#cpr for newborns

[drbharadwaz]

How to Reactivate Heartbeat and Breath ? | Dr. Bharadwaz | Dr. RanjithKumar

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About Video :

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is a life-saving technique used in emergencies when someone's heartbeat or breathing has stopped. It involves chest compressions and rescue breaths to maintain circulation and oxygen flow to vital organs until professional help arrives. Key steps include checking responsiveness, calling emergency services, performing chest compressions at a rate of 100-120 per minute and a depth of 2 inches for adults, and using an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) if available. Immediate CPR can double or triple survival chances.

Questions Addressed :

What are the key steps in performing CPR on an adult?

How does the technique for CPR differ between adults, children, and infants?

When should you perform hands-only CPR instead of traditional CPR with rescue breaths?

How do you check for responsiveness and breathing before starting CPR?

What is the recommended compression depth and rate for effective chest compressions?

How do you use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) during CPR?

What are the potential risks or complications associated with performing CPR?

About Dr. Bharadwaz :

Health and Fitness Speciality

Medicine, Surgery and Homeopathy Doctor

Clinical Research Subject Matter Expert

Guest Dr. RanjithKumar

Qualification : MBBS, MRCEM

Expertise : Emergency Specialist

#CPR #FirstAid #SaveLives #EmergencyResponse #HeartHealth #LearnCPR #BystanderCPR #CPRAwareness #CPRTraining #CardiacArrest #AED #ChestCompressions #LifeSavingSkills #RescueBreaths #EmergencyPreparedness

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[zylev-blog]

Oliver’s night was normal, until it wasn’t. He and Dinah had been patrolling Star City, and everything had been quiet. That is until he heard a cry for help. Oliver landed in the alleyway, in front of a dirty, injured teen. She was wearing a black shirt that was sticky with blood, and dark blue jeans with red splotches. More blood. His eyes were drawn to the bundle in her arms. A newborn baby.

“What—?” He took a step forward, but stopped when the teen whimpered.

“Please,” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Please help us… help him.”

He barely made it in time to catch the teen as her legs gave out. He protected her head and kept her arms steady with the small bundle in them. She coughed blood, her voice rasping.

“His… name… is… Danny.” Her voice was barely coming out as a whisper in the end.

“Stay with me.” Oliver said as he reached for his phone.

He started calling for an ambulance, but she was very pale from the blood loss. The teen’s head dropped to the side and she stopped breathing, her arms going slack.

“Shit.” He moved the infant carefully to the ground and put his fingers against her neck, feeling for a pulse. “Shit, shit. “

Dinah’s voice crackled to life in his ear, but he ignored it as he started CPR. One… two… breath in… after ten minutes, the teen hadn’t moved an inch. She was dead, he knew that with certainty. The paramedics took over, and he grabbed the small bundle that the teen had been carrying. A newborn boy named Danny. Something in him broke as he looked into the baby’s blue eyes. He couldn’t give the baby up. He knew he couldn’t adopt every kid that strayed into his path, but this little boy had nothing. Based on the trauma from the teen (mother?) he didn’t think she left from a good situation. The alternative was foster care or CPS. well… looked like he had a son now.

[emo-batboy]

After the flood, The Batman uses his grappling hook and other gadgets to expertly maneuver his way to sections of the city that are inaccessible.

He can’t rescue victims on his own because the hook can only carry so much weight so he lights flares on the roofs of buildings where people are trapped and two flares if someone needs immediate medical attention.

He relays more information through Gordon about how many people there are, whether or not they’re accessible by boat or helicopter. A paramedic team provides him with a walkie talkie and rudimentary first aid training, only to learn that The Batman is already an expert in EMT protocol and how to provide CPR for over twenty minutes if necessary.

The only people he can safely evacuate himself are small children. (The “safety” is still shaky, but the Bat refuses to leave children behind. The paramedics hesitantly provide him with child and infant evacuation harnesses in hopes they’ll help.) Some kids don’t want to leave their parents so The Batman waits for up to an hour to make sure they’re rescued. Other children’s parents refuse to trust the masked vigilante with their child’s safety. He accepts that but makes sure to let the paramedics know this one is also priority.

But some desperate parents, especially those with newborns, have no choice but to trust him if it means their children get medical attention sooner. He has blank hospital bands and a few pens with him so the parents can write down their name, birth date, allergies, an emergency contact outside of the city, etc. As long as they’re lighter than 90 lbs, he has no doubt he’ll be able to bring their child to safety.

The orphanage takes two days to evacuate, and many of the staff and kids are apprehensive of him at first, but by the afternoon, The Batman has helped twenty kids to safety and found a safe landing spot on the building for a helicopter to fly. The hospital was, of course, also a priority, and The Batman evacuated many patients there, but it was thankfully up to date on evacuation protocol and took just under a day.

He rescues cats and small dogs and a pet lizard at one point too, all with their own hospital band with the owner’s info or wherever they were found scrawled on it. The Batman performs CPR on drowning victims, most of whom he was too late to save, but he does it anyway, over and over and over and over again.

He learns that kids are more likely to trust him if he carries stickers and lollipops to help calm them down. It feels manipulative the first few times he does it. He also wonders if he should bring something healthier, but he doesn’t have enough pockets, and the kids and parents weirdly trust him more when he asks what their favorite flavor is. (It also helps when he finds a few diabetics suffering from low blood sugar.)

By the end of his fifth day, The Batman has several stickers on his suit that he can’t bear to take off because the kids smile more when they see them. Somehow, he finds room in one pocket to fit a stuffed dog for the kids that are afraid of heights but need to be evacuated as soon as possible.

His cape makes for a good emergency shock blanket. He coaches many survivors through panic attacks and grief-stricken anxiety attacks. He tells them how to breathe and asks them to count down from 12 with him.

At one point, a kid asks for his name. The Bat’s never had to answer that question to someone that isn’t a criminal. He’s not vengeance anymore. That’s behind him. He’s just a guy in a gothic, bat-themed suit of armor. That name GCPD gave him, The Batman, comes to mind. He never really gave himself that. “The Batman” is too formal and ominous for a child anyway. He thinks for a moment then says he’s “Batman.”

[atinyniki]

take your time.

group: ateez !

pairing: idol!song mingi x f!reader

genre: angst with a fluffy ending

warnings + additional info: reader is referred to as y/n, established relationships, pregnancy, lots of blood, childbirth, arguments, hyunwoo (xikers) is y/ns little brother, mentions of a miscarriage, jiyoo is the daughter of mingi and y/n, guilt, kissing, reader almost miscarries, cpr on a newborn, mentions of divorce, mingi almost gets into a car accident, tad bit suggestive at the end, fainting.

authors note: holy fuck this is actually so sad... at least its a happy ending tho <3 i really hope you guys like this ! please dont read if youre not comfortable with themes relating to birth and miscarriage </3 this is also not proofread. english is not my first language, so please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors. happy reading :)

wc: 3107

HUGE TW, PROCEED WITH CAUTION: reader almost has a miscarriage, pregnancy, blood, and the pain that goes along with it.

“don’t fucking touch me.”

he instantly backs away, hands clasped in front of him. “we’re leaving.”

he looks back up at you, a crestfallen look on his face. “what…?”

“it’s not fair, mingi. you can’t just jump back into our lives like this.”

“i’m not jumping back, ive been here!”

“jiyoo doesn’t think you love her anymore.”

“what?!”

you huff in frustration, he’s clearly not getting the message. “don’t you get it? it’s because you’re never there, mingi. you might be in the house, but you’re still always working. you don’t have time for us, not at all, and come to think of it, you don’t deserve our love. so we’re leaving, i’ll come back once i’m ready.”

he lets the words sink in, still sat in shock. his daughter doesn’t even know if he loves him. he’s failed her, and he’s failed you. he’s even failed his son, before he was even born.

“i know you said not to touch… but can i do something?”

“a hug isn’t going to fix anything, mingi”

“i know, but can i still do something?”

“make it quick.”

he walks over to you, tears slipping from his eyes even though he tries to suppress them. he kneels down in front of you, lifting up your shirt to kiss your baby bump.

it’s the same thing he’s been doing every night, yet you’re never up to see him do it, and the sight alone causes tears to spring to your eyes. “i’ll see you soon buddy, i love you.”

he stands back up, mustering the best smile he possibly can with all the pain in his heart. “can i see jiyoo?”

you nod, and he instantly sprints to her room. “jiyoo? can i come in?”

she opens the door immediately, squealing in delight and throwing herself into her dads arms. “i missed you!”

“i know princess… i know.”

she instantly picks up on the tone in his voice, a little confused. “what’s wrong abba?”

“nothing! don’t worry baby… are you excited?”

her face instantly lights up at the mention of her little vacation. “yeah! im so excited to see uncle hyunwoo again, i missed him.”

he giggles along with her, pinching her cheek softly, “yeah, i bet you did munchkin.”

“i just wish you could be there with us…”

“it’ll be fun! tell me how your birthday went, yeah?”

she nods, hugging him tighter. “i will…”

a moment of silence passes, and she stays sat on his lap, hugging him and relaxing in his arms. mingi relishes in the moment, afraid that this might not happen again for a while.

“sugar?”

“mmm”, she replies sleepily.

“i love you…”

she turns back up to look at him, “i know abba.”

he shakes his head, guiding her face to look up at him with his two large hands. “no baby… i love you.”

“what’s going on?”

“please d-don’t forget it… i love you to the ends of the universe”

“i love you too, abba”

his façade is cracking, he can feel it. a singular tear slides down his face after he kisses her cheek, and he quickly wipes it away. this is for the best, and he knows that it’s what you both need right now. 

“alright, i’ll call amma and she can help you pack, okay?”

“we already packed though?”

“oh… yeah i’ll just- i’ll go get her.”

you see him enter the living room again, “you two have fun yeah? call me if you need me.”

you can only nod, grabbing the bags and placing them in the trunk. you finally come back inside, ushering jiyoo out of her room and bringing her over to the car.

but before you get in, he stops you. “y/n.”

“hm?”

“i love you.”

you stop in your tracks, unable to say anything back. normally you’d reply with the same three words in a heartbeat, but it didn’t slip off the tongue naturally anymore. 

it makes sense, considering how long it’s been since you’ve said it to him. “i know, mingi. take care.”

you get into your car, unable to bear the sight of him anymore, and you make your way out of the driveway. “amma, why is abba crying?”

“he’s not crying, baby.”

you turn your head to look at him, he’s sat on the porch, hands clasped over his mouth. he waves one final time, his face contorting into a painful expression.

and now you’re certain. 

he’s crying.

“whatever you decide, we’ll be right here. we’re always here for you, you know that right?”

he nods, tears leaving his eyes. he normally stays strong, only letting the tears out around you. you’re his safe haven, and yet the tears seem unstoppable now.

they pour down relentlessly, unable to keep themselves in for mingis sake. san pours him a glass of water, sitting down next to hongjoong. 

“i don’t think i can do this right now…”

“that’s okay mingi… you can go on hiatus. you need a break.”, hongjoong suggests.

“i don’t wanna let you guys down.”

“we don’t have much to do the next couple months, you know. we’ve recorded everything for the comeback anyways. please?”

he knows they’re only looking out for him. “okay… fine. i’ll finalize everything soon.”

the boys all comfort him through it. none of them have gone through this type of pain, but it seemed that they all knew how to comfort him. 

he’s grateful, but he doesn’t feel fulfilled. he’s not happy. he’s not happy, because they’re not you.

he walks home that night, scared to drive in the state he’s in. his eyes are blurry, he can hardly see, but he tries his best to find his way back properly.

that is, until he crosses the road next to the dorms. he could’ve sworn the light wasn’t there. all he could process was a flash of white, and he braces himself for the impact.

the next thing he hears is a loud screech of the tires, and the driver instantly gets out to check on him. “mingi are you okay?”

he looks up at him, its hyunwoo, he realizes. “y-yeah im okay…”

he tries to walk back down the crosswalk, but hyunwoo stops him. “mingi…”

“i’m fine.”

more tears leave his eyes, and hyunwoo instantly goes to hug him. “you’ll be okay, i know it. just give her some time.”

mingi hugs him back even tighter, completely unaware that you’re watching from the backseat with jiyoo. “thank you.”

“i’m always here.”

that’s what everyone says. everyone is always there for him. you were always there for him.

but now you’re not. now you’re gone, because of him, and he has to deal with the consequences.

“h-have a good night hyunwoo.”

before he can answer, mingi sprints away, too scared to see him. his eyes are the same as yours, and he can’t bear to stare into them anymore.

he wants it all to end.

he scrolls through his twitter feed again, making sure his eyes aren’t deceiving him. no, they aren’t.

there’s an article about his rumored divorce, all he can do is hope you haven’t seen them yet. before he knows it, it hits twelve. he grabs his phone from the dresser, dialing your number.

no answer.

he tries again.

no answer.

he tries calling hyunwoo, and he finally picks up. “hello?”

“hey woo…”

“mingi?”

“sorry to bother, i was just wondering if jiyoo is still awake? i wanted to wish her a happy birthday.”

he chuckles awkwardly, “she’s awake… but i don’t think- um…”

“oh, yeah… that’s okay. can you just tell her i have a gift waiting for her at home? thanks…”

“yeah, i’ll tell her. how are you doing? i saw the articles.”

“i don’t know.”

“what do you mean?”

“i don’t know how im doing, not right now. goodnight hyunwoo”

“oh- i- goodnight?”

he quickly hangs up the phone, unable to say anymore. he’s scared for his life. is jiyoo having fun? are you doing okay with your pregnancy? are you still upset?

he hopes you’re feeling better, he truly doesn’t want you to waste your tears on him. 

it’s been two months since you’ve last seen him, and you think you’re doing a lot better. you know you miss him, and you know you will return, but you don’t know if you’re ready yet.

you know it’s very unfair to him, not being able to see jiyoo, but there’s a lot going on in your life right now. you don’t think you’re ready to face him, even though you truly do miss him.

“amma?”

“yes baby?”

“this vacation is getting boring…”

you give her a soft smile, picking her up and placing her on your lap. “i know baby, we’ll go home soon.”

you play a little more with jiyoo, until you see her start to cry. it breaks your heart even more. you have to talk to him.

and so you do. you grab a couple things, bringing jiyoo in the car with you. you both arrive at your home not too long after, it’s been too long since you’ve even seen the place.

you knock on the door, and you hear shuffling from the end. your heart rate quickens, still scared of what’s to come, but you’ve come too far to let it go now.

he opens the door, a look of surprise on his face. and then his eyes meet yours. it’s almost as if it’s been flipped. last he saw you, your eyes were red, and his were happy, bright. and now his are red, and you look much better than you did before.

his eyes then fly to the little girl next to you, running over to give him a hug. he falls to his knees before he can even think, sobs racking his body once again. “abba! i missed you.”

his body shakes with his cries, smoothing down her hair and kissing her cheeks. “i missed you more, my princess…”

you enter the house, closing and locking the door behind you. you set your things down by the door, and you just sit there and watch. your heart melts at the sight.

you feel guilty for keeping them apart so long, but you needed time. maybe you still do, but there’s nothing you can do now.

he stands back up, bringing jiyoo to her room to get her into bed. “i don’t wanna sleep yet…”

“i know sweet girl… i’ll tell you what, if you sleep now, i’ll show you your dollhouse first thing tomorrow.”

“okay! goodnight abba!”

“i love you pumpkin.”

he leaves the room not too long after, watching you pace the room. you’re crying, he can see the streaks over your face. he slowly walks over you, careful not to startle you.

“are you not ready…?”

“i don’t know…”

“we don’t have to talk right now… but i’m here for you.”

you turn your head towards him, utterly touched by his words. you would have never guessed that he’d be so patient with you, and it finally slips naturally.

“i love you, mingi.”

“i love you too.”, he replies without missing a beat.

“i’m sorry i didn’t tell you when we left. it’s been eating me alive.”

“that’s okay, i put you in a lot of pain. i understand, i promise.”

a moment of silence passes between the two of you, only your shared sniffles heard from time to time.

“im sorry i came here unannounced. jiyoo just missed you a lot…”

silence.

“i missed you”

he looks back up at you, almost sobbing now. he tries to wipe his tears away, but they just keep coming back.

that’s how it is with mingi. you’re his safe place, and he will let every emotion out with you. 

“i missed you so much more… you’d truly never believe it”, he whispers.

you give him a soft smile, opening your arms to him. “c’mere”

“what? really?”

“yes! come here, i missed you.”

he’s hesitant at first, but the second he feels you around him again, he melts. his heart feels too much at once, and he starts crying again. no. wailing.

he gasps for air again, rather harshly, and tangles his hands in your hair. he inhales again, all of his senses completely overridden. by you.

“oh baby…”

he hugs you tighter once he hears the pet name, and you smooth down his hair with your hand. “i promise i’ll be b-better… i know i’ve been terrible to you, but ill try my best. i’ll take breaks, ill spend time with you, and ill take care of myself too… just don’t go.”

“i’m not leaving you, sweetpea… im here. calm down.”

he looks up at you, stars in his eyes, “can i… kiss you?”

normally he’d never ask for permission, but you remember what you said during your argument. it breaks your heart thinking about how much that must have affected him.

you lean down, meeting his lips in a soft kiss. he cradles your head in his hands, his touches feather-soft. you finally pull away, just to stare at him. 

“you’re so beautiful…”

“hm?”

he giggles, “you’re just beautiful. i don’t think i tell you that enough.”

you hug him tight once more, missing his touch. he gets up not too long after, helping you up too and pushing your hair out of your face lovingly. 

“mingi…”

“hm?”

“how are you?”

“oh… i don’t know yet…”

suddenly, there’s a sharp pain in your abdomen. you look down, but there’s nothing there. “baby? what’s wrong?”

you can’t get any words out, scared for your life. you feel something trickling down your leg, so you look. the blood drips onto the floor, the pain becoming unbearable.

“mingi…”

mingi doesn’t say anything, quickly grabbing his phone from his pocket to call an ambulance. “stay with me baby, come on…”

you can’t do it, it hurts too much. you sink down to the floor, trying your best to stay awake, but it’s so hard. you want to scream, but you can’t, not with jiyoo here…

you push and push, but your body finally gives out, losing so much blood that you fall unconscious in the puddle. 

“yes- yes i’m here…”

“are they crying?”

“n-no, he’s not breathing.”

“alright, stay calm, the ambulances are on the way. i want you to perform cpr on him, make sure you press only about an inch deep.”

he’s done this before, he knows how, but his hands are shaking so much and he’s just so scared. he finishes the compressions, giving him two breaths and returning back to pressing down on his chest.

“nothing… nothings happening…”

he continues pressing, tears streaming down his face. he’s blocked out every other voice, only thinking about you and his baby. 

and then he hears it. a shrill cry rings out through the room, and his eyes widen. he picks him up, carefully cradling him. he’s obviously premature, and mingi is deathly scared of what’s to come. 

just then, the ambulances arrive. mingi quickly informs the dispatcher and hangs up. he watches as they take you and the baby away to the ambulances and he rushes to jiyoos room.

“baby. you need to wake up.”

“mmm?”

he picks her up before she can question, “close your eyes. please.”

she complies, almost falling back asleep amidst all the chaos. he runs out the house, hopping in the passenger seat while they operate in the back.

his heart is beating a thousand times a second, tears streaming down his face. “abba…? why is there blood on you…?”

“just close your eyes princess…”

his hands are smeared with blood. his clothes, along with jiyoos, are ruined. his mind will never be the same after going through such a thing.

but all he can do is cry.

you’re finally all together, all four of you, yet it’s been almost four weeks since the birth. jihoon has spent a lot of time in the NICU, but he’s finally getting to see his new home for the first time.

mingi unlocks the door, opening it for you as you make your way in with jihoon. jiyoo has been giving him her love in every single way possible.

small hugs, sweet kisses, and cute little smiles whenever he blubbers in her direction. your heart swells at the sight. you don’t know how to explain it, but it just feels… right.

you set jihoon down in the crib, allowing him to get some rest. you decide to lay down too, calling it an early night. you’re still recovering, and it’s been hell so far, but mingi has been with you every step of the way this time.

the two of you lay together in bed in peace after so long, smiling and just simply staring at eachother. he grabs your hand, holding it up to his chest. “i’m proud of you, you know. you’re so strong…”

“mingi, you’ve said this like… nine times.”

