#can’t wait to flip my calendar tomorrow and see who’s up next

[oilzone]

obsessed with my lil hockey wall

[watchmegetobsessed]

TO LOVE AND BE LOVED - Part Three (Harry Styles)

a/n: part 3 wohoo! thank you so much for all the love you’ve been showing the series, it keeps me going and writing more and more! originally i thought it would turn out to be about three parts, but it has outgrown that limit so i added two more parts to the masterpost, that’s for sure is gonna happen but i might even add more?! not sure, im still in the writing process so i can’t tell how long it’s going to turn out to be, but this just means even more content for you guys!

as always, feedback is very much appreciated, please make sure to share your thoughts and comments on the part, it’s such a huge boost for writers to read what you thought!!

pairing: CEO!Dad!Harry X Reader

warning: mentions of death, cheating and divorce

word count: 11.4k

SERIES MASTERPOST masterlist

When you were working at the daycare you couldn’t focus on photography as much as you would have liked to. You often had to stay in for extra hours, wait until the last kid was picked up and then do paperwork, or change the decoration in your room or whatever Clair asked you to do that day. By the time you got home you just wanted to take a bath and fall into bed. You also had to travel 40 minutes to work which took away a lot of time from your day.

Working for Harry helped you immensely with focusing more on your passion. Even on his worse days he got home by six and since your workplace is your home, you don’t even have to drive forty minutes to enjoy the comfort of your home, you just walk up the stairs to your room and that’s it.

In addition, taking care of Izzy, you still have the chance to work on some editing or snap new pictures. You have time off when she has her classes and when you put her down for her nap. The best thing is that Izzy is quite interested in photography, she gets very interested whenever she sees you bring out one of your cameras and she always lets you take pictures of her, posing and goofing around. The folder on your computer that has her name is growing each day with more and more sweet photos of the little girl that has completely stolen your heart. You’ve been regularly getting your favorites shots of her printed and you always leave them on Harry’s desk so when he gets home he sees them and they make him forget about whatever happened at work that day.

You are getting more and more emails about possible sessions and slowly but surely, your weekends start to fill up with weddings, birthday parties and engagement photoshoots. It seems like you have definitely made the right choice when you took this job. No doubts.

“Can I ask a question, daddy?” Izzy is poking the peas around on her plate as the four of you sit at the dining table at dinner. Ruth has joined you today, because Harry had to make a quick trip to his office in the afternoon and you were out shopping with Trevor today.

“Sure, baby,” Harry hums nodding.

“Why don’t you eat meat?” she asks seriously, eyeing her own plate that has some chicken on it, while Harry’s is only stacked with veggies and potatoes.

“Because I decided that I won’t want to.”

“Can I decide that too?”

“You’re a little too young for that, baby. You need the meat to grow big. When you’re older you can think about what kind of things you want to and don’t want to eat.”

“Okay,” she nods without throwing a tantrum about her dad telling her no. You know quite a few kids who would have flipped over it, but not Izzy. Harry might not even realize how good of a job he is doing raising her and teaching her how to be a good human.

“I have another question,” she announces, glancing up at Harry.

“Go ahead.”

“If you don’t eat meat, does that make you an herbivore?”

You can’t push down a chuckle, you were not expecting this. Your eyes meet Ruth’s over the table, she is enjoying this conversation just as much as you do. It’s cute how Izzy put two and two together and made a seemingly logical conclusion.

“We learned about herbivore dinosaurs this week,” you inform Harry, who is a little lost about why his daughter just called him an herbivore. Also, you’re quite impressed that she remembered the word, though she struggled with it at first, but it seems like it finally stuck.

Harry shakes his head chuckling as he sets his fork down, looking over at Izzy.

“In a way I should be called an herbivore, but that’s not what you call people who don’t eat meat. I’m a vegetarian.”

“Oh, okay,” she nods, wrapping up the information in her head as she keeps eating.

You and Ruth clean up after dinner while Harry gives Izzy a bath, a little earlier than usually, because she spilled apple juice on herself, so he decided to just go straight for the bath instead of changing once more before bedtime.

“Will you be fine with putting these away, Darling?” Ruth asks as you’re drying the last few dishes.

“Sure! I’ll take care of it,” you smile back at her as she nods and heads into the living room.

Harry emerges from upstairs with a freshly cleaned Izzy on his arms. As soon as her little feet touch the floor she bolts over to join Ruth in front of the TV while Harry walks into the kitchen just as you put the last dish away.

“Hey, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” he starts and suddenly, you feel your stomach drop, especially because his face seems very serious.

“Oh God, what did I do?” you ask, feeling yourself panicking already.

“Nothing! It’s not like that!” he chuckles softly, realizing you kind of misunderstood the situation.

“Okay, good. Sorry, you just looked so serious.”

“Sorry, I was just… thinking. So two friends of mine that I work together with also are getting married soon. They had a photographer booked already, but the guy cancelled on them and, um, I hope you don’t mind, but I recommended you to them.”

“Really?” you ask in complete surprise.

“Yeah. Actually, they saw a picture of Izzy that you took in my office and we started talking about how you do photoshoots in your free time and then I told them to ask if you’d be up to do their wedding as well.”

“Wow, that’s really nice of you, Harry. Thank you!”

“I gave them your number, they’ll probably call you sometime next week or so.”

“Great!” you beam, excited about the new event you can work at. “I hope they’ll want to work with me.”

“I kind of hyped you up for them and they seemed very pleased with the pictures I showed them, so I’m sure they will want to,” Harry chuckles softly, even blushing a little. It always amazes you how a tall, muscular guy with so many tattoos can be such a soft, caring and loving person. It always reminds you not to judge the book by its cover.

“Thank you, Harry. This means a lot to me.” Reaching over you place your hand on his arm and give it a gentle squeeze before moving past him to join Ruth and Izzy in the living room.

Harry was right about Sarah and Mitch being all excited to get in contact with you, because they don’t even wait for the next week to reach out. Sunday afternoon you are working on some more editing at the dining table while Harry and Izzy are painting on the other end of the table, busy with their masterpieces when your phone starts ringing, an unknown number shown on the screen.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you answer it, leaning back in your seat.

“Y/N, hi! My name is Sarah Jones, I hope I’m not calling at a bad time, Harry gave me your number this week.”

“Oh! Sarah, yeah! So nice to talk to you!” you beam and Harry’s eyes snap up to you at the mentioning of the familiar name. “Harry mentioned you’d reach out and don’t worry, I’m happy to chat.”

“That’s great. I wanted to wait until Monday, but truth is that we are kind of in a short of time and I was afraid you’d be already busy for our date, so I wanted to call you as soon as possible.”

“No worries.”

“So first and foremost, I’m gonna ask if you have anything planned on the last weekend of May. I know it’s just in a few weeks, but I really hope we can work it out.”

“Let me pull up my calendar,” you tell her as you open up the app on your computer that you use to keep track with your sessions and events. Finding the weekend in question in it, you smile at the empty space. “Good news, seems like I’m free that weekend.”

“Oh thank God!” she breathes out in relief and you let out a chuckle. “That’s so amazing. So then would it be possible to meet up sometime next week? You could show some more works of yours and we can discuss more details, how does that sound?”

“This week? Well I have to work—“ you start, but Harry cuts you off.

“Come into the office tomorrow morning.” “What?”

“Put her on speaker,” he smiles nodding towards your phone and you do as he asked, setting it to the table with Sarah on speaker. “Hey Sarah!”

“Harry, hi!”

“Aunt Sarah?” Izzy’s ears perk up, some pink paint on her cheeks that you have no idea how it got there, because her painting doesn’t even have any pink in it.

“Hi Izzy! So good to hear your voice!” she chuckles through the phone.

“Sarah, you’re gonna be at the studio Monday morning, right?” Harry asks and you can’t not notice how his voice changed the slightest bit as soon as he started talking about business.

“Yeah and Mitch is coming too,” she confirms.

“Okay then how about you come in tomorrow morning, Y/N?”

“But what about Izzy?”

“She can come too. I’ll look after her while you discuss the details, it’s no big deal. It’s been a while since the last time she came to work with me,” he smirks over at the little girl, who is already excited to spend some more time with her daddy at his workplace.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Absolutely,” he nods smiling.

“Thank you, well then I’m okay with tomorrow if it’s fine for you as well, Sarah.”

“That would be perfect! Thank you guys both, Mitch and I really appreciate it.”

“No worries,” Harry nods, going back to his painting. You take Sarah off the phone as you say your goodbye before ending the call.

You start Monday off with some extra excitement. Not just because you are about to get booked for another event, but also because it’s going to be the first time you see Harry at his workplace. He has been quite good at keeping his business separated from his private life, it never really happens that you catch him dwell about anything work related whenever he is home and around Izzy. The phone call with Sarah was like a tiny glimpse of what he might be like when he is in work mode and you’re kind of curious to see more of this side of him.

Just as usual, Harry takes care of Izzy in the morning while you get ready on your own. You want to look good, not only are you going to meet more of his friends, but people he works with. Or should you say, people who work for him.

You choose a light pink dress, throwing a white knitted sweater over your shoulders with a pair of ballerinas. After putting on some light makeup and grabbing your purse and laptop you head downstairs to grab a quick breakfast. Izzy is already sitting at the table, still in her pajamas since her and food are a dangerous combination and Harry always makes sure to get her dressed once she is away from all of that.

“You look so pretty, Y/N!” she beams, her legs dangling from the chair as she digs into her oatmeal. Harry appears from the kitchen and he has the same look on his face like when he saw you leave for that wedding a while ago. A blush paints his cheeks as he slows his steps down, his eyes running down on the length of your body before they return to your face.

“Izzy is right, you look… really pretty, Y/N,” he compliments into your face, unlike last time when you only heard him call you pretty when he thought you were long gone.

“Thank you,” you breathe out with a soft chuckle.

The morning carries on as usual, Harry dresses Izzy for the day and then you all head out, however you stop short upon seeing the various cars parked on the driveway and the double garage.

“Maybe take the Rover, it’s got the child seat in it and I’ll take the Jaguar today,” Harry suggests as he hands you over the keys to the Rover and then nears the car he is taking for the day.

“Oh yeah, you just take the Jaguar, boss,” you chuckle under your breath, finding it a little funny that deciding on which car you’re taking for the day is even a question in someone else’s life.

Izzy sings along the radio as you follow Harry’s car into the label’s building. Of course, it’s not just some simple office building, it’s situated in the riches area of the city and the building is massive with loads of floors and a huge HES Records sign above the entrance where you meet Harry after parking down.

“Good morning, Mr. Styles! Hello, Izzy!” the woman behind the front desk smiles widely immediately, standing up from her chair to hand Harry a stack of envelopes. “Your post, sir.”

“Thank you, Veronica. Have a nice day,” Harry nods in her way as the three of you move through the hall to the elevators. Waiting for it to arrive, you glance at the board on the wall that lists everything you can find in the building and the level you should look for it at. There are endless amount of studios, at least three on each levels, offices, creative rooms and conference rooms. It’s pretty clear that HES Records manages a lot of talents and that requires a lot of space.

Arriving to the twentieth floor, which is of course the top of the building, you are in awe as you realize that the whole floor is basically Harry’s office. There’s a kind of hall area for his two assistants, he has his own conference room, his kitchen and dining area and of course, his office space. The whole place screams power and influence. The modern design of the interior makes it such a fancy work space not just for him, but for everyone else in the building. It’s truly impressive.

“Wow, Harry. This place is… amazing,” you breathe out as he walks the two of you into the conference room where Izzy immediately climbs up to one of the chairs, standing up so she can lean onto the table. Harry walks behind her and adjusts her so she just sits before she could fall off.

“Thank you. I really like this place too. I always thought it’s important to have a great place to work at,” he smiles, clearly proud of how far his business has come. “There’s a mini fridge over there, feel free to take anything you’d like. Sarah texted me on the way here that they’ll be here shortly.”

“Great, thank you,” you nod, taking a seat next to Izzy as you set your laptop up. The glass door of the room opens and one of the assistants peeks inside.

“Mr. Styles, Mrs. Wonstein is on the phone asking for you.”

“Oh, alright, give me a minute and I’ll take it.” The assistant nods and walks out. “Izzy, come with daddy a little, alright? Let Y/N do her thing.” “She can stay, if you want. I can look after her,” you tell him, but he shakes his head as Izzy climbs off the chair and running over to him, she takes his hand.

“No, just focus on this one. I’ll take care of her, don’t worry.”

“Thank you, Harry,” you smile with gratitude as the two of them walk out, leaving you alone. You start scrolling through your folders, wondering which photos you should show Sarah and Mitch, picking out some of your favorites while you wait for them, though they don’t take too long to arrive. Soon enough the glass door opens and the lovely couple walks in.

“Y/N! Hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you!” Sarah greets you, wrapping you in a warm hug before stepping aside.

“Hi, I’m Mitch, nice to meet you,” the groom-to-be smiles shyly as he pulls you in for a short hug as well.

“Good to meet you guys too,” you smile back at them as you all sit to the table.

“Thank you so much for meeting us in such a short notice. Our photographer bailed out on us and I was starting to really worry when Harry mentioned that you are doing this kind of stuff in your free time,” Sarah explains.

“No worries. Would you like to go over some of my previous works?” you offer and they both nod in excitement before you start clicking through some old projects.

They share their vision for the whole wedding and the kind of pictures they would like and you like their approach and feel like it’s right up your alley. They both seem to like what you show them and Sarah compliments on how well you are able to catch small, but important moments.

“The wedding won’t be too big, just friends and family, but we do want a lot of memories, it means a lot to us,” Sarah explains and you nod, noting everything she says.

“Harry said you like this oldschool kind of vibe in your pictures,” Mitch chimes in.

“Oh, yeah. I like to make them look like they weren’t taken on a digital sometimes.”

“Do you think you can make some of those for us as well? Not all of them, just a couple,” Sarah asks.

“Sure! It’s more about the editing process, but it’s totally doable.”

You go over a few more things, making sure you’re on the same page, but you feel like things are working out perfectly. Though you guessed they would be great people, it’s still nice to work with such a nice and professional couple. You’ve had some crazy ones before, they definitely don’t make the job easy on you, but it’s not the case right now.

“Okay, so are you sure the date is okay for you? We wouldn’t want you to cancel on anything you had before just because we are Harry’s friends,” Mitch assures you, but you give them a warm smile.

“I’m totally free, don’t worry. Harry doesn’t have that kind of advantage here,” you chuckle softly.

“Thank you so much in this case. You’re truly a lifesaver,” Sarah breathes out in relief.

“Thank you for the trust. I’m really looking forward to working with you guys!”

Finishing up the meeting you pack up, chatting a little out of the business talk with Sarah and Mitch as you head over to Harry’s office.

“Hey! How did it go?” Harry asks as soon as the three of you walk in. Izzy is sitting at his desk, like a little boss, coloring something as he is sitting on the corner of the desk.

“Amazing, we owe you one for suggesting her,” Sarah sighs and you can’t help but just chuckle at how thankful she really is that you could help them out.

“You owe me no more than just one dance at the wedding,” Harry smiles at her.

“Can I dance too?” Izzy’s head perks up.

“Oh baby, you’re not coming to the wedding. You’ll be staying with Grandma, I already told you.” Izzy pouts at her dad, but she doesn’t seem to mind it that much, she quickly goes back to coloring.

“We’ll dance some other time, okay?” Sarah offers her and she nods happily.

“Can I dance with Uncle Mitch too?” she questions and Mitch just smiles down at her.

“Of course,” he hums, curling an arm around Sarah’s waist. “I have a meeting in ten so I’ll head out, I’m gonna pick James up in the afternoon, alright?” He kisses Sarah’s temple before pulling Harry into a brotherly hug. “Y/N, it was so nice to meet you and thank you for everything again,” he smiles at you, enveloping you in a quick hug as well.

“See you soon,” you smile back before he waves his last goodbye and leaves. “Who’s James?” you ask curiously.

“James is our son. He is turning three this year,” Sarah beams proudly.

“Oh! You two already have a son, that’s great! I’ll make sure to snap a bunch of photos of him too,” you chuckle.

“Please, our house is already packed with pictures, but there’s just never enough,” Sarah laughs.

The three of you chat a little longer while Izzy is busy with her coloring, talking about the wedding and whatnot, Harry invites her and Mitch over for dinner sometime and she happily says yes before business is calling her so she heads out as well.

“Okay, come one, little Sunshine. Let’s get home, Rosaline will be over soon for your piano lesson,” you smile down at Izzy who throws all her coloring stuff into one of Harry’s drawers before hopping off the leather seat.

“I’ll see you in the afternoon, okay?” Harry leans down and kisses the top of her head before pressing his lips to her cheek as well.

“Bye daddy, have a good day!” she calls out, grabbing your hand as you head to the door, Harry following behind.

“Mr. Styles, you have a meeting in five with—“ one of the assistants speaks up, but Harry stops her.

“I know, tell him I’ll be down in a minute. And please call Isaac to remind him about his deadline tomorrow,” he asks in that voice again you heard yesterday when Sarah called. There’s just something so intimidating yet exciting in the way he bosses around, but not like an asshole. He is a man in power, but he surely knows how to use it for the good.

“I forgot to talk to you about the time Izzy is spending at my mum’s, please remind me to go over it with you tonight, alright?” Harry asks and you nod as the elevator’s door opens and the two of you walk in.

“Bye daddy!” Izzy waves at him.

“Bye baby, be good! Bye Y/N!” he smiles as the door starts to close.

“See you later,” you smile back before he disappears from your sight.

The meeting with Sarah and Mitch got you buzzing, because it’s gonna be such an intimate yet beautiful wedding and those are your favorite. You can’t wait to start snapping the pictures and make their memories last forever of their big day.

You want to say thank you to Harry for suggesting you to them, so while Izzy is with Rosaline, you make a quick round to the grocery store and get everything you need to make some cupcakes, knowing well Harry loves those. He once told you that he could easily eat a dozen of those if he had the chance, so you think it’s gonna be the perfect way to thank him.

You keep the usual schedule, but after your little learning session in the afternoon, instead of heading out to the backyard to play, you suggest you bake the cupcakes together and Izzy is more than happy to help you.

It doesn’t take long for the kitchen to turn into a warzone, ingredients spilled to the counter all over the place, some music is playing in the background and you’ve been struggling to figure out how to use the different machines around the super modern kitchen.

You go all out with the decorations, you even bought some food coloring so you can make the cupcakes different colors and mess around with the icing and cream as well. You get so busy with the task on hand that time flies by faster than you expected. The two of you are still working on the decorating when the front door opens and Harry walks into the mess you’ve created in the past hours.

“What is doing on here?” he chuckles, seeing Izzy’s hair covered in flour, whipped cream on her nose and cheeks as she is throwing some sprinkles on one of the cupcakes, sitting on the kitchen island counter while you are finishing up another one.

“Oh! I wanted it to be a surprise!” you pout. “Izzy and I are making you cupcakes!”

“Why do I deserve a surprise?” he asks smirking, walking farther into the kitchen as he looks around, finding the mess quite amusing, rather than annoying. Harry knows well enough that it’s not easy to keep the place around you clean when there are kids involved in any process.

“I wanted to thank you for suggesting me to Sarah and Mitch. It was really nice of you.”

“Already told you it was nothing. Of course I suggest them a good photographer if I know one.”

You just smile at him shrugging, because no matter how hard he is trying to play it down, it meant a lot to you.

“Look daddy!” Izzy holds up her cupcake, half of it is covered with sprinkles, the other half is decorated with chocolate chips and she is clearly proud of it.

“That looks great, baby!” he smiles proudly, kissing the top of her head. “You have so much stuff on you, you could easily turn into a cupcake too,” he jokes, making her laugh.

“Be a cupcake with me, daddy!” Izzy beams and before Harry could stop her, she wipes some whipped cream to his face, getting him dirty as well. You gasp before letting out a laugh, Izzy shrieks happily seeing her dad all dressed up fancily and licking the cream off his face.

“Isabelle Styles, you have no idea what you just brought on yourself,” he warns in a low tone, already making Izzy scoot backwards as she is trying to escape, but she doesn’t have anywhere to go, the kitchen island’s edge is right behind her butt. However, she doesn’t realize it and tries to push herself back some more, deeming herself to fall right off, but before anything could happen Harry scoops her into his arms, pressing his creamy face to her cheek, making an even bigger mess that’s already there. Izzy is moving around, laughing and screaming as Harry gets some more cream to his hands, wiping it onto her anywhere he can.

“Oh my God, you are wasting all the cream!” you call him out, but it’s such a sweet moment to witness, you would never blame him for wasting it.

Harry stops attacking Izzy and turns to you with a dark look in his eyes.

“Izzy, I think Y/N looks too clean, doesn’t she?” he cocks his head to the side, exchanging a look with the girl in his arms.

“She does!” Izzy agrees as you start backing away from them. Harry sets Izzy down to her feet, grabbing the bowl with the remaining of the cream. He gets a handful for himself and lets Izzy fill her palms as well.

“Oh no, don’t you dare!” you warn them, holding up your pointing finger at them, trying to escape, but you are kind of cornered against the counter.

“It’s my house, I do whatever I want to,” he smirks, so full of himself and in a blink of the eye, they both launch themselves at you and Hell breaks loose.

They start whipping cream on you anywhere they can and when it’s gone, Harry just decides to go for anything else he can reach. Izzy is throwing sprinkles around while thanks to Harry, flour is flying everywhere, completely destroying the kitchen.

“Stop! No! I surrender!” you scream, fighting back, but it’s two against one.

“No mercy!” Harry shouts, so excited, as if he just transformed into a little boy, throwing mud around.

You grab his wrists when he tries to pour sugar on top of your head straight from the contained, holding him back, but he is so much stronger than you, it’s kind of a lost fight already. You don’t even realize how close he is, your chests are almost touching as he has you pinned against the counter, faces only about two inches away from each other. His wrist slides out of your hold, but he drops the sugar to the counter next to you. You try to snatch it to use his own weapon against him, but he is quick to stop you, forcing your hand down next to your side, but in the process he managed to bring you even closer, flushed against his hard chest and your lips part at the sudden mood change that he must be feeling as well, because the playfulness disappears from his eyes pretty fast and it’s replaced by something entirely different, something you can’t even read, because you haven’t seen it in his eyes before. And then…

Then you see his eyes flicker down to your lips, just a moment before yours move down to his. It’s that moment. It’s that exact moment when you just know you both are thinking about kissing, but you don’t know if it’s going to happen or now. You’re not even sure you want it to happen.

You fucking moron, of course you want to kiss him! That tiny voice in the back of your mind screams at you. In a heartbeat, it seems like he is about to move closer, but then the moment is interrupted and completely destroyed when a woman walks into the house, scaring you to death.

“Wow, it seems like Izzy took over control completely,” she comments, walking further into the house as you jump away from Harry, suddenly very aware of the mess you’ve made.

“Gemma, what—“ Harry starts, but he is quickly cut off.

“Don’t ask what I’m doing here, I literally texted you today that I would come by and you said it’s okay.” She gives him a look before her eyes move over to you as you’re trying to somehow clean everything up, but it’ll take a little longer probably. “You must be Y/N, hi! I’m Gemma, Harry’s sister.”

She steps over to you holding out a hand and you reach for it, but then stop, seeing that your palms are all floury. You both let out a chuckle, deciding to just move over the handshake.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, though it would have been better if we met when I didn’t have whipped cream in my eyes,” you joke.

“Auntie Gemma, we made cupcakes, do you want one?” Izzy runs up to her, holding up a cupcake that was finished, unlike the majority that are going to have poor decorations, since Harry and Izzy decided to use everything in the fight. Now it’s the floor that’s covered with icing, cream and sprinkles.

“Maybe later, sweetie, but they look awesome!”

As you wipe your face with a kitchen towel, you can feel Harry’s gaze on you, your heart beating so fast in your chest, it’s pushing all the blood up into your head that’s already feeling dizzy. What would have happened if Gemma didn’t walk in? Would has he kissed you? Or did you misread the situation and it was nothing just part of the game?

You busy yourself with cleaning up as Harry cleans himself a little with a paper towel before stepping closer to his sister.

“I totally forgot you texted, I replied in the middle of a meeting, I think I didn’t process the message.”

“It’s fine,” Gemma sighs. “I’m already used to my little brother forgetting about me,” she teases him, but he just rolls his eyes at her.

“Let me just help Y/N clean up the kitchen and I’ll be right with you. Would you mind cleaning Izzy off?” Harry asks her, but you stop him short.

“Oh, I’ll take care of this, don’t worry,” you assure him, but as his eyes snap over at you, you lose your voice. He clearly felt the moment as well earlier and now it’s kind of getting awkward, you don’t really want to be left alone with him right now. Not until you figure out what this whole thing was.

“Are you sure? I mean I was the one who started it and—“

“It’s fine,” you try your best to smile at him without overheating. He is standing several feet away from you, but you can still feel what it felt like to be pushed up against him.

Harry hesitates, his eyes following your every move while you are trying to busy yourself and act normal, while you are literally crumbling inside. You almost kissed your boss in the middle of his kitchen, you need a moment to process that.

“Alright, let me know if you need help,” he murmurs before picking Izzy up and heading upstairs to clean them both, Gemma following them right behind. When they are out of your sight, you lean against the counter, breathing out heavily.

Meanwhile upstairs, Harry hands Izzy his phone to play some games while he cleans her and himself off in the bathroom. Gemma sits on the edge of the tub, eyeing her brother curiously, which Harry notices.

“What?” he asks, stripping Izzy out of her dirty clothes.

“What was all that about?”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you, Harry. You were like, ready to snog Y/N right then and there when I walked in. Did I miss something?”

“No idea what you’re talking about and I would appreciate it if you didn’t bring this up when it’s not just the two of us,” he replies firmly, looking down at the girl who is obliviously tapping on the screen. Gemma just rolls her eyes before leaving the two of them alone.

Wandering down she finds you scrubbing the counters from the mess you’ve made, deep in your thoughts. Seeing her walk in, you shoot her a smile, not sure what to say or if you even should say anything, but when she grabs a towel for herself and starts helping, you speak up.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

“Don’t be silly, I’m happy to help,” she smiles, as she starts cleaning the kitchen island up. “So how do you like working for my brother, so far? He mentioned what happened with the daycare. Honestly, those mothers are entitled spoiled brats,” she scoffs making you smile.

“They weren’t too delightful even before the whole fiasco,” you chuckle softly. “But I really like it here. There are a lot more perks and it’s so much easier to focus on one kid than to have fifteen at a time,” you point out making her laugh.

“Yeah, I’m good with my two, don’t think I could handle more.”

“Oh, you have kids?”

“Yes, two sons. Beau is turning ten this year and Jasper turned six in January.” Gemma pulls out her phone from her back pocket and unlocking it she shows you the homescreen that has a picture of two adorable boys sitting on a bench next to each other, munching on a big bowl of strawberries. The younger one, Jasper has a red sunhat on his head while Beau is rocking some cool sunglasses.

“Oh my God, they look so much like you!”

“I get that a lot and honestly, they really should!” Gemma scoffs. “It took twenty fucking hours for Jasper’s big head to come out!”

“Wow that sounds way too much,” you laugh and Gemma nods with a tired, but clearly proud smile.

“Yeah, but it was worth it. Anyway, after my two boys, Izzy is the little princess of the family.”

“The boys get along well with her?” you ask as you both keep cleaning.

“They act like her big brothers, they get so protective over her!”

“That’s cute.”

“Yeah, they really are. My mom has this summer barbeque every year, if Harry doesn’t invite you with him then I’m doing it now, because you need to see how crazy out family gets,” she smirks at you. “All of our cousins and the kids are there, it’s a whole parade.”

“I’m sure it’s a lot of fun,” you smile at her. “One of my friends in high school had a really big family and they always invited me to birthdays at their place, I loved how lively and buzzing it was always.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to get together from time to time,” she nods smiling. “So do you have a boyfriend or something?” she asks then, implying that she is not even sure if you are playing on the team she is assuming.

“Oh, um, no. It’s just me for now. So no boyfriend for me.” Your answer, making sure it gives her the information she was trying to get as well.

“Are you done interrogating her, Gem?” Harry appears from upstairs, Izzy running ahead of him before smashing herself against Gemma’s legs.

“We’re just having a chat, is that a crime now?” she rolls her eyes. “Swear to God, he is such a control freak sometimes,” she then adds turning to you.

“Would you stop offending me in my own house?” Harry gives him a look. Gemma leans down and picks Izzy up into her arms.

“Izzy, you really should tell your dad to pull the stick out of his as—“

“You are not finishing that!” Harry cuts her off and you can’t push your laughter back. Harry’s eyes meet yours over Gemma’s shoulders and he realizes that you are still all dirty and messed up. “Y/N, go and take a shower if you want. We’ll take this over, alright?”

It wasn’t an order, but you feel like it was a very firm suggestion. He is clearly uncomfortable with you talking to Gemma and though you’re not sure why, you don’t want to upset him, so just nodding you drop the kitchen towel and head upstairs to clean yourself up.

“I hope you didn’t say anything to upset her,” Harry comments as he takes over the cleaning. Gemma grimaces.

“What could have I possibly said? I was just trying to get to know her!”

“You are always a little too up in my business, Gems,” he sighs.

“Daddy, can I watch some TV, please?” Izzy asks, tugging on his pants.

“Sure. Do you need me to switch it on?”

“No, I’m a big girl, I can do it,” Izzy nods before running off, leaving the siblings alone.

“Didn’t know Y/N was your business,” Gemma tilts her head to the side. Harry opens his mouth to defend himself, but nothing comes out. He was caught with this one. “Oh my God. I knew I walked in on something, you have a thing for her!” Gemma gasps with wide eyes.

“Stop with this! You and Niall are like some middle schoolers, it’s so fucking annoying!”

“So Niall sees it too, huh?”

“Niall is an idiot,” he points out. “He is… obsessed with this idea that I should start dating again and he thinks I should make a move on Y/N.”

“Well, he is an idiot, but he has a point.”

“No he doesn’t!” Harry argues, but Gemma just rolls her eyes.

“So you want to die alone? Is that your plan?”

Harry has always hated his sister’s bluntness. She never held herself back when it came to giving her opinion, whether it was wanted or not. But what Harry hates even more is that most of the time… Gemma is right.

He doesn’t want to die alone, no one wants that, but being with someone is a hard topic for Harry after losing the person he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. Even just the thought makes him feel like he is doing something bad, like he shouldn’t even be thinking about anyone but his wife, even years after the tragedy.

“Harry, look…” Gemma breathes out leaning against the counter next to her brother. “I know it’s a fucked up situation and I know things are still not in the right place in your head. But eventually you’ll have to move on. We all want to see you happy and I think that… I think Maggie would want that for you as well.”

Harry tries not to physically cringe at the name, the familiar pain is already clutching his heart, like it has been since the day of the accident. Some days are easier, some days are harder, but Gemma is right. Things are still not in the right place in his head and he knows that, he is just not sure how to fix it at this point.

“I’m not saying you should date Y/N, I’m not Niall to force anyone on you. I’m just telling you to try to get out a little more, just to test the waters. But you obviously like her so if it happens to be her, it wouldn’t be a big deal, if you ask me.”

Gemma shrugs and goes back to the cleaning while Harry keeps his swirling thoughts to himself. Two of the most important people have told him the same thing recently and though part of him wants to stubbornly go against it, his rational side knows that they might be right.

But not much can be done when a man is still blaming himself for the death of his own wife. Because that’s exactly the case when it comes to Harry and no one really knows that the thought has been haunting him for years now…

After taking a quick shower, washing your hair and changing into clothes that are not covered in flour, you join Harry and Gemma downstairs and insist on finishing the rest of the cleaning while they move out to the terrace to talk. The evening goes by peacefully, Harry decides to order dinner and Gemma joins the three of you at the dining table.

You love watching the dynamic between them and they truly seem to be very close. Gemma likes to embarrass Harry with stories from their childhood and you are enjoying them all a little too much maybe, but it’s nice to think that he wasn’t always this confident businessman.

“It was so good to meet you, Y/N!” Gemma hugs you goodbye after dinner.

“You too!”

“Bye Izzy, come and give a smooch for your favorite auntie!” Squatting down she lets Izzy wrap her arms around her neck as she kisses her cheek sloppily.

“Bye Gemma,” she singsongs. Harry pulls his sister into a hug as well before walking her out.

