#couldn’t sleep. figured i should throw it in the oven early

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

who up roasting they meats

[moonlit-jeno]

valentine (m.)

pairing: reader x jung jaehyun x johnny seo x kim jungwoo x kim doyoung

genre/warnings: explicit sexual content | fivesome | mentions of drinking | absolute filth

words: 3.8k

summary: a series of unfortunate events leaves the five of you alone on a day meant to be spent together

“You’re back early.” Doyoung comments, glancing up from his phone to watch you storm into your apartment. He’s in the same spot on the couch that he was in when you left.

You throw your purse onto the counter, angrily stripping your coat off. “Yeah. The guy blew me off. Can you believe that?” You walk into your room and peel your dress off of you, trading it for a comfy pair of sweats. The lingerie stays on, though. It makes you feel cute. When you come back into the living room, Doyoung hands you a beer and pats the space next to him. “He didn’t even text me until I’d been waiting for fifteen minutes.” “Yeah well, he’s a fucking asshole.” Doyoung says it like he’s stating the obvious. You guess he is. “But hey, at least you can spend some quality room with your roommate who isn’t an asshole!” You raise your eyebrows. “Yay.” There isn’t an ounce of emotion in your voice.

Doyoung glares at you but he can’t be too annoyed. He hands you the TV remote. “You choose. My ex changed the password on my Netflix account and won’t let me log back in, so. That’s not an option.”

“You’re kidding. Do you want me to go to her house?” You normally leech off of Doyoung’s Netflix account, so this is a direct attack to you.

He snorts. “I’ll think about it.” It’s an hour later and you’ve flipped through every station the TV has to offer, finding nothing but shitty made-for-tv romance movies and game shows. You give up watching and pick up your phone, checking social media. An array of happy couples assault you and you groan, switching apps. It isn’t any better.

“Valentine’s day is stupid.” Doyoung groans, clearly in a similar state of boredom. 

“Amen.” You click your phone off and let your head fall back against the couch, finding the ceiling more appealing than the endless Snapchat stories. 

“Definitely the worst holiday.” You think about it for a moment. “Hey, no. Think about all the candy they’ll have on sale tomorrow.” His agreement is interrupted by a knock and you exchange a glance with him. “Did you invite someone over?” He shakes his head.

You swing the door open to reveal Johnny and Jaehyun. Johnny’s holding a cake and smiling broadly. Jaehyun looks dead inside.

“Hey?” You greet them, slightly confused as to why they’re at your apartment. Doyoung doesn’t look like he has any idea either. “What’s up?” “Well, we were going to go out to dinner for Jae’s birthday but the restaurant lost our reservation and everywhere else was beyond crowded.” Johnny’s laugh is almost apologetic. “I knew Doyoung was staying in, but I thought you had a date.” His eyes roam over your figure, clearly taking in the combination of your loose sweats and stained sweatshirt. “Yeah, I had a date. He blew me off.”

Both boys grimace. “Shit. Want me to kill him?” You step back to let them in, laughing lightly. “Nah, that’s alright. Come on in, we can sit in our misery together.” Johnny and Jaehyun smile and shuffle in, though Jaehyun’s looks a little forced. “I can’t promise you a gourmet dinner, but we do have frozen pizzas and ice cream.” Jaehyun laughs. “Sounds pretty gourmet to me. I’m gonna use the bathroom, if that’s alright.” The three of you watch him walk away before Johnny turns to you and Doyoung.

“Sorry to barge in, but he always gets so lonely on his birthday, and I wanted to cheer him up. I don’t think that him seeing all the couples out tonight really helped.” Johnny sighs. 

You grimace. “Oh god, yeah.” 

“You know you’re always welcome over.” Doyoung shrugs. “Not like you were interrupting anything.” He walks away to turn the oven on, pulling out the pizza. “It should take twenty minutes? Not really sure. Our oven’s kind of broken.” Johnny laughs. “No problem. Can I set this down somewhere?” He raises the cake in question and you motion to your counter. “Are we feeling wine or vodka tonight?” Jaehyun makes his return at the exact moment you ask the question. 

“Definitely vodka.” He responds, already pulling the glasses out of your cupboard. You snicker. It certainly is that kind of night.

Johnny’s phone chimes and he checks it, snorting. “Seems like a bad night for all of us. Ten just abandoned Jungwoo for a date.” “Tell him to come over.” Doyoung says. “We’ll have a party of our own.”

Jungwoo shows up 30 minutes later, equipped with bags of takeout and a pout on his face. You don’t have enough chairs for everyone so you eat it on the couch, squished between the arm rest and Jungwoo. “We were supposed to go clubbing.” He whines, stripping his jacket off. “I even put on my expensive cologne.” “Rough. Who’s he out on a date with, anyway?” He shoves half the container of noodles into his mouth. “Someone on Tinder! Can you believe that he abandoned me for a Tinder match?”

“Unbelievable.” Jaehyun pats his back while the rest of you nod solemnly. Johnny pours the rest of you shots.

“Fuck Valentine’s day.” He raises his glass in a toast before tossing it back, grimacing slightly. A chorus of ‘fuck Valentine’s day’ sounds around the room as you follow suit.

You’re all tipsy by the time you move onto cake, singing a very dramatic version of happy birthday to Jaehyun. He giggles his way through it, dimples making an appearance as he blows the candles out..

“What’d you wish for?” You demand, leaning forward. Jaehyun winks at you and holds a finger to his lips. “Can’t tell you or it won’t come true.” You pout. He pinches your cheeks.

Johnny takes charge of cutting the cake while Doyoung runs to the kitchen, returning with a can of whipped cream and some ice cream. Jungwoo looks down at the slice Johnny gives him, and then back up at Johnny with raised eyebrows. He shoves the whole piece into his mouth in one go. Johnny gives him a significantly larger second piece.

“You know what the most devastating part of tonight is?” Jungwoo asks, spooning ice cream onto his cake. “I’m not even going to get laid. That’s like, the one thing I was hoping for.” “Hey, that’s what I wished for!” Jaehyun exclaims. His head rests heavily on Johnny’s shoulder and Johnny laughs, patting his back.

“I thought you said that you couldn’t tell us or it wouldn’t come true.” You chime in.

Jaehyun shrugs. “Not like it’s gonna come true anyways.” “I’m pretty sure that’s what we were all wishing for.” Doyoung chimes in.

Johnny raises his forkful of cake. “I’ll toast to that.” “Same.” You respond, trying to remember the last time you had sex, then trying to remember the last time you had good sex. Then you pause. “Wait. You’re all hot as fuck, how are you not getting laid?” They all shrug. Jaehyun grins, dimples on full display. “Aww, you think we’re hot. Would you sleep with us?” Maybe it’s the alcohol that has you nodding, maybe not. You’ve always been shameless, especially in front of people you’re comfortable with. “Yeah? Like I said, you all hot as fuck.” “You’re pretty hot too, y/n.” Johnny says. “I don’t know how Doyoung can live with you and not be sexually frustrated as fuck.” Jungwoo giggles. “He is, though.” Doyoung smacks the younger and Jungwoo squeaks, still laughing. You shoot Doyoung a questioning look and he just shrugs. 

The five of you continue eating, finishing the cake and chatting mindlessly. “Y/n,” Jungwoo is suddenly way too close, using his hand to tilt your chin up. “You have a little something…” He uses his thumb to wipe at the corner of your mouth at the same time that you flick your tongue out to lick at the stray whipped cream. The result is Jungwoo’s thumb sliding past your lips, and for whatever reason, your brain tells you to suck on the digit. And you do.

Jungwoo watches with wide eyes as you close your lips around his thumb, using your tongue to tease the tip of it as you suck. A soft moan leaves him, his eyes groaning wide. He swallows thickly.

“Oh, baby.” Jungwoo groans, sliding his thumb out of your mouth and replacing it with his lips. You all but melt into the kiss, pressing forward into him, sliding your hand into his hair to pull him closer.

You get so lost in the kiss that you forget about the rest of the people grouped around the couch. It isn’t until Jungwoo starts kissing down your neck and you let your head fall to the side that you notice. 

Jaehyun and Doyoung are watching you with slack jaws, eyes locked on the blissed out expression you wear, ears straining to catch the noises you make. Johnny looks unaffected, watching with something dark in his eyes. 

You try to pull away but Jungwoo growls, something so startling for the normally soft spoken man. He slides his hand up your thigh, pulling you over to straddle his waist. There’s a sharp gasp as you rock your hips down on instinct, feeling the shape of his cock through the fabric of his jeans. 

“Seems a little selfish of you to ignore the birthday boy.” You and Jungwoo make out for a bit longer before Johnny speaks up. You turn your head to find Johnny standing in front of you, his hand on Jaehyun’s lower back to push him forward. “Why don’t you give him his present?” You bite your lips and turn yourself around on Jungwoo’s lap, sitting so that your back is to his chest. “What do you want?” Jaehyun seems to debate the question, glazed eyes roaming over your figure. “I want...” His tongue darts out to wet his lips and he swallows thickly. “I want to taste you.” “What the birthday boy wants.” You shrug, trying and failing to seem unaffected. In reality your panties are soaked and you’re beyond excited to have Jaehyun’s face between your thighs. 

He wastes no time sliding your pajama pants off, revealing your bare legs and your panty clad core. You’d forgotten about the lacy lingerie set you’d slipped on earlier until Jaehyun snaps the waistband of your panties against your skin.

“Oh shit,” Jaehyun moans, sliding his hand up your bare legs. “You're so soft.” Doyoung laughs despite himself. “Guess that’s where all the hot water went.” You open your mouth to respond but get cut off as Jungwoo pulls your sweatshirt over your head. Similar swears echo around the room. “Fuck baby, who is this for?” 

Jungwoo pinches your nipple over the fabric of your bra and your back arches, pushing your chest further into his touch. You moan softly, letting your eyes flutter closed. “Me, bitch. I deserve to feel sexy.”

“Fuck yeah, you do.” Johnny groans at the same time Doyoung chimes in with a “Look even sexier.”

You squirm as Jaehyun attaches his lips to your ankle, kissing his way up your leg until he’s at your thigh. The ticklish feeling has you squirming but you’re held in place by Jaehyun’s large palms. 

A hand slides into your hair and you whine, looking up to find Doyoung staring at you with dark eyes. “Can you make me feel good, princess?” You nod, leaning forward to mouth at the bulge in his boxers and he swears, struggling to tug the fabric off with one hand. A second pair of hands land on Doyoung’s hips and the man jumps, looking back to find Johnny there. “You look like you need some help.” Is all he whispers as he slides Doyoung boxers down.

Doyoung looks ready to argue but you’re sinking your mouth down around him before he can, just sucking at the tip. He’s bitter on your tongue, but not unpleasant. It’s certainly worth it to be able to watch his eyelids fluttering closed, low moans leaving him.

A whine leaves you as Jungwoo continues to play with your chest, pinching at your nipples over the lace of your bra until there are tears in your eyes. His dick is hard against your ass and you rut back against him, drawing a sweet moan from him as he tugs harshly at your nipples. You cry out but the sound is muffled around Doyoung’s cock.

Jaehyun chooses that moment to attach his mouth to your center, kissing and sucking at your core through your panties. A whine leaves you as you buck up against his mouth, trying to get more. You go to pull off of Doyoung but then there’s another set of hands in your hair, forcing you down until Doyoung’s cock hits the back of your throat. 

“Oh baby, you can do better than that, can’t you?” It’s Johnny, guiding your pace from where he stands behind Doyoung. His eyes are heavy as he watches you blow his friend, and you catch the subtle movement of his hips as he grinds against Doyoung. 

You let out a muffled noise of agreement, sucking harshly on Doyoung’s cock. He fills your mouth up nicely, your lips having to stretch a little to fit him, but not too much. Tears well up in your eyes as you take him deeper into your throat, gagging lightly. 

There’s a tearing sound as Jaehyun rips your panties off of your body, wasting no time before diving into your core. His nose bumps your clit as he fucks you with his tongue, his hands sliding up to grip at the back of your thighs as he tries to pull you even closer to his face. You cry out at the pleasure coursing through your veins, squirming as your mind runs a million miles an hour, trying desperately to process the situation. Jungwoo’s hands massaging your tits, Doyoung’s cock deep in your throat, Jaehyun eating you out like you’re his last meal. 

You force your heavy lids open and make eye contact with Johnny. He’s watching you with fire in his eyes and it’s the last you register before you’re coming, yanking your mouth off of Doyoung’s cock and biting into the skin of his thigh. Your legs try desperately to close around Jaehyun’s head but neither him nor Jungwoo let up, working you through your high until you’re a sobbing mess. It’s only then that Jaehyun pulls away from you, though Doyoung doesn’t seem to have the same reservations. You’ve only just caught your breath when he slides his cock back between your lips, fucking into your mouth, once, twice before he’s shooting his come down your throat.

It’s quiet for a minute as you catch your breath, sagging back into Jungwoo. Jaehyun’s still between your legs, though he’s resting his head against your thigh. Your eye catches movement and you lean forward to watch Jaehyun jerk his cock desperately, hips bucking up into his hand. 

You literally just came but already your body is heating back up. Suddenly you need to have all of them, need them to fuck you until you can’t even move, until they’re imprinted in your body. You run your hand through Jaehyun’s hair, tugging at the strands to make him look up at you.

“Let me take care of you now.” Jaehyun nods, blinking slowly, and then it’s a race to get to the bed. You all crowd into Doyoung’s room because he’s the one with the bigger bed, and suddenly he’s forgiven for all the times he's forgotten to do the dishes.

“God, I want to fuck you.” Jungwoo moans, clambering onto the bed. A whimper leaves you as you think about having him in your pussy, but then you look over to Jaehyun and your mouth goes dry at how desperate he looks. He has his hand shoved down the front of his pants and he’s grinding against his palm, jaw slack as he pleasures himself. 

“Mhmm, me too. Jaehyun’s first though.” You pant out, trying to help Jungwoo out of his skinny jeans. Jungwoo whines impatiently. “You have two holes though. Why can’t we just share?” You vaguely hear Johnny laugh over the white noise in your brain. The idea of having both of them fuck you at once has you feeling much too hot, and you cringe as you feel more wetness drip out of you. “You seem to like that idea.” Johnny comments, stroking your side softly. You whine. 

“But what about you?” You realize that he hasn’t been touched yet and you move your hand to cup him over his boxers. He hisses. 

His voice is strangled as he gently bats your hand away, moving off the bed. Doyoung takes his place. “I’m okay with watching, for now. I’ll get my turn later.” You nod, turning to Jaehyun. “Jae, baby, do you want to fuck my pussy? Or my ass?” Jaehyun’s hips stutter where he’s still grinding against his hand and he looks at you with wide eyes. “Fuck, you can’t just ask me that.” He groans, pausing his movements to strip his clothes off. “God, can I fuck your ass?”

You grin, nodding. Doyoung ghosts his thumb over your ass and you jolt, moaning at the touch. “Johnny, condoms.” You wave your hand in the general direction of your nightstand and he gets the hint, throwing a handful of condoms and a bottle of lube at you. 

Doyoung wastes no time in sliding one of his long fingers into your ass. The stretch has you hissing but he pays you no mind, starting a gentle rhythm and smoothing his hand down your side. Jungwoo rolls a condom on and hisses as he strokes himself, head falling back at the relief. 

“Wait,” You pause Doyoung, crawling over to Jungwoo. “Wanna ride him while you finger me.

Jungwoo strokes your hips as you straddle him, sinking down onto his cock slowly. His face screws up in pleasure and he lets out a moan, the sound so pretty that it has you clenching around him. He moves to undo your bra, letting your breasts fall free so that he can bury his face between them. His hands cup them perfectly and he massages them, turning his head to leave kisses on the skin.

“Fuck, you feel so good.” Jungwoo moans, the words muffled by your chest. You hum in agreement, swiveling your hips to feel the thickness of his cock, how nicely he presses against your walls.

Doyoung fucks two, then three fingers into your ass, turning you into a moaning mess as you fuck yourself onto both Jungwoo’s cock and Doyoung’s fingers. You already feel so full, but you know it’s about to get so much better.

“Jaehyun.” You moan, turning you head to find the man. “Jaehyun, come on, want you in me.” He nods, reaching for a condom, but Johnny beats him to it. You watch with a slack jaw as Johnny rolls the condom onto Jaehyun, pouring lube onto his cock. Johnny strokes Jaehyun just a little too slowly to be considered comforting, and Jaehyun’s face contorts as he tries to fuck up into the others grip.

Johnny lets go and pats his hip. “I think Y/N’s tight ass is going to feel a lot better than my hand.”

Jaehyun sits up, flustered, and moves to replace Doyoung. You whine at the loss of the man’s fingers, though you cut yourself off with a gasp as Jaehyun presses the head of his cock against your fluttering hole.

Jungwoo kisses you through the discomfort as Jaehyun slides his cock into your tight hole, stretching your body beyond anything you’ve ever felt. You can’t stop moaning and you feel like you can’t breathe, desperately trying to gasp for air. Jungwoo eventually pulls away to let you rest your forehead against his, his hand moving down to find your clit. You jolt against him and whine, molten lava filling your insides.

Jaehyun lets out an almost feral groan when he bottoms out, panting heavily. “You feel so good.” Jaehyun swears. “So fucking tight, baby. Have you ever let anyone fuck your ass before?” “Yeah, but I-” He starts moving and your voice dies, your mouth opening in a silent scream. Jungwoo fucks up into your pussy, his head falling back.

“But?” He asks sweetly, encouraging you to finish. It’s almost impossible with how they’re touching you, though. Jungwoo must know it.

“But I’ve never had two guys at once.” You whimper, giving up trying to hold yourself up and letting them manhandle you. “I feel so full.”

They build up a rhythm, tearing you apart piece by piece until you’re a mindless, moaning mess. You swear you’ve never felt this good. All your nerves seem to be set on fire, and it seems like there’s a knot building in your stomach as your climax grows closer.

Doyoung once again finds comfort in your mouth, his hips bucking up as you suck him off. You moan at how full you feel, being surrounded by three guys while a fourth one watches. It’s absolute heaven.

“Jungwoo.” Johnny calls out. “Ten just texted you. His Tinder date was a flop.” “Shouldn’t have abandoned me.” Jungwoo calls back. “Though with how tonight’s going, I’m not sure I can be mad.”

Jaehyun pulls his mouth from your neck and you whine at the loss of heat, squirming as he blows cool air over the area. “Send him a picture of us. Show him what he’s missing out on.” You make the neediest noise you’ve ever made in your life at the suggestion, and all three men swear. The vibrations travel up Doyoung’s cock and he fucks up into your mouth, choking you. “Yeah? You all okay with that?” A chorus of yes’s go around the room, though Doyoung doesn’t let you pull off of him. “Y/N? You good with that?” “You should’ve felt how fucking tight she got when you said that, she’s more than okay with it.” Jaehyun pants out. 

Doyoung briefly lets go of you when Johnny says “I need to hear her say it.” You cough for a minute before yelling out a “please, yes” and taking Doyoung’s cock back into your mouth.

There’s a click as Johnny takes the picture and you clench again, sending Jaehyun and Jungwoo into a frenzy. Jungwoo groans and dips his head down to mouth at your breasts, sucking hickies into the delicate skin, taking your nipple between his lips. Jaehyun pulls his hand back to land a slap on your ass, leaving his hand there to knead at the flesh. 

Doyoung moans out that he’s coming and you swallow his come for the second time that night, panting as he lets you rest your head on his thigh. A phone chimes repeatedly and Johnny laughs, turning the ringer off. “Looks like Ten liked our picture.” The thought of someone else seeing you like this, wanting to be in this situation, fills your mind and you tip over the edge, vision whiting out as you moan wantonly. You claw at Jungwoo’s shoulders as you try desperately to ground yourself, sandwiched between the two men.

“Fuck, I’m gonna come.” Jaehyun groans, hips snapping against your ass sloppily. You whine, clenching around him repeatedly, the oversensitivity too much. Jungwoo pays no mind to the fact that you’ve just come, continuing to fuck up into you. “Fuckkk,” Jaehyun pulls out of you quickly and you hiss at the loss. Wet warmth hits your lower back, your ass, and the top of your thighs and Jaehyun curses loudly before collapsing on the mattress with a satisfied moan.

Jungwoo comes soon after with his mouth on one of your breasts, his hand on the other. You bounce on top of him to help him draw it out for as long as possible, going until he’s throwing his head back and crying out from the sensitivity.

Johnny’s the only one who hasn’t come yet. He sits next to the bed in Doyoung’s desk chair, stroking his cock slowly, almost lazily. It’s thick and long and looks delicious. You want it in your mouth. 

He smirks, clearly catching your hungry gaze. “Aww, baby still wants more?” His voice is taunting but you don’t even care, just nodding obediently.

You roll onto your back and spread your legs, giving easy access to the man. Johnny just shakes his head. “Turn over. Want you on your hands and knees.” He wastes no time sliding into your dripping core, starting a brutal rhythm right from the start. You cry out and try to keep yourself up but Johnny shoves your chest to the mattress, pulling your hips higher so that he can get deeper. His body is draped over yours, his chest flush to your back. You can’t physically get any closer.

“Such a fucking cockslut.” Johnny hisses into your ear, voice low and delicious. “Letting four different guys fuck you, come on you. Bet you wish there were more.” You whine and make some sort of noise of agreement. “Ten’s probably jerking off to that picture I sent him. Does that make you happy?” Johnny nips at your earlobe and slides his hand down to rub at your clit. “Or are you upset? You probably rather that he was here, probably want his cock in your mouth too.” Another whine leaves you and Johnny pinches your clit. You thrash, the feeling too much. Your orgasm is rushing to the surface, electricity shooting through your body as the knot grows tighter and tighter. “What was that?” “I want it! Fuck, I want his cock in my mouth.” You moan, eyes rolling shut. “Fuck, I’m gonna come, ‘m gonna come.”

Johnny fucks you through your orgasm, hissing filthy words in your ear as your vision blacks out, registering nothing but how fucking good you feel. You clamp down around his thick cock and he groans, pulling out and ripping the condom off, jerking himself off all over your lower back.

Jungwoo crawls closer and kisses you, gently helping you come down. You’re shaking in your post-orgasmic bliss, lifting an arm to pull him closer. Jaehyun presses in from the other side, stroking your hair and peppering kisses all over your forehead.

You flinch when a damp cloth lands on your back and you turn to find Johnny smiling apologetically, cleaning the come off of your skin. “Sorry, I’ll try to make this quick.” A hiss leaves you as he wipes between your legs, squirming at the discomfort. Jungwoo swipes a finger through your folds and you hiss, biting his lip harshly. He giggles.

The five of you redress, both Jungwoo and Jaehyun stealing one of Doyoung’s shirts. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion, wondering where Jaehyun’s shirt went, but then you realize that it’s his shirt that he’s tugging over your head. The fabric is warm and smells amazing. You want to sink into it.

“Do you need anything?” Doyoung asks, rubbing his hand up your thigh. “You were amazing, by the way. It wasn’t too much, was it?” You shake your head. “No, it was perfect. I wouldn’t mind a piece of cake, though.”

Doyoung leaves to get the cake, complaining when he comes back and finds there’s no room for him.

("It’s my bed!”

“Okay, and? That’s also your chair.”

“Yeah, and this is my fist about to go into your face”)

It’s 1 AM when you check the time and it’s certainly much too late for them to go home so you tell them to stay, letting them arrange themselves among the couch and the guest bed.

“Doyoung?” You ask, hesitating by the door. Your bed is big and warm and empty right now, but that’s not what you want. Not after what you just experienced. It’s too empty. “Doyoung, do you think I could stay with you tonight?”

He seems surprised by your question but he nods, shifting over to give you room. “Of course. But you're the big spoon tonight.” You snort. “That’s good with me.”

The two of you arrange yourselves comfortably, and it’s so painfully nice that you could cry. You can’t even remember the last time you cuddled someone like this. “Hey Y/N? Happy Valentine’s day.” “Happy Valentine’s day. I guess it isn’t the worst holiday after all.”

[fatiguing-thoughts]

“Natural” - Chapter Four - Embry Call x Reader

Baking Cookies

When I awoke in the morning, the spot where Embry’s body laid was empty. 

I rolled over onto the pillow he used and immediately was greeted with the scent of him. I smelt the teakwood scent of his shampoo, deodorant, or cologne of sorts. 

I smiled to myself, figuring it was after I told him I loved the smell of my new mahogany teakwood candle I bought four years ago. Since that day, he switched over to stuff that smelt that way. My mind raced back to the day in question.

Embry walked into my house, a little earlier than Jake and Quil would arrive. 

“Hey Em, what’s up?” I look up from the couch. “Not much.” He smiles at me like a doofus from the doorway. 