“the amount of times i’ve said it doesn’t change the fact that it’s true. you are so incredibly amazing and just… the perfect mother. a fucking superhero, if you will.”

you giggle, “okay now you’re just overreacting.”

he pulls you closer towards him, kissing over the palm of your hand and gently closing his hands around it. “i’m so glad you both are okay…”

“mingi…”

“im sorry i keep bringing it up… it’s just- i could have lost you both.”

“you’re okay baby… im here.”

he scoots closer to you so that you’re chest to chest, nuzzling his face into your neck. he plants soft kisses onto your jawline, the sweet gesture just seeming so much like him.

“i love you… thank you for coming back to me.”

you kiss his forehead once, then twice, “i could never be away from you forever, you know.”

he smiles, kissing over your neck again. his kisses start to trail down lower and lower, suddenly stopping at your chest. “agh! mingi, not now!”

“not doing anything… just kissing.”

he places wet kisses all over your chest and collarbone, smiling when the marks change tint. “missed you, y/n…”

you grab onto his hair for some control, squirming underneath him. that is, until you hear a loud cry from the baby monitor. the two of you giggle again, this was going to be a lot of work.

he pulls away from you, quickly getting out of bed. “i’ll put him back to sleep, don’t worry.”

he walks over to you, leaning closer to whisper into your ear. 

“i’ll be back soon baby, just sit here and look pretty for me…”

<3

[last-herondale]

Always In Front of Me

Jacob Black x FemReader

T/w: Mentions of blood, violence, death

Hurt/comfort, fated lovers

A/N: heyo! A few people have asked for a perspective from Jacob’s point of view from my wintered series! This is after Honesty and before Wintered!

Expect at least 2 more fics for this series in the future 💙

I’ll link the master list here!

Enjoy 🤘🏼

Jacob sat at your beside, watching the even motion of your chest rising and falling. The two of you were in one of the Cullen’s rooms. Jacob wasn’t sure whose, maybe Alice, maybe Jasper? No definitely Alice. She had insisted after… Jacob shook his head at the memory. He looked over you, making sure you were alright, to see if there was anything he could possibly do. He had been there for days on end, refusing to leave your side as you recovered.

Months earlier you had done the same for him after the battle with Victoria’s newborn army. Jacob remembered how you accepted the role as his gentle nurse, aiding him as he healed from his wounds. How minor his injuries seemed now. He winced as he looked at your neck brace— the bluish bruises under your eyes. The sight of you made his stomach churn. How could he have been so blind? How could he have not known until that night?

~

The world seemed to be moving in slow motion. So much chaos had ensued in such a short amount of time that Jacob wasn’t entirely sure what was real anymore.

Bella had gone into labor. He witnessed her body jerk and contort, breaking and snapping with haunting echos as the creature inside her yearned to be free. The Cullens had sprung to action, or at least those that had remained. A plan had been devised to allow some of the Cullens to break through Sam’s patrol so that they could feed, and get more blood for Bella.

Seth, Leah, and You had agreed to help with the plan. Jacob had distracted Sam’s pack long enough to allow the Cullens to escape, and for a moment you all thought you had won a victory. The Cullens could feed, Bella would be safe, and no one would have to die.

But then all hell broke loose. While The Cullens rushed to save Bella, Sam’s pack decided to launch their attack. You had sounded the alarm to Jacob, ripping out a guttural howl into the night sky. Leah and Seth had already sprung into action, blurs of fur clashing into the night. Alice and Jasper joined the fight as well, battling the wolves that were once their allies.

Jacob’s mind had been a jumbled mess. His fear for Bella tore his heart in one direction, but his worry for his family tore him in the other. His heart pounded in his chest as he stared in horror as Edward pulled the baby from Bella. The smell of blood burned in Jacob’s nostrils as he watched his best friend lie lifeless on the table. His head was ringing. He couldn’t register Edwards words as he began to preform CPR on Bella. Jacob felt his legs move him on his own accord, as his body left the room in a tranced state.

Bella was dead. He had expected it. Tried to mentally prepare for it, but now that it was here… his chest felt empty. What was all of this pain for? Why did Jacob love Bella if he knew it would always end in death? Was this how love was supposed to be? Constant pain? Unending torture?

Jacob collapsed outside of the Cullen’s house and began to sob. The battle raged on around him, his pack and the Cullens fighting Sam’s pack. You were grappling with Embry and Quill, keeping them from reaching the house while Leah and Seth were out of sight. Jacob looked at the scene before him as his body broke out in heaved sobs. You heard his anguished cries and felt your soul tug. The desperate need to be there for him roared in your mind as you fought.

The imprint bond, the tether that seemed to shape your heart sang out within your blood. You felt a surge of strength return to your body as you flung Quill against a tree, hearing a whimper escape his wolf form. Embry lunged at you again, but you were able to sidestep him and sink your teeth into the back of his leg. Once he too fell, you spun around to Jacob. Guilt flashed through your mind for a moment, these were your friends— your brothers after all. As much as it pained you to admit it though, Jacob came first. Always.

The brokenness of his face told you all you needed to know. Bella was dead.

Your heart ached with the thought of your friend. Bella had been a kind soul. The kind of person you only encountered once in a lifetime. You knew the likelihood of her passing, but you held our hope for her. Maybe there would be time for the Cullens to change her. Maybe she would make it after all. You always held hope, not just for her, but for Jacob as well. You dreaded this day. The day Jacob’s heart would shatter beyond repair.

You began to sprint towards Jacob, to protect him from the battle as he sat there out in the open, but you heard a scream to the right of you. Paul had Alice pinned underneath him. The small vampire had her hands gripped on either side of Paul’s jaw to keep back his sharp canines. She could have easily beaten Paul if her strength was up, but she had needed to feed for days now, and you could see the struggle in her eyes.

Perhaps it was stupid to care for a vampire. Everything you were taught went against what your heart told you. Alice was your friend. She seemed no less human to you than Seth or Leah. And she needed help.

Suddenly you were pounding towards Paul. You slammed into him with enough force to knock the wind out of yourself. You snapped at him, gripping a chunk of his fur as the two of you tumbled in the dirt. You saw a pale flash if movement, and hoped it was Alice escaping into the house. Paul seems to support this theory as he let out a horrible snarl. His claws dug into your sides and the pain was enough to cause you to release him. He pinned you down easily enough, his strength had always overmatched yours. You looked into his dark eyes as he plunged his teeth around your neck. The crunch was horrific. You tried to scream, but the wind seemed to leave you as soon as your lips opened. You wanted to say his name, one last time. Your mind glazed over with pain as darkness quickly swept over your consciousness.

~

That was when everything snapped into place. Jacob felt as if his heart was being ripped from his chest as he watched Paul snap your neck. Suddenly, all of the memories of you flooded through his mind, but it was as if a lens had been removed. What had once been simple memories of one of his best friends, now became something unimaginably more important. The first day he met you. Jacob was struck by how beautiful you were, how sweet your voice sounded in his ears. The echo of it now was sweet music. He had been muted to it for so long. The memories of the two of you training together, how you both had leaned on each other for support as you navigated through these difficult changes. You had always been there, he realized. How had he never noticed until now?

Realization struck home, like a blazing sun clearing through the darkness. Jacob felt as if his whole world had shifted back into place. He had been wandering aimlessly in the world, trying so desperately to find his purpose, his meaning within the chaos. He tried to find it in loving Bella. How silly that seemed now. Now it was as if there never was a world where he did not belong to you. Where you did not spark his soul into a million burning fires.

My imprint… my soulmate.

Jacob’s thoughts were scattered and racing through his mind a million miles a second. He didn’t have time to sort through his emotions, all that mattered was you. And you were lying motionless on the ground, your body shifting back into your human form as Paul tossed you aside.

Jacob shifted in an instant and charged Paul. The force of the collision caused the tree they knocked into to snap at the base and crash into the Cullen’s yard. Jacob felt a primal rage course through his body. He dug his teeth into Paul’s shoulder and threw him into another tree. Paul yelped as Jacob went in again, snapping at his arm until a sickening crunch echoed into the night.

Jacob stop!

Seth’s voice echoed through Jacob’s mind, but Jacob did not relinquish. He would make Paul pay for what he did to you. For taking away his chance at happiness before he could even…

Jake, stop! You’re killing him!

Seth begged through his mind. Paul laid limp underneath Jacob, his fur a bloody mess as Jacob continued to thrash him. He was taking it too far, he knew, but he didn’t care.

“She’s alive!”

The voice was real. Not just a telepathic whisper. But a real, high pitched sounding yell. Jacob stopped in his tracks and spun around to see Alice leaning over you as the others watched him in horror. Alice had her head over your heart, listening to the faint beating.

“She’s alive Jacob, please, stop this.”

Jacob took a good look around to see that the chaos had stilled during his rage. The packs looked horrified, Sam especially as he ran to pull Paul away from him. The eerie quiet of the forest chilled Jacob’s back as he hurried himself beside your body. His anger refused to let him shift back into his human form, so he just stood there, watching as Alice carefully picked you up to carry you into the house.

It was Leah that shifted back first, looking at your body then at Jacob in disbelief.

“You imprinted on y/n…” she said. Jacob’s wolf just panted, his eyes locked on Sam and his pack in case they tried to make a break for the house. Leah turned to Sam, his wolf looking at them with fierce uncertainty. Sam couldn’t read Jacob’s thoughts anymore, but Leah could. She recognized what an imprint felt like, knew what kind of bond that was. She knew Sam did too, and in that she saw their salvation.

“Jacob imprinted on y/n!” She yelled loud enough for all of the packs to hear. Sam’s eyes widened at Jacob, and for a moment his resolve finally wavered. Leah took notice and pointed at Sam. “You know our laws, all of you! If you kill her, you kill Jacob. Is this what you want Sam? Your friends— your family dead? Over what? A baby?” It had been the first time Jacob had heard Leah refer to Bella’s baby as such. It was enough to calm Jacob down enough to shift back into his human form.

“It’s true Sam. This has gone on long enough. I don’t want this… but I can’t lose her, please. We have to stop this fighting.”

Sam remained still for a moment as he looked at Jacob’s face. He tried to find the insincerity in Jacob’s voice, his expression, but he found none. It only took one glance at Paul for Sam to realize that only an imprint would cause that sort of violence from Jacob. They might have had their little fights in the past, but this was different. He thought of Emily being attacked and a chill ran down his spine. They were right. Enough was enough.

Sam turned to his pack, speaking a silent message through their minds. Quill and Embry helped Paul to his feet, leaning him up against each other as they limped out of the forest. Jacob waited in silence, half expecting them to return and finish them off.

“They won’t return,” Edward’s voice rose from behind Jacob. Jacob turned to face Edward, and was surprised to see him away from Bella. Edward just nodded at Jacob, and it was enough for now. “Let’s get her inside. Quick, Carlisle is on his way.” Alice carried you inside, Jacob and Edward close at on her heel. Everything else after that became a blur to Jacob. Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens arrived minutes later, and Carlisle began quick work on you to heal your wounds. Jacob stood by your side the entire time. Once you were stable, Carlisle moved you into Alice’s room, and kept you on fluids and a monitor as you slept.

It was a waiting game. Carlisle feared that there had been damage to your brain, but that he had hope you would wake up in your own time. Jacob thanked him as he left. Then it was just the two of you. Jacob sat next to you as the monitor made soft beeps. He held your limp hand, and ran his thumb over your skin.

There was a knock at the door, and Leah and Seth slipped into the room. Seth knelt beside the bed and put his hand on your forehead. A small gesture of love, as he whispered a small prayer. Seth’s eyes were watering and he sniffed as he rubbed his eyes.

“She’ll be okay, Seth,” Leah murmured, “She’s strong. She’s a fighter.”

“Yeah,” Seth said in a small ragged voice.

“Jake,” Leah said, “She’ll make it.”

Jacob just gave a small nod. His throat felt clogged. He felt warm tears fall down his cheek as he rested his head in your hand. He felt his pack put their hand in his shoulders. “Why did it take so long?” Jacob finally choked out, “why now?”

Leah gave a bitter laugh. ���One thing I’ve learned is that this ability can be cruel. There may not be any rhyme or reason, but it’s what we have to survive. And she will, she will survive this. You both will.”

Jacob let himself cry as he held your hand. He whispered into your palm, begging for you to wake up. He had so much he wanted to say to you. Things he wished he could explain, apologize for the time he had wasted chasing false dreams. Sense left him, and finally the pain and sorrow was all he felt. He was surrounded by his family and let their love warm the fractured pieces of his tired weary soul.

~

Your eyes fluttered open two days later. Disoriented, you struggled to raise your head up to look around, but got caught up against the breathing tubes and neck brace. You raised your hand to remove them but a strong hand gently gripped your wrists. The touch was familiar, beautifully familiar.

“Steady there speed racer,” Jacob’s husky voice warmed the side of your face. You let him guide your hand back down as you blinked away the rest of your drowsiness. “Jake…what happened…?”

“Shhh shhh,” he cooed, his hand stroked the side of your face. You thought you were still in a dream state, his touch was warm and comforting. “It doesn’t matter. None of it matters.” You resisted the temptation to lean your head deeper into his palm, the scent of him was intoxicating.

You scrunched your brow in confusion. Not matter? Your mind struggled to recall your last memories. You remembered seeing blood on the living room floor, then the green forest just outside of the Cullen house, then a large black wolf lunging towards you…

“Paul,” you whispered. The memories came crashing back in a torrential wave. You tried to jerk up on bed again, but the brace and tubes kept you back.

“What happened? Is everyone okay? Did Alice— oh my god, Bella??”

Jacob put his hands on either side of your face to calm you. “It’s okay, everyone’s fine. Everyone’s fine.” You tried to calm your breathing, but the memories of that night stormed in your mind. Jacob’s presence calmed you; his touch was enough to bring you back into the present.

“I don’t… understand. Jake…”

Jacob explained away the time you missed, careful to leave out the imprinting. He was waiting to see the change in you too, to see if the bond had reshaped your life as it had his. But to his dismay, he saw no change. How could he possibly bring it up to you? Would you even believe him? Just days ago he had been fighting so hard for Bella, the girl he though he loved. How could he ever begin to explain?

Little did he know that your life had already been reshaped. That the bond had formed for you the first moment you saw him. Jacob swallowed his disappointment as he finished his story.

“So, Bella’s gonna be okay? Edward saved her in time?” You asked.

Jacob nodded. “It seems so. Carlisle thinks she should wake up in the next day or so.” Your shoulders relaxed a bit at that bit of information. You hadn’t lost a friend after all.

“But wait, I still don’t understand…, how did Leah convince Sam to leave again?”

Jacob blanked for a moment. She had hoped you wouldn’t notice how he skimmed over that detail, but of course you hadn’t. Jacob opened his mouth to try and craft a delicate lie, but luckily he was saved by Carlisle knocking on the door.

“Ah, good, my favorite patient is up.” Carlisle gave you a warm smile as he approached you. You were happy to see him, healthy and alive. His eyes had returned to a golden brown, and his overall mood seemed happy compared to the last few months.

He began to check on the monitors and tubes, noting your heart rate and oxygen levels. He turned to Jacob.

“Would you mind if I spoke with y/n, alone for a moment?” Jacob wanted to protest, he hadn’t left your side at all while you were under, but that was when he didn’t have to hide anything. He looked at you for a moment, letting himself have the satisfaction of seeing you awake, alive and well, before peeling himself from the chair.

“Of course Doc,” Jacob said with a small smirk. You watched him as he left, giving him a smile as he turned back to look at you before closing the door.

~

Jacob descended the stairs, his emotions a swirl of confusion. At the base he ran into Leah and Seth, both of whom looked excited. “Edward told us the news. Is she finally awake?” Seth asked, his eyes alight with excitement. Jacob nodded, but he put his hand on Seth’s shoulder. “She’s awake and well. The Doc is talking with her now, but I need to talk with the two of you.”

“Sure, what is it Jake?” Seth asked. Leah just stood there with her arms crossed. She seemed a bit more relaxed after hearing you were okay, but being in the Cullens house was still tough for her, and Jacob appreciated her effort.

Jacob took a slow, steady breath. “I don’t want to tell her about the imprint.” His voice was low and steady. Seth began to protest while Leah held a straight face.

“Listen, this is how it needs to be. Whatever happened the other night seems to only have happened to me. I don’t want to force her into something like this… for her to feel obligated to feel something for me that she doesn’t. She’s kind hearted, and too gentle. I can’t do that to her. And I know I can’t keep it from her forever, but just for now… until I figure out a way to tell her. Please.”

You too Cullen. Please, if you could spread the word to your family… I would appreciate it.

Jacob knew Edward would be able to hear their conversation. He only hoped Edward would play along, for your sake more so than his.

Seth gave Leah an uncertain look, but Leah just nodded in response. “We won’t say anything, but Jake,” Leah began, “we don’t want your heart to break anymore either.”

Jacob just gave a small smile. The images of you flashed through his mind. All of the memories of you in his life, and how much those moments had meant to you, even then. Now they were everything. The breath of life sustaining his soul. He had a purpose now. A reason to always fight, to always be there.

You, and only you.

“It’ll be worth it this time, no matter what happens. Believe me, everything’s different now. Everything.”

