himself. Because Evil Bad Guy! Helping his gone-good friend! Take down bad guys! 

DC I STILL HAVE SO MANY GODDMAN QUESTOINgsd

But yeah that’s. That’s where we last saw James. in 2007, dead, after saving Piper when he could have easily pulled a Joker and ripped HIM down to take hte bullets and etcetc, y’know. Something a Very Bad Person would’ve done, like the characterization we’ve seen now. 

His ghost (easily argued as Piper’s own mental construction of James sassing him) sasses Hartley to even, in his mental state, saw off James’s hand so Piper doesn’t have to lug his weight around and has a fighting chance at living. And in the end, when Piper’s fighting the thing that can destroy the fucking world, it’s shown only Piper was the one who could save them? Because his flute, and his musical ability, and [enter DC comic science here]. You could argue this was James, once again, somehow knowing the long-con at play here, getting screwed over at EVERY turn, and sacrificing himself so they ‘good’ team had a fighting chance.You could also argue this is me losing my mind trying to make sense of the things they made James do. (my running argument is he was purposely a prick to push Piper away, so he could keep him safe) 

Also Piper plays James a Swan Song of Queen as the final boss explodes and he’s fully prepared to die. So like. There’s that. 

AND THATS BASICALLY THE COMICS? The main, ‘canon timeline’ comics. I’m missing a LOT of little things here and there, but I’m not missing anything like body counts, or murder attempts, beyond the old Silver Age “Bad guy of the week” things like trying to make Flash’s head explode, or you know. Other “nobody really has a personality, we just have quirks”. 

MY NUMBER ONE GUESS TO WHERE THIS NEW PERSONALITY TREND COMES FROM?

Mark Hamil|’s OG run as him in the old live action show. That characterization was fun, for the time, and I even enjoyed it cause it was just that off the wall and you could tell it was what they used to decide he should be the Joker for the BATS Joker. Consider it a prototype (combined with all the previous comic jokers but that’s not for this long ass post) 

And if it’d stayed there, that’d be it! That’s it! But then JLU came along, and they referenced the old show for their version of James with a sprinkling of early-era comics, and a lot of people loved and watched that show. That was their version of the Trickster, because it was their first meeting with him! And I can’t fault that! But that guy was clearly off his rocker and I’m sure if the JLU allowed a higher rating, it would’ve been even closer to the old TV show. 

And both of THOSE were heavily, heavily referenced for the CW version, which as I’m at this point now means I need to slap my usual anti-CW tag onto things. I hate the CW James. There is so little comic in him it’s almost disgusting, and they ramped up so much of the Joker side of JLU & OGTV he might as well just be the Joker. It’s not a good representation of him at all. I have, also, only seen his first appearance episode, so maybe I’m wrong? But when you fuck up hard on the first run, why would I return for round 2? 

So with ALL THIS– 

REBOOT TIME. Whatever the newnew remake is calling itself. 

At first! With how James was! In the first panel flash of him clearly behind the scenes tugging so many wires and lines, watching everything with a bucket of popcorn while pulling others to his side, sitting pretty in an old museum? warehouse? highlighted in purples and vintage toys, I was like “holy shit this it. This is My Boy, back from the goddamn limbo-dead. It’s him.” But then“taking over the city entirely” to do? What? Turn it into the world’s biggest Trickster themepark? Make everyone wear striped leggings and combat boots? Martial Law of murder if you don’t carry rubber chickens? This is already veering from anything major James has ever done. As it stands I can’t see the gag here. Its’ weirdly dark and edgy, and way too close to something we saw the 90s TV show Trickster do, in the episode where he basically took over the place. The previews show him being what I’m assuming a Judge, Jury, & Executioner joke– and unless this spins into a Clopin song and dance number and his little hand puppet crops up to slam the button on the guillotine, I’m not having it, DC. 

They’re trying to tie him back into the CW, despite the writer saying he really enjoyed the Neron-era things with James (if I’m remembering the interview correctly). And it’s also why you may see me constantly saying “Well I sure as fuck hope Neron shows up” at anything new that’s released, to explain away all of… this.

This isn’t him. If they wanted a murderous Trickster, they should’ve just used Axel. The kid, canonly, tied explosives to stray dogs and homeless people. AXEL is the not-good Trickster, the murderous Trickster, the one you aren’t suppose to feel sorry for beyond being in way over his head due to his young age. 

i think I somehow didn’t answer your question

TL;DR

it sucks? it’s also great because there’s a .5% chance that maybe they’ll do it right and won’t reference the fucking 90s noncomic media. But then they do. And all I can do is laugh and shrug like ‘welp I expected nothing’. But when they get it RIGHT it’s like christmas came early.

[sunshinechii-scenarios]

Spin the bottle

✿ NCT’s Mark x Female!Reader ✿ College AU ✿ Fluff, making out ohoho, maybe slow burn? ✿ 4.7k words ✿ Not requested ✿ Written by Chii ✿ Masterlist! 

TW: Drinking, DONT UNDERAGE DRINK AND DRINK RESPONSIBLY NERDSSSS IS2G IM UR ONLINE MOTHER I WILL GIVE U AN EARFUL-

This is kinda my goodbye to Mark from Dream. He was the best Dream leader we could have asked for and a cherished member of OT7 //imsoemo - Chii

✿ Description: Mark Lee, one of the most sought after boys in your school. People saw him as this mega hot, overly cute, super smart person. You saw him as that little kid who cried when you accidentally spilled his milk in the 3rd grade. All throughout elementary school and most of middle school, you didn’t see the hype around him. That's because you’re his best friend. It wasn’t until the end of middle school, when you two had to go to different high schools was when you noticed your infatuation with him. When you two reunited in college, he was still the same person except that every week he had a girl in his arm. You let those old feelings fade or so you thought. You two still acted like best friends which meant a lot of playful touches, shared giggled and unspoken feelings. 

✿ Bonus excerpt: “Because I care for you like friends should, maybe a little bit more than I should,” you say the last part at a whisper, under your breath. Half of you hoping he would hear it and half of you hoping he wouldn’t. 

“Friends?” He barely croaks out, the alcohol must have dried out his throat for him to sound so hoarse.

“Yeah, Mark. Friends.” The word felt bitter on your tongues. Both yours and Marks but neither of you know that. 

“Right, friends. Is that all we are? All we’ll ever be?” 

         “Mark, do I have to go in? I can just drive you and pick you up after.” You try to negotiate with Mark. He wants you to go with him to this party, as in, go inside. You aren’t a party person. It’s not your scene.

“Come on!” he gets up off your bed and holds onto your arm, “you’ve never been to a party and all the testing is over. Take this chance to unwind!”

