#do we need to move my roommates stuff? yeah i know she left it out in the common area but like. maybe let’s not touch it bc she’ll get upset

[milk-lover]

Ohhh my gosh my parents are so exhausting. I love them but goddamn i just want to sleep for 100 years. This was day 2 of Family Time we have Brunch in less than 10 hours I am going to Die

[writingwithciara]

blinking lights -quinn hughes-

summary: with planes grounded for the holiday due the snow storm, y/n & quinn are forced to spend christmas together. but oddly enough, neither of them seem to mind much

word count: 3.4k

pairing: quinn hughes x roommate!reader

note: i LOVE writing roommate quinn honestly

"i'm sorry mom. i won't be able to make it home this year. all flights out of vancouver are cancelled." y/n looked at the website opened on her laptop. her mom was sighing on the other end of the line. "i know. i'm sorry. but i should be able to visit in the new year. i promise."

"it's okay honey. i'm just glad that you'll be safe." her mom sighed again. "are your roommates stranded too?"

"i'm not sure. quinn left earlier to catch a flight so it's a possibility."

"well for you sake, i hope you're not alone for the holidays."

"i hope so too, mom." y/n looked up when the door opened. "gotta go, mom. quinn's home."

"okay sweetie. i'll call you tomorrow."

"alright. sounds good. love you."

as y/n hung up, quinn sat next to her on the couch.

"no luck?"

"unfortunately." y/n sighed and closed her laptop. "i'm guessing the same goes for you?"

"yeah. it kinda sucks. it's the first christmas i won't be able to see my family."

"at least neither of us will be alone this year."

"fair point." quinn chuckled and turned on the tv. "what should we watch?"

"frosty the snowman. always makes me feel better."

"got it." quinn smiled and put the movie on. he glanced around the bare apartment. "since we'll both be here for christmas, why don't we decorate? we can also combine traditions and do them together."

"i guess it beats sitting in an empty apartment. we definitely need some christmas spirit in this place."

"strongly agree. we'll go out tomorrow to get some decorations and we'll make a day of decorating and traditions."

"alright." y/n turned her attention to the tv screen. "my mom is supposed to call me tomorrow and she may want to talk to you."

"why?"

"i don't know. i suppose it's because i talk about you a lot but i think she's not sure if you're a guy or a girl. never really specified, honestly." she smiled. "i'm only telling you now so you're not completely shocked when she calls."

"alright." he smiled. "should i expect any questions?"

"she'll probably asked why i'm living with you and stuff like that."

"okay. i think i can handle it." quinn smiled.

after the movie, they both went to their rooms to get some sleep. decorating their apartment was going to be a huge task but if anyone could do it, it's y/n & quinn.

the next morning, y/n woke up early and sent her mom a text.

hey mom. i'm going shopping with quinn today and we're gonna be decorating our apartment after. i'll call you later, alright? love you <3

the second she heard quinn moving around in his room, she smiled and put on a pot of coffee. y/n watched him walk into the kitchen slowly. he smiled at her and sat at the counter.

"ready to shop for decorations today?"

"you bet." y/n smiled and poured them each a cup of coffee. she was excited to spend more time with quinn than she was used to. for the past 3 years, she had been harboring a crush on her roommate but the timing to tell him was never right. he was almost always in a relationship and his girlfriends barely liked her. they tolerated her, at best. and that was why she didn't spend a whole lot of time with him.

when the time came, quinn drove them to the seasonal store downtown. they went their separate ways once inside so they could get the decorations faster and have more time putting everything up.

while walking down the 'gifts for her' aisle, quinn saw something on the shelf that he knew y/n would love. it was so perfectly her that he just couldn't pass it up. he couldn't help the way his heart beat faster just thinking of what her reaction would be. he was so far gone for her but didn't want to risk pushing her away. especially not when she was finally spending time with him again.

it took 20 minutes to get everything and quinn insisted on paying for everything. he didn't y/n to see the gift he was getting her.

when they got home, quinn quickly hid the gift in his room, deciding he would wrap it tonight and give it to her in the morning. by the time he made it back to the living room, y/n had all the decorations sorted out in piles based on each room they were going to work on.

"so i figured you could get started in the kitchen while i worked out here. fair warning, i may need your help after."

"then why don't we work together?" he chuckled. "wouldn't that make more sense?"

"well i was going to play christmas music and when i dance, it looks weird."

"i highly doubt that." he smiled. "i've seen you dance before."

"that was always choreographed or because i was drunk. but i'm sober and don't want to make a fool of myself."

"y/n, i don't think you're capable of doing such a thing. just let me help you out here."

"alright, fine. but no judging me on my dance moves, hughes."

"i would never." quinn smiled and grabbed a box of lights. he grabbed the necessary items to get started while y/n put some music on the speaker. "wanna start on opposite ends and meet in the middle?"

"yes sir." y/n grabbed the other decorations and went across the room. halfway through the 3rd song, quinn was done hanging lights. he turned to look at y/n. she was dancing and in her own little world and quinn couldn't help but admire her more. how could she think she'd look like a fool? he thought she was beautiful and one day, he was going to get the courage to tell her.

when y/n turned around to grab something, she noticed quinn staring at her. it suddenly made her self conscious. "what?"

"nothing. i was just watching you dance."

"oh. i'm sorry about that. i told you i looked like a fool when i dance sober."

"quite the opposite actually. it was pretty cute." he chuckled and headed to the kitchen to start decorating, leaving y/n to stare with red cheeks.

it took her a minute to follow but when she finally got to the kitchen, quinn was already halfway through decorating.

"wow. you work fast." y/n smiled and instead of offering to help, she just leaned against the counter and watched him.

"yeah. sorry about that. i just couldn't help myself. i know you wanted to help with the decorating."

"no. it's perfectly fine. i like observing." y/n smirked and pulled out a mug. she poured herself some hot chocolate and sipped it while quinn went back to work. while he worked, y/n climbed onto the counter and smiled. this was the perfect way to admire quinn without feeling too guilty.

by the time quinn was finished, y/n had a mug of hot chocolate made for him. when she handed it to him, their fingers brushed against each other, causing y/n to draw her hand back quickly. the moment was interrupted when y/n's phone was ringing. she glanced down at the caller id.

"it's my mom." y/n showed him the phone and hit the 'accept' button. her moms face filled the screen in seconds. "hey mom."

"hey sweetie. how's your day?"

"it's good. quinn and i have been decorating for an hour. the place looks amazing. wanna see it?"

"in a minute. i want to meet your roommate."

y/n looked up and held the phone out to quinn. he took it and moved to stand beside y/n so they'd both be on the screen.

"hi. it's nice to finally meet you."

"oh my. you're certainly not what i was expecting."

"y/n informed me that you would say something like that." he smiled.

"how's it going, living with my baby?"

"mom!" y/n turned her face into quinn's shoulder while he chuckled.

"it's great. we're having the best time." he couldn't stop smiling. y/n's head fit perfectly in his shoulder. it was like a dream come true to have her this close. "she's amazing and probably my best friend."

"i'm glad she has such a good friend, honestly. i was so worried about her."

"you don't have to worry about her now. she's in good hands." he chuckled and threw his arm around y/n's shoulder. she grabbed the phone from him and smiled.

"alright. we gotta finish decorating. i'll talk to you later. bye mom. i love you."

"bye you guys. love you too."

after she hung up, y/n turned to quinn. "i'm your best friend, huh?"

"yeah, actually." he turned to stand across from her. "and it kind of hurt when you distanced yourself a little bit over the last 2 years. thought it was something i did. but i'm really glad you're coming back around."

"yeah i'm sorry about that. but none of your girlfriends liked me so i thought it'd be easier for your relationships if i wasn't around a whole lot."

"why didn't they like you?"

"i don't know." y/n shrugged and turned to refill her mug. "but for the record, you're my best friend too."

"glad to hear it." quinn smiled slightly before walking out to the living room. although he had just called her his best friend, he didn't like hearing the word come from her mouth.

"quinn," y/n called out after him as she followed him into the living room. "i'm never going to distance myself from you again, okay? it was hurting me too."

"i'm sorry you felt like you had to give me space. and i'm really sorry they didn't like you. i don't understand why they didn't. you're one of the most likeable people i know."