“Come on Em, sit down.” I pat the spot next to me. 

He plops down next to me, my senses invaded with one of my favorite scents. I turn and look at him, sniffing the air surrounding him.

“What’s up, bean?” He asks, raising his eyebrows. Acting completely oblivious. 

“Em, you smell so good, that’s my favorite scent.” I move closer to him. 

“Oh, is it?” He asks innocently. 

“Yeah. Just like my candle, remember?” I look up at his face.

“Oh wow, so now I’m just gonna be a candle to you?” He laughs. 

“No, you’ll be my walking air freshener.” I smile, burying myself deeper into his side before the other guys would soon arrive. Ruining my moment with Embry. 

Though we weren’t dating back then, nor mentioned any deeper feelings, our physical contact always implied more. Embry always held me like I was a bubble about to burst-- only when we were alone, of course. 

I cherished Embry’s touch more than I would’ve liked to admit back then, and I hoped he had felt the same.

I open my eyes, thanking life and whoever was in charge of it for making Embry my soul mate. I never thought I would hear Embry say the words he did, I always thought neither of us would grow the balls to do it. 

I stand up, walking over to turn the lights on. I saw a note on my desk out of the corner of my eye. 

Good morning bean. Sorry I had to leave. I didn’t wanna tell your dad we were dating by him catching us in your bed and I told my mom I would make breakfast for her today. Text me when you wake up. 

         Love, 

        Embry  

I smile at the sweet gesture, holding the note to my chest. 

I check the time, seeing that it’s only seven in the morning. I figured that since today was my dad’s first day back to work since we moved here that I should make him breakfast and coffee. He wasn’t going to wake up for another half an hour. 

I go downstairs and start making pancakes and muffins as I turn the coffee maker on. 

About a half an hour later, I hear my dad shifting around upstairs, getting ready for work. He was due to leave at 8:30, so by then everything would be done and warm. 

“Hey what’s up kiddo? You’re up early.” I hear from behind me in the kitchen entryway. 

“I figured I’d make you breakfast today. First day back at work, ya know.” I smile at him, putting the plate of pancakes down on the table next to the cup of coffee. 

“Thank you. I appreciate it, it smells great in here.” 

“That’s the chocolate chip muffins.” I say as I begin to take them out of the oven. 

We sit and chat, talking about how my day went yesterday. 

“So you and Embry, is that finally a thing?” He asks, eyes raising and putting more pancakes in his mouth.

“I mean, kinda.” I smile at my plate. 

“Billy, Harry, and I were talking about it. Well we talked about all of you, actually. Apparently Jacob is still chasing Bella like a lost puppy. But we all talked about when you and Embry would finally do something about your whole ‘situation’ you’ve got going there.” He says, waving his finger in a circle as he talked about our ‘situation.’

“Wow, good to know you were all in on this.” I chuckle. 

“Listen, we’ve all been waiting for a wedding since you guys were like four.” He laughs, hands up in the air, feigning innocence. 

“Very sweet.” I say snarkily. 

“Regardless, I’m just happy to see you happy again.” He smiles at me, eyes showing true appreciation and happiness. 

“Thank you dad.” 

That’s the thing about my dad, he really only cared about my feelings and what was the best for me. He too, was one of my best friends, but the father that he needed to be, too. He really did the whole “dad” thing well. As well as the whole “mom” thing, considering my mother left us when I was four. 

The one thing I took from that shitshow was that you can’t force people to love you, or to be in your life. Sometimes I wonder about where she is, or if she misses us. But most of the time, I couldn’t be bothered. My dad raised me better than she ever could have, I have no regrets growing up with solely him. He was the best father I could ask for. 

“Oh and one more thing.” He looks up from the paper. 

“Yeah?” 

“Tell Embry that if he’s trying to be sneaky, that he’s really bad about it.” He sips his coffee. 

“What?” I choke on my pancake. 

“I’m just saying, I was on the couch when he carried you in last night. I think you were asleep, but I never heard him come back down. He’s not still upstairs, right?” He looks at me, raising his eyebrows. 

“Oh god no, dad. I was asleep, yeah. But no he didn’t sleep over. No clue how he left or when because like I said-- dead asleep. He had to drive my car home.” I took a sip of my water. 

“Alright. I like him, (Y/N). But, don’t push it. I know you’re an adult now, but just… be careful. And let me have my own sense of peace.” His eyebrows furrowed together, almost cringing at what he was saying.

“Oh god, no dad. Please don’t do this now. Tiffany Call gave me that talk years ago to spare me from this situation exactly. We aren’t doing… that.” I say, uncomfortable talking to my dad about Embry and I’s potential sex life. 

“Oh thank god. So you know how that all works, right? You know not to be stupid?” He asks, eyes pleading with mine. 

“Yes, dad. Oh god please don’t do this to me. I don’t even know when that would happen, just don’t do this. I’m trying to eat.” 

“Great. Good. I’m going to work now, make good choices.” He puts his plate in the sink, kisses my head goodbye, and practically sprints out the door.

“Holy shit.” I mumble to myself, playing with my food on the plate. 

I text Embry a good morning and clean up my mess from breakfast. 

I see that it’s not even 9:30 yet by the time I’m done and decide to get some more stuff done in my room. 

I text in the groupchat that includes Jake, Quil, Embry and I. 

“So dorks, what should I bring to the hangout/bonfire tonight?” I text.

“Anything edible, always.” - Quil 

“I second that notion.” - Jake

“I mean, I was gonna say just yourself. But I’m down to eat whenever.” -Embry 

“Come to my house at 5.” - Jake

“You got it boss.” I reply. 

I received a call from Embry, telling me he was going to come over to my house in a few minutes. 

I started to get all the ingredients together that it would take for me to make an absurd amount of cookies, not knowing how many people were going to be there. Plus getting a glimpse into how much the guys ate the last few days tells me that I would never have too much. 

Within five minutes of Embry’s phone call, there was a knock on my front door. 

I open it to see a smiling Embry, warming my heart. I hug him and pull him inside. 

“How did you get here so fast?” I ask. 

“I ran here, bean. I’m fast ya know. It took me like a minute.” He shrugs as he reaches behind me, grabbing a muffin off the counter, smiling. 

“Oh like, in wolf form?” I ask, curiosity dripping off my tongue. 

“Yeah, how else? Did you make these? They’re great.” He licks the crumbs off his lips, before bending down and kissing my forehead. 

“Yes I did, thank you. That’s crazy, Em. Do you think you could maybe, show me one day?” I look at him with pleading eyes. 

“Sure thing, bean.” Another kiss, but this one on the tip of my nose. 

“And now you can help me make a disturbing amount of cookies.” I smile, throwing my finger guns in the air. 

“I mean, if I must.” He teases, pulling me into him. 

We began our baking fiasco. Chaos ensued quickly. 

Embry flicked a smidge of flour at me, landing on my face and shirt. 

“Em… did you just?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. 

“I may have, may not have.” He looks at me with a questioning face. 

I took a bigger pinch, flicking it at him. 

“Oh bean, you don’t know what you just started.” He smirked. 

“No, Emb-” I was cut off as I was lifted over his shoulder, being spun around. 

Our laughter echoed blissfully through the empty house. 

“Put me down!” I shout, laughing too hard to breathe, slapping his back in an effort to get him to do as I asked. 

“Never.” He laughs. 

“Embry, I’m gonna get dizzy.” I giggle.

“Okay, fineeee.” 

He places me on the counter, standing in front of me. 

I looked deeply into his eyes, my hands finding their home in the hair on the nape of his neck. 

His hands held my waist, pressing his forehead against mine. 

“Please.” I beg. 

He nods before he presses his lips to mine. Those soft, warm lips drove me crazy in the best way-- always leaving me starving for more. His every touch sent tingles up my spine. I slowly traced my tongue over his bottom lip, in which he just pressed his lips a little harder against mine. 

“Sorry.” He pulled away breathlessly. 

“For what?” I ask. 

“I just, I want to take things slow. I promised it to myself, and you. You deserve that respect.” 

“I don’t think you making out with me would make me think you don’t respect me.” I laugh. 

“I know. I just want it to feel like it’s us, I want to go slow because of the bond. The bond makes it difficult to take things slow, but I want you to know I felt this way well before I imprinted.” He smiles softly. 

“I understand, Em. Thank you.” I kiss his cheek. 

“I’m so glad it was you. I always thought deep down it would be, but I couldn’t bear it if it wasn’t. I never wanted to hide this from you, and worse off I would never want someone else.” 

“I’m so happy it was me, too. I can’t thank my lucky stars enough.” I smile at him. 

We sit in each other’s arms for a few moments, until we decide it’s best that we get back to the baking. 

Hours later, we had made like 75 sugar cookies. I was drained, and never wanted to see another oven again. But, the cookie dough was always a nice treat to sneak. 

“This is enough, right?” I ask. 

“Yeah, it’s enough to hold us over for five minutes.” He laughs. 

“Five minutes?!” I exclaim.

“I’m just kidding… kinda. We all eat a lot. There’s gonna be other stuff there, too. We made more than enough cookies.” He laughs. 

We pack them up and watch our favorite cartoons until it’s time to go over to Jake’s. 

We pack the cookies in my car and head over. 

“So how was breakfast with your mom?” I ask, turning my attention from the road to him for a second. 

“It was good. She was happy to see me in the morning, opposed to me running around all hours of the night mysteriously.” He chuckles awkwardly. 

“Why not tell her, Em?” 

“She doesn’t need that. She’ll worry just as much, if not more. Knowing that this life really entails. She’ll get scared. It’s better to do it this way, believe me. I love her and I hate lying, but it’s better. Then it brings up awkward shit I don’t wanna talk about, this obviously came from my dad’s side. We don’t exactly talk about him, you know.” He looks at me with saddened eyes. 

“I think I understand. I’m sorry Em. I’m here for you if you ever need to talk or get out of the house.” I rub small circles in the back of his hand. 

“Thank you.” He looks at me with caring eyes.

“Of course. By the way, I made breakfast for my dad, too.” I stifle my laugh, trying to lighten the conversation. 

“Oh, how was that?” 

“He said you’re not good at being sneaky.” I laughed. 

“What?” His face dropped, eyes widening, trying not to laugh. “Well, he said he was on the couch when you brought me in. Then he said that he never heard you leave, asked if you slept over. I told him you didn’t. I saved you, Em.” I smirk at him. 

“Oh god, that’s great. Exactly how I wanted to see him again.” He groaned. 

“He still loves you. Apparently him, Billy, and Harry were all trying to figure out how long it would take for us to get together. Apparently they all thought we would grow up and end up together.” I laugh. 

“I know, my mom did, too. I told her this morning about us, she was really happy to hear about it. She wants to see you again.” 

“I can’t wait to see her. Let’s do that this week.” I smile.

We pull up to Jake’s house and enter the small home. 

“What’s up losers?” Paul calls from the couch. 

“Hey Paul.” I wave from the end of the living room. 

“Looking pretty still I see, huh?” He flirts. 

I grabbed Embry’s hand as I felt him growing tense next to me.

“Shut up, Paul.” Embry hisses. 

Paul raises his hands up in surrender. 

“You got it man, I’m just being honest to my old friend.” He smirks. 

He knew what he was doing, for sure. Paul used to love to instigate when we were younger. Can’t say I didn’t miss the fun jabs we used to have-- it was never boring with Paul around.  

“Enough, Paul.” Billy rolls into the living room. 

“Hey Billy.” I smile, walking over to say hello.

“Hey there, kid. I finally got to see your dad yesterday, had a great time. It’s great to have you both back. And how are you, Embry?” Billy looks over to Embry, who is basically velcroed to my back after Paul’s teasing. 

“I’m good.” He smiled back.

He nods at Embry before smiling at me and rolling back into his room.

“You gotta chill, Paul. Embry’s gonna get mad now.” Quill laughs. 

“I can take him.” Paul scoffs, smiling at Embry and I. 

“Jeez, Paul. Ease up a bit. What did you get into today?” I ask, smirking. 

“I’m just having fun! Can’t I torture Embry a little bit?” He laughs at me, throwing his arms up.

“Not about this, Paul.” Jacob scolds. 

“Okay fine, I won’t make fun of you being whipped anymore.” He smiles.

I thump him in the back of the head after that one. 

“Damn, (Y/N). Just as feisty as I remember. I missed having you around, you keep up with the banter well.” He laughs. 

“Paul, there’s never a dull moment with you.” I roll my eyes, but he knew what I meant. I did miss his antics just a little bit. 

Embry kissed the top of my head before we sat down with everyone. I took the couch and Embry took the spot in front of me. 

I looked over to my left and looked at Jake. 

“Hey, how did yesterday go?” I ask him, reaching out to grab his shoulder. 

“Uh, complicated. But we have a grad party to go to this weekend.” He says, not looking from the TV. 

“Complicated? How did it go?” I ask, concerned.

“We got into an argument.” He looks at me, shame spreading upon his face. 

“What about?” I furrow my brows. 

“Well, I thought we were having a moment. So I thought I should tell her again that he isn’t the only option. That I’m the better option for her. She wouldn’t have to change anything, be anything, she could just be Bella. I wouldn’t constantly put her in harm’s way.” He looks back at the ground. 

“What did she say?” 

“To stop berating her boyfriend and his family, because ‘I don’t know them’.” 

“I’m sorry, Jake.” I empathize. 

“Thank you. I just wish she would open her eyes and see what I could give her, I could give her so many things that he can’t.” He looks back at me with sad eyes. 

“Well, I’m sorry, Jake. I really am. I don’t think you should sit and wait around for her, though. You need to live life for what’s best for you.”  

“I’m not giving up until her heart stops beating.” He looks down at the floor angrily.

“Jake, she’s only like 18. That’s a very long time.” I pat him on the back, concern growing. “No, she wants to become one of them. She wants him to change her.” His jaw clenches, fists forming into tight balls.

“Jake…” I rest my hand on his, calming him slightly. 

“(Y/N), I love her so much. I just don’t know how I could ever stop.” His voice cracks, looking back up at me. 

“I know, I know. I think everything will work itself out one way or another. Maybe you’ll meet someone, and Bella will be less than a distant memory. You still never imprinted.” I reason.

Quil looks at me, shaking his head no quickly. I give him a confused look.

“If I imprint, if. Even so, I just want to love who I love, not whoever my genetics tell me I should. I want a say in my future. Not everyone gets lucky enough to imprint on their best friend they loved their whole life.” He glances over at Embry, glaring in his direction.  

“Jake… Don’t do that. That’s not fair.” I whisper.

He lets out a sigh. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Think of it this way, you know for certain that she isn’t your soulmate-- you know this isn’t what fate intended. I know you understand what I’m saying, you just don’t accept it. But once you do, you might realize that there’s more to life than Bella. You can still love her as a friend, but there’s something more for you out there than her. You are destined to love someone so intensely, so intense that 99% of people will never be lucky enough to experience it. You’ll have a love so pure it couldn’t even be put into words. You deserve the world, but Bella won’t be giving it to you. You have to support yourself, do things for you. You’ll meet someone along the way who will turn your world upside down, I just know it. I just wish it would be easier for you, sooner.” I smile at Jacob softly at the end of my speech.

Jacob looks at me, tears brimming his eyes. He pulls me into a tight hug, almost crushing me in his arms. 

“Thank you, (Y/N).” He whispers.

Quil and Embry looked at me, eyes wide and seemingly astonished. 

I rub slight circles on Jacob’s back for a moment, showing my support. 

“Okay but, when I broke my arm, like actually shattered it, and cried-- you called me a bitch and told me to get over it. I just wanna address that real quick.” Quil breaks the silence, earning a little laugh from all of us. 

Jacob chuckles on my shoulder, pulling back.  

“Okay, and?” I ask sarcastically. 

“I just don’t think I’m getting the same treatment.” Quil scoffs, laughing.

“Well, maybe if you didn’t steal my fruit rollup that day, I wouldn’t have been so upset with you.” I smirked. “I think those might not be of the same magnitude.” Embry defends Quil.

“Hey… whose side are you on?” 

 Embry raises his hands up in surrender. 

“I’m just saying, you’re picking favorites, clearly.” He laughs. 

“Oh hush, you know you’re all my best friends. I love you all.” I smile, rubbing a circle onto the back of Embry’s hand. 

“Yes, we love you, too. Even if you’re kind of a bully. But that’s fine.” Quil shrugs, smiling to himself. 

We all laugh a bit before sitting down in silence for a moment. 

“So, this party…” I trail off. 

“You can come.” He slightly smiles. 

“Cool. I wanna meet the people, faces to names, ya know?” I admit. 

“You’re meeting leeches, nothing too special.” Paul scoffs. 

“Well, they won’t hurt me. I just wanna go with you guys, give Bella her gift, and then see all these vampires. I wanna see what they look like.” I admit. 

“Freaky eyes. Though, they’re not as freaky as the red ones.” Quil interjects. 

“Interesting. Well hopefully the party is fun.” I shrug. 

I felt Embry tense up between my legs. 

“Do you really want to go?” He asks, looking back at me.

“Yeah, kinda. Especially if you guys are going. I wanna see who Bella spends her time with, you guys don’t seem very fond. I wanna see why.” I scratch the top of his head, getting another whiff of that teakwood scent. 

“I mean, we could stay home if you don’t feel safe.” He offers.

“Em, I think I’ll be okay. You’re all there, I don’t feel unsafe.” I tell him, trying to comfort him. 

“Embry, she’ll be fine. She just got back, let her go to a party and have some fun.” Quil huffs.

Embry looks back at me with pleading eyes. 

“Embry, I’ll be okay. Nothing’s gonna happen to me. Besides, I wanna see what happened to everyone I went to high school with.” I smile at him, leaning down to leave a kiss on his forehead. 

“Okay, just please don’t stray too far from me there.” He pleads.

“Em, I won’t be letting go of you all night.” I smile. 

“Yuck!” Quil throws a couch pillow at me. 

“Rude.” I huff, chucking it right back. 

“It’s almost time to go to the beach. I don’t wanna miss the food.” Paul says looking at the time. 

“Oh we are not missing the food.” Embry says confidently. 

“I’d never let such a thing happen.” Quil confirms. 

“So let’s get going before Jared ruins it for all of us.” Jake smirks from the couch.

We all get up to leave when Jacob turns to me.

“Thank you.” He mouths, hugging me once more.

He pulled away and I saw Embry begin to look a little pouty. 

I walk over to Embry, stand up on my tippy toes to press a kiss to his cheek as I grabbed his hand. 

He looks down at me, smiling like a goofball, returning the smile was as easy as breathing. 

We all walk out and pile into my car to head over to the beach. 

“Ooh, cookies!” I hear Quil and Paul exclaim from the back seat, I hear the container shifting.

“No!” I turn around shouting. 

Quil and Paul look like they had just seen a ghost.

“She wanted to bring them to the bonfire.” Embry chuckles. 

The car ride filled once again with Embry playing music, talking to Quil and Paul. I noticed that Jake was still quiet, poor guy. 

I park the car and turn it off. 

“We’re here.” Embry says, getting out of the car and running to my side to open my door. 

“Bean.” He says, notioning for me to get out of the car. 

“Thanks, Em.” I smile. 

He places his hand on my lower back, driving me mad with excitement. 

“Give me those cookies.” I point at Paul. 

“Alright, boss.” He laughs, handing the cookies over to me. 

We begin the walk down to where the bonfire was being set up and I see many people there, causing my nerves to rack and my heart to race.

Embry stops in his tracks, bending down to look me in the eyes, hands falling to the sides of my arms. 

“It’s okay, they’re all gonna love you, you’re great. You’ve met them all before, things will go great. You even brought cookies. Try to relax, bean.” He gives me a comforting smile.

“Thank you, Em.” I smile. 

“Of course. We gotta catch up with the rest of them, now. Let’s go.” 

He presses a kiss to my forehead once more, before grabbing my hand and leading the way over to everyone. 

“Hey everyone. (Y/N)’s back. She even brought cookies.” He announces. 

“Hey, thanks for having me.” I wave, smiling. 

___________________________

Word Count: 4269

 I  II  III  IV  V  VI  VII  VIII  VIIII  X  XIR XIE  XII  XIII  XIV  XV XVI  XVII  XVIII  XIIII

[lala-ladybug]

Healing Hands: Chapter 5

Can you say ~trauma~?

Jasonette Sword Art Online AU

Read here on AO3

Tag list: @iloontjeboontje

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Chapter 5: Yes, Dick? You’re looking particularly dickish today

After so much commotion, the silence as they sat made Marinette’s ears ring. She and her Order were gathered in the spacious living room of Chloe’s house. After checking to make sure it was empty, she and the other miraculous holders had reassured their civilian classmates and sent them off to bed. They’d spent the better part of the day getting out of the overcrowded town. Thank Kwami they hadn’t still been travelling after the sun went down, but the noises from the woods still kept them all awake. Kagami had dug out a teapot from the kitchen cabinets and brewed several mugs for those who had needed one. No one was hungry.

Marinette’s hands shook slightly as she sipped her tea. That was another blessing, that Chloe’s VIP pass included a partially stocked kitchen to begin with. They would explore the rest of the house tomorrow, but for now, while the others rested.... They needed to talk.

She set her cup down with a sound that was amplified in the heavy quiet, then took a deep breath. “Okay....” The words felt strange in her mouth. She swallowed against the lump in her throat. “Can anyone sense their Kwami?”

She looked around at the blank faces of her friends as they all tried to reach for their respective powers. Chloe’s lip trembled, but her eyes were dry. Luka and Kagami’s jaws clenched, and Adrien frowned as he shook his head.

“None of us can, then,” Luka stated evenly, finally voicing what she’d been afraid of.

Marinette bit her lip. Kagami placed her cup of tea down forcefully. “What are we going to do.” It wasn’t a question so much as a statement.

Marinette rubbed her eyes. Kwami, what could they do? They should count themselves lucky they weren’t dead yet. She could only imagine her Maman and Papa’s panic, but they hadn’t tried to pull her out, so she hadn’t....

They could still die though, if what the Game Master had said was true. If their HP dropped to zero, they would die. There was no Second Chance or Lucky Charm this time. But they were still likely among the best trained people in the game. Her mind was made up.

“We fight.” She finally said with all the confidence she could muster. “There are thousands of civilians stuck in here with us, so we need to fight for them. We need to beat the level bosses in order to advance, right?” The question was rhetorical, but Chloe nodded and Kagami blinked in affirmation all the same.

“Good,” Marinette stood up. “We will be the ones to fight these bosses. So they don’t have to. Think about it, even without our Kwami, we still have an edge on everyone else here. The faster we beat the game, the faster they can go home.”

“And us too!” Adrien jumped up with a smile. “And us too,” Marinette echoed.

Luka drained his tea and stood next. “So it’s settled then,” he put a hand on her shoulder, steady as ever.

“Indeed,” Kagami rose beside them.

Chloe stared up at them, eyes wide. “You really think we can do this?” She asked in a small voice.

Marinette looked her in the eye and said, “I know we can.” The blonde released a small sigh and stood as well. A gleam of determination entered her eye as she said, “Okay. Let’s go save everyone from this ridiculous game.”

* * *

Jason, Jaime, Cassie, and Zatanna returned to the center of town. It was nearly deserted now, the murky twilight creating pockets of shadows around the square, perfect for hiding lurking figures. But it was nothing Jason couldn’t handle. In fact, with his current mood, he damn well dared them to try.

They’d spent hours hacking away at the wild boars, Jaime even joining in as his allergies permitted him. The four had gained a few player levels and a decent amount of money and loot. But damn if it wasn’t tiring as hell.

His crossbow was much more taxing than using guns, and it used different muscles in his shoulders and arms than he was accustomed to working. He could tell the others were similarly weighed down by exhaustion. Cassie’s whip demanded an endurance she wasn’t used to without her super strength, Jaime’s throws of a handaxe grew increasingly shorter the longer they fought, and Zatanna wasn’t used to fighting with physical weapons at all. It took everything they had left to drag themselves back into town.

One of the shadows a few feet away swam with sudden movement. Jason equipped his crossbow, arms shaking with the effort of just holding it. Damnit, now was not a good time, but he’d still fight these bastards with everything he had.

He relaxed when he saw it was Dick and the rest of Team Alpha approaching. Putting his weapon away, Jason crossed his arms and planted his feet firmly. Dick better have gotten them those fucking beds for the night.

“We’re just waiting on Beta,” Dick said in a low voice. “Then we can go to the inn and regroup.” The others could regroup. Jason would be heading right to sleep. He stalked over to the brick wall Bart sat slumped against and leaned his shoulder against it. The cool roughness grounded him and kept his eyes open.