You start washing the dishes, Izzy talking to you about whatever show she was watching earlier on TV. When Harry returns he tells you to just leave the rest of the cleaning up for him while he bathes Izzy, but you don’t listen to him and finish up while they are upstairs.

Bringing your laptop down you settle on the couch and just start scrolling through social media, reading articles and whatnot, the TV quietly playing in the background. You send out an email regarding the wedding you are attending this weekend, making sure everything is in place.

When Harry emerges again he joins you on the couch with a tired sigh.

“Thanks for washing the dishes but you really should just leave it to me when I ask you to,” he smiles at you softly.

“It’s not a big deal, I like to be useful,” you chuckle shutting your laptop down.

“As if you’re not useful enough already,” he huffs smiling to himself. “Oh, before I forget, I wanted to talk to you about Izzy going to my mum’s.”

“Oh, yeah, you mentioned it earlier.”

“Yeah. So she is going to spend a week at my mother’s and I timed it to line up with Sarah and Mitch’s wedding. So I’ll leave her at my mum’s Sunday evening and pick her up the next Sunday which lines up perfectly with the wedding on Saturday. That week is obviously free for you as well, like a paid vacation,” he chuckles.

“Sounds good. How far does your mother lives from here?”

“Just a few hours, not that horrible of a drive. If you’re up for it, we can carpool to the wedding and then pick her up together right from there and head home.”

“Yeah, that works for me, thanks,” you nod.

Harry stays and turns his attention on the TV, seemingly pretty unbothered while you still haven’t stopped thinking about what happened in the kitchen earlier. Glancing over at Harry it appears that it’s not that big of a deal for him, so it makes you settle with the thought that it’s not one for you either.

“Good night, Harry,” you smile at him grabbing your laptop and phone as you rise from your seat.

“Nigh, Y/N,” he smiles as you round the couch and head upstairs, but you stop at the bottom of the stairs, lancing back at the mop of locks that’s visible from him from behind. You watch him run his fingers through his hair and you let out a shaky breath, knowing well you did not convince yourself that it was nothing. Not for you, at least.

Because you wanted him to kiss you.

The wedding you’re attending is held on a farm owned by the parents of the bride. The whole barn was transformed into this very country like fairytale location, lots of fairy lights and candles along with some nice, pastel colored flowers with a hint of purple between them.

Everything goes planned. Arriving you meet first with the groom and then with the bride in their separated rooms of the house, going over everything they want just one last time before you get down to work, snapping loads of pictures from them getting ready for the big day.

Emily, the bride is a chatty girl and all her bridesmaids are her sisters, coming from a big family with five daughters, she is the second oldest. The groom, Jesse is a few years older than Emily, but they are such a cute couple and they are clearly so madly in love, it’s always nice to see people be so happy with the right person.

You keep going back and forth between the groom and the bride and later you do the first look thing as well, when Jesse stands outside in the field and Emily walks up behind him, letting him see her for the first time. It really is always such a special moment and you tear up as well, watching Jesse fall speechless upon seeing his beautiful fiancé.

As the ceremony is about to start and the guests slowly take their seats on the two sides of the aisle, you make a quick trip down there to make sure you are using the right lenses, not wanting to change a lot when the ceremony has started. You stop in the corner, just trying out if you can shoot some pictures of the guests as well with the lens you are planning to use, you take a look around using the camera and that’s when you almost faint.

You would pick out that face from any, it has grown to you way too much, but you didn’t think you’d ever see him again. Lowering the camera you stare at the tall figure with parted lips, blinking a few times just to make sure it’s who you think it is.

But it is in fact your ex-fiancé, Keith, and to make it even worse, the woman standing next to him with his arm around her waist is the one he cheated on you with. They are still together and now you are staring right at them.

Tears sting your eyes as you try to look for a way to escape before he spots you, though you know he’ll see you sooner or later, but right now they are standing right at the entrance of the barn and you can’t avoid walking past them.

Keeping your head down you try to stay unnoticed as you march towards the exit, but you apparently, you are out of luck.

“Y/N? Is that you?” Keith calls after you just when you thought you were successful in sneaking out. Stopping in your tracks you seriously think about just running off, pretending like you didn’t even hear him, but it’s kind of too late and it would be ridiculous. So turning around on your heels, you plaster the fakest smile on your lips as you look at him.

“Keith, hi!” you breathe out, taking just a few steps closer to him, still keeping some distance between the two of you. Stella, the lucky woman on his arm blinks at you and at first you’re not even sure she realizes who you are or if she even knows you. The longer she looks at you the more certain you become that she indeed does not know that you’re the woman Keith cheated on with her. Nice.

Keith realizes that the two of you have been staring at each other awkwardly, so clearing his throat he quickly introduces the two of you to each other.

“Um, Y/N, this is Stella. Stella, this is… Y/N.”

You can tell he was thinking about using titles, but he decided to leave it at that, though it would have been a lot more interesting if he just titled the two of you.

Y/N, this is the woman I cheated on you with, who is my girlfriend now. Stella, this is Y/N, to whom I was engaged when I was fucking you!

You flash her a quick, not too honest smile and it seems like she is catching onto that something is not right, but she can’t tell for sure.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asks, a little harsher than you would have liked him to talk to you, but it’s kind of understandable. Seeing each other after what happened is not a pleasant experience for either of you, you assume. You hold up the camera as the answer for the stupid question and Keith furrows his eyebrows at you. “Oh, you still to the photography thingy?”

“Thingy?” you ask, quite offended. Keith always belittled your love for photography. He thought it was just a hobby, something that should stay just a hobby and not get turned into anything more. He once told you during a fight that it takes your time away from more important things, like doing chores. That was one of the most sexist things he has ever said to you and you should have packed your stuff right then and there. But you didn’t, stuck around for three more months before you found out about the cheating.

“Well, this thingy is kind of a side job for me,” you inform him.

“Oh. That sounds… fun,” he nods, but it’s clearer than daylight that he thinks it’s just a waste of time. Good thing he has no business in anything about you anymore.

“Um, I’m gonna go now, but I guess see you two around.” You shoot them another fake smile before turning around and walking away from this conversation straight from Hell.

Marching away from the barn you rush into the nearest bathroom you can find. You need a minute. Or maybe two… five. This did not just happen. You didn’t just face your cheating ex-fiancé with the woman he cheated on you, what kind of sick movie plot is this you found yourself in?

Placing your camera to the counter near the sink you wash your hands and sprinkle some water to your face as well before you lean to the edge of the sink, staring at your reflection in the mirror. You look like you’ve just seen a ghost and quite frankly, you would have been happier with the ghost than with Keith and Stella.

You’ve been doing alright since the breakup, but it’s obvious that only because you didn’t have to see Keith. Following the blowup when you found the explicit texts in his phone, you only had to face him twice and never since then. It’s easier to be okay when you don’t have to look at the person who hurt you most all the time, but coming face to face with him now really threw you off, especially with Stella on his arm. The fucker did not only cheat on you with her, but he went straight into a relationship with her and she probably doesn’t even know that she was just the sidechick in the beginning. If you were really evil, you’d go up to her and enlighten her about who you really are, but you are not one to cause a scene. Keith kept the two of you apart consciously, he never let you go into his office because he wanted Stella to think that he is a single man while he was engaged. Sickening to think how slyly he played the both of you and even after his little plan failed, he kept lying to the poor girl and lured her into a relationship. You wonder if he is already fucking another girl behind her back.

Your fingers start to turn white, gripping the edge of the sink tightly so you loosen up a bit, shaking your arms and shoulders off to pull yourself together. You fix your makeup and run your fingers through your hair quickly to give it some volume before grabbing the camera from the counter and heading out. However shocking it is to be at the same place as Keith again, you have a job to do right now and the bride and groom are expecting some amazing photos and that’s exactly what you’re gonna deliver.

You manage to busy yourself to the point where you are able to forget about Keith’s existence for most of the time. Following the happy couple around you don’t get too much free time, the camera is glued in front of your face basically and it brings you some peace. For a while.

Emily and Jesse disappear for an outfit change and it gives you a short break since they didn’t want that to be photographed, only when they return. So you get yourself a virgin cocktail from the bar and head outside to get some fresh air. You text back Heather and Trevor and then just scroll through Instagram, enjoying some alone time from the buzzing you’ve been around all day.

“Y/N!”

Turning to your right you spot Keith walking towards you, this time alone, but it doesn’t stop you from rolling your eyes.

“What do you want?” you mumble under your breath.

“Just… though we could chat for a little. It’s been a long time.”

“Not enough,” you retort. “And I would like to skip the chatting.”

“Come on, you can’t be still that mad at me,” he chuckles and you almost punch him in the face right then and there.

“Well I am. So go back to your little girlfriend and leave me alone.”

“I know things didn’t end too well, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be civil towards each other.” You can’t help the laughter that bubbles from your throat. He can’t be serious, trying to act like the bigger person now after everything he has done to you. This has got to be a joke.

“This is me being civil, because I’m not throwing anything at you. So leave me the fuck alone, let me do my job and then we hopefully don’t see each other again.”

“Come on. You don’t miss me, baby?” he smirks at you, completely ignoring what you just told him. You physically cringe at the pet name he just called you and you take a step away from him, needing the distance more than ever.

“I don’t. Now leave.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Too fucking bad. Now leave!” you raise your voice, but it does nothing. He is still standing there, looking at you like he didn’t completely destroy you just about a year ago.

“Heard that you haven’t dated anyone since we broke up.”

“Are you asking around after me?” you scowl.

“We have a few mutual friends,” he shrugs. “Is it because you still want me?”

“My dating life is none of your business, Keith. And I don’t want you. Quite frankly, I don’t even know how I could ever want you, so now please let me enjoy my break and leave me alone.”

“Y/N, I just—“ Keith reaches for your hand, but you pull back before he could touch you, holding up a finger at him you start talking slowly and very clearly so the message goes through.

“Don’t ever fucking touch me or talk to me. I want nothing to do with you, you’re a manipulating, cheating, egoistic asshole who ruins the life of others. I’m telling you this for the last time, Keith: leave me the fuck alone.”

He looks a bit stunned at your harsh response, but you couldn’t care less if you’ve hurt him. He did way worse things to you than snapping at you. As you walk past him to head back into the barn, he doesn’t let the chance to punch you in the stomach with his words one last time.

“I wish I could say you were a good fuck, but that wouldn’t be true. Good luck finding some lowlife loser who would even think about marrying you!”

Every fiber in your body is screaming to launch yourself at him and punch him until he is unconscious, because that’s exactly what he deserves. The tears are already stinging your eyes, but you don’t give him the satisfaction to see you react to his words. So swallowing hard you just keep on walking until you are out of his sight, bottling up the sobs and tears for the time when you’re home and on your own.

It’s past two am when you arrive home, drained and exhausted, both emotionally and exhausted. Following the conversation you had wit Keith he didn’t try to talk to you anymore, but you could always feel his eyes on you, wherever you were, as if he wanted to see if you are watching him too, but you weren’t. Looking at him would have been too painful so you tried your best to keep your eyes away from him through the night.

You know damn well that what he told you when you were leaving was just to get a reaction out of you, to get you upset enough to start a fight with him, it’s just who he is, he enjoys having the last word and the higher ground in every situation, but you didn’t want to be his partner in his stupid games this time. However it still hurt, what he said.

Walking into the dead silent house you kick your shoes off, drop your keys into the little bowl next to the door and head to the kitchen to get yourself some water. Pouring yourself a glass you lean against the counter and as you stare ahead of you, nothing can stop the tears from falling.

Everything you kept bottled up during the afternoon and evening just hits you all at once, making you break down heavier than any time in the past months. You sob and cry, letting it all out until your head feels like exploding, but you still can’t stop. You were not ready to face the man that broke your heart like no one before.

In the middle of your breakdown you don’t even realize the footsteps coming from the stairs.

“Y/N?” Harry’s voice calls out, snapping you out of your pity party. He immediately sees that you’ve been crying like a baby, no doubt, but you still try to wipe your cheeks and eyes, pretending like everything is totally fine.

“Harry! What are you doing up so late?” you breathe out hoarsely.

“Just wanted to get some water, but have you been crying? What happened, are you alright?” he starts bombarding you with questions, clearly worried about you, seeing you in this state.

“Everything is fine, I just… had a rough night,” you chuckle through your tears that are still rolling down your cheeks, those bastards!

“A rough night doesn’t make you sob like this. What happened?” Rounding the kitchen island he stops in front of you, not sure how to approach the situation, but it’s kind of sweet how he wants to help, but doesn’t know how.

“I, uhh—I met my… ex-fiancé tonight. He was at the wedding I worked at,” you mumble shutting your eyes closed.

“Did he hurt you? Y/N, if he laid a hand on you, I swear—“ “No, he didn’t hurt me,” you shake your head before adding: “Well, not physically.”

“Come on, let’s sit down for a bit.” He gently takes your hand and pulls you to the couch in the living room, making you sit before he plops down next to you. “Tell me what happened.”

“It’s really stupid, I shouldn’t be this upset about it, but I just… It hurt and I can’t change it,” you whine, wiping some more tears away.

“I’m sure it’s not stupid. Tell me what happened!”

“He was there with the woman he cheated on me with. They are basically a couple now, but she doesn’t even know that Keith was engaged to me when they started dating, so it’s really fucked up. And it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, because, you know, fuck him, he can do whatever he wants, it’s not my business anymore, but then he came up to me and tried to chitchat with me, which I didn’t really want, of course.”

Harry listens carefully, giving you his undivided attention while you fumble with the hem of your shirt, kind of avoiding to look him in the eyes. Part of you is afraid you’d see judgment in them and you don’t think you would be able to handle that.

“I asked him to leave me alone, but he just kept talking and then I snapped at him a little harsher and when I was walking away he…”

You scowl again, hearing his words play in your head so clearly, as if he was standing behind you, repeating them to you. Harry reaches out and he gently covers your hand with his warm palm, giving it a gentle squeeze, letting you know that he is patiently waiting, not rushing you to talk. Taking a deep breath you blink your tears away before continuing.

“He basically said that I wasn’t even a good fuck and no man will want to marry me.”

“Jesus fuck, what kind of asshole did you date, Y/N?” Harry snaps in horror and it’s kinda funny, makes you laugh through your tears.

“Seems like the worst kind,” you mumble with a bitter chuckle. “I know I shouldn’t have let his words get to my head, but… it’s easier said than done. I feel like such a loser,” you breathe out, your lips trembling as the tears are threatening to flow again.

“Don’t blame yourself for having feelings, it’s completely normal. Of course his words hurt, he once meant a lot to you and he probably knows that too, that’s why he tried to use it against you. What he said held no truth.”

“You think so?” you ask, voice barely more than just a whisper as you finally look at him. His green irises appear so warm as he smiles at you, squeezing your hand again. He scoots a little closer, his knee bumping against the side of your thigh.

“Y/N, I know so,” he chuckles. “That guy was a proper idiot for what he did to you. You didn’t deserve any of that and any many would be lucky to have you as their wife.”

“Really?” you pout, feeling so touched and loved from his words. It’s exactly the reassurance you needed.

“Absolutely,” he nods smiling sweetly.

Everything that happened today messed with your head big time. And now sitting with Harry on the couch, listening to him telling you how worthy you are of love and happiness, it completely throws you off. Ever since that moment in the kitchen before Gemma walked in, you’ve been nonstop thinking about what would have happened and it made you notice even the tiniest things about him.

Harry Styles is a man who is clearly a sight for the eyes, with his chiseled jawline, pink lips and gorgeous green eyes, the duality of his powerful and business appropriate attires he wears during the day and the tattoos hidden under his dress shirts, you’d have to be blind to say that he is not an attractive man. But on top of everything on the outside, he is a wonderful person on the inside and it twists your head more than you’d like it.

Your brain switches off for a moment, or just the rational side, but you completely stop thinking as you stare at each other. The intimacy and emotionality of the moment pushes all your common sense to the side as your gaze wanders down his lips.

The thought of kissing him comes fast and before you could even stop yourself, you move forward and press your lips to his. The touch of his lips against yours is sweet and warm and kind of intoxicating, but in just a blink of the eye your rationality gets a grip of you and your eyes pop open in realization of what you just did. Pulling back you gasp and cover your mouth in shock, feeling your whole inside trembling at the thought of getting yourself fired by this move.

Harry seems frozen and quite shocked as well, his lips are parted as he stays still in his spot.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I-I don’t know what’s gotten into me! Harry, I’m sorry, I promise—“

You start rambling in panic, but you don’t get to finish. Harry moves forward, his hand coming to the back of your head as he pulls you in for another kiss, this time making it a lot more passionate and even your tongues get involved. He is kissing you hard and you almost moan into his mouth when you feel his other hand come to your thigh, squeezing it just enough to send a shockwave up your spine. Your hands come up to the back of his hair and you hold onto him for dear life, carrying the kiss on like you’re two teenagers in your parents’ basement, doomed to get caught any moment. Harry goes in again and again, tugging on your bottom lip, licking into your mouth and making your insides twist just from having his lips on yours.

And then you both let go of each other, needing some time to breathe and you slowly realize what just happened. You both stare at each other in disbelief, completely shocked at your own actions, but neither of you have any idea what should happen next.

You let go of each other, sitting back to your normal positions, awkwardly breathing heavily and you realize you cannot deal with this right now. You are way too drained and tired to make it make sense so you decide to just… call it a night.

“I’ll head to bed,” you quietly inform him as you stand up from the couch, walking like a zombie, the shock still clouding your judgment.

“Good night,” Harry mumbles, just as confused as you are.

“Good night,” you nod and basically sprint up the stairs and don’t stop until you shut your door behind you.

Leaning your back against it, you slide down to the floor, hugging your knees to your chest as you stare into the darkness for long minutes. Quite some time passes by before you hear Harry walk upstairs, his door opens and then closes before silence falls on the house again. With a blank mind, you push yourself up, take a quick shower and just go to bed, ignoring everything that has happened today. You’ll deal with it in the morning.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

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[ackerlert]

Sneaky Link

Pairings: Porco x fem reader x sugar daddy!zeke

Summary: University reader becomes Zeke’s sugar baby after meeting each other at her work, which is a stripper, ofc. Eventually develops a relationship with Porco Galliard, of whom Zeke employs ;)

TW: alcohol usage, oral (m / f receiving), food (icing) play, mirror sex, phone sex

You needed some money during college, and tutoring stupid high schoolers wasn’t making the bills. Plus, you couldn’t put up with their slowness one second longer.

When Sasha took you out for a night at the strip club to relieve some stress, her joke that you could always make bank shaking your ass for old men actually sounded quite appealing. It was a lot more fun than tutoring, anyways. 

Out of curiosity, you found yourself browsing the internet for openings at nearby nightclubs. Soon you were watching YouTube videos of strippers going through their daily routine, counting their tips, and describing their success in the industry. You were hooked.

You ask Hitch to take pole dancing lessons with you, and she doesn't suspect any of your true intentions, since this was on your bucket list of things to do together.

Soon you secured yourself a job at a local strip club. The first person you confided in was, unsurprisingly, Hitch. She was surprised you actually pursued being a stripper, but the shock didn't really last for long considering her knowledge of your freaky tendencies.

Hitch advised you to be careful, and she was particularly worried about how you would manage to fit this new job into your tight school schedule.

It was simple: you would take your classes, do your assignments, and report to your job at night. You’d work through the closing shift and get back to your shared apartment with Mikasa, Sasha, and Hitch sometime past 2am.

Zeke is a regular.

He gives you larger tips than any of the other girls.

He even pays for private sessions, which consist of you dancing for him mostly an hour at a time.

Eventually you two fuck it out in a booth of the club.

He asks if you'd like to “do this again sometime”. Naturally, you agreed. He exchanges phone numbers with you and asks for your cashapp. 

Blushing because you didn't realize he intended on compensating you for your arrangement, you agree to give him your account number.

You and Zeke continue this for a couple months, growing more addicted to the orgasms he gives you every time.

You had two generous sources of income now.

You found out a lot about zeke: he owned a decently large company, fucked a lot of women before he met you, and he was even more freaky than yourself. 

One day after a session with Zeke, you're sprawled out on the side of his bed, toying with the golden hair that trailed down his torso, and staring up at the ceiling, mind completely fucked out.

“I have a business event coming up soon,” Zeke states.

You hum in approval, not expecting zeke to continue on.

“It’s plus one.” He pauses, “I was wondering if you would like to join me.”

You turn your head to look at Zeke, almost asking him to repeat himself. Was this like a date thing?

Zeke turned to look at you too. His eyes glossed over at the sight of your surprised face and post-sex hair floating around the crown of your head. He smirked, visualizing the way he had made that sex hair. Gripping your h/c locks and pulling your head back, pounding into you from behind.

Your lips were swollen from being stretched around his thick cock, making him cum round after round. Now they were parted, unsure as what to make of his question.

Zeke repeated himself, “Are you free next Saturday?”

“Y-yes. I’m free.” You said, “I would love to go to your work thing with you.” A smile graced your lips. He fucking loved that smile. Loved seeing it bloom on your face when your eyes rolled to the back of your head, begging to take more of his cock.

“Alright,” he grabbed for his phone, pulling up the information from his calendar. Your phone dinged, no doubt zeke sending you over the event details. “It’s formal attire. Do you need to buy something to wear?” He glanced up lovingly from the screen at you for a mere second. “Fuck it, never mind that.” His eyes reconcentrated back onto the phone. Your phone dinged again, the familiar melody of the cashapp notification filling your ears.

“Let’s take you shopping, princess.” His legs swung over the side of the bed. A back completely full of endless scratches faced you while he stretched those long arms of his. His back muscles rippled as he did so, the sight making your stomach flutter with butterflies. 

“Wait!” You say desperately and propping yourself up on the bed. You didn't intend on opening your mouth, but now you had to commit to it.

Zeke side glanced at you, acknowledging your pathetic request.

“Let me suck you off one more time,” you said. You added, “before we go.” A husky chuckle escaped from zeke’s throat. “Such a slut for me.” “What a good girl, knowing just the way to make me hard.”

Porco and you meet each other at the business event, it’s an instant click. He’s employed by Zeke. Soon you're exchanging numbers with him.

These business parties became more frequent with Zeke. And every time, Porco was there. You two would sneak off to help yourself to drinks while Zeke was bombarded with potential buyers inquiring about his product.

Porco makes you laugh so much. Honestly, it’s probably the alcohol, but every joke he cracked earned a cute giggle from you. It only made him harder for you than he already was.

“I could go a lot longer than him, you know.” He whispers in your ear.

Sooner than later you’re texting Zeke that the alcohol was killing your stomach, and you just had to get out of there right away. 

Porco didn’t wait to stick his strong hands in your pants when you tumbled into the taxi.

“Gonna take you away from that old man’s dick, yeah baby? Give you this big cock like you deserve?”

You make it back to his large apartment, practically humping his clothed leg on the elevator ride.

By the time you’re inside his place, your panties are soaked and the black lace Zeke bought you is falling from your shoulders.

Porco throws you on the bed, not leaving you any time to remove your heels. 

He climbs over you and just starts completely obliterating you with open mouthed kisses across your collarbone.

You don't fail to notice the mirror above Porco’s large bed, seeing the way he straddles over your small body.

Porco sits up from his position on the end of the bed and grabs for your ankles, yanking you closer to him. Just as he hums into your folds, a buzzing emerges from your purse in the middle of the living room.

“Shit,” you say, recognizing the pattern as Zeke’s contact. “It’s Zeke,” you groan.

“Answer the phone, pretty girl.” Porco says with a devilish smirk.

“Wha-?!” Your face fills with terror.

“I said answer the phone.” Porco grows stricter in tone.

“O-ok” your hands shake as you make your way across the floor to where your purse was.” As you accept the call, Porco motions you back to the bed.

You nod, doing as he says.

“Hey princess,” Zeke says with a smile on the end of the phone.

“Hi,” you say shakily. Porco gives you a menacing look.

“Not feeling good?” Zeke refers to your text. 

You let out a shy “Nuh-uh” in response.

“I’m sorry baby,” Zeke says, “I can pick you up so you can spend the night with me in case you feel any worse.”

“No!-“ You say startled, “I mean, no, my girlfriends have me all bundled up back at my apartment.”

Silence from Zeke.

“Oh, well, that’s too bad.” He adds, “I wanted to make you feel a little better than they could tonight.”

You look at Porco, a little intimidated by his intense stare on you. He can hear Zeke’s toying with you from the other end of the phone. He nods, urging you to play along.

You giggle softly, a bad attempt at sounding sicker than usual.

“Really? How so?” Porco slides down the edge of the bed, focused on your legs.

Zeke clears his throat, obviously getting off at the anticipation of phone sex.

Some shuffling is heard on the other end of the phone before Zeke says, “You know, maybe cook you some food. That layered strawberry cake you like yeah?”

You hum in satisfaction, but quickly noticed how your approval angered Porco.

He aggressively pushes your legs apart, eyeing your wetness.

“Use that icing on you.” Zeke says, “Make you filthy when I run it over that pretty body of yours. I’d fucking lick it off you because you taste so good.”

Porco starts to kitten lick between your folds, earning a whimper from you.

You imagine Zeke piping the vanilla icing onto your torso as he pushes himself into you, smearing it across your breasts and stomach with his rough hands.

The pressure between your legs rises as the licks grow longer and rougher across your clit. Porco suckles on that bundle of nerves, and you can’t help but cry out a moan.

The sounds from Zeke’s side of the phone indicate he’s jerking off vigorously at this point. “Say my name, kitten.”

You look wildly down at Porco, who stops his motions to shake his head at you. No way he’d let you moan another man’s name on his own bed.

“Daddy,,” you drawl out. You earn approval from Porco, who resumes lapping at your pussy.

Porco taps your thigh, indicating to you that it was time to hang up on Zeke, who hadn’t cum yet. 

“Oh gosh, Zeke baby” you start, “One of the girls is coming in i have to go-“

“Wait, y/n-“ but you didn't let him finish. You sigh with relief knowing you can fully indulge in Porco now. He grips your thighs roughly, leaving bruises to be discovered tomorrow.

“What’s Zeke doing now, huh?” “Pumping his weak cock thinking about this tight little pussy of yours?” “I wonder what he’d think if he knew your pussy was taking my tongue so well right now. Acting like such a whore for somebody else.”

Porco pulls himself off of your sweaty body, panting and licking up your wetness. 

His eyes are dead set on you, and you felt small under his glare. His hands grab under your arms, quickly flipping your positions. “Bounce on me for it,” he growls.

You nod eagerly, situating yourself above him. Your face reddens as you align your entrance up to him, nervous about his judgement. 

Porco softens, noticing your hesitance, “It’s okay baby girl,” His warm hands caress the side of your cheek, thumb grazing your plump lips, “You’re doing really good,” Porco looks earnestly up at you, flashing you a soft grin. You press into his hold on you, strands of hair covering your forehead that tangled around Porco’s fingers.

You finally push yourself down on Porco’s length, his large girth stretching you full. Porco moans at the new feeling, and you can’t help but whimper at the burning pleasure. Your hands roam around Porco’s strong torso, feeling down his thick abs and rubbing circles into his sides. A low groan emits from his chest, and you admire his expressions from above.

You begin moving along his hard length, his tip hitting just the right spot each time. Keeping a slow pace, you tease Porco a little longer, but he’s quick to bark at you to go faster. You let out a playful giggle, “Okay, you’re the boss.” “Doing so good putting Zeke in his place, hm?”

Porco groans at your words, and you swore he was growing larger inside of you at the thought of demoting his Zeke.

Your movements quicken and Porco continues to let out strings of curses.

“Yeah ride my cock baby, just like that. Just like you do for Zeke.”

The thought of another man puts butterflies in your stomach, and you feel yourself falter. 

Porco doesn’t miss a beat, however. He quickly thrusts up into you, earning a gasp from your mouth. His hands fly to your sides, balancing you while he does all the work. You whimper at his rapid pace, nearing your climax.

“Porco,” you moan, “I-ah, g’nna cum.”

“Ok, baby,” he says in between thrusts, “Cum then.” 

That was all you needed to hear before spilling your release over Porco.

He continued to milk you out, eventually finishing not too long after. He lets you fall on top of his frame, palms rubbing circles into your and easing you from your high.

“Good job, y/n.” You lift your head up to look at Porco’s face. He smiles back at you tenderly. “Alright let’s clean you up.” 

He settles you on the bed next to his side and slides off the bed to grab a clean towel from the linen closet and discard the condom in the trash. You watch his muscle-y body move across the apartment floors, his clear focus on grabbing the right things for you. 

He comes back with an iced water and starts cleaning up your thighs. 

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” you smile, “I can do it myself.”

He looks up at you, eyebrows screwed up in confusion, “What? No, I’m doing it.” He continues his work at cleaning you off. 

“..oh, ok.” You say shyly, butterflies in your stomach from his actions. 

“Does he not do this for you?” Porco asks, not looking up from fixing up the sheets below you.

You replied slowly, “No, not really.”

Porco sighed, “He’s such a selfish dick.”

You laugh at Porco’s attitude. But now that you think about it, Zeke was always thinking about himself. The thought passed as soon as it came, and you did consider the fact that he was paying you.

Porco nestled himself on the side of you after he was done, grunting a little from his tired state. His big arms hugged around your smaller body as he pulled you in close.

“Porco?” You called.

“Hm?”

“Thank you,” you muffled into his chest.

Porco blushed at your comment, but simply toughed it over and patted your ruffled hair, “Mhm”.

A few pings were heard from your cell phone as you drifted into sleep, no doubt from Zeke, and each time Porco pulled you in tighter. A smile curled crept onto your lips, “It’s not like I’m gonna leave, Pokko,” you giggled.

“Good,” he said, “I wasn’t planning on letting you anyways.”

[skzsauce01]

Ruin My Life

Synopsis: Six times you and Minho “ruin” each other’s lives, and the one time you almost actually did ruin his. 

Warning: none

Word Count: 3.9k

Pairing: fem!reader x Lee Minho; friends to lovers

one

Minho always looks like trouble, but he especially looks the part when he dresses as a greaser for Halloween. The entire hallway looks his way when he enters the building even though the low 7:30 AM sunlight blinds their eyes when he opens the door. He has a lollipop in his mouth in place of a cigarette, and when he gives a curt “Good morning” nod in your direction, the girl beside you pretends to swoon.

“Hello, Danny,” she mutters to herself, mimicking an Australian twang. She’s conveniently dressed like Sandy in a poodle skirt and cardigan. “I’d let you ruin my life.”

When you tell Minho about what you heard after school, he laughs so hard he almost falls off the wall he’s sitting on. “Seriously?”

You take a bag of pretzels from the shared pile of treats between you two and rip it open. “Yes! I can give you her name if you’re interested,” you say, half-hoping that he doesn’t actually want it. “What a weird thing to say though.”

He shakes his head and holds his hand out for a pretzel. “No thanks to the name. I think Chan’s supposed to be Danny, so I’m not her summer fling that don’t mean a thing.” He waits for you to drop three in his open palm and, with complete mockery, says, “But I’d let you ruin my life.”

You shoot him a disgusted look, and he laughs.

“Aren’t you glad I made you watch Grease?” you transition. “So who are you? A T-bird? Someone from The Outsiders? Just a generic greaser?”

“Generic greaser, I guess. What are you?”

You point at the pointy, black hat perched on your head and say in disbelief, “I’m a witch!”

The corner of his mouth quirks up, and you know you have just walked into a trap. “No, I meant your Halloween costume.”

“Get bent, you jerk,” you roll your eyes.

However, the pretzel you throw at him doesn’t stop him from chortling at his own joke.

two

You agree to feed Minho’s three cats the following weekend while he and his family have a last-minute emergency out of town. You show up to his doorstep on a late Thursday afternoon to say your regards, but everyone in the Lee household is in pandemonium. You slink past his mother to Minho’s room where Soonie and Dori are lying on his bed. Minho himself is packing a duffel bag.

You knock on his already open door to alert him of your presence. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he replies, looking up. “Sorry about this. I would have asked someone who lived closer, but my mom doesn’t trust anyone else with the house key.”

“It’s okay. I like playing with Dori.” You’re still standing at the threshold, feeling too shy to enter now that you’re both older, and you crane your neck to see farther inside. “Where’s Doongie?”

“Under the desk. You can come in.”

“Right.”

You settle into his desk chair and pick up Doongie to pet. There’s nothing else to do, and you scan his walls for something to look at. Your eyes land on his calendar where there are reminders for the biology exam next week and the dance competition at the end of the month. You want to ask if everything’s alright, but it feels insensitive to pry.