"i try to be. and i don't understand why they didn't. but it's all in the past and i've learned from my mistakes." y/n sat and looked at him. "i can never stay away from you, quinn. it'll probably kill me."

"well i'm glad you're sticking around because it would probably kill me too, if i'm being honest." he turned to face her and smiled. "so, are there any traditions you have with your family that we can do tonight?"

"my mom and i usually bake cookies and eat some random take-out while watching home alone or how the grinch stole christmas. but we don't have to do that."

"why not? it sounds like fun."

"you'd really want to bake cookies with me?" y/n's eyes widened and she couldn't help the way her smile grew.

"of course. if it makes you happy, then i'll do anything."

y/n tried to ignore the way her heart wanted to beat out of her chest. never in her life had she met a guy so willing to do anything she had asked. it took everything in her not to launch herself across the couch and kiss him. she had to keep reminding herself that they were just friends.

while they baked cookies, both of them enjoyed the closeness of the other. side by side and covered in flour. usually, quinn hated messes but with y/n, he didn't care.

when they put the cookies in the oven, quinn wiped his hands on a towel.

"i'm gonna go take a shower. you order dinner and pick out the movie. i'll be out in a bit." quinn didn't wait for her to reply. he just headed into the bathroom to shower. he spent half an hour in their and when he got out to get dressed, he realized that with his quick exit, he forgot to grab a new shirt from his room. the one he was wearing was covered in flour but luckily the rest of his clothes were fine. he put on his shorts and walked out into the hallway.

y/n looked up from the couch and watched quinn walk into his room. she only got a brief look at him but she was still speechless, regardless of having seen him without a shirt many times. she quickly turned her attention to the tv when he came walking back out to join her on the couch.

"food should be here in 10 minutes and i decided to go with home alone this year. is that okay?"

"it's perfect." quinn smiled and threw his arm around the back of the couch. the couch was big enough for at least 7 people but they were sitting on the same cushion. not close enough to be touching but close enough to feel the heat radiating off of each other. and every few seconds, quinn's thumb would rub against y/n's shoulder. but neither of them seemed to care.

when the food arrived, quinn went to grab it. and when he sat back down, he was closer to y/n than before. as they ate, y/n tried not to focus on the closeness of her best friend. it was hard but she was able to do it.

until he swung his arm back over the couch. he may as well have just placed it across her shoulder with the way his hand was resting there. as they watched the movie, quinn had moved his arm down to where it was actually resting across y/n. she looked at him with an innocent smile, which he adored, then went back to watching the rest of the movie.

when the movie was finally over, y/n stood up and stretched. "well i'm gonna get ready for bed."

"before you do, i was wondering if you wanted to take part in one of my family's traditions."

"it's not going to be something weird, is it?"

"no." he smiled. "unless you count wearing matching pajamas to bed on christmas eve."

"oh my gosh. my family does the same thing." y/n giggled. "wait, do we have matching pajamas?"

"yeah. i bought them a few days ago and was intending to give you a pair before i left for the holidays but i guess it was just meant to happen this way. be right back." quinn smiled and ran to his room. he returned seconds later with the pjs. "i hope you like them."

"they're a gift from you, quinn. i always like those." y/n smiled and headed into her room to change. quinn did the same and they managed to come out at the same time. all he could so was admire the way the clothes fit y/n perfectly. "how did you know my size?"

"because i know you." quinn chuckled, not wanting to admit it was because he stared at her so long that he memorized everything.

"you're the most perfect roommate, quinn." she smiled and threw her arms around him. "thank you."

he immediately hugged her back. "you're welcome."

"okay. well it's bed time now. i'll see you in the morning. good night quinn." y/n ran off the her room to try to get some sleep. but she knew that would be impossible, due to the overwhelming attraction she was feeling. if she didn't tell quinn soon, her emotions were going to shut her down.

as quinn sat at the desk in his room, he couldn't stop thinking about how excited y/n had been when she came out in the pjs. he had seen her happy many times but there was just something different this time.

he wrapped her gift neatly and set it down beside his bed. it was going to be the first thing he grabbed in the morning and he hoped she would love it as much as he loved her.

when the sun rose the next morning, quinn grabbed the box and headed out to the kitchen. y/n was normally a morning person so he was surprised that she hadn't woken up yet. he set the box on the counter and began making coffee. just as he was adding the finishing touches to y/n's coffee, she walked out of her room.

"good morning, quinn."

"good morning, y/n" he smiled and handed her the coffee. when she took a sip, her whole body instantly warmed up.

"this is the best coffee i've ever tasted. thank you." she grinned and continued to drink it as they both made their way onto the couch.

"so what else does your family do for christmas?"

"we stay in our pjs all day and spend time together. it's pretty boring but if you're around the right people, you can have the best time."

"well then that's exactly what we will do today." quinn smiled. "oh, before i forget, i have a present for you. close your eyes." he got off the couch and grabbed the gift from the kitchen before returning. "i hope you like it."

y/n unwrapped it carefully and opened the box. she pulled out a teddy bear with a canucks jersey on. and not just any jersey. a demko jersey. he even came with mini goalie pads and a helmet.

"i know how much you love thatcher so when i saw this, i just knew i had to get it for you."

"i love it so much. thank you, quinn." y/n set the bear down and hugged quinn. "i didn't get you anything. i'm sorry."

"it's alright. you being here is enough of a present for me." he rubbed her back and smiled. when y/n pulled back a little, her whole expression had changed. she was still happy but there were tears in her eyes.

"i appreciate that, quinn. but i feel like it's just not enough to make you truly happy."

"y/n, you're more than enough. you are the perfect gift."

y/n smiled and placed her lips on his. he was shocked at first and just as y/n was about to break the kiss, quinn pulled her closer and kissed her back. they stayed in that position for a few minutes before either one of them wanted to let go. when they separated, quinn rested his forehead against y/n's and smiled.

"if i had known that would be the outcome, i would've told you those words a long time ago." he smiled and held her face. "i've been wanting to say it for as long as i've known you but the timing was never right. you had steven and i had my own relationships. but i guess that's kind of a cowards excuse, huh?"

"nothing about you says 'coward', quinn." y/n smiled and closed her eyes. "you're the most kind, patient and sweetest man i've ever known in my life. these last 3 years of random relationships and hook-ups have all brought us to this exact moment. the moment where i can finally tell you that i've had the biggest crush on you for the past 3 years. i know it sounds insane but i like you a lot quinn. and maybe that's why your girlfriends were always jealous. they could probably tell how i felt and they didn't want me around to screw up their chances with you. that's why i had to keep a distance from you. i didn't want to have to make you choose between me and them because it would've been a losing battle for me."

"if that had ever happened, you would've won every single time. i never really cared about all those other girls. the only one that matters to me, is you. and i hope i conveyed that well enough in that kiss."

"seems pretty evident now." y/n smiled and finally opened her eyes. "guess that was kind of stupid of me, wasn't it?"

"not at all." quinn smiled. "like you said, the last 3 years of random relationships have brought us to this moment right here. the most perfect moment." he placed a kiss on her lips again but didn't give her enough time to reciprocate. "i love you, y/n. everything about you is so perfect and it's been driving me crazy for 3 years."

"i can't believe that the planes being grounded are the reason we're here together."

"me either. but i wouldn't change it for anything."

"i wouldn't either." y/n leaned up to kiss him again. "for the record, i love you too."

[yoongiseesawmp3]

cupid - seungcheol (m)

summary: brother’s best friend!seungcheol. you move in with your brother joshua while you look for a new place, so you finally meet his best friend and roommate seungcheol. you’ve only heard stories, so you’re not prepared for the good looks or the charm that he constantly exudes. after a really bad date, you need someone to save you, and with joshua mia, seungcheol comes to the rescue.

word count: 9.3k

warnings: smut!!! afab reader. unprotected sex. gendered terms (pretty girl, reader referred to as sister/sis). thigh riding. a little oral (m receiving).

masterlist

“jesus, how many boxes do you have?” joshua complains as you hand him another box of books to lug into his apartment. 

“only a couple more,” you tell him. “these are all the things i couldn’t fit in storage.”

“get a bigger unit next time,” your brother grumbles as you start the walk back into his building. 