He distantly heard Zatanna telling Dick that they had made out okay in the west. Unnecessary talking when there were other players listening nearby. He swallowed against the urge to forcibly silence them that was rising in his blood. It sang with the persistent thrum of battle, unshakable as it was insistent. He closed his eyes and counted his breaths. One. Breathe out and picture a color. Blue. Breathe in. Two. Out. Yellow. In. Three. Out. Green.

He’d barely reached ten by the time Tim led his group back to join them. The song in his blood stilled for now, he pushed off of the wall and followed as Dick and Wally guided them to the inn. He hardly registered his surroundings as they entered and divvied up the rooms. He, Dick, Tim, and Wally were in one room, the girls in another, and the other boys in a third. The place seemed clean enough as he cast his tired eyes around the tavern.

They climbed the stairs to their rooms and settled in each. Dick and Tim sat on their beds talking about going to the other boys’ room-- the largest of the three-- to discuss strategy. Jason hardly heard them as his head hit the pillow and he fell asleep.

* * *

The warmth of the early morning sun on her face woke Marinette up. She stretched and yawned, wincing at her soreness. Sometimes this game was a little too realistic. In the bed beside hers, Chloe grumbled something about the girls’ room having no curtains over the window and rolled over.

Marinette gave a strained smile at that. She quietly dressed and descended the ladder from their small loft to where the rest of the girls were still sleeping, and tip-toed out to the hall.

Down the stairs was the kitchen, empty save for a softly steaming tea kettle that meant Kagami and Luka would soon be joining her. She prepared dough to make fresh croissants as she had every couple of days for the past few weeks since they’d been trapped in the game.

The thought briefly gave her pause, that they’d already been here for close to a month, but she shook it off and formed the croissants onto the baking tray. She slid them into the oven just as Kagami and Luka trailed in from the garden. They’d been harvesting the already-ripe blueberries, and laid a heaping basket of them on the countertop.

Chloe’s VIP pass had saved their lives and then some. It came with a comfortably sized house that included a full kitchen, sitting area, storage room, balcony, two massive bedrooms with enough room to house all twelve of them, a garden ready to be planted in, and stables already stocked with several horses. It really was luxurious, and if they weren’t trapped in the game, she would have found it much more enjoyable.

The property also included a small pond that had proved to give a refreshing swim after training sessions, a well, and a few acres of woods. The latter was where they did most of their monster-training. Marinette had already reached a player level of 10 just by fighting the various denizens of their backyard. The rest of the new Order wasn’t far behind her, ranging from levels 7 to 10 between the four of them.

“Good morning, Marihime,” Kagami inclined her head respectfully, then poured the tea into three waiting mugs. Luka thanked her and shot Marinette a quick smile as way of greeting.

She nodded back and stirred a generous helping of sugar into her mug. The three sipped their tea while they waited for the croissants to bake. Once they were finished and cooling, Marinette and the others donned cloaks to protect against the morning chill and started their brisk morning walk into town.

The dirt path wound down to the base of the hill where several more paths for other player houses split off the main track that they now set on. The lush grass on either side was covered in a slight blanket of mist from the evaporating morning dew. Birds chirped high above, darting between the sparse trees. The walk took about a half hour, and their tea was nearly finished by the time they arrived at the outskirts of the city.

Kagami polished off her mug and placed it back in her inventory, then rested her hand warily on the hilt of her rapier as they began encountering more people. Their destination, a news stand, was thankfully not too close to the center of town. The less people they encountered, the better.

“Get your daily paper here! New news every day! Two copper pieces for a paper, one gold for a yearly subscription.” Marinette veered towards the NPC shouting her wares.

“Hi, one paper please,” she said breathlessly, and slid two copper pieces onto the counter.

“Here you go!” The vendor, an ample woman of thirty, took the coins and handed Marinette a folded newspaper with a smile. “You know, you’re one of my best customers. I’ll give you a deal,” she winked, “how about fifty silver for a yearly subscription!”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you miss, but I’m afraid we won’t be staying quite that long,” Marinette replied. At least, she hoped not.

“Very well dear, have a lovely day!” The NPC thankfully seemed unbothered, and went back to shouting her prices to the general population.

Luka and Kagami moved from their posts of casually guarding Marinette while she dealt with the woman manning the stall. The three set off back the way they’d come, ready for another day of training and exploring the first level.

Marinette unfolded the newspaper and skimmed the headlines while they walked, trusting her companions to keep an eye out for her. However, they weren’t expecting her to stop dead in her tracks. It took a moment for them to turn around and backtrack to where she stood staring intently at the paper in her hands.

“Holy Kwami....” She said, and read the article title again. “‘Exploration team finds boss dungeon entrance!’” She read aloud.

Luka moved to peer over her shoulder and read it alongside her. “You know what this means?” He asked with a small smile.

Kagami put her hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “We are on the path to ending this.”

* * *

Jason woke up to an empty house. It had only been a few weeks since the start of the game, and his idiot brothers were out in the village. Again. He groaned at the motion of swinging his legs off the bed to sit up. Training to get used to the in-game movements was getting old.

He stood and rubbed the back of his neck, loosening some of the stiffness that seemed to have soaked into his bones. He went downstairs to the spacious kitchen to get some fruits for breakfast. With twelve people to make money and collect resources, the team had made quick work of purchasing a large house to use as a base.

Grabbing a few apples for the road, Jason traced the now-familiar path to find Dick and a few of the others in a communal amphitheater. Bart and Wally were handing out flyers near the entrances, chatting people up and trying to convince them to come listen to where Dick and Tim were speaking below.

Jason took a seat next to Artemis, near the back. “At it again?” He asked her, crunching into his apple.

She was leaning forward to prop her elbows on her knees, her chin resting in cupped hands. “Yup,” she said, popping the “p.” She sighed and sat up. “All week, and we’ve only got a handful of recruits.”

“We’re all in this together after all,” Dick was saying loudly. “So join us to help end this game! I have a plan to train recruits for taking on the first level boss.”

Jason yawned. Same old fuckin’ stupid plan. There’s just no way to make risking your life sound enticing. “The others still out hunting?” He nudged Artemis’s knee with his own.

She nodded in affirmation, looking similarly discouraged and bored. He got up and started to leave, deciding to make himself useful and join the rest of the team in fighting.

“Jason!” A shout made him stop. He looked to the sky and muttered to himself about patience, then turned to face his brother. “Yes, Dick? You’re looking particularly dickish today.”

Dick crossed his arms. “Haha, very funny. If you’re not busy, I could really use you here spreading the word.”

“Look, people just don’t want to go up against something they’ve never faced before. Hell, half these dumbasses haven’t even been in a real fight before.” He shook his head. “This is a waste of time. I’m going to fight some monsters so that I can level up and be ready for when we inevitably face the big bad without these posers.”

Dick narrowed his eyes at that. “Now hold on a minute, we have no idea what we’re going up against here. We need a bigger group before we’re ready to go up against the boss. More than half of us aren’t up to par with our special moves out of the picture, and we’re still trying to figure out the gameplay.” He held his hands out placatingly. “An exploration group just found the probable location of the boss dungeon, so that’s half the battle already. We just need to wait for more recruits and a more solid plan.”

“So how long are we supposed to wait, Dick?” Jason asked incredulously. “A week? A month? A year? How many people are going to die while we ‘figure out’ how to do something we already damn well know how to do.” He poked an accusatory finger at Dick’s chest. “We’ve been training for weeks already, we can handle this.”

“I hear you Jay, but we have no idea what kind of a threat this is going to be. We need to take our time and--”

“What you need is a fucking backbone. We’re the best hope that thousands of people have at surviving! I say we train some more and then fight the damn thing ourselves, recruits or no.” He couldn’t believe Dick. Saving people was supposed to be his schtick, not Jason’s. “Hundreds of people have already died, in case you forgot, and this is only the first fucking level. Time is a luxury we do not have.”

Dick looked ready to retort when a young boy came up to him and tapped him on the elbow. “Excuse me, mister? I’m interested in recruitment!”

Jason took advantage of the distraction and stalked off towards the center of town. What a... well, Mr. and Mrs. Grayson picked a damn good name.

If Dick wanted to know what they were up against, then fine. He’d go find out for him.

[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 09

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, slight angst

; Word Count: 4.2k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: A Christmas present for you all! This has been my favourite chapter of Flower so far so I hope you all enjoy it too! Please reblog if you enjoyed and let me know what you think in a comment or ask!

; Flower Masterpost

-

The knock on your front door causes you to pause, clothes in your hand as you put them into your washing machine. You’d been frantically cleaning for the last hour, tidying up your already clean apartment to make sure that it all looked good. When you’d run out of stuff to clean, you’d resorted to washing your clothes early. 

Just for something to do while you waited.

But now he’s here. Hoseok is here. At your apartment, for the first time. You’d been to his a few times now but he’d never been to yours. That had been your fault because you simply just hadn’t invited him. It hadn’t entered your head to do that. Not until Chungha got exasperated and pointed out that perhaps he’d like to see where you lived too.

She must have been right because Hoseok had eagerly accepted and so here you were. You’d finished work an hour and a half ago, the time spent since waiting for him to finish and head home to grab his stuff before coming to yours had given you plenty of time to fulminate.

Not only was Hoseok coming over to yours for the first time...but he was going to spend the night. He’d come up with a plan to drive you both to an amusement park a few hours away tomorrow, but it required getting up pretty early. As a result, you’d just blurted out that he could stay with you.

You could tell that he’d been a little shocked at your proposition, not because you were suggesting he stay but because it was you who was suggesting it. He probably hadn’t expected you to propose that for a while yet.

Especially not when you had plans to let him sleep in bed with you too. You’d discussed it with Chungha and Soyeon in depth, wondering whether you should make him sleep out on the couch for the night. They’d been adamant that you couldn’t do that given you were dating, and you’d been together for two months so why not just let him sleep next to you?

If he remained as polite as he’d been, he wouldn’t be putting any moves on you. 

The easy way you’d said yes to it and suggested it to him told you, and everyone else who knew you, that you really wanted him to stay over. To sleep next to you. Honestly, it had one of your fantasies. Alongside the sexual ones, sometimes you just thought about him holding you in bed, cuddling with him.

Tonight you were going to get to experience that.

Quickly putting the rest of your clothes into the machine, you pause for a moment as you wonder if it’s stupid of you to be washing your clothes. But you push the thought of the way as you add powder and detergent before turning it on. A final glance around your small apartment lets you see that everything is as clean as it’s going to get and you take in a deep breath, smoothing down your shirt.

Opening the door slowly, you smile at Hoseok as he stands there waiting, a backpack over his shoulder and a bright smile on his own face. “Hi...err...sorry, I was putting my washing on. For some reason. Err...come in.”

He laughs softly as he enters, toeing off his shoes and carefully placing them on the rack you have set up next to the door without even being asked to. Moving forward through the tiny hall, you gesture to the living room and attached kitchen with a nervous movement.

“Errm so...this is the living room, obviously. And the kitchen. The door you just passed is the bathroom and the other door is my bedroom. It’s not very big,” You feel yourself heat up in embarrassment as your hands twist together. “I mean...I can still barely afford it but it’s home at least.”

Hoseok looks around slowly, eyes darting everywhere as he takes in the decor of the place. You weren’t allowed to put things on the wall so the only decorations were on the bookcase in the corner, your television stand, your couch, the coffee table and the drawers next to the bookcase. Looking around, you take it in the same way he does.

A fluffy throw in slate grey is draped over the couch, covering both the back and the seat cushions while an array of interesting cushions and plushies cover it. Your Pusheen plush sits in pride of place but there’s also a bao bun with a smiley face, an overly cartoony calico cat stretched out along the back and a Jack Skellington face on the couch as well. 

Other plushies dot the room as well, from the set of Pokémon on the bookcase which included all the Eeveelutions you’d carefully collected over the years and various Pokéball’s to random cute ones and even a Pac-Man. Amongst all of that, was other stuff you’d collected; a range of animal shaped hand creams, a bunch of tiny Harry Potter chibi snow globes, some Funko POP figures featuring Disney characters along with a Totoro clock.

Random lights were currently turned on around the room including the PlayStation logo light, the Mario Mushroom light and a Yoshi egg. Part of you cringed as you took in how...colourful and pretty everything was compared to Hoseok. It looked so...delicate next to him.

He was stood there in black ripped jeans with a Guns n Roses shirt on, his tattoos the only thing that matched the room really. And yet he didn’t look disgusted by it, instead he just looked fascinated. Moving forward, he looked over the various books, Blu-Ray’s and video games you’d collected over the years along with the tiny Totoro figures that almost made up a little set.

“Oh my god...this is literally you in a room.” He marvelled, eyes wide as he took in the light shade that covered the light bulb hanging in the room. It was simple, just a curved circle but it was navy blue with tiny circles cut into little rockets and planets. When you turned it on, which was rarely, it made the room light up with a space theme.

“Err...yeah...I’m sorry, I know it’s a lot.” You apologise, rubbing at your forearm as you feel the swirl of negative feelings within you start to bubble. Already you’re regretting letting him into your home, into your safe space. This was where you felt most comfortable, where you felt happy. You only let people in that you trusted, and after two months you were pretty sure you could.

But it was still overwhelming, letting someone into the very private part of you and letting them see what made you happy.

“Don’t apologise, this is great. You’ve seen my place, it’s barren compared to this. I like it. It’s nice. Feels...cosy.” Hoseok said with a bright grin, white teeth flashing as you glanced at you before looking into your kitchen with eager curiosity.

The cuteness extends into there too, sweet woodland themed animal print oven gloves draped over the oven handle while a whole array of cute magnets cover the fridge along with pictures and important notices. A Totoro egg timer sits next to a little polka dot flower pot on the window sill while a cat themed calendar is propped up on the microwave.

A soft meow combined with pressure on his lower legs causes Hoseok to jump slightly, looking down before he grins even bigger. “Oh hello there! You must be Kasumi! Your mommy has told me so much about you.” He croons in a high pitched voice, the kind people only use on babies or animals.

But you can see the delight in his eyes as she sits in front of him, her cream fluffy coat combining with her dark paws and ears alongside astonishingly azure eyes to make her look like the prettiest cat ever. You were pretty sure that she was a ragdoll cat, which meant it was even more shocking that you’d found her in a shelter as a kitten. 

She observes Hoseok for a moment longer before meowing sweetly at him, pushing up to butt his hand with her head and he coos as he crouches down, stroking and talking absolute nonsense to her. You get the sense that he’s just fallen in love at first sight with your cat, the smile on his face bigger than anything you’d seen as she flops to the floor, belly presented and batting at his hand playfully.

“I’m gonna steal your cat.” He teases, looking up at you with playful eyes and you snort, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Over my dead body. She loves me anyway, right Kasumi?” At her name, her ears twitch and she looks at you upside down, letting out a soft mewl as her loud purrs reach you. You grin and crouch down, arms open as you make kissing noises to her and she immediately jumps up, rushing over to you. Standing back up with her in your arms, you smile smugly at Hoseok and wonder why on earth you’re suddenly competing with him over the affection of your own cat.

It looks like the thought runs through his head as well as he shakes it before walking over to you, dropping his backpack past you onto the couch before he places his hands on your waist. Leaning close, you feel your shoulders rising at his attention and he chuckles quietly.

“I guess I’ve got some competition then, huh?” He murmurs before kissing you, the gesture ever so gentle. It’s nothing intense, yet it fires you up in ways you’d never really considered before. Here, in your home, with your cat in your arms and your boyfriend kissing you, you feel happier than you can remember in recent memory. It feels...almost normal.

Hoseok pulls away quickly, smiling as he looks you up and down with a raised brow. “Can I go change if you’re in your pyjamas already?”

His tone is ever so slightly teasing and you look away, pressing your face into Kasumi’s soft fur to avoid the embarrassment.

“Yeah...sorry. I don’t...I don’t see the point in wasting clothes when I’m at home. Pyjamas or die you know?” He snorts in response, kissing your cheek before grabbing his backpack again.

“I get it, I’ll be back in a minute.”

-

It turns out that Hoseok’s pyjamas are just...his normal lounge clothes apparently. A pair of plain black sweatpants is combined with an overly large Star Wars shirt, a few holes in both items that cause you to raise a brow in amusement. A far cry from the matching set of pyjamas you’re wearing; a set of Marauder's Map leggings combined with a black shirt and a gold Hogwarts crest.

“You can tell our personalities just from what we’re wearing.” He looks up from his phone, brows raised before looking between you both with a lopsided smile. Without a word, he walks over to you and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you to him tightly.

Body stiffening automatically without you even meaning, you force yourself to relax in his embrace. You still weren’t used to the open affection Hoseok lavished on you, the casual touches of his not normal enough for you to accept openly like you did with your friends and family. But you were getting there.

You just wished that you could extend the open affection to him in the same way. It was hard though, you weren’t naturally open to physical gestures like that. Normally you just accepted them, but you wanted to discover to be open with him.

Because as you melted into his arms, you realised that you really liked this.

“What are you trying to say, huh? That I’m ratty and old while you’re young and put together?” He teases, squeezing tightly while rocking you from side to side, putting just enough pressure that you have to stagger back as you giggle against his chest.

“No! I mean...you are older than me…” 

“Excuse you! I’m only two years older than you! Hardly Hugh Hefner here.” Hoseok protests, his voice loud but you can hear the playfulness in it. It makes you happy to hear that, knowing that he’s going along with you.

“You’re right...you don’t have as much money as him. I’m missing out.” At that, he leans back enough for you to see his face, his jaw dropped while he tries to stop a smile from spreading. It causes you to grin in response, squeezing him tightly in response before you press your face back to his chest. “It’s okay though, you’re pretty.”

“Wow...okay. Does that make me the Playboy Bunny in this situation?” You snort, hands lowering without even meaning to and making him jerk in surprise as you squeeze his ass without even thinking. The very ass that your friends had teased you about weeks ago.

“How do you look with bunny ears and a tail?” 

He moves away at that, eyeing you suspiciously as he bites his lower lip, the flesh disappearing between his teeth. “Let’s never find out, shall we?”

“Awww. There’s people who find that kinky. They get dressed up as animals and stuff. Sometimes it’s just...they just wanna dress up but sometimes they dress up and it’s like...they wanna have sex in those suits.” Hoseok just stares at you in disgust, looking away before nodding slowly.

“Sounds great. I’m never doing that. Just want you to know,” he pauses, looking up at the ceiling before cringing and shrugging. You’re suddenly reminded of that woman trying alcohol meme as he makes a considering face. “Okay maybe I’d try it once if you were into it but I don’t think it’s for me.”

You steadfastly avoid his face at that, body heating rapidly at the thought of him thinking about having sex with you knew he probably had. If you were thinking that way about him, then there was no one way someone like him wasn’t thinking that way too. And it was a very strange sensation to know that he wanted you like that.

So you just gestured to the couch, watching as he sits down and scoops Kasumi into his lap. A quick phone call gets you food ordered from your favourite Chinese place, Hoseok stating his preferences to you as he flicks through Netflix and strokes the fluff ball he’s holding.

The next few hours pass by in a food coma bliss of delicious food combined with both of you starting a show on Amazon instead called The Boys. It had surprised you both with how violent and gory it was yet you enjoyed it thoroughly, much to Hoseok’s amusement. Maybe he thought your love of cute things meant that you didn’t like that kind of stuff but you enjoyed it just as much.

You both made it through three episodes before you found yourself getting tired, it was nearing 11pm and as lame as it made you sound...you were someone who went to sleep a bit earlier than that. It amused Hoseok when your head started to loll onto his shoulder, the pleasant warmth and comfort of his body as you cuddled up together lulling you into drowsiness.

Which was why when the episode finally ended, he stood up and gently pulled you up as well. “Come on sleepy, I think it’s time for bed. Sometime’s tired.” He was using that voice that he’d used on Kasumi earlier, and part of you wanted to protest it but you were too drowsy to bother. So instead, you went around the room after shaking his hands off to turn off all the lights.

Hoseok went to the bathroom while you did that, telling you that he was just going to go to the toilet and brush his teeth. By the time you had finished cleaning everything up and throwing the empty Chinese cartons away, he was standing a little awkwardly outside your bedroom.

Smiling, you opened the door and let him in. “You can go in.”

He gave a little smile before heading in and pausing as he looked around once more. Your room was barely big enough for the double bed in it, one side pressed up against the wall while a bedside table rested next to it. A wardrobe was next to that and a chest of drawers along with a mirror. 

“Err...sorry...it’s a little cramped.” You say quietly, rubbing your arms nervously once more and he just shakes his head at you with a small sigh that sounds more amused than you’d expected.

“You need to stop apologising for everything. It’s fine, honestly. Don’t stress yourself over it.” He heads over to the bed and looked down at it, teeth clanking against his lip ring as it looked down. “I’m gonna guess that you sleep on this side?” 

Pointing at the side closest to the bedside table, you go to nod before realise he’s being rhetorical. It was blatantly obvious which side you slept on, given the other side was covered in a large array of plushies. From more Pokémon to a Star Wars teddy, Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon, a cute cat face, a fluffy llama and so much more. 

The side Hoseok would be sleeping on was covered in them and you cover your face in dual embarrassment and horror, realising that you’d blatantly forgotten to clean it off for him. “Err...yeah. You can just...put them on the floor or something. Sorry, I mean…” 

You cut yourself off from apologising again at his look but he just smiles and shrugs. “It’s okay, I’ll sort it out.”

Quickly, you leave the room to prevent any further embarrassment for you. Sometimes you really wondered why Hoseok stayed with you given how different you both obviously were. The thought made your chest hurt and you pressed as it, frowning as you did your own nightly routine. It took a little longer than Hoseok’s as you had a whole skincare routine to go through and so ten minutes later you walked back in with a face mask on.

He was lying on his back, pillows propped up behind him as he looked through his phone and you noted with amusement the little ice cream plush that was still situated next to him. In fact...he made the most bizarre image laid there.

Your bedding was white, with tiny rainbows ending in clouds interspersed with yellow stars and little cartoons unicorns and pegasus that jumped and frolicked. You liked your bedding to look as cute as everything else, only it looked childish with him in it now.

His tattoos look at complete odds with it all, dark hair pushed back and making him look even hotter than ever with it all messed up. He looked dark and brooding in your bed, anathema to your bedding and it was both adorable and bizarrely attractive. 

A sudden thought rushes through your head that one day, if everything goes right, you’ll be having sex with him in that bed. Cheeks heating, you quickly rush forward and sit on the bed carefully, plugging your phone into the charger before looking back over at him.

“Do you need your phone charging too? I have another cable and plug.” You offer and he lets out a noise, head turning towards you before his eyes finally pull away. When he finally notices your face, he jerks away in shock before his face contorts and he squints at you.

“The fuck is on your face? Are you cosplaying Michael Myers or something?” Hoseok mutters, leaning forward a bit and looking you over. You try not to laugh, not wanting the face mask to move and you push at his face lightly.

“Don’t make me laugh, you’ll ruin it. It’s just a face mask, my night routine.” Laying back on the bed, he pulls a face at you.

“You do that every night? Isn’t it tiring?” You shake your head, checking in your Twitter feed as you wait for the time to pass until you can take it off again. “Is that why your skin always looks so pretty? Or is that makeup?”

“Hoseok! I haven’t worn makeup the last three times we’ve met up. You haven’t noticed between that and makeup?” He just stares at you for a moment before shrugging, his hand suddenly running along your back in slow and steady movements. It feels like electricity moves through your body as he does so, but you can’t tell any sexual intention behind it.

“I feel like no matter what I say here...I’m going to get myself in trouble. So...I will be smart and say that you look beautiful with and without makeup.” His smile is boylike then, making his entire face look far younger than he actually is and you sighed softly in defeat, shaking your head before checking the clock on your bedside table. “Why does your clock look like that?”

You pull off the face mask and throw it into the small trash can underneath the table, gently patting at your face to get the excess moisture to absorb. Glancing at the clock, you note it’s unusual shape and size while the orange numbers glow.

“It’s one of those clocks that simulate sunrise to help make it easier to wake up in the morning. I struggle with feeling tired and in winter I never want to get up. Err...I tend to get a little...or a lot...depressed with it. So I got this because daylight is meant to make you happier so ten minutes before my alarm goes off, it starts to light up and simulate a sunrise. It works pretty well in fairness.” You finish, rubbing your cheeks before grabbing the next step of your routine.

“Really? Huh. Cool.” He hands you his phone once you’ve finished, turning onto his side watching you intently. The attention makes you feel warm inside and finally you’re ready to go to bed, lifting the covers and cautiously sliding in next to him. It feels warm and comfortable as usual, your pillow and bedding maximised for comfort.

Reaching over, you turn off the lamp, leaving you both in darkness. The room feels oppressively silent at that moment before you realise that you can hear his breathing next to you. Suddenly, you feel hyper aware of his every movement and sound, your own body stiff beneath the covers.