Tag-list

@steverogersgirlfriend-blog @milesquaritchh

[yanderehsr]

Hi, I created a masterlist so it's easier to find something that you want to read

Rules

Everything I post is yandere but I will still put some trigger warnings just to be on the safe side. Also the links are in the order I posted them with some exceptions

Trigger Warning: Yandere, Obsessive behaviour, Possessive behaviour, Clingy behaviour, Manipulation, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence

Natasha, Himeko and Kafka's love language

Natasha comforting reader after a nightmare

Natasha, Himeko and Kafka kidnapping reader

General yandere March 7th

Natasha, Himeko and Kafka dealing with people searching for reader

Yanqing cuddling with reader

Blade interested in married reader

Caelus, Gepard, Blade and Jing Yuan with a witch reader

Natasha, Himeko and Kafka with the rules they set for reader

Asta traps reader on the space station

Gepard, Caelus, Luocha, Blade and Yanqing with pocky challenge

Jing Yuan, Dan Heng and Blade with reader favored by Yaoshi Part 2

Jing Yuan and Yanqing with adopted reader that joins Sanctus Medicus Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Jing Yuan is jealous because Yanqing takes readers attention

Jing Yuan, Yanqing and Bailu with Qiqi reader

Jing Yuan falls for reader with husband and child during their vacation

Jing Yuan abusing his power as general

Seele and Bronya with a menace to society reader

Jingliu's childhood friend is dating someone

Blade when reader gets stockholm syndrome

Blade, Dan Heng, Himeko and Bailu with Nahida reader

Blade, Kafka and Silver Wolf with toddler reader

Himeko and Welt being parents to a Klee reader Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Blade being jealous and wants Dan Heng's darling

Arlan with an anxious reader

Jing Yuan, Blade and Luocha with a reader that is a constellation from ORV

Blade, Dan Heng and Jing Yuan with shy teen reader with neglectful parents

Blade, Gepard, Jing Yuan and Welt with Bartender reader

Natasha dealing with a darling that almost escaped

Tingyun, Hook and Seele with Diona reader Part 2

Clara and Qiqi with a puppet (fnaf) reader

Jing Yuan with neglected wife reader Part 2

Blade and Dan Heng decides to share reader

Dan Heng, Jing Yuan and Luocha with a regressor reader

Natasha, Himeko and Kafka with autistic reader

Blade, Jing Yuan and Gepard with a reader that can summon powerful creatures

Headcanons for Serval

The difference between Stelle and Caelus

Dan Heng, Jing Yuan and Blade with a teen reader that's like Collei

Childe's love language

Serval and Gepard with Nahida reader

Jing Yuan and Yanqing with single mom reader and their child

Jing Yuan, Gepard, Blade and Caelus with maid reader

Blade with Mr Bean reader

Jing Yuan, Dan Heng and Gepard with vidyadhara reader that does not remember them

Bronya forces reader to love her

Gepard, Jing Yuan and Luocha as dad's

Natasha, Himeko and Kafka when reader becomes attached to them

Breaking up with Aether

How Childe, Hu Tao and Yae Miko would kidnap the reader

Blade and Jing Yuan when reader becomes marastruck

The difference between Dan Heng and Imbibitor Lunae

Silver Wolf as a jealous ex girlfriend

Arlan, Gepard and Sampo taking care of their partners newborn

Dan Heng, Blade and Sampo when darling fakes getting knocked out so they can get CPR

Herta and Bronya/Seele with a runaway teen

Childe, Blade, Zhongli and Jing Yuan punishing an escaped reader

Imbibitor Lunae wrapping his tail around reader

Stelle, Dan Heng, Himeko and Welt with Lumine reader

Jing Yuan going for Yanqing's mother and getting help from his student

Nahida with a motherly reader

Breaking up with Venti

Himeko Love Letter

Caelus and Stelle with reader who has racoon tail and ears

Blade, Jing Yuan, Welt and Luka with a reader who has a burn/scar Part 2

Kafka as a jealous ex girlfriend

Blade, Kafka and Silver Wolf with mute reader

Breaking up with Xiao

Childe with abyss lumine reader

Breaking up with Dan Heng

Natasha Love Letter

Breaking up with Blade, Kafka and Silver Wolf

Himeko, Kafka and Asta with a Stelleron hunter reader

Furina headcanons

Kafka with journalist reader

Paimon reader: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

I hope you'll enjoy them😄

[streetlight11]

I Remember You

Summary: You grew up with your foster parents who found you at their doorstep when you were a newborn baby. They raised you up ever since and treated you like their own. When you turned 16, you started to keep getting the same recurring dream with the same scenes playing again and again. Until one day, it began to unveil more and more secrets to the dream which ends up showing you the bigger picture

Theme: supernatural au, strangers to lovers

Genre: slowburn, romance, fluff, a pinch of sadness(?)

Warnings: mentions of partial drowning, slight bullying, fights, injuries, cosmos, those paragraphs in italics are the dreams

W/C: 17.8k (sorry)

Pairing: Celestial!Jungkook x Human!FemReader

a/n: Hello hello! I'm back with a new fic✌🏼I wanted to try and write a theme I've never tried before so I honestly don't know if this is good or not. I'll let you decide :) *characters and storyline is completely fictional*

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running around the park, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up but all you can see is a shadowy figure looming over you. Nothing about him or his appearance is clear and so it was pretty useless to even guess who or what he looked like.

Right after you’ve gotten a glimpse of his presence there with you, everything goes white. Even though this is just a dream, everything about this felt so entirely real. Almost as if this same exact scene happened before in your life.

And it did.

You just don’t remember it. Not yet.

And then you awoke.

You’ve been getting that same recurring dream ever since you turned 16. They’re all the same dream where it stops abruptly after your savior asks if you are okay. As much as you want to figure out the details of the dream, you couldn’t because you don’t have much to work with aside from it being what looks to be an old memory of what happened to you years ago. Nevertheless, you lived your days like every other normal teenager until you were now in your last year of university.

That’s where you met two of your current best friends and their names were Hwang Hyunjin and Han Jisung.

You were like three peas in a pod ever since college days. Everywhere one goes, the other two follow. Except the toilet of course. There isn’t anyone on this earth (aside from your foster parents) that you could trust more than you trust them. Only reason being you were an only child. Not to mention, adopted. So everyone in school used to make fun of you a lot. They called you all kinds of nicknames and said that your real parents never loved you enough to take care of you.

It hurts a lot, having to hear those words being thrown at you when you were barely a kid. However, you loved your foster parents so much, you tried so hard to ignore the bullies and carried on with your life just to make your elders happy. You couldn’t bear to see them sad so you made a promise to yourself that no matter what happens, they will always come first and you will do whatever it takes to give them a happy and successful life when you’re older.

It wasn’t easy of course but you made it through. Not only that, who knew college would let you cross paths with two of the most genuine individuals who actually cared for you and not expect anything in return. For that, you’re thankful you met Hyunjin and Jisung.

Everyday is such a blessing with them around and today was no different.

You were heading to the parking lot after your class ended when you saw a group of four guys gathered at the near entrance of the campus building. Both Hyunjin and Jisung still have yet to finish their lectures so you told them you’d wait for them by the car. You were about to walk down the stairs when one of the guys blocked your path intentionally.

“Hey, um… Y/N right?” He asked, to which you frowned. You don’t seem to recognize him so how did he know your name?

“Yeah? Sorry, do I know you?” Your voice was timid and almost inaudible.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve introduced myself. My name’s Changbin. This is Wooyoung, Yeonjun and Haknyeon. I’ve uh… been wanting to talk to you actually but I didn’t know how. So I kinda asked your friend about you…” He said while scratching the back of his neck nervously. Upon this revelation, you frowned as you tilted your head slightly in confusion.

“My friend?” You asked.

“Han Jisung?”

“Ah… Right, Mr Dumber…” You said casually, earning a few chuckles from them.

“So… I was wondering, if you’d wanna hangout with me tonight? I know this really awesome billiard place downtown.”

“Um… Sure. Yeah, I think that sounds good.” You said as he asked to exchange numbers with you and so you did. Once you were done, you bid them goodbye and soon walked over to your car. It didn’t feel weird or creepy talking to him but it did catch you off guard slightly considering you’ve never gotten someone to actually come up to you bravely like that and asked for your number. So for that, you kinda respected Changbin for that.

A few minutes later, your friends finally came and Jisung seemed happy as he was seen bouncing in his steps over to where you were standing.

“You look overly happy and satisfied. What’s up?” You asked, only for him to smirk.

“A little birdie told me that somebody’s got a date tonight…” Jisung teased you in front of Hyunjin who looks like he had absolutely no idea what’s going on.

“It’s not a date.”

“Really? What time is he picking you up?” He smirked at you, ignoring Hyunjin’s wide eyes staring back and forth between you and Jisung.

“We haven’t set a time yet, Ji. Now shut up and get in.” You said in annoyance as you unlocked your car doors and entered the driver seat easily while the other two followed suit.

“I’m sorry but what is going on? Can some kind soul please fill me in on what’s going on?” Hyunjin asked as he turned his body 90° to face you and turned his head back to glare at his same aged friend. Finally, Jisung explained the situation to Hyunjin and you were thankful that Hyunjin was just letting it slide without actually teasing the shit out of you.

A few hours went by, and you were finally done getting ready to meet up with Changbin. You opted for a simple crop top, skinny ripped jeans and a thick oversized jacket in case you got cold during the night. Changbin soon picked you up at your apartment with his black mustang, bringing you to the billiard place downtown. You were quite surprised with how easy your conversation turned out with him in the car. He was quite bubbly himself so it wasn’t difficult for him to start the conversation every time. And so far, you feel pretty comfortable with him.

Once you arrived at the location, the place was dimly lit to give off a relaxing vibe to the venue. There were many pool tables occupied so there were a few empty ones near the back. Changbin and you went to book a table for yourselves, only to get the last table at the very last corner of the room.

The other tables near you were empty so essentially, you had the space to yourselves. Changbin took the cue sticks for you and him while you carried the tray of billiard balls.

“Just so you know, I have no idea how to play this.” You said as a disclaimer, only for him to chuckle.

“It’s fine. I can teach you.” He said casually, making you smile.

After you had both settled down your things on the table, he began to prepare the balls into the triangle and soon called a start. He was the first to break it up. Right after that, he walks over to you and asks which colour you wanted to aim for, solids or stripes. You glanced around the table top to see which one was the easiest target and soon chose the stripes. He led you over to where the ball you were aiming for and began to guide you on where to stand, how to hold the cue, et cetera et cetera.

Apparently, you were holding it wrong and had completely no idea what to do so Changbin came over to stand behind you while he reached over to position your hand properly. His left hand was guiding your hand while the other hovered over your waist, knowing not to touch you without your permission.

So when you could feel his awkward hand beside your waist, you glanced down at it and laughed slightly before you turned to him and said, “Isn’t your hand tired from being in the air for that long?”

Changbin glanced over to your waist, only to laugh a little as he got shy.

“Sorry, I just… I don’t know where to put my hand.”

“Just hold my waist if you want. It’s fine.” You smiled at him, earning a little giggle from him.

“O-Okay.” He replied shyly before gently putting his hand on your waist. He resumed teaching you and once you got the shot, both of you cheered excitedly. The game continued with laughter and occasional lessons along the way but so far, you were enjoying it. After you were done playing, he offered to pay for the game so you told him you’d pay for the food afterwards and he said okay.

You were walking back to his car when you didn’t realise there was someone walking ahead of you. It wasn’t until the sudden crash against your shoulder made you turn around. A young guy locks eyes with you from under the brim of his baseball cap, black mask covering his nose and mouth.

“Sorry.” He said softly to which you simply smiled and shook your head.

“It’s okay.” You said as he then walked away. For some reason, your heart was starting to palpitate in your chest.

Soon after, Changbin drove you to a pretty cafe a few blocks down from where you were, only to gush over the cute decorations outside the cafe. It was decorated with pretty fairy lights and small strings of roses attached to it. So minimal yet so pretty at the same time. Both of you went inside to get your food first before sitting outside.

The night was young, people were seen walking about the streets in all ages. You were chatting about your hobbies and what you do when you’re bored. You realize that he is a gym-addict and that he does dance occasionally and rap most days when he feels like recording a song. He is multi-talented and yet, his hard work is not published anywhere. Nevertheless, you found him charming and an absolute sweetheart.

You just… don’t have any special feelings towards him. So when you were ready to call it a night, he sent you home all the way to your doorstep.

“If it’s not too much to ask, is it okay if we do this again? It doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t want it to. I just… kinda like spending time with you.”

“Of course. I’d love to. Anyways, I should go in. It’s getting pretty late… Drive safely. Goodnight Changbin.” You smiled, before entering your apartment once he said goodnight.

Looks like you’ve gained a new friend.

It was a bright Wednesday afternoon. You were seated at one of the wooden tables at the rooftop garden of the engineering building, waiting for the boys to finish their lecture. You had your headphones on so the world around you was just a blur to you. Mind focused on your assignment, you didn’t even realise the two individuals that had just entered the rooftop until one of them slams both hands on the table top to scare you. As expected, you didn’t flinch.

“Boohoo… You’re no fun.” Jisung pouts as he takes a seat opposite from you while Hyunjin slides into the bench beside you.

“What are you doing?” The long haired blondie asks.

“A research on Thomas Edison. I mean, come on. That man might have invented the light bulb, telephone and motion picture camera, sure. But did he figure out how many times the earth orbits around the sun? I’m pretty sure that’s more fascinating than inventing a device that most people would have come up with eventually.” You didn’t realise you were ranting until you finished talking, earning a soft scoff from Hyunjin.

“Relax, Miss Know-It-All… What’s with the ‘tude? It was just a simple question. Geez…” Hyunjin said as he flips his hair sassily before taking out his phone to text someone.

“Sorry… I’m just a little stressed from this stupid thing, I kinda need a break from it.” You sighed heavily with your head against the table. Jisung cooed softly as he suddenly clapped his hand together and suggested hanging out at the empty music room that nobody seems to use anymore.

“I don’t know, Ji… You tend to overlook some important details sometimes…” You said while packing your stuff, only for the male to huff at you.

“Trust me. I’ve done my research this time. It’s safe. Besides, if anything happens, you have two hot guys to protect you.” Jisung smirks at you cheekily, earning a roll of your eyes.

“More like two cowards.” You said quietly but still loud enough for them to hear, only for you to giggle right after. All three of you finally made it back to the ground floor and were soon walking towards the music production building on the other side of campus. Jisung was standing in the middle of you and Hyunjin. As usual, he was being chatty and bright like how he always was. You were just listening to the chatterbox called Han Jisung when you naturally looked forward to see where you were walking.

Almost instantly, you caught sight of two males walking in your direction, parallel to you.

One had striking neon blue hair while the other had bright purple hair. The purple haired one would be right next to you once you crossed paths with them too. You kept your eyes on them as they got closer and closer until they were about 3 feet away. As if on cue, the purple haired individual just happened to turn his head towards you, causing you to lock eyes with him.

Suddenly, a weird feeling washes over you while you felt as though your heartstrings were being tugged. It was as if there was an invisible thread being pulled.

The minute he had walked completely past you, a small sense of longing lingers in your veins. You frowned as you glanced over your shoulder to find that the two males were casually talking to one another like nothing happened.

You were confused. Yet, there was nothing to say or do so you turned back in front with the thought plastered onto the back of your mind. A few seconds later, the feeling of longing and heartstrings being tugged, suddenly evaporates. Almost as if it never existed.

What’s going on?

Who were those guys?

Why did you feel like you knew the purple haired one?

Days passed since you first saw the colourful haired duo on campus. And it was pretty noticeable that you’ve been seeing them more often than not now. Even if they were on the other side of campus, you’d still spot them thanks to their brightly coloured hairs. You aren’t even sure if that’s a pro or a con at this point. What’s pretty sure though is that whenever the purple haired one is anywhere close to your range, you would casually lock eyes with him and that feeling you encountered the first time you saw them would come back again.

You still have no idea why but you weren’t one to dwell on it for too long. So after he leaves your radius, you’d either forget about it or you would just pretend like maybe it was pure coincidence and that you didn’t in fact know this guy because if you did, you would’ve recognized him… Right?

And yet for some reason, the one with purple hair seemed to linger in your thoughts more often than you wanted him to.

It has been 8 weeks now and today is a bright Tuesday afternoon. You just remembered you have a Netball tournament this evening in the indoor sports hall. They promised to come down and support you, despite knowing they’ve never missed a single game of your to begin with. All three of you were currently seated in one of the wooden tables right outside the main campus building, just hanging out there while waiting for your break time to pass before you had to go for your respective lectures.

“Omg, you know what? We should really check out that new club downtown this weekend! I heard they sell some amazing booze there.” Hyunjin suggested with a cheeky smirk on his face, one that leaves you rolling your eyes at him and Jisung to fake a gag.

“Sure, let’s see who drops dead drunk in less than 5 drinks first.” Jisung said, giving you a silent high five while Hyunjin straightened his back to retaliate.

“In my defence, I was already pre-drunk with beer the other night. That doesn’t count.”

“Yeah… Sure. You can’t even walk straight after a bottle of soju.”

“Shut up Han.” Hyunjin scoffed as he slapped a packet of wet tissue to Jisung’s face, causing the latter to dramatically stumble backwards. You were quietly watching the two children banter back and forth while your curious eyes began to wander around the campus ground. It wasn’t until two very bright, very prominent blobs of hairs were seen crossing the parking lot from the music production building to the main building, caught your eye.

You had to mentally rip your gaze off them by turning to Hyunjin who was sitting next to you to avoid looking like a creep. About 3 seconds later give or take, you casually turned to pretend like you’re looking around again and that’s when you almost panicked.

When did they get so close?

The purple haired one locked eyes with you as they were just 6 or 7 metres away from your table. Before it got any more awkward, you quickly turned away in hopes that he didn’t think you’re a creepy stalker of some sort because that is the last thing you’d wanna be labelled as. With that being said, the three of you left the table about 10 minutes later to head to your respective classes. You were just listening to Jisung rant about his crush’s kissable lips when you noticed your bracelet was missing.

That was your birthday present from your foster mother a few years ago and you’ve been wearing it ever since. So to know that you’ve lost it, really wouldn’t sit right with you.

“Shit! My bracelet! Where is it? Oh shit, she’s gonna kill me!” You panicked as the two boys couldn’t help but mimic you.

“How could you not feel it dropping from your wrist?” Hyunjin asked while staring at the ground and taking a few steps back to try and retrace your steps.

“Because I was too busy listening to you two idiots trying to differentiate between lipstick and lip gloss, for god’s sake.” You said only to glance at the time and realize that you were almost late for your lecture. They told you to go to class while they try to find the bracelet for you. With a heavy heart, you ran off to your next lecture, leaving it all in the hands of dumb and dumber whom you call best friends.

Hours later, you were in the hall where your tournament would be taking place. Hyunjin and Jisung already tried to find your bracelet but to no avail. You were devastated but what’s done is done. Maybe someone took it. Maybe someone used it. Maybe someone even threw it away. Only God knows. However, that’s not your main concern right now. The golden trophy is waiting for you tonight and you’re determined to bring that trophy home for the team and that’s exactly what you’re gonna do.

You were just stretching by the bench, facing the crowded bleachers where students from Hankuk U came to support you girls. Of course, Hyunjin and Jisung were amongst the crowd. In fact, you saw them earlier and even gave them a wave to acknowledge their presence.

As much as you’re upset about the bracelet, you promised yourself you shouldn’t let it affect your performance today during the game. It was hard, but you can do it.

The game was about to start in just 5 minutes. Your coach had already briefed your team about the rules and regulations, standard procedure, techniques to use, etc. you were just cracking your knuckles when your eyes naturally found its way to a few rows above Hyunjin and Jisung, only to find the coloured hair duo just calmly seated there. What made you not notice them at first was the fact that the purple haired one was wearing a baseball cap while the blue haired one was wearing his cap backwards.

This essentially hides their coloured hair so you didn’t quite spot them first straight away. Nevertheless, you locked eyes with the purple haired one and suddenly, the feeling of your heartstrings being tugged was present. You had to look away to make the feeling stop but it left a lingering tug in your chest. You were distracted for a second but was quickly brought back to attention the minute the whistle was blown.

Immediately, you went into alert mode as your game attitude comes on. The game was intense as you tried your very best to guide your team. You did a pretty good job until the end, claiming the victory title for Hankuk University. After everything was done, you were just gulping down your bottle of water when Hyunjin and Jisung suddenly ran to you and lifted you up on Hyunjin’s shoulders. A scream left your lips as you gripped his hair for balance.

You yelled at him to put you down and once he did, you slapped his chest a few times for nearly giving you a heart attack. They both broke into hysterical laughter as you shoved them away and told them to just go home and not wait for you.

The boys apologized after they'd stopped laughing and soon told you to have a safe journey home before bidding you goodnight. You didn’t leave the hall without taking a quick shower like you always do after every practice. About half an hour later, you’ve already changed into your earlier outfit you wore to classes which were ripped skinny jeans, a fitted tank top, an oversized jacket and a pair of jordans.

Once everyone was done, you all started walking to the entrance to head home. You were just walking ahead slightly from everyone else when you saw a familiar figure leaning against one of the pillars outside. The closer you get, the clearer it is for you to recognize them. A few more steps and you were finally just 6 metres away from him when he pushed himself off the pillar and turned to face you.

“Hey? Um… A-Are you looking for someone?” You asked, hoping he was there for you and not anyone else.

“Actually, I was looking for you.” The purple haired male said with the most gentle smile on his face. His lips curled upwards, reminding you of a bunny. An odd sound leaves you unconsciously while your head tilts in confusion naturally. He couldn’t help but chuckle upon seeing your reaction before he continued from where he left off.

“I wanted to congratulate you on winning 1st place today… And also to return this…” He said as he reached into his front pocket and soon took out your bracelet which you lost a few hours ago.

This made you gasp softly whilst staring at the item in his hand in disbelief.