“no,” you say stubbornly, and you can almost hear him roll his eyes. “why did you park so far away?”

“why are you complaining!” he shrieks. “i’m doing something very nice for you! be grateful!” 

“i am,” you say as you rush to open the door for him, and he quietly thanks you. “seriously, you don’t know how much this is helping me, big bro. i was about to have a breakdown trying to find a place before my old lease ended.”

“i heard,” joshua laughs. “mom called me the other week and told me to check on you, she thought you were losing it.”

“yeah, well,” you sigh, “if i had to deal with those roommates any longer i was going to.”

“so you’re looking for a place by yourself?” joshua asks as the elevator dings. he lets you go in first, reminding you of what floor to press before you respond.

“yeah, i can finally afford one, so i figured it would be nice to have my own space.”

“i can understand that,” he nods.

“you happy living with your roommates?” you ask. “not ready to give up your frat boy days from college?”

“shut up,” he says. “not all of us got good jobs right after graduation. i need roommates if i wanna live in this area.”

“and remind me of their names again?” you ask, the elevator stopping on your floor. you let joshua go first, following him down the hall and trying to remember the unit number.

“well there’s seungcheol, or cheol,” josh starts. “you haven’t met him yet, he’ll be home later.” he unlocks the door and lets you in as he goes on. “and then mingyu-”

“i remember him,” you say happily, glad to know there’ll be a familiar face here.

“and i remember the little crush you used to have on him,” joshua smiles evilly. 

“i did not!”

“hm, you sure?”

“swear on your life.”

“whatever,” he laughs. “anyway, he’s got a girlfriend now, and we haven’t seen him here for longer than a couple hours since they started dating. so you can stay in his room until you find a place.”

“oh no, i couldn’t-”

“he doesn’t mind,” joshua waves you off, your box placed ungracefully on the floor. “seriously, he doesn’t even keep his stuff here anymore. it won’t be an issue.”

“if you say so,” you sigh. “ok, one more trip?”

“nope,” joshua shakes his head before laying on the couch. “you’ve used up all your favors for today.”

“what a helpful brother you are,” you deadpan. “give me the keys. i’ll go get the rest of my stuff. alone!” 

“sounds good!” josh replies, tossing his keys to you dangerously. “don’t get lost!” 

“no promises!” you shout back, locking the door behind you as you go. you thankfully don’t have much left to bring up, so you’re able to grab a majority of your things this trip. what’s left you can get later, because you’re exhausted. now that you know you have a bed and not an air mattress to sleep on, the idea of laying down is becoming more and more appealing. only problem with you grabbing so many things is now you can’t open the door on your own. thankfully, a guy who must live here too rushes over to hold it for you, nodding when you thank him for the help. he catches the elevator for you both before it closes, sticking his arm out so the doors won’t close in on you as you bring your things inside.

“what floor?” he asks, and you start to reply when you see your floor already selected.

“oh, you’ve got it already,” you tell him, and he nods. end of the conversation, it seems, until you get to the floor and start walking in the same direction. you slow down, waiting for him to maybe turn off at a different door, but, yep, he’s unlocking the door to joshua’s apartment. you stand in the hallway stunned for a moment before you go up and knock the door, not wanting to dig for the keys now that your hands are full. mystery man comes to the door, and you stutter out a greeting.

“don’t tell me you lost my keys already,” joshua calls from within the apartment, and the man, who must be seungcheol, looks between you both.

“you’re joshua’s sister?” he asks, and you nod. he steps aside, letting you in, as he says, “sorry, i didn’t realize. i’m seungcheol.”

“i pieced that together,” you smile. “nice to meet you. thanks for letting me stay here a while.”

“no problem,” he replies. “joshua didn’t really give us a choice anyway.”

“josh you said they were fine with me being here!” you whine, looking for your brother, who pops his head out of the kitchen with a smirk. 

“he’ll get used to it. you hungry, y/n?”

“starving.”

“cheol?”

“i can eat,” he shrugs, eyeing you carefully as you put your things down. josh didn’t say his sister was hot. well, that would be weird. he just didn’t say much about you other than you’re a couple years younger and in need of a place to crash, so the fact that cheol can’t take his eyes off of you is a bit conflicting for the man. he looks away before you can catch him staring, clearing his throat before he says, “um, i’m gonna go wash up.”

“oh, can you show me where the bathroom is?” you ask.

“uh, sure,” cheol says awkwardly, walking down the hall as you follow. he points to one door and says, “that’s joshua’s room, not sure if he said that already. your’s is back there,” he points to a door further down on the right, and then to the door behind you, “that’s your bathroom. you’ll share with your brother.”

“it’s like i’m a kid again,” you joke, and cheol smiles softly. “where’s your room?”

“what?” cheol sputters.

“well is there another bathroom? you said josh and i would share this one, i’m just curious,” you go on. “sorry if i’m prying.”

“no, yeah, um, i have the master suite since i found the place for us,” he explains. “the guys let me have it as a thanks for doing all the apartment hunting.”

“it’s a nice place,” you note, and he hums in agreement. 

“ok, well, um, i’m going,” he says, pointing to his room.

“right, right, sorry,” you say, waving him off. you step into the bathroom to rinse your face off, removing some of the sweat from your long day. you head back out into the kitchen to bother joshua and he looks up as you walk in.

“so how do you like the place?” he questions, and you tell him it’s nice. without looking at you he asks next, “and how do you like cheol?”

“he’s a little awkward, actually,” you reply. “you sure he’s cool with me staying here? i won’t be here long, if it bothers him.”

“he’ll be fine,” josh waves you off. “he may just be tired. looks like he was coming back from the gym so he’ll be better after his nap and a snack. he’s like a toddler.”

“noted,” you laugh. “you need help with anything?”

“nah, you can start unpacking your stuff,” josh says. “i’ll call you when the food’s ready.”

“joshua?”

“yeah?” he asks, turning to look at you. 

“thank you for letting me stay here. really.”

“anytime,” he smiles. “just remember we share a bathroom again, so no long ass showers.”

“way to ruin the moment,” you laugh. 

you end up going back to “your” room to change, putting some of your clothes away in mingyu’s empty dresser. he really must spend all his time at that girl’s place, you think. you take your toiletries into the bathroom, squatting in front of the sink so you can arrange them among joshua’s countless bottles. as you’re balancing and trying not to knock over something in an expensive glass bottle, cheol walks down the hallway in a tank top and sweats, water droplets still sticking to his chest. the sight of him booking it takes you by surprise, so you fall onto your ass and shake your head, clearing whatever strange thoughts the sight of a damp seungcheol were bringing to your mind. 

meanwhile, cheol joins joshua in the kitchen, opting to sit at the counter while josh finishes the noodles. he wants to say something about you, but isn’t sure how to bring it up without seeming weird. he also doesn’t have much time before you come out of your room, so cheol just goes for it.

“um, does y/n need help moving anything else, you think?” cheol offers, and josh looks over his shoulder nonchalantly.

“you can ask her,” he shrugs. “i’m tapped out for the night though, so i’m sure she is too.”

“ok,” cheol nods. he starts playing on his phone, not noticing you walking into the kitchen until joshua starts complaining about something.

“what, i can’t drink your water?” you whine back, frustrated that your brother won’t let you have one of the bottles in the fridge.

“because those aren’t mine!” joshua informs you. “they’re cheol’s, so at least as him before you take one.”

“seungcheol, can i please have one of your waters? i can get the next case if you want,” you say as you turn around, and it takes cheol a second to focus. you’re wearing an old concert t shirt (cheol is pretty sure he has that same one) and shorts that are barely there. cheol is distracted by the sight of your thighs on display and it takes his brain a second to catch up, so he nods before he really knows what he’s agreeing to.

“wait, what? you don’t have to buy more water,” he says, finally there. “have as much as you want. joshua’s just weird.”

“you’re telling me,” you say as you hop up onto the counter.

“i hate when you do that,” josh says, turning to you with his hand on his hip. 

“you know when you do that you look just like mom?”

“shut up.”

“you!” 

“oh my god!” cheol interjects with a laugh. “are you two going to bicker all the time?”

“no,” you say in unison. 

“most of the time though,” you add, and joshua scoffs.

“only when y/n annoys me.”