“My mom made you dinner,” he says. “To thank you. It’s on the dining table.”

You smile as you remember all the times you stayed over for dinner at Minho’s when you were younger. His mom made the best japchae. “Tell her thanks for me.”

“Will do.”

“Minho!” you hear his mom shout. “We’re leaving!”

Minho heaves his bag over his shoulder and gives you a small smile. “Thanks for doing this. My offer of letting you ruin my life still stands, by the way.”

You snort at the comment, which makes Doongie jump off your lap, which makes you and Minho burst into laughter. “Yeah, well, what are best friends for? I’ll see you Monday?”

“Yeah. Key’s on the coffee table, by the way. And you know where the cat food is right?”

“I got it. I’ll be the best cat sitter ever.” You stand up and give him a hug. “Everything’s going to be okay, Minho.”

He holds you a little longer, and you can feel his heartbeat against your cheek. It’s surprisingly erratic, and yours begins to match in tempo.

“Thanks,” he repeats, finally pulling away.

You stand awkwardly at the foot of his bed and give him another smile as he starts to leave.

His foot has just stepped into the hallway when his mom yells again, “Lee Minho!”

“Coming!” he shouts back. He turns back to you, like he wants to say one more thing. “Don’t forget to eat or else she’ll think I didn’t tell you and get mad. And send me pictures of the cats!”

He disappears before you can even nod, and you hear the front door swing shut. You sit back down and idly spin in his chair, enjoying its cushiness. You’re not hungry yet, so you reach for Dori, who eagerly snuggles into your arms, and snap a picture to send to Minho.

Dori loves me more. Consider your life ruined.

three

The day before the biology exam you’re back at Minho’s house. Two open textbooks and an array of different colored pens decorate the dining table surface while two lazy cats lie on the floor beneath. You flip through your notes for the lesson from two days ago. In the meantime, Minho is frantically shuffling through your flashcards.

He abruptly groans after turning a card around and slumps back into his chair. “I’m so screwed. My test average is already bad, so this is just gonna make it worse. I barely remember what we covered today.”

Minho’s version of bad is everyone’s above average, but it’s unlike him to complain about his scores because he knows it. “Is everything alright?” you ask. “You don’t have to answer, but you seem off.”

“You remember that emergency last week?”

Your eyebrows shoot up, and you try to arrange your facial expression into something less obvious. “Yeah?”

“Well, it’s not about that.” He looks over to see you caught between relief and annoyance. He grins for a few seconds and then turns slightly more serious. “Dance team stuff. Someone got injured, so we have to fix the routine.”

You nod sagely. “That sucks.”

“Yeah, but my bio grade doesn’t have to.” With a newfound sense of energy, he straightens up and dives back into reading flashcards. “Thanks for letting me borrow your notes. I’d let you ruin my life.”

He says it with the same joking manner as last time, but you don’t answer in the same way. “I don’t think you need any help with that,” you say as you hold up his quiz from a few days ago. There’s a big, red 79% circled at the top and ugly slashes through the numbers of incorrectly answered questions.

He shrinks and makes a face at the low score. “In my defense, I was busy with dance, and it’s at least passing.”

“Well, your 90% test average is suffering.” You shut the textbooks and motion for him to put down the cards. “Tell me about lysosomes.”

“92, but alright. Lysosomes—”

When the tests are passed back another week later, you and Minho gather around your locker after school to compare scores.

He counts down, and you steadily lean in closer in anticipation. “Okay. 3… 2… 1!”

“95!” “95%!”

There’s a brief second where the two of you process each other’s grades before both of you burst into cheers about not only having matching scores but also good matching scores.

“Yogurt place or cafe?” you ask. It’s been a longstanding tradition between you and Minho to get celebratory desserts for receiving scores over 90. “I have a coupon for the new froyo place.”

Minho shakes his head dejectedly, and your heart sinks. You rarely have an excuse to hang out with him outside of school nowadays.

“I’ve got practice in” — he checks his phone — “in fifteen minutes. Raincheck or I’ll bring you coffee tomorrow morning?”

You brighten up at the prospect of Minho-delivered coffee. “Coffee. Definitely coffee.”

He nods and waves goodbye to you. “See you then.”

“Don’t be late tomorrow!”

four

Because you knew that you were getting coffee delivered to you, you didn’t have any before heading to school and are currently fighting the urge to fall asleep standing up. The bright sunlight that comes in whenever anyone walks into the building greatly helps.

“Morning,” Minho greets, a cardboard cup carrier in his hand.

You spot your drink and eagerly snatch out of its place. “I’d let you ruin my life,” you sigh, too happy to snap at Minho’s smirk at the use of the phrase. You notice the red and gold label wrapped around the cup. “You went to the expensive cafe too? Goodness, how much does this cost?”

“10,000 won.”

“There’s no way it was that expensive!” you argue.

“Delivery fee.” He sips on his own coffee while he waits for you to hand him his money.

You pull out your wallet and give him half of what he wants. “There’s no way it was more than 5,000.”

He smiles and pockets the money. “4,000 actually.” Before you can demand your change, he looks at an invisible watch around his wrist and says, “Can’t be late. See you.”

He takes off before you can protest, and you moodily drink your coffee instead. At least it’s good and full of caffeine.

Lia, the one who dressed as Sandy for Halloween and the person who just witnessed highway robbery, steps closer and asks, “Was that your boyfriend?”

At the word ‘boyfriend,’ you heat up. You snort and shake your head. “Boyfriends don’t overcharge their girlfriends for a drink. He’s my friend.”

“He seems sweet,” she says.

You’re about to correct her when your phone buzzes in your pocket. You fish it out and smile when you see the notification on your lockscreen.

Lee Minho paid you ₩1,000 - delivery fee has been revoked

“He’s sweet, I guess.”

Lee Minho requests ₩1,000 - jk

“Never mind.”

five

You can’t believe you let Minho talk you into attending one of his dance competitions. It’s not that you’re not supportive of him and his extracurriculars, but none of your friends are free this weekend, so you have to sit in the audience by yourself. You’re not exactly lonely, but you certainly feel out of place. It’s also not fun once you remember that you have a stack of homework waiting on your desk.

When they announce your school’s team to the stage, you join the applause and shout your friend’s name as loud as you can. Minho somehow manages to pick you out of the crowd and nods at you in acknowledgement. Even though you know he can’t clearly see it, you mouth, “Good luck,” to him.

When the spectacular performance is over, you clap and shout his name again. It’s the last performance, and you anxiously wait while the judges deliberate the winner. You text some votes of confidence to Minho in the meantime. Soon all the teams gather in the room. The feedback from the head judge’s microphone quickly silences the whispers.

They’re not third.

Or second.

Or first.

They’re fifth.

You look over at Minho, who is patting his team members on a job well done. He’s smiling goodnaturedly, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. You grab the bouquet of flowers you bought for him and head down to the ground floor like many others are doing.

Heart thumping, you tap him on the shoulder and hold the bouquet out to him. “Hey. Congrats on making top five,” you joke in an attempt to cheer him up.

“Thanks, I guess. It went better than we expected, but you know, first is ideal,” he shrugs. He points at the flowers in your hands, melancholy nearly gone. “Did you buy those from the supermarket?”

“Would it be better if I said I stole them from the neighbor’s garden?”

“Did you really?”

“No.”

“Lame.” He takes them anyway. “I didn’t think you would actually come.”

You again think back to the stack of homework you have and the amount of studying and procrastinating you had planned to do at home. “Me neither.”

“Thanks for coming though.” He pauses for a bit, and you already know what the next line he says will be. “I’d let you ruin my life.”

“You’re already ruining mine.”

Like you’re both in kindergarten again, he shoves you in retaliation — lightly though because he doesn’t actually want to hurt you — and knowing you can’t push him as easily, you stick your tongue at him. He is soon called away for a group photo, and he volunteers you to take it. You do so, and after, with the help of a team member, you and Minho get a picture together with the fifth place trophy. You both smile at the camera, but you’re gently elbowing each other in the ribs all the while.

A minute later, he shows you his phone screen, and you see his post of the recent picture.

being number five and ruining lives, reads the caption.

You like the post anyway and end up setting that photo as your lockscreen.

six

“I hate this,” Minho mumbles to you, his breath making clouds in the winter air. “Why do they do this to us?”

You walk alongside him, trudging at the same snail’s pace as he is. “I know,” you reply. “C’mon, let’s just get it over with so we can leave.”

You drag him by the arm to the front of the giant Christmas tree. He puts an arm around your shoulder and you an arm around his waist. The two of you plaster wide grins on each of your faces while your respective mothers snap photos of their children in matching outfits. The fathers have learned to disappear once they have arrived at the outdoor mall, and you wish you and Minho decided to slip away before the current situation.

“I hate this tradition,” you say through your teeth. You wince when someone’s flash goes off, the light blinding in the night.

“Me too. This vest looks so stupid.”

“The bow around my neck agrees.”

It happens every year, but you and Minho never grow tired of complaining. Your mothers, best friends themselves, insist on documenting the friendship of their children, so you and Minho are subjected to ridiculous Christmas Eve photos in front of the same tree every year. For whatever reason, neither of you have ever rebelled and refused. Darn people-pleasing personalities.

When your parents are satisfied with the results, you and Minho rush to partially get rid of your outfits. Minho unbuttons his vest, cursing at his cold fingers, and you fumble with the knotted ribbon around your frilly shirt collar. Of course you decide to cut your nails the day before.

“Y/N?” someone says. “Is that you?”

You look up from your ribbon and see it's one of your classmates. “Oh, hey, Lia,” you greet. You point at her bags. “Last minute shopping?”

She sheepishly nods. “I like your dress, by the way.” You don’t miss the way her eyes flicker back and forth from you to Minho. “Do you guys know you’re matching?”

“It’s a stupid tradition,” Minho interjects. His vest is draped over one arm and the other is busy loosening his tie. He looks at the limp bow around your neck. “Do you need help?”

“Yes.”

Lia shoots you a knowing smile and starts turning away. “I gotta go, but it was nice seeing you guys. I’ll see you after break. Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas,” you say back, more concerned with getting the cursed ribbon off than goodbyes. Minho echoes the sentiment.

You tilt your chin up and let Minho take a stab at the knot. Whenever his cold hands accidentally brush against your neck, you flinch and your pulse jumps. You hear him swearing under his breath over how tight the knot is, and you meekly apologize and feel yourself grow warm. Everyone’s staring at the spectacle, but you want the stupid thing so badly you don’t care.

“Why did tie it so tightly?” he mutters, finally managing to pull it apart. “I think my hands are cramping.”

“I’d let you ruin my life,” you mockingly say before dropping the act. “But thanks for real.”

“Only for you.” He smirks. “You have to get the dads though.”

You groan. He really does want to ruin your life. You and Minho’s dads are notoriously hard to convince to leave the mall once they’ve found a nice spot to eat and chat. “Anything else,” you plead.

He shakes his head. “No. I did it last year too.”

You take his hand and drag him with you, despite his protests. His fingers are still chilly, but his palms are surprisingly warm. He mutters about your own cold hands at the same time, but you’re too preoccupied with scanning the mall for your fathers to say something witty back. You accompanied him last year, and he would do the same to you this year.

As expected, Minho gives you dirty looks while you spend fifteen minutes begging and waiting for the dads to hurry up. You innocently smile back all the while.

seven

You spent a good portion of your winter break at Minho’s house, playing with his cats, eating his mom’s delicious japchae, and lamenting about school starting up again. School is in session now, and you wait for your first period teacher to open the door as you scroll through your phone outside in the hallway. Minho stops by to return the scarf you left at his house, and to your delight, there’s free coffee that comes with it. He puts the emphasis on ‘free.’

“I’d let you ruin my life,” you say, taking it from him. It’s from the expensive cafe again. “Wow, what’s the special occasion?”

“Just ‘cause,” he replies. “See you after school.”

“See you.”

What a weird way to begin the day. You wonder if Minho’s done anything to the drink; no way he would give you something for free. However, when you cautiously taste it, there’s nothing out of the ordinary. You swirl it to further check, but there’s still nothing.

Even though he said it was free, you still send him the money anyway.

A few minutes later, Lia shows up and says good morning. The two of you idly discuss winter break, and you both find out that neither of you did anything interesting.

“Are you going to go?” Lia asks. She points at the giant poster advertising winter formal tickets.

You shrug and sip on your Minho-delivered coffee. It still tastes normal, and you’re not sure what to make of it. “I don’t know. I don’t have anyone to go with.”

“Aren’t you dating that guy I saw you matching outfits with at Christmas? I don’t know if I already told you, but those were cute outfits.”

“Nope. He’s still my friend.”

“Is that disappointment I hear?” she teases. At your stuttering attempts to retort, she laughs. “I’m kidding. But he is cute.”

“Do you still want him to ruin your life?”

“You heard that?” she groans. “Oh my goodness, that’s embarrassing.”

When you tell Minho what happened after school, he doesn’t laugh. It’s not particularly funny anyway, but he usually smiles a little. Today he’s stony. “So is that your answer?”

“My answer to what?” you bewilderedly ask. You think back to morning and even when you were last back at his house only to come up blank with what he can be referring to. “What did you ask?”

Realization hits him. “You didn’t read the coffee label, did you?”

The cup has long been tossed into the trash by now. “Was I supposed to be? What did you ask?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he quickly brushes off. He hops down off the wall. “I gotta go to practice.”

“Wait!” you call after him but he runs off.

A few minutes later, you find yourself digging through the trash can you threw your empty cup in earlier. Luckily, it’s mostly filled with paper cuttings and other coffee cups. However, the latex gloves you borrowed from your biology teacher don’t lessen your disgust, especially when leftover liquid drips out. Your teacher watches on in amusement as you scrutinize every one.

“This must be a very important piece of trash,” she remarks.

“It is. Oh! It’s this one!”

The label is stained with coffee, and you can just barely make out Minho’s handwriting in black ink. Why did he have to write it so small? No wonder why you didn’t notice it earlier. You hold up the cup higher to the light, and your eyes grow wide as you read the message.

want to ruin my life forever and be more than friends? will you go to winter formal with me?

You nearly drop it in your surprise. Oh goodness. You really, really messed up.

Your heart threatens to beat out of your ribcage, and every part of you is buzzing with adrenaline. Minho likes you in that special way, and you…

You…

You kind of feel the same?

Yes?

Wait, no?

No!

You definitely feel the same.

You hurriedly thank your teacher for her help and rush out of the classroom with Minho’s cup in your hand. You have to fix this now. You burst into the dance practice area, out of breath, and everyone looks at you in confusion.

“Yes! The answer is yes, Minho!” you shout and triumphantly hold out the cup.

The dance captain looks back and forth between your panting frame and Minho’s frozen figure. “Let’s take a five minute break?” he says, more of a suggestion than an order.

You walk over to Minho while everyone else disperses. He meets you halfway. His mouth is open, like he wants to say something, but no words come out.

You smile at him and thrust the cup into his hands. “Hi. The answer is yes to both questions.”

“But you said you told Lia we were just friends,” he breathlessly says, like he can’t believe this is happening.

“Well, we were just friends ten hours ago. I didn’t realize I wanted to be more than your best friend until I read your note.”

A hesitant smile creeps up onto his face. “I didn’t think you would actually take me up on my offer of ruining my life. I thought I screwed it all up by even asking.”

“No! I really like you,” you blurt out. “Like really, really. And I think I have for a long time now. It just… took awhile for me to find out.”

“I like you too, life ruiner.”

You try to playfully push him, but he wraps you in a hug before you can even touch him. You squirm in his grasp and giggle when he holds you even tighter.

“Life ruiner, life ruiner,” he chants in your ear. “And you’re all mine now.”

~ ad.gray

[ificanthaveu]

Paper Rings || Shawn Mendes

Description: After a little too much procrastination, your boyfriend helps you learn a craft to teach your students. Very loosely based off Paper Rings by Taylor Swift.

A/N: I have had just “paper rings” sitting in my notes literally since Lover came out. Then I added a quick one line of what I wanted to happen a few months later. And FINALLY the other day, inspiration struck and I came up with this cute lil thing. ALSO the fact that there’s absolutely no angst in this??? who am i??? Hope you love it anyway :)

Word Count: 2.6k

“Have you chosen your activity for the Fall Festival next week?” The principal of your school asked as she poked her head into your room. 

You looked up from the dense pile of worksheets you were grading before you looked at your calendar next to you to see that the due date was tomorrow. 

“Shoot, no, I haven’t,” you said through a sigh as you set your pen down and leaned back in your chair, cracking your knuckles and stretching out your back just to glance at the time and see it was already after 5:00.

She walked in and sat at the chair next to your desk and glanced down at the papers. 

“Are you doing ok?” She asked with a small smile. “I know the first year teaching can be hard.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” you said with a quick head nod. “Guess it’s my fault for assigning so much work.”

“It happens,” she said with a shrug as she picked one of the worksheets up to look at the math you were teaching your second-graders. 

“I guess I just got caught up in things at home and got distracted from the many things I hadn’t graded yet,” you explained. 

“Everything ok at home?” She asked hesitantly. 

“Oh, yeah! I didn’t mean to sound like that was a bad thing. My boyfriend just travels a lot, so I get caught up in it every now and then,” you said as you glanced down at the framed photo on your desk from a vacation you took the summer before. 

“Well, I know everyone is going to tell you to keep those two things separate, but it’s hard not to. As long as the two of you understand that you both have your own things to take care of, the rest falls into place. He seems like a really great guy,” she offered. 

“Thanks, Beth,” you responded as you started packing up some of the papers in hopes of finishing a few more tonight once you got home. 

She stood up with you, handing back the worksheet and giving you one last smile and wave before heading out of the room. 

You let out a sigh as you checked your phone to see a few messages from Shawn asking when you’d be home. You sent him a response that you were on your way before locking up your classroom and going home.

You could smell the pasta coming from the kitchen the moment you opened the door. John Mayer was playing through the speakers as you walked through the dining room, instantly feeling relaxed.

“Hey,” you said softly as you walked up to Shawn stirring the sauce on the stovetop. 

He looked up at you and smiled before leaning closer to press a quick kiss to your cheek before turning off the burners. 

“Just a few more minutes, and dinner will be ready,” he said before straining the pasta. 

“Sounds good,” you said before setting your stuff down in your room and making your way back to him, wrapping your arms around his torso from behind as he rested one of his hands on top of both of yours, your cheek pressed firmly against his back.

“You ok?” He asked cautiously, craning his neck back to get a peak of you. 

You let out a sigh and nodded your head as best you could. 

“Yeah, just a long week,” you mumbled.

Shawn’s grip tightened against your hand as he mixed the pot once more before turning around and placing his hands against your cheeks.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked softly, his breath fanning over your lips. 

You pressed a quick kiss to his lips before saying, “Yeah.”

So Shawn scooped the pasta on to two plates and poured two glasses of wine (“I know it’s a Thursday, but you can’t have pasta without wine. That would be a crime,” he claimed when you fought him on opening a new bottle) and met you at the table where you now sat in running shorts and an oversized t-shirt.

“It’s my first year teaching, and I get that they can’t teach you everything in college, but shit, I feel like I know nothing sometimes,” you ranted as you poked at your food. “And then on top of the actual teaching, you have to make sure the kids are ok mentally and everything is ok at home and they have materials outside of class to work with and now I need a craft for the damn Fall Festival.”

“A craft?” Shawn questioned after setting down his glass. 

You sighed before leaning back in your chair. 

“Yeah, there’s a day in the fall where the kids do a different activity in each room. I was told about this weeks ago, and I still don’t know what to do,” you said. 

“Any ideas at all?” He questioned. 

“I’ve been thinking we can just meditate, so I can sit in silence but something tells me elementary schoolers wouldn’t think it’s that fun,” you said. 

Shawn stifled a laugh as he nodded his head, “Personally, I would be in, but I do realize I’m not seven.”

“Every time I thought I came up with something unique, I’d check the sheet and someone else already took it, so I’m open to absolutely anything you have,” you said as you set your fork down.

“You could just turn on music and do a dance party?”

“Taken. The music teacher came up with that one at lightning speed.”

“Hm, ok. What about just coloring? Do fall themed coloring pages?”

“Taken.”

“Friendship bracelets?”

“Taken.”

“Oh, huh, well…” he trailed off as he stared at the ceiling with a crease in his eyebrows. His hands flew up and back down to his legs dramatically. “Paper mache?” 

“Yuck, way too messy,” you said with a nose crinkle.

“Origami?” He said with eyebrows raised. 

You cocked your head to the side and studied his excited expression as you thought about it. 

“That could actually work,” you said quietly as you grabbed your laptop from the counter to look at the sign-up sheet. “And no one has it!”

“Perfect! Easy! You can do those little fortune things!” He said, making the back and forth gestures with his hands to get his point across. 

“I feel like I could tailor it to the grades, too. Like the Kindergarteners could do something easy like a basic paper airplane, and the fifth-graders could do something more complicated like those little swans,” you said as you started to pull up instructions. 

“Do you know how to do any origami?” Shawn asked as he peered over at your screen. 

“No, not at all,” you said. “Well, I used to be able to do it when I was younger. I was actually pretty good, but I can only remember how to make a heart now.”

“Well, you’ve got some learning to do,” Shawn said as he grabbed your plate and glass. 

“We have some learning to do,” you corrected him as you shot him a sweet smile. 

He leaned against the counter and looked at you from across the room with a deadpan look on his face. 

“We?”

“We.”

He sighed and hung his head before looking back up at you. 

“You know I’d do anything for you, and you take advantage of that a lot,” he pointed out. 

“I know,” you returned as you continued opening up new windows to look for new shapes. 

“And to think if you didn’t procrastinate, we could’ve just made a child-friendly playlist to dance to,” he whispered in your ear as he leaned on the back of your chair, looking over your shoulder.

“Don’t talk about it,” you squealed as he pressed kisses down the side of your neck.

The next night the two of you had patterned origami paper and instruction sheets scattered across the kitchen table as you both attempted to learn how to make a chair for the chair and table set you were going to have the third graders make. 

“I’m confused. What does this arrow mean?” Shawn asked you as he pointed to one of the pictures. 

“You tuck it into the slot,” you said as you showed him yours. 

“I don’t have a slot.”

You looked up from your nearly finished chair to see that he was right. He had no slot. 

“How did you manage to do that?” You asked him as you studied his shape. 

“I have absolutely no idea,” he said as he stared at it with you. 

You tossed it in the trash bag before either of you could think about it any longer. 

“Hey,” Shawn said softly as he stared at the trash bag. 

“I already have it figured out, so you don’t have to keep struggling,” you said as you placed your small chair in front of him. 

“It’s so cute,” he said quietly as he placed it by the table he had figured out a half-hour ago. 

“Ok, now let’s work on this jewelry set for the fifth-grade girls,” you said as you placed a packet in front of him. 

He flipped through it and scanned over the directions. 

“A packet?” He questioned as he gave you a look. 

“Yep,” you said through a yawn.

“I think we should call it a night,” he said as he pushed the pages toward the center of the table. 

“No, let’s just keep going,” you said as you widened your eyes for a second as you stared at the directions. 

After a few moments of silence and Shawn waiting for you to buckle, you finally did. 

“Ok, let’s go to bed,” you finally mumbled after crumpling the half-done charm. 

“That’s what I thought,” Shawn said as he stood up and held his hand out for you. 

You gripped onto his hand as he pulled you to your room, pulling you under the covers with him immediately. You landed on top of him, your legs settling on either side of his waist as you buried your head into his chest and his hand ran up and down your back.

“I’m so proud of you,” Shawn whispered as his other hand tangled into the ends of your hair.

You adjusted your head so you could look up at him.

“Thanks, bub,” you said back just as softly. 

“I could just never do what you do,” he started, shaking his head for a moment before continuing. “Like, the stories you tell me and the kids you’ve bonded with and the influence you have on them. You’re really making a difference in these kids’ lives. I don’t think you notice that as much as other people do.”

You stayed quiet as you mulled over what Shawn had just said. 

“I just feel like sometimes I’m still not doing enough,” you mumbled.

“Hey,” Shawn whispered harshly, tapping your back to get you to look at him. “It’s your first year, and you’re doing the best you can. The kids love you and feel comfortable with you and they’re making progress and that’s all that matters.”

You stayed quiet, choosing to stare at your dresser instead of Shawn, 

“[Y/N],” he mumbled. 

Before you could answer, he flipped you over, hovering on top of you as you looked up at him. 

“You’re an amazing teacher, and you’re only going to get better and better. I love you, and I love what you do,” he said before pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

“I love you, too,” you said as he smiled down at you. “And I am a good teacher.”

He laid back down next to you, pulling you against his side before you looped one of your legs around his.

“The best teacher,” he repeated. “And soon the best teacher who also does some decent origami.”

The next morning, the two of you dove into the jewelry packet as you drank your coffee. Shawn figured out the star charm pretty quickly as you worked on a heart version. Shawn eventually moved onto a ring as you folded small pieces together to make a bracelet. 

“This is stupid,” you mumbled as you added the last piece and throw it in the middle of the table. 

“I think it’s gorgeous,” Shawn said as he picked it up and tried to slip it onto his own wrist. 

“It was made to fit a fourth-grader,” you pointed out.

“Are you saying I don’t have the hands of a fourth-grader?” He said as he gave you a pointed look.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” you said as you flipped to the ring instructions as well.

“Done,” Shawn proclaimed as you barely made your first fold. 

You glanced up at him to see him proudly holding out the ring in front of him. 

“I hate you,” you mumbled as you tried the next step.

Shawn grabbed your hand before you could make the next fold and slipped the ring onto your left ring finger. You looked from him to the paper ring as he just stared at it. 

“It looks good there,” he said softly as he ran his thumb along the top of it. 

“Yeah, it does,” you replied as you looked back up at him. 

Comfortable silence flowed between the two of you as Shawn continued to hold your hand in his. After a moment he cleared his throat and pulled away, moving to work on the final piece and leaving the ring on your finger. 

You didn’t take it off. 

And it stayed there as the two of you finished learning all of the steps and packing up the paper and instruction packets to bring to school with you on Monday. 

After spending the rest of the day cleaning up the house after a long week, Shawn laid in bed and waited for you, scrolling through his phone. 

You shut the door behind you before you crawled in next to Shawn and buried your head in his shoulder with your arm draped over his middle. 

“You’re still wearing this?” Shawn asked as he fiddled with the paper ring still on your finger. 

“Mhm,” you mumbled as you held it up. “I always wanted a pink paper ring.”

“Think we can switch it out for this one?” Shawn said as he pulled out a black velvet box. 

Your breathing stopped as he opened the box to show you your dream ring. 

You shot up as your hand flew to your mouth. Shawn slowly sat up as well, holding the box tightly in his hands. 

“Will you marry me?” He asked with a genuine smile on his face as tears streamed down your face. 

“Yes,” you choked out as you lunged on top of him, wrapping yourself around him as he held you tightly. 

You leaned back in his lap, holding your shaking hand out as he removed the paper ring and slipped on the new one. 

“Much better,” he whispered before finally pressing his lips to yours. 

“I would’ve married you with the paper one,” you whispered against his lips as he smiled. 

“I’m well aware. That’s why I had to switch it out as soon as possible,” he said through a laugh before you pressed another kiss to his lips to shut him up.

“I think I like this one a little better,” you said as you leaned your head on his shoulder and looked down at the ring. 

“Only a little?”

“Yeah,” you sighed. “I have to keep you humble.”

You could feel him laugh against your shoulder before the two of you moved back to laying down. 

“Do you want me to make your wedding band out of origami?” You asked him after a moment of silence. 

“Absolutely not.”

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[folkloreguk]

Punch Confessions🎄

A/N: Happy December! I didn’t do an advent calendar this year but I thought you should at least have one Christmas themed thing...and maybe I also really wanted to write something that’ll get me into the spirit...

genre: optional bias (male) x reader, fluff 

words: ~ 2k

If I leave now, I’ll be there like twenty minutes early, you told yourself. But if you sat around any longer, waiting, you were sure to go crazy. Your stomach was flipping, and you had the desire to check your appearance in the mirror for what felt like the 100th time within the last ten minutes. There was really no need for you to be this nervous. You were going to get on the bus, arrive at the Christmas market, find your friends, hug them hello and have a great time. Had it not been for the godforsaken crush you had developed on one of those friends. Now you couldn’t go anywhere you knew you’d see him without feeling like having a heart attack. And, worst of all, you didn’t even think he felt the same about you. In fact, you had been trying vigorously to distract yourself, asking the web how to undo a crush and even stalking your ex on social media, convincing yourself that another relationship like your previous one was the last thing you could wish for. And yet you wanted him. He was on your mind from the moment you woke up to the time you closed your eyes at night. Sometimes, when it was especially bad, he followed you into your dreams. You’d hear the melody of his laughter, see the way his eyes change shape when he smiled and every time you awoke, you were alone in your bed, longing for something you thought would never be yours.

So now, when you finally caught the bus, you put in your earphones. You found your Christmas playlist and emerged in a world of bells and whistle notes, hopefully distracting you enough to make it to the Christmas market without having a nervous breakdown.

His back was the first thing you saw when you stepped out of the bus in front of the market. And to your dismay, he was the first one there. For some reason he had arrived even earlier than you had. You called his name and he spun around with a million-dollar smile on his face. Oh god. Mentally you prepared yourself to go to war against the butterflies raging in your stomach. He gave you a hug and the way his scent lingered in your nose for a moment only made your longing a million times worse.

“How have you been?” he asked. You were glad he was so good at making conversation. While you told him about your previous week, you realized exactly how he had taken your heart by storm. Although you had felt flustered at first, talking to him was the easiest thing in the world. It was the way he made you laugh without having to try, and how he didn’t just hear what you told him – he listened. He found interest in every part of your life, always wanting to know more and remembering the littlest things that seemed like nothingness to you. So, while originally you had wished your friends would be here as quickly as possible, with every second you spent alone around him you were more okay if they would be later to the meeting than discussed.

But eventually they arrived too, and as much as you had wished to be alone with him, you had missed your friends dearly. You caught up with each other’s lives quickly, while you strolled around the market and checked the little booths for potential Christmas gifts for your loved ones. It was a whirlwind of admiring little figurines, smelling scented candles and singing along to the cheesy songs playing over the speakers at every corner.

When you had seen everything, you found yourself at one of the booths selling punch and other hot drinks. While you laughed at your friends’ funny story, you were drinking, perhaps getting a little tipsy. A small fire was burning in the middle of the round wooden table, meant to keep the people standing there warm, but it wasn’t doing much for your freezing cold hands.

Instead of holding them towards the flame, you opted for rubbing them against each other, trying to create some warmth in your too thin gloves. That’s when you noticed him looking over at you. At first, he grinned at your behavior, but then he reached across the table.

“Here, this will keep your warm,” he said. Gently, he took your hands and put them around his mug, which he had just gotten refilled. To say your heart skipped a beat didn’t even sound like an exaggeration to you anymore. He kept his hands on yours, watching for your reaction. And he was right, it really did do wonders for your cold skin. Not knowing what to do with yourself, you smiled thankfully at him. He smiled back at you and your stomach dropped and flipped at the same time. There was really no denying how completely and utterly in love you were with him.

And then the all too familiar feeing set in. The doubts and worries about how he felt about you. He had always been a rather touchy person, so it wasn’t like you could take his sudden advances as anything but normal behavior. He was single, you knew that. But what if one day he broke news to you? What if he told you he had found somebody he wanted to be with? Someone who would always look out for him, and someone he would count all the sky’s stars for? And what if that someone wasn’t you? Although that wasn’t reality, the mere idea made you want to cry.

Your friend had encouraged you to take your chances. Just tell him, she would always say. But how did she not realize? With the chance of having your love reciprocated also came the horrible dread of having your fragile heart broken by the one you loved most in the world – and it wouldn’t even be his fault. It would mess up your entire friendship, and you weren’t ready to take that chance.

“I think I’ll hit the trail soon,” one of your friends announced, pulling you out of your train of thoughts.

“Yeah, me too, it’s getting quite cold,” the other one said. “We should definitely do this again soon!”

You could only agree. Especially if it would involve seeing H/N. Speaking of…he was smiling at you again and it was making your cheeks heat up even in this cold.