A few minutes pass by like that, you unsure what to do now and too tense to sleep even after feeling so drowsy earlier. And then suddenly Hoseok reaches out, his hand resting on your stomach tentatively before stroking gently when you don’t react.

“You’re so tense.” He laughs softly and you feel the need to apologise again. But you hold it back, knowing that you have no reason to apologise. Hoseok knows by now what you’re like, he’s aware of your shy and awkward nature and he must know how out of your comfort zone you’re feeling right now.

Which is why you appreciate how slow he moves, his hand spreading heat through your stomach as his slow movements lead you to relaxing ever so slightly. He keeps doing it, his breathing just as hypnotising and you find your eyelids fluttering shut as the earlier drowsiness comes back.

“Can you turn over? On your side?” Hoseok asks softly, hand pausing and it takes a few seconds for you to acknowledge what he’d said. But you do so, shifting lazily until your back is facing him and your head is pressed comfortably into the pillow with your hand slotted beneath both pillows.

And then carefully shuffles up behind you, a warm and heavy weight sliding around your waist as he wraps an arm around you. Pulling slightly, he tugs you into a more comfortable position and you’re suddenly wide awake again. Even though you’ve been cuddled up with him before on a couch, it’s somehow completely different now that you’re lying together in bed.

Every bit of his front presses to your back and you’ve never been so aware of someone else. He feels like a furnace behind you, though you’re not sure if that’s because he actually is warm or if it’s because your body is burning hot. But you like it, as nervous as it makes you feel.

Your limbs feel like you could go outside and run a marathon yet the idea of leaving the bed is so far beyond you. His warm breath gently puffs against your neck as he settles a little more and you swallow hard, forcing your body to relax as you get used to the feeling. It’s been a long time since you’ve slept next to someone, and you’d never felt comfortable with them.

But you do with him. You do with Hoseok.

And without even realising it, your wandering mind begins to drift off as you lay there comfortably, feeling safe and content about everything. 

[bailey-whalieee]

Things Are Different Now

TWO

✮

After the incident on Friday, Maggie spent the rest of her weekend boarded up in her room refusing to leave bed unless it meant going to the bathroom or for a shower. Her father’s grew suspicious after the fact she refused to go to the doctors office for a check-up.

Honestly, avoiding them really wasn’t her best option, but at this point what else could she do.

Monday snuck up on the girl uncharacteristically fast, and the moment her door opened and the lights turned on, she hid underneath the blankets. It earned a huff of annoyance from Steve and Bucky.

“Maggs, doll, time to get up,” Bucky sighed, pulling the duvet off of her head, “c’mon..”

No.

Please don’t make me go, she thought to herself.

Her eyes were swollen and red, making Steve furrow his eyebrows. Maggie woke up three times during the night due to a recurring nightmare that wouldn't go away. She took three melatonin pills and listened to mozart for most of the night and still, the screams and the military style boots haunted her dreams.

“Maggie, get up honey. Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be, kay?” Steve softly commanded, patting the mess of hair on top of her head.

Begrudgingly, she peeled the covers off of her body glaring at her two father’s who just chuckled and exited her room. Ding!

Who the fuck was texting her this early?

M&M

police are all over campus today. looking for kid’s who were at the party…

6:36 am

Her heart stopped beating for a second. All the air in her lungs evaporated and expelled itself. This couldn’t be happening. Holy shit. She was at the party. Steve and Bucky would be so disappointed if they found out she went and then didn’t even have the nerve to stop the man.

Maggs

please tell me you’re joking..

6:39am

She rushed trying to find a decent outfit which consisted of a random jumper, leggings, and high-top converses. Maggie didn’t bother to even brush the mop of hair instead choosing to throw into a bun and heading down the stairs.

M&M

maggie deadass, there are fbi agents crawling all over the halls.

6:40 am

Maggie paused mid-step into the kitchen until a clearing of someone’s throat knocked her back to reality.

“Sweetheart, your sweatshirt is on backwards..” Steve informed, taking a sip of his coffee causing a chuckle to elicit from Bucky. She quickly fixed the issue and grabbed a water bottle out of the pantry.

“Maggie, did you hear about what happened at that party? Can’t remember if we talked about or not?”

Her body came to an immediate halt, they know, she was fucked. Maggie could feel her heart thumping at an unreasonable pace and her throat tightened unpleasantly. Gods, now her dad’s knew about this..

“Doll?” Bucky called out, pulling her out of her inner battle.

Gulping, she turned on her heels, “um, I should probably be getting to school. Bye dad, papa.”

Both of their faces were puzzled as she rushed out of the door and the door slammed shut. Harsh breaths escaped her lungs as Maggie sprinted down the cement walkway, evoking a deja vu moment to hit her like bricks.

Immediately, Maggie stopped in her tracks. The gun shots. The blood. The bodies. The screams. The end.

They were like mental snap-shots she made in her mind and no matter how loud her music was or whatever she did to distract herself, nothing would ever erase them. She couldn’t shut it out.

7:50AM

“Fuck!” she stared at time on her phone.. Maggie was late, very late. And that meant a phone call home plus a tardy from her first period teacher. Again, she chased pavement until she arrived at Midtown High.

The late bell had already rang and Emma wasn’t wrong about FBI agents crawling around the school. She passed six police officers just by walking down the hallway, who gently smiled at her as she skidded by.

‘Act natural and they won’t suspect a thing,’ Maggie thought to herself.

But, slipping into first period math wasn’t exactly natural, especially when you were Maggie Rogers-Barnes. She sat in the back trying to avoid the students around her, popping up the hood to her sweatshirt and slouching into the desk. It seemed to work. Nobody noticed her nor did her first period teacher even spare a glance.

“Good morning students, I’m sure most of you are aware of the shooting that took place over the weekend. We ask you to come together as a community to love one another and support each other during this trying time. Friday night we will be honoring the students who passed away, if you have any information that would be helpful on the investigation please come to the front office.”

Maggie clenched her eyes shut trying to forget about everything around her. Her head fell gently against the desk letting sleep wash over her.

✮

It seemed like no matter what Maggie kept running into FBI agents and cops throughout her school day. Guilt ate her alive, but she couldn’t say anything.. Everyone would look at her differently and not to mention the anger both of her father’s would feel.

So, when the DA requested for Maggie to come to the office for an interview, every step held guilt. She went against every instinct in her body. Every little voice telling her to speak up and do the right thing.

Maggie Rogers-Barnes had officially broken all three rules her father’s placed, and the amount of hate she abhorred for herself was shocking. She wanted to tell the truth, but she couldn’t.

“Hello, Maggie. I’m defense attorney Lewis Brooke, and this is Agent Erin Alim. We just want to ask you a couple questions, if that’s okay?” he introduced, allowing her to sit down.

She nodded, picking at the skin around her nails, “of course.”

“Were you at the party when the shooting took place?” Lewis asked, clicking the top of his pen.

She tried to focus on anything, but the legal pad and the lists of names crossed out on it. “No.”

He perched one eyebrow, almost as if he didn’t believe her, “but you do know the students who were at the party? Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt them, maybe even another classmate who would want to hurt them?”

“The only person who I really know is Emma and Peter. I don’t know who was at the party, I’ve just heard of their names, ya know?” she shrugged, chewing on her cheek.

“You’re free to go,” he gave a curt nod, sighing.

Gathering herself, Maggie got up to leave. “Oh and Maggie,” she turned on her heels facing the DA, “I know both of your fathers. Worked with them actually, so I trust that you would tell me if you knew anything. You’re a good kid. I don’t doubt that you would come forward if you knew what happened. Have a good day and if you hear anything, you know where to find me.”

‘I’m most definitely fucked now.’ She thought, giving a brief smile and quickly exiting the office. If her dad’s knew the defense attorney and found out about what happened at the party and figured she straight up lied, god’s they would disown her..

Maggs

you can’t tell them anything, emma. nothing. if they ask if we were

at the party, we werent. got it?

2:25 pm

The final bell sounded above her and kids of all ages skidded and ran down the halls of midtown high. It kept Maggie sane knowing she could at least go home now, even if she didn’t really want too.

“Maggie? Hey!”

Peter Parker waved over at her with a rather big grin appearing on his face.

Being a daughter of two avengers, Maggie and Peter were bound to be best friends. Uncle Tony had practically adopted the boy and Maggie spent most of her life living in the tower up until, four years ago.

So, they spent quite a lot of time together. Even now. Peter and Maggie had routined game nights at Tony’s and movie nights.

“Peter.. Hey,” she sighed, holding onto the strap of her backpack.

His brow furrowed as they began to walk down the crowded hallway, “are you okay?”

Maggie nodded quickly trying to avoid the situation. Peter was a bit of a tattletell.. Although, it completely came out of love especially if she was in trouble or hurting.

“Pete, I gotta go. I’ll see you around,” she rushed out, stumbling out the side door.

Peter tried to call out to her, but she just kept her head down and disappeared into the crowd of kids. Her feet stumbled over one another, almost hitting the pavement at the pace she travelled.

✮

Steve’s laugh echoed throughout the kitchen as Bucky made a huffing noise towards the half cooked failure of a casserole. He tried, and that’s the only thing that mattered to Steve. But, they were going to have to opt for take-out tonight.

The edges were burnt to crisp, and the middle congealed together; a soggy, crisp mess.

“Looks like we are getting chinese again. ‘Least Maggie will be thrilled,” he sighed, tossing the oven mitts to the side.

Steve shook his head pecking his cheek softly, “it’s alright, Buck.”

The inedible food found itself into the garbage can and the two men sat across from each other sipping on their mugs.

“Did you notice how exhausted Maggs looked this morning? God’s Bucky, I almost wanted to tell her to go back to bed. Makes me worried..”

“I know, Stevie.. She was off this weekend, for sure.”

The front door finally opened and their daughter walked through, footsteps heavy and weighed down by a nuisance they were all familiar with. She let the backpack hit the floor with a thud that reverberated through the house.

She contemplated going to her room and hiding again, but her dad’s were already suspicious.

Maggie resided on the couch, body stretched over the whole couch taking most of its space. Her eyes were trained on the wall before her, the buzz of the television coaxed her eyelids to droop the slightest.

Waves of tiredness hit her like a bus.

“Hey doll, can we talk? I’m sure you probably already know what happened though?” Steve’s soft voice astounded.

“Dad I don’t really-”

“Maggs, trust me. We both know you don’t wanna talk about this, but we have too. Sweetheart, we just want to know if you’re okay, s’all,” Bucky hushed, running a hand down her spine comfortingly.

Tears began to build up in the corners of her eyes. She sat up trying to hide the fact that the tears were begging to fall down her cheeks, but something just broke within her. Maggie couldn’t stop the dam from breaking.

And they began to fall down her flushed face.

“Honey..”  

She tried to keep the sobs to a minimum, but it felt like the world was weighing her down. Maggie couldn’t tell them the truth, she couldn’t open up about what happened and it tore her apart.

“I’m so scared, dad.”

Both Bucky's and Steve’s face dropped. Encircling her in their arms, she shook and trembled against them. Her cries turned into soft, futile whimpers.

“Doll, I can promise you that no one is ever going to lay a hand on you or even attempt to hurt you, okay?” Bucky cooed, wiping the fallen tears off her cheek.

‘I wish that were true.’

Maggie clenched her eyes shut hiding her face against Steve’s sweatshirt. His arms wrapped against her protectively and she took in the familiar scent. It brought her back to her early childhood, when she would get nightmares and hide her face in either of her father’s chest.

“We gotcha’ sweet girl. Nobody is going to hurt you,” he smoothed down her hair, shushing her whimpers.

They stayed like that for a while. The two men comforted her cries until her once labored breaths calmed and little snores erupted from her mouth. Steve and Bucky smiled, kissing her on the top of her head.

Both being too oblivious to realize that she just wasn’t scared. She was terrified..

✮

taglist: @rose-moon-mist​

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] In The Arms of Love:  Chapter 4

Ai kept his arms around Yuusaku even as the night turned by and the sounds of outside grew quieter and quieter. He checked on the weather and smiled. Oh, that would make a lovely surprise for Yuusaku in the morning!

Does he have a proper coat? Ai wanted to get up and check, but he had Yuusaku in his arms, and he didn’t want to take the chance on his dear one waking up if he moved. Yuusaku didn’t always sleep well, and Ai wanted to make sure that this time he was actually rested.

But he had other ways to find out what he needed to know.

“Roboppy,” he murmured, speaking not in human but in the shared language of computer programs, “I need to know if Yuusaku has a good winter coat.”

“He has a coat,” Roboppy replied right away. “But it isn’t very thick. He would probably be cold in it.”

Ai pressed his lips together, thinking. He regarded Yuusaku carefully, then checked his other resources. He had access to money – one didn’t take over SOL Technologies and not tuck a nest egg away just in case – and if there was anyone in this world who knew Yuusaku’s measurements, he was that one.

Ai didn’t need to so much as get up to carry out his idea. He rifled through one of the better online stores and made his selection, putting the order in quickly. It would be delivered by morning – an extra charge applied, but for Yuusaku, anything was worth it.

Then he carefully went back over it all and erased his tracks flawlessly. He didn’t want anyone, especially those who might have a grudge against Playmaker, to figure out anything about Yuusaku. Among all of those simulations, one thing had been certain. Yuusaku always outed himself as Playmaker to protect him and that always meant he ended up being targeted.

If that were going to happen, it wouldn’t be because of Ai’s own foolishness.

So, in the morning, Yuusaku would wake up to an elegant new coat that would keep him warm, as well as a thick coating of snow outside. It was the weekend; he wouldn’t have to go to school. Ai checked around for interesting cold weather events they could take part in. Ice skating, throwing snowballs, skiing – well, he didn’t think Yuusaku would like skiing. But skating and snowballs and walking in the snow and hot chocolate

Yuusaku never seemed to want anything that could actually be fun. Ai would take care of that for him.

He considered for a little longer, then put in another order – ice skates. Those could be rented from some areas, but as far as Ai was concerned, Yuusaku should have everything of his own. If he could have gotten away with it – and he wasn’t sure that he couldn’t – he would have arranged for Yuusaku to have a much better apartment.

But that would probably be something that Yuusaku should decide for himself. Ai would keep himself to small presents like coats and skates and making reservations at a good restaurant.

He’d originally intended the money he swiped from SOLtech to go to Yuusaku after a couple of years. Not that Yuusaku would necessarily need it; he was more than talented enough to get a job he’d be happy at with minimum effort. But Ai wanted, even then, to take care of Yuusaku in any way that he could.

Only he hadn’t counted on coming back and since he had, and he knew perfectly well that the little nest egg he’d set up was there, it didn’t seem right to just let it gather virtual dust.

Ai didn’t need to sleep, not exactly like humans did. But he carefully arranged for his body to recharge and set himself into a temporary stasis mode. That passed for sleep, and he could make certain that he woke up when Yuusaku did.

Several hours later, that was exactly what he did. Yuusaku stirred against him, and Ai opened his eyes, recaliberating and focusing, checking the time and reassuring himself that the weather hadn’t done anything that it shouldn’t. One couldn’t always be certain, after all.

“Ai?” Yuusaku blinked at him. “Good morning.”

Ai grinned at him. He thought about getting himself some nightclothes, but there was also the fact that covering up his body was something of a crime against nature. He enjoyed clothes and showing off his taste, but nightwear was something else altogether. He would have to think about it.

But he did like the idea of Yuusaku waking up to see him like that. He would consider the benefits in the future.

For now, he just enjoyed the sight of early morning Yuusaku, with mussed hair and eyes a little sleepy and confused.

“Good morning, Yuusaku-chan,” Ai chirped cheerfully at him. He unwound himself and stood up. “You’re going to need breakfast. It’s going to be a busy day!”

Yuusaku blinked a few times. “What are you talking about?” He started to shift off of the bed, angling towards the bathroom.

“It’s snowing outside,” Ai told him. He could see the tiniest wince of Yuusaku’s shoulders at that. Ah, he had no idea. “We’re going to have fun!”

Yuusaku snorted ever so faintly. “I think I’m going to go back to bed after breakfast. I don’t like the snow.” He must have seen Ai’s expression, since he amended, “Or did you want to go to Link Vrains?”

“We’re going out!” Ai told him. “It’s going to be fun!”

Yuusaku shook his head with a sigh. “I don’t like snow or cold. I’m not going out there if I don’t have to.”

“Oh, you’re going to love this,” Ai promised. “Go on, get dressed. Roboppy’s making you a good breakfast.”

He gently nudged Yuusaku that way before heading off to the kitchen area himself. It wasn’t much of a kitchen – a tiny stove, a counter-top oven that took up more counter space than it should have, a sink, and a couple of cupboards. A bar offered a little more space to put things, but that was it. It was big enough to get various tasks of cooking done, as long as one didn’t want to make anything very complex.

I really have to get him to get us a bigger place, Ai told himself, setting up for breakfast as Roboppy got to work making it. Sounds of water splashing and other movements told him that Yuusaku was at least getting ready for breakfast. He probably wasn't too thrilled about anything else Ai might have planned.

A knock sounded, and before Yuusaku could so much as peek his head out of the bathroom, Ai caroled out, “I’ll get it!”

Just as he’d expected, it was the coat and the skates. Ai carried them inside and set them on the slightly rickety table. Yuusaku peered out, clearly confused at the sight of the boxes.

“What did you order?” He didn’t sound as if he wanted the answer. Ai just waved one hand at him.

“Eat your breakfast. You’ll see this later.” He didn’t open any of it. These were Yuusaku’s presents. He would get that honor.

Yuusaku stared at them for a few moments, suspicion written large over his features, before he went over to start eating.

“Do I want to know where you got the money for that?”

“No, probably not,” Ai replied cheerfully. “Though I could tell you if you really wanted me to.”

Yuusaku regarded him before he slowly shook his head. “No. I think I’ll sleep better without knowing.”

Ai grinned; he thought much the same thing. Yuusaku would probably try to demand he give the money back. Ai wasn’t going to do that. SOLtech wasn’t their enemy anymore, but he thought they’d earned that money after everything.

Once Yuusaku finished, he came over to where Ai lounged waiting for him. “All right, what’s in the boxes?”

“Open them up and see,” Ai told him. “I bought them for you. They’re yours.”

“Mine?” Yuusaku said the word as if he wasn’t sure of how it applied to him. “You got me – presents?”

“Yup. Go on.” Ai waved one hand. Yuusaku eyed the boxes again, then slowly started to open the smallest one first.

He pulled out the ice skates and stared at them. “Skates? I don’t know how to ice skate.

“No better time to learn!” Ai declared before he motioned to the other box. “Now that one!”

If Yuusaku had been surprised by the skates, his jaw dropped at the sight of the thick coat, a deep shade of amethyst. He rested one hand on it before he stared up at Ai.

“Where did you get this?”

“Off the internet. Don’t worry, no one can tell I got it,” Ai assured him. “Put it on! I want to be sure I got it right.”

Yuusaku stared back at the coat. Ai suspected he wanted to wear it a lot more than he wanted to admit. Then, slowly, he slid the coat on, sinking into the warm depths of it. He closed his eyes, ever so faintly trembling, before he leaned over and wrapped coat-covered arms around Ai, holding him tightly. Ai wrapped his arms around him in return, enjoying the feeling of Yuusaku being there.

“Thank you,” Yuusaku murmured. “It’s wonderful.” Then he glanced quickly at Ai. “You didn’t get a thong too, did you?”

“Not yet,” Ai told him, eyes flickering in amusement. “But there’s time until spring. Or I could get you one in Link Vrains. I’m sure there’s lots of people who would love to see Playmaker in one of those – what are they called? Speedos?”

Oh, he did so love to see Yuusaku blush. It could happen so easily, at least for him.

Spring couldn’t come soon enough.

To Be Continued

Notes: Tomorrow Yuusaku and Ai do wintery things. The spring/swimming/thong stuff will probably be brought up in my Aiballshipping Week fills. Though it’s still a trifle too soon to say for sure.

[v-hope]

Dreamily Different

Pairing: Jeon Jeongguk x Reader

Genre: Fluffffff, way more than I had intended to. Also Guk’s being a heavy sleeper in this one lol ya boi’s tired.

Word Count: 2.3k

Summary: For the first time in years, Jeongguk gets to be home for his birthday, and although it does feel a bit odd not to have his members with him, he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his birthdays with you.

Warnings: Allusions to sex, and one mention of the ‘d’ word. Not sure if this should be a warning but just in case.

A/N: I don’t even know what this is or what my point was, I promise I had one when I started writing it lmao. Anyways, happy birthday to The Meme™, I hope he was even more spoiled by his loved ones than he was in this fic ☺️💞

Quietly entering your bedroom that early morning and catching the sleeping figure of your rather worn-out boyfriend under the messy white sheets, you found yourself internally debating whether you should wake him up for breakfast just yet or let him sleep for a little bit more. However, as you watched the way his bare back moved calmly up and down with each breath he took and his slightly parted pouty lips remained lightly pressed to the pillow, you couldn’t help the sudden urge you got to get back in bed with him and smother him with the rush of love that had just taken over your body.

So, not letting another second pass, you acted on your desires — quickly making your way to your bed and lying down right next to him, loving the sound of the small groan that had just escaped his lips the second you threw your arm over his shoulders to pull him closer, as well as your left leg over his lower body so you could be closer to him.

As if that itself wasn’t enough, you entangled your fingers in his long, messy bedhead, and pulled his head towards your chest right before your lips started planting kiss after kiss to the crown of his head.

“Mhm…” he whined softly, placing his hand on the curve of your waist out of habit, “Y/N…”

You giggled lightly as a natural reaction to the way his hoarse voice had came out muffled, given how tightly you were holding him against your chest.

“M—want… sleep” he managed to blurt out slowly, still stunned by the way he had so out of nowhere been woken up.

“Do you know what day it is, Jeongguk-ah?” you cooed.

“The day my girlfriend decided it’s okay to wake me up this early on my birthday?” he let out in a breathy voice, causing you to roll your eyes and a small smile curve up his lips as he once again felt your chest tremble against his face because of the light laugh that had escaped your mouth.

“I guess you could say so” you agreed, loosening the tight embrace on his head and pulling slightly back so you could look into his tired chocolate eyes; ones he had just opened to take a look into your beaming ones. “Happy birthday, Guk-ah” you smiled brightly, causing a bunny smile to part his lips when your own were pressed sweetly to his forehead.

“Thanks, babe” Jeongguk hummed contently, pressing his lips to the spot under your jaw before he let his face fall back down against your chest.

“Hey, no, don’t fall asleep again” you protested when you caught a glimpse of his closed eyes, immediately trying to shove him away yet having no success at it whatsoever, given the way he was the one now tightly holding on to you. “Jeongguk”.

“I’m tireddd” he dragged on the last letter — his voice coming out muffled once again.

“We have a long day ahead of us” you reminded him, instantly feeling the way he pulled you closer as his way to let you know he was not having it. “Your mum called to say she can’t wait to see us, so we need to be at the train station in three hours if we want to make it to Busan in—”

“Three hours too many” he murmured, having you adjust your leg over his figure when he squeezed you tighter against him.

You rolled your eyes at his unbothered answer.

“As long as you get to fix this mess in your head…” you teased, pushing his hair back as you ran your fingers through it in a useless attempt to make it look more decent.

“I will”.

“Good” your tone came out taunting, just like you had intended to, “because you look like a porcupine”.

“And whose fault is that?” he bit back, playfully pinching your waist.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” you tried to play it cool, earning a wholehearted laugh from him that made your heart speed up in a second.

“Ugh” he finally let go of you, lying on his back before throwing his head on the pillow, “hyungs will think we had sex if they see me like this”.

At that, you couldn’t help but laugh loudly. “Okay, first, they wouldn’t be wrong, would they?” you raised one of your eyebrows, loving the way a smirk had started to curve up his lips while his eyes remained shut. “And second, we’re at mine, so no one else will see this chaos in your head”.

That’s when he finally opened his eyes; that last sentence of yours snapping him back into reality, for he had been too busy whining and trying to sleep again to take in his surroundings — only then realising the room he was in was yours and not his own back at the dorms; although the quietness going on in the apartment that morning should’ve been reason enough for him to notice his otherwise loud members were not around.

And, though a little bit odd, he couldn’t help but feel serene at the utter thought of you having him all to yourself for a few hours that particular day.

As his lost-looking eyes travelled around your bedroom, you found yourself frowning. “Something wrong?”

“No” he was fast to reply, letting out a sigh before he snuggled once again closer to you, only this time it was his weight the one holding you down and not the other way around. “Let’s just stay like this for a little longer”.

And there was not much you could do against that, not only because of his body being too heavy for you to move away, but also because the way he had breathed those words ever so softly as he nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck made you not want to leave his side at all, not ever.