“am i gonna have to play referee for you two?” cheol asks. “my god.”

“sorry,” you apologize. “we’ll cut it out. right josh?”

“whatever,” he mumbles, pulling the pot from the stove. “y/n can you get a pot holder from that drawer under you and put it on the table for me?”

“yeah, hold on,” you say, moving with a quickness. “don’t burn yourself.”

“i’m being careful,” josh says softly, and cheol laughs to himself at how quickly you can go from bickering to caring for each other. you both join him at the counter, you struggling to get into the tall chair. 

“watch it shorty,” he teases, making you blush. 

“oh no, i can’t deal with both of you teasing me,” you scold. “so zip it. i’ve got little legs.”

“hm, it’s cute,” cheol says loud enough for you to hear but quiet enough that josh doesn’t catch it over the sound of shuffling bowls. he passes them out and starts serving you and cheol. “thanks man.”

“yeah thanks mom,” you joke, and josh mumbles an expletive before eating his food.

-

after eating, you and joshua were both so tired you just went to your rooms. cheol however stayed out in the kitchen, promising he would clean up. instead, he politely snoops through your things, trying to learn more about you through your boxes of junk. he doesn’t touch anything, just looks, so he doesn’t feel that bad about it. he takes note of the books laying on top of one box, jotting down the titles so he can try to find some of them later. he smiles when he sees a soccer jersey falling out of a duffel bag, and he’s about to break his no touching rule when he hears a loud, “HEY!” from the hallway. he jumps at the sound, bumping his elbow on one of the boxes and toppling books over. he whirls around to find you, clad in a baggy sleep shirt with tired eyes watching on in amusement.

“what the hell are you doing?” you question, and cheol tries to stammer out a response.

“i uh, i saw a bug,” he lies, and you nod. 

“hm, i thought josh would keep his house cleaner than that,” you judge. 

“i’m the pig in this relationship, it’s probably my fault,” cheol says as he follows you back into the kitchen. “couldn’t sleep?”

“no, i’m still hungry,” you grumble. “the noodles were my only meal today.”

“you need to eat more,” cheol scolds and you wave him off as you open the fridge.

“whose lunchable is this?” you ask over your shoulder.

“look at me,” cheol gestures. “do i look like i eat those?” you stare maybe a little longer and harder than you should, prompting cheol to ask, “find something else you like?”

“what? no,” you shake your head. “i should’ve known it was my brother’s. he lived off of these for a month when he was younger.”

“really?” cheol chuckles. “what was joshua like as a kid?”

“hm, angelic?” you say sarcastically, hopping back up on the counter like you were earlier. you start eating your lunchable as you keep talking. “he was the perfect one and i was the biter.”

“the biter?” 

“i bit so many kids i almost got kicked out of school,” you confirm. “sorry. don’t know why i just told you that. it’s embarrassing.”

“it’s okay,” cheol smiles. “you still like to bite people now?”

“only when provoked,” you say suspiciously. 

“i’ll remember that.”

“so you really don’t mind me staying here?” you ask with cracker crumbs on your lips. cheol finds that captivating, so he keeps his eyes on your lips as he responds.

“i really don’t mind,” he nods. “i’m just happy we could help. josh was worried about you for a while.”

“yeah, well, he never liked my roommates-”

“or the area you were in,” cheol says sternly. “he said it wasn’t safe.”

“oh it wasn’t,” you nod. “but it was cheap.”

“still, you need to be careful,” cheol tells you.

“didn’t know i was signing up for a bonus brother by staying here,” you tease.

“i’m not being a bonus brother, i’m simply a concerned citizen,” he says, hand over his heart. you fall silent while you finish eating, and cheol does his best to commit your form to memory. he wants you to be embedded in his eyelids when he lays down and closes his eyes tonight, and he only feels bad for a nanosecond that he feels this way about his friend’s baby sister. 

“ok, well, thank you for the company,” you say as you look for the trashcan. 

“under the sink,” cheol says, anticipating what you were looking for and keeping his eyes on you still. “all good?” he asks when you’ve thrown everything away, and you nod. “alright, well, good night.”

“night seungcheol,” you say with an awkward wave as you go back to your room. when you’re halfway down the hall you hear cheol call your name, so you turn to find his eyes smiling at you.

“call me cheol, i like that better.”

“oh, ok. night cheol,” you try again, and he happily nods. 

-

when you wake up the next morning, you hear someone in the kitchen and assume joshua must be up and about. you wrap a blanket around yourself, laughing at the fact that mingyu has a pink fuzzy blanket in his room. you make your way into the kitchen, ready to complain about how cold you were last night. 

“dude, are you rich or something? why’d you run the ac all-” you stop short, staring at cheol’s bare back. he looks back at you, hair ruffled, and has the audacity to smirk. “sorry. thought you were josh.”

“he’s still asleep,” cheol replies, and you consider just going back to your room to hide until you’re sure your brother is out here as a buffer. with his back to you still, he asks, “do you want eggs?”

“uh, sure?”

“are you?” cheol laughs, turning around to face you fully. you’re doing your best to keep your eyes on his face, but when he crosses his arms over that broad chest of his you falter. “i promise i won’t put anything weird in em.”

“that’s reassuring,” you say with a yawn, letting the blanket fall slightly as you cover your mouth. cheol sees your sleep shirt again, this time stretched out from your movements as you slept, and he wonders for a moment if it would look like that after he uses it to pull you closer and- “do you mind if i make coffee?”

“go for it,” cheol says, grateful for the distraction from where his mind was going. “machine’s over there.”

“thanks,” you mumble, half asleep still. you stand in front of the coffee maker for a moment, brain processing what you need to get first.

“you need me to find the instruction manual?” cheol asks, watching you the whole time you were standing there. 

“make your eggs cheol.”

you empty the coffee grounds that were still in the bucket, then take a fresh filter from the stack on the counter. you move around cheol to fill the pot with water, making sure there’s enough for you all to have a cup if you want. after pouring the water in, you notice you’re missing one crucial thing. you check the counter, nothing. you try the drawers below you, then the cabinets below those. still nothing. you move to the pantry and spend a moment frustratedly moving things around in search of coffee and you come up empty once again. as you turn around to look everywhere once again, you almost jump out of your skin seeing cheol so close, watching you with an amused look in his eyes.

“jesus, you scared me,” you gasp.

“i’ll wear a bell next time,” he jokes. “looking for something?”

“the coffee, where do you keep it? please don’t tell me you’re out,” you whine, and cheol just smiles. 

“you can find it on your own, i believe in you.”

“what? no, tell me.”

“and why should i do that?” cheol asks seriously. 

“i don’t know, because i’m cute?” you joke. 

“yeah, you are,” cheol says, holding your gaze, quirking an eyebrow to challenge you. you swear you would deck him if he wasn’t so handsome. you whirl around to look in the pantry again before you hear cheol’s deep voice just barely say “colder.”

you look at him suspiciously, and he’s back to cooking the eggs. he’s keeping one eye on you though, sneaking looks at you and trying not to smile at how ridiculously cute you are being so frustrated over this. he prompts you with a few more “cold”/”colder” clues before you whine in exasperation.

“but i already checked over here,” you complain, back in front of the machine. “i’ll just go get coffee, forget this-” 

you reach out to turn the coffee maker off, and cheol mumbles “warmer.” your ears perk up, so you move your hand around the counter to get a clue. finally you lift your hand toward the cabinet above the coffee maker, and cheol says you’re getting warmer. 

“hot,” he says as you finally open the cabinet, “hotter, hotter than you are, hottest, you’re on fire! be careful!” he continues, even though you’ve found the coffee and you can now finish the pot you were making. “well that took a while.”

“because someone was being childish,” you chastise him, and cheol smiles like he just won the lottery.

“but it was fun!”

-

“why didn’t you like that place?” joshua asks as you leave another perfectly fine apartment. 

“there’s no dog park,” you reply, and your brother groans. loudly.

“you don’t even HAVE a dog,” he complains.

“but i want one! i can’t have a dog if there’s no where for it to go!”

 “come on y/n, that place was nice!” joshua tries hyping it up for you. “there was so much space, way too many closets which is good for you and all your junk, and that view was amazing.”