“Can I bring you home? It’s dark and you had some drinks,” he said. “We can’t have some creeps trying to talk to you. Not when you look this pretty. The taxi ride from your place will be cheaper than if I take one from here, anyway.”

You thought you were dreaming. Did he just call you pretty? But then you watched his eyes and his goofy smile, and you realized. He was drunk - a lot more drunk than you were - and it was bringing out his flirty side. It wasn’t you who made him compliment you, it was the alcohol. You had seen it before on him. He liked complimenting anyone, boys as much as girls, when he was drunk. Your heart sank at the realization.

“Okay. Thank you,” you said, nonetheless. After all, you wouldn’t reject the opportunity to be alone with him. The bus ride home was quiet, except for the usual small talk shared between good friends. When he softly touched your hand, it should have made you happy. Instead, you only felt an emptiness, knowing he would have probably done the same to your other girl friend, had he brought her home instead.

When you walked up to your front porch, you couldn’t wait to get inside. Just before you put your keys into the lock, he said your name. You spun around, and he was standing so much closer than you had anticipated. His eyes were sparkling, your Christmas lights around your door reflecting in them. One of his hands came to touch your cheek, and your heartbeat had never quickened so fast.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked. YES, your heart shouted. NO, your head said. He’s just drunk, not in love with you. So you had to make a decision you prayed you wouldn’t have to regret.

“H/N, you’re drunk. If you still want to kiss me tomorrow when you’re sober, I promise I will say yes. But now, I can’t,” you said. His eyes read a little disappointment, but more empathy.

“Alright, I’m sorry,” he said, slowly retracting his hand from your cheek. You wouldn’t have minded it staying there longer. “Can I give you a hug, at least?”

“Yes,” you laughed, pulling him into your arms. You waited with him, until his taxi had arrived there, and then sent him off. The whole evening you were conflicted. Should you have kissed him? You know it would have hurt you, knowing he didn’t mean it the way you did. But was it selfish to wish you had him, even if only for a few fleeting seconds, in the palm of your hand? No, you did the right thing, you told yourself. Don’t break your own heart like that. That’s what other people are here for. The thoughts didn’t stop until late at night, when you finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Your next morning was busy. It was a weekend, but you needed to go grocery shopping and clean some rooms in your home, so you could relax in the afternoon. You were so lost in work, that you almost forgot about what happened the previous evening. Almost. Because when the doorbell rang at 3 in the afternoon, your heart ached for it to be him, standing outside your door.

“Hi.” And there he was. In front of your door, almost like it was imagination. You couldn’t stop the child-like grin that spread on your face at his sight.

“Hey, come in,” you offered, stepping aside for him. He removed his hand from behind his back. And handed you…a scarf?

“I found this at my place today. It’s yours, isn’t it?” he said. “I just dropped by to bring it back.”

And that’s the exact time it took for your brittle hope to be crushed beneath his words.

“That is mine. I’ve been wondering where it was. Thank you,” you said in a robot-kind-of-way. “Where are you off to?”

You didn’t want him to go. He had to stay, so that the last little flicker of Esperance would be kept alive.

“Oh, I just need to get some milk from the store, that’s all,” he said. His smile was too handsome for you to be okay with looking at it. Especially now.

“But actually, there’s something you have for me too, don’t you?” he said.

“What?” you asked, confused. Did he forget something at your place, as well? His lips curled into a cheeky smirk, and your heartbeat picked up pace.

“Yesterday you were worried I wouldn’t remember. Now it seems like I’ll have to remind you of what you said,” he spoke. “You said I can kiss you if I still want to.”

At that moment, you stopped functioning for a few solid seconds. With a wide-eyed gaze you stared at him in disbelief.

“And I do,” he said. “I do still want to kiss you. How could I not, when that’s all I’ve wanted to do for months?”

And then he was there, so close to you, you worried he might hear your heartbeat through your chest. Finally, you understood. A smile spread on your face, completely out of your control. You touched his face, and his beautiful eyes were the last thing you saw before you closed your own and your lips touched. His skin was cold from the temperature outside, so you only pulled him closer. A perfectly comfortable warmth spread in your chest, one that felt as if it had been there, locked up in a small box for months, only waiting to be unleashed. And he had been the key. His gentle kiss and his oh-so familiar scent was all you could think about. You had gotten your Christmas miracle, after all.

[wendystales]

Memories - lrh (Chapter Eighteen)

Memories (also on Wattpad)

Chapter Seventeen ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Chapter Nineteen

I remember the first time I really wanted to see New York. I must have been about 12 years old and was watching a random episode of Friends that was on TV. I saw those flashes of the city between one scene and another, and I thought it was amazing, the great stone jungle.

When I turned 16, my dad gifted me with a trip to New York, not because it was my favorite place in the world, but because it was on sale. There were 10 days where the only time I stopped to rest was bedtime. We went to almost every tourist spot, took thousands of photos and it was definitely one of the best trips I've ever been on.

Now, the city that I once wanted to know and live in, like the characters in Friends, felt like a prison. I wasn't there of my own free will or for a truly irrefutable proposal. I was there out of fear and passion, the most dangerous mixture.

I believe that at some point, a few months from now, I'm going to start loving New York, but right now, I can only feel contempt.

I pass through the arrivals gate, looking at those millions of unfamiliar faces, waiting for someone. I'm looking for a sign with my name or the logo of the Hastings Agency.

I find my name in the hands of a boy a little taller than me. Dark hair and fair skin, he needs sun. In an impeccable suit, but fumbling with his cell phone and notepad.

I approach slowly, able to hear his voice, replaying a million things. He said something about waiting for me to arrive and taking me to the hotel. Something about treating me kindly and not asking questions. I stop in front of him with a sympathetic smile, watching him widen his eyes and quickly turn off his cell phone.

“Miss McGonagall, welcome to New York.” he takes my hand, squeezing it and shaking it quickly. “I'm Edward. I will be responsible for your schedule.” I can't control the smile, noticing him nervousness. In other words, he was my Noah.

“Hi! Yeah, you can call me Marnie, that's fine. I prefer, actually.”

“Oh! Of course.” his cheeks turn pink. “Well, I'll drop you off at the hotel to rest and tomorrow at 8:00 am you should be at Valentino's studio for the rehearsal of the new bag collection. At 2:45 pm you should already be at Chanel's studio, they want to take your measurements and do some color and fabric tests for the fashion show at the end of the month. Then, at 5:00 pm, you will participate in the E! podcast, and I believe that after that you will be free for the rest of the day.” he passes it on to me as we head out of the airport.

“OK!” that's all I have to say.

“Sorry if I'm being nosy, but were you the one who required a lot of work for the next two months? I mean, you have a really busy schedule. If you don't want something, I can try to help.” he flips through the calendar while we wait for a car.

“No! It's OK. I was the one who asked. I was down for a while and I need to get back to work.” I give a slight smile, debating. "Hm, was the doctor I asked for by any chance be marked?"

“Yes! Wednesday at 3pm.” he smiles proudly, making me smile too. Edward seems like a nice guy.

We got into a silver car and went to the hotel. Along the way, Edward answers a few calls, closing in on his tasks. I seize the moment and close myself in my own world. I get my cell phone, turning it on and seeing that tsunami of people looking for me. Missed calls, messages, dm on twitter and instagram, everyone looking for me, but not him.

I lock my cell phone, trying to focus my mind on the new beginning I sought for myself. I admire the city through the car window, trying to find a piece of home there. I feel the phone vibrate in my lap with Kyleen's name, but I just decline the call. In seconds, the screen lights up again and several messages come in, I believe they are hers, but I don't even bother to look. I have no courage.

The car stops in front of the Intercontinental, and just like that, Edward jumps out of the car.

“Your loft, unfortunately, is not ready yet. So you're going to have to stay here for a few days.” he explains, heading towards the reception desk.

I stand behind him, taking in the details of the hotel. Before long, I'm entering a room on the 14th floor, with a beautiful view of the city. The bags are left in the small room before the bedroom.

I smile at my new “Noah” showing that everything is perfect.

“Good! I'll let you rest for tomorrow. Anything, these are my phones.” he gives me a card. "And you can call me at any time. I live near here, I will come in a few minutes.”

“Thank you so much, Edward. You are very kind." Again, your cheeks turn pink.

As he heads for the door, I start rummaging through my bags for pajamas.

“Hm, sorry if I'm not being professional right now, but since I believe we'll be working together in the next few months, I imagine a good relationship is essential, so you can call me Eddie.”

I open an even bigger smile, seeing that Eddie was willing to make a friendship, which is perhaps the thing I need most at the moment.

“Thanks, Eddie!” he smiles and this time he walks away, leaving me alone again.

I go back to looking for a more comfortable outfit, ignoring my cell phone blinking on the table as I muted it. I grab my clothes, heading to a shower and stay there for a long time, letting the water take everything.

When I get out of the shower, I pick up the bedroom phone, dialing my mother's number, I don't want to take the risk of answering any of my cell phone calls.

"Hello?" her lost tone makes me smile weakly.

“Hi Mom!”

“Hi, my love. How are you? Marnie, what's going on? Leah came here to say you left without saying goodbye. I called Luke, but he did not answer me and Noah said something about you being to move to New York, you told me it would be just a month.” I cover the phone, not wanting her to hear my cry, letting the tears fall. "Marnie?"

“I'm sorry, Mom.” I can't control my voice and pretend it's okay.

“Honey, what's going on? You can tell me. Mom will help you.” I realize she wants to cry too, and that hurts me more.

“I needed to do this, needed to get away from him.” the revelation comes out before I can see it.

"He who? Luke? Why? I thought everything was fine.” her desperate tone returns.

“I'm sorry I can't talk.” I close my throat, holding back tears. “I just want to let you know that I arrived well and that everything is fine.”

“Fine? Marnie, just look at your voice, your condition. I saw what you did to the apartment. Honey, things aren't fine.” now she was angry.

“Mom, please just trust me. I know what I'm doing.” Do I? I clear my throat, holding back the emotion. “I just wanted to call to say I got okay. Later we'll talk.” I hang up the phone before she asks anything else.

I head to the bathroom, drying my hair. I notice that yesterday's anger is still in me as I can't face my image in the mirror, refusing to look deep into my eyes.

With dry hair, I go back to my room, thinking about taking a nap, since I haven't slept all night and even less on the flight. I close my eyes, trying to focus my thoughts on something else. I think about that taxi I saw earlier, trying to park. Or people crossing the street without looking at the sign. At the cookie shop I want to see.

I manage to evade Luke's, my mother's, John's, and Noah's voices, giving myself more and more to the sleep that finally came. Far away, I hear someone knocking hard on the door, but I ignore it, as I had the same thoughts yesterday morning. But I wake up when the pounding comes back stronger and Leah's voice enters the room.

“Marnie Elizabeth McGonagall, open this shit now before I drop it and you know I'm capable of it.” I leap out of bed, running to the door.

She can’t be here.

I open the door, revealing Leah with perhaps the worst expression I've ever seen in the world. She was furious, if not more so. As she storms into my room without waiting for an invitation, I quickly look down the hall, seeing a couple look at me startled. I smile awkwardly, closing the door.

“What are you doing here?” I question, still not understanding.

"What are you doing here? And without warning anyone. Fading in the morning. Breaking up with Luke. What the fuck was that?” she screams.

For a second, I see that my amnesia was an issue with my plan. By not remembering my friendship with everyone, I really believed that I just left and everything would be fine. I didn't imagine anyone would cross the country for me, to understand what was going on.

And if Leah did it, it's a matter of hours before someone else does. They weren't going to leave me alone, they weren't going to forget me, and they weren't going to let this story pass. I need to push them away, but I don't know how.

"Go on, Marnie. What the fuck is going on? And if you tell me it's a job offer, I swear I'll fly at you without pity or mercy, and I'll slap the truth out.” she cross her arms.

I consider the last option a lot because I know she can do it. But I won't tell her the truth, that's not an alternative. I want to believe that if I don't back off, she'll see I'm not lying and won't attack me. And even if she tries, I just run away, I'm closer to the door and there's an armchair between us.

"But it is what it is!" I shrug.

“Stop it!” she screams. “Stop lying, Marnie. Everyone. Everyone knows you're lying, so why don't you tell the truth?” she waves her hands through the air.

“Because there's no other truth, Leah. Will I have to draw it for you?” I make the same moves she does.

“Be my guest!” she sits on the couch. I sigh wearily. I haven't slept for hours, I'm angry with myself and the world and now that I thought the situation was resolved and I just had to go on with my life, she comes and messes everything up.

“Why are you here?” I stay upright.

“I do not know! It must be cause you went crazy and disappeared without saying anything. Didn't answer my calls, no one had any answers about what was going on. So I took my father's jet and came to resolve this situation and I don't leave here without an answer at least.”

In the same way I laugh at Noah, I laugh at her, thinking it will fix everything. Leah carries the same expression as her brother, neutral, mocking.

“Why did you break up with Luke?” she asks quietly.

The mention of his name makes me shiver. I notice how my stomach turns and try to ignore it. I wonder if I can subtly extract some information from his state, but I don't want her to think I still care about him.

"Cause I wasn't in the mood anymore." I shrug, walking through space.

“My God, you've actually lied better.” I glare at her. “You know you're in trouble here, I know you better than anyone. I know you are lying and that you are going through some difficult situation. I even have my theories. So you're going to have to work a lot harder to trick me or get me out of here.” she cracks a smile, feeling victorious.

"Oh do you have? What are your theories?” I mock her.

“The first is that you really freaked out with amnesia and you can't handle it. The second is that you can't handle your feelings about Luke, it happened once before. And the third is that someone put some shit in your head and made you believe that everything would be better if you were out of the way.” I feel her gaze burning into me, looking for any reaction.

I let out a laugh, not forced, nervous that she got it right. Leah raises an eyebrow.

“You really traveled on your theories. Sorry, none are right.”

As if by magic, the answer appears to me. The only way I was going to get rid of everyone and go through with the plan without a hitch was to make her hate me. Make everyone hate me, just like I did Luke.

Just considering their hate for me makes my heart ache. But I need to do this. For Luke. For the boys. It's for their success.

“You know, a few months ago you were asked to be in a movie and you didn't take it cause you said you were a terrible actress. Isn't that right?” she gets up again. “Noah told me you said you were doing this for Luke, because you loved him. Marnie, what are you trying to hide?” she comes closer.

I feel dirty because of the attitude I'm going to take. It's low, very low, but I need her to hate me.

"Look who talks about hiding." I give a cynical laugh. Leah looks at me confused. "Don't you have anything to tell too?" she still doesn't understand. “You and Kyleen?”

Hastings freezes. The bitter taste of my act starts to fill my mouth. I’m sorry, Leah. I’m so sorry.

“How do you know?” she takes a step back.

"Who do you think closed the bathroom door on Ash's birthday?" I raise my eyebrows.

“Is not the same thing.”

“It isn’t? Aren't you hiding something from all of us?” I force a smile like hers a few minutes ago.

“No! Cause I'm not pushing everyone away, I'm not telling lies. And if you asked me, I would tell you the truth. Deep down, you know why I didn't say anything. You know my dad hasn't accepted Noah yet, that this is a problem in our family, and you know he wouldn't accept me either. You know that deep down I'm trying to protect both of us.”

“Oh! Do I?” I debauchery more. Right now, I feel horrible when I see your eyes water. I'm so, so sorry.

“I know what you're trying to do and I'm not going to stage it.” she walks past me to the door.

"Didn't you want to talk? I am talking.” Leah turns to me, straining the knife I carried in my chest, letting me see her crying face.

“You're trying to make me hate you.” now I'm the one who freezes. She laughs. “See how I know you? You are very predictable, Marnie. And as much as I know of your intention, I will not allow you to reach your goal. I hope that one day, not too far away, you realize what a big shit you're doing.” she opens the door, going. “Oh, and before I forget, since it's meant to hurt. Congrats, since your little chat with Luke, he's been locked in his room, needing Michael to keep an eye on him.” so Leah slams the door and strikes the final blow.

I bite the inside of my mouth, letting the tears fall. Honestly, I didn't even have the strength to hold back anymore. The rage burning inside me gives way to pain. I imagine Luke locked in his room, lying on the bed, hating me. Hating what we had and what we thought we had.

I walk over to my suitcase, pulling out a package, with the photos I'd taken from the box and the little white box he'd given me. I open it, holding the necklace with his name on it, the one he gave me.

Even knowing what I had to do, I wouldn't get rid of this necklace, I don't have the courage. It was easier to buy an equal one and put it in his hand. What he did to me would be kept with me forever.

““Closed eyes.” he fights.

"I have my eyes closed." I rebate. “Lucas…” I chide him, when I feel his lips on the back of my neck.

“Sorry, I got distracted.” I hold back the urge to laugh. “Closed eyes.”

"If you say it one more time, you'll get hit." I threat.

"How, if you can't see me?" right now, the urge to hit him is so strong that I follow the sound of his voice, trying to kick him. “Hey! No rudeness, otherwise you'll be left without a gift.” the false authoritative tone makes me angrier. “Good girl!”

“Go!” I kicked.

I'm startled by the icy touch against my neck. It's a necklace. Eagerly, I touch the pendant, recognizing the shape. He didn't do it.

“You can open it.” his hands move to my hips, hugging me.

With my eyes open, I run my vision to my neck, finding there a necklace just like his but blue.

“Happy Birthday!” he drops a kiss on my cheek.

I hold the blue quartz, seeing Luke's name engraved on the back. I let a stupid smile spread across my face, glaring at my boyfriend with the same.

"Want to explain why we're wearing practically identical necklaces?"

“It's a little obvious. Couples wear rings and I know what a problem you have with rings.”

“It’s not a problem.” I try to defend myself.

“It's just Alzheimer's. You know, in some people, it starts before they're 70 years old.” I hit him, and he laughs, before he hugs me. "Like I was saying, I know you're not into wearing a ring, so since I already had my necklace, I thought you'd have yours. That way we'll always be close to each other's hearts.” I rest my hands on his shoulders, standing on tiptoes.

"Have I told you I love you today?" I whisper, moving closer.

“Not after 5 pm.” he pouted, looking at the clock on the wall.

I don't know how I managed to kiss him with such a stupid smile on my face.

“Why do I like you, huh?” I question, stealing a little kiss.

“Because I'm cheesy and romantic. And even if you deny it, I know you get attached to it.” he opens a victorious smile.

"Don't ever say 'get attached' again." I beg laughing.

"What is it, bae? That was awesome.” he laughs.

“No!” I scream, laughing.

"What is it, babe girl? Don't you stick to my way of get in?” he keeps teasing me.

I place my lips on yours, determined to shut your mouth and thank you that it works. My mental reminder of “we're late for dinner” evaporates when his hands reach under my shirt. I scratch the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

“We're late for dinner.” he says against my mouth as I start to unbutton his shirt.

“Just say the traffic was like hell.” I suggest kissing his neck.

Luke accepts the idea, picking me up and walking me back to the bedroom."

It's not hard to know that we were late for dinner that day. But I didn't care, I had been given a necklace with his name on it, a necklace that showed how our relationship was getting more and more serious.

I also realize that the two times I got this necklace, at least once I ended up in bed with him. In fact, in both, but only one made it to the end.

“I hate myself.” I say tiredly, going to the minibar to get anything containing alcohol that makes me forget everything.

I call the front desk for two bottles of champagne and the biggest snack they have. I pick up the small whiskey bottles, turning one after the other, as if they were shot. I shake my head, wanting the effect to start faster.

“I hate myself. Leah hates me. Kiki must hate me now too. Just like Noah and everyone else there. Everybody hates me.” I turn the last one over, shaking my head once more. “Luke hates me. Hates me too much.” I comment, hugging the pillow.

I pick up a Polaroid of ours, staring at our happiness marked there. What am I doing?

I throw my head in my hands, lost. I wonder what might happen if I crawl into bed and don't go out for the rest of the month. Probably more people will hate me, but who doesn't hate me now? I mean, just get in line.

Awakened from the thought, when someone knocks on the door. For a second, I wonder who it was, then remember I ordered room service. I walk to the door, feeling the weight of the six small bottles.

My stomach churns and I feel an overwhelming urge to vomit as I land my eyes on the redhead in front of me. Red-haired?

"Bethany?"

[detectivejay-chuckles-halstead]

Nervous Breakdown // Jay Halstead x Reader

Photo by @karihighman​

Description: Jay is there when you start to break down.

Words: 1539

Warnings: None

Pairing: Jay x Reader

A/N: So, this I wrote for me. The schedule Reader talks about is my actual schedule. The sign offs are the things I actually need. This was me last night, except I didn’t have someone like Jay to talk me down from my nervous break down, I just had it and then had to be at my clinical this morning (which I’m still at btw lol). But yeah. Hope you enjoy. And if my posting is sporadic in the next month or so, this is why. 

“Come to bed,” Jay told you softly, leaning on the doorframe of your bedroom with his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at you with papers spread across the floor, couch, and coffee table. 

Your movements were frantic as you tried to organize them all, trying to figure out the best system to keep everything together. Every section was chronologically ordered for the online documentation, paper clips holding each stack together. Then, there were the colored sheets that had even more important signatures on them. You had to make sure everything was in order as class was drawing to an end. 

“I’ll sleep when I’m done, Jay,” you snapped at him before closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I just-”

“I know.” He walked over, stepping around the stacks before sitting directly behind you in the only place clear of paper. “Come here.” 

You couldn’t stop yourself from leaning back into his chest, his arms wrapping around you. Grounding you as your mind went a mile a minute. You also couldn’t stop yourself from grabbing your calendar, flipping it open to this month.

“What’s the schedule look like?” His chin rested on your shoulder as he looked at the planner. 

“I have to help with the EMT class Saturday from seven to three. Then I start my shift at work at eight tomorrow night. Then, work Sunday night. So I’m going to try and catch up on some sleep on Sunday. I have my exam in Med Emergencies on Monday. Then, I have an ambulance clinical AM shift at seven. Same on Wednesday. A quiz in Med Emergencies on Thursday. Then, I work Thursday night. Off at eight on Friday morning, but I picked up a shift from two to ten Friday day. Then, ambulance clinical on Saturday AM shift. 

Same with that next Sunday. A quiz in Med Emergencies on the seventeenth. Then work that night. Work the night of the eighteenth, but I’m off at four in the morning instead of my usual eight. Mainly because I have an OR clinical on the nineteenth from seven to three. But then I work that night, off at five on the twentieth because I have an exam in Med Emergencies that day. Ambulance clinical AM shift on the twenty-first. Twenty-second, I have an ER shift from seven to three, then I work that night. Work Sunday night, so I’m going to try to catch up on sleep that day. 

Twenty-fourth I have another exam in Med Emergencies. Ambulance AM shift on the twenty-fifth and sixth. Then, we review for our Final in Med Emergencies, but I work that night. I’ll get off at six to get to my ambulance clinical on the twenty-eight at seven. I work that night, but off at five to get to my Maternal-Fetal Truck shift by eight. 

On the thirtieth, I have an ER shift from three to eleven. The thirty-first, I have my final in Med Emergencies, and then work that night. Off the day of the first, but I work that night. Then, an ER shift at three on the second. Then, I work that night, but I’m going to try to switch shifts just because my ER shift won’t finish until eleven. The third, we have our student evals. The fourth, I’m helping the junior class with their Ops day, and then I have an ambulance clinical that night. Off the fifth, but work that night. Off the sixth, but work that night. Seventh is labor day, so completely free. ER shift on the eighth at three. Then, on the ninth, OR shift at seven.

“After that, I don’t know because we haven’t signed up for our capstone. Which all of this,” you said, motioning to the mess of papers, “is me getting everything in order to make sure I have everything done and what I still need. Because we can’t start capstone until all of our skills check offs are done, and we’ve hit all of our demographics.”

“What do you have left to do for your skills?” That question got you to sigh, putting the planner down and grabbing a notebook. You had to push your glasses back up on your face as you looked down at your messy handwriting. 

“Five peer reviews for pediatric intubations. Two peer reviews for needle cricothyrotomy. Three peer and two instructor reviews for trauma assessment. Five peer reviews for trauma intubations. Two instructor reviews for joint splinting -- which I’m already an EMT, why the Hell do I have to sign off on the BLS stuff again? Same with long-bone. I need one peer review and two instructor for traction splint. Again, BLS bullshit. Seven peer reviews for medical and cardiac scenarios. Eleven peer reviews for IV starts, and one instructor. One instructor for IV piggyback. Five peer reviews for IO. Oh, and another instructor. Three peer for IM injection. Three peer for synchronized cardioversion. One peer for defibrillation. Three peer transcutaneous pacing. Four peer reviews and one instructor for adult team lead scenarios. Five peer reviews and one instructor for pediatric team lead scenarios. Eleven peer reviews for being a team member. Three peer reviews for being a team leader for geriatric scenarios. Six peer and one instructor reviews for adult physical assessments. And finally. Six peer and one instructor review for pediatric assessment,” you read off, letting the paper fall to the ground. 

He held you a little tighter. You felt bad. With all the stress you’d been under for the past month, and with how crazy his job was, the two of you hadn’t gotten to spend a lot of time together. And the next month was going to be even crazier. 

“When are you supposed to start your capstone?” He pressed a kiss to your neck, your eyes fluttering closed in response. 

“They want us to start September Ninth, but I’m going to be the last one who gets to sign up because I’m so far behind! Everyone is going to pick the cool preceptors, and I’m going to get stuck with the ones nobody else wants,” you vented before huffing in frustration. 

It was indeed very frustrating, stressful, and downright annoying that you were so far behind compared to everyone else. That’s what happens when you have to be off for six weeks because you tore your knee. Now, it was a constant game of catch-up. 

“Just breathe when I breathe,” Jay instructed in that calming voice, following his breathing pattern. It got your heart rate down as tears came to your eyes, despite your internal protests. You were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

“Maybe you should email your instructor?” he suggested when you had your breathing under control on your own.

“And have her take me off all my clinicals and reschedule everything? No. No fucking way. I can’t just email her and schedule my nervous breakdown, Jay. She was very clear in first semester that if we took on too much and couldn’t handle it, she’d take us off our clinicals and completely reschedule everything. I can’t do that, Jay. I can’t because then I’ll be even further behind.” You were talking a mile a minute, Jay taking a deep breath behind you. You took the hint and matched your breathing again. 

“Okay, then don’t email her. But, I want you to come to bed right now. It’s two in the morning. You have an ambulance clinical in five hours. You need your sleep. All of this will be waiting for you when you come home tonight,” he insisted. You didn’t want to, but you knew he was right. 

The two of you stood up, walking into the bedroom. You couldn’t help it as you collapsed on the bed with a groan, much more comfortable than the hard floor in the living room. He wasted no time in joining you, pulling you close again. This time, you were able to see his face at least, tracing his features gently with soft fingertips. You missed him. 

“How about we do something Labor Day? Just you and me to destress a bit?” you asked, Jay nodding in agreement before lips met gently. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” he said with a soft chuckle, kissing you again. “But you’re almost done. This is the worst of it. After your final, you’re pretty much done with lecture. Capstone is your last hoorah. Then, your tests and you’ll finally be a paramedic after over a year. Doing this through a pandemic. Through all your family crap. I’m proud of you.”

“You really know how to sweet talk a lady,” you joked, resting your head on his chest.

It was the exact thing you needed to hear. Jay always knew what to say. You were so close to being done. Then, you’d be in your dream career. All the hard work was going to be worth it. The thousands of hours in clinicals, the hundreds of hours in class. The countless sleepless nights and caffeine filled days. Yes. It would be all worth it. Just a couple more months to go. And Jay was by your side.

[btsslowburnfic]

Born to be Yours Chapter 9

 Story Summary: For Namjoon, the moment he set his sights on being the #1 rapper, he pushed the symbol to the side and hated it. Love should be chosen, not forced on you. He didn’t believe in fate and this mark on his wrist was a big “fuck you” to all that.

Chapter summary: After party. SEXY TIME

A/N: This chapter contains mature content. It is marked XD Please only read if you are 18 +

Previous chapter found here: Chapter 8

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

All of you end up back at your regular studio, across town from Robert's and the Theater. It has a large atrium that has been decorated for a private after party. You watch as the guys give interviews with their production crew that will be shared with ARMY. You turn and smile as you drink some of the sparkling punch and chat with Xavier.

“Ok. I’ve decided. We’re touring with Ava Max.” He says, clinking his glass up to yours.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll send that contract to our lawyer and then we can sign it.” you take out your phone and type a note into your calendar for tomorrow.

“Act cool.” Xavier whispers awkwardly to you, “soulmate inbound.”

“Oh God why are you this way?” you tease him and turn around to see RM walking over to the table you two are standing at.

“Hey. All done with your interviews?” you ask, trying to sound casually even though you feel your heart racing.

“For now. We have them pretty much nonstop.” he says, walking up to the table. He looks at Xavier, “Hey man, I’m really sorry about earlier. I’m glad it seems like the two of you made up.”

“No worries. I was way out of line. It’s all good. I am going to go and find Joe though. I promised I’d introduce him to Jimin. Take care,” Xavier excuses himself leaving just the two of you standing there.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he says quietly.

You pretend to look around like you are confused and then point to yourself, “Me? Are you talking about me?” you laugh.

He smiles, “Yes you.” his voice sounding more relaxed and casual than you’ve ever heard it.

“Oh stop. I’m sure you say that to all your soulmates.” you tease.

He chuckles. “Yeah. About that. This whole thing is so weird. After tomorrow I won’t see you again.”

Damn he really went straight for that. “Yep. Back to the usual. You, jet-setting around the world and winning awards. Me, teaching fitness classes and directing. The excitement never stops.” you sip your drink, wishing it had alcohol in it.

“So is this where you normally work then?”

“Yes, but it’s usually much more boring. All of the fancy stuff is only out for you guys. The couches and rugs are even rented for just tonight,” you laugh.

“Would you mind giving me a tour?” he asks shyly.

“Really? You want a tour of my office? Are you allowed to just wander around like that without a camera crew?” you raise your eyebrows, feigning concern

He scoffs, “Yes. and yes. Occasionally we are allowed to wander off.”

“Ok. But this is going to be the most boring tour you have ever been on. Do you think anyone else wants to come along?” you ask.

“No.” he says, almost too soon. He covers up for this by adding, “I already asked them before I came over.”

You get the feeling he’s lying but you don’t know why. You also feel an awkward mix of happy, sad, and nervous. This dude is a mess. It’s a good thing he’s hot and also leaving tomorrow; you don’t think you could deal if you actually had to be around him much longer.

“Alright, come along. I’ll show you the ins and outs of this fitness studio. It’s extremely unique. We have 4.5 stars online.” you remark dryly as you begin the tour.

The two of you eventually end up on the second floor, “and here are the staff offices. I’m kind of a big deal around here so I get a real office with a door and everything. You smirk.

“Oh really? Wow, you’re moving up in the world”

“Hey hey we can’t all be idols. Some of us have to do the behind the scenes work.

Seriously though, congratulations. I really mean that,” you say smiling. “I can tell you guys work really hard.”

“Thank you.” he flashes his dimples at you.

You turn the handle to your office and flip on the light. “Here it is. Now,” you say as you walk into your office, “maybe you can tell me why you’re being a giant weirdo who’s lying to me about suddenly wanting a tour.”

He kicks his foot around nervously, “I uh, wanted to speak to you in private.”

You click your tongue, “Uh-huh. Ok. What did you want to talk about?”

He lets out a brief sigh. “That’s the thing. I don’t know. Nothing? Everything? I’m just so confused.”

You stand there and assess him standing there looking like an over-sized puppy dog at the moment.

“Yeah. Soulmate things are a real trip.” you comment and walk all the way into the office.

“Come on in.” He follows you as you turn back and face him.You pull him into the office. “You’re leaving in the morning right?”

“Yes,” you see him shifting uncomfortably.

“Well, as you can tell from our wrists, I need you to not injure yourself. Got it?” you ask.

Namjoon smiled, “I’ll see what I can do, but you should know I am accident prone,”

“Fuck. Really?” you respond mildly pouting.

“Sorry,” he responds looking down. You suddenly feel a pang of sadness. You realize it’s coming from him. What the fuck dude.

“Well, it’s been nice to work with you guys. It will really look good on my resume,” you tease. v

“What are you nervous about?” he asks you abruptly.

“Pardon?”

“I can feel that you’re nervous.”

“Well I can feel that you’re sad but you don’t see me making you talk about it,” you respond defensively.

The two of you stare at each other for a few seconds.

“This is stupid,” you say.