“How did you-”

“I was sitting at one of the tables when your bracelet fell. I was gonna return it to you but you were gone. I didn’t know how else to contact you until I saw a poster on the notice boards all over campus about the tournament today so I decided to meet you here instead. I hope this doesn’t come off as creepy or anything.” He explained to you in detail, making you shake your head eagerly.

“No! Absolutely not! You have no idea how devastated I was when I realized it was missing… Thank you so much…” You said as he gave you a smile. Both of you were silent as neither of you clearly knew how to keep a good conversation going. Nevertheless, you broke the ice after not wanting him to leave just yet.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you before on campus… Not until recently at least. Are you new here?”

“Yeah. Me and my friend just moved to this city two months ago.”

“Where were you guys from?”

He looked like he was hesitating a bit but was quick to compose himself.

“Far from here actually…” He chuckled and for some reason, you didn’t feel the need to interrogate more.

“Well, I hope you guys will have good memories here so you don’t have to move again.” It went silent for a few beats before you asked, “Pardon my rudeness… My name’s Y/N. What about you?”

“Just call me Jungkook.” He smiled.

“It’s nice talking to you Jungkook, and… thank you again for my bracelet.” You said, to which he brushed you off.

“Anytime… Hey, uh… do you have a ride home?” He asked in the most gentle tone possible.

“Yeah. I drive to school everyday. It’s okay.”

“Alright then. Drive safe. I’ll see you around.” He smiled again, making you do the same. He then walks off with his hands in his pockets and he couldn’t look any hotter than that. The entire drive home, you couldn’t stop thinking about him. How his smile could melt your heart in a flash, how your heartstrings tug whenever you lock eyes with him, how he makes you feel like you’ve known him for years, how he makes you feel comfortable, etc.

You just wished you'd known him sooner.

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running around the park, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up and saw what looked to be a figure of a man looming over you. Though his overall appearance and face was somewhat a terrible blur, there was one thing you could easily make out. And that was the silver pendant necklace hanging around his neck. You couldn’t really see it that clearly but it was an oval shaped pendant, similar to the ones where you can open and close it.

This was new to your dream. All these while, you’ve always seen a shadowy figure, with unclear images of your dream. This time, things were slowly beginning to become clear.

Maybe this is a memory.

A recurring memory that your brain is trying so hard to remember every piece of detail that was left untouched at the very bottom part of your brain.

So you knew, this wasn’t just any ordinary dream.

And then you awoke.

It was a Friday afternoon, your two best friends wanted to go to the club that night for some drinks and just lay off some steam. You, of course, could never get away with whatever plan they had so you had no other choice but to go. You were all gathered to do your assignments at one of the tables where the study building was. Suddenly, a thought came to mind and you just couldn’t get your mind off it.

“Hey, do you remember the dream I keep having? The one where I fell into the lake?” You ask as Jisung stopped chewing his sushi while Hyunjin stops typing and slowly glances up from the top of his laptop screen.

“Yeah? What about it?” Jisung asked curiously before looking at Hyunjin to see if he knew something.

“You know how it always stops abruptly after the voice asks me if I’m okay and I see a shadow figure standing there?” You explained, earning nods from the two children.

“Well… It’s not really… a shadow figure anymore…”

“What do you mean?” Hyunjin asked, his laptop long closed to pay full attention to your story.

“I saw… a male figure. Everything about him was blurry but I could see that it’s a man. And… he had this silver pendant necklace around his neck. Those where you can open and close.”

“You mean the ones where our grandmothers would put a picture of us in it?” Jisung asked.

“Yes. That kind.” You said.

“Hmm, do you recognize it?” Hyunjin asked, earning a firm shake of your head. “How did you feel when you saw him?” Hyunjin asked again. You couldn’t bring yourself to answer right away as your mind began to recollect the feeling you had when you saw that part of the dream.

“I… felt safe.”

“Well, that’s a good start, right? I mean, if you feel scared then it’s probably a nightmare.”

“But that’s the thing! I-I don’t think it’s a dream.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s a dream. You were sleeping when that happened, weren’t you?” Hyunjin asked with a confused tone in his voice.

“I mean yeah, technically but… I think that actually happened to me when I was young. If not, why else would I keep having the same dream over and over again?”

“You’ve got a point.” Jisung shrugs while Hyunjin still tries to process this. He brings both hands up in front of him after waving it in a circle, closes his eyes to let the information sink in before he speaks up.

“So… you’re telling me… that the universe is somehow trying to make you recall this memory of yours through a dream?”

“It’s possible isn't it?” You asked.

“Okay? And then what? You’re gonna go to the place where you almost died and somehow meet up with the person who helped you?”

“No? Yes? I don’t know! Look… I think I’ll just ask my parents about it and see if they remember anything about it. I mean… there must be something they can tell me?”

“Good luck babe. You’re gonna need it.” Jisung said, making you sigh.

That evening, you were having early dinner with your elders in the small living room of their one bedroom house. Everyone was quietly eating their food, she was peeling some roasted sweet potatoes while your he was just folding some banana leaves to sell tomorrow. You glanced over at them once or twice before taking a deep breath and dropped the bomb.

“Hey grandpa?” You call softly as the old man pauses his actions and turns to you with a smile on his adorable little face.

“Yes, darling?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Ask away…”

“When I was young… did I happen to… fall into a lake by any chance?” You asked as he frowned in thought. He couldn’t seem to remember anything of it until she spoke up.

“Oh dear, how could I not remember? You were so busy catching the butterflies that I couldn’t even stop you in time.” She giggled as you couldn’t help but smile. “But then this brave young man jumped into the water without a shadow of a doubt. We thanked him for his gratitude and tried to offer him a lunch treat but he rejected us so nicely… I wonder where he is now…” She continued, making you frown.

“Do you guys remember what he looked like?” You asked.

“I’m so sorry dear, I can barely remember anyone I met.” He said to which you let out a soft sigh. Just then, her eyes lit up only for her to raise her finger up in thought.

“Oh, the only thing I could remember was his name… If I’m not mistaken, I think he said his name to be JK like the letters… Yes, yes… That’s it.”

With that being said, you tilt your head to the side in confusion before you stare into the bowl of potatoes, “J… K?” The name sounded like there was a hint of familiarity in it but you can’t seem to point your fingers at where it’s focusing. Nevertheless, you took your attention off that topic and chose to think of what to wear for later instead.

A few hours had passed and you were finally waiting outside the club with Hyunjin and Jisung. The security checked all of your ID’s before letting you in. Hyunjin locked fingers with you just so that you wouldn’t be lost or separated from them as Jisung stayed close behind you. Once Hyunjin has managed to navigate his way around the place and finally save a booth for the 3 of you, he lets go of your hand and allows you to sit in the middle. Jisung went to the bar to order drinks for you all while you stayed with Hyunjin.

Not long after, Jisung came back with a tray of 2 shot glasses, a bottle of tequila, along with a small plate of lime slices and a glass of mocktail for you. The club was pretty much alive with the endless amount of young adults enjoying their drinks and dancing freely to the music.

You had just finished talking to Jisung about the hot girl dancing on the dancefloor when Hyunjin tapped your thigh and soon said aloud in your ear, “Don’t look now, but I think that dude is into you… 10 o’clock.” With that being said, you took a sip of your drink while you let your eyes wander over to where Hyunjin told you, only to find yourself locking eyes with a familiar pair of eyes. It was the purple haired guy from school. Jungkook was his name if you remember correctly.

“Jungkook…” His name rolled off your tongue naturally, sounding so right.

“You know him?!” Hyunjin asked, making you scoff.

“He returned my bracelet to me the other day after the tournament. He told me his name then.”

“And you didn’t tell us this, because…?” Jisung asked, sounding offended almost.

“Not everything in my life has to be told to either one of you.” With that being said, you stood up and soon made your way to Jungkook. Once you were behind him, you slipped into the empty space next to him, dropping an order to the bartender. Right after you were done, you glanced over to him who was just running his middle finger over the rim of his glass.

“Hey… Jungkook right?” You were the first to break the ice as he finally turned to you and smiled.

“Hey, yeah. Y/N, correct?”

“The one and only.” You giggled, earning a soft chuckle from him.

“Are those your friends?” He asked with a slight jerk of his head to the side, referring to the two boys in your booth. You hummed in response before asking if he was here alone or with his blue haired friend.

“Nah, he’s in here somewhere… I just told him I wanted to get a drink at the bar.” He explained, to which you frowned.

“Well, I’m pretty sure he’d be occupied by now.”

“Are you tryna say he’s hot?”

“Am I wrong?” You smiled, earning a chuckle from him.

“Absolutely not. Anyways, enough of him… Do you wanna dance with me?” He asked, turning his body to face you now on the stool. You glanced at the dancefloor, seeing the group of people dancing freely to the music like there’s no tomorrow. You knew you wanted to, especially since he was the one offering it so you easily accepted it. Jungkook got off the stool and held out his hand to you. Without having to think much, you gently place your hand in his as he leads you to the centre of the room.

Once you were with the crowd, he turned around to face you. You comfortably placed your hands around his neck, swaying your hips to the rhythm. Both of you were moving your bodies in sync to one another despite everyone else stumbling and crashing into you. At one point, he twirled you around but you lost your footing. Hence, crashing into him.

You started to burst out laughing and he did too when he realized you weren’t injured. You didn’t notice his hands on your waist until he gently squeezed it to gain your attention. That’s when you glanced up to meet his eyes, your laughter died down as your heart began to beat rapidly in your chest. Heartstrings started to tug everytime he looked at you and it’s unhealthy. For your heart at least despite loving it.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly, his face was just inches away from yours. Suddenly, a part of your dream flashed through your mind upon hearing his question. You frowned a little from the abrupt thought. However, before you could reply to him, a frantic voice to your left made you jump only to meet Jisung’s heavy frown.

“Y/N! You have to help me! Hyunjin got into a fight!” With that, you basically tear yourself out of Jungkook and rush over with Jisung to where the fight was happening. Hyunjin was in a fist fight with two guys who were not much taller than him but were definitely bulkier than he was. You yelled for them to stop but they of course couldn’t hear you. Jisung went in to help Hyunjin but he got punched in the jaw.

“Stop it! Please! Hyunjin stop!” You yelled as he fell in front of you. His lip was busted, his cheek was bruised and his knuckles were bleeding from having a cut. You kneeled down beside your friend as you watched the guy charging over to you and Hyunjin.

So you got up and pushed the guy away with whatever strength you had. But instead, you got slapped across the cheek.

You collapsed to the ground with a hand to your face. Everything happened so quickly because right before the guy could throw a punch to Hyunjin, Jungkook swooped in from the side and landed a hard punch to the guy’s jaw making him fall to the ground with a harsh thud.

“Enough! Get lost before I call security.” Jungkook warned as you watched the two guys who were in the fight with Hyunjin began to scramble away. You crawled over to Hyunjin who was holding his jaw with a hiss. You cupped his face worriedly while you scolded him.

“What were you thinking?! You could have gotten even more hurt…” You frowned, only for Jisung to come over. That’s when you cupped Jisung’s bruised face as well.

Just then, Jungkook kneeled down asking for all of you to leave before the security came. Soon enough, Jungkook’s blue haired friend appears as well and the five of you leave the club through the back door. Once you were in the back alley, Hyunjin used Jisung as support while you held onto his waist and allowed him to sling an arm over your shoulder.

“Come on, our apartment isn't too far from here. We’ll need to get those cuts treated.” Jungkook said, only for Jungkook’s friend to come and ask for you to switch with him. You asked for his name, in which he told you it was Taehyung, so you thanked him afterwards. While they were walking ahead of you, Jungkook stayed next to you as he took off his coat and placed it over your shoulders. Eventually drowning you in his big coat. He chuckled at your ridiculously swallowed body, only for him to speak up.

“You were really trying to be a hero back there, huh?” You glanced up to him, seeing the small smirk on his face but it didn’t annoy you at all.

“He was going to hurt my friend. I can’t just sit there and do nothing...” You pouted slightly, to which his smirk melted and he sighed.

“No matter how dangerous it may be?” He asked as you frowned upon him. Nevertheless, you gave him a firm nod which left him to sigh. Silence falls upon you two, your gaze settles on the three boys walking ahead of you. Just then, Jungkook’s voice is gentle and soft, as if he didn’t want the rest to hear him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t help you sooner… If I did, you probably wouldn’t get hurt…”

“No… No it’s okay… it’s not your fault.” You said softly, making him shake his head. He feels responsible for not jumping in to help Hyunjin when Jisung came to warn you earlier. He felt like he could’ve done better and for that, he couldn’t forgive himself. So when you noticed how quiet he got, you carefully reached for his hand that was just beside yours and soon locked fingers with him to give him some kind of support. And maybe more than that too but he doesn’t have to know.

He glanced down at your linked hands, only for him to lock eyes with you again and this time, a small smile grew back on his face. You gave his hand a little squeeze for reassurance and was about to let go, thinking he might feel that it’s weird considering you barely know him. However, he held your hand tighter and said, “Keep it there. At least until we’re back at my place.” With that being said, you nodded as a blush creeps up on your face.

Once you arrived at Jungkook and Taehyung’s shared apartment, Taehyung tended to Hyunjin while Jungkook tended to Jisung. You were just walking around the living room when you saw a necklace on the table top. It was a silver chain necklace with a round pendant on it. What was even more intriguing is the fact that it looked so familiar to you and it was one of those pendants where you could open and close.

The question is, why did it look so familiar?

Just when you were about to open it, Jisung’s voice called for you as he reappeared into the living room while Hyunjin was still in the bathroom with Taehyung.

“Y/N, hyung asked me to call you over. He’s in his room, the last door on the right.” You gave Jisung a nod as you placed the necklace down and went to the said room. When you arrived, you gave the door a few soft knocks before Jungkook looked up and smiled at you. He told you to sit down on his bed next to him.

“Are you okay? Does it still hurt?” Jungkook asked and there it is again, a weird tug to your heartstrings made your breath hitch. Jungkook stared at you quietly before he asked if there’s something wrong. When you denied it, he went ahead and took a cool pack as he then pressed it against your cheek where you got slapped. You couldn’t seem to bring the words out so you opted to just put your hand over his that was holding the ice pack to make him look at you.

“This is random… but have… have we met before? Like before all this… Before university. I don’t know why but I feel like- like I’ve met you before. I keep getting this same feeling everytime I’m near you.” You said as he stared at you deeply without faltering.

It was nearly impossible to read his expression and thoughts but a part of you was telling you that he’s hiding something from you.

“Maybe we’ve bumped into each other before on the street or something.” Jungkook said as a small smile creeps onto his face. A genuine one at that. So without prying further, you nodded and gave him a soft smile. You thanked him for helping your friends as you excused yourself to let him and Taehyung rest. Jungkook offered to send all three of you home but you refused his kindness politely, opting for a cab instead so as to not trouble him any more than you already had.

“Are you sure? It’s really late out and I don’t mind driving you and your friends back.” He said as you both stopped at the foot of the hallway only to find Hyunjin semi-passed out on the couch after swallowing two aspirins you assume. Jisung was talking to Taehyung, well, more like ranting to the blue haired male about what went down at the club earlier.

With that, you turned to Jungkook and gently reached for his arm, holding it to give him some reassurance, “We’ll be fine. I promise.” You smiled as his eyebrows began to connect in the middle.

You let go of his arm, walking over to Jisung and Taehyung to retrieve your drunk friend.

“Thanks Taehyung. So sorry to disturb your night.” You apologized as Taehyung simply shook his head and told you that it was okay. Once you’ve gotten the green light, you snapped your fingers at Jisung and soon pointed to Hyunjin’s distraught figure.

“You take right, I’ll take left.” You said to him as he nodded. Hyunjin began to stir awake slightly but was still groggy and drunk. You struggled to get his arm over your head so Taehyung helped you with that. After you were ready to leave, Jisung and you began to walk towards the door where Jungkook was patiently waiting. Hyunjin tiredly opened one of his eyelids and was starting to slur over his words.

“Where am I? What are you doing? Where are you taking me, you kidnapper!” You slapped his chest quite harshly before earning a loud groan from him.

“We’re at someone’s house because your stupid drunk ass just had to get into a fight with two bigger dudes. You should be ashamed of yourself, you dimwit.” Hyunjin lets out a weird sound as he leans himself more towards you.

“H-Hyun… H-Hyunjin! Hwang Hyunjin!” You yelled as you were about to fall and get squished by him when a firm arm wrapped around your waist while the other hand was pressed firmly against Hyunjin’s rib to support his heavy weight. In addition, your side crashes against someone’s chest. You glanced up to find Jungkook’s chin directly above your line of sight. Jungkook pushed Hyunjin’s body slightly to stabilize the said man as you managed to stand up straight again.

Except, his arm was still around your waist. Almost as if he didn’t wanna let go of you. Not that you were complaining anyway. However, when he noticed this, he slowly retracted his arm from your waist and apologized to you. You shook your head, to tell him that it’s okay. After you left, Jungkook closed the door behind him only for Taehyung to smile at him.

“Ready to admit yet?” Taehyung asked simply, earning a thick eye roll from Jungkook who began to walk over to his couch.

“Shut up, hyung.”

“What? It’s just me…”

“You’re not seeing my vulnerable side. Uh uh. No way.” Jungkook shook his head diligently, causing Taehyung to laugh as Jungkook continued, “Besides, they’re gonna kill me if they find out.” With that being said, Taehyung sighs at the younger male. Knowing that he had a point.

“No they won’t. I won’t let them.”

“How? Stopping them is nearly impossible, you know that.” Jungkook said firmly.

After a few seconds of silence, Jungkook finally took a deep breath and said, “Whatever. I don’t care.” Jungkook was about to leave the room when Taehyung’s words lingered in his memory like a broken record player.

“You and I both know that’s a lie.”

“Grandma! Grandpa! We’re here!” Your 5 year old self exclaims the minute the cab driver brings the vehicle to a stop right at the entrance of the park. You hurriedly got out of the cab whilst your foster father was busy paying the driver for the fare. You run to the end of the footpath as it separates into two directions, leading you to different parts of the park.

“Grandma! Hurry! I want to see the swans!” You yelled excitedly as the elderly couple began to walk slowly towards you. Since they were just a few metres away from you, it was the perfect chance for you to run off towards the path on the left where the lake would be. Occasionally taking breaks while waiting for your foster parents to catch up with you. People around you give you smiles whenever you pass by them and say hello.

You were walking down the footpath, trying to find a pair of swans when a beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly suddenly hovered in front of your face. You flinched back in surprise as it landed on the tip of your small nose. A soft giggle left your lips as you reached up to touch its wings when it began to flutter away. Being the child you are, you started to trail after it.

The butterfly flaps its wings delicately across the park, freely and happily while you try to not lose sight of it. Unfortunately, your carelessness has brought you closer to danger than you would’ve thought at the time.

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running down the footpath, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up and saw what looked to be a figure of a man looming over you. Though his overall appearance and face was somewhat a terrible blur, there was one thing you could easily make out. And that was the silver pendant necklace hanging around his neck. You couldn’t really see it that clearly but it was an oval shaped pendant, similar to the ones where you can open and close it.

“Y-Yes… T-Thank you, M-Mister…” You stumbled over your words as you saw your elders rushing over to you. That’s when the man said something that wasn’t quite understandable to you.

“I promise to keep you safe from any harm.” He said over a whisper but you heard him.

This was new to your dream. All these while, you’ve always seen a shadowy figure, unclear images of your dream, missing details, unknown situation. This time, things were slowly beginning to become clear with more details given to you in the form of this dream.

At this point, you were confident that this is in fact, a memory.

A recurring memory that your brain is trying so hard to remember every piece of detail that was left untouched at the very bottom part of your brain.

You just have to let time do the magic and fill you in with what’s left of the missing dream.

And then you awoke.