You look at his big eyes and pleading expression before sighing out, “fine.”

A smile is plastered on his face as he gets up and starts to go through your closet, “um, Mark Lee what are you doing?”

He doesn’t respond but continues to look around the hangers for something specific, a dress you bought out of sheer impulse one day. Mark was the enabler for the purchase. His hands came across the familiar fabric and took it out of the closet. Your eyes land on the dress and you gasp, “oh no. Mark I can’t wear that.”

He shrugs, throws the dress on you, takes your phone and slams your door shut, “the dress goes on or I tweet out every meme photo you have of yourself!”

“Mark Lee!” You scream out at him. You try to open the door but his hand was on it and preventing you from turning it. You eventually give up and walk to the dress. You bunched the fabric into your hands and slip it on. Once it was on, you look at yourself in the mirror, feeling more self-conscious than usual. You scurry away from the mirror to knock on the door to let Mark know that you were done.

“You look great,” Mark says almost breathless but you didn’t catch it as you went back to stare at yourself. The sound of springs meant that Mark sat back on your bed and the clack meant that your phone was back on your nightstand.

“Can I wear something over this? Like a cardigan?” You say as you start to walk over to your closet in hope of finding something that could cover up your entire body from the world.

“It ruins the vibe you have going on!” Mark exclaims as he stands up. You see him strip off his denim jacket and drape it over your figure. You sigh and put your arms through the holes before shuffling it on and bringing your hair out of the back.

“This looks much better,” you say into the mirror. The size difference made the jacket land at your lower hip area and it was a men's box cut which diverted away any attention from your waist. You noted the faint smell of Mark which wasn’t anything bad. You could pick up the apple shampoo you had to use at his house whenever you guys had a sleepover back in grade school. So many years and he still used the same one. The thought of how many other girls carried the scent as they walked by you in the halls caused a tinge in your chest.

“You look good!” he happily says as he stares at you while you look at the mirror. He sees the frown on your face grow into small smile on your lips, something he wishes he could keep on you forever. The look of confidence glowed on your skin.

“Should we go?” Mark says. You nod, still unsure but push through with it. Maybe you could find someone to make out with to forget about Mark for one night.

         You park your car outside of the house Mark gave you the directions to. You were careful enough to try to leave space between your vehicle and others but it didn’t look like anyone cared once you stepped out of the car. You pull the skirt of the dress down, Mark catches sight of this.

“You look fine, it’s not that short of a dress and you have my jacket.” He says as he pulls out his phone to call someone.

"Hey, we're here," Mark says into the phone. You hear the other side from your distance from Mark. It was loud and you could hear another voice screaming for you two to wait at the front door. Mark's eyes lit up and laughed as he agreed and hung up.

“It’s cold, aren’t you?” You ask him. He nods his head but you see the bumps on his arms forming.

“Liar, I see the goosebumps.” You took off the jacket and drape it over his shoulders. He complied to putting it back on until he overheard some whispers about your exposed back coming from some random guys on the lawn. He quickly put it back on you.

“I’ll be fine, promise.” You tore your eyes from Mark and to the front door, as you two wait, you felt an unsettling mood.

“Mark, I might stay back.” You announce, you start to turn and walk back to your car but Mark hold onto your hand before you could take one step away from the door. His hand feels warm and comforting against the cold night air.

"Sorry for dragging you here, I know you aren't a fan of parties," Mark apologizes to you with a guilty expression on his face. You melt under his apology.

"It’s okay, I’ll just stick by the walls in the back," you say as you check the time on your phone. 12:05 AM.

Mark was starting his sentence when the door flung open quickly. Someone happily greeted you two as you walked through the door. He and Mark did some handshake before Mark introduced you two.

“This is-,” Johnny cut Mark off by handing him his drink before going to hug you.

"This must be the best friend!" Johnny says as he went in for a hug. He was so tall that you needed to go on your toes to properly hug him.

"Yeah, that's me,” you weakly say.

“I’ll let you guys get acquainted. I’m gonna find the others.” With that and a shove of Johnny’s cup back to him, you could already see Mark walking off to find his other friends. You sigh and look at Johnny.

“Do you think you could lead me to any part of the house that isn’t too crowded? Parties aren’t my thing.” You pull on the hem of your skirt and look at the ground before looking back up at Johnny.

“My parties are great! Do you want a drink, maybe?” Johnny was being very friendly towards you, you know that he just wants you to have a good time but you just weren’t fond of parties in general.

“No, it’s fine.” Johnny nods and guides you to the area that leads to the backyard. You thanked that Johnny was so tall, there was such a crowd as you two walked through the house. Once you two reach the area, you scan it. There was only a few other people, all on their phones or chatting someone up.

“Thanks,” you say to Johnny as you lean against a wall.

“No problem. Find me if you need anything else okay? I don’t know what Mark would do to me if you anything happened to you.” Johnny says as he takes a sip out of his cup.

“Probably not much,” you scoff before pulling out your phone, ready to scroll endlessly until someone would ask who came with Mark and you’d have to drive him home.

Johnny felt a bad taste in his mouth at your words. He held back from edging you to explain yourself, “I’ll be around if you need me.”

        You had scrolled through every social media there was at this point. Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, even Facebook. You were getting bored and getting tempted to ask Johnny if you could knock out in someone’s room upstairs. Your eyes scanned the room, looking for Johnny’s head to be standing out above the rest but you didn’t see him. You let your feet start to guide you to push through the crowd and find a room. Your phone dings, it was a mass text to everyone at the party. ‘All rooms are locked! You’ll have to hook up somewhere else. #Sorrynotsorry’ You scoff and sigh. You find yourself a comfortable chair instead of finding a room. Lucky you, it was one of the sofas that was by the dance floor.

         You see girls grind up on Mark and bat their eyelashes at him. You can't blame them, if you had half the balls they did, you would do the same. You lean on the wall and tore your eyes from him to direct them towards your phone. You continue to endlessly scroll down your Instagram feed. You didn't like parties, didn't like drinking hard liquor. Hated the loud music and inability to see.

"Liquid courage?" You lift your head to see Johnny in front of  you with a red cup in his hand. It was halfway filled with something Yuta whipped up. He wasn't even entirely sure what was in it but he thought you might need something to calm your nerves. You were wall flowering hardcore.

"Sorry Johnny, I don't plan on drinking tonight," you point to Mark on the dance floor, "designated driver."

"You can crash at my place, one drink won't hurt. You look like you need it." Johnny moves the drink in his hand forward towards you. You sigh and take it. You take a sip before gritting your teeth at the burn down your throat. Johnny watched you react and laughs loudly.