“What is?” Namjoon responds irritated.

“This,” you gesture to your wrist, “this whole thing. Like I don’t need a fucking oven timer on my body telling me who I’m supposed to be with. And clearly it doesn’t even work right.”

“Agreed.” He responds.

“Also you get angry too easily,” you respond, feeling your heart racing, “I’m a very chill person usually but since meeting you my fitbit heart rate monitor is all over the place,”

“Me? I am usually a picture of calm. You are still nervous.”

“So? You’ve been angry and jealous all day and I didn’t say anything to you about it. Why are you jealous when you don’t even want me?” you say before you can stop yourself.

He stands there for a minute, looking at you and slowly closes the distance. “I don’t want to be forced into being with someone because of a soulmark. But when you look like that,” he gestures to you, “I don’t know how you could think I wouldn’t want you.”

Your breath is caught in your throat as you replay what he just said. “Fine. Here’s why I’m nervous, I can’t stop thinking about this” you say as you grab him by his suit jacket and plant a kiss on his lips. Even though the whole thing is stupid, you feel like you would regret it for the rest of your life if you didn’t at least kiss your soulmate. To your surprise, his entire posture softens and you feel the low level irritation fade from your body. He begins kissing you back and you feel butterflies in your stomach. Holy shit, kissing has never felt like this before. You have had quite a few boyfriends but nothing has ever compared to this. The two of you continue to make out for several minutes.

You pull away and look at him. When he’s not talking he’s really fucking hot. And watching him perform made you proud. Your soulmate was a badass. Even if he was an asshole sometimes.

“What’s that about?” Namjoon manages to ask, not releasing his hands from your waist.

“I just thought we should try it since we won’t get another opportunity. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering.” you respond honestly. To your surprise, Namjoon leans in and kisses you more.

_________________SEXY TIME_____________________________

“ I agree completely,” he pulls you close and kisses you again. This kiss feels as good as sex. There is nothing that has ever compared to it before. Time slows down. You run your hand through his hair. "Oh my God," you breathe out. His hands have started to explore your body, rubbing around your hips and ass, pulling your body close to his. You can feel his hardness now that the two of you are so close. At this moment you know what's going to happen next. He looks at you with a certain question in his eyes and you know exactly what he’s asking. You walk over and lock the door and turn the overhead lights off. You walk with a purpose back over to him and strip him of his suit jacket. “Take off your shirt or I am fucking ripping it off,” you command him. To your surprise he complies.

“That shirt costs $900,” he says as he gingerly folds it up.

“That’s stupid,” you respond and start kissing him again, your hands gripping his arms.

“It is,” he agrees and grabs your body again, pulling it up against his as he devours your mouth. He lifts you up and sits you on your desk. You are suddenly thankful you inherited the heavy wooden desk from the previous building tenets. He gently sucks on your neck.

“Hey! No marks,” you admonish him.

He leans in close to your ear, “Did you just remember you have a boyfriend, sweetheart?” and he's right. And you should feel bad but at this exact moment you don’t give a fuck. “I also have a soulmate,” you respond as you take his face in your hands and start kissing him again. He smells so good. Like cologne and sweat and something else that makes you melt. You feel him searching your back for your dress zipper. You laugh a little.

“What?” he sounds pissy.

“It’s a side zipper. It’s stupid. Here, let me,” you awkwardly unzip it and wiggle your dress so that it’s up over your hips. “It has to go over my head.” He looks confused. “Girl clothes are weird.” you summarize for him.

He kisses you again and you wait for him to take your dress off but to your surprise he doesn't. You wrap your legs around him, pushing his erection against your thin panties. It has the desired effect as you hear him moan into your mouth. He keeps one hand wrapped around you as the other one travels down to your thigh. It creeps up to your panties. He places his fingers against your panties, “Jesus. These are soaked. You want me don’t you?”

You respond by palming his dick, “You’re one to talk.” His breath catches in his throat for a moment. You smirk, “That’s what I thought,”

He responds by pulling your panties to the side and stroking your clit. “Mmm” you moan against his neck.

“Yeah, you like that don’t you?” You have no smart ass comment for that. Fuck yes you like that. “Yesss…” He removes your underwear the rest of the way and continues to stroke you as the two of you kiss. He pulls back and before you can even process it, he’s down on his knees with his head between your legs. “Fuck.” you cry out. You feel the perfect combination of his lips and tongue on your folds. You run a hand through his hair, pulling on some of it. He stands back up a minute later, grabbing the back of your neck and pressing the two of your mouths together, causing you to taste yourself. Jesus. You hear him undo his belt buckle and undo his zipper.

"I don't suppose you have a bed hiding in here somewhere?"

"Nope," you reply and bend over on the desk so your ass is sticking out in the air. You peek back behind you to see him staring dumbstruck at your naked figure. "You'll just have to fuck me right here. Good thing you've got strong leg muscles."

He walks closer and runs his hands over your ass. You can feel the heat of his cock nearing you.

"You want me to fuck you on this desk?" you feel him move his hand between your legs and he slowly sticks a finger inside you.

"Yes. Do you think you can manage that?"

He sticks another finger into you and pumps them in and out. It feels so good.

"I'm sure I can figure it out." you feel the heat from the head of his dick at your entrance as he pushes your legs apart and plants his hands on your hips.

He leans over to whisper in your ear. "We can stop if you want to." such a gentleman when he wasn't being an ass.

"No. I want this. If you do."

"Do you have a condom?"

"I don't usually have sex with random people in my office. So no. I'm on the pill though."

"Good enough," you hear him say and then without warning you feel him enter you. You cry out a bit in surprise.

"Shit. Are you OK?"

You give an awkward thumbs up.

He starts slowly moving in and out of you his balls slapping against you. “No marks,right?” you hear him say roughly.

“You better fucking not,” you hiss behind you trying to stay quiet since people are still in the building.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard and so good you will be ruined for anyone else. Do you understand?” he slams into you roughly.

“I’m sorry, I’m a little confused. Could you please clarify?” you retort. Since when did he think you took orders? He responds by slamming into you even harder and jerking your ponytail.

“You’re my soulmate.” he growls out, “You can go play house with whoever you want but I want you to remember, I’m the best you have ever fucking have or will ever have.” Holy shit this felt amazing. He was filling you up hard and fast. He stopped. “I said, do you fucking understand?”

“Keep going,” you turn and plead. He grips your ass, keeping you in place. “I said do you understand?”

“Yes. Now get back to fucking me,” you pout.

“That’s more like it sweetheart,” he grips your hips and resumes thrusting into your wet core. He is right. You have never had sex like this. It feels so good and so fulfilling. You lightly moan and put your mouth against your arm to muffle the sounds.

“Shit, you feel so good." you hear him say from behind you.

"Fuck me Rm." you whisper harshly.

He picks up the pace, slamming into you. It doesn’t take very long between the soulmate thing, the fact that people are downstairs, and the sexual tension.

As you get close he reaches around to stroke your clit, causing you to tightly clench around him as you see stars and orgasm. He follows suit a minute later; you feel the cum already starting to drip out of you.

“Jesus Christ,” you say. You feel him slowly pull out and hear him slowly putting his pants back on. You stand back up and turn around. You are surprised to see him looking very sad and uncertain.

“Did I actually hurt you?” he asks, surprisingly gently.

“If you did don’t you think your dick would hurt?” you wink at him and laugh.

“You have such a filthy mouth,” he teases you.

“Please. Five minutes ago you had me yelling “fuck me RM” I don’t want to hear it.” you smile and give him a light shove. You walk over to your desk and get some baby wipes you keep in there. You grab yourself some and then toss the pack at him. You go to your gym bag and throw on some clean panties.

_________________SEXY TIME END_____________________________

You sigh and walk over to unlock your office door. "Well, congratulations again on your award." you say as you turn the handle. He slams the door shut again, pinning you between him and the door. He looks like he wants to say something and you feel that he is working through a bunch of emotions. "Hey," you say and put your arms around his waist. "I don't regret it." you kiss him and focus on trying to feel at ease to help calm him down. "OK?" you rub your hands along the back of his neck.

"Yeah. OK." he responds quietly. He takes your right arm and pushes your bracelets out of the way so your mark is showing. He rubs it gently with his thumb.

"Come on, you have an early morning." you say as you move to open the door.

He follows you out down the hallway and you see the rest of the band hanging out in the reception hall.

"Alright, take care of yourself dude. Try not to be too much of an asshole." you smile and straighten his suit jacket. "Go. Celebrate with your band, you guys earned it." You summon all of your strength and walk over to the rest of the guys. You bow slightly, "Congratulations!" they all respond with their various "Thank you's"

"Take care!" you wave and head out to your car. This was not how you thought your night was going to go. You had sex with your soul mate. You had cheated on Ben. You needed to get out of there. You sit in your car waiting to feel guilty or bad. But it doesn't come. Instead you just feel a deep sadness about never seeing RM again.You breathe out deeply and start the car. Back to normal. Yeah right. NEXT CHAPTER

[themurphyzone]

PatB Nova Ch 6

Ch 6: Eccentricity

AN: Loved some of the PatB shorts more than others (You know my eternal hatred for THAT one). But that’s a story for another day. I’m sticking to the 90s versions of these characters though. For now. I might have a gander at the reboot versions someday. You never know!

Ch 6 FFN Link

April 22, 2015! Narf! You’ll never guess what happened, Mickey Mouse. I met the Brain! Well, I’ve only known him for about four months, or less than two days, depending on how you wanna look at it, but if anything happened to him, I would make myself watch Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender!

Tomorrow, I’m going to the mall and buying a hat. Can’t root for Farfignetown (I have to ask her how she spells her name!) at the Derby without a super fancy hat!

Love,

Pinky.

PS: Tell Minnie I said hi!  

o-o-o-o-o

Pinky stepped back to admire his handiwork, the tip of his blue glitter gel pen pressing under his chin as he leaned against it. He did his best to copy Brain’s messages, but he was probably gonna have to write only the first letters only in the future. He didn’t want to take up the entire calendar page again.

His ears twitched at a scraping sound behind him. The sparkly gel smeared against his fur as he turned around, leaving a blue streak across his chest. Egad, if he continued to cover himself in the stuff, he’d look just like one of the Blue Men!

Brain pushed a heavy textbook across the counter, finally stopping underneath a light panel on the ceiling. Then he flipped it open, climbed up, and began to read.

It wasn’t the same book he’d started reading after they’d shaken hands to seal their new friendship either.

“Whatcha reading, Brain?” Pinky asked, slinging the gel pen over his shoulder. “I thought you were reading about jeans! So, find anything good? I think I like the flare type best. Skinny jeans make me chafe.”

“I have no idea what you’re blathering about, Pinky,” Brain said, not looking up from the page he was on. His head shifted from side to side as he read on, and Pinky imagined a giant, fluffy marshmallow making the same movements.

His stomach growled, and a marshmallow dinner sounded heavenly. With cheese fondue and rainbow sprinkles and a light dollop of whipped cream on top…

Wait, no, no. The kitchen didn’t have Gruyere cheese! Processed American cheese wouldn’t provide that proper creamy texture at all.

What kind of host was he? Unable to serve proper cheese fondue to his alien guest?

Then Brain hopped off the book, growling to himself as he pushed up on the hard cover and the few pages he turned. The pages slid into place, but he wasn’t tall enough to get the cover to close the entire way.  

“Do you need help, Brain?” Pinky asked. He dropped the gel pen and grasped the cover’s edge, but Brain smacked him sharply on the wrist, forcing Pinky to let go. Pinky flicked his wrist, and the sting quickly disappeared.

“Don’t patronize me! I can get it myself!” Brain snarled. He pushed on the cover again, and it rose a couple inches in the air, only to land against his fingertips. He growled and spread his feet, jumping as he pushed on the cover once more. This time, the cover slammed into the pages with a heavy thud. “Your sources of information are woefully lacking with your livable yet rudimentary conditions. Penumbra had a much better database, and it’s been dilapidated for a long time.”

Pinky had no idea what dilapidated was. Probably something to do with laps though.

“Oh, well if you need more reading material, I’ve got just the thing!” Pinky said, motioning for Brain to follow him over to a tiny side table where all the magazines were stacked. “Let’s see, we’ve got Vogue, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest…ah, here we are! This one’s my favorite out of all the Zoobooks! Lots of pretty horses to look at. Zort!”

Pinky thumbed through the magazine until he found his favorite page, which had gorgeous art of a white horse running on grassy hills. “This one’s my favorite,” he said as he pressed the magazine into Brain’s hands. Brain nearly went cross-eyed just trying to look at it, but he held out his hands and pushed the pages back until they weren’t so close to his face. “I named her Pharfignewton after Pharfignewton! Isn’t her mane just the flowiest thing you’ve ever seen?”

“Including or excluding your mind in that comparison?” Brain asked. He closed the magazine and set it on top of the stack. “Your choice of reading material is peculiar, but I suppose brushing up on this planet’s ecology wouldn’t hurt.”

Pinky grinned. “If you think those are good, remind me to show you David Attenborough’s work sometime! His documentaries are amazing!”

Brain tilted his head, his antennae bobbing with the motion. “You’ve mentioned someone named Pharfignewton multiple times. An acquaintance of yours?”

“She’s not a quail, Brain. She’s a horse, of course!” Pinky laughed at his little rhyme. “Oh right, I’ve never showed you pictures of her, have I? Where are my manners? Anyway, I left them in the cage. It’s right this way! Or left this way. I can never tell which.”

Pinky ran back to the cage and squeezed through the bars, Brain trailing behind at a much slower pace. As Pinky slid his right leg through the bars, he realized just how dirty the cage was. There was a small puddle by the water bottle, and straw was scattered all over the place. Crumbs littered the floor around the food bowl, and his wheel had a stain shaped like a pomegranate.

It just wouldn’t do at all!

“Sorry for the mess!” Pinky called to Brain, who was watching him curiously from outside the cage. “I didn’t know I’d be having a visitor today!”

But Brain didn’t seem to care about the mess. Instead, he prodded the locked cage door.  

“Nicholas and Mr. Button, you’ve gotta wake up and help me clean!” Pinky said, shaking them frantically from where they were tucked into the straw. “Narf, you two were up talking late again, weren’t you?”

They were too asleep to respond though.

“Okay, well, I’ll let you sleep for now, but tomorrow I’ll be going over proper cagesitting behavior with both of you,” Pinky sighed. He carefully rolled up the photo of Pharfignewton he kept near the straw bed, hugging it close to his body as he slipped through the bars again.

“Pinky, those are inanimate objects,” Brain said, bending a paper clip until it was completely straight. He poked one of the sharp ends and winced.  “They won’t respond to you.”

“They’re real life objects, Brain. They’re not animated,” Pinky said. “Whatcha doing with that paper clip?”

Brain pressed his ear against the cage door, carefully maneuvering the paper clip into the lock. It slipped a quarter of the way in before Brain yanked it out again, his eyes darting around the room as if something would swoop down on them.

When nothing happened, he went back to inserting the paper clip. “Nothing to disable here. There’s no alarm system on the door,” Brain said, turning to Pinky. “I thought you were squeezing through the bars to avoid triggering it.”

“I’ve never had an alarm before. Do you think I should get one?” Pinky asked. “Just so nobody tries to burger my wheel or water bottle? Hmm, what would a burger with those ingredients even taste like? Not very appetizing, probably.”

Brain only stared at him, the paper clip almost slipping from his hand in surprise. “Don’t tell me the only reason you haven’t used the door is because you can’t unlock it.”

Pinky nodded. “Okay. I won’t tell you the only reason I haven’t used the door is because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to unlock it.”

Shaking his head in dismay, Brain reinserted the bent paper clip until it was halfway in, then turned it clockwise (or was it counterclockwise? Pinky always got them mixed up).

“There,” he said, letting the door swing open. “Now you can enter and exit as you please like a civilized mos.”

“Egad, that’s brilliant!” Pinky stepped inside the cage, then back out. In and out again, and again, and he almost started dancing the Hokey Pokey, which would’ve been a whole lot of fun, but Brain still hadn’t seen Pharfignewton’s photo!

Now that was a real tongue twister there!

“This is Pharfignewton, Brain! Isn’t she pretty?” Pinky asked, pressing the photo into Brain’s hands.

The photo had been taken two weeks ago, when her owner had hired a professional to photograph Pharfignewton as she sprinted around the field. Pharfignewton had given Pinky her personal favorite, one that showed her hooves flying through the air and her gorgeous mane streaming in the sunlight. She was having the time of her life, and she couldn’t have picked a better photo to give him.

“There’s certainly an uncanny resemblance,” Brain admitted. “And the size discrepancy between you and her is incredibly blatant. Not to mention the species difference.”

Pinky crossed his arms. “Oh, don’t be so intolerant, Brain. She’s big cause she’s a horse, and I’m small cause I’m a mouse. But we make it work.”

Pharfignewton would be gone for the next two months, possibly more when she achieved the Triple Crown. It would be lonely, but he could manage.

“You mentioned she was far away when I interrogated you.” Brain set the photo down, smoothing out a corner though it didn’t have any wrinkles.

“She’s still on the road to the Derby, I think. Can’t really get in touch with her though. Phones are kinda tricky with hooves, you know.” Pinky said. “She’s wanted the Triple Crown her entire life. So that’s why I gotta make a giant hat and root for her when she races!”

“I don’t understand how a hat factors into all this,” Brain said.

“Zort! I dunno,” Pinky shrugged. “You can’t have a Derby without horses, hats, and My Old Kentucky Home. Otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a Derby then, would it?”

Brain folded his arms. “I’m currently debating if I should take your words at face value or not. Your customs make no sense whatsoever.”

Pinky thought they made perfect sense, and cents, and all of the five senses really, but his stomach growled and that thought was soon forgotten. Brain never had Earth food before, had he?

Definitely a job for a genetically altered Earth mouse to show him the ropes!  

But first, Pinky had to clean the gel off his fur. It was starting to clump into spikes, and that wouldn’t do at all.

o-o-o-o-o

Pinky rinsed himself in the sink, sticking out his tongue to lap up some of the cool water as it trickled out of the faucet. Thankfully, the gel hadn’t settled into his fur and was very easy to wash away. And flicking the water around the sink with his tail was loads of fun too!

Brain stayed on the outer rim, pulling on the stopper and handles by the sink out of curiosity. He edged closer to the stream of water, almost touching it with a gloved hand, but decided against it. But he wouldn’t stop staring at it either, like he’d never seen water in his life.

Maybe he hadn’t?

The moon was made of cheese and not water after all. Water would make the cheese all soggy and mushy and wash away the cheesy taste that made cheese so delicious.

“C’mon, Brain! Poit!” Pinky pushed his fingers together, trying to send a squirt of water up to Brain, though it missed his nose by a mile and landed on a small crumb on the slope of the sink instead. “The water’s just fine!”

“I’ll have to decline your offer, Pinky,” Brain said. “My information about water is rather lacking, and I’d rather not cover myself in a substance without knowing more.”

“I guess water would leave the moon cheese not very tasty to eat, huh?” Pinky asked. He braced himself and shot out of the tiny waterfall, and he was very glad for all the focus he’d put into leg exercises recently, because his running start was enough to get him over the rim on his first try. “Well, all you need to know is that water is wet, it splishy-splashes all over the place, and it’s fun to play Marco Polo in!”

Brain didn’t look convinced though. He removed one of his black gloves and touched a puddle, rubbing the water between his fingers curiously.

Pinky turned off the water, then dried himself off with a fluffy towel. He double checked his chest to make sure the gel was completely gone and patted down his fur.

“This way, Brain!” Pinky called, jumping off the counter and onto a spinny chair. The seat twirled around for a bit, making him slightly dizzy, but it was all in jolly good fun. Brain carefully climbed down, gripping the drawer handles and moving slowly. He slipped on the last handle and landed awkwardly on his right leg. He grimaced for a moment, his nose scrunching up rather adorably. “Blueberry bagels and cream cheese, here we come!”

“Your sustenance on Terra, I assume?” Brain asked. He followed Pinky through a corridor and into the kitchen, his large head turning every which way to take in all the sights of ACME Lab. Now that it was daytime, there were more colors than just shadowy blue. Pinky wondered if Brain would try to name the colors he saw. Pinky tried once, but there were just too many pretty colors streaming in from the window pane above.

“They aren’t consonants, Brain. They’re delicious and all, but they wouldn’t fit with the alphabet. A little bit of a mouthful, don’t you think? Poit!” Pinky climbed up the cherry-print towel hanging on the refrigerator door like he’d done a million times before. He braced himself against the fridge door, pressed his legs against the handle, and pushed with all his might, feeling that familiar strain of his stomach muscles.

The door opened with a satisfying pop. Breathing heavily, Pinky tumbled more than he climbed down the towel, landing on the cold floor of the refrigerator.

“S-surely there has to be a more e-efficient way to open a door than your method.” Brain’s teeth chattered together, his ears flattening to avoid the sudden chill. He took a few steps away from the open fridge, his arms folded in front of his chest. “Is it a-always this cold?”

“Oh, I haven’t even opened up the freezer! If you think this is cold, you’ll really feel like a mousesicle in there! But it’s worth it if you wanna get to the strawberry ice cream with the cute little mini spoons! Maybe some other time though. Right now, it’s important to get a daily serving of cheese!” Pinky exclaimed as he pushed two small tubs of cream cheese from a middle shelf. They each landed on the floor with a thud, and Pinky jumped down and retrieved them, closing the fridge door behind him with his foot.

Brain sighed in relief as soon as the door was closed, his arms dropping to his sides.

“They keep the blueberry bagels by the bagel warmer,” Pinky said as he led Brain out of the kitchen and into a room that had been marked with a yellow and black caution sign. The bagels were so delicious they even had to warn everyone to take caution! “Oh, now that’s a tongue twister. Blueberry bagels by the bagel warmer. Boobelly beige by the baguette warmer...oh, that’s a toughie. I’ll work on it.”

The bagel warmer was an oddly shaped toaster, with lots of wires and bulbs sticking out along the sides and top. It even had a conveyor belt running through it, but Pinky thought it made this toaster really unique among toasters. Why, he’d even been toasted in this toaster himself! Though it wasn’t as much fun as crispy pieces of bread made it seem. He just remembered a lot of smoke and electricity. And there’d been a lot of narf inside too.

Pinky set the tubs of cream cheese on the floor, then climbed up to the conveyor belt, which was propped on metallic cylinders.

“This is so much easier with two mice!” Pinky crowed. He peered down at Brain, who curiously poked at a red wire on the floor. “I don’t mind eating bagels by themselves, but there’s something about toasty bagels that just warms the heart!”

“If they’re truly that delectable, I suppose there’s no harm in trying it,” Brain replied.

“Did your file thingies say anything about Earth food?” Pinky asked. Because Brain sure didn’t seem to know much about tasty things.

Brain shook his head. “The Selenians didn’t bother with information about the lifestyles or cuisine of Terrans. It was irrelevant to their cause.”

Oh. Pinky tried to imagine being an alien who didn’t know anything about cheese, but came up blank. He’d eaten cheese and food pellets his entire life. He couldn’t imagine a world without them.

“Pinky, are you aware that machine is also apparently a gene splicer?” Brain asked, pointing to the letters along the side.

ACME GENE SPLICER AND BAGEL WARMER, it said.

“So it does. But the only things that go in are bagels and lab mice. Don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone try to splice a pair of jeans. Oh, that reminds me!” Pinky snapped his fingers. How could he have forgotten something so very important? The silly machine was on the gene splicer setting! Pinky pressed a conveniently labeled button that said ‘press here for bagel warmer setting’. How nice of the scientists to label their stuff!

He was so glad he discovered that before sending the bagels through. The gene splicer setting would’ve made the bagels extra crispy, and while Pinky didn’t mind, extra crispy bagels were a taste one had to get used to first. Nope, it was better to start Brain off lightly!

“Can you please get two blueberry bagels from the bag, Brain?” Pinky pointed to a bottom cabinet where the bagels were kept, grinning at the new tongue twister he’d come with. Egad, he was good at this! “They’re the tan circles with a hole and blue specks in them! Kinda like a donut, except without the frosting and sprinkles. Zort, Brain! You’ve never eaten donuts, have you? Oh, I am definitely making a list of foods you need to try!”

Pinky hopped onto a tall table and neatly tore a paper towel off its roll, then laid it flat on the conveyor belt. Following Pinky’s instructions, Brain retrieved two bagels from the cabinet and passed them up to Pinky. Brain still seemed rather confused about the gene splicer and the bagel warmer being one and the same. Pinky carefully separated each bagel so that he had four half-bagels with the inside lying face-up and arranged them on the paper towel so they would all be nice and toasty.      

Then Pinky realized he’d forgotten another thing. Namely, that he didn’t know how to turn the bagel warmer on.

He scratched his head.

That could be a real issue.

“Pinky, do you actually know how to work this machine?” Brain’s voice sounded oddly strained. Pinky turned around. Brain was hanging onto the side of the conveyor belt, his legs wrapped around one of the metal cylinders. He’d tried to climb up himself, but his arms were too short to get a proper grip, and if he leaned over anymore, he’d fall right on his chubby head.

Pinky reached over, grasping Brain’s wrists and trying to haul him up, only for Brain to be resistant to help. He wouldn’t budge, his wrists feeling oddly tense under Pinky’s hands. His pink eyes were wide and apprehensive, pointed ears flattening against his head.

“Brain?” Pinky said. “I’m just gonna haul you up. Could you relax a bit please? It’ll be much easier.”

Brain didn’t move for a second, searching Pinky’s eyes warily. Pinky just gave him an encouraging smile. Brain looked away, his brow furrowing, but some of the tension left his wrists.

Pinky pulled him onto the railing of the conveyor belt, Brain’s feet scrabbling in the air briefly before settling firmly on the metal.

“Thanks,” Brain muttered. He walked over to the various buttons and levers, examining each one curiously.  

“You’re welcome, Brain!” Pinky brought one hand to his forehead in a salute, only to remember that Brain was an honest-to-goodness alien, and probably didn’t know that particular gesture. So Pinky tried to make the Vulcan salute instead, but it was kinda tricky with only four fingers instead of five.

“This is very intriguing,” Brain breathed, pressing his face against a small closed window that offered a look into the gears and wires within the bagel warmer. “Yes, pure lithium power source, proton accelerators, and automatic anti-inertia capabilities? The use of nanoplasmic charges leaves a lot to be desired of course, but to have the rest of these things in one machine at your fingertips…”

Pinky didn’t understand anything Brain just said, but the alien’s fingers were twitching in excitement, his nose smushed against the glass. It was the first genuine smile Pinky had seen from the alien since they first met, and Pinky thought it looked really good on him. Even nicer than the jumpsuit, which was already really fashionable. “If you figure out how to turn it on, that would be really great!” Pinky grinned. Brain pulled down on a nearby lever, and the conveyor belt began to move. “Egad, brilliant!”

“The lever was labeled, Pinky.” Brain waved him off, pointing to the word ‘on’ stenciled next to him. But his head tilted up and his chest puffed out too. He seemed to like that word a lot. “Wait, you figured out the machine was on the wrong setting, but you can’t turn it on?”

Pinky shrugged. “It’s not really my type, Brain.”

“Never mind,” Brain sighed, the tips of his ears turning as red as his nose. He turned back to the machine window. “I want to observe this process.”  

“Me too!” Pinky exclaimed, and he hopped over to the window, smushing his nose against it just as the bagels were swept into the machine. Blue electricity sparked and jumped all around the metal structures inside, and the glass warmed beneath Pinky’s hands.

It was a beautiful sight, and Pinky licked his lips as the bagels crisped from the heat.

Beside him, Brain watched the electricity intently, murmuring a bunch of smart words Pinky didn’t understand, but definitely enjoying the show too.

Within several minutes, the bagels gained an extremely nice golden brown crisp, and the conveyor belt moved them out of the bagel warmer. Brain pulled the lever up and the conveyor belt stopped moving, the thrum of the machine beneath their feet slowly fading away.

They weaved around long, multicolored wires as they made their way to the other side, where the bagels awaited them.

“Troz! Looks positively dee-lish!” Pinky exclaimed, poking at one of the bagels. Firm and flaky, just how they were supposed to be. His mouth watered in anticipation.

“The scent alone is quite appealing,” Brain agreed, taking several sniffs of the bagels. “I’ve never smelled anything like this before.”

Pinky grinned at him. “Oh, just you wait, Brain! The real magic is just starting!”

Sliding down the cylinders, Pinky retrieved the two cream cheese tubs they’d left on the floor and passed them up to Brain one at a time. His lower leg strength had improved a lot in the past few months, and it was easy for him to hang on while he passed the tubs up.

“Show-off,” Brain grumbled as he took hold of the second tub.

Pinky just laughed as he fetched two plastic knives from a drawer and carted them back to Brain and the bagels.

“Here you go! Bon appetit!” Pinky said. He gave one of the plastic knives to Brain, who gingerly ran his finger across the toothed edge as he examined the flat, see-through handle. “Oh, be careful with those, Brain. You don’t wanna cut yourself.”

“Not to worry, Pinky,” Brain said. “We have knives on New Selene. But I’ve never seen one with this particular material before. And much duller too.”

Pinky peeled away the cover of a cream cheese tub, drooling over the gorgeous smooth white surface inside. Brain copied him with the other tub, pulling off the cover completely. The alien took off his gloves and sniffed the cream cheese a few times, swiping one fingertip through the cream cheese. Then he tasted it.

Brain’s eyes widened immediately, his antennae perking up. He licked cream cheese off his fingertip four more times before he realized Pinky was watching him. Brain ducked his head and fiddled with his sleeves.

“That was…even better than I anticipated,” Brain admitted, his voice full of wonder.

“Aw, you don’t have to be embarrassed if you like it, Brain. I’m glad you think so, cause blueberry bagels and cream cheese is my favorite. Well, so are food pellets. And marshmallows, especially the puffy kind. And smiley face lollipops and…poit! I have a lot of favorites, it’s so hard to choose just one! Zounds, mac n’cheese too! You really need to try mac’n cheese, Brain! That one’s definitely going on the list. Anyway, if you think the cream cheese alone is good, try this!”

Pinky dipped the knife into the cream cheese. Once he got a good coating, he spread it across the surface of the bagel, took the largest chomp of the combined food he could manage, then swallowed. It went down a little rough, but it was delicious all the same.

“Scrumptious!” Pinky exclaimed. “It’s like a party in your mouth!”

Brain copied his actions again, and while he preferred to rip off chunks of the bagel and slather cream cheese onto smaller pieces, his enjoyment of the food wasn’t any less than Pinky’s. He made some funny ‘mmm’ noises in the back of his throat, his eyes closed in bliss as he worked his way through the first half-bagel.

Pinky started on his second half, licking cream cheese off his lips. This was a nice way to spend the evening.

“Brain, you’re welcome to share my cage if you’d like,” Pinky offered. “Mi cage es tu cage, you know.”

“Are you sure, Pinky?” Brain swallowed, thumping his fist against his throat to make the bagel go down. “I know we’re in a mutual partnership, but I wouldn’t want to impose in your living space.”

“You’re not imposing,” Pinky said. “Besides, plenty of unmarried people share living spaces these days.”

Brain was silent. He continued spreading cream cheese across a small portion of bagel, even though it was completely slathered at this point.

“Snowball and I were in neighboring cages. Aisam had to be housed alone because of their inclination towards territorial aggression. We had separate quarters for the journey to Terra as well.” Brain nibbled on a corner of his bagel. “Point being, I’ve never shared a cage before.”

“Sharing is caring,” Pinky smiled, finishing the last of his bagel. “Besides, it’s one more new experience for both of us. Isn’t that just dandy? I just hope Mr. Button and Nicholas didn’t leave too much a mess.”

“Very well. But we’re moving that sponge bed I slept on last night into your cage. It was much less aggravating for my back than the usual fare,” Brain said. “So…thanks for that, Pinky.”

“You’re welcome, Brain,” Pinky replied, rubbing circles into his belly, his hunger satisfied.

Beside him, Brain seemed satisfied too. And there was nothing better in all the world than sharing blueberry bagels and cream cheese with a new alien friend.

AN: OK this one’s more of a breather chapter since the last 5 were like wham bam nonstop stuff for the characters. Sorry it took so long to get this one out. Next chapter will have Pinky finally getting his hat and Brain’s first mall excursion!

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Twenty-Five

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: TW - mention of past abuse. Smut as well. 

Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)

You didn’t get to see Harry Thursday night. He had a lot of free lancing stuff going on. You didn’t mind at first. You took the opportunity to have a good gym session. You minded when you came home to an empty apartment. You heated up some leftovers from the night before and plopped down on the couch. You wanted to tell him you didn’t care how late he would be, to just still come over. But you knew he probably needed his large monitor and home work station tonight to get his work done.

After you took a shower and got settled into bed, you got a phone call from him, making you smile instantly.

“You’re awake?”

“Just got into bed, babe.”

“Missed ya today.” He yawns. “Sorry, long day.”

“Missed you too.” You giggle. “What are you doing now?”

“Workin’ at home. Figured I’d call ya to wish ya sweet dreams.”

“I wish you were here…sorry, I don’t want to make you feel you bad.”

“I wish I was there too.”

“Wanna stay at your place tomorrow? I can come over there after work.”

“Yeah, that would be great actually. So, how was your day?”

“It was good, other than being crazy tired…you, uh, really did a number on me last night.”

“Sorry.” He says chuckling. “Got a little carried away, didn’t I?”

“Maybe a little, although, it did feel amazing.” The thought of last night sends a surge through your body. Even though you were still a little sore, you really wouldn’t mind if Harry was there right now to do it all over again.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

“What are you working on now?”

“Just touching some photos up, wanna get these to the people within the next couple of days. Just about done though.”

“Oh, good.” You clear your throat. You loved the way Harry’s voice sounded over the phone. You got the full effect of how deep it was.

“Babe?”

“Hm? Sorry, I was just enjoying listening to you talk.”

“You’re cute.”

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“If you were here…what do you think we’d be doing?”

Harry saved what he was working on, and turned from his desk. Was this going where he thought it was going?

“Would we be cuddled up close?” You ask, trying to get some response.

“I’d be holding you close to me, yeah.”

“You’re big spoon?”

“Yup, pressed nice against your ass.” You giggle.

“You like when I adjust against you, huh? Can I tell you a secret? Sometimes I do it on purpose.”

“I knew it, you like riling me up.”

“I just really like the way it feels when you get hard, and you press closer.” Harry’s palms were starting to sweat. He couldn’t remember the last time he had phone sex with someone, and he couldn’t believe it was actually going to happen with you.

“Do you like the way it feels when my hand reaches around, and goes between your legs.” A huge smile goes on your face.

“Mhm, and then when your thumb presses against me.”

“Tell me where it presses against you.”

“My clit.”

“That’s right. And then I would rub circles around it with my thumb, while my fingers start to slip inside you.” You let out a soft groan.

“God, I wish you were here.”

“Close your eyes, and pretend your hand is mine.”

“You’ll do the same?”

“Yes.”

Harry undoes his jeans, and takes his hard cock out of his boxers, keeping it one of his hands. You adjust onto your back, and dip your hand below your shorts. You feel your own wetness.

“All set?” He asks.

“Mhm. I’m really wet Harry.” He smirks.

“Good, now take your fingers and slowly slide them in.” You do as he says, and make small noise to let him know. “Curl them up like how I do, make a come here motion.” You let out a groan.

“Y, you’re touching yourself too?”

“Yes, got m’cock gripped.”

“W, wish my lips were wrapped around you.”

“Me too, angel. You bringin’ your fingers in and out?”

“Yes, don’t feel as full though.” Harry’s eyes roll into the back of his head.

“Jesus.” He groans.  If you only knew just how full he could make you. “Okay, how many fingers are you using.”

“Two.”

“Slip in a third baby.” You moan out. “Feel a little fuller?”

“Only a little. Your fingers can go much deeper than mine.” Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. You would talk dirty, but never like this. He loved it.

“Are you laying on your back?”

“Yes.”

“Flip onto your stomach, you can get in deeper that way.”

You want to ask how he knows all of this, but instead you just do as he says. He imagines you laying on your stomach, and instead of your fingers, he imagines his dick slipping in from behind. He groans through his teeth, thinking about how tight and good you’d feel. All you can hear is his harsh breath coming through the phone. You start to rub your clit faster, just like he would.

“Harry.” You moan.

“Are you close, love?”

“Yes, Harry.”

“Rub yourself faster.”

He imagines pumping in and out of you so fast and hard that the only sound filling the room was your ass clapping back against him.

“Ah, Harry, I’m gonna, fucckkkk.” You breathe heavily as you come down from your high. You hear Harry moan your name out. “Did, did you come baby?” You hear him giggle.

“Yes, once sec.”

Harry gets up to clean himself off, and throws a pair of sweat pants on.

“How was that?”

“Not the same without you, but it’ll do until tomorrow.” You say, flipping back onto your back. You start to giggle. “I’m really glad you called to wish me sweet dreams.”

“Me too. Well, I’ll let you get to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I love you, goodnight.”

“Love you too, angel.”

Harry went to sleep a happy man. You couldn’t get enough of him the way he couldn’t get enough of you.

//

You get up for work feeling much more refreshed, and you’re able to walk like a normal person again. You pack some extra clothes to bring to Harry’s before you leave for work. You decide on a dark pair of jeans, your ponytail and a cardigan for work. You left yourself plenty of time to do your makeup.

Your coffee was waiting for you on your desk when you got there. You were always so amazed at how early Niall was able to get to work. He was always at least thirty minutes ahead of you. Little did you know, down the hall in his office, Niall was having a chat with Matt, who works early on Fridays.

“Matt, to be blunt, I’d to talk with you about (y/n).”

“Oh, um, alright.”

“How are things going with her? You’ve been working with her more this week than usual.”

“Things are great, she’s taught me a lot. She’s super smart. Am I in trouble for something?”

“No.” He sighs. “But you just need to make sure you’re acting appropriately. I know you’re still in school, but this is a great opportunity to learn how to act in a professional environment.”

“Did she say something to you?”

“What’s there to say?”

“So, you two are allowed to goof off and joke around, but because I’m an intern I can’t?”

“First of all, there are some days where I don’t see her at all until lunch or even until the end of the day. It’s all about balance. You have to find the fun times during the day. Also, if we’re goofin’ together, I’m not flirtin’.”

“Flirting? Did she say-“

“Look, it doesn’t matter. I’m just sayin’, make sure you’re havin’ fun the right way, and remember that she’s technically one of your supervisors. I know she’s a very sweet, and kind person…but you’re still in school and…you just need to know how to act, okay? I really don’t want to have one of these conversation again, alright?”

“Alright…I’m sorry if it seems like I did anything wrong, it wasn’t my intention.”

“It’s okay. Just remember she’s not your best friend, you work for her. You can be friendly, but-“

“I get it. Are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

Matt gets up and leaves Niall’s office. You pass him while holding your computer.

“Hi Matt.” You smile at him. He looks at you nervously. “We’ll be in the conference room today, I wanted to look at everything on the TV. I’ll be there in a few minutes, just need to check in with Niall.”

“Of course you do.” He says under his breath.

“Pardon?”

“I said of course.” He smiles. You go into Niall’s office.

“You free in about thirty minutes? We’re setting everything up in the conference room, want you to see the final product.”

“Yeah, I can do that, let me block my calendar. I had a chat with Matt.” You step further and close the door a little.

“How’d it go?”

“He seemed to be more concerned that you may have tattled on him about something. But, I think I got through to him.”

“I won’t be needing him much once this project is done anyways. This whole thing will put itself to rest.”

You go into the conference room, and plug your laptop in the HDMI cable so the screen appears on the TV. You and Matt go over the project you’ve been working on all week.

“This came out so well, Matt, thank you so much for all your help on this. I couldn’t have done it without you.” You beam at him. “I hope you continue with this kind of work in the future, you’re so talented.”

“You really mean that?”

“Yes! You may not be working much with me next week, just cause this is done, but if you keep working hard with the other folks you work with, then you will have some great people to list as a reference on your future endeavors.” Niall knocks on the door and wave him in. Matt looks away from him. “Ready?”

“Show me what ya got.”

You play the video for Niall, and he’s completely blown away.

“Great work you two. Matt, (y/n) and I will definitely send good word up to our supervisor.”

“Thanks.” He gives a half smile.

“I am so happy this project is done and over with.”

“And ahead of schedule. Now you won’t have as much to stress about before break.”

“I know! I can actually enjoy my family’s Hanukkah party.”

Matt sits and observes the way you and Niall interact. Why was it okay for you two to talk about personal things, but not for him?

Just before lunch, Matt knocks on the outside of your doorway.

“Hey.” You smile.

“Got a sec?”

“Of course, come on in.” You motion to have him sit.

“I’ve got my next assignment for next week, I’m back with the social media folks.”

“That’s great!”

“I’ll miss working with you…”

“That’s nice of you to say. I’m sure we’ll work together again soon.” Your phone starts to ring, it’s Harry.

“That your boyfriend?”

“Um…yeah.”

“He calls you a lot at work. Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Not at all.”

“He’s like…checking in on you.”

“No, he’s not.”

“Then why does he call so much?”

“Because he just likes to see how my day’s going. I think it’s really sweet, and I don’t mind because I like to hear the sound of his voice. Besides, it’s my lunch break, it’s a perfectly acceptable time to call…I think as you get older and fall in love, you’ll understand.”

“You’re only a few years older than me.”

“I know it doesn’t seem like a big difference, but once you’ve been out in the real world a little while, you tend to grow up a bit.”

“I’d say I’m pretty grown.”

“Obviously, I’m just saying, when you’re in a real relationship with someone…”

“I’ve been in a relationship before.”

“And? Didn’t you want to be with that person every second you could? Talk to them in your free time?”

“Not really.” He shrugs. “Guess that’s why we broke up. How did you know you were in love with him?”

You thought back to your weekend away at the inn in New Hampshire, and sighed happily.

“I just…did. I had a realization one night. When you know, you know.” Niall comes strolling into your office.

“Lunch time chica.” You giggle.

“Alright, hey I just need to call Harry back quick, wanna wait in the break room for me?”

“You got it. Headin’ out Matt? You’re done for the day.”

“Um, yeah. Well, thanks again for everything this week. See ya.”

“Have a great weekend. Meet you in a couple minutes.”

“Sounds good.”

You take your phone and call Harry back.

“How’s my baby girl today?” You giggle.

“Good, how’s my man?”

“Looking forward to seeing you tonight.”

“Me too. Want me to pick something up for dinner?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want to. I’ll pick up something yummy.”

“I mean…there’s really only one thing I have a craving for.” Your cheeks flush.

“Don’t start with me right now.”

“What? Don’t want a repeat of last night so soon?” You can hear his smirk through the phone.

“Harry, I can’t have these kinds of conversations at work.” You whisper.

“Alright, alright. Well, I was just callin’ earlier cause I missed ya.”

“Miss you too. I better go, I have lunch with Niall.”

“Tell the lad I say hi.”

“You bet.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

You hang up, grab your lunch, and head to the break room to meet Niall. He gives you a kissy face when you enter and you roll your eyes at him.

“He says hi by the way.”

“Hi back.” He smirks. “What he call about?”

“Nothing, just missed me.”

“Jesus.” He laughs. “I’ve never known him to be like this. You really have a hold on him.”

“I like it. It’s nice to feel wanted.”

“Come to think of it, the only person I can think he’s ever been this clingy with was Lou.”

“Niall, Harry is not clingy.”

“He is…just a wee bit, just enough for it to be cute.”

“What do you mean he was clingy with Louis?”

“Nothin’, the two of them were just like that with each other. They had to sit next to each other in every in class, had to sit next to each other on the couch. If Lou was off visiting his girlfriend for the weekend, the two of them would call each other at least two separate times.”

“Eleanor was right.”

“About what?”

“They are the real life Cory and Shawn.” You laugh.

“Who?”

“Did never watch Boys Meet World?”

“Uh, no, can’t say I have. That somethin’ we should add to the binge watch list?”

“Oh definitely, you don’t know what you’re missing. Anyways, Cory is the main character and Shawn is his absolute best friend. They’re closer than any other friends in the world. The show would joke around a lot about them being a little too close. Cory would wanna tell Shawn things over telling his girlfriend, stuff like that. Just a really close bond. Nothing wrong with that. Do you ever get jealous?”

“Not at all. I’m just as close with Harry, it’s just different. I’m just as close with Lou. The two of them are just more like brothers.”

“I’m sure they consider you a brother.”

“Oh they do, I’m just more like the step-brother.” You both giggle.

//

On your way home from work you decide to pick up Thai food from Harry’s favorite spot. You key into his apartment. He has his headphones in, sitting at his computer.

“Harry!” He turns around and waves at you. You put the food in the kitchen and kick off your shoes. You put your bag near the bed. He wraps up what he’s doing, and stretches as he stands up.

“Whatcha bring me?” He says, kissing you on the top of your head.

“Thai food.”

“My favorite! Thanks.”

You both dig in to the food your brought, not wanting it to get cold. You take your cardigan off, revealing your tank top.

“That’s a cute outfit.” He says wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Felt like being a bit more casual today.”

“I like these jeans.” His hands slip into your back pockets. You place your hands on his chest.

“Oh, you do?”

“Mhm.” He nuzzles his face into your neck, leaving soft kisses. “You smell nice.” You feel his smile against you. Your perfume wasn’t anything special. Just a classic fruity scent you had picked up from Bath & Body Works a while back. But because you were wearing, there was no better smell in the world. He lifts his head to look at you, cheeks and chest completely flushed. “You know, I was surprised by you last night.”

“How so?”

“Just didn’t think you’d be into that sorta thing.”

“What? Phone sex?” You laugh. “To be honest, usually I’m not, or at least I’d prefer it over text, but just something in the way your voice sounded last night…it was driving me wild.” You kiss on his neck, dropping your hands to his hips. You sink your teeth in, only a little, lightly sucking on his soft skin. You feel his hands squeeze your ass causing you to bite down harder. He sucks in a breath at the incredible feeling.

His hands move up to your face. He pulls you back, before you can furrow your brows, his lips are on yours. He takes your bottom lip into his mouth, and you can’t help but groan. A tingling beginning between your legs as he starts to work his tongue into your mouth, tasting every bit of you. You both fumble over to the couch. He gets on top of you, and you wrap your legs around him, begging for some friction. The hand he isn’t using to prop himself up goes for your breast, and kneads it. Your head rolls back at his touch, annoyed he won’t just take your shirt and bra off. He sees you tug at the hem of your shirt and he smirks, allowing you to sit up, so he can take it off for you. You had a simple white bra on, nothing special. But his eyes can’t help but gaze at the way you’re spilling out of it, and the way your nipples peek through like pebbles. You look down at yourself.

“I’d still like to go to the mall tomorrow, definitely think it’s time for some new bras.” You squeeze your boobs together slightly. “Not comfy.”

“Well, let me see how I can help now.”

Harry reaches behind you and unhooks your bra effortlessly. You giggle as it falls, and his lips immediately wrap around you nipping, and twisting the piercing with his teeth.

“Ah, shit.” You moan, pressing your hips to his as you lay down again.

He kisses down your torso, around your naval, and undoes your pants in the process. You lift your hips to help him tug your jeans and panties down your hips. He sits up to take his shirt off after undressing you.

“Harry?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Think you could, um, dim the lights a bit? Feeling just a wee bit exposed.” He smiles and kisses you on the top of your head.

He gets up to turn the lights off, not having a dimmer. He takes his pants off, leaving his boxers on for now, then climbs back on top of you. His bed was so close by, but something about doing this on his couch was more fun. His thumb dips down and starts to rub on your clit, your breath hitching at the sensation.

“Is this what you were doing last night? When you were thinking of me?”

“Yes, but you do it so much better.” You gasp as his fingers trace over your wet slit.

“That so?” He spreads your legs apart, putting them over his shoulders, licking his lips as he looks at the glorious feast before him.

He licks a stripe up from your center to your clit, causing your hips to buck up. Your hands go straight for his hair as he sucks on your clit, his hands pressing into your thighs. He drops one of your thighs to press his hand down on you to keep you in place. He was going to destroy you tonight, you could feel it. He used his thumb to continue to rub you as his tongue when back down to your center. He groaned against you as his tongue swirled inside, feeling and tasting as much of you as he could. You weren’t going to last long, the sight before you was enough to make you come, let alone the way it felt.

“Harry.” You moaned as he rubbed you harder, sucking on you as much as he could. “Fuck, ahhhhhhh.” Your release came quicker than you usual. He let you grind against him to ride out your high, just needing that bit of extra friction. He waits for you to catch your breath while he sits up to look at your now sweaty body.

He sits on the couch, pulling you on top of him to straddle his legs. You’re confused at first, did he just want to grind against you tonight? It was fine if he did, but you wanted to return the favor. You wanted to wrap your lips around him.

“Harry, I wanna-“ He kisses you, tasting yourself on his lips.

“You will, I’m not done with you yet, though.” He says into your ear, biting down on the skin just underneath.

You feel his hand brush up against your sensitive area, still dripping wet from what he’s done to you. You feel him slip his middle finger in, and you tighten around him. He looks up at you, watching your eyes screwed shut, and slowly open as you relax, sinking down onto his hand. He slowly pumps in and out of you, and before long, a second finger slips in, stretching you out just a little. You moan at the feeling and roll your hips.

“That’s it.” He says, essentially encouraging you to ride his fingers. You wrap your arms around him, fingers going into his hair, and press your face into his neck.

Your hips move up and down as he pumps in and out of you. He had thought about this many times. You on top of him, taking him in inch by inch. But he wasn’t going to get that yet. It was hard to focus on anything other than the grunts leaving your mouth, as you press your face further into the crook of his neck. His fingers had never felt so good inside of you. The hand that wasn’t working on you, was clutching on your ass, keeping you steady. His thumb starting to rub on your clit again, making you sink your teeth into his skin. You hear a moan escape his lips.

“You’re so fucking sexy like this.” He says, making your back arch as you continue to grind against his fingers.

“Feels so good.” You manage to say. You were full on panting now. “Wanna feel you deeper, Harry.”

He thrusts his long fingers up as much as he could, making your head roll back. He wanted to say that’s as deep as he could go. He wanted to say he’d need his dick to go deeper to give you what you wanted, but he couldn’t. He knew better.

“Shit, shit, shit.” You said over and over.

“Come for me, baby.”

That was all he needed to say. You released all around his fingers, and collapsed on top of him. He slowly slid out of you, and gives your bum a few taps, letting you know you did a good job. He sucks on his fingers to take your release in.

“Best taste in the world, honestly.” You move your head to make eye contact.

“Your turn.” You say in a whisper.

He lets go of you so you can slide down to the floor, on your knees in front of him. You tug at his boxers, eyes growing wide at the way his hard cocks slaps back against his stomach. He lifts his hips so you can tug the pesky underwear all the way off of him. You look up at him and admire his beautiful body. He may have well been chiseled from marble. You spit into your hand, and grip his length, his eyes closing for a mere moment to enjoy the contact.

You start to slowly pump him up and down, thumb dragging over his tip to spread his precome around. His hand grips your ponytail, firmly wrapping it around his wrist. You look up at him and smirk before closing your eyes, and taking his tip into your mouth. He hisses at the sensation. You continue to use your hand on his shaft as you suckle on his tip. His hips move up, begging you to take more of him into your pretty little mouth. You oblige, and slide yourself down on him a little further, hollowing out your cheeks.

“That feels so fucking good, (y/n).” He says, gripping your hair tighter.

As you begin to bob up and down on him, he hits the back of your throat. Nothing out of the ordinary, but he has a jerk reaction, and hanks your hair a little too hard. Your eyes flash open, seeing white. A horrid memory of Jake running through your mind. Him ramming you from behind, his hand in your hair, feeling like he was going to rip every strand out of your scalp. Out of sudden fear your teeth bite down on Harry.

“Too hard! Too hard!” This breaks you from your nightmare, and you pop off of him.

Before he can say anything else you feel like you can’t breathe as your chest starts to tighten, and you hide your face as tears begin to fall. Harry gets on the ground next to you and rubs your back.

“What, what happened, (y/n)? Are you alright, why, why did you do that? What did I do?”

His dick was throbbing, and not in a good way. It had gone completely soft the instant you bit him. Your breathing slows, and you look up at him. You put a hand on his shoulder.

“Y, you can’t pull my hair like that.”

“Did I pull it too hard? I’m so sorry, I didn’t even realize, usually you’re okay-“

“It’s not usually in a ponytail when you tug at it. I…it…” He pulls you into his chest. “It triggered me, I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t even realize it-“

“It’s not your fault, I didn’t think…” You sigh. “Did I hurt your?”

“Please, don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

“I bit down on you pretty hard.”

“It’s alright. Let’s get you up, hm?”

You cling to him, only feeling safe in his arms. He wipes your tears away as you both stand.

“Let’s get you into something cozy, yeah?” He sits you on the bed, and grabs a t-shirt and sweatpants from his dresser. He gestures for you to lift your arm, and he slides his shirt over your body. Next he helps you into his pants. He kisses you lightly on your forehead. He throws on a new pair of boxers and sits next to you.

“Thank you. I’m so sorry, I ruined our evening.”

“Oh, my sweet baby girl,” His palm nestles on your cheek. “You didn’t ruin anything. I’m sorry I did something that even made you think about that terrible time. I promise, I’ll be more careful.”

“But you couldn’t have known that was going to set me off. I didn’t even know. This is what I’ve been scared of all along.” His hand moves to rub your back. You take a deep breath.

“We just need to keep working together, and be vocal. I know you don’t know what things may set you off, but let’s try to keep talking through. I can be better about asking if something feels alright.”

“I can’t expect you to do that in the heat of the moment. I want us to be able to get lost in each other, not having to overthink every move.”

“And maybe at some point we’ll get to that place, but right now that’s just not gonna happen.”

“And you’re fine with that?” You say looking at him.

“(y/n), the last thing I ever want is for you to feel unsafe or scared. I would do anything you need to me to do.” You wrap your arms around him.

“I love you, Harry.”

“I love you too, so much. Come on, let’s watch some TV.”

Harry winces as he stands up to grab the remote. You get settled, sitting up against his headboard, and he gets on the bed next to you, turning the TV on. He winces again as he adjusts next to you.

“Is there anything I can do? Do you want some ice?”

“No, no, I’ll be fine. Don’t think I’ve ever been chomped down on quite like that before.” He chuckles. “Nearly kicked ya in the stomach.” You cozy up to him, and he puts an arm around you.

“Well, thanks for refraining.”

“What do you feel like watchin’?”

“Anything’s fine, oh! Let me log in to my Disney+.” You hear Harry slightly suck his teeth. “What?”

“Nothin’…what exactly do you want to watch on there?” You yank the remote from him to download the app on his smart TV.

“I have the urge to watch Boy Meets World, ever watch it growing up? Did you watch a lot of American TV?”

“Here and there. Watched a lot more of it here once I was in school. What exactly is Boy Meets World about?”

“Well, it was a show on ABC, Disney owned. It’s about this boy named Cory who just learns about life. He has an older brother and a little sister. A best friend named Shawn, and then there’s Topanga.”

“Topanga?”

“Mhm, but since you’ve never seen it, I won’t spoil it for you. Guess we’ll watch from the beginning. He’s in like sixth or seventh grade I think. The kids were so cute.”

“How long did it run for?”

“Like seven seasons! They show them through their second year of college.”

“Wow. All the same actors stay?”

“Yup.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a go.”

“So cute you think you had a choice.” You giggle, and turn the show on. “Just kidding, if you didn’t want to watch it, I wouldn’t make you.”

“How considerate.”

You two stay cozy together as you watch at least four episodes of the show. You loved binging television, but you could tell Harry was getting bored, or at least tired. You both get up to do your nightly routine.

“I wanna hold ya tonight, but please don’t rub up against me, I’m afraid it’ll it hurt.”

“Do you want me to just hold you?”

“No, I wanna hold you. Just gotta be careful.”

You turn over, and he wraps his arms around you, nestling into your hair, which was now down. You both sigh with happiness and comfort as you both slowly drift off.

//

You and Harry head to the mall around ten the next morning. There were a ton of things still on sale from Black Friday, so you were excited about treating yourself to some new underwear. You head upstairs to the Aerie, and Harry stops short before entering, almost making you lose your balance.

“Right, so…how long you think you’ll be?” You blink at him. “What?”

“You’re not coming in with me? Please don’t tell me the man who walks around with nail polish and jewelry is afraid of an underwear store.”

“M’not afraid…just didn’t know if you needed some privacy is all.”

“You’ve seen my panties before, it’s fine. Besides, you can help me pick some stuff out.”

There were plenty of other guys in there with their girlfriends, it wasn’t really a big deal. Harry just didn’t want to be one of those guys who was so possessive he needed to go into his girlfriend’s underwear store. But she wanted him there, so he slowly followed her in.

There was a large round bin in the middle that said “8 for $30!” making you jump right for it. You rummaged through the pile of medium sized briefs and slowly found ones you liked.

“Any particular style you’re looking for?” Harry asks, trying to be helpful.

“Um, well, I like the cheeky bottom, like these.” You hold a pair up to show him and he blushes, picturing you wearing them.

“I can get eight pair, so I’d like at least get four of this style, then the other four I get a couple more thongs, those are always good to replace. Oh! This one is so cute!” You hold up a black lace thong, making Harry’s cheeks grow even redder. “Can never go wrong with black lace, never.”

Once you’re satisfied with your panties, you stuff them into a basket, and head to the back of the store where the bras were. A sales associate comes up to you.

“Can I help you find anything?”

“You know, I think I need to be measured again. I feel like I’m in between sizes right now. Everything has been feeling kind of tight. I haven’t gained any weight, that I know of.”

“Oh sure! We can definitely have someone measure you. One moment, let me check the dressing rooms.” You turn around to look at Harry as she walks away, his mouth agape.

“What?”

“What exactly does getting measured entail?”

“They take you into a fitting room and use a measuring tape. Then you tell them what style of bra you wear, and then they bring you some to try on. It’s not complicated.”

“Are you bare chested when they do it?”

“What?! No!” You laugh. “My shirt will stay on.”

“Miss? We’re ready for you.” The woman smiles.

“Here, hold this for me.” You hand Harry the basket, and before he can protest you vanish into the back.

He’s thoroughly embarrassed. He watches the associate come out a few moments later to grab a few different bras. Some lace, some for wearing under a t-shirt, and some sports bras. He swears he heard you laugh at some point, but he wasn’t sure. Eventually you come out, and take the basket from him.

“Okay, I know what I need now, I think they’re on this wall.”

“Please, don’t ever leave me like that again. People kept giving me weird looks.”

“You know, most guys like coming in here.” You shake your head at him, and grab some bras.

“Well, how did your fitting go.”

“Good.” You shrug. “Figured out why I was spilling out of some of my bras.” You grab a few bras that are padded, but don’t have wire in them, and some new lace bras as well. Then move to another wall with sports bras that zip up in the front.

“Why was that?”

“Went up a cup size.” You shrug again.

“So…what exactly are you now?” You raise an eyebrow at him. “We might find ourselves in a bra emergency one day, this is info I need.” You laugh.

“I went from a C to a D, okay?”

“You didn’t realize?”

“Not really, sometimes they just grow and shrink over time. I was a B when I first got to college, graduated a C. If they keep getting bigger though I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“You don’t want big boobs?”

“Honestly? No. My back hurts, and I have such a small frame, big boobs just look weird on me. Half the time I have to buy dresses and shirts one or two sizes up just to make room. It’s annoying.” You sigh and grab what you need, and head to the checkout counter.

Harry loved your body so much, every dip, every curve, every dimple, every mark. He never really stopped to think that there were actually things you didn’t like about your body.  

“You’re in luck! These ones are buy one, get one.” The cashier says.

“Oh great! I have a coupon on my phone too.”

Harry also couldn’t believe how complicated buying women’s underwear was. He thought it was just cup sizes, but there’s a lot of numbers involved. He made sure to note that you were a 34D, and no longer a 36C.

“$100 even is your total.” His jaw nearly dropped, even with the discounts and coupons that sounded expensive. “Oh wow! Way less than what I was expecting.” He looked at the two of you like you were crazy. The pink tax was alive and well. The cashier hands you a cute bag with all your things wrapped inside, and then grabs a small box.

“For being such a valued member of Aerie, and spending over $100 today, you have earned this box full of makeup samples!”

“Yay! I love your guys’ makeup. It’s so light.”

“There’s mascara, a reusable makeup remover cloth, eyeshadow, and a couple other things.”

“Thanks!” You stuff the small box into your bag, and head out. “I love free samples.” You say looking at him as you walk out of the store. He wanted to tell you it wasn’t really free, but he didn’t want the smile on your face to fade.

“Feeling satisfied with your purchase?”

“Yes, thank you for coming in with me. Is there anywhere you wanna go? You like shoppin at J. Crew right?”

“Got all I need from there a couple months ago, remember?” He smiles at you.

“Right. Oh! You know what would be great?”

“What?”

“Let’s go into bed, bath, and beyond. There’s something I wanna get for your bed.”

“My bed?”

“Mhm.” You smile at him, and take his hand.

When you get to the store, you get to the section you’re thinking of right away. You were near sheets and pillows. Harry had no idea what you thought his bed needed.

“Aha! Found it!” You point to the aisle that had a bunch of different bed toppers. “You know how you’re always saying my bed is so cozy? Well this is why. I have this exact memory foam egg crate. You just put it on under your sheets, and it makes a world of difference.”

“How do you discover these things?”

“I had a friend in college that had one on his bed, on those uncomfortable blue beds they give you. Got one for myself and I never had a bad night’s sleep in school again.”

“Alright, let’s pick one out.” You grab the one you think will make the most sense, and don’t let Harry take it from me. “I hope you don’t think you’re paying for that.”

“Consider it an early Hanukkah gift.” You wink at him, and walk quickly ahead of him to the checkout line. Taking out your card as fast as you can. He rolled his eyes at you, but kissed the top of your head.

“Thank you, it’s very sweet of you.”

“You’re welcome baby. Here you can carry it now.”

//

When you got home, or back to Harry’s, you helped him put the egg crate on his bed. You too flopped onto it once it was made up again.

“It’s like laying on a marshmallow.” He says, making you giggle. “Thanks again.”

“You’re more than welcome, happy to do it.”

“Now it’ll really feel like I’m in your bed the couple nights I can’t be.”

“Does it bother you that we stay over at my place more?”

“Not at all! I love your place.”

“I just feel bad is all, you paying for a place you barely sleep at anymore.”

“S’not that expensive of an apartment. Plus it’s nice to come back to when I need to get more intricate work done.” He shrugs, reaching for the remote to turn the TV on. “Besides, won’t be back and forth like this forever.” What was he hinting at? The very thing that you felt your mind wandering to every morning you woke up with him. Harry often thought about moving in with you, you were practically living together already. He knew it was still a little too soon to be talking about it, but a few hints here and there to show you that, that was down the road was nice.

“Yeah.” You smile, and cozy up to him. “Definitely won’t be forever.”

[luthien-t]

Resurfaced Memories. Chapter four.

Loki X Female reader

summary: You finally talk to Loki, giving him one chance to explain himself.

1.4+K

A/N: so sorry for the late update, a lot has been going on and with classes starting soon i’ve been busy organising my schedule, also please forgive for any grammar or spelling mistakes -english is not my first language- HAPPY READING!!

-

The sound of the shops door opening immediately after flipping the ‘open’ sign caught you off guard. Turning your body towards the door, and there he was, Loki. He was wearing casual? Not the same suit as yesterday, rather a simple black shirt and jeans, he had a plain dark jacket worn over his shirt and an umbrella in his hand since it was raining all day. 

“You’re an hour early” You say with a small smile on your lips, you figured since you’ve agreed on this meet up? -Or maybe a date?- You might as well be nice to him.

 Linda was encouraging this and was more excited than you are about this. “This will all eventually make sense, besides, he is very helpful with the Avengers. Maybe he’ll come by every Thursday to bring you flowers” She even said. She was acting like the mother who couldn’t wait to see her daughters find true love or finally leave to college. “No one should go through this world alone, y/n. He’s immortal, he’s not going to die before you like you fear” Right in the heart, directed at your insecurity and worry. 

“I had no plans today so I thought I would arrive early.” He had a playful smirk as he walked towards one of the tables and chairs, taking a seat. “Would you like some tea? We have green, black, white and other herbal mixed teas.” You say as you hold onto your cup. “I’ll have what you are drinking” He said, removing his jacket. Well he’s getting comfortable, this is going to be a long day, you thought to yourself. You were thankful that it was a Friday, everyone was too busy with the last working day of the week to bother coming early for tea or flowers, besides, Linda told you to lay off today and just spend the day with Loki, she even wanted you to leave the shop but you refused. 