Days passed gradually as both Taehyung and Jungkook started to become friends with you, Hyunjin and Jisung. Well, they were dragged by Jisung at least. That one just doesn’t know how to stop his bargains until he gets what he wants. So eventually, both the coloured hair friends decided to just accept the welcome to be part of the friend circle. Later on in the weeks, you began to have growing feelings for Jungkook. The butterflies in your stomach and tugging heartstring were still present whenever he was near but you’ve grown accustomed to it.

It was a nice, warm Friday afternoon. Taehyung and Jungkook were nowhere to be seen while Hyunjin and Jisung were seated at the wooden table with you near the garden. Your mind was somewhere else and the boys noticed this. It was easy to know that because your fingers were hovering over your keyboard but nothing was being typed and it’s been a good 10 minutes of you just staring at the pond. Just then, Hyunjin’s voice broke your train of thoughts.

“A penny for your thoughts?” He asked, to which you turned to him with a confused face.

“Huh?”

“You look like you’re grieving over there. What’s wrong?” Jisung was the one to ask this as silence falls over you for the next 5 seconds, give or take.

“Something… new appeared in my dreams. It doesn’t just start with my mom telling me to avoid the lake anymore.” You began to explain as both boys soon stopped whatever they were previously doing, just to listen and pay full attention to you.

“Then what does it start with now?” Hyunjin asks curiously as he and Jisung exchange looks before turning back to you.

“Me in the cab with my parents and getting excited once we arrived at the park… But that’s not the only change in my dream that’s new. The dream doesn’t just stop at the part where he asks if I’m okay… This time, the last thing he said to me was…” You paused for a second to try and remember the exact words. Once you got it on the tip of your tongue, you brought your gaze back up to meet theirs and told them what you remembered.

“I promise to keep you safe from any harm. And then I woke up.”

The two boys were shocked at how much details your dream was showing now but they just can’t decipher why these changes were happening so suddenly. What caused your dreams to be more clearer as if it wants you to slowly remember that day, that incident, that specific person.

None of it was making sense to them.

“I just… I don’t understand. Like, why now? Why after all these years, only now your conscience is showing you all this. Why didn’t it show you from the start? What is it hiding? I don’t get it.” Jisung said as he dramatically pulled at his hair.

You couldn’t help but giggle at his figure before speaking up, “It’s my dream but why are you the one stressed?”

“Aren’t you?! I mean come on. You’ve been having this dream for years, aren’t you even a tad bit curious as to why this is happening to you?” Jisung asked with his eyes wide open. He has a point.

“Maybe the universe just wants me to remember that tragic incident for the rest of my life.”

“Or it wants you to find the hidden clues in your dreams that might lead you to something big.” Hyunjin shrugged his shoulders at you, earning a shake of your head.

“What could possibly be bigger than my near-death experience?”

“I don’t know? Meeting your savior and thanking him for saving you that day?” Jisung said with his arms bent on either side as his palms faced upwards.

“That’s ridiculous. I don’t even know what he looks like. Besides, if he really was in his early 20s when that incident happened, he would be like what? Early 40s now? He probably doesn’t even remember me.”

“Fate works in mysterious ways.” Jisung smirks at you, earning a ball of tissue thrown to his face.

You thought his theory was a whole load of nonsense because theoretically, your savior would be in his 40s by now and it’s nearly impossible for him to remember who you are. It wouldn’t make sense. However, in other circumstances, the universe has different layers to it. So the chances of something out of the ordinary happening, would be a solid 1 out of 10 chance but it’s not completely impossible. It just depends on how you wanted to see it.

Your attention soon diverted past Jisung’s head only to see Taehyung and Jungkook walking over to your table so you warned the two, not to mention anything about your dream when they’re there. Nobody knows about your recurring dream except for Hyunjin and Jisung and you intend to keep it that way.

A few hours later, you were at the supermarket to get some groceries for the house when you stumbled upon Jungkook who was searching through the shelves for something so you spoke up first, “Jungkook? Hey. What are you doing here? I thought your apartment was like 20 minutes away from here?” You asked him casually, earning a smirk from him.

“Ah shit. Looks like I’m busted…” Jungkook said, knowing he was just fooling around. He soon laughed as he continued from where he left off, “I’m just kidding. I needed some stuff that my nearest supermarket didn’t have so I drove over to this one.”

“Well, at least that's better than you stalking me right?”

“Why should I stalk you when I already have you at one phone call away?”

Smooth.

“Maybe you’re just clingy and want to see me.” You teased him to see what he says. You didn’t really know what to expect until he gave you his answer.

“And if that’s true?”

You were quiet as you didn’t think he would be that bold and straightforward. Sure he can be confident and maybe just slightly cocky sometimes but he was never over doing it when he’s with you. For that reason alone, you found that side of him charming.

“Then… you need to see a therapist.” You joked but he took it lightly. A small laugh leaves his lips while he grabs the can of sweetcorn from the shelf. At the end of your shopping spree, he offered to send you home after seeing the amount of bags you had to carry after you told him your car was recently sent to the workshop and wouldn't be repaired anytime soon. Of course you told him you could make it home on your own the first time because you didn’t wanna trouble him. And of course, he brushed you off by saying he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he knew he didn’t help you tonight.

With that being said, he drove you back to your home while he chatted with you comfortably about a series on netflix. Once he finally pulled up in front of your home, he glanced down to where your home was and soon turned to you with a smile.

“You didn’t tell me you lived in a cute little house.” He said effortlessly but it made you frown slightly.

“Well, to many, it's a ‘tiny shack’.”

“Well, those people are assholes.” His words made you laugh softly. You knew he was trying to make you feel better about it so you secretly thanked him for that. Both of you fell silent for a few seconds before he turned off his ignition completely and clapped his hands together once to liven up the mood.

“Come on! I’ll help you carry the groceries!” He left the vehicle before you could stop him, finding it cute that he was eager to help when he really didn’t have to. After he stubbornly carried three bags in each arm, you were left with none despite wanting to help him. You rolled your eyes at his persistence even though your smile never lies. Jungkook walks with you to your front door, only for you to unlock it and is soon greeted by your foster mother.

“Oh hello dear, I was just about to see if you were making your way home yet.” She said as her gaze soon fell onto the male beside you.

“Oh? And who are you, young man?” She asked with a fond smile on her face.

“I’m Jungkook, Ma’am.”

“You seem like a handsome young man, Jungkook. And well mannered too. I think you’d be a great partner for her.”

With that, you gasped softly and scolded her politely. Jungkook simply laughed as he brushed her off saying that it’s okay. Just as he was keeping the groceries with you in the correct places, your father walked out of his room and greeted Jungkook warmly. They talked for a bit while you kept the last bag of celery into the fridge when you overheard your father ask, “You should stay for dinner, Jungkook. My wife and I would love to get to know you more, especially if you are someone special in Y/N’s life.”

Jungkook was too kind to reject their offer so he ended up staying, just like they asked. Thankfully, your elders were mainly focusing on Jungkook rather than trying to convince him into dating you or anything like that. At the end of the dinner, he excused himself so as to not disturb your parent’s privacy. He bid them goodbye whilst you told them you wanted to walk him back to his car.

Once you made it to the top of the steps, you glanced back at the house and naturally, a smile grew on your face. He noticed this and he couldn’t help but ask, “You seem a little happy.”

You turned around to find him staring at you fondly with a smile.

“I just… can’t imagine my life without them.” You whispered sadly to yourself, suddenly a whole series of emotions just got washed over you. It took you a while to come back to your senses with the help of Jungkook. Who gently cups your face in his hands, caressing your cheeks lovingly while he does. Jungkook’s sparkly eyes bore into yours but the connection feels stronger than ever tonight. Your usual tugging of heartstrings and feeling of longing just felt stronger tonight. As he was holding you, a small part of you was yearning for him.

You felt a sense of safety and comfort with him but you don’t seem to understand why. Jungkook could read you like an open book, it was fascinating. Just then, he said something that made you genuinely shocked.

“Your foster parents are really nice. I should’ve thanked them for taking care of you well.” This made you pull away from him slightly in shock.

How did he know they’re not your grandparents?

“How did you know they’re not my grandparents?” You asked as Jungkook visibly froze.

“What do you mean?”

“You said ‘foster parents’ instead of ‘grandparents’...”

“Uh… You must’ve told me before that they’re not your grandparents.” He chuckled softly while rubbing the back of his neck. You weren’t fully convinced by his answer because if you had told him that, you would’ve remembered. However, you weren’t in the mood to question him further so you simply stood there in thought. Jungkook didn’t want you to occupy your mind with it, leading him to take a step closer to you until his forehead gently pressed against yours. Both of you stayed like that for a second or two before he leaned over to the side and kissed your cheek.

“Goodnight Y/N.” He said with a small smile on his face that you couldn’t help but mimic. The minute he drove off into the distance, the thought remained stuck in your mind as you found it difficult to move on from it. And yet for some reason, a part of you knew that he might be hiding something from you. You just don’t know what it is.

Even so, the feeling of his soft lips on your cheek, lingered in your head. Feeling giddy at the thought of him kissing you even if it wasn’t on the lips. You felt like a little girl having a crush on a boy all over again.

But that night, you had the same recurring dream again. Except, a new change happened this time as your dream was slowly becoming clearer.

“Grandma! Grandpa! We’re here!” Your 5 year old self exclaims the minute the cab driver brings the vehicle to a stop right at the entrance of the park. You hurriedly got out of the cab whilst your foster father was busy paying the driver for the fare. You run to the end of the footpath as it separates into two directions, leading you to different parts of the park.

“Grandma! Hurry! I want to see the swans!” You yelled excitedly as the elderly couple began to walk slowly towards you. Since they were just a few metres away from you, it was the perfect chance for you to run off towards the path on the left where the lake would be. Occasionally taking breaks while waiting for your foster parents to catch up with you. People around you give you smiles whenever you pass by them and say hello.

You were walking down the footpath, trying to find a pair of swans when a beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly suddenly hovered in front of your face. You flinched back in surprise as it landed on the tip of your small nose. A soft giggle left your lips as you reached up to touch its wings when it began to flutter away. Being the child you are, you started to trail after it.

The butterfly flaps its wings delicately across the park, freely and happily while you try to not lose sight of it. Unfortunately, your carelessness has brought you closer to danger than you would’ve thought at the time.

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running down the footpath, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up and saw a young man probably in his mid 20s looming over you. His facial features were a blur but you could somehow see how defined and sharp everything was. The bridge of his nose, his beautiful doe round eyes, the silver hair falling down his forehead. Except, there was one thing you could easily make out. And that was the silver pendant necklace hanging around his neck. You couldn’t really see it that clearly but it was an oval shaped pendant, similar to the ones where you can open and close it.

“Y-Yes… T-Thank you, M-Mister…” You stumbled over your words as you saw your elders rushing over to you. That’s when the man said something that wasn’t quite understandable to you.

“I promise to keep you safe from any harm.” He said over a whisper but you heard him.

This was new to your dream. All these while, you’ve always seen a shadowy figure, unclear images of your dream, missing details, unknown situation. This time, things were slowly beginning to become clear with more details given to you in the form of this dream.

At this point, you were confident that this is in fact, a memory.

A recurring memory that your brain is trying so hard to remember every piece of detail that was left untouched at the very bottom part of your brain.

You just have to let time do the magic and fill you in with what’s left of the missing dream.

And then you awoke.

A few days later, you were going to your next class when Hyunjin told you he forgot something in the other lecture hall. Leaving just you and Jisung. Your mind was swirling around the latest dream you had where the image of your savior was starting to get clearer as the days went by. Jisung could easily sense your distraction because you had not paid attention to any of the things he just said. He got his answer when he snapped his fingers in front of your face and saw you flinch.

“Earth to Y/N? Are you okay? You’re barely listening to me…” He pouted at you sadly, making you sigh.

“Sorry Ji… I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?”

You took in a deep breath and exhaled right before explaining to him what was bothering you, “You know how my dreams are starting to get clear?”

“Mhm?” He hummed in response to which you continued.

“I can almost make out what the person looks like now.”

“Wait! Wait… You mean… The person who saved you?”

“Yeah.”

“Really? That’s great! I mean… Isn’t it? Didn’t your dad tell you the guy’s name the other day? Maybe you can try and find him to say thank you.” Jisung laid out the options you could take but somehow, a part of you still wasn’t sure if this was enough for you to go find the person.

“Ji… How am I supposed to find him?” You asked desperately, thinking his suggestion was insane.

“We have advanced technology now! It’s not that hard.”

“I don’t know, Ji… I don’t think we can find him.”

“Y/N, don’t give up before you even start. We’ll find him together and I’ll be here with you, okay? So will Hyunjin once we tell him…” Jisung said with a bright grin, his full cheeks on display for you. Hours later, you were walking to the parking lot with Hyunjin and Jisung when you bumped into Jungkook and Taehyung coming from the music production block. They were busy talking to each other, not realising the three of you were right there until Hyunjin called their names. They finally turned towards the front only for you to lock eyes with Jungkook.

“Hey guys, wanna go check out that new horror movie?” Hyunjin asked, making them both shrug their shoulders.

“Sure. We’re not doing anything anyways tonight.” Taehyung answered for both himself and Jungkook.

“Great! Shall we meet at the mall?” Jisung asked as he turned to you knowing everyone had their rides except for you. However, before Jisung could offer you a ride, Jungkook had offered it first which you of course, couldn’t reject.

Once you had all separated to go to your respective vehicles, you followed Jungkook to his. You walked along the front of the parked cars with Jungkook behind you. Just then, right when you were about to take a step forward past a tall jeep, Jungkook harshly tugged your waist back. Exactly 1 second before the sports car speeds out of the parking lot right next to the jeep where it was hiding from plain sight. If he hadn’t pulled you back to safety, you would’ve been run over.

A heavy breath left your lips after you gasped in shock. Your heart was racing in your chest, unable to calm down after your second near death experience. Suddenly, you could feel his hands run up and down your arms in attempts to calm your tense muscles in which it worked.

“Are you okay?” He asked as you slowly nodded.

Jungkook whispered a soft ‘okay’ before he guided you to his car safely. As soon as he drove out of the school compound, you felt a huge relief knowing you didn’t die in your school’s parking lot. He must’ve noticed your trembling hands at some point too. Hence the reason why he reached over with his free hand to hold yours softly to give you comfort. When you looked down to find him doing that, you couldn’t help but glance up at him to see his gaze focused on the road ahead of him while he had one hand on the top of his steering wheel.

The ride to the mall was peacefully quiet, with his hand never leaving yours except when he had to park and change the gear stick to reverse. The minute he finally brought the car to a stationary position, you took this opportunity to thank him for helping you earlier.

“Thank you for saving me earlier… A-And for calming me down on our way here.” You said softly to which he smiled.

“Of course. I wouldn’t wanna lose you.” He said easily, making you blush.

“How did you know the car was driving out?” You asked him a bonus question that made him freeze for a split second.

“I saw the tail lights turn on, red light flashing onto the tree behind it.” Jungkook said, which was pretty logical if you think about it. You decided to let the topic slide as you met up with the rest at the entrance. Upon buying the movie tickets, you were all going to get snacks to sneak it into the theatres. After a few debates, you have all agreed to buy some seasoned fries and popcorn chicken bites from FiveGuys. While Hyunjin was queuing to buy the food, the four of you wandered around the same level to see if there’s anything else you could buy.

You were just looking at some stuffed toys through the glass windows of a shop when someone wrapped an arm around your waist comfortably.

“Planning to sneak one in or what?” Jungkook asked teasingly, to which you couldn’t help but giggle.

“And use it to shield my vision from the horror movie? Yeah, why not.” You said, feeling your heartstrings tug upon hearing his laugh. You stood up straight to walk away, only for him to do the same with his arm still around your waist. None of you wanted the other to pull away and you could tell. When you saw Jisung and Taehyung at the other shop ahead of you, Jungkook was debating on whether he should pull his hand away from your waist.

Unfortunately, his thoughts were cut short when Jisung’s voice sounded from a few feet away.

“Hyung… Y/N… Is there something you’re hiding from us?” His voice sounded cheeky and you could tell. You looked at Jungkook and he did the same to you, not sure of what you should reply to your friend. Partly because neither of you declared anything of your status with each other. Upon realising this, Jungkook decided to answer for both of you.

“She got cold so I’m just offering her some warmth.” He said without a single hesitation, successfully convincing Jisung.

“Really? Do you want my jacket?” Jisung asked you as he unzipped his jacket and grabbed the hem, ready to tug them off his shoulders but you stopped him saying it’s okay.

After you had all managed to head into the theatre, you sat in between Jungkook and Hyunjin in the centre of the row. Halfway through the movie, you naturally snuggled closer towards Jungkook who easily noticed this. Your heart was beating so fast in your chest but you ignored it. At one point, Jungkook whispered something to you but you couldn’t hear him so you glanced to your right only to feel his lips brush over yours when you did that. You saw him glance down to your lips briefly as he smirks softly at you, causing your heartbeat to pick up its speed.

“I said… Do you wanna hold my arm? I’m sorry I don’t have a jacket to offer you.” He repeated his words to you, earning a soft nod of your head. You proceed to slide your arm behind his bicep, wrapping your hand over his forearm. Jungkook smiled as he leaned in softly only to feel him kiss your cheek so gently, you would barely feel it if you weren’t paying attention.

After the movie ended, the rest of them wanted to get ice cream before you went home. Once it was time to call it a day, Jungkook sent you home without being asked to do so.

When he finally arrives outside your house, he told you he’ll walk you to your door.

The minute he joins you by your side, he slips his hand into yours as you easily let him. He locked fingers with you, holding you close to his side as if he was afraid of losing you. When you made it to your front door, you turned around to face him. He had a bright smile on his face, eyes twinkling under the moonlight.

“Thank you for sending me home.” You said, earning a soft chuckle from him.

“No worries. Besides, how would I get my goodnight kiss if I didn’t send you home, right?” Jungkook teased you, making you blush hard.

“G-Goodnight kiss?” You repeated those two words in a whisper, catching his attention.

Jungkook laughed at you, not expecting to see you react so shyly like that. Jungkook reaches up with his free hand to cup your face, caressing your cheek softly with his thumb. You watched as he began to lean down, closing the gap until his lips were hovering over yours. Unfortunately, your fairytale thoughts were cut short because the minute you felt his soft lips brush against your own pair, your front door opened and there stood your mother with a bright smile on her face.

You jumped away from him in shock, clutching your chest where your heart is.

“Oh my! Goodness! Grandma! You shocked me…” You said with a heavy sigh, earning a soft giggle from her.

“I’m so sorry dear. I saw Jungkook’s car outside so I was wondering where you two were.” She said, making you sigh.

“You should go. It’s getting late. Goodnight Y/N… Goodnight Ma’am.” Jungkook said before he gave your hand a light squeeze before walking away. After he left, you entered the house with her only for her to ask you something you never expected.

“Are you finally dating the nice boy? What’s his name again? Jungkook, is it?”

“H-Huh? Oh… N-No, no. Jungkook, he… he’s just a friend.”

“Are you sure? I can see that he likes you a lot and I’m pretty sure you do too.”

For the first time in your life, you were speechless. You didn’t know what to answer. So you simply kept quiet as you guided her further inside before you head to your room.

It’s been a week since the ‘almost-kissing-him-goodnight’ incident which neither of you dared to acknowledge it outwardly. Just hugging and holding hands and occasionally kissing your cheek like he’s been doing all these while. It was a Saturday evening, you were in your bedroom when your mom came knocking on your door and said, “Dear, someone’s here to see you.”

With that, she pushed the door open to reveal Jungkook standing there with a shy smile on his face. He was wearing a white shirt, a black and white large flannel unbuttoned over it and a pair of slightly loose denim jeans. You ushered him in as you patted the mattress, asking to sit down.

After she had closed the door to give you two some privacy, that’s when you giggled softly. Clearly not expecting his arrival.

“What are you doing here?” You asked.