“the view was really nice,” you concede, and josh bumps shoulders with you as you keep walking toward his apartment.

“plus it’s walking distance from me,” he smiles. “so you can bother me whenever you want.”

“that is a plus.”

“and it means you’re close to cheol too...”

“what?” you stop and look at him, and he laughs.

“i’m just saying. it’d be easy for you to visit. doesn’t matter who you’re visiting.”

ignoring joshua’s insinuations, you go back to discussing the apartment you just saw. if you wanted to apply you needed to move fast, but you were nervous. joshua listened intently as you aired all your worries, and like the good big brother he is he calmly countered each ridiculous thought with logic and only a few jokes. by the time you were walking down his hallway, you were convinced that you’d found your apartment. you grab your laptop from mingyu’s room and start working on the application, joshua peering over your shoulder every once in a while to help you decipher what it’s asking for. you’re thankful for the help, and you turn to ask him another question and almost jump out of your skin.

“jesus, make some noise next time,” you gasp, seeing shirtless cheol behind you again. he was leaning over the couch, close enough that his chin could almost lean on your shoulder. 

“whatcha doin?” he asks with a cheshire cat-like grin.

“applying for an apartment,” you inform him, and you’re not sure but you think his face falls just slightly. “do you ever wear shirts at home?”

“why, is that a problem for you?” he asks. you feel like a goldfish, closing and opening your mouth like an idiot trying to decide how to respond.

“y/n?” joshua laughs as he comes back from the bathroom to see you mooning over his roommate. “you good?”

“i’m being heckled,” you finally reply, and cheol laughs. 

“i asked if she needed help, sorry if that’s heckling now,” he says as he moves away from the couch.

“it is when your tits are out,” you grumble, scrolling back to the page you were working on. cheol made you mess up, but don’t tell him that.

“not like you haven’t seen them before, sweets!” cheol teases, and joshua looks between you both in amusement.

“you’ve been staring at his tits, y/n?” 

“no, he just never has clothes on apparently,” you defend yourself. “he was shirtless this morning when we had breakfast too.”

“you had breakfast together?” joshua asks, looking to just cheol now. he had told josh he slept in today and that you must have made the mess in the kitchen. why didn’t he say he ate with you?

“we were in the same room when we ate, yeah,” cheol nods. joshua leaves it at that, mostly because you start whining about something you don’t understand on your application. he rejoins you at the couch and cheol goes to his room, silently cursing himself for letting josh catch him so easily. he didn’t want your brother knowing he was catching feelings, so he’ll have to play it cool from now on. 

-

speaking of being cool, the boys keep this apartment too cold. after your first freezing night, you wore more clothes to bed thinking that would keep you warm. unfortunately, you don’t know where your hoodies are, so you had to make do. so when you wake up in the middle of the night shivering, you stomp out of your room to go bang on your brother’s door. just as you’re raising your fist to bang on his door, you hear cheol’s open down the hallway.

“you again?” you groan, not missing the fact that cheol still isn’t wearing a shirt. “how are you not freezing?”

“i am,” he replies, and you fall silent. “i was getting up to change the thermostat.” 

“oh.”

“and you were..?”

“gonna complain about it to my brother?” you say sheepishly, making cheol laugh.

“joshua is the one that keeps it so cold, he would just tell you to go back to bed,” he tells you as he walks toward the thermostat. “you know you technically live here. you can adjust this if you want.”

“i know,” you nod, watching cheol move it to an acceptable temperature. 

“so why didn’t you?” he asks.

“i uh, didn’t think about it.”

“no?”

“that, and i don’t...know..how to use it...” you mumble, hoping cheol drops it.

“you don’t know how to use a thermostat?” he teases with that perpetual smirk he seems to always wear around you.

“no, and at this point in my life i think it’s too late to learn,” you say. “thank you for fixing it tonight, hopefully i won’t wake up frozen in the morning.”

you try to turn and head back to bed, but cheol grabs you by the back of your shirt and pulls you toward his warm chest. he places an arm around you lightly, turning you so you’re staring at the thermostat, trying very hard to ignore cheol’s direct stare as he speaks again.

“it’s easy sweets, just push this notch,” he demonstrates, “then push the up and down buttons to change the temperature. this is good for when you want it to be cool, but if you want to clean out my wallet you can keep it a couple degrees cooler.” he finishes and turns his head back toward you again, and you notice just how close he is. you’re afraid of moving, of speaking, but cheol takes care of that for you. “any questions?”

“yeah, can you move your arm?” you whisper. 

“no,” he whispers back. “why are you whispering?”

“because i’m scared?” cheol looks at you confused. “i’m afraid you’re gonna put me in a headlock.”

“you want me to?” he laughs, finally stepping back to give you some space. “do you need extra blankets or anything?”

“ah, no,” you reply. “i wanted to find my box of hoodies but i have no idea where it is, so the blankets in mingyu’s room will be fine.”

“you need a hoodie?” cheol asks, and without giving you a chance to respond he disappears into his room. he comes out with a mound of blue fabric in his hands before pushing it into your arms. “use this.”

“no, i can’t-”

“take it,” he says firmly. “or i’ll be forced to keep you warm myself.” at the sound of that threat, you hastily pull the hoodie on before thanking cheol and ducking back into your room for the night. he stands out in the hallway, smiling to himself.

-

you’re busy for a few days after that, finally settled at your brother’s place and able to focus back on work and finding back up apartments if the other place falls through. you’re not home much, and by the end of the week joshua sits you down to convince you that you need to go out. 

“josh, i’ve had such a long week,” you start to justify. “i don’t wanna go out this weekend. i’m afraid i’d fall asleep at the club.”

“no, no, i didn’t mean anything like that,” he clarifies. “i think you need to go on a date.”

“why?” you ask, a little shocked. joshua never cared about your love life, mostly just judging from afar (and sometimes not so afar). you tend to keep that part of your life private anyway, so it’s not like you let joshua be a part of it outside of obligatory meet the partner nights with your family.

“i don’t know,” he shrugs, “i just think you’d enjoy it. i actually have this friend-”

“oh god, please don’t do this-” you start to complain, afraid josh is about to set you up with cheol.

“no, no, hear me out,” josh continues. “he’s your age, he’s sweet, he’s cute i guess, and i think you’d really like him.”

“so i’m guessing you have all of this planned?” you ask, and joshua smiles.

“be ready tomorrow at 8. he’s picking you up, and i’ll be at jeonghan’s if you want to bring him back-”

“don’t say that please,” you request, holding your hand up. “i’ll go on the date but i don’t wanna hear my brother insinuate i’m gonna have sex at his apartment.”

“i didn’t say anything, you’re the one that insinuated,” joshua laughs as he gets up, passing behind you and kissing the top of your head as he goes to his room. “you’re gonna have a great time, sis.”

-

despite not wanting to go on this date, you were nervous. you don’t want to make a fool of yourself in front of this guy, because he’s friends with your brother and anything embarrassing will be brought to joshua and used to ridicule you for the rest of your life. you also don’t wanna write this guy off before you meet him, because he could be nice. maybe.

that fire is quickly put out when you actually meet the guy. his name is chan, but he claims josh and all their friends call him dino. you wanted to ask why, but you were afraid of the answer. you just smiled politely and tried to lock up quickly, hoping that the faster you move the quicker this date will be over. 

at the sound of the front door closing, cheol is stirred from his nap. he didn’t have any big plans, but he had gone to the gym earlier and exhausted himself so he thought he deserved some rest. he assumed the door sound meant you or joshua was home, but after checking he realized it was just him. he wonders for a moment if he should check on you, but he decides against it. instead he takes a shower and starts working on dinner, choosing a chill night to rest since he has the place to himself. 

meanwhile, your date is going horribly. first of all, chan was super awkward walking with you to his car, and then he didn’t speak much on the ride to dinner. oh, well, he did, except that was only his road rage coming out. you heard this man say more cuss words in a fifteen minute car ride than you’ve heard from anyone else all year. he’s said fuck more times than he’s said your name, and quite frankly you’re not confident he knows what it is. 

once you get to the restaurant, chan basically leaves you in the car. you’re not a damsel in distress, you don’t need a man to open your door for you, but it would be nice if the man you’re on a date with would at least wait until you’re out of the car to head toward the restaurant. you make it to the curb and don’t know where chan has gone until he pops out of the restaurant asking an annoyed, “you coming?”

once you’re seated, things don’t get much better. the waitress is pretty, and she’s obviously more interested in chan than you are. you’ve given up on the date by this point, but you think you can get a free meal out of it, so you keep suffering. when he’s not flirting with the waitress, chan is mansplaining to you and gesturing so wildly you’re afraid he’s going to knock everything off the table. he tries asking you questions but keeps talking over you, and when he does let you speak he either looks offended or checks his phone. before your appetizers come, you’re ready to leave.