“So, Sigyn? Huh.” You say, setting the cup in front of him and sitting down the opposite side of the table. Feeling the awkward silence growing from the moment you started making him tea, sure you only agreed on this to get him off your back but this silence was bothering you even more. 

He lets out a chuckle and looks down at his cup of tea, mumbling a thank you to you before answering your question. “Well, you do look like her, so I just assumed- Ah, Forgive me for that interaction, I didn’t mean to startle you yesterday” You smiled at his apology and shrugged, something was itching in the back of your mind, like you needed to know more about her. 

“So…What happened?” He gave you a puzzled look this time, “I mean like, with you two?” This time he smiled weakly and took a sip from his cup. “We were happy, or at least I thought we were. Then one day she decided to disown Odin and left without a word.” His facial expression was slowly going stoic, like he was masking his emotions about this subject. Nodding lightly at his words, you look out the window. “Lets not talk about her, she must’ve had her own reasons to leave Asgard.” He said, his eyes following yours to the window. “I also don’t want to talk about something that makes you uncomfortable. I would like to know you as y/n, not Sigyn.” You smiled gently and then turned your head towards him. 

Conversations and subjects about everything sparked between you both, talking about the past and maybe the future, you even talked about the books you’ve been reading, shocked that he knows none. Somehow the conversations shifted to the realms and the creatures that exist out there, you were absorbing every single word he was saying about it, about the realms, the gods and the wars, they were different from the books you read.

“Okay wait, wait,” You say mid-laugh at something he said about Odin and how he is similar to the dictators that control this world. He gave out a pleasant hum with a soft smile on his face, indicating that he is listening to you. “How is it that you are a mother to an eight-legged horse?” Your arms tucked under your chin, interested in hearing the infamous story of Sleipnir from Loki himself. His face dropped, brows furrowed and mouth agape slightly. “I beg your pardon?!” His question earned a laugh from you, his face softening at the sound of it, but he was still trying to harden his face. “Sleipnir? You? Come on, it is one of the most famous stories in Norse history!” You defend yourself, noticing the offended look on his face, although it was playful. “You midgardians carry ridiculous stories about us, I am not a mother to an eight-legged horse.” He grumbled and took a sip from his -now cold- tea. You giggled at his reaction and shrugged. 

What was supposed to be an hour conversation was now pulled to a full day, you have spent the entire day with Loki, you can’t help how everything felt familiar with him. You started to question yesterdays interaction and if maybe it is not a coincidence. Although it sounds crazy, to be who he assumed you were, but you’ve lived for 75 years without a single wrinkle and your strength still holding you like you’re 25. Looking up at Loki, he was supposed to leave and head back to the tower, a question was creeping up slowly in your head, it could be the missing puzzle to all of this.

“Today was lovely, y/n.” He said, wearing his jacket and setting a bill on the table, you tried to protest with him that the tea was on you but he refused, like a gentleman. “Hey Loki,” You start, your heart beating faster, growing nervous at the question you are about to ask, his eyes were now on you, waiting. 

“How long has it been?” You busy your hands with putting the money in the register to hide your hands from shaking. “Since, uhm, Sigyn left?” You look up at him this time and his face was blank, staring at you, calculating what he should say next. 

“75 years, 3 months and 6 days.” He simply said and you hold your breath, your eyes roaming his face, unsure what to do with this information. You nod and then look away. “Oh, wow, okay. That is a lot.” You mumble before walking to the door before him and he follows, opening the door you watch him. 

“Will I see you tomorrow?” He looks down at you as he asks, too close to you and you look at his chest, still processing the words he said to your question but you nod. “That would be nice” You whisper before looking up at him, a smile was creeping up on his face and you have no choice but to mimic his expression, considering how contagious it is. He slowly leaned down and grabbed one of your hands in his, you were frozen in your spot, unsure what to do next. He pulled your hand up to his lip, planting a small kiss on your knuckles before stepping back. “It was lovely meeting you, y/n. Although it was under confusing circumstances, it was still lovely” He whispered to you before taking a step out of the shop and you just watch him, speechless. 

You watched him, the moment he was out of sigh you groaned and let out a long loud sigh. You grab the calendar that was hanging from the wall and started counting, it has been 75 years, yes, but with the more days you add you realise that it has been exactly 75 years, 3 months and 6 days. Your heart start to beat faster. 

Is it really possible?

Back in Asgard,

“Your Highness.” Heimdall stepped into the throne room, Odin sat on his Throne, his staff in his hand. Heimdalls voice grabbed his attention and he turns his head towards him. 

“You ordered me to alert you on this matter if it ever happens.” Heimdall starts. Odin tilting his head slightly, an eyebrow raised with amusement. He knows what matter Heimdall is talking about, it is the only matter that would allow him to leave the Bifrost. 

“Has it happened?” Heimdall can only nod and Odin lets out a small chuckle. “And does she remember?” This time he shook his head, earning a nod from Odin. “Order them to return, I need to have a few words with my sons.”

Taglist: @jessiejunebug , @hellethil , 

[yourcoffindoor]

Bulletproof Heart Pt. 1

Pairing: Gerard Way x Reader

Prompt: Request from Anon- “ could you write one where the reader is a rock singer and they and mcr are on warped tour together, and they both lowkey like each other but think they’re both out of each other’s league, and find out that they’re both secretly into nerdy stuff + maybe getting together? thank you so much xxx”

AN: This is a multi-part series--I couldn’t help myself! Also, I based this fic around something Gerard said in a Rolling Stone interview:

Hope its ok Anon! enjoy!

You had dreamed of this moment since you first picked up a guitar. Back then it felt like an impossible fantasy, being on stage with your band, playing in front of a crowd of screaming fans; which is why it felt so surreal when your manager Tim told you that your band, The Violent Delights, had booked Warped Tour.

"June 18th," he told you with a satisfied grin, "you're in for the long haul, kids."

Your band-mates let out a collective shriek of joy, while you planted a grateful kiss on Tim's cheek.

"You're an OK manager, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, dramatically wiping his cheek where your lips had been. "Now you guys better get practicing. This is a good opportunity to really get your name out there. Plus you got some real popular acts to compete with."

Your interest was peaked. "Oh yeah? Like who?"

"Off the top of my head? Fall Out Boy, Dropkick Murphys, and I think a band called My Chemical Romance."

"Oh shit, My Chem?" your bassist, Gavin, piped up excitedly. "That's the band I'm always trying to get Y/N to listen to."

"I'll have to finally borrow their last album," you replied, "gotta scope out the competition after all." Gavin rolled his eyes while you laughed.

Your manager got serious. "It's three months on the road, and its gonna take a lot of energy and hard work. Quite frankly, it ain't glamorous."

"Tim, when have we ever been glamorous? I wouldn't care if it were a 12 month tour," you declared, "I wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world." Liz, your drummer, nodded in agreement beside you.

"You might be singing a different tune when you haven't had a shower in three days."

"As long as I'm singing it in front of an audience, we'll be fine."

* * *

Back at your apartment you marked June 18th on your calendar with a star, feeling invigorated with excitement all over again. This was it, you thought, the next level for our band. You were determined to give it your very best, outperforming every other band there.

After all, you had worked so hard to get to this point. Starting in friend's basements and tiny cafes, the band had slowly built up a sizable following of loyal fans. You were no longer the opening act, drawing sell out crowds more often than not. You made a promise to yourself that the band wasn't going to lose this momentum. There would be no distractions for you on this tour, just hard work and the thrill of performing. That meant no parties, and absolutely no boys. You weren't ready for another relationship, you told yourself, especially since the last one ended in disaster.

Yes, this was the moment the band had been waiting for. You let the warm excitement that this knowledge brought envelope you, and you lay your head down on your pillow, falling asleep to fantasies of what lay ahead.

* * *

Its a long road from Maryland to Ohio. Columbus was the first stop of the tour, which meant your band had 6 and a half hours to go over the set-list, make adjustments  discuss their hopes and fears for the three month experience. Gavin gave you a few CDs to listen too, including My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.  You had heard their first album ages ago and enjoyed it, but there was something incandescent to the music you were hearing now. It stirred a whirlwind of heavy emotion, and you were enthralled from beginning to end. You made a mental note to see them perform at Warped as soon as possible.

When your bus arrived at its destination, you felt the unwelcome buzz of nerves building in your stomach. This was real, you thought, this was happening. You were used to performing at this point, but it was the amount of people you'd be performing for that was nerve-wracking. Not to mention the fellow artists who may be watching and judging your sound. You breathed deep and tried to push past the nervous thoughts that hummed incessantly around your head like insects.

Your band-mates were buzzing about with excitement, but you needed to distract yourself. Fresh air always helped settle you, so you grabbed your shoes and decided to go for a walk around the venue.

It looked almost like a circus with all the trailers and tents that had quickly populated the surrounding area. Merch stands and catering tents were being organizes as dozens upon dozens of vans and trailers pulled in. There were already a few fans camped outside of the chain-link fence that surrounded the area, eagerly awaiting a glimpse of their favorite artists.

You kept wandering, and you saw that a band was being interviewed in the media tent. There were five of them, each holding a microphone; but one member, a dark haired boy, was doing most of the talking. He was cute, you thought, and your stomach did little flips watching him respond to the questions that were being asked.

You watched a little bit longer from a distance, until you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned to see Gavin and Liz, who had been doing a bit of exploring as well.

"Hey, there you are! I was talking to a few people by the catering tent. They said some bands are having a party on their buses later tonight, we should check it out." Gavin informed you excitedly.

You hesitated. No parties. "I dunno, I want us to be in good condition to perform tomorrow."

Liz chimed in. "All work and no play, Y/N. C'mon, it'll be a great chance to make some connections with other bands."

"If you don't come with us," Gavin pronounced dramatically, "we'll be far too devastated to perform tomorrow." His hand went to his forehead, as though he was about to faint.

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Pretty please?" Liz stuck her lower lip out pathetically.

"With sugar on top?" Gavin added.

You glanced at the black haired boy in the distance. Maybe he'd be there, a small voice in your head piped up.

"Ugh Fine! But I'll only stay for a little bit."

Satisfied, the pair stopped harassing you, and left you to continue wandering, promising to meet up with them later.

* * *

People spilled out from open trailers as music blared from an unknown source in the background. Some were already far gone, stumbling from place to place, or lying on the ground blacked out.

You followed Gavin inside one of the trailers. You watched as he interacted with the strangers inside with ease, a trait you envied. He managed to find you both drinks, and you grabbed the mystery beverage, sculling it in hopes that it would numb your nervousness. You may have been a great performer onstage, but offstage it was easy for your social anxiety to take the wheel.

Gavin began to walk away, ignoring your whispered pleas not to leave you. Fuck. It always felt awkward to not know anyone at a party. You clutched your red cup like a life jacket keeping you afloat in a sea of drunken strangers.

A man approached you out of nowhere, the smell of alcohol emanating from every pore on his body.

"You look lonely." He leered at you expectantly.

"Then it seems like you need glasses. I'm just fine on my own."

He laughed. "Ooo! I like you. You've got spunk. Name's Brent, guitarist from Midnite Heist."

"Can't say I've heard of you guys."

Brent was either oblivious to your indifference, or just chose to ignore it. "So how'd you end up at this party?"

"I'm in a band on the tour too. Lead singer actually."

"No way! That's awesome, we need more talented eye candy on this tour."

You screamed internally while he droned on, tuning him out as you continued to sip from your fast emptying cup.

You scanned the room, watching people laugh and dance. Your stomach suddenly flipped again as you noticed the black haired boy from this afternoon, solemn faced and quiet, silently nursing a diet coke in his hands. He was clearly not having a good time. The guitarist who had been talking you up soon saw you looking at the sullen figure and turned his attention towards him, his eyes lighting up with recognition.

"Gerard fucking Way!" he bellowed, carelessly sloshing his drink as he waved him over, causing a stream of alcohol to fall to the floor below.

Gerard seemed to hesitate before walking over. "It's been awhile man," he said softly. His eyes, a warm hazel, flicked to you repeatedly as he spoke. "you here for the whole tour this time?"

Brent laughed, his sobriety dangling by a thread.  "Yeah, but still not up on the main stage, unlike you big-shots." he said, punching Gerard in the arm. Gerard offered a crooked smirk in return, his patience already wearing thin. Brent nudged you in the arm. "This is Y/N, her band is new to Warped. I told her I'd show her the ropes." He grinned at you. Ugh.

Gerard seemed to sense your discomfort. "Welcome, nice to see a new face around."

Brent interrupted before you could respond. "How come you're wasting time with a coke? I would've expected you to be the first one wasted here."

Gerard's jaw clenched, and you cringed internally at the sheer awkwardness of the encounter. "I'm sober now," he informed Brent, "I don't touch that shit anymore."

Brent laughed dismissively. "Dude, you?  Do you even remember the last Warped tour? I'll give it 2 days before you're lying face down in the bushes again." he laughed as if he had just said something hilarious.

You were livid, and Gerard was on edge. You decided to step in when you noticed his knuckles turn white from clenching his coke can.

You moved slightly, ready to get between them. "Hey you know what? I'd really love a coke right now too. Mind showing me where they are?" you looked pleadingly at Gerard. He took the hint.

"Follow me."

You gave a curt wave to Brent, who looked on in confusion before continuing his drinking binge.

You stepped outside, and the sounds from the party behind you became a faint, thumping buzz in the background. You were both silent for a moment before you decided to break the ice.

"So that guy was a dick."

Gerard's scowl turned into a thin, lopsided smirk. Your heart melted a bit. "Yeah. I just realized some of these people are only tolerable when I'm drunk."

Stop. Move away. You don't need a distraction like this. You tried to scold yourself but words kept escaping from your lips, prolonging the encounter.

"This is my first time doing Warped Tour, but I'm assuming these parties are pretty much never-ending?"

Gerard pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Oh yeah, its every night for some of these bands. You're in for an interesting experience." You looked at him for a moment, perhaps for a bit too long. You had never seen anyone look so beautiful while surrounded by clouds of smoke.

"Yoohoooo! Y/N!" you heard the hollering of a clearly tipsy Gavin call from the doorway of the next trailer. "Where'd you go? The night is young! Get back here!"

You sighed. "That's my cue. Well actually that's my bassist, but he'll never let me live it down if I don't go back in there."

Gerard turned his head to the side and exhaled. "Catch you around. Next time you need rescuing from a douche-bag just light the bat signal."

You gave him a soft smile, forcing yourself to turn away and walk back to the trailer. As you did, you whispered aloud to yourself as a reminder:

"No distractions. No boys."

[justimajin]

It’s a Reverse Basket ◍ Part 6

⇝ Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

⇝ Genre: Fluff, Comedy, Angst

↳ Basketball AU, Crossdressing AU

⇝ Words: 4.5k

⇝ (Updated) Summary: Basketball is your everything; your passion for it running deep and wanting nothing more then to play the sport. Problem is, the sport isn't offered competitively to girls and with that, all your hopes immediately fizzle away... ...but who ever said that was going to stop you?

gif credit.

⇝ Previous Parts: Moodboard Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

⇝ Next Update: Tuesday, April 21

Your footsteps are quick and haste, sweat beginning to accumulate at your temples when the glowing numbers before you take their sweet time in lowering. The grip on your backpack only intensifies, glancing back and forth warily until a soft chime resonates. 

Stepping inside, you whirl around and press your thumb against the silver pad for the sixth floor. The doors begin to shut when a voice suddenly calls out.

“Wait!” Your hand instantly shoots out with a grimace, only letting once the woman safely enters and the doors are shut close. 

“Thank you.” She answers a bit breathless, but you can only offer a small smile in retaliation when you sink against the wall. She stares up at the bright screen, a frown on her lips.

“How long does it usually take to get to the third floor?”

You bite down on your lip, tightly grasping the steel railing. “F-Fifteen minutes.”

She catches the hesitance in your voice, eyes suddenly on alert.

“Are you alright?” When she inches closer, you flinch and hurriedly nod. “Are you sure? You look very pale.”

More colour disappears from your face at that, her keen eyes growing more and more concerned by the minute.

You hear a small ding and the doors open.

She swivels around, feet beginning to slowly move but not before she sends one final glance in your direction. 

“Take care young man!”

The doors click and you sigh, slumping further against the steel wall. The numbers progress sluggishly, as if testing how much strength you have left. Once the noticeable giant red six appears, you haul up your plummeting form. 

The doors open and you limp over as much as you can, punching your keys into the knob and twisting it instantly. Your backpack gets discarded onto the ground, not even being able to make it to your room when you collapse onto the couch. 

Within a matter of seconds, your lids flutter shut.

***

You’re woken up with a wince, insides feeling like they had been churned and twisted. Curling up into a fetal position, sweat trickles down your forehead and your eyes scrunch up, a sudden wave of nausea not helping to relieve any of the symptoms. 

Unraveling yourself bit by bit, you manage to flip yourself to face the ground, body suddenly jolting when you come face to face with a certain someone passed out on the ground.

He’s wearing a t-shirt and shorts, a headband keeping his black fluffy locks at bay and head resting against a pillow he’s snatched up. You speculate if he possibly came back from training and somehow just ended up sleeping next to you, but it’s a thought you can’t really contemplate any longer when a throbbing sensation churns up in your stomach.

You recoil back into that fetal position again, all hopes of trying to get up diminishing away. Biting down on your lower lip harshly, you stretch out your arm, fingertips barely meeting his shoulder. 

“Taehyung…….Taehyung..….” You quietly whisper, another wave of cramps washing over you as you wince, “Tae…”

Your movements at best, get him to roll away until he’s completely out of your reach. A defeated groan escapes you, the throbbing only magnifying by the minute.

The rustling sound of keys jerks your head up, eyes frantically darting everywhere until they land on the door.

“Who–…oh.” Your eyes meet Jungkook, who leans against the door and is occupied with slipping his shoes off. There’s two bright green bags in his hands that seem to be overflowing with packets of food, but he strides over when he notices you on the couch and Taehyung sprawled all out on the floor.

You open your mouth to retaliate, but a sharp pulse hits your side and a shaky breath escapes you. “J-Jungkook…”

His attention is diverted over to you and you gesture towards the kitchen with your hand, “C-Can you get me my medicine? It should be in the top drawer.”

“Wha– are you okay?”

You peer up to see his furrowed brows when you curl up again, head quickly nodding in response. There’s still a frown on his lips when he glances down, eyes now narrowing at the soft snores escaping from the ground. 

Jungkook pads over with his groceries to the man, who still appears to be very occupied with his drowsy state of slumber. Sticking the edge of his foot out, Jungkook pokes Taehyung mildly on the shoulder. To his dismay, he slurs some sluggish incoherent words in response before rolling over into the opposite direction.

“Is he dead or something?” Jungkook glances around for a moment, eyes fixating coincidentally on the location Taehyung has chosen to fall asleep on. His voice dips down, a harsh mutter of words passing through his lips.

“If he drools on my carpet…”

“He won’t.” Jungkook pauses when you interject mid-way, a soft reassuring smile on your lips. “I promise.”

He seems to be contemplating your response when another pricking sensation stabs you in the stomach again, words faltering as you weakly whisper, “Jungkook, m-my medicine…” 

There’s still a level of reluctancy brewing within his eyes, but after a deep sigh, Jungkook heads for the kitchen. The groceries that had been gripped in his hands are discarded onto the counter, the drawer you had instructed to him being immediately yanked out. He rummages through it for a second with a frown, hands curling around the small box and leaning over to grab a water bottle from the fridge.

He glances down as he strolls back, brows contorting the longer he stares at it.

“Do you have a stomach ache Y/N?” He ponders, handing you the box and water as your eyes widen for a second. Letting out an uneasy laugh, you faintly smile.

“S-Something like that.”

You instantly take the medicine and chug the water down, handing it back to Jungkook who sets it on the table to the side. He moves to sit on the other end of the couch, seeming to relax though his gaze remains on Taehyung.

“How long has he been like that?

You shrug, “He was just sleeping on the ground when I woke up.”

Jungkook hums, but then he abruptly snaps up much to your own surprise. Darting over to the kitchen counter again, he rummages through the plastic of his grocery bags before a brightly red coloured packet and a box comes out into his hands. Coming back, your eyes remain bewildered until he couches down in front of Taehyung.

The brightly red packet is placed on the perch of Taehyung’s nose, your mouth dropping at the sight as Jungkook aimlessly shuffles back to his spot and reaches out for the remote.

There’s a small smile on his lips when he catches a glimpse of your astonished expression, “He’s been wanting ramen for days. It’ll wake him up faster.”

A faint chuckles escapes you at that, now flowing out freely once the medicine in your system begins to finally kick in. Sinking back into the couch, your lids flutter as you rest your head against the soft cushion.

“Did you eat something bad?” Jungkook questions, the box is in his hands open as he munches down on a cookie. 

“Uh…yeah,” You clear your throat, “I should have been more careful.”

He hums, “Hopefully the medicine helps, you need to be good shape for our first game.”

You freeze, becoming wide-eyed as your thoughts come to a pause.

“H-Huh?”

 “Yeah….” Jungkook arches up a brow. “It’s tomorrow.”

Your mind crashes with the information, thoughts suddenly spurting out of control. Jungkook’s words only work as a confirmation, because of course you know it’s tomorrow. You had bookmarked the date in your calendar beforehand and were slowly counting down the days in excitement. However, you’ve failed to realize the day had been drawing closer and closer, being too occupied with the radiating pain in your stomach and transcending aches writhing through your form. 

You gulp, pupils beginning to shake and shoulders starting to quiver when you can already imagine the horror of trying to play in such a state, wondering if somehow you can just pull through for tomorrow and–

A loud yawn breaks the silence, disrupting your chaotic thinking as a head of tousled black hair straightens up.

“WOAH!”

The red packet falls onto the ground, strands of Taehyung’s hair sticking up in unusual ways and hand pressed against his heart as if he had just gone through a heart attack. He narrows his eyes, staring at the bizarre presence of the ramen before him.

Jungkook keenly watches him, leaning against his hand with a smirk. “Rise and shine dear prince.”

“You got it?!” Taehyung grabs onto the packet with both hands, crinkling the metallic wrapping in the process as he continues to gaze at it. He hurriedly flips it over, eyes searching in wonder, “And it’s the extra spicy flavour!”

Jungkook doesn’t respond to him, eyes darting over to his phone as he occupies himself – though there is a small smile lingering over his lips.

A wide grin stretches across Taehyung’s face, eyes suddenly landing onto you and morphing into concern.

“Oh! Y/N!”

He grabs onto your hand, “Are you feeling better? You were shaking a lot when I came back…”

“I’m alright Taehyung.” You quickly reassure him, however your head still wanders over to Jungkook’s reminder of a very important event tomorrow, not settled down onto a proper solution yet.

Tenderly watching Taehyung jump over to Jungkook with an especially generous hug, you can only hope to yourself that tomorrow will be okay.

***

It’s quite simple.

In the beginning, basketball was a mere game to you.

It’s a distinctive memory, and it started off how usually most new things do.

A peak in interest at a time you had least expected it.

You had been going about with your day, everything seeming to be as ordinary as it could be. That is, until a now familiar, but back then more much foreign orange ball rolled over to your feet.

Your eyes blankly stare at it, lips sullen. When you lean over to grasp onto it, the grainy texture meeting your fingers, there is nothing but mere curiosity dwelling in your eyes. It’s only until you hear the clearing of a throat, a girl around your age having her hand planted against her hip and one outstretched, face unamused that it withers away. A group formulates behind her, all staring at you in anticipation.

The ball tumbles towards the ground, bouncing off the rough surface and into the girl’s hands. She spins around without giving you a second look, the group behind her now fluttering with smiles once she returns.

You pout, feet slowly padding away but eyes still glued to how the girl begins to bounce the ball, passing it over to someone else. Only being able to catch a handful of glimpses through the tall metal wired fence, your steps halt when the second girl closes in on the basket, adding strength into her legs and shooting the ball outwards.

It flawlessly lands through the hoop, a roar of cheers echoing through her nearby players as they pat her on the back and congratulate her.

After that, you remain crouching in the same spot you faltered in. Simply and quietly observing from the cloaked shadows of the fence like a figured being discovering light for the first time.

Unintentionally, the observation ignites a spark, a small flicker of a fire that only seems to grow as time passes, becoming never ending through the desire to soar higher and higher. 

It’s quite simple – and yet when you enter that roaring gymnasium, thundering voices bouncing off all the walls, you know that you’ve reached a point in time that is not as simple anymore.

“Over here.” The captain of your team gestures all of you towards him with his hands, a cardboard box resting at his feet. Within an instant, he’s pulled out sets of black sleeveless shirts, mumbling in a low voice.

“Jaebum, Hoseok, Taehyung….” The shirts go flying from his hands, each one meeting a different member’s outstretched hands. 

“Y/N.” You react a tad late when he sends one your way, the delicate satin fabric meeting your fingertips. The front has bright swirls of purple, your team name highlighted with white undertones and grey prints.

Flipping over the shirt, there’s a row of giant orange numbers spelling your name, alongside with your assigned number.

“Seven…” You whisper, gazing at the number in puzzlement.

“Make sure you keep them safe.” Yoongi announces, ushering Namjoon over. He clears his throat, capturing everyone’s attention over immediately.

“Since this is going to be your first game, I’m sure you’re all nervous.” He chuckles, “I am too, but we made sure to prepare you all very well for this.”

He sticks his hand out, five fingers raised.

“We’ll have five players on the court at a time, that means ten in total during the game. We’ve already decided on which players will be on the court for today's game.” 

A list is pulled out by Yoongi, who hands it over to Namjoon, “Jungkook, Taehyung, Jackson and Y/N.” He makes eye contact with the group, “You guys will be playing for this game.”

Your form stiffens, a forced smile arising on your lips as a hand unconsciously hovers over your stomach.

Yoongi is standing right next to you and it would have been a perfect opportunity. With one simple turn, you could do a swap that would have pulled you out instead of keeping you anchored to the situation at hand.

One simple turn.

And yet, you can’t bring yourself to do it – not when there’s a multitude of flashbacks playing in your head, one that heavily consists of a poorly done try out.

Sucking in a deep breath, you move to stand beside Taehyung and the others. He darts his head around, gaze confused.

“Who’s our fifth player?

There’s a giant smug smile on Yoongi’s lips, sauntering over to stand in the line-up as he carries a basketball in his hands.

“I am.” 

Your eyes widen, focused on how Yoongi moves to the middle of the court and beckons the rest of you to follow. Your line of sight briefly changes to the opposing team, who are patiently waiting for your team’s arrival. 

With the basketball in one hand, Yoongi reaches out to shake the other’s team captain’s hand, a mutual look residing in their eyes. He then hands the ball over to the referee, signalling for all of you to get into your positions behind him. Jungkook and Taehyung move to stand on either side of him, you and Jackson heading for the back.

The referee holds up the basketball in his right hand, left hand curling around his whistle. Fisting your palms, you plant yourself firmly into position – mind empty as your quick eyes scan over the court. 

“First team to three points wins.”

The referee blows his whistle.

The best way to describe the aftermath is a complete blur. Everyone sprints simultaneously, heading out in contrasting directions as you try to navigate where the ball has disappeared to. It’s only until a head of maroon hair darts out, expertly dribbling around the players surrounding him.

His shoes loudly squeak when he runs into the other’s team captain, letting out a grunt when the blockade the captain creates is challenging for him to bypass. However, that’s when Yoongi decides on accelerating his pace, generating enough momentum to breeze by the other captain as the ball is thrown over to an already prepared Jungkook.

He quickly seizes it, eyes suddenly alarmed with the overflowing amount of players rushing at him. Darting his gaze over, a tick escapes him when Taehyung and Jackson are buried in a sea of the other team's players and the captain is right on Yoongi’s toes. 

You hastily glide over, finding a lucky opening at Jungkook’s back and outstretching your hands. Jungkook catches on right away, jerking over to the side and thrusting the ball in your direction with the little room he has. 

Your hands slap against the basketball, form speeding up rapidly when you can easily swoop through the overshadowing players around you and head for the basket. But when you’re only a mere inches away, there’s a stab of pain on your side, something that causes you to harshly bite down on your bottom lip as tears well up in your eyes.

Your form curls in on itself, hands quivering as you try to clutch the basketball harder – but your attempts prove to be futile when the opposing team’s captain lunges straight for you, knocking the ball out of your hands.

The impact causes you to wince again, eyes now becoming blurry but still racing over to claim the basketball again. Jackson suddenly emerges in front of you, using the same tactic the captain did to steal the ball away from him.

He goes full ham, dribbling the ball away at an insane speed that leaves you perplexed, mouth falling completely agape when he manages to make it over to the basket and shoot.

The ball practically flies from his hands, falling into the basket as a loud cheer echoes through the room. Jackson fondly smiles, a huffing Min Yoongi patting him on the back.

You’re able to muster enough energy to send him a content smile, breathing heavily as you drag yourself over to your old position. Though the action doesn’t escape a certain someone’s eyes; Yoongi’s heavy gaze lingering on you for a moment, before he races over to take the centre position again. 

The whistle is blown again, and the blur of players occurs once more. This time Yoongi manages to slap the basketball away, throwing it in Taehyung’s direction who catches it after it pounds against the ground. He spins around, eyes meeting Jungkook’s and passing it over to him.

The next set of minutes have your eyes harshly widening, disbelief crossing your features.

All the players charge at him at the same time, completely blocking all of his shots. Yoongi and Taehyung bolt over as Jackson hovers near the hoop, eyes on sight for any long shots Jungkook can make. It seems he’s not left with many options through, expression growing increasingly frustrated by the minute.

The basketball is knocked out of his hands, one of the opposing team’s members accelerating towards your hoop. You’re quick to move on your feet, dashing over to block any potential shots but the lack of team support doesn’t leave you with much hope.

The basketball enters your hoop, and the referee announces that you’ve both been tied.

Huffing even more, Yoongi resumes back in position and glances at his team.

“It’s only a tie, don’t mope.” When you look up, you notice his eyes pause for a moment before turning away completely. 

The whistle is blown for a third time, the opposing team grabbing onto the basketball right away. All of your team players rush at them at once and Yoongi attempts to block off the captain by himself, granting the rest of you the opportunity to apprehend the basketball.

Taehyung manages to after quite a lot of attempts, his teeth clenching when his feet roughly pound against the floor as the basketball meets Jackson’s hands. He whirls around, dribbling the basket but suddenly meeting a blockade of three members.

Making a quick call, the basketball is headed for your direction and you hastily grab onto it, eyes coming into contact with Yoongi’s. Your feet squeak when he gives you a nod, legs tightening when you jump, the ball flying towards the basket.

The ball is slapped away.

Jackson’s blockade catches onto it, hurriedly making use of the newly acquired opportunity to pass the ball between themselves and make it towards your defenseless hoop. The ball plunges in, their overflowing and buzzing audience spreading cheers through the large gymnasium.

You pant, sweat trickling down your neck and soaking your new black jersey as you plant your hands against your knees. Your gaze falters up for a second, grimly regarding how the two glows so brightly for the opposing team, the luminescent and stagnant number one silently mocking you.

Acknowledging that you’re near the tip of the iceberg now, you let out a shaky breath as you straighten up. From a distance away, you notice everyone in position except for a crucial member of your team, someone your wandering eyes meet when he stands near Namjoon and whispers into his ear.

After a moment, he signals the members over. You pad  over hurriedly, unfortunately realizing that the members were already departing by the time you reached them. Your lost eyes glance around, but Yoongi simply shakes his head and signals for you to get back into the resting position.

Shutting your eyes, you exhale and plant your feet firmly onto the ground. The whistle blows and Yoongi immediately catches the ball, whirling around and passing the ball over to Taehyung – who practically flies over to the opposing team’s basket. Meeting a barricade, he glances over at Jungkook and chucks the ball.

Jungkook quickly slides across the court, bouncing the ball over to Jackson who eyes down the man stealthily approaching behind him. When the ball is sent over to Yoongi, he focuses in your direction.

“Y/N!”

You flinch when he calls out your name, noticing the chain the members had created lead to one thing in the end–

You.

The basketball is hurled towards your direction, hands snatching onto it. You swivel around as your eyes try to determine who to pass it over to now, only to realize that you’re the one standing right beside the opposing team’s basket.