“I was passing by the neighbourhood so I decided to come and say hi. I hope I’m not a disturbance to you or your parents at this hour.” He apologised to you as his eyes began to wander around your bedroom.

It was small but really cosy to you. All there is, was a small desk for you to do your school work, a super single mattress laid on the floor at the corner of the room beside the window, a drawer to keep your clean clothes and a full length mirror. You smiled as you watched him quietly, finding his curious face pretty cute with how his eyes grew round and his lips were parted slightly to show his adorable bunny teeth.

Minutes ticked by so fast when you’re not paying attention. Both of you were just joking around at some point when you saw his necklace fall out of his shirt where he had hid it. It was the same necklace you saw that night on his tabletop but what was even more intriguing is that it was the exact same one that the guy in your dream was wearing.

You reached forward for his necklace but stopped halfway. Jungkook knew what you were going to do so he held the pendant in his fingers and asked why you were going to reach for it.

“I’m sorry, I just… I feel like… I’ve seen the necklace you’re wearing, somewhere before. It’s okay. I must be mistaken though.” You said as you let out a soft laugh. Jungkook remained quiet as he nodded. Suddenly, you watched as he took off the necklace and soon put it around your neck. You frowned as you glanced down at his lips where his face was just inches away from yours, only to meet his gaze after he’s successfully clasped the necklace hook in the loop.

“Why did you put it on me?” You asked in total confusion, having absolutely no idea as to why he did that.

“Keep it.” He said.

“B-But I can’t! It’s yours!”

“I mean it. It’s yours now.” He said as he gave you the softest smile you’ve ever seen. With that, you simply clutched onto it like your life depends on it. When you finally walked him out to his car, you suddenly felt like you didn’t want him to go just yet. Jungkook could sense your hesitation so he lightly chuckled.

“Do you really have to go?” You whispered shyly, earning a laugh from him.

“I have to, besides, it’s getting late. I don’t want to disturb your parents. They need their rest.”

“Hmm… Okay…” You hummed sadly, only for Jungkook to chuckle. Just then, Jungkook takes a step forward as he slides one hand over your waist while the other hand cups your cheek. He tugs you closer as you glance up to lock eyes with him. Jungkook’s eyes glistened under the moonlight as he caressed your cheek with his thumb while his eyes flickered down to your lips. Neither of you said anything as he closed the gap and soon kissed you. Your heart pounded against your chest while you snake your hands around his slim waist.

You felt him smile against your lips before he pulled away to leave barely any space between your faces only for him to whisper, “I love you.”

You were about to reply but he stopped you.

“Don’t… Don’t say it yet.”

“Why?”

“You’ll get to say it when the time is right…”

“When will that be?” You whispered to him, unsure of what was going on and you couldn’t help but feel like something’s wrong.

“You’ll know it… I promise.” Jungkook said as you frowned upon him. You didn’t understand why but you obeyed his words nonetheless. Jungkook breathes out through his nose before he kisses you again longingly, making your heart swell for him. When he finally pulled away, you could feel your whole world slowly begin to crumble.

Something’s not right.

With a heavy heart, you watched as he got into his car and drove off into the distance. There was a voice in the back of your mind telling you that there’s something off with his behaviour. You just don’t know exactly what it was.

That night, your questions were answered.

That night is when it all happened.

That night is when your dream finally became crystal clear to you and all the memories came flooding back like a tsunami.

“Grandma! Grandpa! We’re here!” Your 5 year old self exclaims the minute the cab driver brings the vehicle to a stop right at the entrance of the park. You hurriedly got out of the cab whilst your foster father was busy paying the driver for the fare. You run to the end of the footpath as it separates into two directions, leading you to different parts of the park.

“Grandma! Hurry! I want to see the swans!” You yelled excitedly as the elderly couple began to walk slowly towards you. Since they were just a few metres away from you, it was the perfect chance for you to run off towards the path on the left where the lake would be. Occasionally taking breaks while waiting for your foster parents to catch up with you. People around you give you smiles whenever you pass by them and say hello.

You were walking down the footpath, trying to find a pair of swans when a beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly suddenly hovered in front of your face. You flinched back in surprise as it landed on the tip of your small nose. A soft giggle left your lips as you reached up to touch its wings when it began to flutter away. Being the child you are, you started to trail after it.

The butterfly flaps its wings delicately across the park, freely and happily while you try to not lose sight of it. Unfortunately, your carelessness has brought you closer to danger than you would’ve thought at the time.

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running down the footpath, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up and saw a young man probably in his mid 20s looming over you. His facial features were a blur but you could somehow see how defined and sharp everything was. The bridge of his nose, his beautiful doe round eyes, the silver hair falling down his forehead. Except, there was one thing you could easily make out. And that was the silver pendant necklace hanging around his neck. You couldn’t really see it that clearly but it was an oval shaped pendant, similar to the ones where you can open and close it.

“Y-Yes… T-Thank you, M-Mister…” You stumbled over your words as you saw your elders rushing over to you. That’s when the man said something that wasn’t quite understandable to you.

“I promise to keep you safe from any harm.” He said over a whisper but you heard him.

This time, when you glanced back up to meet the face of the man who saved your life, it was like the blur finally faded away and you could see clearly whoever was standing in front of you. That’s when you realised. The man who saved your life, the man that has been appearing in your dreams as nothing but a black shadow to begin with, the man who you owed your entire life to for giving you the opportunity of a second chance at life, was the same guy who you met a few months ago. The same guy who you became close to. The same guy who you eventually fell in love with.

It was him this entire time.

It was Jungkook.

But how? That’s impossible… right? How could he not age? How is he not in his early 40s by now if he really was in his early 20s when he saved you 20 years ago?

All these questions began to swirl around your head, filling you with a million different emotions.

And then you awoke.

It was 3 in the goddamn morning but sleep was no longer in your to-do list. You quickly changed out of your sleeping shorts to your sweatpants, putting your bra on and an oversized jacket as you rushed out of the house without waking your parents up and soon made your way to his place. You gave it a few knocks, hoping he was still awake. A few seconds later, the door swings open only for you to be greeted by a shirtless Taehyung. He seemed fully awake as he gave you a confused smile.

"Y/N? What are you doing here at a time like this?" He asked as politely as possible.

“I’m looking for Jungkook. Is he here?”

“Uh… He’s not home… He probably won’t be for the next few days…”

“Why? Where did he go?” You asked a little impatiently. Taehyung stared at you in worry as he wasn’t sure what to say to you.

“He, um… He has a very important business to handle somewhere else. I’ll update you once he’s back-”

“I really can’t wait that long, I need to see him now…” You partially begged as Taehyung pressed his lips into a straight line in defeat.

“He went back to the cosmos…”

Now it was your turn to get confused.

“Cosmos? What cosmos? What are you talking about?”

“Me and Jungkook… We’re not from this universe.” You stared at him in disbelief but for some reason, you knew he wasn’t lying.

“T-Then… Then does that mean you’re… immortal?”

“Correct. How did you find out?” Taehyung asked as he stepped aside for you to enter. Once you made it inside, he guided you over to the couch where you decided to come clean.

“When I was five, I almost died… But someone saved me from drowning. I never got to remember who it was. Right after my 16th birthday, I started getting these blurry, recurring dreams about my accident. The dream wasn’t clear but I kept seeing the same scenes happen again and again. A few months back, my dream slowly began to get clearer but I still couldn’t see who saved me that day… And just now… just now is when my dream finally became crystal clear and I saw everything. Now I remember.” You said. Taehyung smiled as his eyes travelled down to the necklace around your neck.

“He gave you his necklace, huh?” He asked softly. You held it in your hand as you reached forward with your other hand to hold Taehyung’s forearm gently.

“Taehyung, I need to see him. All these years, I’ve been trying to figure out who saved me that day but I have no idea who it was. Now that I know, I have to tell him.”

“There is something I have to tell you.” You remained quiet as you stared at him desperately so he took that as his cue to continue.

“Jungkook was never supposed to save you that day. His task was to simply watch over you. Sort of like a guardian angel. He can’t help you no matter how fatal the situation was for you because that’s just how it works for us. But that day, he couldn’t bear to see your parents cry. He didn’t have the heart to watch you drown in front of your parents…” Taehyung paused as you slowly began to piece this whole thing together.

“So that’s why he saved me…”

“Correct. However, because of that, the higher deities did not approve of his actions… So, he had to receive punishment. And his first punishment was that he has to watch over you from afar as you grow up without getting into close contact with you until your 16th birthday. The recurring dreams you had since you turned 16 was the second punishment. You were made to slowly remember that it was him who saved you that day. And once you fully remember that it was him…” Taehyung stopped abruptly as if he was afraid to continue.

“What happens if I remember it was him? Taehyung tell me! What happens if I remember?” You asked desperately as Taehyung frowned at you sadly.

“He will forget that you ever existed.”

“What…?” Your heart stopped as you couldn’t get this thought through your thick head.

“That’s his punishment.”

“N-No… No he… he can’t forget me. He’s been there for me my entire life, he can’t just forget me… No…” You began to get anxious as Taehyung felt bad for you. You were determined to not let Jungkook forget you so you begged Taehyung to bring you to the cosmos and see Jungkook. Taehyung didn’t want to risk it at first but after seeing how determined you were and knowing that Jungkook would not want to forget you, Taehyung decided to help.

Jungkook stood in the middle of the courtroom up in the cosmos, ready to receive his punishment. Though his heart was already shattered into a million pieces, he told himself he had to stay strong in order to have even the slightest bit of hope that he would somehow remember you after all this was done. He couldn’t bear to lose you. Not again. Not ever. He has loved you from the start. He fell in love with the little girl he was told to look after. The minute he laid eyes on you on the day you were born, he knew that he would look after you to the best of his abilities.

He made a promise to himself that he would do whatever it takes to protect you from any harm that may come in your way. Jungkook wouldn’t know what he would do if he just watched you get hurt no matter how little or fatal the accident may be. And on that unfortunate day where he was just watching over you from afar, running along the edge of the lake trying to catch the butterfly, he already saw it coming. He just wasn’t sure if he should obey the words of his deity or defy them by doing exactly what he was told not to do.

In which he ended up choosing the latter for he could not bear to see your parents crying and struggling to save you. Jungkook wasn’t heartless and he wasn’t planning on becoming one. Hence, why he decided to dive into the lake that day and save you. He knew his actions would result in a heavy consequence but he didn’t care at the time. All he wanted was for you to have a second chance at life and thanks to him, you got it.

So as he stood there, his mind was filled with memories of you. From when you were a kid to now. Every single memory he had of you, lingered in his mind like posters and pictures pinned to a bulletin board. Suddenly, all he could think of was kissing you. How soft your lips were. How good it felt to finally tell you how he feels about you. To be able to hold you in his arms and tell you he loves you because he wouldn’t get to say it to you again after tonight.

It broke him but he was satisfied.

“Jeon Jungkook. You were called upon the courthouse to receive your punishment for the offence you committed years ago. Are you aware that the girl has finally seen the truth in her dreams?” His deity asked, earning a scoff from Jungkook.

“If she hadn't, I wouldn’t be here.”

His deity leaned back in his seat feeling slightly furious with how Jungkook was showing lack of respect for them. Nonetheless, they continued with Jungkook’s sentencing.

“Very well then. By the power vested in me, thou shall have no memory of the said girl after tonight. Every single memory of her shall be erased, leaving no traces of her behind. In addition, thou shall not remember any mortal from the past 2 years and vice versa. It shall be as though they never existed in each other’s lives. If there are no objections-” As soon as this was said, a familiar voice catches Jungkook’s attention.

“I object!”

He whipped his head up in search of the owner of the voice. The minute he found it, his eyes grew wide as he stared in shock upon witnessing this discovery. There you stood, at the very top of the stairs in the courthouse right next to Taehyung. He knew he had to stop you but he didn’t. He wanted nothing more than for his best friend to be happy so he decided to let you do what’s right to get his best friend out of his misery.

“Who dares to go against our ruling?” The deity said, making you speak up bravely.

“I do.”

He whispered your name under his breath as he watched you descend the stairs while keeping your eyes locked on the higher authorities.

“And just who do you think you are? Strutting about and bravely make your call to stop this trial?”

“Someone that will stop you from carrying out his final punishment.”

“Ah… you must be the girl from the lake… You must be stupid enough to think that you could leave this place alive.”

“No! Please! I’m begging you, don’t hurt her please. Give me my final punishment, just leave her alone.” Jungkook said as he stood in front of you to shield you from them.

“What are you doing? Don’t you wanna remember who I am?” You asked in confusion as he turned to you with tears in his eyes.

“Of course I do. But I also want you to leave this place alive.”

“I don’t want you to forget me! I can’t lose you again. Jungkook please!”

“You won’t lose me. Because you remember me. Promise me that you’ll make me remember you.”

“I promise.”

With that, Jungkook cups your face with both hands as he pressed his forehead against yours softly. Your eyes were closed, feeling him caress your cheeks with his thumbs. Just then, you didn’t want to lose this chance so you pushed your head forward only to kiss him. You let your lips stay there for a while before pulling away. The minute you did, you wrapped your fingers around both of his wrists while you whispered against his lips, a sealed promise.

“I love you Jungkook and I promise I’ll make you remember me.”

Suddenly, everything happened so fast as a blinding white light began to fill your vision. The next thing you knew, you were in your bedroom. It all felt like a dream to you. Except, you remembered everything vividly.

The next day, you made your way to school, only to find Hyunjin and Jisung seated at the wooden table in the garden. You came over and soon asked them curiously about the other two. However, what they answered came as a surprise to you.

“Who’s Taehyung and Jungkook? Are they your friends?” Hyunjin asked, making you frown.

What the…

A few hours later, the three of you were walking to the CS building across the campus when you caught sight of two males walking in your direction, parallel to you. One had striking neon blue hair while the other had bright purple hair. The purple haired one would be right next to you once you crossed paths with them too. You kept your eyes on them as they got closer and closer until they were about 3 feet away. As if on cue, the purple haired individual just happened to turn his head towards you, causing you to lock eyes with him.

Your heart began to race in your chest the closer you got to them. The minute you walked past them, with the purple haired one being the closest to you, the same feeling you felt the first time this happened a few months back repeated again today. The feeling of a string being tugged at that was invisibly linked to your hand and his, a small sense of longing lingers in your veins. However, you continued walking despite sensing him turning back to look at you.

So when you felt like it was safe to turn, that’s when you glanced over your shoulder to see him tilt his head in confusion but nonetheless continued walking. You whispered something under your breath, feeling your heart shatter with every word you say.

“I remember you.”

You turned back in front, your mind was already somewhere far. There was absolutely no way in hell that you were going to let this slide.

Why? Because you were determined to make him remember you for you had made your promise to him.

[beeinyourbreadbox]

Okay I'm shamelessly wading back into my Hunger Games era to tell you all one of my FAVORITE details from the book. I'm a writer so like, the things that catch my attention in books tend to be a bit 'strange' .

Anyway my point here is that one of my personal FAVORITE small moments with HUGE implications in the book is Finnick knowing CPR while Katniss is so unfamiliar with it she actually thinks he's kissing Peeta's dead corpse at first. This is a funny little scene but dude. Okay. Katniss mentions in this scene that she's seen her mother do CPR once or twice, but that the types of patients she deals with in 12 are usually victims of starvation, mining accidents, etc. The types of ailments and death that are most common in 12 aren't the kind that chest compressions will help with, so it's pretty much an irrelevant technique in that particular district.

But what's even MORE interesting than that and the thing my brain latched on to like a squeaky toy is that district four's industry is fishing. Of course, the most obvious conclusion here is that CPR is more common due to higher drowning rates. They're the ocean district. But to go a little deeper, I would be willing to bet that not only Finnick knows CPR, but that it's probably a required part of schooling in district 4. This is basically head cannon territory but I'm basing it completely on details from the books. So here we go

We know that in each Hunger Games district, pretty much the entire culture and function is based off of whatever industry that particular district is primarily responsible for. In 12, many of the school classes focus on coal and coal production, the children are taken on yearly field trips down into the mines, etc.

So in district 4, which is also a career district, I would bet dollars to fucking donuts that swimming and water safety classes+CPR are a standard part of the curriculum. You probably aren't allowed to graduate and enter the workforce in district 4 unless you can demonstrate at least basic swimming abilities and understanding of how to save someone from drowning. I imagine it's probably a very similar program to lifeguard type training in real-life.

Just. Look up a video of newborn swim training for me, okay? The thing where they basically throw a baby in the water and let them resurface? And then imagine that every single parent in district 4 does that or at least it's a cultural norm. Baby Finnick being borderline waterboarded at birth to prepare him to survive. Just. That image makes me giggle a lot for some reason. Also water births are probably the norm in 4. That just feels correct.

There's not really a point to this post I'm just OBSESSED with Suzanne Collin's subtle world-building and how easy she makes it to fill in the blanks. Like. I don't know if any of what I've said here is cannon but it would make COMPLETE sense

[poppy5991]

Wow! The last post on this topic was quite popular! So here’s another from a person that actually does emergency response for a living…

Writing PTSD in first responders/emergency personnel accurately: Trauma Thresholds

(I called them out in the tags last time for Owen’s PTSD portrayal, but this is one thing Grey’s anatomy does quite well.)

One mistake I see in media/writing is a character being traumatized by something that an average person would find traumatic…but probably not an experienced responder.

We do expect to see and are trained to cope with some level of trauma in our jobs. You anticipate witnessing injury, illness, death, and grief. So things that the average civilian finds disturbing don’t phase us so much. But there are specific things that can trigger a trauma response, mainly:

Moral injury: Witnessing or being put in a situation that violates your deeply held moral values or sense of self

Projecting loved ones on to a trauma (I.e. what if that was my kid/they are the same age as my sister/my loved one was at that event)

Experiencing/witnessing violence or harassment on the job

Out of my depth: asked to work without the necessary tools, rest, or training

Here’s a couple examples of what might be par for the course versus what will fuck you (or your character) up….

Scenario 1: Paramedic responds to a heart attack on a middle aged man. Performs CPR while wife wails in the background.

Traumatic? Probably not

Scenario 2: Paramedic responds to a sudden infant death call on a six month old. Performs infant CPR. Mom is wailing in the background. Paramedic has a newborn at home with their spouse, born a few weeks ago.

Traumatic? Yep!

-

Scenario 1: ED nurse works a gunshot victim on their shift. Standard case that they see frequently in an urban ED.

Traumatic? Probably not.

Scenario 2: There is a mass shooting at a local event. Sudden influx of multiple gunshot victims. The ED is overwhelmed and understaffed. Family are showing up at the ED screaming and looking for loved ones. The shooter is still at large.

Traumatic? Yep.

-

Scenario 1: Public Health worker is doing shelter surveillance and interviewing people on their disease exposures and medical needs. Hears harrowing stories about the disaster from traumatized and scared people who may be separated from loved ones/witnessed death/lost their homes.

Traumatic? Probably not.

Scenario 2: Public Health worker is doing shelter surveillance and interviewing people on their disease exposures and medical needs. There is an unaccompanied child/dementia patient wandering around. They realize that this person’s family have left without notifying anyone and have abandoned their loved one during the disaster. The person is anxious/inconsolable and asking the worker where their family has gone.

Traumatic? Yep.

-

Scenario 1: Disaster animal shelter worker is doing intake for animals after an evacuation. Both the people and animals are traumatized and stressed, anxious about being separated.

Traumatic? Probably not.

Scenario 2: Disaster animal shelter worker is doing intake for animals after an evacuation. A man comes in and aggressively demands to be given his purebred dog. Refuses to show ID. He becomes increasingly aggressive, threatening workers but departs when police are called. Police inform worker that the man was probably trying to steal a purebred dog from the shelter to sell. When checking the microchip, realizes they are correct- they remember the owner and it is not that man.

Traumatic? Yep.