He takes a while to calm down but when he did he took one last laugh and looked at you, "you like Mark don't you."

You choke on your drink and hit your chest before looking up at Johnny. He looks back down at you with a small smile, "I haven't known you for long but I can see the jealousy written all over your face."

You sigh and trace your thumb around the rim of the cup before looking out at Mark having fun and laughing. It’s been so long since you've realized your feelings towards him and it's hard to ever mention them, not with all the girls he talks about all the time. He's so sweet and kind. Sometimes he's like a prince charming, saving you from anything and everything. Johnny took another look at you and practically reads your mind.

"You've got it bad, huh?" Johnny takes another sip from his cup. He uses your shoulders as an armrest.

"Yeah, I know to keep my distance. I'm no good for him," you lowly say. You shake Johnny off and shove the cup back into his hands. You feel your mood sour. You want to leave.

"Thanks for the party, it was great. Tell Mark that I'll be in the car," you quickly say to Johnny. He looks at you in shock as you weave through the crowd and out the door. His face shifts with worry as he downs both drinks and walks up to Mark who was in the middle of the dance floor.

        "Alright, alright ladies back off Mark," Johnny says as all the girls around Mark whine before going off to find someone else to dance with. Johnny watched as the girls made their way to Lucas, Sicheng and Taeyong.

"What's up with that?" Mark asks as he stares back at the girls he was dancing with.

"You know you've got a perfectly good girl waiting for you," Mark's face shifts with Johnny's words. Everyone in their friend group knew well of his crush on you. It's almost painful to Johnny as he's stuck in the middle. He just found out that you two share the same feelings for each other and has no way to telling anyone in the group.

"She's not interested in me, told me I wasn't her type," Mark paused and looked at Johnny, "keep her company for me," Mark left Johnny in the middle of the dance floor as he went to get another drink. Johnny flings his arms up in defeat before rushing out the front door. Johnny needed to think of something quick. He quickly texted Lucas to ask for a party game. Once he responded, Johnny ran up the stairs and looked over at the crowd.

         "Let's play a game!" Johnny suddenly shouts from the top of the staircase. He walks down as people follow him onto the patio in the backyard of the house. People start to follow him. He walks up to you and slings an arm around you, forcing you to walk with him and the crowd. You look back and saw Mark with Yuta. Your eyes met, he smiles but you didn’t and instead look away. You look at Johnny, unsure but want to go along with it. He keeps you at his side as he grabs an empty bottle off the patio table and tells everyone to sit in a circle. You instantly know what was going on, you wanted to bolt out the door but Johnny held you down.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." His voice was hushed, lowered in attempts to calm you down. It did until he decided to open his mouth again.

"Spin the bottle, kiss the person it lands on or take a shot. Simple enough." You yank at Johnny's arm, looking up at him with pleading eyes. Mark was right, it was hard to say no to you. Johnny remembers one time when Mark let you win in Dance Dance Revolution because you used your pretty eyes to your advantage but he isn't Mark.

"Let's start with you!" He pats your back harshly. It was enough to send you forward and on all fours in front of the bottle. Thank god Mark wasn't in front of you and was luckily about six people to your right. You take a deep breath as you flick your wrist to spin the bottle. It spun and spun until it stopped. Multiple oh's came from the circle. The mouth of the bottle found itself face to face with a girl that you've had class with once. You didn't have anything against kissing girls but you didn't feel right, you didn't know her as well and she looked uncomfortable.

You look back at Johnny and spoke, "I'll take the shot."

Johnny's eyes widen and so did Mark's. One of the girls next to you pours a shot for you and hands it to you.

You look at it nervously before taking it, "bottoms up."

You tilt your head back and down it. The drink stung but people started to cheer and you felt on top of the world.

"Your turn," you motion towards the girl and sit back next to Johnny.

"Impressive," he lowly says. You roll your eyes and nudge him. You look up at the wrong time and find Mark staring at you in shock. His mouth started moving but no sound came out of it. Something along the lines of when did you drink hard stuff? You shrug and bought your attention back to the bottle.

         The bottle spun and spun, some people kissed and some took the shot. It didn't land on you more than a few times. You opted for the shot every time. Mark did the same. His eyes followed the bottle in hopes it would land on you but it never did. He took the shot every time. Mark was now leaning on Yuta next to him, obviously not okay. It was Johnny's turn. He had just been kissed by Taeil rather passionately and wanted someone to erase that feeling or something to forget it.

         You weren't paying attention when Johnny elbows your side. Before you know it, his hand is cupping your cheek and he pecks you quickly on the lips. Your cover your mouth in shock and look at him. He grins and eyes Mark in his peripheral view. Johnny lean into your ear and whisper for you to go. You slowly take the bottle into your hands until someone shouts loudly. Turns out that Mark took the bottle of tequila from someone's hands and chugged half of what was left of it.

"Let's go," he says as he looks at you. Johnny nods and tsks at him while waving his finger.

"No driving for either of you," Johnny says as he gets up. He walks over to Mark and picks him up.

"Keep playing guys. I'll be back," he looks at you, "come on."

You get up and stumble a little bit but catch yourself. You step out of the circle and follow Johnny up the stairs. Halfway up, you look back downstairs. They kept playing and drinking as you three left.

"Catch," Johnny suddenly slings Mark around your shoulders and gives you a key.

"You two can sober up in my room. It's the one with the knob on the left side of the door, just don't fuck in my bed." You hit Johnny's upper arm as hard as you could.

"I keep the rooms locked during parties," he says as he walks back down the stairs and waves to you. He could have at least helped you with Mark. You hold Mark up as best as you can while you unlock the door to his room. You turn the key and the door opens, you use your foot to keep the door from shutting on you while you lead Mark inside.

         You sit Mark down on the bed. The mattress shifts as your knees dig into it. After you sit Mark up against Johnny's headboard, you got on the bed and then you cross your legs. You were about to ask him how he was feeling until he started to say some dumb stuff. You giggle and throw your small side bag on the ground.

“Why did you drink that stuff Mark? You have the worst tolerance.” He didn't respond with any words, just incoherent babbling. His head falls forward and slowly lands on your shoulder. You want to record some of Mark being totally out of it to show him later but you weren’t in the mood to anymore when you see a purple mark on his neck. You let the hand holding your phone move towards your face to start endlessly scrolling until Mark was sober.

         It took him an hour to get up by himself. His head lifted off your shoulders, immediately threw himself at you and hugged you. You were now laying on the bed and it took all your strength to support your weight and Mark’s.