“what did i do to deserve this?” you text joshua as you half listen to chan describe the most boring thing in the most cocky way possible. you hope joshua will respond, but there’s nothing. 

“are you mad at me? is that why you tricked me into going on the worst date of my life?” you text again, and still no response. 

“hey, that’s kind of rude,” chan says, and you can feel your blood start to boil.

“weren’t you on your phone when i was talking earlier?” you ask in disbelief, and he shakes his head. 

“no, i wasn’t. because that’s rude,” he repeats. you want to groan and slam your head on the table, but you refrain. “whatever. i’m going to the restroom, text away.”

that you do. you keep texting joshua, trying to annoy him into responding, but he stands tall. whatever he’s doing is more important that your horrible night. you have an infinite list in your mind of things that you would rather be doing right now, so you understand josh’s disinterest.

speaking of disinterest, you look up to find chan and see him leaned over the bar talking to another waitress. this time she’s way into it, hand on his arm and phone out to take down his number. you watch as he types it in, then pull out a barstool and take a seat. now you do groan, and without leaving the table you call your brother, ready to beg for a ride back home. 

“come on, pick up, pick up please,” you mumble, hoping beyond hope that joshua will be your knight in shining armor. you get his voicemail and leave behind some choice words before slamming your phone down on the table, frustrated tears threatening to fall. you’re still new to this part of town, so your brother is your only lifeline right now. you don’t trust your ability to walk home without getting snatched, and you know that calling any of your friends would mean sitting here for at least an hour while they come get you. you’re about to go hide in the bathroom when you think of one other option.

seungcheol.

you don’t know where he is or what he’s doing tonight, but you find the “temporary roomies” chat that josh put you into and call cheol from there. you start the same plea, whispering pick up over and over, but cheol answers on the second ring.

“hey sweets,” you can tell he’s smiling. “what’s going on, you and josh having fun without me?”

“cheol, hi, listen,” you start, “josh set me up on a blind date and the guy is a dick and-”

“what did he do?” cheol cuts you off, and you tell him about the car ride, the attitude, and now his interest in any woman that’s not you. “fuck him. fuck your brother too. where are you? i’m on my way.”

“cheol, no, i was mostly calling to see if josh was home-”

“send me the address, y/n,” he says firmly. “i’ll be there soon.”

he wasn’t lying. it feels like only a few minutes have passed when there’s a commotion at the door and you see cheol stalking through the restaurant looking for you. you gather your things and stand, and chan sees you out of the corner of his eye. he comes rushing over just as cheol reaches you, and it’s almost comical watching this stare down as chan gets closer.

“come on, we’re leaving,” cheol tells you, pushing a helmet into your hands.

“what is this?” you ask, eyeing chan awkwardly. 

“hey, pal, we’re on a date, so she’s not going anywhere,” chan tells cheol, and he laughs in his face. 

“sorry, pal, date’s over,” he says, pushing chan back lightly. “go back to the waitress. we’re done here.” cheol doesn’t wait to hear what other bullshit chan might try to say. instead he grabs you by the wrist and guides you out of the restaurant to a motorcycle propped up outside. he looks at you smoothly and motions to the helmet. “i said put that on, doll. can’t ride without protection.”

“o-ok,” you stutter, placing the helmet over your head delicately. cheol stops you and turns you toward him, clicking the helmet into place under your chin, feeling his fingers on your neck sends a tingle down your spine, and you do your best to ignore it. 

“there you go,” he whispers, satisfied with his work. he grabs your head in both hands and playfully shakes you from side to side, smirking as he says, “quick road test, sorry.”

“cheol, you’re crazy,” you laugh, thankful for the distraction. “i didn’t know you drove a bike. this is cool.”

“glad you like it,” he says as he hops on. “now come on, let’s go home before i go beat that loser up.” 

you carefully and tentatively hold onto cheol’s shoulder as you sling your leg over the seat, sliding down accidentally so your chest is pressed firmly to his back. you grab onto his other shoulder and wait, thinking cheol will leave any second. 

“can’t hold on like that,” he seems to whisper, looking at you over his shoulder. “you’ll fall off.”

“well i don’t wanna bother you-”

“please,” you hear him scoff, and then he’s pulling your arms down to his waist. he even takes the liberty of lacing your hands together over his stomach so it’s easier for you to hold on. and suddenly you feel very warm. you can feel the outline of his muscles through his shirt, and being so close to him is getting you drunk off of whatever shampoo or cologne he’s wearing. 

“cheol,” you say before he kicks off, and he’s looking back at you again. “i’m sorry about this. thank you for coming to get me.”

“anytime,” he says sweetly, his eyes flicking to your lips briefly. “now hold on tight.”

before you know it, cheol is kicking off and zooming down the near empty street, ripping a scream of surprise and joy out of you. you thought you’d be petrified right now, but this is actually exhilarating. you’re not sure if it’s the adrenaline of the motorcycle ride or the proximity to cheol, but you almost feel lightheaded. you’re shrieking and laughing like this is a rollercoaster, and there’s a smile plastered on cheol’s face as he listens. 

when you get to a red light, cheol slows down and instructs you to keep your feet up as he places his firmly on the ground. he looks back at you as best he can and asks, “having fun?”

“this is incredible,” you smile. “do an extra lap. i don’t wanna go home yet.”

“yeah?” cheol asks happily, and you nod.

“wait, unless you had plans!” you say. “oh my god, cheol, i’m so sorry, i didn’t even consider that you might have been busy, oh god. i should’ve asked, i should’ve-”

“stop talking,” he tells you. “i’m glad you called. i’d do this for you every day of the week if you needed it.”

“thank you,” you say meekly as cheol revs the bike before carefully driving again. you ride and listen to the sound of the city get whipped by around you, watching the lights and realizing how much you’re enjoying yourself. you lay your chin on cheol’s shoulder and think about the butterflies in your stomach, noticing that they’re going more wild now than they ever have before. 

when you get back to the apartment, you’re immediately met with the smell of food. you’re about to cuss joshua out, assuming he had been home this whole time, until cheol walks ahead of you into the kitchen and asks, “did you get to eat on this horrible mistake i just saved you from?”

“hey, whoa, i was doing this because of my brother,” you say defensively. “it wasn’t my mistake, i was bamboozled.”

“you could’ve said no,” cheol shrugs as he leans against the doorway. then he holds your gaze and asks, “why didn’t you say no?”

“i-i don’t know,” you reply, turning away because cheol’s stare is too heavy for your right now. “i guess, yeah, i did it because i thought it would make josh happy since he set it up, but...i don’t know. it would be nice to have someone, i guess.”

“to have someone?” cheol smirks, taking a step or two closer to you.

“yeah, like have someone be mine,” you say shyly, looking up to find cheol closer than you expected. he stands in front of you, smirk hanging off his lips, arms loosely crossed over his broad chest. 

“you have me,” he says, moving so close to you that you can feel his breath on your lips. he holds your gaze, waiting for you to make a move. awkwardly, you lean in, lips almost brushing. you get nervous and try to back away but cheol quickly grabs you by the chin and whispers, “and i’ve got you” before connecting your lips. your hands fall to his chest, obliviously rubbing your hands over his muscles. his touch to your chin stays gentle but firm, holding you in place so he can devour your lips. you’re breathless quick, but you don’t want to pull away. the sound of keys in the front door scare you out of your daze, and you separate from cheol like you’ve been shocked. joshua walks in, unaware (or is he?) of what he just interrupted. pleased with himself, he looks from you to cheol and back to you before asking, “so...how was your night?”