So, letting out a sigh of yourself, you wrapped your arms around him; faintly moving one of your hands up and down his back; feeling his breathing turn slower as he dozed off under your tender touch.

And you would’ve fallen asleep yourself if the alarm you had set next to the oven hadn’t gone off right then, reminding you of the baked goods you had made for your boyfriend, and the ones you had to go take out of the oven that exact moment if you didn’t want them to burn and turn out to be a complete fiasco.

“Mm…” Jeongguk groaned almost inaudibly, not wanting to let go when your hands were placed to his sides to try and shove him off.

“I need to go” you vaguely explained, somehow managing to make him let go of your body and slump down next to you. “Go freshen up and then to eat breakfast, yeah?” your whispered words followed by a gentle kiss to his forehead were answered by a simple nod of his head.

In all honesty, you were convinced he had not even registered your words, seeming to be inside one of his dreams still to fully comprehend what you were talking about. Nevertheless, you could always come back to drag him out of bed once you were done in the kitchen.

Regardless of your beliefs, you were proven wrong nearly ten minutes later when, as you were placing the warm cookies that you knew were his favourites on the nicely set up table, next to the modest yet beautifully decorated cake you had gotten up extra early that morning to finish, you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist from behind, feeling your back press against Jeongguk’s torso right before his chin rested on your shoulder.

“You’re the best” he said truthfully, planting a soft kiss to the spot his chin had been previously resting on. “Although you clearly want to make me cry today”.

Albeit taken aback by that statement and removing his hands from your waist so you could look at him with knitted eyebrows, your concerned expression didn’t last much as you took in his look — his face having clearly been washed up, yet the hat of the black hoodie he had just thrown over his head let you know his hair was far from being fixed.

So, you couldn’t hold back your amused smirk as you said: “I haven’t even given you your actual present yet, but why would I want that now, sleepyhead?”

He shrugged, smiling sweetly. “You tell me” he cupped your face in his hands. “You’re the one who’s always dragging me, yet today you’re being the sweetest”.

A scoff escaped your mouth. “I’m pretty sure I have dragged you today, porcupine”.

Jeongguk laughed lightly, letting his forehead rest on yours. “Yeah, but it’s felt... different? In a way…”

You smiled weakly, leaning in to close the space between your mouths in a brief kiss. “I just want you to have a nice birthday, now that you finally get to be home…” he nodded at your words, stealing another small peck from your lips. “But you’ve been pretty quiet today, so I… don’t know…”

“I’m just—” he cut you off, “it feels different” he repeated what he had said moments ago, later explaining, at your puzzled expression: “Not having a concert to throw, or my hyungs with me…”

“Maybe we should’ve stayed at the dorms instead…” you said uncertainly, only to receive a shake of his head in reply before you could fully start doubting your decisions.

“No, no” he denied, “it’s a good kind of different” a shy smile parted his lips. “Besides, we couldn’t have done what we did last night back at the dorms, could we?”

You felt your cheeks burn in a heartbeat at the sound of his words, not even questioning the second his hands started to travel down your body until they reached the back of your thighs — lifting you up with ease and sitting you down on the edge of the table; being careful enough not to ruin the food you had prepared as he positioned his body in between your legs.

“I’m just... trying to take in as much as I can of it”.

You didn’t even try to contain the smile threatening to form in your lips, instead loosely wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling his face down until his nose faintly bumped yours.

“After all,” he continued before you could even open your mouth to say something, “this is how it’s going to be someday in the future, isn’t it?” his fingers started to draw small circles on your legs. “When I’m no longer an idol…”

“You mean when you get to settle down and have your own family and all?”

He bit down on his lower lip, fixing his eyes on yours in such way that had your heart racing by that mere action of his. “When we have our own place and family, hopefully” he emphasized with a lower voice, causing a shiver to run down your spine. “You do see your future with me, right?”

“Of course” you were fast to give him the reassurance he had so suddenly needed.

“Good” he nodded — the determined tone of his voice not really matching the way he had ever so sweetly placed his lips on yours, this time keeping them connected for a little while longer. “Don’t you dare bail on me later”.

“I won’t” you mumbled against his lips, feeling the way they started to curve up. “Let’s make that promise another one of your birthday gifts” you joked.

“I’ll take it” he agreed embarrassingly fast, having you throw your head back as you let a throaty laugh escape your mouth. “Best present ever”.

Rolling your eyes at his silly ways, you pecked the tip of his nose before you lightly shoved him off so you could stand up.

“Okay, birthday boy, let’s have breakfast now” you ordered him, tilting your head towards the table. “We still have a train to catch in two hours and you haven’t even showered yet”.

“Will you join me?” he said with a seductive smirk and a raise of eyebrows, pulling you once again towards his body by your hips.

“I’ve already showered” you pointed out, much to his disappointment; your eyes going down to your fully dressed figure for him to take notice.

“As another birthday gift?” he smiled brightly, trying his best to convince you.

“Don’t you think you’ve already had enough presents today?” you teased.

“Birthday sex is not a present, it’s special treatment”.

You shook your head in amusement, deciding to ignore the way he had just contradicted himself and instead just resting your hands on his chest to try and push him away, only provoking him enough to grab your hands in his so you couldn’t do it, not wasting another second to guide them behind his neck for you to wrap them around it.

“Who said anything about sex, though?” you wrapped your arms around his neck nevertheless. “We were talking about showering”.

“Babyyy” he whined, letting his forehead fall to your shoulder and engulfing you in a bone-crushing hug. “It’s my birthday”.

“And I’ll make sure to wash your hair properly so your parents won’t feel ashamed of you” you taunted him once again.

His lower lip stuck out prominently as he softly repeated: “My birthday...”

This time, you snorted, finally managing to break free from his embrace and going over the table to serve the, by now, rather cold food; leaving him with no choice but to sit down for once and for all — his face involuntarily lighting up at the sight of all the treats he would get to choose from.

“Eat up now, birthday brat” you drew his attention, handing him a plate already filled with his favourite things, “we’ll discuss the fate of your dick getting wet later”.

[buckysrighthanddoll]

Gluttony

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader (college AU)

Warnings: drinking, fluff, a teensy bit of angst (y’all know it’s me lol), swearing

A.N.: This is part two of my Seven Deadly Sins series!!! Read part one here called “Envy” with Bucky Barnes :)

You were never the drinking type. Throughout high school, you maybe had three drinks. It wasn’t that you were consumed with your bookwork or couldn’t sneak out to parties. You had plenty of opportunities.

It was now the third year of college. You were well on your way to your degree, you had an established friend group, and you had a decent enough social life. But when MJ invited you to a party this Friday, you found yourself feeling nervous.

There were a few parties in college that you attended. Every time you got uncomfortable and left early. Every time you stood in the corner with one or two of your friends from class. Every time you were home by midnight.

This time was different.

“MJ, you know--”

“That you’re a lame-ass who won’t hang out with some friends?” MJ interjected. “Come on, (Y/N), it’s just us. Even Ned is gonna be there.” Before you could even respond, she spoke again. “Peter said he’d be there.”

That caught your attention. You contemplated the decision in your head--the party was this Friday, which gave you today to prepare; however, you had a test at 10:00 am on Saturday.

“Fine. You said it was at your apartment, right?”

“Yes. Be there at 10 to help me set up,” MJ smiled, pivoting on her feet and heading to her next class. You sighed and gave a half-smile at her.

MJ knew damn well that you had a thing for Peter. And, beyond that, she insisted that he liked you, too. It was a load of bullshit, but she wouldn’t change her mind.

Finishing your classes for the day was easy. Today was Thursday, which meant you had Art appreciation, Spanish 312, and organic chemistry. That night, you set up your studying supplies and got to work.

Within an hour, you lost focus. You kept worrying about that damn party, but you logically knew that you didn’t need to. It was a few friends. Peter, Ned, MJ, and her boyfriend Mark were the only people that were supposed to be there. They were all people that you knew and trusted. As long as you didn’t drink, you’d be fine.

“Hey (Y/N/N),” Peter said, making you jump. He laughs, which immediately eases your anxieties. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I left my door unlocked again, didn’t I?” You asked, standing from your desk. He nods his head and sits on the chair by the kitchen counter. “You want something to drink?”

“Water, please,” He responds. He was always so polite, even though you’d known him since sophomore year of high school. The two of you knew everything about each other. He knew about your past traumas and experiences; you knew that he was Spider-Man.

Ya know, the usual.

You got the glass of water and threw a couple of personal pan pizzas in the oven. “I thought you were gonna study for the test on Saturday.”

“I got bored,” Peter shrugs. You sit next to him and rest your arm on the counter. “Figured I’d come to see my favorite girl,” He smiles. He gives one of those small smirks that he (recently) found to drive girls mad, but you simply raise your eyebrow.

“She’s probably in my room.”

At the perfect moment, a fuzzy black cat prances into the kitchen. Her name was Razzle, Razz for short, and she was the cutest damn cat to grace your existence. Peter adored her. There were times when you’d come home from class and see him playing with her on the floor. There were times when Peter would stay the night, and you’d wake up to see a fuzzy black ball on his chest. The scene was so cute that you took a picture (which may or may not be your lock screen, shh).

Razz jumps into Peter’s lap and immediately starts purring. His smile gets even bigger, and he scratches under the cat’s chin (the sight alone makes your heart soar).

“You wanna watch a movie?” Peter asks.

The oven dings, making you stand up to get the pizza. “As long as we can go over the vocab for the test afterward.” Peter groans, but you know that it’s sarcastic. “Deal.”

Peter goes to the living room area and turns on a random movie. You place the pizzas on paper plates and carry them out to where he’s sitting on the couch, his feet propped up onto the table. At least he had his socks on.

Thirty minutes into the movie, you weren’t paying attention anymore. All you could focus on was the way the screen lit Peter’s face; the way his eyes followed every action; the way his body jerked during a fight scene; the way his lips looked so soft and kissable and--

“Is there something on my face?” Peter asked. You snapped your gaze to the empty plate ahead of you. That’s one thing that you loved about Peter--besides his improved spidey-senses, he (sort of) grew out of his awkwardness.

“No, uh, I got lost in thought,” You lied. You grabbed his empty plate and took it to the kitchen to throw in the garbage. Taking a second to collect yourself, you went back to the couch. You scoffed at Peter, who was under a blanket and taking all three spots. “You’re such a dipshit.”

“But I’m your dipshit,” Peter retorted. You rolled your eyes as he sat up, allowing you to sit where his head just was. You plopped yourself down, and Peter rested his head on your lap, lying on his side to still face the TV.

Peter fell asleep twenty minutes later. Your hand was in his hair, softly playing with his curls, and soon enough, the soft snores ensued.

You stayed there for several moments after the movie ended. It was easy to bypass the credits rolling on the screen, especially when Peter was right there. Head in your lap. An arm draped across your thighs. You could see yourself doing this every weekend with him--waking him up, getting to the bedroom, holding each other until the early morning.

It was stupid how much you loved him. He was your best friend throughout high school and college. He was with you through every smile and tear. It was just impossible for you not to harbor anything more than a friendship.

Once the title screen popped back on, you shook Peter awake. He hums groggily and opens his eyes. As he realizes that he fell asleep on your lap, he goes red in the face and sits up.

“I didn’t realize I was even tired,” He says, letting out a breathy laugh. “I’m sorry. I, uh, I gotta get home, though. We have an 8 am tomorrow.” Peter gets up from the couch and makes his way toward the door.

“Yeah, yeah,” You said, standing up and following him. “Goodnight. Be safe, love you,” You added, hugging him.

“‘Night (Y/N/N), love you, too,” Peter responded. He left, and you took that as your cue to get to sleep.

Your classes breezed by the next day. You and Peter’s 8 am class was spent reviewing material for tomorrow’s test, and your ten am consisted of you being a TA for your Spanish professor. She just had you look through papers while she taught about the subjunctive tense.

At your apartment, you texted MJ to ask what you should wear. She arrived twenty minutes later and immediately began searching through your closet. She explained that it was still casual since it was just a few friends, but your usual plain t-shirts and jeans weren’t going to cut it.

MJ picked a tight-fitting shirt with a v-neck. She said that it made you look insanely attractive, especially when paired with the (extremely short) denim shorts that you hardly ever wore.

You decided just to straighten your hair and do basic makeup. It consisted of only eyebrows, eyeliner, and mascara; it was a bit more than your daily makeup, but if you were going to a party, you didn’t want to mess it up.

After getting dinner, you and MJ went to her apartment and began setting up. There was a beer pong table, food set out on another table, and all of the alcohol she could afford on a third table. You put a playlist on her TV screen and then put the remote behind it. It was all said and done within an hour.

You turned on the strip lights right as Mark got there. He greeted his girlfriend with a short kiss, and then he came and hugged you. Mark was a sweet guy; he treated MJ right, and he was great at communication, plus he made an effort to be friends with her friends.

Ned showed up half an hour later, and Peter was right behind him. You already had three shots, but they hadn’t kicked in yet; it was probably for the best because all you could think when you saw him was damn.

He wore a dark grey v-neck shirt and dark denim jeans. He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower shortly before leaving, as his hair was still slightly damp. MJ had to hip check you to pull your attention back to the conversation.

“You need to tell him eventually,” She starts. “I mean, he totally has it bad for you, too.”

“Bullshit,” You sang. “He’s my best friend, besides you. That’s it.” You looked at the table and picked up the peppermint schnapps. “Another shot?”

“Using liquor as a negative coping mechanism. Same,” MJ nodded, smiling as she grabbed the shot glasses. “Competitive?”

“Bet,” You answered, pulling out a five from your pocket. She threw down an additional five and called Mark over to call it so that it wasn’t biased.

You both set the shot glasses on the counter and got ready. Mark slapped the table, and you and MJ threw the glasses back and slammed them back down. You won by a fraction of a second, making you throw your arms up.

“Didn’t think you were a drinker, (Y/L/N),” MJ laughed.

“I’m not,” You smirked. You grabbed the money and put it in your pocket, lining up another shot and downing that one too. “But distractions are distractions.”

“You really need a therapist,” Ned laughed.

Within an hour, you were blasted. Although you’d been slightly tipsy before, you’d never been full-on drunk before. MJ was right there with you, Mark was somewhat behind, and Ned was tipsy. Peter, who had slowly been sipping on his drink, was hardly beyond sober.

The five of you were playing Cards Against Humanity in the living room. MJ had the lead, but that didn’t shock anybody; she was declared the friend group’s funniest. You were near behind, though, which was shocking only because you’d thought Ned should be in your position.

It wasn’t like it mattered to you. All that mattered was that you and Peter sat next to each other, thighs pressed to one another, and his arm was resting on the couch cushions behind your head. If you thought that dealing with your emotions was hard when you were sober, then you were in a world of trouble when it came to you being drunk (and him being this close).

Gluttony was not your usual sin. Indulging in vices like drinking wasn’t typical of you. On any other day, you’d throw yourself into your studies, or maybe you’d be planning your study abroad that was coming up. But drinking? That was out of the ordinary.

Tonight was different. You wanted to let loose--to forget about your emotions. But that wasn’t happening, now was it?

After your game was up, you partied some more. You expected to forget about your emotions; instead, you found yourself forgetting how to care about preserving them. A few shots here, some dancing there, and you were more carefree than you had been in years.

Around three in the morning, you were tired. More than that, you had to be up at eight to get ready for your test at ten. You found yourself stumbling to get your things together so you could walk home, but Mark was trying to stop you.

“(Y/N), it’s past midnight in a college city, and you’re as drunk as a skunk. Just stay here,” Mark tried. MJ was right behind him and insisting that you at least call a taxi or an Uber.

“I’ll be fine,” You assured, nearly falling over as you slipped your shoes on. Peter, thankfully, catches and steadies you. He keeps an arm around your waist, which makes your already reddened face burn even hotter.

“I’ll take her home. I’m sober,” Peter says, looking at MJ. “Besides, we both have a test in seven hours--I need the sleep.”

“Drive safe, man,” Mark says, pulling Peter in for a hug. Peter gives MJ and Ned a hug, and then he’s by your side, leading you to his car.

It was a short and silent drive. Thank gods. You weren’t in any state to be talking to someone who you’ve harbored romantic feelings for.

Peter took you inside your apartment. The moment the door shut behind him, he locked it and got to your bedroom. He picked out some sleep shorts and an old shirt for you to sleep in, and he left you to change while he grabbed some water for you.

You sat in bed as he walked back into the room, setting the glass on your nightstand.

“You’re too nice,” You whined. “Aren’t guys supposed to be assholes or something?”

“I’m the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man--I’m not quite like most guys.” Peter smiles and lifts the covers, letting you get under them. Once you’re laid back, you take a sip of your water, and he closes the windows and curtains. He comes back to pull the blankets over your chest. Then, he starts to leave.

“Peter, can you stay the night here?” You asked. He turns to you and gives one of the softest smiles you’d ever seen (maybe it was just the rose-tinted glasses, or perhaps it was the staggering amount of alcohol in your blood). Nodding his head, he gets in on the other side of the bed.

Peter had stayed the night here plenty of times, but he always slept on the pull-out couch in the living room. He never once stayed in your bed with you also in it. You figured it was either out of concern for boundaries or respect.

The truth was, Peter was also head-over-heels for you. He’d told MJ, not that he needed to--MJ was good at reading people, and he certainly wasn’t subtle about his attraction for you.

You were the first person he came to when he became Spider-Man. You were his reason to fight after he got dusted (along with you). You were his favorite person to see after a mission--you’d been at the tower anytime Tony Stark told you that Peter was coming home. You were always there for him. You were it. You were the one that Peter wanted to be with, even if it didn’t work out in the long run.

Once Peter settled into the sheets, you rolled over and cuddled into him. Your head rested on his chest, an arm around his torso, and a leg tangled with his own. Both of you heaved a sigh of relief; this felt good. This felt right.

“Peter?” You asked.

“Yeah?” He responded.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“No, like, I love you,” You confessed, looking up at him through heavy eyelids. “Like, I wanna kiss you and cuddle you like this and hold your hand. I wanna tell people that I’m your girlfriend, and you’re my boyfriend.”

“Baby, you’re drunk.”

“I’ve been hiding this for years, Peter,” You insisted. “It isn’t because I’m drunk. The only thing this liquor is doing is helping me say what I want to say without worrying.”

“If I’m honest, (Y/N), I love you, too. In that same way. But you’re not even going to remember this in the morning.”

“Will you remind me?”

“Yes.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Not when you’re drunk.”

“Damn,” You sighed. “Did you set an alarm for the morning?”

“I already have one set,” Peter assured you. “Let’s get to sleep.”

“And Peter?” You called. “Thank you for taking care of me.” He hummed in response.

The next morning, you were shocked that you only had a small headache. You were even more surprised that you woke up next to Peter.

Last night was fuzzy for you. Bits and pieces were clear as day, like winning thirty bucks from MJ. But what happened? Was Peter as drunk as you were? Did you say something stupid? Why was he in your bed right now?

No matter the reason, you found yourself not wanting to leave this spot. You were the closest you’d been to Peter.

The alarm on Peter’s phone rang, making you jump. Then, you grabbed your aching head. Peter awoke with a start before looking down at you. He shut the ringtone off, and then he wrapped his arms tighter around you. His hand ran up and down your arm, which made you feel happy and warm, but why the hell was he holding you like this?

“Good morning,” Peter said groggily. His morning voice was hands-down, the most beautiful thing ever.

“‘Morning,” You responded.

“Want me to put some coffee on for that hangover?” He asked.

“I’m not that hungover, actually,” You answered. “I can go make some.”

Peter nodded his head, so you got up. Three scoops into the filter, some hot water, and a few minutes later, you both had cups of bitter coffee to wake you up. You both started to get ready for the day by brushing your teeth and putting on some new clothes (Peter had to find some clothes that he’d left here last month).

It was going to be a casual and laid-back day; that much was certain. Your body was aching, and your head only started to worsen even after taking some ibuprofen. There were still thirty minutes before you needed to leave for the campus, so you and Peter sat on the couch.

“Did I say anything stupid last night?” You asked, holding onto your mug.

“Only that you loved me and wanted to kiss me,” He smirked.

You groaned and threw your head back. “I’m sorry,” You started, looking him in the eye. “I shouldn’t have said that while I was drunk.”

“Did you not mean it?”

“Of course I meant it,” You said, laughing drily. “Peter, in the seven years we’ve known each other, I’ve felt like this for six of them. I just shouldn’t have told you while I was drunk.”

“Last night, I said that I loved you, too,” Peter said. “And then you asked if you could kiss me, but I wasn’t going to let you do anything in that state.”

“Oh,” You muttered, looking down in embarrassment and setting down your coffee. Peter’s lifted your chin and then cupped your face before leaning in and kissing you. The initial shock wore off quickly, and then you were kissing him back. It was soft and sweet--precisely what you’d have expected your first kiss with him to be like.

When Peter pulled away, he rested his forehead against yours. “You wanted me to remind you when you were sober. Was that okay?”

“More than,” You smiled. You closed the distance again, tangling your hands in his hair. Peter smiles against you.

After the test, Peter took you on your first official date as a couple. He held your hand and bought you a coffee, and you carried a conversation like everything was natural. Like everything was right.

(And, for the record, you passed that exam despite the light hangover).

[smooshjames]

forget you not (v)

how come they don’t make ‘em like you, babe? (or: a night to hold on to)

word count: 3.6k

a/n: ok this is technically the final part of forget you not as it’s currently written, but i may write an epilogue if i’m feeling up to it. but either way, thank you for reading and i hope you’ve enjoyed!! as always, all songs that have been mentioned or will be mentioned are not mine; they belong to little mix. this chapter only has one, which you can listen to here. also, i have a ko-fi, so if you want / are able to buy me a coffee, i would sincerely appreciate it! alright, i believe that’s everything i need so say, so without further ado, here’s part five of forget you not. thank you againn for reading, i hope you enjoy!

warnings: more angst, Implied Sexual Content(tm)

previous parts: one, two, three, four

No one pressed you for details on your conversation with Shayne, which you were glad for. You didn’t even know what to think about it yourself, much less how to explain it to other people, even to your best friends. You went through the last event of the day in a sort of trance, barely speaking throughout the whole interview. If anyone asked you about it, you figured you could just blame it on being exhausted after a long day.

As soon as you were free, you went straight back to your hotel room and locked yourself in the bathroom for an hour so that you could shower and decompress. Once you had scrubbed all your makeup off and changed into more comfortable clothes, you came out of the bathroom and found your hotel room empty. There was a note from Carly that read the following:

Hey Buttercup,

I figured you’d want some time and space so I went over to Alexis and Piper’s room. If you want to talk, or just to have some company, feel free to come join us. We were thinking about going out for dinner so text me if you want something.

I love you. You’re the baddest bitch I ever met.

-- C

You smiled at her thoughtfulness and went to crawl into bed. You scrolled through Twitter for a while but found your eyelids growing heavier as the sun began to disappear behind the horizon. It wasn’t that late, only about eight o’clock, but between getting up early and having such an exhausting day, you soon found yourself dragged off into sleep.

You woke up around eleven, groggy and disoriented. When you sat up, you saw Carly entering your darkened room. “Hey,” you said, voice rough with sleep and disuse. “How was dinner?”

“It was good,” she said. “You feeling okay?”

You sighed. “I don’t know,” you said. You dug around in the sheets for your phone and eventually found it. It was almost dead so you went to plug it in. There were no pressing notifications; the only things of note were a text from one of your friends back home and a text from Carly, sent shortly after you’d fallen asleep, which was just her double-checking that you didn’t want anything for dinner. “I kind of feel like somebody punched through my ribcage and started squeezing my heart.”

“I think that’s called a heart attack,” Carly said, smiling. You laughed despite yourself. “In all seriousness, I don’t blame you. This weekend has been utterly insane. I’m gonna shower and get some sleep, though, okay? We need to be up early tomorrow so we can pack before we fly home.”

You nodded. She rooted around in her suitcase for a change of clothes and then disappeared into the bathroom. You considered her words. You weren’t sure if you wanted to go home the next day. You knew that if you left without seeing Shayne, your choice would be made; if you didn’t go see him tonight, you’d probably never see him again.

You made a frustrated sound in the back of your throat. You reached for your phone, found the text from him, and put the address into your GPS. It was only twenty minutes from your hotel.

After thirty or so minutes, the water in the bathroom shut off. You laid on your back and stared up at the ceiling, debating.

The lovesick teenager in you really wanted to go to him, at least so you could see him one last time before you really said goodbye. Maybe if you gave him another chance…

No. That was stupid. You had to remind yourself what happened last time; all the tears, the heartache, the pain. The only reason you got through it was Carly, and then eventually the band.