-

These are just a few examples of things that happen in real life. It can be different if you are new to the field and witnessing things for the first time, but if you’re writing an experienced responder experiencing trauma make sure to give context as to why a certain event was traumatic as compared to their normal work threshold.

Also make sure not to fall into the trap of writing “perfect victims.” People in stressful situations can and do act very poorly out of fear and often we take the brunt of it. It’s not realistic to write all the victims that your character is helping as calm, compliant, rational, and kind. They are more likely confused, angry, combative, dazed, and upset. And they are likely to view their problem or loved one as more important than everyone else’s in that moment. And to act in accordance. No matter how insignificant.

Lastly don’t forget that in addition to work, we have personal lives. While working stressful situations, we too have loved ones pass, pets get sick, have relationship problems, etc. so you can write that in to flesh out the character. It’s very much true that people with children have a harder time dealing with situations involving harm to kids, people with pets struggle more with helping in situations involving animals, etc.

[saraminia]

I don't want to go to sleep. I had a horrible nightmare last night. I had to give CPR to two children, one of which was my own newborn and I lost one of them. Can you guess which one.. Yeah.. My dream the night before may not have been exactly a happy dream, but at least it was not that.

[nic-coughlan]

(your tags!!) i am so very deeply sorry, do you need cpr? <3 should i grab a mop?

cpr? you don't post their first kiss and not expect me to whimper like a newborn puppy like i demand compensation and a strong cup of tea

like look at it, LOOK AT IT, it's the best fucking kiss i've ever seen in my entire life

[ask-carmenpondiego]

Chapter 16: The Unexpected Visitor

Weeks go by as the VILE team prepares for the retrieval of the chest that was mentioned in the moonlit carvings of their previous clue. In the bathroom, Wally sits shirtless on the bench by the tub as Carmen removes what vivianite crystals she could, making sure not to cut her latex gloves by accident. In a steel pan, she collects the shards, disinfecting and patching each wound as she goes. “I really wish you would see an actual trained doctor and not me. I just know basic first aid and CPR.” Wally winces a few times as he feels her remove the crystals, hearing the clanking of the shards in the pan. “I doubt they’ll know anything about this. Its not like that have an antibiotic for it. Its a little worse than the sniffles..” he tried chuckling, but started to cough a little, making Carmen hesitate a moment. She wipes her wrist across her forehead under her horn, moving some hair from her face. “Sounds like its starting to affect your lungs. We need to get these treasures so we can get you cured as soon as possible. Otherwise I wouldn’t even bother with asking a jerk spirit for anything.”

The blue pony sighed, looking at his scarred body in the mirror. “How much do you know?” He asked. She was silent for a little bit, closing up a rather large hole with a few stitches, “About the treasures? After the chest is a rabbit then a duck then an egg with a needle inside.. we need that needle to-“

“No, about me. What I am.” He fidgeted with his wedding ring, looking at her from the mirror. She straightened up and sighed. “I had my suspicions but I fully found out because of M. He claimed to be your brother by blood. He confirmed that you were a light balance changeling. Which would explain why Blendin changed from green apple color to a teal when he was a newborn if he is half changeling. But I don’t care what you were. I care about who you are as yourself. You married me as an earth pony, M told me you prefer to be an Earth Pony, so to me you have always been an Earth Pony. I still love you all the same no matter what you identify as.” Wally turns to face her and smiles, brushing her cheek with his hand. “What did I ever do to deserve an angel like you? Even after all this time, we found each other again. Its like you chase away the rain from my life.”

She chuckles and nuzzles into his hand, “You silly stallion, you always need a little rain, otherwise you’d be a desert. Harsh, gritty, dry… getting sand in unpleasant places..” The two ponies laugh a hearty bit. Wally smiles and leans closer and kisses Carmen softly.

Kiros knocked on the doorframe and smirked, “Hey Boss, is this a bad time? We zeroed in on an opening for the chest. We just need your approval for the go-ahead.” Carmen pulled off her gloves and tossed them in the bin. Kiros handed her the tablet, showing a plan and extraction, complete details of any traps or weak structure points.

She poured over the details, made a few notes and frowned. “Is this the best window we have to grab it? Theres several variables that are not consistent. We need stability in these areas to pull off that zip-line. Not enough room for a glider. If we can’t get across that way, going around will add more time.” Kiros shrugged, “This is what we keep coming up with after weeks of trying to figure this out. We’re fresh out of ideas of how to cross that trouble area. We just don’t have the ability to do much more in the way of advanced options.” Wally peeked over, “Have you thought of flying her over? I mean you have wings.. M has wings..”

Kiros and Carmen looked at him a moment. Carmen checked his wingspan and shook her head, “Just about the glider size. I can’t risk broken wings.” Kiros thought more, “Although I can size shift, making me smaller would mean I wouldn’t be able to carry as much. So thats out. What about Lekir? Maybe she can solidify those weak points with ice?” Carmen rubs her temples, “The moisture in the rocks expand when frozen, there a chance it will destabilize even worse.” Carmen hands Kiros the tablet and heads over to the war room to see if looking at it another way may be helpful. Kiros followed her as Wally stayed behind, looking over his bandages before putting his sweater back on.

The bathroom closet suddenly glowed blue around the edges and a young teal unicorn colt stuck his head out. His pink and blue eyes met Wally’s blue eyes with confusion. “Well hey there! Thats a funny place to hide!” The colt stared back at Wally, “…Dad?” Wally tilted his head, “Are you.. Blendin?” The colt rushed out of the closet door and gave his father a big hug, almost being the same height. It was quite obvious he was in his early teens and getting his growth spurt. “I didn’t expect you here! Why are you hiding in the closet?” Wally laughed. Blendin whipped around and closed the closet door, which did not look like a closet when Wally peeked in. It looked like a lobby to an old library if he had to guess. “I wasn’t in the closet.. Is… Mom here? I’ve been getting her letters. But I needed to ask some questions..” Blendin rubbed his arm nervously, his red hoodie looking baggy on his thin frame.

“So if we attach the zipline to this opposing wall, that will be a much better angle to be able to swing without issue..” Carmen pointed to a now 3D hologram of the temple area they were previously discussing. Wally cleared his throat, “Um, my light? I’m sorry to bother you while you’re working but.. I think you may need to see this.” He gestured for her to join him in the hallway privately. “Wally, I can’t keep stopping things for…” Carmen stopped as he stepped aside, pulling Blendin from shyly hiding behind him. “Look who I found in the bathroom closet!” Blendin blushed and gave a very annoyed sigh, “I wasn’t in the closet! I used the ley lines to connect my door to one of yours! How was I supposed to know it was in the bathroom??” Blendin looked over at Carmen who was practically shaking with holding back emotions. “Blendin.. look how tall.. you.. how.. how did you find us? We’re practically off the grid!” So many thoughts and questions raced through her mind, “You’ve grown so much! How is the Library treating you? Have you eaten? Have you gotten my letters? Are you angry with me? Where is Adora? Is she still angry with me? I’m so sorry for leaving you two so alone!” She rambled and had to stop herself.

Blendin chuckled a bit nervously. “Um… I will tell you as much as I can, I’m just on limited time. I snuck over here, I wasn’t supposed to use the ley doors yet. But I did a bit of digging online and noticed some activity in the dark web about this location being connected to the Sweet Spot. It was really tough to hack through, but I was able to find rough coordinates and wanted to see if you were here.” Carmen looked past him towards the bathroom, “You say you connected doors? Like interdimensional travel?” Blendin adjusted his glasses, which looked remarkably like Wally’s. “More like a more stabilized teleportation spell but yeah. Why?” Carmen wrapped him in a huge hug and kissed his cheek repeatedly, “I think you may have solved our problem!! You are such a smart kid! I’m so proud of you!!” Blendin squirmed out of her hugs and adjusted his hoodie, “Please.. warn me next time?” Carmen held up her hands, “Oh I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. Right. Technically new person…. Have you eaten? You have time for a snack, right?”

Wally puts his hand on Blendin’s shoulder, “She’s been through a lot, give her some credit, this is new to her too. She’s just really excited.” Carmen darted back into the war room and gathered some books and papers, “Sorry! Big thing. Son’s here.” She blurted out and dashed out again, “Ok, Let’s go to the kitchen! Questions are always good paired with food. Eating something pleasureful helps the memory retention.” Blendin watches her hurry towards the kitchen and looks at Wally, “Is she always like this?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, “No, only when she finds something really interesting or if she finds an answer to a long problematic issue, she gets a bit hyper. But I’d say this is bigger than that.”

“Aren’t you excited to see me? You seem very… not excitable.” Blendin tilted his head, Wally chuckled. “Oh I’m very excited, I just dont show it like your mom does. I’m also dealing with some amnesia from a few years back so I’m just vibing until things start to click more.”

Wally and Blendin sit down at the kitchen island, Carmen had her small stack of papers and books on one end and was busy putting together a veggie platter, and stopped, “Do you like veggies? Whats a good snack you like?” Blendin sat up straight, arms by his side and hands on his lap, “Oh um, veggies are good, and maybe some Tajin and hot chili oil?” Carmen smiled over her shoulder, “Thats my boy, a good taste in seasoning! You probably get that more from your father, he’s loves everything spicy! I like more flavor than pure spice though.” She set the food in front of them and leaned on the bar, “Ok so you said you had some questions for me? I’ll answer what I can if you can answer some of mine.” Blendin’s eye sparkled as he saw different fruits and veggies on the platter, he was expecting just carrots and celery. “Um yeah, I needed some help with completing this thing for the Library.. and since I’m a minor, and technically a surrendered child, I can’t get a parent or guardian’s permission, and the Keeper won’t sign off as my guardian. And this is important to me. I want to learn more so I can travel and not be stuck in the library..” Carmen beamed, “You’re saying you need a permission slip signed or else you cannot start to go on missions until you are 18?” Blendin nodded, crunching a starfruit, “Yeah and that may set me back farther than some of the other candidates.” Carmen looked at Wally and tapped her chin, “Sounds like I need to pay the Keeper a visit then. Perhaps I can finally get to get custody of you two again. And this mansion is the safest place you can be as far as I’m concerned.” Blendin perked up, “You mean it? You still want us around?!” Wally and Carmen chuckled, “Of course we still want you!! We never wanted to give you two up in the first place!”

Wally smiled, “I’ve only come back recently as well but from everything I know, she’s been worried sick about you kids.” Blendin smiled and started to cry, “I’m so happy that we actually have parents.. I need to tell Daring..” he pulls out a pink cellphone and starts texting. “Daring? Who is Daring” Wally asked, looking at Carmen, “I’ve seen some fiction books about a Daring Do, but maybe its one of his friend’s nicknames? You know how kids are with fursona or original characters and fanfics..” Carmen chuckled, snagging a carrot chip and stacking a dragonfruit piece on top. “Oh, no, I’m talking to Adora, she IS Daring Do. Its not fiction. She writes about her adventures all the time.” Blendin showed his cellphone to Carmen, showing off pictures of a young adult Adora in safari gear. “I thought she was working with the Warehouse. Not galavanting through rainforests and rough terrain!” Blendin smirked, “She’s the top of her class, been doing work in the archeology division. She loves the stuff!” Wally laughs, “She really takes after you, doesn’t she?” Carmen almost chokes on the carrot and dragonfruit, “You mean thats all real? So she’s top of her class AND a published author? And here I thought being promoted to detective in my early 20’s was impressive!”

M strode past, looking a little worse for the wear, shirt and leather coat all disheveled, a few new plasters on his jaw, bent cigarette hanging from his mouth, his horns looked a bit demonic, one the tip was broke off. He went behind Carmen and used his tentacles to reach the top shelf for some chips. Blendin nearly dropped his phone. “M-Mom?? Why is there a demon in here? I thought you said it was safe here!!” Carmen turns to look at M, who just waved, “Sup, Squirt?”

“That is a good question. Why are you here? You should have been the first to tell me of a breach in security..” Carmen raised her eyebrow at the demon changeling, crossing her arms. “What? I fuckin checked him out, he’s cleaner than a newborn. Plus he came from one of your secure locations you told me to keep around. Consider yerself notified.”

Carmen noticed how uneasy Blendin looked and smacked M on the arm. “Fine, but you’re scaring the poor kid, tone down the horror show for a bit.” She leans towards Blendin assuringly, “Its alright, thats M, your uncle. He’s a dark balance changeling. He’s the one who helped me get back on my hooves after the accident with your father here. Its a long story.” M, who didnt turn down the horror show at all as far as his appearance was concerned, “I ain’t the only one he needs to worry about. He hasn’t met the fuckin team yet and I smell delicious doubt on him, like he doesn’t know if this was the right call, coming here. Which he knows exactly where here is.. or should I say What here is.” The poor young teen was trembling visibly and kept his eyes on his phone. All of a sudden he blinked invisible, startling the three adults. “Where the fuck did he go?” M blurted out as Carmen remembered to tap her glasses. “He’s still here. He’s just using one of his talents! Brilliant boy!”

She looked around and found him curled up under the island bar by his chair. She motioned for them to be quiet as she took a seat on the floor next to him. “Hey kiddo, I know its kinda scary with all these new people, but you can trust them. They’ve all been a part of this weird family we pieced together.” She heard sniffling and looked at the heat signature beside her. “So you aren’t just a misunderstood adventurer, are you? You really are a villain? Thats why you have demons and monsters and secret mansions with black market ties…” Carmen thought a moment and nodded, “I suppose you could see it that way, but its more like being an anti-hero, we don’t kill and most the targets have done things that made them deserve what we did.”

Blendin sniffled still and made his head visible from inside his hoodie, the strings pulled tight. “So I have anti-hero villain parents who want to have custody of us..” Blendin groaned as he tried to wrap his head around it. “I… don’t know if I can do this. This was a bad idea. You probably just want to have us break the law with you..” Wally and M looked at Carmen who winced, she did hope she could use his door transport to help with the chest retrieval. “No, sweetheart.. I will never force you into anything you don’t to do, ok? I could never do that to you, especially since this Librarian candidacy seems to really have you excited. And I couldn’t be more proud, you are a brilliant colt, and you are handsome and so very loved! And your sister too! I wish she were here so I could tell her to her face!” She opened her arms and let him choose to hug her or not. The young colt groaned in uncertainty still but tilted himself into her arms, dropping his invisibility. “This is fine, its progress!” She rubs his back comfortingly. Wally smiled wide, bouncing in his chair a bit, “You are so good with kids. You always were.” M scoffed, “Give it time, they’re teens.”

[phoebepheebsphibs]

*slides back into your ask box*

Sorry to bother you again- You're just the only person I know of who has Draxum knowledge I can ask stuff to (also you're just fun to talk to) I've run into a problem where I can't quite figure out how pre-reformation-Draxum would actually treat one of his creations if he got to keep one. A lot of people immediately assume he would have been horribly abusive, but based on how he treats the goyles, I don't think he'd be as abusive as everyone seems to think. I'm asking, because I keep trying to write flashback scenes/backstory for my OC, but whenever I do, it doesn't feel right to write him as entirely uncaring about his creation. Originally, what it was going to be was that; Since mutating the turtles didn't work out because of Lou Jitsu as a variable, he uses himself as the supplier of DNA to mutate with instead. He sends his perfectly capable henchgoyles to go find him a formidable animal he can mutate into the perfect warrior. However, what they end up bringing him is an abandoned newborn kitten. (Likely because they couldn't get their hands on anything more dangerous, or they legitimately thought an alley cat would work) The developing problem is that the kitten had gotten sick soon after birth, and the mother didn't want the illness to spread to the other kittens, so she was left behind. As a result, Abby (the kitten) was already very weak when the goyles got her. Post-mutation, Abby's body couldn't handle the stress, and her heart stopped. Tiny CPR happens, Abby's revived, and life carries on. The goyles mostly raise her- the issue is, because Draxum's not exactly easy on her, he pushes her past her limits, and when she fails, she gets hit (either because abusive, or because it's him she's sparring against) one way or another, her tail either gets pulled /hard/, or she gets it stuck somewhere and ends up trying to pull it free, resulting in it getting broken. The incident gives her spinal/nerve damage, and half her tail ends up needing to be amputated. So now not only does she have problems maintaining her balance, but back pain, and temporary paralysis in her legs if she pushes herself too hard. At this point, Draxum gives up on her. He turns his attention to oozesquitos, and though he still tries on occasion to build up her strength, he still views her as a failure for not being able to work through her problems (without, yk, physical therapy- but Draxum doesn't have time for that) What I'm stuck on is that- The whole reason she ends up not being around for the series is because when the turtles destroyed his lab again, Draxum either assumed she was dead, or intentionally left her behind to die because she was of no use to him. Therefore, the next time she sees him after the events of the finale, she only knows him as the villain that created her and left her to die. She has no sense of self worth, or what real love feels like- because she was raised to be a weapon, and since she failed at that, she's nothing.

BUT THE MORE I TRY AND WRITE IT LIKE THIS, THE MORE IT FEELS OUT-OF-CHARACTER FOR DRAXUM!!! The idea was that- deep down, he did care for her- But he didn't let himself show her any real affection because he knew it would only make her soft. His topmost priority was preventing the prophecy from coming true, and he needed a weapon against the humans to do it. He didn't have time to be a parent. He didn't even know how. If she couldn't fulfill her purpose, he was a failure, and she was his failed experiment. He didn't have any use for her, so he left her behind. (I mean, he was fully willing to off his other creations if they didn't want to join him, so why not her?) He never realized how horribly he'd messed up his own child until after his reformation, and by then he'd believed she was dead, and it was too late to make up for it.

Long rant short, do you think the way I have villain-Draxum act in the story works? Something about it doesn't feel right to me, but I'm hesitant to change things, because that leads to a lot of plot holes in the backstory, which I would then need to rewrite- and as a result, rewrite their entire dynamic, and any interactions in other fics.

I'M SORRY FOR THE LONG ASK I JUST FIND YOUR OPINION ON STUFF TO BE INCREDIBLY HELPFUL & INSPIRING WHEN WRITING ABOUT DRAXUM- hhhh I talked for too long I'll go now sorry if this is too long merry Christmas fellow gremlinnn At least you get a free sneak peak into my AU/fanfic, if you were interested in that 🤣 eeeeeeeeeeebye ---That one gremlin who lives in your ask box 🍕🐢💕✨

Lol this actually kinda reminded me of my separated AU that I’m working on (gonna post the stories to AO3 once I’m finished with Hide and Seek). In it, Draxum raises Donnie as his son/protégé and is not very nice about it… it’s a whole thing.

Ok but to answer your question…

I think that Draxum’s affection levels for whoever he raises would depend on when he found them. You’re right, he isn’t a complete monster (we see him be… semi-decent around Huginn and Muninn), but I think he only gets like that after years of coming to grips with his disappointment and failure with the turts and Lou Jitsu. If he were to find the turtles again when they were maybe toddlers or kids, he might be more caring for them. He may grow attached to them as more than experiments, he’d truly appreciate them — because he knew what it was like to lose them.

And I’ve seen some Separated AU’s where he raises Mikey, and in most of those universes he ends up pretty compassionate and charming, mostly due to Mikey’s influence over the years. Though, I am reading some fics where that was not the case…

But, for your character’s story, I think that how you’ve described it is pretty accurate. If you want to show him more caring, maybe he’d be concerned about keeping her safe, so she’d be like a Rapunzel — overprotected and never allowed to leave him… for her own safety. OR he’d want her to be able to defend herself, so he would push her to her limits. And then, after his reformation arc, he would try to make amends with her.