“You’re such a good friend,” his hands tangling themselves in your hair as he buries his head in between your neck and shoulder. You two stay quiet for a while. He starts to let go, he was sobering up finally but you did miss the warmth of his skin when he sat back.

“I’m sorry I made you come to this party with me. I’m sorry you always have to drive me and that you can’t have fun,” he says as he looks at you and frowns. You can hear the genuine guilt in his voice. You couldn’t count on two hands the number of times he’s asked you to go inside with him. You did it to save your own heart if you were being honest but you push it aside and knew that you would worry all night if Mark didn’t have a way get home safe.

“Mark,” you pat his shoulder and his eyebrows furrow even more, the warmth of your hand was all he could focus on, “it’s okay. I just want you to have fun and be safe.”

“Why would you want that for me but not yourself?” You hold your breath at his response, you aren’t sure if it’s the alcohol talking or not.

“Because I care for you like friends should, maybe a little bit more than I should,” you say the last part at a whisper, under your breath. Half of you hoping he would hear it and half of you hoping he wouldn’t.

“Friends?” He barely croaks out, the alcohol must have dried out his throat for him to sound so hoarse,

“Yeah, Mark. Friends.” The word felt bitter on your tongues. Both yours and Marks but neither of you know that.

“Right, friends. Is that all we are? All we’ll ever be?” Mark sounds desperate, he pleads for an answer that would either crush or lift the world on his shoulders. He was a little tipsy, you were a little tipsy. You figure that if you needed to say it, it would be now. All those held in feelings, daydreams of you confessing that you thought would stay daydreams, all had to get out somehow. Now was the chance, not exactly how you imagined it but maybe it was the low buzz and the slight bitterness of alcohol on your lips that pushed you.

“No, Mark. I was us to be so much more than that. Mark. I love you.” You regret saying that as soon as the words left your mouth. Your whole world stops and you freeze.

"I'm sorry?" His voice was low and unsure, a trait you rarely see in Mark. You look at the expression on his face, he’s shocked beyond belief. You couldn't tell if he was about to reject you or accept you. Right now, both of those seem like situations in which you would start crying.  The tears started to blur your vision and you quickly turn your head. You feel him move on the bed and hear his voice call your name.

"No wait, oh my gosh, hold on." You take a deep breath. Not wanting to look at him, you push him away but his hands find your wrists and hold onto them. His neck cranes down to try to meet your eyes that found sudden interest in Johnny’s bed sheets. You look up at him with teary eyes. His heart gets hit with guilt. Looking at him made you cry, hard. The tears stream down your face. Your eyes start to burn and your breathing is shaky.

"Just please be my best friend right now," you say in between weeps and hiccups, "not the guy I just confessed my love to."

Mark takes you back into his arms. He lungs himself forward, his knees digging into Johnny's bed. His arms take you into his comfort as he keeps you close. His face on your shoulder as one of his hands holds the back of your head. You hesitated to touch him, so you didn’t. He mentally sighs when you didn’t. He pulls away and looks at you.

“I never stopped loving you since elementary school,” he says loudly. You know for sure if someone was outside the door, they would have heard him. Your heart felt like it was being squeezed and you needed to be pinched. Was this happening because he's still under the influence? No. Mark was sober.

“But all the parties, the girls you would introduce me to?” You say while using the sleeves of Mark's jacket to wipe away your tears. The denim felt rough on your skin but Mark's hand didn't. It came up and cupped one side of your face, it was warm and a little bit wet feeling as the tears kept falling.

“Bad rebounds,” he sighs out, you could smell the alcohol from earlier but let it pass.

“You really never stopped?” Mark’s eyes could see your lips shake when you asked that question. He didn’t know what came over him but he used the pad of his thumb to trace over your lips, almost free of lipstick.

“I thought you did, back in middle school. You told me I wasn’t your type,” Mark says as his voice lowers. Mark thought hurt a lot more to say it out loud. He feels your body stiffen up. You quickly move his hands away from your face and look at him dead on. Mark’s breath got caught in his throat. The moonlight from the open window was the only light in the room. It cased a shadow on the left side of your face, your features out for Mark to admire.

"Oh my god,” you start to say. Mark knocks out of his bewitchment.

“You absolute idiot that was in middle school when I knew no better!" You smack his shoulder as you cried even harder. Mark panicked, you were crying the same way you cried back in middle school when you found out you two were going to different schools. Mark comforted you the same way he did back then. He let his forehead touch yours. He looks into your eyes and sends a mental message. You steady your breathing but still hiccuped every now and then.

“You really listened to me in middle school.” You say in between catching your breath. There was laugh at the end of your words. Mark was about to laugh with you until you looked up at him with those eyes that he fell so hard for. The laugh that bubbled at your lips died down and you were looking at Mark, if possible, with more adoration than you ever had before.

The question that formed in your head, came out without you thinking, "do you want to kiss as bad as I do right now?"

Mark didn’t answer as his hand came forward to cup your cheek, the other on your waist, holding you close. He wipes away the last bit of tears from your face before moving loose strands of your hair away from your face.

       The world stopped when you and Mark locked eyes. There was a whole novel behind the meaning of the look in your eyes. He leaned forward, so did you. Your eyes flutter shut as his lips touch yours. You moved your head to mold them with his, the perfect fit. He doesn’t go beyond your lips. You only have imagined this moment before but to be living in it was a dream. You let your hands tangle in his hair as he pulls you into his lap. The kiss gets deeper and deeper. The two of you losing yourselves in each other. So much that you don’t realize Johnny opening the door. He stands at the door frame, watching you two like lost lovers for a second before coughing.

“We weren’t going to-” you start to explain.

“I know, now either come back to the party in each others arms or you can stay in here tonight and rest up,” Johnny paused, “but still don’t fuck.”

The three of you laughed. Mark asked if it was okay to stay in the room, he had a pounding headache that he didn’t realize he had before. You agree and bid Johnny a nice night before he closed the door.

       When the door closed, everyone of your friends were outside waiting for Johnny to give them news. Happily cheering in silence that you two finally said something.

       “I think I have an Advil somewhere in my bag.” You say when Johnny closes the door. You crawl off the bed and look for your bag on the floor. You feel the zipper and start to open it, looking for the small bottle you carried around with you because Mark was prone to headaches. Mark looks at your figure on the ground, looking for the Advil you carried for him. You didn’t see it as anything major but Mark did. He always did.

“I love you.” You smile but wipe it off your face before getting up and throwing the bottle at him.

“It’s just an Advil, Mark.” You say as he takes the necessary dosage and dry swallows it.

“You know what I mean, girlfriend.” You smile back at him before pouncing on him. He lands back on the bed with a low grunt that gets silenced by a quick peck on the lips.