Eyes lighting up in relation, you don’t dwell on it any further when you jump and the ball goes straight into the hoop.

A loud range of ecstatic voices cry behind you, Taehyung and Jungkook rushing over with howls of encouragement. You smile, but your eyes are more focused on the way Yoongi seems to eye the distance from the centre to the hoop; the dots slowly beginning to connect for you.

The team is now tied – two to two on the gigantic board displayed close to the bottom of the ceiling. Meaning whoever makes it with this shot, wins the game.

A good glance around reminds you that although your team is highly motivated, everyone is certainly reaching their breaking point. Even Yoongi and Namjoon have been keen and through with your practices, they were also adamant about not wasting any energy and granted you with breaks that many of you were grateful for.

However, it’s crystal clear when your gaze roams, seeing the exhausted eyes, the way everyone’s hair and jerseys are thoroughly soaked with heavy breaths escaping them, that this final match will either make it or break it for you.

Clenching your fists, the whistle is blown for the last time.

Again, Yoongi replicates what he did last time, hand shooting out to grab the basketball before the other captain even has a chance to. Instead of whirling around like before though, he dribbles into the opposite direction and passes the ball to Jackson. When Jackson begins dribbling around and dodging attacking players, you slowly linger closer and closer to the opposite team’s basket, eyes carefully navigating through the horde of opposing players mixed in with your own team.

Jackson passes over to Jungkook, who quickly darts to Taehyung and bounces it over before he’s completely blocked. Taehyung grabs onto it, legs moving faster by the minute when all of the players are occupied except for one.

You promptly get into stance when Taehyung approaches, though you realize that the opposing team has fully understood your strategy. They intercept him right away, knocking the ball right out of his hands.

However, before they even get the chance to claim the basketball again, you hurriedly rush over and intercept instead. Gritting your teeth, there’s water being drawn to your eyes when the exertion of running overtakes you again, but you push the pain away when you draw near the basket. 

Being fully aware that they’re players right behind you and ready to snatch up any opportunity of a mishap, you tightly grasp the basketball and angle yourself for the hoop.

Your breath is stuck in between your throat and lungs when the ball goes soaring, eyes glued to it’s every movement when it plunges into the hoop.

Your knees almost wobble, feeling like jelly when there’s a thunderous roar of screams behind you, the glowing two for your team being replaced with a three instead. Adrenaline overtakes your system and buzzes through your ears, breaking you out of your daze when you’re suddenly being lifted by a group of familiar members.

Shock crosses you but is soon exchanged for a hearty smile, a stream of water leaving your eyes. You’re placed down, each of your members grinning at you with huge smiles that makes you feel like you’re on cloud nine.

Namjoon softly smiles; hands crossed behind his back as he watches his team celebrate your victory. Yoongi dashes over beside him to grab onto a towel, wiping the lingering sweat dripping from his face with a light smile looped on his lips.

“Good call.” Namjoon mutters, eyes locking with his, “Even I wouldn’t been able to catch onto that.”

Yoongi knows exactly what Namjoon is referring to, the former’s memory recalling the way the captain rushed towards him immediately when the opposing team had scored two points.

“Change the strategy.” Yoongi breathes out, but Namjoon gawks at him.

“What? Why?” He eyes the glowing scoreboard, “It can still work Yoongi, we just need to find an opening and–“

Yoongi hurriedly shakes his head, gesturing over to your direction. “Something’s wrong, I don’t know what but change it so that he’s in the front.”

Namjoon’s mouth drops, eyes lingering over to you for a second. You looked perfectly fine and well to him – but he knows that if Yoongi is bringing something to his attention then it has to be something crucial enough to be taken into consideration.

“Alright. Call the boys over.” With a nod, Yoongi’s one gesture draws everyone near. As Namjoon explains the new chain strategy, Yoongi’s eyes linger over to you. He watches how the opposing team is eyeing down the team’s sudden formation, their gazes barely acknowledging you.

Yoongi smiles.

What a truly foolish mistake for them to make.

[seokiloquy]

Tea and Tuna - Kita Shinsuke

Soulmate AU: First words said to you by your soulmate are written on your wrist

Requested (I changed it up a bit but it still follows)

Word Count: 1.5K

It was a late evening on a school night and the sun was beginning to set, taking the last bit warm weather with it. The sky began to turn various shades of pink and orange. You sat at the back of the classroom with a neat stack of books at your side, waiting to be shelved. Behind you, your friend Hina swayed to the beat of her music pumping through her headset as she swept the floor. Following her rapid steps was Yua, who wiped down the tables to get rid of dirt and doodles left by bored students. Autumn was okay, once the weather started to get cold it meant more layers which you weren’t a big fan of.

At least the colours are pretty. You thought as you watched the sun begin to lower.

As you mindlessly placed the books on their shelf, you were late when reacting to what was going on behind you. Yua’s amused voice broke through.

“Hina, no,” she laughed. “Watch out.” She didn’t sound at all worried.

Something bounced off your head with a hollow thunk and your perfectly stacked books were easily taken down by Hina’s weight. Grabbing the book that landed on your lap you used the stiff cover to pat the forehead of the giggling music enthusiast before stashing it away.

“I swear, Hina, you need a new pair of feet, sweetheart,” you laughed as you picked up the broom that fell.

“My feet are perfectly fine, thank you,” she huffed, grabbing Yua’s hand.

Yua easily picked Hina up, who was almost launched in the other direction from the force, as she replied.

"I could always cut them off? Where's my hack saw?"

Spinning quickly on your knees you stared in horror at the casual grin on her face.

"Yua! No!"

"What?! I was kidding!" She whined, throwing her hand in the air. Narrowly hitting Hina's face.

"Gah! Watch it! You nearly took her head off!"

Throwing her arms down, Yua grabbed the wipe and spray off of the table and got back to cleaning the last few desks. "Why am I getting reprimanded?" She grumbled.

Hina skipped over, picking up all the fallen books as she went, and began to help you finish putting them away. Once she was at your side and had all the books in her arms, you left the work to her so you could face Yua. Yua had her legs spread on either side of the chair she sat on, making her volleyball shorts visible below her grey and black plaid skirt. She ruffled her shortly cropped hair, before stuffing her school bag closed.

Your brow pinched together as you checked the calendar that was pinned up on the classroom’s wall. “Yua, hun,” you called, “Don’t you have a game tomorrow?”

“Yup, sure do,” she yawned.

“And didn’t you have practice this morning?”

“Sure did.”

There was a pause as you watched the two girls finish packing up.

“Yua?”

“Yup?”

“Where’s your sports bag?”

Hina laughed loudly, throwing her head backwards and holding her stomach as she watched Yua spin in circles, searching for her extra bag. Despite Hina being a great singer, her laugh sounded like an emu giving birth to a carburetor. Yua growled as she gripped the roots of her hair tightly.

“I’m so stupid.”

“Did you leave it in the gym?” Hina asked after her laughing fit.

“Probably,” she said, rolling her head over her shoulders.

“Well,” You hummed a bit as you threw on your coat, getting ready to leave, “The gym is on the way and the boys are practicing this evening, so we can drop by to pick up your stuff. Hina put on your coat, it's cold out.”

Hina huffed but followed your suggestion anyway. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. My family’s going out to dinner, and I don’t want to be late.”

Yua waved Hina goodbye once you all got to the exit. You called out to her once her back was turned.

“Hina, your laces are untied!”

One step too close to the other sent her flying, tripping over her shoes. Luckily she managed to dance out of falling on her face and shot the two of you a wave of her own. She kept walking with her laces undone. Yua hooked her arm around yours, pulling you in the direction of the gym before you could fret over Hina’s shoes.

“Hey, (Y/N). How did you know the boys were practicing today anyways?”

“Oh I asked one of the teachers what the gym’s schedule was so I could keep track of your practises and games. That reminds me, what do you want to eat before your game tomorrow? Ginger rice or miso salmon?”

Pushing open the gym doors, Yua dragged you inside, waving to the coaches as you walked their way. “I’ll stick with the green tea smoothie you make, thank you though.”

“That sounds rather tasty. (Y/N), you’ll have to give me the recipe.” Coach Kurosu was a nice man, teasing at times, and hid the bags under his eyes behind square-framed glasses.

“Mr. Kurosu, it’s been a while. I can write the recipe down and deliver it tomorrow before Yua’s game. It’s rather easy, but great for energy and it's healthy too.”

Yua sighed next to, interrupting the conversation gently, “I hope you don’t mind coach but I left my bag here this morning. Have you seen it?”

The man chuckled and pointed over in the far corner, “must be the one we tucked over there in the corner. Watch your head, though. The boys are practicing serves.”

Yua nodded as she elbowed your side and left you to continue your conversation of healthy foods with the boy’s volleyball coach. A conversation which led to you pulling out your phone to email him a list of meals that are high in protein that he could give to his players and friends.

“Heads!”

You were used to this. After attending Yua’s games and practices you should be. Immediately ducking out of the way of a ball that flew in line with where your head was, you watched as it bounced off of the wall and knocked over the piled water bottles like bowling pins.

You had always thought the word printed on your wrist was about coins. For a while, during middle school, you had gone around asking people to choose heads or tails when flipping a coin. In hindsight, with your wrist burning now, in a gym, without a coin in hand, that might have been a bit ridiculous.

“Atsumu, you need to be more careful, you’ll take someone’s head off.”

Standing up you made a throwaway comment about not having a meal for concussions, which made Kurosu laugh as he picked up the stray ball. He handed off to one of the older players that came your way.

“Are you alright?” he asked, taking the ball off his coach’s hands.

“Oh ya. I’ve got eyes at the back of my head,” you said laughing as you started to pick up the bottles. “As I just said, I don’t have a meal for concussions so I need to be able to dodge balls.”

Yua, who had made her way back from the corner of the gym (while expertly dodging every ball that came her way), groaned “You dodge balls by scaring guys away with your overbearing attitude.”

“Yua, please. Watch your language, the coach is here.”

“I didn’t swear, Mom. It’s not my fault you’ve taken a vow of abstinence until you met your soulmate.”

“Yua!”

It was a bit more than embarrassing, you were used to your friends being more than brash in friendly quarters. You can’t say you hadn’t had moments of crude hilarity yourself, but an adult was present, and he didn’t need to know about anything more than your grades and healthy food choices for athletes.

“Well, Yua,” the player spoke up, “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that for much longer.”

Wait. The burning. You forgot about the burning in your rush to duck out of the way of projectiles flying at your head. You rushed to pull the sleeve of your uniform to see the word printed there.

“Kita! That’s not how you ask a girl out!”

The word on your wrist had changed colour.

“Atsumu, I won’t make you any fatty tuna if you keep yapping!”

You looked up at the player’s light coloured hair that made the black tips stand out as they sit in the open spaces of the boy’s forehead and cheekbones.

“You can make fatty tuna?” You asked, shoulders rising with a smile.

Yua groaned.

“Ya, sort of have to with these guys always asking for food.”

With a bit of a squeal, Kita was easily dragged into a friendly conversation about food with his soulmate. A soulmate who seemed almost a bit overly excited when coach Kurosu gave in his share of ideas on side dishes. Yua waited patiently on the side, texting Hina who seemed bored at dinner but excited about the new development revolving around their friend.

So does that mean we can add a dad to our friend group?

Yua swallowed a thick gag but replied with a flat, ‘yes’.

Just a fluff, that's it. - Bacon

Posted: 03/07/2020

[justaniche]

Never Have I Ever...(accidentally) let someone meet Rebecca

heres the link to chapter 2 on ao3 

let me know what you think and happy reading!

word count: 4,622

His talk with Devi shifted from the forefront of Paxton’s mind soon after he got home. Once he finally got home and was ready to collapse, Rebecca found her way into Paxton’s room knowing of his arrival despite his exhausted attempt to hide it and with her came several and I mean  several  sketches of clothing she had drawn and that meant Paxton had to wake up and fast.

One time, Paxton, following a long day, had fallen asleep an hour into one of Rebecca’s ventures to bounce fashion ideas off of him and he had to work for weeks to make up for it. He loved his sister to death, but he was so tired he couldn’t help it and now he learned to keep energy drinks in their house for moments just like this one. In a movement perfected with repetition, Paxton grabbed a bang energy drink from his side dresser and down it while Rebecca pulled drawing after drawing out of the roll she brought with her.

Paxton hadn’t gotten in as late as he had in the past today so Rebecca had time to show him a good portion of her ideas before they had to start their movie so that they could get some sleep. Rebecca showed him a golden dress with a sequence pattern going down the left side, a take on a plaid skirt, paired with a shirt, she even shows him shoes and accessories to go with each individual outfit among many more. Becca wanted to be a fashion designer and hoped to soon apply to fashion school but she had to complete her portfolio first and did not hesitate to enlist Paxton’s help to do this.

After Becca finished showing Paxton all she wanted for the night, they settled onto the couch to watch the movie that had caught Becca’s eye 2 days prior,  After The Ball . The movie included an identity switch, a ball, and a touch of romance. It's a regular Cinderella tale with a twist, the protagonist was an aspiring fashion designer! Paxton could evidently see why it caught Rebecca’s eye. The movie ended rather quickly with Rebecca and Paxton engulfed deeply into the story although the latter tried to hide it. With the energy drink’s buzz leaving Paxton’s mind, his exhaustion followed and he was yawning despite himself. He and Rebecca exchanged goodnights and went to bed.

The next few days went off like normal, school was still new off of summer’s high and students and teachers alike needing time to bounce back, school work was nonexistent. The classes consisted of syllabi and classroom rules and expectations. This caused widespread boredom but fortunately, on this day, lunch approached rapidly and with lunch starting, Paxton found himself in the center of it all with his group of friends inside what students called  The Hotpocket.

Lunch unfolded as it always did, after they finished whatever lunch they had that day the soft hum of their light discussions broke out into full-fledged banter and laughter. Accompanying that laughter was parts of the aforementioned group messing around and sometimes engaging in ridiculous activities. Today that activity was Trent and Marcus, another close friend of theirs, battling with their lanyards. They were being dramatic as ever holding their IDs like nunchucks and swinging them about. Paxton was entangled in a lighthearted conversation with Devin, stopping on occasion to eye Trent and Marcus and laugh at their behavior.

Paxton was looking away when he heard someone exclaim “Ow. Goddamn it”. The entire Hotpocket looked up to cringe at the scene that was, apparently, a girl getting, accidentally, slapped in the face with a lanyard. Paxton’s jaw dropped slightly.

“Did I just hit you?” Marcus asks tentatively

“It’s cool” The reply from the girl, Devi, came rather fast considering her reaction from just moments ago. She adjusted her grips on her backpack straps, “Hey, Paxton, can I talk to you?”

Paxton turned towards his friend, giving him a pat and chuckling through an ‘i’ll be back’ while shifting up to stand. “Okay,” his face straightened as he followed Devi out of earshot from his friends.

“So I thought I would follow up on our conversation from the other day and ask if you wanted to hang out later?” The sentence was cool leaving her mouth, none of the ever-building anxiety leaked from her words.

Paxton had to think quickly to what Devi was referencing but it came to him milliseconds later and he blinked through his realization, “Oh, oh, you mean, uh, like, have sex?” he gave a soft smile hoping to give off a comforting vibe despite the twinge of uncomfortableness brewing in his gut. “Sure, uh, maybe” he paused to think “after school today at my place?”

Devi’s calm facade seemed to shatter and the word tripped from her mouth, eloquence long forgotten, “Today?” Her mind blanked with panic for a split second and the words  TOO SOON  flooded her brain. She hadn’t expected this.

“Yeah.”

“That’s super soon, which is great.” Devi had a feeling she was more so trying to convince herself than anyone else. “Soon is great, it’s just…” an answer popped into her head, “I have orchestra after school today, so I can’t.” she had to stall, to prepare herself but couldn’t for too long. It was a miracle that Paxton had agreed in the first place. If she messes up he could change his mind so she mindfully finished “But maybe later this week?”

Paxton wanted to laugh but held it in, he opened his mouth to answer but just exhaled. His charming smile ever-present as he answered while backtracking returning once again to the Hotpocket effectively ending the conversation. “I don’t know. Maybe.” He turned, striding away.

“Okay, great” Devi called, “We’ll compare calendars tomorrow or something. We’ll figure it out. Later, skater.”

Paxton had already begun to join Marcus and Trent in their makeshift game when he registered Devi’s continued speech, “What?” He asked but she tucked her head, shamefully, and walked away.

~~~

Succeeding lunch, the day sped up considerably. With the commencement of the last class of the day and everyone going to their lockers and then out the door, Paxton was joining them. Today there was no swim practice so Paxton was, thankfully, headed home early. That was his thought until of course his English teacher thought now would be a great time to talk to him about his supposed “lack of participation”. This normally would be something that Paxton would care about and attempt to contemplate but not now, not today when he was getting an early day to relax and who knows what else with this extra time.

It was probably 15 minutes max, but to Paxton, it felt like a lifetime. He was at his car door about to get in as someone called him from his right.

“Hey. I can actually come now. The scheduling conflict I had cleared up.” Devi stated, hands gripping her bookbag’s straps.

Paxton didn’t miss a beat, a split second earlier and he would have cut her off. He found himself buzzed with some semblance of happiness for the company. “Cool. Get in.”

“Okay.” Devi smiled and hurried t0 the passenger side of the car and climbed it as Paxton got settled and they set off.

When they got to Paxton’s house, he got Devi inside before his phone rang and he left the garage to answer the phone. The conversation was rather brief and as it was concluding Paxton re-entered the garage still speaking Japanese into his phone. He hung up.

“Sorry. That was my grandpa,” Paxton clarified, “Can I get you a drink?” he was already making his way over to the mini-fridge he kept in the garage before she could answer. He knew how these matters, if not handled carefully, could easily tip from comfortable to awkward if he didn’t mind sharp, and that was the last thing he wanted with Devi.

“Sure. Do you have any chocolate--” Devi stopped, rather abruptly, when Paxton spun around to face her, beer in hand. She grabbed it despite herself. “Ah. Beer. You read my mind.”

“All right. Well, my mom will be home soon, so...better get to it” Paxton gave a half shrug before stripping off his shirt from the bottom. If there was anything about himself that Paxton was securely confident in, it was his physical appearance. Being that Paxton was a swimmer, he could not afford to think about how others would feel about his appearance at every opportunity. Giving into potential insecure would only throw him off mentally during swim practices and comps, Paxton resolved himself a long time ago that it would help no one. So he tended to, or at least tried to, not think about it every time he showed a part of his body. Plus it’s not like any girl he was interested in who got far enough with him complained, thus taking off his shirt was no big feat and he did so without hesitation.

Devi was sort of freaking out at this point but was doing a great job of not showing it. That was until Paxton’s shirt came off. The beer she was sure she had a good grip on slipped and hit the floor with a thud. Paxton’s eyes followed it, slight confusion on his face but he didn’t comment.

“Oh.” the urge to explain the state of his chest took over, “Just so you know, I have to shave my chest for swimming, so the stubble might, like irritate your skin a little bit.” He lifted her limp hand to his chest for emphasis moving her hand to feel, he looked down following their joined hands, and then looked up making eye contact with Devi. He gave a small smile and she gaped.

“Oh, God”

Her mouth opened and closed for a few moments before her brain reconnected with her mouth. She had just touched the chest of Paxton Hall-Yoshida! Fab and Eleanor were gonna flip! But wait, her mind was now at red alert at the close proximity between her and Paxton that she’s just now processing. And so she did what any normal person would in her situation, she panicked.

“You know what? I just remembered. I have to go home,” She snatched her hand back like it was on fire leaving Paxton surprised and his hand hanging in the air as she patted his shoulders for good measure, “because I have a package coming that I need to sign for.” she nodded trying to regain her composure, it wasn’t working.

Paxton nodded and chuckled as he and Devi switched positions in her attempt to get to the door, he shoved his hands into his pockets, “Word?”

“Yeah, It’s medication for my mom’s...polio.” What the heck Devi? Polio, really?

Paxton could only nod through Devi’s hidden meltdown.

“Yeah, so…” She slowly retreated to the door through her word vomit when she misstepped and a sharp pain spread at the base of her leg, “Ow. Goddamn it!”

“Oh, shit. Are you okay?” Paxton’s stance broke as he rushed forward to the injured girl. She leapt back before he could reach.

“Yep, yep. I’m fine” Devi’s aim to reassure fell short as Paxton’s concerned eyes looked closer.

“Are you sure? You’re...bleeding.” he gestured to her leg

“It’s chill. I’ll see you tomorrow” humiliation ate at Devi’s very being. She had majorly fucked up, in various departments and she was out the door before Paxton could utter another word.

Paxton was extremely bewildered and it showed on his face. With Devi gone the garage fell silent. Paxton stepped back from the door, considered his options. He could go after her or stay home and like she said, see her the following day. He weighed it and decided against trying to catch up to her. She really did seem like she just wanted him to think she was fine and to leave it alone, he wanted to respect that. His gaze swept the floor before it landed on the theorized perpetrator. It was sharpish, in a box on the floor, and sticking out in his direction; one of Paxton’s old swim trophies. He crouched down with a sigh as he picked up the award and rolled it around in his hands examining it. At the very tip was a trace amount of blood, where it had punctured Devi’s cafe. Paxton could not help but think about how strange that was, try as he had to make the whole interaction go as smoothly as possible there was no predicting that and therefore no thwarting it. With the knowledge that there was nothing Paxton could do to help the situation with Devi gone, Paxton shrugged his shirt back on and proceeded with his day.

~~~

Contrary to what Devi said and to what Paxton thought, Paxton did not see Devi the entire school day. He found himself expecting to see her somewhere but always fell short when she was nowhere to be seen. The end of the day came and once again no practice, coach explained it as a new regime he was trying out, sorting out on days and off days and said it would vary until he decided what worked. Paxton was restless after two days and decided on a run after he got home.

He was finishing up his 2-mile run when he saw Devi pacing in front of his house, he ran up behind her. “Sup,” he panted, her response was a scream as he had seemed to startle her. He smirked faintly, “I’m just finishing up a run,” Paxton began. He wanted to get her talking, particularly about why he found her in front of his house talking to herself. He was vaguely relieved to see her but ignored that.

“Okay, cool” she crossed her arms, her demeanor chill. “So do you need to stretch or something, or are you good to just go into your garage and have sex with me?” The words marched from her mouth clear and confident. Let us take a minute to appreciate both the awkwardness of that sentence and applaud the boldness of it.

“Um…” Caught off guard Paxton frowned deeply into his shrug, “I’m good to go to the garage.” She struts passed, her head held high, and as soon as she did Paxton swiftly lifted his shoulder to sniff his armpit, reassuring himself that he did in fact not smell. He pivoted and followed her inside.

Unfortunately, the blind confidence coming from Devi’s words did not translate well into action. That is how they found themselves sitting on Paxton’s couch, Devi’s arm along the back of it, their vicinity too close to not be at least talking and the tension was building. Paxton looked to her for a move and Devi jumped on it.

“So, here we are…” she weirdly stroked from his collarbone down, the tone from outside back on, “about to pleasure each other.”

Paxton did not know if he should be weirded out by her word choice but Devi was proving, with every meeting, to be not like any of the other girls he tends to interact with. He nodded vaguely but when she tapped his nose twice he couldn’t stop his eyebrows from coming together, what exactly was happening?

“But before I can rock your world, I need to freshen up.”

Paxton couldn’t decide if Devi did not see anything wrong with this whole situation or if she was choosing to ignore it, that decision would dictate how he would respond so he needed to figure it out and soon.

“Can you point me in the direction of the ladies’ room? I wouldn’t wanna pee in the middle of doing it.” One point for ignoring the problems, zero for not seeing them. There’s no way she didn’t realize how that sounded coming from her mouth but her face gave no emotion but certainty.

Paxton wasn’t sure if he should respond to the second part but did anyway although the words came slowly full of apprehension, as he lifted his finger in the direction of the bathroom. “Yeah, that’d be bad. First door on the right.”

“Thanks” With that Devi was gone.

Paxton breathed a sigh of relief, he couldn’t think properly with her here. She came back on a new day seemingly ready to have sex despite yesterday’s debacle. The odd opening word choice might have been endearing had it not been followed by a tense silence and more questionable sentence phrasing. It was quickly bordering on uncomfortable but awkwardness was a natural occurrence in sex so this was not a real reason to bail. He just had to wrap his head around her way of speaking and this would be fine. Paxton repeated this in his head, this will be fine.

Several minutes had gone by and Devi had yet to return. Paxton got up from his position on the couch to find her, she really should not have gotten lost. He checked the bathroom to no avail and stopped confused then he continued down the hallway when he heard voices coming from Rebecca’s room.

“I’m Devi. It’s nice to meet you.” Paxton turned glimpsing into Rebecca’s room to see her shaking hands with Devi. Irritation started to build in Paxton’s chest.

“What are you doing?” He directed at Devi but didn’t wait for a response before addressing his sister, “Becca, I thought you were at work.”

Paxton walked deeper into the room, “I switched with Lisa. She gets her braces off tomorrow.” Rebecca explained, satisfied with the answer he received, Paxton turned back to Devi.

“You said you were just going to the bathroom. What the hell?” The irritation was quickly turning to anger at Devi having met his sister. If people knew about Rebecca things could turn ugly, fast.

“Wait. Are you mad at me or something?” The disbelief Devi felt was clear on her face, what was the problem here?

Paxton simply didn’t respond, the budding anger brewing substantially at her attempt to play coy. He walked clear out of Rebecca’s room without a word, his expectation was clear, she was wearing her welcome thin, and she was to go with him outside.

“Why are you sneaking around my house and talking to my sister?” Paxton was comfortable to let his annoyance into his voice with his sister out of earshot.

“Was I not supposed to? I didn’t even know that you had a sister.” Her voice was soft as she tried to get him to understand the genuine misunderstanding but it was far from working and Paxton was too cross to see reason right now. Come on Devi, read the room. Paxton saw this as a jab,

“Oh, you think I’m hiding her now, because I’m embarrassed of her or something?” It was definitely a question but he certainly did not want a response. Seeing someone with his sister sent Paxton into a sort of panic mode. Devi was going to go to school and tell everyone all about his sister and hell if he wasn’t going to get in a lot of fights defending her.

“No, I didn’t say that,” Devi stated, slightly defensive at the attack.

“Okay.” He didn’t believe her for a second as he looked away trying to gather himself, he wanted her out now. He shook his head as the words came out his mouth spiced with venom, “I don’t think this is gonna work. All right, you should probably just go.”

Devi felt the air forced from her lungs leaving her speechless, she knew there was nothing more she could say and honestly couldn’t find the words either way. She gave him one last look before leaving.

Paxton went inside, not stopping to see her go, so many emotions flowed through him but most of all he was scared. Scared of what people would say and all because he didn’t think to make sure Rebecca wasn’t home before he invited Devi inside. He was scared because he loved his sister and could not deal with people and their ignorant words and dumbass opinions but he was helpless. Paxton could not stop people from talking, couldn’t stop Devi from sharing. And Paxton hated feeling this way, the powerlessness ate at him because he was meant to always take care of his sister. So he bundled the emotions up into something he could control, aggravation, and directed it at the person who triggered the emotions, Devi.

~~~

The day passed and Devi and the situation with Becca plagued Paxton’s mind. He was upset, yes but he was also rational enough to know that he couldn’t completely blame his feelings on Devi but he was at a loss. He had accused her and gotten mad entirely too quickly. He now felt stuck between his emotions and the urge to talk to her, to say what? Paxton wasn’t sure as of yet but he couldn’t speak to her, he didn’t know how to.

~~~

Morning classes were a bore especially considering Paxton’s mind was not exactly on task so he found himself once again immensely thankful for lunch’s social reprieve. Paxton was surrounded by his friends and he could almost forget that something was bothering him. That was until the person Paxton was consciously avoiding called to him.

“Paxton, can I talk to you?”

The liveliness among the group died briefly before light laughter spread between them. Paxton’s energy dropped but it did not climb with the rest of his friends’. Paxton looked over, face straight, his eyes met with the expectant Devi. She sort of looked how he felt but he couldn’t compel his body to make a move. His eyes dropped from hers unable to maintain the contact with shame stewing over his behavior. Without a word to Devi, Paxton turned to his friends and continued to converse.

~~~

There was a chance although slight that Paxton held on to that he would not run into Devi during lunch. That did not work out. There was no chance that he could go to their  shared  history class and not be at a close distance seeing as he sat in front of her. He sat in front of her trying to focus but his mind was racing and he was dumbfounded.

He still didn’t know what to say. The reasons to simply ignore her compiled, her meeting Becca, his anger, his reaction, and now him disregarding her at lunch. He was making this worse instead of better, he knew this but he couldn’t figure out how to fix it. He hated being mean to people, he hated to leave things unsettled, but this time was different. He couldn’t get a grasp on the words that would make this better, so he chose not to say anything at all.

~~~

That night Paxton laid down, progressively his pent up energy was coming to a head and it was coming out as restlessness. Once he had gotten home, Paxton ran until he was spent but still he was unable to relax. He had done a series of activities including various workouts, watching movies, and cooking but nothing was untangling the knot he felt in his chest. The complete stress he felt at being a jerk to Devi. Paxton had to do something. He felt okay at first but it has gotten so much worse in such a short span of time.

He had to talk to her, and not tomorrow, no he needed to apologize tonight, right now. So he grabbed his keys and started to walk to Devi’s house. Thinking about it in a way that makes sense, he would have reached her sooner had he driven but Paxton wasn’t thinking. He was going totally on emotion and that was causing him to act rashly. He made it to Devi’s house relatively quickly and he rang the doorbell before processing a thought. When his finger released the doorbell, he took a breath that finally felt like it entered his lungs. Within moments a woman was answering the door,

“Hello?” she began, despite the door being wide open. She appeared suspicious of the unknown young man who stood at her door at this hour. “Can I help you with something?”

“Um...yes I am sorry to bother you but is Devi home?” He realized at that moment the strangeness of his request and how it could be taken considering when he had shown up.

“Hold on” The woman disappeared, leaving her door open and Paxton again was left to wait.

Paxton took a breath to help calm himself then turned to face the door upon hearing the shuffling of footsteps and was relieved to see Devi at the door.

“Hey”

“Hi”

The greeting was short as they both caught sight of Nalini Vishwakumar, Devi’s mom, leaning along the top of the staircase, eavesdropping not so subtly. Devi could not have her mom listening in. Devi did not know what this conversation would entail but given the nature of her past talks with Paxton, her asking him to have sex with her after all, she could not have her mom hearing that. She would very possibly kill her.

“Let’s talk over here” Devi offered, walking outside and shutting the door behind her. Once they were at a safe distance, Paxton let what was bothering his mind spill out.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry for yesterday. I’m just kind of protective of my sister. She used to get bullied pretty bad...even by people I thought were my friends. I guess I’ve always been a little too protective. Like, when my parents first adopted her, I used to sit by her bed every night with a Nerf gun. That’s why our cat only has one eye now.” Paxton finished slowly, slightly embarrassed that a funny story had turned into him admitting to mistakenly hurting their family cat.

Paxton did not know why exactly he was sharing so much with Devi but it felt nice. It started to seem to Paxton that he did not think about every word when it came to Devi. It was weird but it was nice to share this with someone.

“Paxton, I would never make fun of your sister. She’s super fashionable and way cooler than me.” They were sharing a laugh at that blatantly honest remark when Devi’s mom knocking on the window interrupted them.

“No laughing.” She warned

“Mom!”

Paxton had to interject, recalling something Devi had said in his garage, he lifted his hand in greeting. “I’m so sorry about your polio, Doctor Vishwakumar.”

“What?” Nalini shot back but she didn’t care for an answer and that showed when she let the curtain fall.

“Well, thanks for the apology. If we’re cool, should we meet in your garage tomorrow?” Devi’s tone was hopeful but Paxton had other plans. He made a face.

“Actually, I don’t think that’s a good idea anymore. It just got weird, you know?” He felt a lot better and his voice took on a relaxed feel.

Despite the disappointment Devi felt, she played it off, she scoffed “Yeah, sure. I was gonna say the same thing too.”

Paxton smiled and Devi gave a small one back, “Okay.” His words felt final and they knew their conversation was coming to an end. “Well, uh...I’ll see you at school.”

Paxton, pleased with the way the talk went, began his trek home and Devi dejectedly retreated back into her house. Paxton was once again walking away from Devi, but this time there was a difference. This time, Paxton looked back.