You wrote music to help yourself cope, and then you met Alexis and Piper, and everything took off from there. If you let yourself give in to the insane idea that he could magically be better this time, you were signing your own death warrant. You knew how things ended with Shayne.

You rolled onto your side so that you were facing away from Carly’s bed and looking at the window. You closed your eyes and tried to sleep, but you couldn’t. Distantly, you could hear Carly moving around the room behind you as she got ready to go to bed. You heard her covers rustling as she laid down.

You couldn’t force your brain to be quiet, and after a while, you ended up just staring straight at the radiator on the far wall of the room. Slivers of moonlight were shining through the cracks in the blinds.

Something thumped against the back of your head. You let out a yelp, surprised, and bolted upright. When you turned around, Carly was still laying down and facing away from you, but one of her pillows was on the ground between the two beds. You figured she had thrown it at you. “What was that for?” you demanded.

“You’re being too loud,” she replied. “I can’t sleep.”

“I’m not saying anything!”

She rolled over and looked at you, accusatory. “I can hear you thinking.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll try to quiet my thoughts down,” you said, sarcastic. You scrubbed your hands over your face, frustration causing your shoulders to draw tight and tense.

“Please do,” she replied, fake-annoyed. Her voice softened, though, as she continued: “what happened today, buttercup?”

“What do you mean?” you asked. You knew what she was talking about, but you didn’t want to face it.

She rolled her eyes. “I mean you and Shayne disappeared after the Smosh video, and you said all of about three words to anybody for the rest of the day. The girls and I were all talking about it over dinner. If he did something, we can and will make his death look like an accident.”

Again, a laugh bubbled out of you despite yourself. Carly always knew how to cheer you up. But the laugh faded quickly, and the smile not long after it. You sighed. “He didn’t do anything,” you said. “I mean, he just… he said that him and Courtney aren’t dating, and then he said that a part of him is still in love with me, and he said he doesn’t want to ‘leave things like this,’ whatever that means, so he texted me his new address and said I could come over if I wanted to. He said that he wants to talk more, but that if I don’t show up tonight then he’ll never bother me again. The most batshit crazy thing he said was that he thought I was over him. And it’s just stupid because he says he doesn’t want to leave things like this but he’s the one who ended it in the first place!”

By the end of your rant, your voice had raised in pitch and volume. You ran a hand through your hair, distressed. A tear dripped down the bridge of your nose and you wiped at it frustratedly, but with that tear, the floodgates opened. Your throat tightened and you couldn’t hold back a sob. You felt your heart, which had been so precariously stitched back together, shattering all over again.

“Oh, honey,” Carly murmured. She slid out of her bed and moved over to yours so that she could wrap you in a hug. You clutched at her shirt and let yourself be babied for a few minutes, crying weakly against her.

A part of you was disgusted with yourself. You had worked so hard to get over him, and now here you were, broken again after just one weekend. You thought that you’d given all the tears you had to give for him.

Once you had managed to calm down, Carly moved so that she was sitting next to you rather than on her knees in front of you. She kept one arm wrapped around your shoulders. “So now you don’t know if you should go or not?”

You nodded. “I know that if I don’t, if I go to the airport tomorrow and fly home… he’ll keep his promise. That was the one thing he was always good at. And I know that it’s for the best if I just let it die, but something in me doesn’t want this to be the last time we ever talk to each other. Seeing him again, I… I was so sure that I was over him. But there’s a reason I haven’t found anybody else, and the reason is that every date I go on, every guy I’m with… I compare them to him. And no one ever seems quite as good. And now he’s twenty minutes away and I can’t sleep because I just know I need to --”

You stopped short. You had finally found your answer.

“Go, Y/N,” Carly whispered.

It didn’t take more than that. You threw off your covers, grabbed your phone and wallet, pulled on the first pair of shoes you saw, and rushed down to the lobby to catch the first taxi you could find.

***

Shayne was beginning to give up hope, which was a statement, considering he hadn’t had much of that to begin with.

He ordered takeout from your favorite Chinese place. At least it had been your favorite before everything fell apart. He hoped your order was still the same. Once he had the food, he put it in the oven to keep it warm and began straightening up his apartment. He took out the trash, washed the dishes, folded and refolded the throw blanket on the couch, and halfheartedly played Animal Crossing in an effort to take his mind off of the passing minutes.

Eight o’clock came and went, and nine o’clock not long after it.

At 9:30, Shayne went to move the food from the oven to the fridge. He considered eating his but decided against it. If you showed up, he didn’t want you to have to eat alone. Besides, his nerves had completely sapped him of any appetite.

At ten o’clock, he gave up on Animal Crossing and just put on an old comedy special instead. He scrolled through Twitter but found that he wasn’t absorbing any of the words on the screen, so he put his phone down and just stared at his television without really hearing any of the jokes.

A couple of times, a car door closed outside of his apartment and he perked up, hoping against hope. But the knock on his door never came, so he sank back down into the couch and turned back to the TV, kicking himself for being so stupid. Of course you weren’t going to come.

Finally, at 11:30, he sighed and went to get ready for bed. He was halfway to the bathroom when there was a knock on the door. He froze.

“Hey, Shayne, um…” he felt like he could cry tears of joy at the sound of the voice from outside, slightly distorted through the wood of the door but definitely yours. Shayne felt like his bones were melting. “It’s Y/N, I, uh… could you let me in, please?”

He nearly broke his leg running over to the door. He cleared his throat, straightened his shirt, and opened the door. You were standing there in sweatpants and a ratty old t-shirt, your eyes red-rimmed and puffy. “Hey,” you said.

“Hi,” he said. “Um, come in, please.”

He stepped back to let you in, which you did. There was a moment of agonizing silence where you stood on his welcome mat, looking around.

“It’s nice,” you said.

“Thanks,” he said, closing the door behind you. “Um, sit down, please. Make yourself comfortable. I ordered Chinese for you if -- if you’re hungry. Or if you want water or something, I can get you some of that, too.”

“Actually, I am really hungry. I didn’t eat dinner,” you said. He felt his chest twist with worry, but he didn’t comment on it. He didn’t have the right to be worried about you. You were an adult, and you could take care of yourself.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll go heat it up.”

You mumbled an “okay” and sat down on the couch while he went into the kitchen to heat up your food. He moved through his apartment in sort of a daze, only half-aware of what he was doing.

You looked like an angel sitting on the couch when he got home. Your nose was buried in the book you’d started last week, and it must’ve been good because you seemed to be well over halfway through it. You looked up when you heard the door close and flashed him that smile that made him feel like he was going to implode with the force of his love for you. Suddenly, his palms were sweating and his heart was thundering and he couldn’t breathe.

He felt like he was in a coal mine and the canary had just dropped dead.

“Hey, babe,” you said. “How was your day?”

He barely heard the question. He walked over to the counter and braced himself against it, took a deep, shuddering breath. The ring in his back pocket suddenly weighed a metric ton. Too much; too much feeling, too much pressure. He was pretty sure this was what dying felt like.

Jesus, what was wrong with him? He had a woman behind him that was perfect in every aspect, and that fact was suddenly cloying, overwhelming. It was cold in the apartment but he shrugged his jacket off anyway. He felt shaky, unsteady.

He couldn’t do it anymore. He didn’t know why, but he felt panic welling up inside him and he knew he needed out. And then, before he could think it through, he dumped kerosene over his own life and set it ablaze with just four, stupid words.

“We need to talk.”

The microwave beeped. Shayne startled back into the present. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his head of thoughts of that night. That didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that you were sitting in the living room waiting for him, and if you were waiting for him that meant you were willing to talk. That meant he had a chance.

He returned to the living room with the food and held yours out to you, and he couldn’t help but notice the way your eyes lit up when you saw where it was from.

“No way! I haven’t had this in so long!” you said, looking between Shayne and the takeout container like he’d performed some kind of miracle.

For a split second, it was as if the last few years hadn’t happened. You tucked into your food and he did the same with his, and there were a couple of minutes where neither of you said anything. Every so often he’d sneak a glance at you, trying to commit to memory exactly what you looked like at that moment. It was edging ever-closer to midnight, and the moonlight filtering in through his blinds had haloed you in silver light. You looked ethereal and lovely and he could feel himself falling back in love with you with each passing second.

Finally, when you were done eating, you set the takeout container down on the coffee table and turned to him. He did the same. “That was really good,” you said. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he said. “I, um… I thought you wouldn’t come.”

“In all honesty, neither did I.”

He wanted so desperately to reach for you. His fingers twitched as he fought the instinct to take your hand. He picked at a stray thread on his sweatpants in an effort to occupy his hands. “What made you change your mind?” he asked.

You sighed. “I knew that if I didn’t come tonight I would never see you again, and that was… I don’t want that.”

He hummed low in his throat, desperately trying to quell the hope welling up within him. “I don’t want that either,” he said. He couldn’t bring himself to look you in the eye. He just kept staring at the stray thread on his pants, feeling a little bit like his fingers weren’t his own. “I, um… I said this to Damien earlier, but I guess it’s probably more important that I say it to you. Letting you go was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, Y/N, and if I could go back and change that night I would in an instant.”

There was a long, agonizing moment where you didn’t say anything. He risked a glance up at your face; the silence was unbearable and he needed to get an idea of what you were thinking. Your expression was stony and unreadable. “Please say something,” he whispered. His voice was strained around the tears he was holding back.

“I loved you,” you said. Your face was still utterly unreadable. “I loved you harder and more honestly than I’ve ever loved anybody. And you… you decided that you didn’t want that. That you didn't want me. And Shayne, I wish we lived in a fairytale where everything could just be okay again, where I could just love you again without the past getting in the way, because if we did --” you stopped and took a deep breath. “After you, music became my everything. I worked myself to the fucking bone to get myself where I am, to get myself back to good. And now… now it doesn’t even matter because what the hell is the point of being good if I’m not good with you?”

“I’m sorry,” he said, because he didn’t know what else to say. “I was so utterly idiotic. I was scared and in too deep and I didn’t know what I wanted. I sure as hell didn’t know what I had. But then you were gone and for a while, it was like what the fuck is the point? What am I doing if I don’t get to come home every night and see you? And I thought about calling so many times but I just… I just couldn’t. I was always too fucking scared, and by the time I worked up the courage, I thought it was too late. I thought you would’ve found somebody else.”

At that, you laughed. “I tried,” you said. “I went on so many dates, my friends set me up with so many guys. But none of them were you, and all I’ve ever wanted is you, so how the hell were they supposed to compare? So finally I just stopped going on dates. I told Carly… I told myself, really, that it was because I was so busy with work. That I’d find someone new eventually. And before I knew it, it had been years and I was still alone because there’s nobody like you.”

Now, Shayne did reach for you. He held his hand out, palm up, a clear invitation. You took it without hesitation, and that simple touch was enough to send him spiraling out of his body. “I still love you,” he said. You squeezed his hand.

“I know,” you replied. “I… I don’t think I can say that right now. I think I feel the same way, but the word, saying it out loud… it’s too much. But I have to leave tomorrow and I’d really like to have tonight to hold on to.”

He knew it was a terrible idea. He knew he shouldn’t do it. He’d already let his hopes spiral entirely out of control. He felt like he had finally reached the light at the end of a five-year-long tunnel, and he’d spent so long in the dark that he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the light. You were still nervous, flighty, like a stray animal; one wrong move and you’d be running for the hills.

But there you were, silhouetted by moonlight and looking at him like you needed him to breathe and Jesus, he was only a man. He wasn’t equipped to deal with the fire spreading slowly from his fingertips to his heart and out into his bloodstream.

“Okay,” he said, and for a moment, nothing happened. The room was still, frozen in time.

And then you both surged forward, desperate, like you needed each other to survive. He maneuvered you up and toward the bedroom, and the door shutting behind you sounded a little like the last nail in the most beautiful coffin ever built.

***

The sound of Shayne’s alarm had never been so wonderful.

He sighed as he rolled over, reaching blindly for you. But where you should’ve been he found only sheets, and they had long gone cold in your absence. Shayne sat bolt upright and looked around the room. Your clothes were gone. You were gone.

He almost crashed onto the floor trying to get himself untangled from his sheets. He pulled on the nearest article of clothing he could find and burst from his bedroom into the living room, heart pounding. You were nowhere to be seen. “No,” he mumbled, over and over until the word lost meaning, eyes scanning his apartment desperately for some sign of you. For a few terrifying seconds, he wondered if the night before had been some kind of vivid fever dream. But that wasn’t possible; the feeling of your skin under his fingertips was far too real, far too tangible. It had to be real.

And yet, the only proof that you’d been there at all was an empty takeout container and a note saying that you would call soon.

[honeys-fiction]

I was really excited to do this one when I saw it, sorry it’s late! I’m a slut for soft Dabi!

-Honey

Dabi playing dress-up with his 5 year old daughter

     Dabi is one of the most notorious villains in Japan. He'd sent many lesser villains to a violent, scorching grave, he'd fought heroes, he was the leader of the Vanguard Action Squad-

     But right now, he was none of that. Right now he was Duke of Fairies, having a tea party with the Princess of Flowers. 

     He sat on his knees, wearing his wife's flower-embroidered cooking apron and his daughter's favorite purple, glitter fairy wings. Hair ties and clips littered his hair nonsensically (done by his daughter, of course), his fingernails painted purple. His five-year old daughter sat across the small table in her room, decked out in a purple princess dress, tiara, and jewelry. On the remaining sides of the table sat Sir Frogington, her green frog; and Lady Puffalots, her very fluffy pink unicorn. 

     "Sir Frogington has run out of tea, can you please refill it Duke Glitterbum?" She spoke rather eloquently for a five year old, but that was probably thanks to the Disney movies she insisted on watching everyday.

     "Of course, Princess Chiharu," he drawled, picking up the plastic tea kettle filled with juice and pouring it into Sir Frogington’s cup. As he did, Chiharu grabbed Lady Puffalots and had her walk into the purple castle tent located behind her, under the facade that she was going to sleep. Once the unicorn was inside and the flap zipped up, Dabi’s daughter turned and spoke to him in a low whisper.

     “Did you see what she was wearing?”

     “Yellow and olive green bracelets, atrocious.”

    “Quite.”

     She broke out into giggles while he chuckled. Should he be teaching his daughter to talk behind people’s backs? Probably not. But he knew she’d probably pick it up at some point. If not from him she’d learn it in school. He wished he could protect her from all the horrors the world would throw at her, he knew she’d face it some day. No matter how hard he tried to protect her.

     He remembered when you told him the news five years ago. You had tears in your eyes, breaking down on your knees right in front of him. You were so worried he was going to leave you, Dabi never seemed like the fatherly type. And for awhile he wasn’t. But as you sobbed on your shared kitchen floor, dreading the worst, he knew if he was going to have a family, it’d be with you.

     And he was terrified. He never had a stable parental figure in his life, no one to show him what being a good parent meant, but he’d be damned if he ended up like his deadbeat father. So instead of hightailing it out the door like you had originally thought, he crouched down on the floor and cradled you to his chest. He promised he’d never leave you or your child, not ever. Not for the League, not for himself, not for the world.

     Fuck he’s so glad he did. Sure taking care of you was a bitch and a half, what with your mood swings and strange cravings, but he knew it’d be worth it. The moment his daughter was born confirmed that fact. When you handed her to him, he felt like you had given him the world and more. His own precious little star, nestled tightly in her little blanket, burbling away in her sleep. He nearly fell to the floor right there. All he could do was caress her face gently, a few tears, but he’d always deny it.

     The two of them became inseparable. No League mission could make him miss his baby’s first steps, no shot at vengeance could tear him away from watching cartoons with his little princess. For once in his life, he felt whole. 

     The stoic cremation user couldn’t help but smile as his daughter chatted with Sir Frogington about the royal ball, cakes and fairies. A small chime resounded from the small easy bake oven located in the corner of the room, his daughter jumping up and rushing over and returning with several miniature cookies.

     “Help me decorate them, Duke Glitterbum!” Chiharu jumped up and down, placing the tiny cookie decorations onto the table.

    “What about Sir Frogington?”

    “You know he allergic to frosting!”

    “My apologies.”

     By the time the cookies had been decorated, his daughters dress was covered in frosting and sprinkles, the table and his wife’s apron was surely stained purple. But they munched away happily, enjoying the tiny cookies and juice. 

    “Thank you, Duke Glitterbum. I’d say this was a very successful party.” Princess Chiharu beamed.

    “Glitterbum?” 

     Damn it…

    “Uncle Hawks!” Chiharu squealed, running over to the Number two hero and jumping into his awaiting arms. “I thought you had a business trip!”

    “You didn’t think I was gonna miss my favorite Princess’ ball did you?” He snickered, gently tossing her into the air above her head, catching her with ease. 

    “How was the tea party?” Your head peaked around the door, causing your daughter to squeal with joy.

    “Mommy! Your back!”

    “I managed to sneak out of work early, business was slower than usual.”You took your daughter from the winged hero, hugging her to your chest. “Also, love the names. I thought the frog was Grigorts?”

    “Only on Wednesdays!”

    “Alright kiddo,” You laughed, handing your daughter back to Hawks with a pat to her head. “Why don’t you go with Uncle Hawks while me and Duke Glitterbum clean this up.”

    “C’mon chickadee, there’s an ice cream cone with your name on it.” Chiharu was whisked away down the hall to the living room, where her favorite princess movie was already starting.

    “Only one!” You called after them, then turning to your dolled up husband. “That’s a good look for you, Glitterbum.” 

   “Shove it. You know I make anything look good.”

    “Damn straight,” You purred, sliding into his chest and pressing a kiss to his face. “Alright handsome, lets clean up. Wouldn’t want to keep the Princess waiting.”

    “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

[nightingiall]

things i love about you: your love is golden

a post-little do you know drabble series // story page

Mona’s favorite part of the day was getting to go home.

She loved her job and happy hour with her co-workers. She even loved meeting Harlow to grab a coffee during their respective lunch breaks or meeting the guys at Connemara’s—where she no longer worked but will sometimes help Jingle out if she was ever in a pinch—for a drink or two.

But none of those things could ever compare to getting back to her and Niall’s apartment, kicking off her shoes at the door, fingers promptly finding the warmth of her sunshine boy, the weight of the world evaporating from her shoulders.

Today, she opened the door to the heavenly scent of cinnamon, her body instantly warming up from the slight chill outside. From the kitchen came telltale sounds of Niall moving about, probably baking something, and Mona was already smiling at the thought. She shed her jacket and shoes, stowing her bag away on the hooks near the door before she followed the smell to the kitchen.

“Mmm,” she hummed as she entered, taking in the aroma of cinnamon and brown sugar and coffee, all the most homely and wonderful scents she could think of. There was her sunshine boy, back turned to her as he fiddled with something on the countertop. “Smells amazing in here.”

At the sound of her voice, Niall turned around to send her the absolute sweetest smile, a slight sheen of sweat glistening against his forehead, a bit of flour dusted across his nose and chin. Her heart warmed at the sight, never losing the opportunity to flutter at how endlessly adorable he was. And he was all hers. “Hi, darlin’,” he greeted, voice soft and warm and filled with a sort of adoration that made her toes tingle. She would never get tired of him calling her that.

“Hey, stud,” she replied through a smile, fingers automatically reaching out to swipe at the flour on his face before pulling him in to press a quick kiss to his lips. “You’re home early.” When she pulled away, she was delighted to find that rosy blush she loved so much blooming across his skin and she couldn’t help the way she laughed at the sight of it. All these years later he still couldn’t take a compliment. “Watcha making?”

He shrugged, turning his attention back to meticulously folding dough into a bundt pan. “Cinnamon roll coffee cake for Liam’s party. Special request from the birthday boy himself.”

Mona rolled her eyes but laughed nonetheless. The cinnamon roll coffee cake concoction immortalized after a particularly draining study session back when they were in college. It was four in the morning and none of them had gotten any sleep; Niall, Liam, and Harry had been mucking about in the kitchen as they procrastinated, tossing ideas back and forth of a dessert they could create, and low and behold, the cinnamon roll coffee cake was born.

It wasn’t her favorite dessert. She found it tooth-achingly sweet and too much of it could give her a headache. But, after all, it was Liam’s birthday and he loved this stuff. “What time are we leaving for that anyway?” she asked, already rummaging through the fridge for a snack. She didn’t think she’d be able to hold out until the party for food. She found some bread and decided on toast with the leftover pasta from the night before.

“Whenever you’re ready, I suppose. You know Liam’s parties…no beginning and no end.” They both shared a laugh at that. Gatherings at Liam’s place were known to get a bit wild, lasting well into the next morning. Once, Mona wondered out loud whether perhaps they were getting a bit old for the crazy rave-like parties; Harlow had mulled that over before deciding that they would never get their twenties again and they were exactly meant to be spent at Liam’s parties.

As the microwave warmed her pasta, she took at the opportunity to slink into her sunshine boy, pulling him away from his dessert preparation for a moment so she could wrap her arms around his middle. She couldn’t help it. He was wearing his softest jumper and he was always so warm. She often went about her day wishing she could have somehow captured some of his brilliance in a jar to save and carry around with her so her skin never had to tingle with the boundless way it craved him. But then she’d remember that being away made it so much sweeter to come home and wrap herself up in him like this, feeling the pools of his sunshine permeate through her skin and fill her up.

Niall, for his part, was used to this way of hers, and pulled her into him as best he could with his sugar caked hands. The microwave gave off a loud trill to signal that her food was ready but she didn’t care. She just wanted to be able to stay this way and have time stand still for them, which of course wasn’t possible, but at least they could steal these moments together when they didn’t have anywhere else to be for a while.

“You’re extra lovey today,” Niall remarked, smiling against her forehead.

She wrinkled her nose in response, looking up only for him to press a proper kiss to her lips, slow, languid, and gentle, and she absolutely melted into him. She sighed. “Long day.”

“Yeah?” He pulled away, sweet smile intact but eyes watching her carefully. “We don’t have to go tonight if you don’t want to.”

“No, I’m okay,” she said, smiling when he pressed their foreheads together. “Just a little tired.” He hummed, seemingly unbothered by that answer since he seemed perfectly content to close his eyes, holding her close in the middle of their kitchen. “How was your day?”

He shrugged as best he could with them all wrapped up in each other. “Was meant to interview someone running for city council for a story but they canceled at the last minute. Slow day so ended up leaving early.” His voice was slow and serene, dripping with sweetness and warmth. Mona made sure to savor him. She often forgot to do that with the bustle that came with a workday. Niall noticed because he always did, smiling against her cheek. “You know, I’d love to stay like this but I have to get the stuff out of the oven.”

She giggled lightly. “Fine,” she muttered, huffing slightly as she begrudgingly let him go. He swatted her playfully with a tea towel when she grabbed her food from the microwave.

They spent the rest of the time chatting aimlessly, with her eating leftovers and him putting the finishing touches on his dessert. He surprised her with a batch of chocolate chip cookies because “I know you don’t like this sugary shit so I made you your favorite,” and she thanked him with a grateful kiss.

Slowly, Mona felt the typical exhaustion brought on by the workday leave her, as it always did whenever she spent time doing absolutely nothing with Niall. He had this uncanny ability to make her feel completely at peace, her pulse a steady thrum, mind cleared from the buzz of thoughts that plagued her. He didn’t even know he was doing that for her, or at least she figured he didn’t. How could he anyway? It wasn’t something one could do on purpose.

And if she held onto to him for a few extra moments before she went off to take a shower, well then he simply smiled and took it in stride.

~

Liam’s party was, as usual, nothing short of absolutely wild.

Just as she and Niall were walking in, someone bustled past them only to puke in a plant outside someone’s door, a few loud boys trailing out afterwards, guffawing at the person for being a lightweight, and Mona sent Niall an unamused sideways look, mentioning that she almost felt like a college freshman again. Niall, in his typical easygoing fashion, simply laughed and told her to lighten up, promising that they didn’t have to stay for too long if she didn’t want to.

They parted ways shortly after making their way inside, with Niall being pulled away by Harry and Mona spotting Harlow in the distance.

“You’re back!” she said excitedly to her best friend as she approached, throwing her arms around her in an embrace. “How was Greece?”

Harlow laughed, leading Mona to the bar area for drinks. “It was really fun. And I think Zayn and I needed some time apart anyway.”

This surprised Mona. “Trouble in paradise?”

Harlow shrugged, preparing a rum and coke. “I don’t know. I just feel like things haven’t really been great between us lately. And I think he feels the same way.”

Mona accepted the drink passed to her with a frown, mulling this new information over. It was the first she’d been hearing of any trouble between her two friends, who have been in an on-and-off sort of relationship for years now. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. After all, she was never one to meddle in anyone’s relationship, only offering advice if she was asked for it.