“I know, boyfriend.”

THIS IS MY LONGEST FIC YET YO- THE JAEMIN HARRY POTTER AU WAS ONLY LIKE 3K IM SHAKING THIS IS SO MUCHBFDNSM, I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT! I’LL SEE YALL NEXT TIME UWU - Chii

[dreammutual-remade]

high school!mark

request: highschool!mark if u love me plspls

 word count: 5.5k

a/n: lucky that I love u anon hehehehe !!!!! also wOW I didnt mean to make this so god damn long itS REALLY JUST THESE GOD DAMN HIGH SCHOOL AUS IM WEAK FOR THEM OKAY. look at this cutie hOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO RESIST

mark, renjun, jeno, donghyuck, jaemin, chenle, jisung

warnings: the usual intermittent cussing and probably an inappropriate joke or two

this au is my Ultimate Weakness it makes me soft as hell alright

………………….

LETS DIVE IN

okay so your mom has a job that forces your family to move around….. A LOT

and while you’ve gotten used to it for the most part it still sucks having to leave people behind and make completely new friends once every couple of years

this time you’re moving to a new school for your SENIOR YEAR and you’re livid

bc like ??? it’s senior year and you have exactly zero (0) friends since you’re new,,, yet again

you Threw A Fit when you found out but your mom was like shut up you ingrate soon you’ll be in college and won’t even have to worry about it

so you, an ingrate, shut up :/

you move in a month before school starts and the house is nice and your room is cute so that’s a plus !!!!!

you hang up some pictures and organize all your cute little trinkets you’ve collected over the years aw

you’ve even got a lil succulent garden growing on your windowsill

ITS CUTE AS HELL OKAY

alright so you’re gonna go explore around town because you , don’t know where anything is and you wanna find some good spots to hang

you take the bus into the middle of town because who tf is tryna drive themselves amirite ladies

support ur local bus driver

anywhom this isn’t a HUGE town but it’s one of those cute towns where you can pretty much walk anywhere you need to go

(god i wish that were me)

so you spend all day just, walkin

you find a library and pick up some books …….

both for decoration and reading okay

and you find a couple of restaurants and write them down to try later along with some coffee shops and whatnot

eventually you’re tired and prolly a lil sweaty bc it’s summer and you’re outside and ugh

so you find a nice big park and a tree and sit down at the base of it to read and mindlessly sketch things in the margins of your book

whEN OUT OF NOWHERE

someone shouts

“HEY WATCH OUT”

and you look up just in time to dodge a sOCCER BALL HURTLING TOWARDS YOUR FACE

it bounces off the tree and rolls a couple feet away

“uhhhh holy shit” - you

you just kind of sit there astonished for 5 seconds before you get up to get the ball and look around for who saved your LIFE

and there’s boy jogging toward you looking extremely embarrassed

you meet him halfway to hand him the ball and he’s like

“oh mY GOD i’m so sorry i told them to settle down but they never listen to me and jisung just ??? doesn’t know how to not take everything seriously and he lost and got pissed and kicked it and we didn’t even kNOW you were over here and also i’m so sorry”

you smile and tell him it’s fine and hand him the ball

you go to get back to your tree and he’s like hey uh you there uh wait up

god he’s awkward

and you turn around to face him with an expectant look

“so um, what’s your name? i haven’t seen you around here before and like in case i ever gotta make this up to you you know ??”

cute

you tell him your name and stick out your hand to shake and he grabs it very hesitantly and tells you his name is mark

he has , very warm hands and they’re only slightly bigger than yours but that’s still cUTE

MARK HAS BABY HANDS I DARE U TO SAY HE DOESNT

he says he hopes you enjoy your book and he’ll make sure the boys don’t disturb you anymore than they already have

you wave as he goes and he gives you a smile over his shoulder and his cheeks are tinged pink and wOw this boy is a cutie patootie

you go back to your reading but now instead of doodling you’re just writing his name or drawing his big doe eyes or his smooth hands

(((((let’s pretend we’re all good at drawing okay god knows i can’t do much more than a stick figure)))))

the boys leave after an hour or two and you leave pretty soon after then because the sun is setting and you gotta be home for dinner

basically your mom wants to make sure you aren’t kidnapped and/or lost in a new town

which, to be fair, is not that unlikely

you have your headphones in and you’re leaned against the bus window half asleep as you go

bitch wake up youRE GONNA MISS YOUR STOP

it’s the same bus driver who saw you get on and honestly there aren’t a lot of people on the bus so he makes sure you get off

“hey you, girl back there, hEY! this is your stop girly”

you thank him profusely and tip him because uhhhh u gotta get home and like Not Lost

you skip home with your bag of books and miscellaneous items you found at the thrift store!!!

you bought a little figurine of a dragon and she’s beautiful her name is saraphina because why not

that’s completely irrelevant i’m so sorry

i have ADHD

anywhom

you walk in and you’re all like hey momma !!! how goes it !!:3

and your mom is Sus™️ because why are you in such a good mood

and you’re like !!! cause i had a good day okay love u bye i’m going to my rOOM

don’t let her question anymore or else she’ll dig out that you met a Cute Boy

you go to your room and get out all your purchases and organize them while you still have the motivation to do so

and yeah

you use one of the blank notes to start like a lil drawing diary of sorts ???? like just to draw stuff in whenever you’re inspired or you see something pretty

and you definitely saw smth pretty today ;))))))))

hint: ITS MARK

you try to draw him from memory but it doesn’t look quite right and like :(((((( how sad is that what if you don’t even see him again

the rest of the month passes pretty quickly in the same fashion

by now you’ve befriended the bus driver and he tells you all the cool secret nooks and crannies of town for you to go find

he’s also your bff pretty much he always tells you about his daughter and all the cute things she does and you just talk about your life in general and he gives you advice

congrats you’ve unlocked Wise Uncle

he gives you directions to this teeny TINY flower shop where you befriend the old lady who works there by bringing a muffin everytime you go by

she trades you for a seasonal flower and makes a big deal out of tucking it behind your ear herself

basically you find all the cute old people in town and make them your friend because.