-

you’ve been avoiding cheol. you can’t believe you kissed him, and you can’t believe you liked it. you liked it so much that you’re afraid of what might happen if you’re around him again, because nothing can happen. he’s your brother’s best friend! it’s like reverse bro code to date your brother’s friend. that would be...weird? and yet here you are, daydreaming about it. 

cheol knows what you’re doing. he knows you’ve been spooked, and he’s annoyed. now that he’s had a taste of you he only wants more, so you hiding from him when he’s out of his room or only leaving yours when he’s in the shower or asleep is really getting on his nerves. you can’t avoid him forever, but damn it if you’re not gonna try. 

you’re currently speedrunning all of your chores, trying to clean the bathroom while your laundry is on and in between you’re washing all of your dirty dishes. you’re doing this because you know cheol will come out of his room soon to go to the gym, so you’re hoping to be tucked away safely in your room before that happens. however, the biggest man in the apartment still manages to move like a mouse, so you turn around to put some plates away and find cheol leaning against the kitchen counter, watching you intently. 

“fuck you, stop sneaking up on me!” you shriek. “i’m serious about that bell now. wear loud shoes or something, god.”

“why, so you can hear me coming and hide?” he asks seriously, and you fall silent. you join him on the other side of the room, stretching to put the plates in the cabinet. cheol keeps watching, realizing this is the first time he’s seen you show so much skin. shorts pulled up just barely over your ass, like usual, driving him insane, like usual. but now you’re just wearing a sports bra on top, and cheol doesn’t miss the way you’re giving him the perfect view of your chest. he’s unapologetically staring, and without facing him you mumble telling him to stop. “i can stare if i want.”

“well can you stop, please?” you beg, turning and crossing your arms over your chest, just pressing your cleavage up more. 

“baby, work with me here,” he groans. “you can’t kiss me like that the other night and then hide from me. and you can’t look like that and not expect me to stare.”

“stop telling me what i can and can’t do,” you grumble, trying to remember what you were about to do. you start to walk away but cheol grabs you lightly by the wrist, and you ask nicely, “let me go.”

“you can leave,” cheol encourages. “i’m not holding on tight.”

but you stay right where you are, a few steps away from cheol. his hand slides down from your wrist to lace his fingers with yours. he squeezes your hand sweetly before tugging you back in front of him, a stupid smirk gracing his handsome face. 

“hi beautiful,” he smiles, making you blush. “so tell me. am i a bad kisser or something?”

“what?” you ask, shocked he would even think that. “n-no, why?”

“well,” he sighs, hands sliding around your waist too quick for you to object, “it’s just that we kissed, and i thought it was pretty sexy, and then you just disappeared on me. which is amazing considering we live together right now.”

“i’m good at teleporting,” you joke, and cheol pinches your hip. 

“answer me, y/n,” he tries again. “why are you hiding?”

“because you’re joshua’s friend,” you say with a face. “i can’t date you.”

“who said anything about dating?” cheol smiles. “we’ve got two beds, sweets. take your pick.”

“you can’t be serious.”

“you don’t want to?” cheol asks, seemingly dragging you closer to himself. he slots his leg between yours, leans in close and asks, “so if i check your panties right now, they wouldn’t be wet?”

“cheol, i-”

“hm?” he asks, pulling back enough to look right in your eyes. “you don’t want this, just say the word and i’m gone. but if you do, baby, please let me do this.”

“joshua can’t know,” you whisper fast before you’re grabbing cheol and kissing him again. his hands slide from their spot on your waist to cup your ass, nudging your core over his thigh. you whimper at the slight drag, and cheol tenses his thigh as he brings your hips forward again. 

“i don’t even need to put my hand down your pants to know you’re wet,” he says proudly. “you ok with soaking my thigh a little bit first, baby?” you nod, and he tsks. “you need to use your words. not gonna do anything unless i know you want it.”

“let me keep going,” you say breathlessly, and cheol easily obliges. he dives back into your lips, hands gripping your ass to keep you grinding over his thigh. you get lost in the pressure between your legs, but you don’t want to be interrupted like you were last time. you try to break from cheol’s lips but he brings a hand up to keep you in place, doing his best to memorize the shape of your lips with his. you realize you need to get his attention a different way, so you reach down to cup his cock through his shorts. he hisses at the contact, lips pulled from yours. “cheol, stop.”

“what, what’s wrong?” he asks, worried. 

“let’s go to my room,” you say with a nod, and his eyes shimmer with lust and a bit of glee. he’s dragging you down the hallway with him, doing his best not to tear your clothes off and leave a trail. once he’s in your room, you push him back lightly so you can be sure to shut the door. cheol takes this time to lay back on your pillows, patting his thigh to invite you back. you join him on the bed, ready to straddle him and go back to grinding down on his stupidly thick thigh, but he stops you. 

“shorts off,” he instructs, and you pull them off eagerly. “let me see your panties.” your legs on either side of his, you sit up and lean back, hoping cheol gets what he wants. he hums and nods when he sees the wet patch, grabbing for your waist to pull you back over his leg. “let’s get you warmed up a little more, need you ready to ride me soon.”

cheol brings your core back down to his thigh, guiding your movements as you whine on top of him. you’re not sure what to do with your hands, so you let one of them wander up to push your bra over your chest, playing with your nipple as cheol guides you agonizingly slow. you try to bounce and get more friction but that makes him hold you down tighter and your whines get louder. 

“that’s it baby, show me how pretty you are when you come and then i’ll give you my cock,” he growls out, a hand slipping down to push past the waistband of your panties. he swipes a finger down to play with your clit and he moans when he feels how wet you are. “all this for me, pretty girl?”

“yes, for you, just like that,” you moan, “make me come please, need to come.”

“you can come,” cheol coaxes. “just waiting on you.” he applies a little more pressure over your clit, and then you’re shaking above him, a soundless gasp left on your lips. as you try to blink away the spots in your eyes, you hurriedly help cheol get undressed, crawling down to his cock before he can stop you. you pull his boxers down as he takes his shirt off, and you gasp when you see his size. you grab him by the base and take a taste, kitten licking his tip and driving him crazy. he wants to wrap his hands in your hair and guide you over his cock, but an equal part wants to pull you up just so he can feel your pussy clenching around him. he lets you decide the pace though, hissing through his teeth as you keep licking him, until you’re ready to swallow his cock little by little. you get halfway down before you need to pull back, and you’re worried he won’t fit. 

“not to feed your ego or anything,” you say after popping off of his cock, “but you’re really big.”

“no that definitely feeds my ego.”

“i don’t think you’re gonna fit,” you say, worried. 

“well get in my lap and we’ll find out, sweets,” he says, reaching for you to help you up and over his legs again. he holds his cock still for you as you line him up with your entrance, and you glance at him one last time, still concerned. “take it slow. i know you can do it.”

“but-”

“baby, i’m letting you pick the pace,” he laughs. “if it were up to me i would’ve slammed you down on my cock already.”

“hmm someone’s horny,” you joke, and cheol thrusts up in retaliation. you gasp at the feeling of his tip at your entrance, and you do what he says. you take it slow, holding your breath as you feel him stretch you out with every inch. 

“how you feeling baby?”

“good,” you gasp out.

“make sure you breathe,” cheol reminds you, and you nod as you take a few deep breaths. he can feel every movement on his cock, and it’s driving him insane to not be fully inside you right now. he tries to push you down a little further, but you cry out and he stops. he gives you a moment to adjust, and you move on your own when you’re ready. you keep pushing down, taking more and more. “you’re doing so good baby.”

“it’s too big,” you gasp out, looking down to see how much you have left to go.

“no it’s not.”

“but it is,” you whine, trying to pull up completely. that’s the last straw for cheol though, because he grips your hips and slams you down over his cock, your clit even grinding over his pubic bone slightly. you shudder at the feeling, shocked speechless at the feeling of cheol’s cock so deep inside you. he helps you ride him at first, but you take over and start a steady pace. you don’t think you’ve ever felt someone this deep before, and your body feels like it’s on fire. 