Harlow smiled before taking a sip of her drink, and from the familiar sparkle in her eye, it was clear to Mona that she wasn’t all that upset about anything. And if Harlow wasn’t bothered, then Mona didn’t see the need to broach the subject any further. After all, they were adults and could work out their issues themselves. “It’s whatever. Wanna see some pics from Greece?”

They pushed their way out towards the balcony area to find seats, the night air warm on their skin—a stark contrast to the cold, rainy weather that morning—as they laughed at videos of Harlow’s drunk co-workers singing karaoke terribly. Harlow remarked that Mona and Niall should take a vacation somewhere since all they seemed to do was work and Mona had to admit that the idea wasn’t half bad, making a mental note to ask Niall about it later.

“By the way,” Harlow started, eyes sparkling in that mischievous way of hers, and Mona braced herself for whatever she was up to this time. “I think Niall’s gonna propose to you soon.”

Mona simply blinked at her friend, completely caught off guard. So caught off guard, in fact, that she started to laugh. “What makes you say that?”

Harlow shrugged, downing the last dregs of her drink and sliding it onto a nearby table. “I just have a feeling.” At that, Mona rolled her eyes, sending her nosy best friend an unimpressed look, which had Harlow grinning madly at her. “Okay, fine, he might have said something to me.”

A yelp left Harlow’s lips when Mona threw a napkin at her, damp from the condensation that had dripped from her cup. “You’re not supposed to tell me about it, then!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Harlow tossed the napkin right back at her, but she did at least have the decency to look a little apologetic. “This came out all wrong because I’m tipsy but I just wanted to see where your head was at, that’s all.” She smiled, eyes soft now, and when she reached out, Mona let her hold her hand. When Harlow spoke again, her voice was gentle and soothing, all traces of playfulness gone, replaced with that protective, almost maternal tone she always took up when checking in with her friend. “I just want to know if this is what you want and if you’re happy.”

Mona suddenly felt so much all at once, a million thoughts running through her head. Then, she thought of Niall, her sunshine boy, who brought light and warmth into her life every day, who loved her unconditionally, even when she didn’t love herself, even when she could be unlovable. It hadn’t been easy, letting him in completely, allowing herself to feel like she deserved him. But he made her feel so very safe and loved. He was her home, her anchor at the end of a long day, a beautiful soul whose arms were always open for her to step into whenever things felt like too much.

She looked up at Harlow again, who was still watching her carefully, her eyes filled with something Mona always saw whenever they talked about this: hope. So she smiled back, squeezing Harlow’s hand. “I am happy.” It was the honest truth. “And…I do want this.”

Harlow exhaled in what seemed to be relief, her smile growing tenfold now. “Then I am happy too.” She untangled their hands and relaxed back into her chair. “I honestly didn’t really want to have to stall him or something if this wasn’t what you wanted. I know you don’t like surprises.”

Mona laughed, thankful for her best friend in that moment for always knowing what she needed. “Thanks. But Niall and I have talked about this, you know. I guess I just didn’t really think that it would be so soon.”

Harlow waved this off. “Well, to be honest, for all I know he could have been talking about doing it next year or something. He didn’t tell me when.” She turned to give Mona an amused smirk. “Maybe he knew I’d have this conversation with you.”

They both laughed at that because it was probably true. Niall knew all of them more than they probably knew themselves. He’d somehow become the person everyone turned to for advice these days. “So,” Mona started slowly, taking a sip of her now watered-down drink. “What else did the two of you talk about.”

Harlow sent her a wicked grin at that, grabbing Mona’s drink from her hand and downing it herself. “Now, Mona darling. Some things are better kept a secret.” She giggled at her own cleverness as Mona rolled her eyes, muttering something about getting another drink before rising from her seat, Harlow following her to the bar.

The night progressed as it usually did at that sort of thing: they drank and laughed and danced. Mona tore up the dance floor with Harlow until she couldn’t feel her feet anymore, peeling away from the crowd of sweaty bodies in favor of the cool breeze of the balcony, wandering around in search of her boyfriend.

She found him on a couch, an already drunk Harry draped over him, unruly curls pressed into his neck as he rested on Niall’s shoulder, and she couldn’t help the way she laughed to herself at the sight. Harry Styles, always the lightweight.

“Hey,” she called out teasingly, slumping into Niall’s other side and giving Harry a playful shove. “Paws off my boyfriend, drunkie.”

Harry whined, frowning lopsidedly at her as he shoved her back. “Can’t we share? You know I love a good cuddle with Nially Poo and I never get to see him anymore because you hog him.”

Mona giggled at the way he grinned at her. “That’s not true!” she retorted, even though it was kind of true. She and Niall worked all the time and the little bit of free time they had was always reserved for each other. “And anyway, no we can’t share because he’s mine.”

Harry huffed, nuzzling closer to Niall regardless. “And to think I was going to tell you that I missed you,” he said sarcastically, reaching out to flick her wrist but missing, which had Niall laughing his big sunshine laugh.

Mona scoffed. “Well I didn’t miss you because I’m mad at you.” At that, Harry sat up slightly, pouting now. “You never have time to hang out with me even though you literally work across the street from me. All I ever hear from you are excuses of how busy you are.”

“That’s not true!” Harry groused.

“It is kind of true,” Niall said, shrugging when Harry sent him a sad look. “I mean, we usually hear updates about you from Jingle, of all people.”

Harry sighed, apologizing. He caught them up on his new job at an elementary school, how it was a bit crazy and he was so tired at the end of the day that he didn’t have the energy to socialize. He promised to stop by one day when Niall offered to cook him dinner and his favorite cupcakes, his spirits lifted at the mention of food. Mona even got in a cuddle with him before they were all being gathered to another room where Liam was going to cut his cake, a massive thing with sparklers on top.

When Harry, Niall, and Mona found Zayn and Harlow, they all took photos and smashed cake into Liam’s face, laughing their heads off the entire time, and Mona realized how much she missed seeing her friends every day now that they didn’t all live in the same apartment complex. They made the most of their time together anyway, getting stupid drunk and dancing the night away like a bunch of idiots.

When the night wound down, she pulled Niall into her, their bodies swaying gently to the slow song that had been playing through the speakers. He smiled at her and she melted into him, thinking of Harlow’s words earlier, thinking of starting a new chapter of life with him. The mere idea of it filled her with an unparalleled happiness, the feeling bubbling through her, growing tenfold when he leaned in to press a kiss to her lips.

“What’re you so smiley about,” he murmured against her mouth, a laugh knocking around in his throat, and she couldn’t help herself when she kissed him again, not caring that they were in the middle of the dance floor.

“I’m just really happy,” she whispered back, and she knew that he heard her through the music because he smiled even bigger.

And maybe she had too much to drink. Or maybe she was just drunk on happiness and Niall. But she couldn’t help herself later when she tugged him into a bathroom to kiss him deeper and harder, couldn’t help her fingers as they curled into the waistband of his jeans, and especially couldn’t help the way she reached out to turn the lock on the door when he let out a delicious sigh into her mouth.

Besides, they hadn’t been reckless in a while.

[brooklyn2006]

The cafe

MENTIONS OF ABUSE AND RAPE

After three failed serious relationships, love just seemed silly and meaningless. You were almost certain you’d never find true love. It was you that was the problem, the reason the relationships never worked out. You were too clingy, fell in love too fast, spoke too much and never did enough for your supposably other half. At least that was the last thing said in arguments before the men you loved walked out of your life. All those things were true and you had come to terms with it, taking it on board with every relationship you got into, but it still always ended and was still because of you. You decided to prioritize work over love after Hunter left, he broke it off because you’re ‘a lazy ass who doesn’t make any money and relies on the people you sleep with to pay the bills’. With a stable job and a good income, this was the one sentence you didn’t believe said about you, but it still made you work even harder. You had two jobs to keep you busy. A primary school teacher three days a week and a café manager, but inly worked on sight for two days.

-May 23rd 2019-

It was Thursday today which meant working at the café. You got there around 4:30AM to prepare all the sweets, but you didn’t officially open until 6AM. You were in the middle of making a cinnamon scroll when you heard the bells jingle at the front door indicating someone had walked in. You looked over your shoulder at the clock that read 5:17AM and sighed. You finished off putting the second round of scrolls in the oven and walked to the counter with the first freshly cooked ones. There was a tall man standing near the end of the café looking over some of the books, then picking one up and flipping through the pages after reading the blurb.

“Good morning sir, can I help you?” You asked softly, not to startle him.

“Oh sorry, good morning” He smiled turning around to face you, his pupils dilating at the sight of you standing there in your apron with icing sugar all over your face. “Um-“He starts but then cutting himself off with his thoughts, suddenly forgetting why he walked in.

“We aren’t open yet, but if you’re on the go I can make you a quick something?” You offered, kindly letting him know you’re not open.

“Oh I’m sorry I didn’t realise you weren’t open, I just saw the lights on and assumed” He put the book back on the shelf and walked towards you.

“That’s alright, can I get you something?”

“Um, if it’s not out of your way, could I just have a black coffee?”

You smiled up at him and put it into the cash register then walked to the side to make the coffee.

“What brings you walking around at 5 in the morning?”

You make conversation with this man for what feels like hours, but was really half an hour until opening time and you had to get busy.

“Oh before you leave sir-“

“Harry” He puts his hand out for you to shake

“Harry, would you like a freshly made cinnamon scroll for your travels? Made by me of course” You say already getting it ready without giving him time to say no.

“Would love one” He says getting out his wallet

“On the house Harry, for keeping me company this morning”

“Then keep this as a tip, for the friendly service” He says sliding the 10 dollar tip over the counter towards you.

“Oh, no Harry, take it back please”

“Come on, I insist” You hesitate but take the money and exchange a small smile, before he leaves the café. When you hear the bells ring to indicate his left, you bring the money out of your apron pocket and put it in the tip jar.

It was a pretty normal day at the café. You’ve been working at the café pretty much since you started university 6 years ago, you were a trusted employee, which lead to the owner resigning and asking you to become manager. It was around 7PM when you peeked outside the window to see the pouring rain hitting the side walk. You lived a short distance from the café, so you walked. Now regretting your decision to leave your rain coat at home. You grabbed the last two scrolls and jelly slices to take with you on your wet walk home. As you closed the doors, you saw a familiar figure standing at the window of your café, but looking at the book section.

“Harry?”

“Hey- uh… I didn’t get your name earlier, sorry”

“Y/N” you smile. The majority of the day, this man standing in front of you consumed your thoughts. Something about him was so chronic. By the way he looked, he should be a dick, a heart breaker, but he wasn’t. Well he didn’t seem like it.

“y/n” he repeated smiling at himself. “Closing up?”

“Yup” you say holding up the bag to show that you were packed up.

You spoke back and forth for a while until your phone buzzed which reminded you of the time. “I should get going now, before the rain gets even worse”

You both looked around at the weather. “You’re walking home?”

“I didn’t realise this morning when I left it would be raining and I like to walk before a long day at work”

“Let me give you a lift” He stated more than asked.

“Thank you Harry, but I couldn’t ask you to do that, not after your tip this morning”

“The tip you put into the tip jar and didn’t keep for yourself?”

You looked at the ground not being able to hold in the smile. He was watching you, even after he left. You let out a small laugh, making Harry chuckle, something so small that you did was contagious to him.

“Let me take you home” He say once again stepping closer to you so you can be shielded underneath his umbrella as the wind picked up and pushed the rain in your direction.

You gave him a look saying ‘are you sure’, to which he replied with a smile and a nod. Moments later you were getting into his car, giving him your address, then last minute inviting him in to say thank you and for another sweet you made this morning.

 May 24th 2019

It was a late night of small conversation over desert and wine between you and Harry. The late night an alcohol opened you both up about your lives. Not too much, but enough to lose sleep over thinking about him. He left just after midnight, promising he’d come bright and early the next morning for his black coffee and cinnamon scroll.

He held up to his promise, coming nearly at the exact same time, 5:31AM.

“Good morning y/n, how’d you sleep?” He asked walking through the doors, pulling of his grey beanie.

“Good thanks” You replied already getting his black coffee ready.

Much to Harry’s dismay, he didn’t get much sleep last night. He could blame it on the alcohol and say that’s why you were on his mind for hours until his useless alarm went off. But, the alcohol wasn’t to blame because it’s not the first time his mind only held you. He wanted to ask you out. To show you a good time. A good time with him.

“What are your plans for tonight?” he asks shaky at first, but finishing strong

You thought for a moment. “Uh- no plans tonight”

“Would you like to make plans with me tonight? I could use the company” he asks hopefully

As soon as the words hit your ears, butterflies explored your stomach, almost making your legs weak. You cursed yourself for feeling this way, even after promising yourself you wouldn’t fall again. Oh, how you wanted to say no, how you wished he wasn’t so damn resistible to make you say “Sure”.

“How does the bar sound? The one down the street?”

 7:30PM

Your floor was a mess after throwing unapproved dresses on the floor. Again scolding yourself for putting this much effort into looking good for someone, who you don’t want to look good for. Finally you came upon the perfect dress in your closet. It was a basic, tight black dress that reached your mid-thigh with sleeves that wrapped around your forearm. You tied up the string covering your exposed breast. You grabbed your clutch, put on your black heals and sat on the couch waiting for Harry to knock on your door.

Just as you were getting lost in your thoughts, you heard the knock you’ve been waiting for. Checked your appearance in the mirror once more before unlocking the door to the gorgeous Harry Styles. He looked unlike you’ve ever seen him before. You wanted to stare, to run your fingertips over his partly exposed chest and trace over his butterfly tattoo. It took more than mental and physical strength to stop yourself from doing just that. You brought your eyes to the floor, too embarrassed by your vibrant red cheeks to meet his eyes. Harry using your lack of eye contact to his advantage to look at you. He didn’t want to take his eyes off you.

“You look really nice Harry”

“Y/N- you- uh, you look gorgeous!”

You internally roll your eyes, just as your blush was disappearing, he makes it come back up.

You meet with his eyes as he holds out his hand for you to hold.

It was a comfortable silence on the way there. Both of you stealing unknown glances at each other’s complexion.

You arrived at the club and headed straight to the bar, to buy your first drinks. It two shots and 15 minutes until you let your hair down and had fun. You danced the night away with Harry. Swaying chest on chest to the beat and singing to your favourite songs. You felt happy with Harry, dancing with him here, right now, you’ve never felt safer with anyone before. It scared you, but the alcohol in your system plucked the emotion from your mind for your sober mind to deal with. The drinks were catching up with your bladder, so you left Harry’s side for the first time tonight so you could relieve the throbbing feeling. You fix yourself up and go to head back to Harry when you felt someone’s eyes on you that had a different vibe to Harry’s. You mindfully twist your head over your shoulder, only to see your most recent ex- boyfriend, Hunter. You agreed that Hunter was your worst boyfriend. Taking your self- doubt and insecurities to his own advantages. Cheating on you, then making you the victim. Said the most disheartening comments on your appearance and personality. You sucked in a breath when you met his gaze, thinking back to the physical and mental abuse he caused you the last time you met. You quickly turned your gaze back to where harry was. He was sitting in the booth at the back waiting for you to come back. You quicken your pace before a hand grasped your elbow pulling you to a halt. You didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. You were praying Harry would look over and see what was happening. You knew what Hunter was like when he had a few drinks in him too well.

“Hunter, let go of me” You state sternly. In your relationship, you’ve never spoken to him in that tone or even defended yourself like you are now.

“Well, hi to you to honey” ‘Honey’ a name he called you, in which only brought back graphic images into your head. You looked around back at Harry frantically trying to see if he noticed, to your concern, his still invested In his beer.

“Hunter, let me go” You almost yell, looking him dead in the eye.

“What makes you think you can talk like that to me” He pulls you in closer, close enough you can smell every drink that’s gone past his Tounge. “HUH” he yells. You flinch, trying to pull away your arm as well as covering the fear your eyes hold. Come on Harry. You think.

Hunter starts pulling you towards the front of the bar. His grip so tight on your wrist you can ear your bones clicking, like when you crack your knuckles.

You yell repeatedly, for him to release you. Given up on trying to hide your fear. You look back over your shoulder, no longer in view of Harry.

Hunter pushes your body up against a wall, were intoxicated people are In a heavy make-out session. He starts to untie the strings around your breast, the only thing other than your too tight bra keeping them from spilling. His other hand slowly rising up your leg from your knee to your crouch. He push at his chest, screaming for help, but it’s the silent part of the club. For all the terrible things Hunter has done to you, you’ve always gotten away from him before his threatened to go this far. You unfortunately knew how his routine worked. He’d hurt you, sometimes mentally, sometimes physically. You’d get away after cleaning up the shattered glass from his beer bottles or thrown objects that missed you by inches. You’d ‘fall asleep’ shortly after him making sure he can’t hurt you when his passed out. The next morning, it’s like nothing ever happened. This was how he fooled you: claimed “I don’t remember doing that shit, sorry Honey, it won’t happen again” kissing your cheek, then isolating himself in the garage where his beer cans were stored.

His now kneading your breast he got free from your bra, still pushing and playing with the bottom material of your dress. You’ve given up on yelling, its no use. You felt this was the end of your life. as dramatic as that sounds, you didn’t think any therapy could fix the damage he would cause to you, if he slides his dick in.

Just as he was sliding your panties to the left you felt he suddenly, forcefully being pushed away to the right. You opened your eyes for the first time since being shoved up that wall. Its Harry. You almost didn’t recognise at first, but you met with his eyes. You felt yourself let out a breath as he held you. You slid yourself off the wall onto the floor where Harry was now kneeling to comfort you.

Two security guards where handling Hunter, but you didn’t care, you didn’t want to have one last look at him for his last time of freedom. He yelled words of hate as he was getting pushed out of the club and into a police car. That’s when you let it out. All the tears you forcefully held in, came pooling out onto Harry’s exposed chest. Everything felt dark around you, like finally after all the torture, you broke. Harry rubbed reassuring circles on your back, whispering sweet words of comfort in your ears. That safe feeling that Harry had brought to you had vanished.

After continuously apologising for what this night could have gone to, harry finally offered to take you home. The whole way home, Harry held you. Wheatear it was your hand or your body, he never let you out of his touch. He held your hand and put his arm around your waist as he led you up to the front door of your apartment. He grabbed the keys out of your clutch he was holding and unlocked the door to a chilly breeze. For the first time in almost 2 hours (what felt like longer), his touch had left your skin. Usually his warmness would linger on your skin, this time it felt it wasn’t even there. It could be the cool in your home or the processing, but it wasn’t warm anymore.

Harry knew when he looked at your emotionless face that this wasn’t a rare thing for you that the man who hurt you tonight, has hurt you before. Harry was known for his heart healing, but he wasn’t sure if he could heal this heart. He gently rushed back to your side on the couch and you instantly rested your head on his lap. You were exhausted from all the crying and mental convincing that you deserved this. You fell asleep almost as soon as his fingers raked through your hair. Harry wasn’t going to be leaving your side for as long as you needed him to.

[quickspinner]

Second Chance - Chapter 3 Making Time

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8

“You’re so gross,” Juleka muttered as she sat down next to Luka at the conference table.

“What?” he chuckled. 

“You have a ridiculous smile on your face and you’re humming.”

“So? I’m happy.”

“You have lipstick on your face.”

“Nice try,” Luka snorted. “I didn’t see her this morning. She’s really busy.” He leaned his head on his hand, the ridiculous smile returning as he doodled some music notes on his notebook.

“Oh, is she,” Juleka deadpanned. 

“Don’t be like that, Jule, we’ve both made time to see each other. I’ve got no complaints.” 

“That’s what you said last time. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been getting up early to see her. You’re going to wear yourself out, Luka.”

“It’s the only time I have to see her without rearranging my whole schedule.” Luka sighed, throwing his pen down on the conference table. “This is why Rose is my favorite, she’d think it was romantic. What do you want from me, Juleka?”

“I want you to not make an idiot out of yourself and get your heart broken again,” Juleka snapped. “Also to quit cancelling things and rearranging the schedule before you really piss us all off.”

“I’m a big boy, I can take it,” Luka shot back. “Why are you such a pessimist? Everything’s going great. We’re both busy but that’s on me as much as her. We’re making it work. I’ve never asked you guys to move stuff around before and it won’t be for long, just until I can get everything balanced again—”

“Which will never happen if you don’t tell Lucille why you’ve become such a flake.”

“—And there’s no Adrien this time. I will tell Lucille, just...not yet.”

“How sure are you that she’s over him?” Juleka looked at him with genuine concern and he resisted the urge to tell her to mind her own business.

“She broke up with him two years ago before she left on her internship and she’s had boyfriends since then.”

“You’ve had girlfriends since you supposedly moved on too.”

“Yes, but Marinette and I never actually dated, it’s not the same.” Luka sighed through his nose, trying to decide how much was okay to tell her. Not that he really knew the details. “It’s not my place to talk about why they broke up, but I know it was final. She’s gotten closure that I never had.” Luka glanced at the door a little nervously. “Can we drop this before the others get here? Marinette’s never been dishonest with me and I trust her. What happened before, it was just...bad luck and bad timing. Let it go.”

Juleka opened her mouth but closed it again as the door opened and Luka’s assistant Lucille walked in with several nervous looking young men and a young woman who looked positively starstruck. They had every right to be nervous. Luka and Juleka were notoriously picky about what they permitted to carry the Couffaine name, even in the interests of charity, especially after that incident with Juleka’s former classmate. He tried to smile and put them at ease as he normally would, but his heart just wasn’t in it.

Luka felt guilty that he was having a hard time keeping his mind on the presentation. He jumped slightly as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out, intending to turn it off, when he saw Marinette was calling him. He really ought to decline the call and call her back...

“I’m so sorry, excuse me just one minute,” he said, getting up from his chair, equally ignoring Lucille’s surprise and Juleka’s eyeroll. He stepped outside the room and answered the phone. “Hey, Marinette, what’s up?”

“Luka, I’m desperate for some peace and quiet before I lose my mind,” Marinette said, and he could hear the strain in her voice. “Do you know of a closet somewhere I can lock myself in that won’t have other people stampeding through constantly? I’ve tried everywhere I can think of and I just can’t seem to get away from—from people!”

“You can use my place,” he said immediately. “I’ll be out all day anyway. Make yourself at home.”

“But—“

“I’ll text you the address, and I’ll call the security desk and tell them to let you in. I won’t even be home until after seven at the earliest, so it’s no big deal.”

“I—but—Oh, thank you so much, Luka,” she said, and he could hear the tears.

“Marinette, baby, don’t cry,” he said soothingly, “I’m happy to do it. You should have called me before you got so stressed out about it. Don’t feel like you have to be gone before I get home, okay? Take as much time as you need. And maybe take a nap while you’re at it, there’s a guest bedroom down the hall on the right. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” she sniffled. “I’ll be fine. I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I’m falling apart like this.”

“When was the last time you ate?” Luka asked. There was no answer. Luka rolled his eyes. “Have you at least had something to drink recently?”

“I had some coffee a couple of hours ago...” Marinette replied uncertainly.

Luka had to laugh, leaning against the wall and covering his mouth as he glanced at the door to the conference room.

“Hey! Quit laughing at me, Luka!” He could picture her pouting face.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just I’m usually on the other end of this conversation,” he chuckled. “Marinette, go find yourself something to eat, drink some water, and then go to my place and have a nap. Then you can get up and work in peace and quiet, okay? Juleka and Rose live across the hall, we have the whole top floor of the building to ourselves, so if you need anything, knock on their door. Juleka’s here with me but I think Rose is home today.” 

“You’re the best, Luka.”

“Anything for you, Marinette. Go take care of yourself so you can do your best work. My schedule’s packed today but I’ll check on you later if I can.” He hung up before she could protest, made a quick call to his building’s security team, and stepped back into the meeting, texting the address as he walked back to his seat. “I’m so sorry about that, what did I miss?”

When he got home that night it was almost eight, and the door opened on a smell that made his stomach growl. Marinette, he thought, and noted the papers strewn all over his living room as he went toward the kitchen. Sure enough, he found Marinette there, taking some kind of casserole out of the oven. 

“Wow, something smells amazing,” Luka said, stopping at the entrance. 

“Lasagna,” she said, smiling at him as she put the dish on the stove. “It reheats well, so I figured if you didn’t get home until later it would still be good, but your timing is perfect.”

“You’re supposed to be working on your presentation, not cooking for me,” he chided gently, folding his arms. 

“I did work, and I got more done in the last few hours than I have in the last week. Now I’m taking a break to make dinner for the man who saved me from a nervous breakdown. Where are your plates?”

“Was it really that bad?” he asked sympathetically, opening the appropriate cabinet and handing Marinette two plates. “You’re eating with me, right? It’d be cruel to make me eat alone.”

“If you insist.”

“I do.”