THATS CUTE

ADDED BONUS OF LIKE 17 PARENT FIGURES TO GIVE YOU ADVICE

this is accidentally straying into art hoe territory i hope y’all are okay w/ that

school is starting really soon and you’re nervous but also used to this so it doesn’t affect you as bad as normally

also you did meet some people so you aren’t going in with no friends but like, pretty close to no friends

on the first day of school you ride the bus and you see ???? mark ????? on your bus ????????

so you get on and do your daily greeting of the bus driver

his daughter lost her first tooth AW

you fake cry and he says “mood” and you lose it because you’re pushing internet culture onto this unsuspecting middle aged man skdkdkkd

you pat him on the shoulder as you walk back to find a seat but there are none because for some reason the bus is busy this early in the morning ????

you wouldn’t know lmao summer sleep schedule had you up at 10 at the earliest

so you go to stand and hold onto one of the poles in the center

(nearby our boy mark LEE)

mark looks up from his phone

these god damn millennials always on that damn phone

and he sees you and he’s like wHOA what’s up uhhh Soccer Ball Girl

and nice you remembered his name bUT HE DIDNT REMEMBER YOURS

but then he’s like nahhhh just kidding i remember ur name hey y/n !!!

you talk otw to school and find out you’re both seniors at the same school and how you’re excited for sports games and like, GRADUATING

mark keeps trying to offer you his seat but you refuse and he pouts everytime you say no :((((

good god just take the seat look at the sad baby boy :((((((((((((

there is an, occurrence

at one point the bus goes over a bump and you stumble a little and mark reaches up to catch you before you literally fall on him

his hands fly out and grab you by the hips to steady you since he’s sitting and you’re standing and he can’t exactly reach your shoulders sO YEA

or at least that’s his explanation in his head huehuehuehe

his hands linger for MAYBE 10 seconds before he whips them back into his pockets and blushes while you thank him

you: are also blushing

the bus driver: completely did that on purpose

when you get off the bus your Second Dad tells you good luck and pats you on the head and mark is like ???? do you know him

and you’re like yeah that’s my man maurice we’re buds

and he’s like ???? i’ve rode that bus all my life to school and i’m not buds with him wtf :/

“srry you’re not as lovable as me!! jealousy is a disease <3”

and he laughs his dorky laugh

you highkey are smiling so big because this boy is so cute and he’s walking close enough that your shoulders brush every once in a while and he has a silly laugh and AW

as you walk into the school marks group of Boys starts waving him over excitedly and he turns in their direction but then stops when he sees you aren’t following

“hey whatcha doin???”

“well uhhh those are Your Boys you know and i’m, i don’t, really, uh they don’t know me”

“aw cmon they’ll love you!!! look ill just introduce you and if they’re terrible and annoying you can leave”

“........ i gue-“

but he’s already grabbed your hand and is pulling you over to them

“sup fellas this is y/n and she just moved here this year so don’t be too overwhelming.”

the smaller one with the highish voice chimes in

“aww but overwhelming is my only setting”

“then just don’t be yourself, chenle”

“heYYY it’s that girl i almost killed in the park !!! so sorry about that by the way”

he introduces them to you one by one and they all shake your hand

jisung is the one with the big ass yaoi hands and also the one who almost ended your young life

jaemin is the one with pretty smile

jeno is the one with the squishy eyes

renjun is the Art Hoe of the group you can just tell

he’s wearing some got damn overalls you gotta befriend him immediately

donghyuck is the one with beautiful skin and a v high voice you’re highkey like hey but can you dROP THE SKINCARE ROUTINE and he’s like “i just wash my face every day xoxo :*”

you quickly learn who is a piece of shit and who isn’t

you figure out who has classes with you and then set off for the day !!

mark has gym and economics with you but those are after lunch :(((

he squeezes your shoulder before he leaves and says good luck though so you’ll survive

you have art with renjun first and this boy is your bestie already

he’s such a sarcastic shit and he too likes drawing random things and vandalizing school textbooks with artistically correct memes

he also has the AUDACITY

“so, you and mark already ;););)(;);)))”

“i uh don’t know what you mean by that”

“you SO do!!!!! you guys walked into school together everyone probably already thinks you’re a thing”

“oh shit really??? ah i feel so bad”

“is that a bad thing???”

“i mean yeah i’m not tryna Tarnish mark’s reputation”

“that is some self hatred bs he would be lucky to have you !!!!”

“renjun you don’t even know me that well yet”

“i know enOUGH”

you just uhh change the subject which renjun def notices but like

who cares

renjun apparently also goes to the same flower shop as you !!!

you find out because you see him drawing the front of it and you’re like heY i’ve been there my girl edna works there !!!!! she insist i call her grandma tho

and he’s all oh sHIT that’s my girl too !!!!!!

long story short edna is now your shared grandmother

now THAT is some uwu shit

you go about your day and it’s lunchtime and yOU uh don’t know where to sit :(

you see a girl that you met who works at the little coffee shop you like so you set off in her direction and you’re almost there when jeno and jaemin walk up and sling an arm around your shoulder from either side

“hEY BUDDY” -jeno

“SUP SQUIRT” -jaemin

and they start steering you in another direction towards their own table

“god of all nicknames you had to give me sQUIRT”

“yes it’s because you’re cute and small like squirtle”

“that’s a god damn reach if i’ve ever seen one but okay”

you get there and they practically TOSS you into the seat next to mark

he winces and gives you and apologetic pat on the back before starting the conversation

“alright so who actually did the summer reading”

as the table bursts into Absolute Ruckus you just kind of sit back and watch

mark notices you being quiet and while renjun and chenle are arm wrestling he leans over to quietly be like

“hey you doin okay over there? are they too much”

“oh not at all i’m just takin it in lmao”

“yeah that’s understandable. they’re easily the most entertaining group of people you’ll ever meet but also i’ve wanted to strangle every single one of them at least once”

“what are you 30??? you talk about them like you’re their mom”

“i mean someone’s gotta do it”

you and mark talk all throughout lunch and head to gym together since that’s next

exercising right after eating ??? sounds like a GREAT plan thanks so much public school system !!!!

you go to pull out your bag of gym clothes but ??? all you’ve got is shorts ?????