But really, in the end, it’s up to you! You can decide what choices Drax makes, but you need to show WHY he chooses that. He is always capable of change, but you’ve gotta show what drives him to that change. Maybe, seeing a frail life die and barely make it back shakes him. He can’t afford losing another project like this… so he decides to give her his full attention, raise her himself rather than have his gargoyles look after her. And she starts to get better, as he spends his nights watching over her in case she has a relapse. And then, as years pass, seeing how she grows slowly makes him swell with pride… she’s come such a long way from being a mangy kitten in the rain… and suddenly, he sees her as less of a science project and more of a pupil. Maybe as she gets older, he starts getting nervous when she gets hurt because for some odd reason, he feels her pain. He cries when she does. He comforts her when she has a nightmare. He unintentionally memorizes her favourite food and her favourite colour and… starts seeing her less as a student and as… an heir? A protégé? Someone he trusts. Someone he cares for. Little by little, they grow closer. And closer. Until one day he looks at her and realizes that he hasn’t even thought about attacking humankind in years. He’s only thought of what schools she’d get into, what dress she’ll wear to Big Mama’s gala, her hobbies and interests, the fear of what will happen when she reaches the dreaded dating age, etc. She isn’t a weapon, or an experiment, or a student, or even a successor. She’s his own precious daughter.

In conclusion, everything is possible for your characters, but the real issue is finding a way to make it believable.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

(On a completely separate note, I’m kind of interested to see how your character Abby would react to Mikey and the others… would she resent them, or hate them? In her eyes, would they be the “better version” of her, what she was supposed to be, but failed to become? And not only that, but they took her only family away from her?! He was her father — a terrible dad, sure, but hers!! Would she feel threatened by them? Or would she feel like maybe she’d finally found someone with common ground and understanding?

Food for thought.)

[goldeneyedgirl]

AILess Whumptober Day 7: CPR/Flatline

moribond. (day 7: cpr/flatline).

twilight, alice/jasper, pg, haunted-verse.

A follow up to Haunted, and will make no sense without it.

I am currently pretty ill; I have seen some delightful asks and will get to them ASAP (probably in the morning), but I haven't got a sensible thought in my head tonight.

To him, death smells like violets, ash, and rainwater.

—

He didn’t know how it turned out like this.

But then, he’s always going to be responsible for her deaths. He understands and accepts that. It’s always going to be her blood on his hands.

She gets off the bus on the other side of the parking lot; her uncle’s a long-haul trucker, and Alice is still saving for her own car. She bullied him into picking her up for school when she first arrived, but he’d gone hunting with Emmett over the weekend and told her to get the bus.

(He had still made a point to stop at the diner and get her that disgusting coffee drink that she demands every morning. He’s holding it, as a peace offering that she had to catch the bus.)

“Alice!” He calls out to her, shouldering his bag. She makes eye contact with him, and he feels the little spark of happiness - at the sight of her beverage.

And then she drops her phone.

—

This version of Alice frustrates him. A sharp, witty girl who with a low bullshit tolerance, she sticks to him like glue from that very first moment - a constant little voice of guilt in one ear, her emotions feeling hot and agitated against him.

(“You can give me a ride home, I’m never getting on that bus again,” she said imperiously the very second day they know each other, walking from class. “You owe me.” That becomes her catch cry - you owe me, Jasper. If she wants coffee before school, if she needs a lift somewhere, if she needs a few dollars for the vending machine. And he reluctantly pays his penance because if he doesn’t, she follows him around reminding him of every single way he broke her, of the pain and the grief and the bone-crushing fear that he left in his wake. Borrowing Emmett’s Jeep and giving her some crumpled dollar bills is a small price to pay rather than having to relive it all again.)

She calls him Jasper, Hale, Whitlock, or very occasionally, Major - usually when he’s pushed too hard, as a warning shot. The one thing they don’t talk about is all those years ago in the South, even though he wonders how much she remembers.

He calls her Alice, nothing else. If she’s being particularly aggravating, he refers to her as a brat, because that’s the strongest language he’d use around a lady - even one he’d like to choke the life out of some days because she just… never stops talking, and her favourite topic is always how many times he murdered her and how she had to remember every single time.

(He thinks that, and then he feels like a monster because how many times has he killed her? Twenty-five. He can’t even joke about choking her, he’s take away her life so, so many times.)

But somehow, this caustic girl has become his best friend. Or at least, that’s what it looks like. Everyone talks about them as they roam the halls. His siblings aren’t happy about the situation, but Edward clearly believes that Jasper is an unwilling participant in this, so they all leave it alone. To the others, Alice Brandon doesn’t matter. They’ll leave her behind without a second thought, so there’s no point making a fuss.

But it is the closest friendship he’s had since Peter, and that was forged in very different circumstances. (Alice would point out that was because Jasper executed her when her newborn year was up, and maybe she could have been like Peter to him as well, and the fact that he can hear her smug voice in his head reminding him of that makes him want to gag her for a day.)

It’s very strange to think that, out of all of them, he’s managed a quasi-high school friendship, even if it is with the reincarnation of his favourite murder victim.

He hopes Esme and Carlisle have noticed how well-adjusted this is.

—

One thing about Forks is that the local public transport system is a piece of shit. The two ancient school buses that run are over-full. The local buses are unreliable at best, and the closest useful stop on the route is four blocks over from the school - but it arrives either an hour before class starts, or twenty minutes after the bell has rung, if it shows up at all.

Which is why it’s practically a right of passage for the juniors at Forks High to get some kind of vehicle. It might be held together with duct tape and sixteen years of fervent birthday wishes, like the one Kirk drives, or it might be a shiny, good-as-new one like the one that Jennifer Ford has recently acquired.

He just stands there, and watches all the pieces come together. At Alice, who is so slight, leaning down to pick up her phone. At Jennifer laughing from the driver’s seat, leaning over to grab something, not even looking. She’s going too fast for a fucking car park.

Alice straightens up a split second before and that’s when he begins moving, the stupid coffee hitting the ground and spraying his boots with ice and and cream and slush.

The sound she makes when Jennifer hits her seems to echo and for a moment there is silence; everyone is frozen in place.

And then everyone begins screaming.

Except Alice.

(She isn’t moving.)

—

Alice is extremely sparing about her private life, but he’s gleaned enough from her monologuing to paint a picture of her life - her family were killed in a car accident, and she was the sole survivor with a head full of memories from past lives. Her bachelor uncle had been quick to take her in, even though he had no idea what to do with a grieving teenage girl.

Her uncle didn’t have a great deal of money, and she seemed aware that her presence was a financial strain - she worked at the gas-n-gro a few afternoons a week, a job she hated, to save for the much coveted car.

(He often wondered if that was why she asked him for vending machine money - so that she didn’t have to dip into her own money to pay for cafeteria food. That made him oddly sad; Alice was somehow incapable of being a figure of pity and yet...)

She’s alone a lot, when her uncle is on the road, forced to fend for herself. Maybe that’s why, when he picks her up, she seems to have trouble getting all the words out. Why she has so much to say, even when she’s not detailing all the ways it hurts for a vampire to, say, rip out her throat and leave her for dead.

And Alice really likes to ask him questions. She never says Maria’s name, but she sure as hell wants to know about Peter - her memories of Peter are hazy but unflattering, as she refers to him as a pervert and a man-whore several times. She was gone before Charlotte was changed, but she seems interested that Peter finally met someone, “that inspired him to keep his hands to himself for once.”

(He’s going to have to ask Peter about that.)

She asks about the Cullens, and she doesn’t care what he tells her - one day, in an attempt to drive her to boredom, he described all of Esme’s interiors to her in mind-numbing detail. It hadn’t worked - she’d just developed opinions about white-on-white decorating the next time she got into the Jeep.

(Emmett only loans it to him because he thinks it’s funny that Jasper’s being bullied by a five foot nothing girl into being her personal chauffeur.)

Sometimes he wonders if she learns as much about him during their conversations, if he gives as much away as she does. He can read her now, what each glare and sigh and huff and blink of those mismatched eyes means. He knows her coffee order, and that she’s failing Spanish. He knows that she keeps a shotgun near the front door when her uncle is away.

(He knows she’s terrified she’s going to die young again, and that it will be his fault.)

—

Alice is just lying there and she isn’t moving.

Jennifer Ford is screaming, a cluster of girls around her trying to calm her, justify the accident in her favor.

Jasper’s never moved so fast (at least, at a convincing pace for a human) in his life. He’s just so suddenly there, next to Alice. There’s blood and she’s surrounded with glass, and he’s so suddenly terribly aware that he cannot hear her heart beating.

(This was his doing. He shouldn’t have distracted her. He should have waited at the bus stop for her. He’s always going to be her killer.)

Edward’s at his side in a second.

“Jasper.” And the quiet pity in his voice tells Jasper that Edward expects him to leave her here, dead and gone. That this is the moment where he moves on and lets her go for good. That he can get up and walk away and no one will think less of him.

Instead, he ignores Edward and carefully turns her over. She’s cut up badly, and it’s all over his hands, but he doesn’t… he doesn’t want that. He wants her to open her eyes, to hear that soft reassuring sound of her heart beating in her chest.

(Her shoulder is all wrong, the way her arm moves. One of her legs, too. She’s going to be so upset that her jeans are destroyed.)

“She needs CPR,” he says hoarsely.

“She’s in cardiac arrest,” Edward agrees. “Jasper…”

“We’ve called 911.” The nurse is there. “Move away, please boys.”

The nurse and one of the teachers are crowded around her with efficient competence, the nurse pressing so hard on Alice’s ribs he’s sure that if they weren’t broken when the car hit her, they will be now.

Everything feels like its moving in slow motion, as they try to push life back into Alice. The tear-stained teenage girls watching from several feet away. Edward trying to talk to him, but his words just sound like white noise. He’s just crouched there, with her blood on him, using every ounce of his energy to push his gift into her, to try and inspire something inside her to catch and bring her back to life.

They’re still working on her when the ambulance arrives.

(He makes eye contact with Jennifer as she’s led away, and he hopes she knows that if Alice doesn’t open her eyes again, he’ll do everything in his power to make sure that she doesn’t ever forget what she’s done.)

—

She knows his siblings, of course. Mostly from sight; she doesn’t engage with them and they don’t approach her. Edward and Alice have a couple of classes together, unfortunately, and Edward is quick to point out that she’s crude and depressing and aggravating. Alice is quick to point out that he needs to stay out of her head if he has a problem with its contents.

“They don’t like me,” she says when he offers to ask them to let her sit with them at lunch. “I’m not going to waste my precious free time trying to convince a bunch of people I have nothing in common with that I’m worthy enough to sit on a metal chair and stare at cafeteria food with them.”

“I mean, aside from the vampire thing,” Jasper says. “Nothing in common at all.”

“Don’t be a smart-ass, Whitlock. Besides, you think your sister hates me now - imagine if she gets it into her head that I somehow outwitted that whole vampirism-is-irreversible thing.” Alice made a face.

“Rosalie doesn’t hate you.” Alice had laughed, a bark of laughter that sounded more jaded than he expected.

“To Rosalie, I am a cockroach. When I am within her eye-line, she loathes me and looks for ways to eradicate me. Outside of that, I can do as I please. So spare me the honour of meeting your ‘family’, thanks.” They’d arrived at the vending machine then, and she’d held out her hand for the dollar he was already rifling around his pockets for.

(Somehow the solution was shared custody - something Emmett joked about regularly. They had their table in the corner, where he would watch her eat vending machine snacks and listen to her talk, and on the days he sat with his siblings, she didn’t bother going to the cafeteria at all.)

—

The whole world is in slow motion when the paramedic takes over CPR. When they cut through her shirt (oh, she’s going to be mad) and try to restart her heart.

Once.

Twice.

(Third time lucky.)

The sound that he makes sounds like a sob, raw and harsh and desperate as whatever machine they’ve got connected to her beeps to life. They’ve got her, they’ve got her.

But whatever hope he has is lost as he reads the grim looks on the paramedics’ faces, the efficient way they move around her and get her into the ambulance. The way she’s so pale and limp on the gurney. Their emotions are distant, not allowing themselves to really invest in the dying girl before them because they have to do their jobs.

Edward had remained at his side silently, watching over proceedings. He doesn’t know where Rose or Emmett are. He can still hear Jennifer sobbing, and he wants her to shut up because her emotions are too revealing - she’s more scared than repentant.

They slam the doors to the ambulance and he wonders if that’s the last memory he’ll have of her still alive, broken and bleeding. If the next doors that close on her will be in an autopsy drawer, after her uncle identifies her.

He feels sick.

“Jasper.”

Edward’s voice sounds patient, like he’s been trying to get his attention for a few minutes.

“Jasper, we can go. They’re sending us home. Carlisle’s in the ER waiting for her. He’s going to do all that he can. He’ll update us when he gets home.”

Carlisle. Carlisle can put her back together. He’s good at that. He can wait for Carlisle.

Somehow, he stands up, and follows Edward back to the car - it’s like he’s on autopilot. He’s holding tight to something - her bag, he realises. He doesn’t remember picking it up.

(Emmett and Rosalie look worried, and he’s grateful neither of them speak to him. If he opens his mouth, he’s not sure what will come out.)

—

Sometimes he wonders what it would be like to run his fingers through her hair.

(He would never admit that to anyone, not under pain of death. And frankly, if she knew he had ever thought that about her, she’d probably murder him on the spot - humanity be damned.)

She wears it long, too long, and keeps threatening to cut it off. But it’s black and shiny and looks so impossibly soft. He likes watching her braid it, absentmindedly weaving the strands together as she talks, likes the way she wears it over one shoulder and plays with it as they walk the halls. The way it makes her eyes look so much brighter.

(Sometimes, when he’s alone, he wonders other things as well. Things that are embarrassing and stupid, and that he locks up tight behind a wall in his head. He’s just been alone too long, and she’d eat him alive.)

—

He waits in Carlisle’s office.

They send all the witnesses home after the ambulance departs, sirens blaring. There are parents arriving at the school, police roaming around, local news and media hoping for interviews. It's easier for everyone if the students just... leave.

He takes her bag with him. Most of the contents are destroyed, and he makes a mental note to ask Esme to order replacements for her make up - it had been important to her. Her phone is smashed to uselessness, but he’s certain they still have a few spares in the house somewhere.

Esme looks so worried when she sees them, horrified when Edward explains what happened. She goes to hug him, but he vanishes upstairs to wait.

Carlisle’s working the ER. Carlisle will fix her, Carlisle can save her.

(But would he? Would he save her if that was all that was left to do? Would he consider it or even think of it? Would Carlisle know that Alice was important enough? The worry, the fear, weighs so heavily on him that it takes all that he is not to start yelling or crying or … something.)

He waits.

Esme checks on him, tells him to shower.

Rosalie checks on him, tells him that she’s impressed with his control. Her blood is still under his nails, and he hasn’t thought about it once.

Emmett checks on him, to let him know that Carlisle’s pulling a double shift and won’t be home until after ten, with the sympathy that it’s another four hours to wait.

Edward stays away, having already dug Alice’s grave and seeing no reason to try and convince Jasper of the inevitable.

(Why is this time different? Edward wants to ask. You killed her twenty-five times before. Why is she special this time? And there aren’t words to explain the way she looks at him over her sunglasses and orders him to just drive, Whitlock. The way she has a permanently bruised elbow from jabbing him in the ribs. The way he can just say any shit to her about who and what they are and who he is, and he doesn’t have to hide anything because he’s already murdered her a bunch of times; she knows him better than anyone. And that’s why this time is different.)

The study is dark when Carlisle’s Mercedes finally pulls into the drive; Esme warns him as soon as he’s in the house.

He waits - Carlisle has a routine when he gets home (coat on the hook, bag under the table, a kiss for Esme, an update on the day from Esme and anyone else in the living room), and there’s no reason to rush. She’s just as dead or just as alive if he lets Carlisle greet his wife before demanding answers.

Carlisle looks shaken when he sees Jasper. At the haunted look on his son’s face, at the dried blood streaked on him. At the bald-faced desperate hope on his face, but the grief looming over his shoulder.

And maybe instead of words, Carlisle just reaches out and wraps his arm around Jasper.

(He should have been there to drive her to school.)

—

He gets a text two days later, from an unknown number.

(She’s in ICU, black and blue all over, with stitches bisecting her right cheek, casts and bandages, and a great chunk shaved out of her hair, flipping him the bird with Nice try, Whitlock. You owe me another coffee underneath it. And if the relief hits him so suddenly he has to sit down and take a breath, no one else needs to know. He feels wrecked and raw, the image of her unmoving amongst the broken glass burnt into his retinas.

(Death smells like violets and ash and rainwater. But so does his best friend, and she’s going to be okay.)

[sapphireufo]

911 Season 1 Episode 1

I always find it amusing when people say the CPR is not real on TV or it looks bad. Of course, it does. If you give CPR to a person who doesn't need it, well soon they will need it. Probably you could make it more believable but honestly, if you think anything in these kinds of series is correct, then think again. Same with newborns looking older and bigger. Who wants their couple hours old baby working already on a set?

I watched it last year for the first time. I saw a few clips before, so I knew they become better characters but honestly Buck, Hen and Chimney took some time to get used to and for me to start to really like them, but Bobby was my favourite from the first confession. However, they all were complex from the start, that I could appreciate. (Actually, there are times in the first season when the writing - especially the dialogue - is so cringe, but the characters are so human and real from the beginning and I love it.)

Evan ‘I love kids’ Buckley is showing himself in the first episode.

Athena is a badass and that family breakfast was great. I live for the drama. I didn’t know then how much I would love Michael.

Every moment of the snake call was hilarious. I loved it!

Hen’s empathy is so great to see and the first thing I liked about her. Buck owning up to his mistakes is also a good point.

Abby is a bit out of place yet, but not bad.

The episodes second half showed the potential of these stories, characters and I really liked it.

[killed-by-choice]

Sherika Mayo, 23 (USA 2008)

In 2008, 23-year-old Sherika Mayo had an abortion when she was 25 weeks pregnant.

Sherika had sickle cell disease and a low level of hemoglobin. Healthy hemoglobin levels would have been between 12 and 16 (for a woman her age), but Sherika’s hemoglobin measured in at only 7.3 gms. Since the abortion was purely elective, the safest decision would have been to not proceed with the abortion and to instead give Sherika a blood transfusion until her hemoglobin was at least 9 gms. She needed real medical care, not abortion.

Instead of sending Sherika to get medical help, Tyrone Maloy proceeded with the abortion, killing both Sherika and her baby. Records show that he told Sherika her baby was younger than the actual age.

Sherika’s heart stopped. She was transferred to the hospital (Atlanta Medical Center) while the paramedics continued CPR. Upon arriving at the hospital, Sherika had a distended abdomen and vaginal bleeding. ER staff called for a gynecologist. Emergency surgery was performed to remove Sherika’s damaged uterus and repair an injured bowel. (The abortionist insisted that the bowel was injured during this surgery, not during the abortion. There was no evidence whatsoever that this was true.) It was also noticed that Malloy lacerated Sherika’s cervix.

Because of her abortion injuries, Sherika developed a disorder called DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, a life-threatening clotting disorder sometimes caused by trauma or infection), a complication frequently seen in abortion deaths. She was treated with blood products but died in the ICU on March 21, 2008.

After Sherika was killed, the State Medical Board of Georgia reviewed the case and determined that abortionist Tyrone Malloy “failed to conform to minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing medical practice” in the following ways:

Sherika’s blood count was low; since this was an elective procedure, she should have been provided with a transfusion to bring her blood hemoglobin level up to at least 9 gm.

Blood clotting tests should have been performed prior to the abortion.

Malloy should have more accurately determined the gestational age because the risk of amniotic fluid embolism (which can cause the clotting disorder that ultimately killed Sherika) increases with increased gestational age and additional “intrauterine manipulation.”

Malloy, who had already been responsible for the death of a newborn in 1999, was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and to take continuing education classes. After this, he was allowed to continue with his career as an abortionist, leading to more deaths. He was later convicted and jailed for felony offenses, and yet was still allowed to sell abortions after he got out of jail. He is still allowed to continue his abortion business to this day despite a long criminal record and list of malpractice lawsuits.

(Georgia Composite Medical Board public reprimand)

(other Medical Board documents)