“It really was that bad,” she sighed as she served. “Alya’s been great to let me stay with her, but she works from the apartment too, and there’s so many phone calls and deliveries and people coming and going, and it’s even worse at the bakery. I’m used to crowded work environments, so I’m not really sure why I’m having such a hard time, but I just can’t concentrate at all. I was so blocked, I couldn’t get anything done on the presentation outline, none of the design sketches were working, and I have to get this all done by next week so that I can send it to the production line at Gabriel. I can’t miss that deadline or the clothes won’t be ready in time for the show, not to mention how totally unprofessional it would look. I really think I would have lost it if I hadn’t called you. What do you want to drink?”

“Just water’s fine. You would have found a solution, you always do, but I’m glad I could help. You’re always welcome here,” Luka said, retrieving silverware and napkins. He gestured to the small table under the kitchen window. “You mind eating in here? I hardly ever use the dining room and I think the table in there is covered in paperwork right now.” 

“It is, and this is fine.” Marinette put the plates down on the small table. “I didn’t realize rock stars had so much paperwork.”

“It’s endless,” Luka groaned as he sat down. “Sometimes I wonder what I pay my lawyers for. Some of it’s because Juleka and I wanted to keep some control over what’s being signed off on in our names. It’s worse right now because they save up all this stuff for when we’re not on tour. So right now we’re cutting tracks for the next album, ironing out places and dates for the next tour, dealing with all the crap that came up during the last tour, plus pitches for products and events people want us to endorse. It’s a lot but I just can’t bring myself to hand it all over to my manager. I trust her, but I don’t know, apparently under this laid-back rocker exterior, there’s a real control freak.” He took a bite. “Wow, Marinette, this is great.”

“I’m glad you like it. I guess it probably doesn’t help that your first experience was with Bob Roth,” Marinette said sympathetically. 

“Got it in one,” Luka grimaced. “That was definitely a learning experience and I don’t ever want to be in that position again. Anyway, from the looks of my living room, you made it through your block.” 

Marinette winced. “Sorry about that, I’ll clean it up before I leave.”

“Why don’t you just leave it?” Luka shrugged. “Use my place as long as you need to, I don’t mind. I really only need the bedroom and the studio - that’s the room through the double doors off the living room. I’ll show you the spare bedroom before you leave, you can set up whatever you need in there and leave it as long as you want. Just try not to wake me up if you get here before noon, I tend to work late and sleep late.” Luka winked at her, but Marinette looked uncertain. 

“That’s awfully generous, Luka, are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Not at all.” Luka bent backwards in his chair and reached one long arm out for the drawer at the end of the counter. He rummaged blindly in it until he felt what he wanted, and then knocked it closed again. He put a keyring on the table between them. “Here, so you can just come and go as you please. There might be press, though,” he warned her. “We’re lucky right now because they’ve all been too obsessed with the XY cheating scandal to pay any attention to me, but that story’s not going to last forever and eventually someone’s going to notice us. They’ll say all sorts of things if you’re coming and going at all hours.”

Marinette shrugged. “Oh well. I am trying to get in your pants, so they won’t be stretching the truth too much.”

Luka choked on his lasagna, and Marinette nearly did too as she snorted and laughed hysterically. 

“You are so evil,” he muttered when he could breathe again, face bright red as he drained his entire glass of water.

“One of has to be,” she replied impishly.

“Speaking of evil,” Luka said once he could breathe normally again, “I need to talk to you about Juleka.”

“Juleka?” Marinette echoed with some surprise.

“Yeah. She’s...not super happy that I’m seeing you.”

“Oh,” Marinette said, guilt flooding her face. “I guess that’s to be expected, you two were always pretty protective of each other.”

“Well, she doesn’t get a say in this,” he said, motioning between them. “At the same time…”

“I’ll talk to her,” Marinette nodded. “I should have before now, actually. She’s been my friend for longer than you, after all.”

“I would like it if you two could clear the air,” Luka admitted. “I’d like you to be friends again, But don’t feel like you have to put up with any crap from her either.” He rolled his eyes. “You’ll have to tell me all about her version of the intentions speech, I’m sure it’ll be entertaining.” 

Marinette giggled. “I bet.”

Luka smiled. “Thanks for understanding, Marinette.”

They finished dinner and cleaned up together while Luka told Marinette about his day, and then Marinette cleaned off a space on the sofa where they could sit, and showed Luka some of the designs she’d been working on. He put his arm around her waist and she cuddled up to his side. 

Marinette put the designs down and leaned into him. They sat quietly for a minute before Marinette spoke again. “Luka?”

“Hmm?”

“Will you play for me? Like you used to. Like we talked about before? Just you and me.”

“I’d love to.”

He got up and went to his music studio. Luka reached for his sleek, custom painted, professional quality instrument, and then paused. Walking past the stand, he rummaged around for a moment and found a battered old case that held worn but well cared for black and white guitar. He took it from the case and ran his hand over it affectionately. A quick test showed that it was still in good condition, though terribly out of tune. It didn’t take him long to get it back in shape. Luka carried the old guitar back out to the living room and sat back down on the couch next to Marinette. 

He closed his eyes for a moment, listening, then started to play. Her breath caught and her eyes closed, hand lifting to her heart just as it had all those years ago. 

“It’s different,” she observed.

“We’re different,” he answered softly. The song that flowed from her heart to his hands was richer, fuller, and his ear and his fingers were quicker, more experienced, letting him catch and render subtleties that had eluded him before. His eyes closed again and he lost himself in it. 

Marinette slid closer to him, slipping partially behind him to drape herself over his back, and rested her chin on his shoulder. He turned his face to nuzzle her cheek, still playing, and she put her arms around his neck delicately, careful not to impede the motion of his arms.

“Beautiful,” she murmured.

“It’s you.”

He felt her smile rather than saw it. “I didn’t actually mean the song. I mean you, the way you play. I love watching you perform, but when you play like this, it’s just...different. I can watch your hands and—I don’t know, I’m not explaining well.”

“No, I know what you mean,” Luka said, keeping his voice low as well, “It’s more intimate this way. I’m not up on a stage. I’m not trying to create a reaction, I’m just playing along with you. I’m focused on you and no one else. God, I missed this, you have no idea how good it feels. I feel like I’m charging a battery I didn’t know was empty.”

“You’ve been lonely,��� Marinette said sympathetically.

“I guess I have.” He nuzzled her cheek again. “Thanks for reaching out to me, Marinette. I’m so glad you’re here.”

She turned her face and kissed him, lightly at first but it lit an unexpected fire in him and he kissed her back fiercely, guitar strings twanging inelegantly as his focus abruptly shifted. Marinette laid her hand over his on the frets, stilling the fractured song. Her fingers slid over his knuckles as she moved to push the guitar lightly away. Luka obeyed the unspoken request, laying the guitar aside and turning more fully towards her, burying his fingers in her hair, tracing her jaw with his thumb.

“Luka,” she breathed just as he kissed her, and oh, he could drink his name from her lips forever—

I could drink my name from your lips forever...

He tried, he really did, to ignore the music suddenly swelling in him, to put it away for later, but he couldn’t. With a slight whine in the back of his throat, he broke away from Marinette. “Sorry, I’m sorry, just a minute, I need—“ he turned and caught up a colored pencil she had left on the coffee table and flipped over the nearest drawing, scribbling on the back of the page.

“Luka, what are you doing?” Marinette cried. “I need that.”

“I’ll make a copy, I just need—“ he broke off, too distracted to finish as he counted beats in his head. Dimly he was aware of Marinette’s frustrated huff, and then of her resigned sigh as her warmth and weight settled against his side. 

“Do you want me to leave?” she asked.

“No! No, I just, I gotta get this down, it won’t take long I promise.”

Marinette giggled, and kissed his cheek. “Sure it won’t. Look, I’m going to head on back to Alya’s and get some sleep. Just don’t mess up any more of my sketches, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, um, there’s a notebook in the drawer of the end table there, can you grab it for me?” Luka drummed a rhythm pattern on his knee with his fingers, lips moving silently. 

“I’ll definitely be back in the morning,” Marinette said as she slipped the notebook under his hand, “but I’ll remember what you said about waking you up. Give me that please, those are expensive.” She tugged her colored pencil out of his hand and replaced it with the pen that had been in the notebook coil.”

“Sorry,” he tore himself out of the music long enough to look up and meet her kiss. “I’m really sorry about this, Marinette, I’ll—“

“Don’t say you’ll make it up to me,” she said sharply, and he blinked. She sighed and bent to kiss him again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. We’ll talk about it later, but I promise I understand. Thanks for helping me out today. Hopefully I’ll see you before you have to leave in the morning. Good night, Luka.”

“Do you want me to call you a car?”

She shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Don’t get up, I’ll see myself out. Make your music, rock star.”

“Right,” he said, looking back down at the paper, already getting sucked back in. “Text and let me know you got home safe."

“I will. See you tomorrow, Luka.”

“I can’t believe this,” he sighed as the door shut behind her, raking his fingers through his hair. At the same time, he smiled at the paper in front of him. “This better be good,” he muttered, reaching for his guitar.

[ohgodwhy151]

EreAnnieweek2020

I’m really happy with how this turned out. It’s a series of short snippets that chronicle Annie’s pregnancy and how she and Eren deal with it! Enjoy! 

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

Reluctant parents/Expecting parents

Annie pulled her head out of the toilet bowl and groaned loudly. Weakly she reached for her phone and squinted as the light blinded her. “Five. Are you kidding me.” She sighed. 

From the bedroom she heard a familiar voice. “You okay in there?” Eren yawned. 

“Yeah I’m having a great time throwing up at five in the morning.” She snapped. 

“I take it you’re not okay then,” Eren said as he stood in the bathroom doorway. “Any idea what it is?” 

Annie rubbed her temples. “I don’t know. It can’t be food poisoning, we ate the same food last night.” 

Coming to her side Eren sat beside her and rested a hand on her knee. “What can I do?” 

“Kill me.” 

Eren scoffed as Annie let her head fall onto his shoulder. “That bad?” 

“I feel like I’ve been turned upside down and violently shaken.” 

“That bad then,” As he did his best to soothe her Eren kissed her forehead. “It’ll be okay, you’re not going to be sick every morning. Whatever it is, it’ll pass.” 

Annie’s eyes shot open. “What did you say?” 

“It’ll pass.” 

“I’ve been sick in the morning.” 

Eren nodded. “Yeah, it’s okay. Just a bit of nausea.” 

“Morning sickness.” 

With a furrowed brow Eren nodded again. “Yeah, that’s what this is.” 

Pinching her nose Annie sighed. “Could I be… you know… pregnant.” Eren froze in place with wide eyes. “Eren. Did you hear me?” 

Swallowing the lump in his throat Eren took a deep breath. “Y-yeah. I heard you. Is it possible?” 

Annie slowly shrugged. “I mean. Those things are never 100% effective.” 

“Things?” Eren echoed. 

“Oh come on. I know you get embarrassed.” 

As it dawned on him Eren felt his chest tighten. “Those things?” Annie nodded. “I… I guess it’s possible.” 

“I mean it’s probably not.” Annie added. 

Eren nodded. “Yeah you’re right. But just to be sure you should do a test.” 

 ----------------

“Eren,” Annie moaned. “Your kid hates me.”

Eren stifled a laugh. “First of all. Our kid, second of all no they don’t.” 

Lying down on the sofa Annie watched as Eren sat across from her. “Then why do they keep kicking?” 

“They’re probably just excited to see you,” Eren shrugged. 

“Easy for you to say,” Annie pouted. “You’re not being woken up all the time as a little monster kicks you from the inside.” 

With crossed arms Eren leant back in his seat. “Have you ever considered you’re being kicked because you keep calling them a little monster?” 

Annie took a moment to soothe her abdomen. “They know I’m a terrible mother.” 

Hiding his excitement Eren said.  “You’re not a terrible mother,” He huffed as he came to her side. “You’re just tired and cranky. Look, no one said being pregnant was easy. It’s difficult but you don’t have to face it alone and just think at the end of it we’ll have a kid. An actual kid who loves their parents.” 

Taking Eren’s hand in her own Annie did her best to relax but with every kick her patience grew thinner and thinner. “Okay, in that case,” Annie said, taking a deep breath. “Our kid hates me.” 

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

It struck her in the middle of the night. While she wouldn’t admit it Annie knew it was her growling stomach that had woken her up. She did her best to ignore it, to push the hunger from her mind but it didn’t work. No matter how many times she rolled over, stretched or soothed her growing bump nothing could distract her from her newest hardship. Eventually she reached over to Eren and reluctantly woke him. 

“Ann?” Eren groaned. “What is it?” 

“I… I can’t sleep.” 

Rolling over, Eren rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Okay. So you’ve woken me up because?” 

Annie bit her lip. “I’m hungry.” 

“For what?” 

“Pie.” 

“Pie?” Eren echoed. “Is this an Annie thing or a pregnant thing?” 

“Both.” Annie pouted. “Look I’m sorry I woke you up but I really can’t sleep.” 

Throwing the covers off of him Eren stretched as he stood. “Okay. Time to be a hero,” He smirked. “What do you need?” 

“Apple pie, but we don’t have any and it’s three in the morning.” 

Eren double took as he left the bedroom. “Three!?” He gawked. “I’m sure I can figure something out.” Eren sighed. 

Annie wasn’t sure exactly how long Eren was gone for but as time passed she felt increasingly guilty about waking him for something like pie. Laying back Annie looked down at her bump and sighed. “You’re lucky you’ve got someone like him for a dad. He’ll look after you better than I ever could,” There was a slight kick in response. “You could make things easier as well. Why pie? Why not something simple like… anything other than pie.” She groaned.  Ready to give up, Annie pulled the covers back over herself when a particular smell hit her nose. Taking a deep breath her mouth quickly grew wet as the smell of cooking apples and cinnamon floated up from the kitchen. 

Sneaking downstairs Annie did her best to remain silent despite her growling stomach. She followed the smell and peered around the doorway to see Eren standing over the oven tapping his foot impatiently. “Does it have to be caster sugar?” Eren hummed as he looked down at his phone. 

“Are you making apple pie at three in the morning?” 

Doing his best to hide his surprise and the mess he had made Eren turned around. “Y-yeah. We had most of the ingredients so I thought I could improvise.” 

Annie giggled as she looked past him. “And how many ingredients did you get on the floor, wall and ceiling?” 

“The recipe said to thoroughly beat the eggs so that’s what I did!” 

“Well it smells good so you must be doing something right,” She said planting a light kiss on his cheek. “Plus I think it’s calmed our little monster down as well.”  

----------------------   

Annie was dreading this day almost as much as her due date. As she opened the door to a sea of beaming faces she thought she was going to throw up. “Y-you’re early.” She stuttered. 

Hitch stepped forward and threw her arms around her. “Well some of us, totally not me, were just really excited to see you. Also I think Sasha was going to eat your present if we didn’t get here quick enough.” 

Calming the anxiety that pooled in her stomach Annie led Hitch, Sasha, Mikasa, Ymir, Historia and Pieck inside. As she did, Annie sent a text to Eren. 

‘How long do I have to keep this up?” 

She didn’t have to wait long for a reply. 

‘I’ll check up on you and if it gets too much I’ll find a way to get them out.’ 

With all the strength Annie could muster she made her into the living for her baby shower. When Hitch had found out she was pregnant Annie pleaded with her to reign in some of her more outlandish ideas and after weeks of begging it seemed to have worked. “I didn’t think you’d be the first one to get pregnant.” Ymir hummed as Annie walked in. 

“It wasn’t exactly planned. It just happened.” 

Ymir snorted. “So I take it you’re having a great time then?” 

“Judging by the rings under her eyes I’d say pregnancy is just a little difficult.” Mikasa added. 

Historia shook her head. “Don’t be mean. Annie is growing a baby in her. Cut her some slack.” 

“Please don’t remind me,” Annie sighed. “I try not to think about it.” 

“Why not?” Pieck asked. 

“It’s just… weird. Me being a parent. I didn’t think it would happen.” 

Pieck laughed. “True I didn’t think it would either but it looks like you won’t be able to ignore it much longer.” She said gesturing to Annie’s swollen abdomen. 

A lump formed in Annie’s throat. 

“At least you have Eren with you,” Mikasa shrugged. “Knowing him he’ll be doting on you… more than usual.”  

Annie smiled. “He’s been amazing. He’s so excited I think he’s sleeping as much as I am. I wouldn’t be able to do this without him.” 

As Annie talked with Hitch and the others Mikasa’s eyes darted to the door. Standing up she excused herself before leaving and with crossed arms leant against the doorframe in the corridor. “Eavesdropping now?”  

Eren rubbed the back of his head. “I was curious, I’ve never been to a baby shower before.”

“You’re not missing out on much,” She shrugged. “How are you coping?” 

“I’m fine.” 

Mikasa narrowed her eyes. 

“Okay, okay. I’m tired, excited, worried and just really tired.” 

From inside they heard Sasha presenting an apple pie Nicolo made. 

“I didn’t think Annie would have a baby shower. Too many people.” 

Eren laughed. “Yeah but we couldn’t hide it forever.” 

“Were you ever going to tell me or did I have to have Hitch tell me?” 

Feeling his heart sink Eren sighed. “I’m sorry. We only wanted to tell people when Annie was ready.” 

Mikasa offered him a warm smile. “Well if you ever need a babysitter I’ll let in on a secret. Pieck and Ymir are really eager.” 

“Ymir!?” Eren echoed. 

“Bertholdt and Pieck want to have kids so I’m sure they want some practise but Ymir just really loves babies, but don’t let her know you know or your kid will grow up without a dad.” 

Blinking back his confusion Eren nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“Good, now I gotta get back in there before Hitch starts coming up with names.” 

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

  “Let’s go over this again,” Eren said as he examined the large duffle bag. “Spare clothes, towels, toothbrush, slippers, pillow… anything else?” 

Annie looked at the bag and felt her chest tighten. “I-is this all really needed?” 

“The book said to pack a lot of things so that’s what we’re going to do.” 

Annie bit her lip. “I’m not ready for this.” 

Putting the bag down Eren came to her side. “I know it doesn’t feel like it but I know you are.” 

“It just feels really real now.” Annie scoffed.

“And it hasn’t for the past seven months?” Eren laughed as he took her in his arms. “Just think, it won’t be long before we can finally spar again.” 

Annie let herself relax in Eren’s embrace. “I’m really looking forward to beating you again.” 

“That’s more like it.” 

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

Eren winced as Annie gripped his hand with all her strength. “Save some energy for pushing Ann.” He chuckled dryly. 

Between her accelerating contractions Annie looked up at Eren from the hospital bed. “You make one more joke and I’ll throw you out the window.” 

“I’d believe her if I were you,” The midwife laughed.  

Minutes turned into hours as Annie’s cries echoed through the ward but Eren never left her side, never let go of her hand. “When this is all over you’ve got to tell me how you’re so strong?” Eren’s was choked up. 

Annie rolled her eyes. “Because for the past nine months you’ve been telling me that I can do this now I’ve started to believe you and in myself.”  

With tears welling up in his eyes Eren scoffed. “You’re amazing Ann, you’re doing amazing.” 

“Would now be a good time to think of baby names?” Annie asked. 

“You want to do that now?” Eren gawked. “I mean you’re doing all the work, maybe you should choose.” 

“How about Jean?” Annie laughed. 

“So you’re allowed to make jokes?” 

Annie screamed with the contractions. “I’m allowed. I’m giving birth. How about Gabi for a girl, Falco for a boy?” 

“Yeah,” Eren nodded. “I like those names now hurry so we can meet them.” 

It was barely an hour later when Eren finally held his daughter in his arms. He stood speechless looking down at his child with tears now freely streaming down his cheeks. “You did it Ann, you really did it.” 

With a heaving chest Annie lay back in the bed. “H-how is she?” 

Doing his best to steady his voice Eren cleared his throat. “She’s amazing, and loud,” He scoffed over Gabi’s wailing. “Do you want to hold her?” 

“Am I ready?” 

Eren nodded. “I think you already know the answer.” 

Gingerly Annie reached out as Eren passed the screaming baby to her. Annie could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she wrapped Gabi in her arms. “So you’re the little monster that’s been causing me so much trouble. It’s nice to meet you at last.” 

[jhmyguardiangel]

🍪 nine pieces of cookies 🍪

chef!mingyu x florist!femreader

category: seventeen days of christmas

a/n: hint! crossovers! 🙈

———

mingyu shuffled comfortably, hugging his pillow as the white sheets scattered around the feet of his bed. the sunlight peeked through the thin columns of the curtain was bright enough to wake him up. he groaned a little as he opened his eyes, seeing you not beside him. 

you were probably out buying flowers to arrange a bouquet for joshua and his wife’s upcoming baby shower. later in the afternoon, you’d be with seungcheol’s possible girlfriend buying ingredients for the cake corner. 

though it was neither the above, instead he smelt something.... burning?

he immediately stood up, slightly panicking and almost slipping on the way. he spotted you standing by the oven, holding a tray of burnt cookies.

you turned around and gave a pout, and mingyu wasn’t sure if he should laugh or feel bad of the outcome. he knew you were interested in baking other than flower arranging, but whenever you did try to make anything...

it. just. did. not. work. out.

so mingyu approached you and chuckled a little, “were you trying to make cookies?”

“no,” you puffed your cheeks, “these were meant to be biscuits. you know, for breakfast?”

mingyu wiped his eyes, these were for breakfast? “uh, honey, let me handle breakfast.”

you sighed, “fine, i’ll cook the rice.”

mingyu just giggled at your slouched back figure as you measured the rice and water. at least you knew how to cook rice and made the best coffee. he didn’t mind that you weren’t good at the kitchen, you were better than him at doing house chores and gardening. but because it was winter, your fairytale hours was cut short for the time being. 

he approached you when by the time you pressed ‘cook’ on the rice cooker, his hands wrapped around your waist. “you know you shouldn’t be moving too much,” rubbing your stomach.

“gyu if that’s what you call on wanting to have a baby, you’re not convincing enough.” you raised your brow, giving a smirk.

“aw really?” he kissed your cheek, “i’ll try harder next time.” you turned around and hugged him and he never failed to feel so starstruck whenever you did so.

he had to cut his shift off recently to look after you, especially the incident few weeks ago when your appendix ruptured that left you unproductive for a while. jihoon’s wife advised him to look after you during the holidays and he was more than grateful to have a time off from la pizzeria italiana. besides, soonyoung had it all under control. 

“honey, if i can’t move too much then how could i practice to make cookies?” you played with his hands.

mingyu gave you a smile, “don’t worry, i’ll help you.”

you ears perked up after hearing that, “really? then we can make big batches!”

“no.” he said directly, “nine pieces of cookies.”

“only?” you pouted, “that’s no fun.”

“hey you can’t even bake just one piece, now you’re expecting to make big batches?” he laughed, making you throw a damped towel at him. “nine is a reasonable amount.”

“so mean!” you went towards him and pinched his sides, one of his sensitive parts. “you’re sleeping on the sofa tonight.”

mingyu’s mouth let out a gasp and he tickled you as he carried up high. you couldn’t even escape his grasp and you laughed at his expression knowing that he’d probably sleep on the sofa.

“hey hey, watch for my abdomen! i just had surgery.” you screeched in laughter. “mingyu!”

he finally put you down on the sofa, his arms snaked around your waist, giving you a kiss on the lips so tenderly. it had been a while since you both acted like idiots around each other. everything was too hectic and somehow, he was thankful to the heavens that even though this situation happened to you, it bought you two time to spend the holidays together.

“i heard seokmin delivered puppies just a few days ago. he’s not even a vet yet, still amazing.”

you frowned at him, “again if that’s what you’re hinting on wanting babies.”

“agh! everytime!” he blabbered, “but seriously, y/n, i love kids. and i want us to have our own-“

“you really want to be like joshua, don’t you?” you patted his head. “i get he inspired you: finishing school, having a stable job and marrying the girl of his dreams, and now they’re expecting.” you saw his eyes trail his own hands making circles on your thigh.

“but you’re not him, mingyu. you’re my husband, we got married early and now we’re striving to make a living. we can achieve our goals, it’ll take time.”

he looked at you for a minute, how was he so blessed to have someone like you in his life? even though you both just had vocational as your highest education, you both knew what living a life meant. he hugged you so sincerely that he nearly tear up.

“i love you. and i’ll promise i’ll work hard. for us, and our future family.”

“me too.” you kissed his cheek.

he stared at you lovingly, biting his lip, the rice cooked made a ring informing you that it was ready.

“nine..” he started.

you squinted your eyes, “i know, nine pieces of cook-“

“that’s the amount of kids i want us to have.” he winked and kissed you before rushing off to get the ingredients ready, laughing as he went.

“mingyu!”