S H I T

you start whining because you’re like aWW i’m gonna get in trouble :(((((

and he’s like here i have like 12 shirts in here because i always bring too many and then leave some when i got soccer practice i gotchu

(he gives you the clean shirt that hasn’t been sitting in his locker <3333 what a guy)

you thank him proFUSELY and then go to the girls locker room to change

the shirt is too big and you don’t wanna look like a Bag so you tie a lil knot in it in the front

you don’t look like a thot tho you just look Cute As Fuck

some girl in the locker room lets you borrow a hair tie and off we go !!!

it’s the first day so everyone literally just stretches and sits around talking

you’ve hashtag LOST mark and you don’t have any friends yet so you’re just chillin talking to the girl who gave you a hair tie because she seems nice and you got nothin better to do

you’re explaining to her how to take care of a succulent /properly/ when mark catches a basketball that was headed right for you yelling a watch it !!!! over his shoulder

he turns to you and giggles a little, nudging your foot with his

“you’re just a danger magnet aren’t you”

“i mean danger is my middle name so”

“uGH get your ass over here away from all those freshman hoodlums who think they can play”

you wave bye to your friend because there’s literal fear in her eyes at the sight of mark ??

you ask her what’s wrong later and she’s like oh it’s not him i just have a crippling fear of boys

(that’s a mood)

you and mark pass a volleyball back and forth and fuck around pretty much all period

this is actually the one (1) sport he isn’t good at thank GOD you were worried he had no flaws

at the end of the class you ask him if he wants his shirt back and he says, and i quote,

“nah you and your thot knot can keep it, looks cuter on you anyways”

you smack his arm for calling you a thot but then thank him anyways for the shirt and for calling you cute :))))))))

econ passes the same way except normal clothing and no sports

although mark does throw a wadded up piece of paper on you that says u want 2 hang w the boys n me after school ? if yes then breathe if no do a backflip

this headass boy

you throw it back so it bounces off his forehead and then nod to confirm you will

you don’t have any of the boys in your last class and you don’t where to meet up so you just kind of loiter by your locker since jeno’s is pretty close to yours and maybe they’ll meet here ????

luckily jisung spots you and is like hey what r u doin here aren’t u hanging with us after school??? cmon

you follow him out to the parking lot where they’re all gathered around jeno and jaemins vehicles because apparently they’re the only ones with actual cars

rip

they start waving too excitedly when they see you and mark smiles all big

wooOOO baby boy already has a crush on you :3

they’ve apparently already decided to go to chenles house because apparently he’s fuckin loaded

you don’t believe that for a sECOND because he’s wearing crocs and an old ass polo shirt but

we’ll see

you mark and renjun ride with jaemin while the Babies ride with jeno since he is able to ignore them being crackheads in the backseat and drive his vehicle without crashing

apparently they’ve cause multiple vehicular accidents ??? possibly the reason renjun doesn’t have a car ???????

who knows

y’all have a blast in jaemins car tho playing tokyo drift from the third fast and furious movie if u haven’t heard that shit plEASE GO LISTEN WHAT A SONG HEHEHHEHHEHE

you pull into this BIG ASS house and you’re like no fucking way dude

and everyone else in the car simultaneously says

“i know right ???”

y’all pull in and go inside and it’s real nice holy SHIT

chenle comes in cackling followed closely be jisung and more sedately by jeno who looks ready to fckin die

you pat him on the shoulder and go you did well, soldier

he salutes solemnly before breaking out into the smile

y’all know the one

you UWU right there on the spot but hold yourself back from poking his cheek and cooing

chenle then SCREECHES and yells

“WHO IS TRYNA PLAY JUST DANCE”

and everyone crowds into his living room

somehow the couch is big enough to fit all of you comfortably that’s fckin impressive

you play just dance for 3 whole ass hours and now you’re Tired and Ready To Go Home

there’s a bus stop nearby and you insist upon walking since jaemin already have you a ride here and you didn’t even have gas money to give him :(((

mark goes to since you have to catch the same bus

you hum as you skip around the sidewalk and he walks behind you smiling fondly while you twirl around

he recognizes the song and whistles along and wow !!!!

Harmony™️

when you get to the stop you’re like 5 mins early

so to entertain yourselves you play rock paper scissors and each time the winner gets to flick the loser on the forehead

mark is a sweet boy so he flicks softly but you go all out

wouldn’t be surprised if he had a bruise tmrw girly u need to chill

you sit on the bus together when it arrives since there’s actually room now and he slumps down low until his head is pretty much rested on your shoulder

(our man maurice sees and is like GET IT GIRL but only so you notice and you make threatening hand motions at him)

you’re not sure if he’s asleep so you stay extra still just in case

and no one needs to know you rested your cheek on top of his head

but when it gets to your stop you’re like mark? mark lee??? mork ???? wake up ??? and you nudge him a little with your shoulder and he sits up and rubs his eyes aW

he slow blinks at you and goes

“hm?”

and you’re like i uh gotta go now

and he’s like :/// okay i’ll see you tomorrow and stands up and gives you a half hug before you go

maurice is DYING in the front you’re going to kill him

you walk home with a smile on your face and again your mom is suspicious of your good mood but you’re like aw it’s nothin just had a good day at school made lots of friends !!!!!!

as summer turns into fall you make more friends but you mostly hang out with the boys because they’re funny and nice to you and also Mark is there and we love our boy

you guys all attend football games together and go absolutely ALL OUT for whatever the theme is

for example: the theme was halloween and you all dressed as god damn SMURFS

it was legendary there was not one bit of you all that wasn’t covered in blue paint

jisung almost fought some girl who thought he was from the movie Avatar until everyone was like jisung cHILL OUT ITS NOT HER FAULT YOURE VERY TALL AND COMPLETELY BLUE

and well

can’t argue with that

it gets chillier though so you all bring blankets and cuddle most of the games

all of the boys suspiciously aren’t cold at first until you and mark share a blanket

they’re so obvious GOD

with each time y’all share you get more relaxed around each other until eventually mark has one arm slung around you and your legs are hooked over one of his thighs while y’all Snuggle

renjun waggles his eyebrows at you every five minutes and you discreetly give him the finger every time

little ASSHOLE

college applications are due like. right now

you all apply to a nice university close by as a backup/safe place and then apply to more brazy places just to see if you can get in

everyone’s been real stressed lately so you’re like !!!!! hey imma throw a friendsgiving party !!! yeehaw !!!!!!!!!

and you invite all of them over

“everyone bring smth and i’ll bake a ham or smth,,, i swear to GOD if all of you show up with store-bought pumpkin pie. i will kill you and then myself”

“what’s with you and pumpkin pie?”

“jUST. don’t”

((((srry i’m projecting my hatred of pumpkin pie onto u reader heheehehheh))))

everyone comes over and it’s really chilly so you have a fire in the fireplace and you have a couple of your gal pals over too

your mom is nice enough to leave y’all alone for the night and she’s not hurt since it’s not real thanksgiving

we stan moms

you bring out the ham and someone has brought green beans and mark ,,,, tHAT ANGEL he brought cornbread stuffing do y’all know what i’m talking abt

OOO THAT STUFF IS GOOD

and there’s sweet potatoes and apple pie and all the Thanksgiving Essentials

jisung wanted to be a dick so he brought cranberry jelly

“why don’t you have some:) cranberry preserves:) , jisung” -you, every 30 seconds

everyone sits down to eat and it’s LOUD so you’re like shut UP !!!!!!!!!!

“every1 say smth ur thankful for :3333”

“my family !!!!”

“you guys <3”

“awW BOOO” - everyone, while throwing things at jaemin

“my life !!”

“that i’m happy”

“gay” -chenle

“minecraft”

anyways no one took it seriously until it got to mark

“i’m grateful y/n moved here :))))))”

everyone goes KSKDDIDI and you blush and you’re like okay ily mark JSKKD

everyone EATS A LOT and then you go sit in a pile in the living room

you go to make hot chocolate for everyone and when you come back it’s , interesting how there’s only room for you next to mark . hm

you pass out the hot chocolate and everyone reaches Maximum Sleepytime

at this point you’re too tired to give a fuck and you just flop onto the couch next to mark and curl up into his side

he puts his arm around you to pull you close and this mf presses a tiny barely there kiss to your temple

you look up and like talk with your eyes

did u just

i did

oh

yeah

and then you just settle back down

it’s too crowded in here for any Moves to be Made

bUT YALL BEST BELIEVE WHEN ALL THESE YOUNGINS GET OUT UR HOUSE

you’ve got the karate kid on bc ??? who doesn’t love the karate kid and all of your cutie friends are asleep in various places

but once it gets super late you start waking people up and going hey i love you but your mom called mine like 8 times you gotta gO

you make sure everyone is awake fully if they’re driving and to text you when they got home safe

at long last

you’re alone

in your house

with mark

actually where is mark

mark has disappeared ?????

you start looking around for him and find him in your room ???

“you snoopin thru my things ??!?!??”

he jumps and is like uHH but you’re like nah you’re fine idc

so he continues and he was really just lookin at what kind of books you have and the little drawings and paintings and knick knacks everywhere

you just sit on your bed and observe him

let’s be real he’s nice to look at and you’d be perfectly fine doing this for uhhh the rest of your life

he pulls a book off your shelf and starts flipping through it until he pauses at a page

and his face blooms into this big smile and he looks hella giddy

and you’re like uhh hey whatcha lookin at there bud

and he just keep smiling and it’s a little smug now wtf

“when were you reading this?”

“oh uh i don’t know i got it this summer at that cute little bookshop”

“was it, by chance, the day we met?”

“i mean maybe??? why ????”

and he shows you the page and it’s tHAT oNE WHERE YOU WERE DOODLING BITS OF HIM AND WRITING HIS NAME ALL OVER IT

FUCK !!!!!!!

you immediately turn tomato red and snatch the book in to hold it tightly to your chest

“uhhh i do that with uhhhh eVerYONE I MEET”

“aw i thought i was special:((((”

he’s creeping closer to you this whole time until he’s INCHES AWAY

he gently pulls the book out of your hands and places it aside before grabbing your wrists and uncrossing your arms

“personally, i think it’s really cute”

you blush even more this man knows what he’s doing

you mumble a thanks with your eyes trained on his fuzzy socks what a dork

he releases one of your wrists to push your chin up so he can look you in the eyes

“do you really do that with everyone you meet?”

“,,,,,,, no it’s just you”

“alright cool”

and then he wraps his arms around your waist to pull you close til you’re pressed together chest to chest AW

he nudges his nose against yours and you close your eyes because your god daMN HEART IS POUNDING AND YOU CANT LOOK DIRECTLY INTO THOSE BIG PUPPY EYES

he presses the sweetest and gentlest of kisses to each cheek and then to the top of your nose

he presses one last lingering kiss on your forehead before he tilts his chin down to press your lips together

it’s so soft and innocent wow i’m going to SHED TEARS WRITING THIS

and he pulls away and you press your face into his neck in embarrassment

he chuckles a lil and rubs your back, leaning his cheek against your head

“hey, you down there”

you say “yeah?” but your voice is muffled by his neck and it’s more like eh ???

“my girlfriend y/n will you be ???”

what the fuck

you pull your head back so you can look at his face which is turning steadily redder

“uh what”

“shIT uh i meant will you uh bemygirlfriend”

your confused expression turns into a shit eating grin and you’re like

“what was that :)))) i didn’t hear you :)))))”

he groans and rests his forehead on your shoulder and pitifully whines out

“please be my girlfriend :(((((“

you pick his face up and hold it between your palms and he pouts playfully

“well how could i say no to that face”

and you smooch him right on those lil pouted lips

“yes i’ll be your girlfriend”

he smiles real big and smooshes you against him aw

wow so now you’re mark lee’s gf

LUCKY BITCH

lowkey you get a few threats but as soon as mark catches wind of that he stands on the statue in front of the school and announces that if anyone has a problem with you they’ve got a problem with him !!!!

and he looks like: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

you drag him down while apologizing to everyone in the general vicinity

mark is. veRY CLINGY NOW

i mean no complaints here it’s just

wow

you’ll be standing at your locker when BAM mark is wrapped around you from behind and you get a hey baby how’s ur day right in your ear

in gym class he restrains himself since the coaches are always like LEE KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF

but he always whines after and is like

:((((( but you look so cute in my shirt i wanna squish you

whenever mark comes over you force him to let you draw him at least once

each time it gets easier since you’ve started to memorize the details of his face and the knuckles of his hands and the shape of his shoulders

a lot of times he just comes over to watch movies and talk

he’s not an eloquent guy

(“you all look like pretty grass :)))” - mark lee)

but he gets what he needs to say out and he enjoys listening to you talk about whatever’s on your mind

you’ve started a glow in the dark star sticker collection to put on your ceiling and each time he comes over you put a constellation up there

so you’ll lay in bed and turn off the lights and just stare at the ceiling and try to name them all

soon you’ll just get sleepy though and press your face into his chest

he uwu’s every time :((((

after he’s done being astonished by his Baby™️ he’ll wrap his arms around you and stroke a hand up and down your spine wow

Real Relaxation Hours

your mom will come home and find y’all asleep and then SHE uwu’s and it’s just one big cute MESS

he loves to kiss you right as he’s leaving like he’ll lay one on you then RUN to the bus stop

p.s. maurice is on y’all every day saying he called it AY

his other favorite kisses are when he catches you off guard and just turns you around and kisses you and you’re like

I’m Confused But I Like This

lots of sweet pecks throughout the day and then longer slower stuff when you’re home and alone and relaxing

leaves hickeys on your neck literally just to be annoying

it’s oKAY THO DONT TELL HIM YOU LIKE IT

months pass and youve said your first “i love you’s” to each other and renjun is always like so when y’all gettin married huh

you both SMACK him simultaneously

but lowkey you would marry mark he’s the best and you love him so wHY NOT

but it’s early and you know that and you’re happy with what you have now :))))))

pls love and support our hardworking baby mark lee he is doing his best and i love him goodnight