“you can take it, that’s it,” he encourages, and you pick up the pace. cheol starts meeting you halfway, adjusting so he can hit your core just right. when he thrusts up and you almost fall over on top of him he knows he’s found the right spot, doing his best to keep his pace steady. he pulls you down so you’re caging him in, and he lays your head on his chest as he takes over, thrusting into you so fast you start seeing stars. you’re moaning into his chest, maybe drooling a little too, and it’s driving him insane. you feel so good around him, so warm, so tight, so wet. the sounds of your pussy are embarrassing to you and intoxicating to him, he wishes he had the patience to lay between your legs and lick you clean before fucking you again. but he’ll save that for later. for now, he needs to find a place to come. “where do you want me?”

“stomach,” you mumble into his chest, sitting back up with your hands on his pecs. “gonna come?”

“if you come first, yeah,” cheol nods. he focuses on bringing you closer, grabbing one of your hands off his chest and guiding it to your lips. you open, and he tells you to suck. after you’ve wet your middle and ring finger, cheol brings them down to your clit, leading your movements and applying pressure as he wants. it’s so sexy, letting him lead you like this, and the way he’s staring at you is making your chest tingle, and his cock is still buried deep inside you as you start getting closer. when cheol pulls you down with his free hand, connecting your lips again, you start to come, whimpering into his mouth as the waves crash over you. he works you through it, giving you only a second or two to rest before he’s pumping you again, chasing his own release. he pulls out and immediately starts stroking his cock, coming with a quiet gasp. you shudder as you feel his come land across your stomach, some even hitting your pussy lips. you lean back to let him see his masterpiece, and cheol looks pleased. 

“let me get a washcloth,” you mumble, moving to get up. once you’re off of him, cheol springs into action, guiding you to lay back down. 

“no, you’ll be sore soon, let me do it,” he says before ducking out of your room. he comes back with a wet washcloth and waters for you both, which you take graciously. he cleans you up carefully, and then he joins you back on the bed. the last thing you remember before falling asleep is cheol pushing your hair back, smiling at you softly.

-

you wake up the next morning to a knock at your door, followed by another louder knock.

“what?” you groan, rolling over to face the door just as joshua pops in. 

“morning to you too,” he yawns. “i’m getting breakfast. text me what you want.”

“mhm,” you yawn in reply. “close my door.”

josh leaves without doing what you asked, and there’s a beat of silence before you hear the front door close. you feel hands wrap around your waist, pulling you into a strong, warm, bare chest. cheol pops his chin onto your shoulder, cheesing as he asks, “you think he knew i was here?”

[roosterforme]

Would you write us a mini blurb of Kylie trying to steal Jake and then her trying to get with the other daggers. Would love to see Jake call her out for being a shitty friend and crappy person in general. Then watch him hype up his girl and she comes along and watch’s the whole thing unfold. would be amazing.

I've been thinking about this scenario all week! Kylie would sabotage her friendship with Darlin' (or what's left of it) just to have even the slightest chance to get some attention from Jake. I mentioned that she definitely hit on him at the bar before Darlin' formally introduced them, but apparently that rejection from Jake early on wasn't enough.

"I can't believe I'm graduating in a week," you moaned. Jake had you pinned up against your bedroom wall in your tiny apartment that you shared with Kylie. He was pretty sure your roommate heard the two of you having sex last night; the wall between the bedrooms seemed to be paper thin, and she barely looked at either of you all day while you moved your stuff out.

"And you're moving in with me today," Jake grunted, kissing along your neck as you sighed in contentment. "You're a busy girl, Darlin'."

There were only a few boxes that still needed to make their way to his truck, and while the two of you barely spent any time here together, he was feeling a little nostalgic. There was that one weekend when Kylie was in Mexico and the power was out at his place where the two of you made love on the living room floor. And your bed frame was bent after the week of spring break when he fucked you so hard, the metal got warped.

"This was a good apartment," he murmured, and you laughed in response.

"You told me so many times you hated sleeping over here!"

Jake took a step away from you, and stacked up three boxes to take to his truck. "I hated having to be quiet and get fully dressed before I could leave your bedroom. But there were some good times," he replied with a wink. "I'll run these outside and be right back."

You followed him as far as your apartment door, saying, "I'll check my mailbox one last time and meet you back up here."

Then you went right while he went left, and it only took Jake a minute to throw the boxes into his truck and sprint back upstairs. He was just getting himself a drink of water when he heard you walk back in.

"Hey, Dar-" But it wasn't you. It was your almost former roommate. "Hey, Kylie."

"Jake," she replied with a smile, making his name sound idiotically like it was three syllables long. "Let me see your phone?"

He took a long sip of water before he finally asked, "Why?"

"Just let me see it." She reached out and poked his phone in his jeans pocket, and he took a step backwards, spilling his water down the front of his shirt.

"Why?" he asked again, this time anger seeped into his voice.

"So you can have my number. For when you get bored."

He was so confused now. "Bored?" He would never be bored enough to want to talk to her, but then she said something that really made him mad.

"Yeah... bored with your relationship."

He stood completely still, and the expression on his face must have scared her, because her hand froze on the way back to his pocket. "You know what? You're a really shitty friend."

"No, I'm not," she said with a shrug, still trying to be coy.

But Jake snapped. "What is it exactly? You're mad that you were able to collect all the other guys, but not me? Or you're bitchy because she didn't have to do anything except be herself to make me fall in love with her?"

"What's going on?" you asked from the doorway. When Jake looked at you, there was uncertainty in his eyes, which made him sick.

"Absolutely not a damn thing," he practically growled. He took the mail from your hand and shoved it into the last box with your name on it. Then he picked it up and wrapped his free hand around your waist. "Say goodbye to Kylie. We won't be seeing her again."

Then he led you out to his truck without a backward glance and drove you to his place where you would never be treated badly if he had anything to say about it.

[bqstqnbruin]

Just Friends - Part 6

T-minus 1 week until we're on Christmas break and GOD it can't come soon enough

Read the previous part here!

Warnings: Asshole boyfriends, swearing, family trauma dump

WC: 3269

Enjoy!

___________________________

Jeremy stood outside the girls' door the next morning, wanting to go in to talk to Emeline. Instead, he was frozen, facing the wooden door with his hand raised for him to knock, unable to do it. He was sure that something was about to happen between them that night if Keelan hadn’t called. 

But he couldn’t do that to Emeline. He couldn’t make her choose between him and Keelan. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he was sure that once he saw her, he would know.

Until he could hear Fran yelling on the other side of the door, that Emeline was in love with Jeremy like he was with her. 

Emeline didn’t deny it. 

If she did, it wasn’t loud enough for him to hear it. 

He couldn’t go in now, turning around and bursting back into his apartment, finding Johnny perched on the couch with the TV already on. “Jesus, knock much?”

“I don’t have to knock, my name is on the lease,” he counters, sitting next to Johnny and turning off the TV despite his roommates' protests. “I’m in love with Emeline.”

“Yeah, I told you that months ago.” 

“And I think she’s in love with me.”

“I also told you that months ago.”

“That means she’s not in love with Keelan.”

“I really don’t want to sound like a broken record, here.” Jeremy groans, leaning back on his face while he covers his face with his hands. “You really just need to get laid.” 

“We tried that already with Fran.”

“We can try again with someone who doesn’t sleep a few feet away from where the girl you really want to fuck sleeps.” 

“But I don’t want to try again with someone else. Just because you’re getting fucked by someone you want to sleep with doesn’t mean I want to do it with the next female who walks through the door.” Before Johnny could counter, someone knocks at their door. “Oh that is too easy.”

Johnny laughs, getting up to answer, neither of them expecting anyone. Maddy stands on the other side, Johnny’s eyes going wide as he whips around to Jeremy. “I swear to god if you do anything.”

Jeremy holds up his hands in surrender. “I’m not going to, calm down. What’s up, Maddy.”

“I, uh,” Maddy starts, her face getting noticeably red as she tried to put as much space between herself and Johnny. “I left my bag here last night, I think.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were over,” Jeremy starts, the realization taking too long to hit him. “Last night? Last night! Nickelback!” 

“Don’t,” Johnny starts.

“You and Maddy?” Jeremy yells, Maddy shutting the door behind her before his voice carried through their entire building.  “We fucking knew it.” 

“You didn’t,” Maddy blushes, looking at Johnny.

“You two weren’t subtle. God, John,” Jeremy says, running his hand through his hair, “How did you get the girl next door?” 

Maddy notices Jeremy’s expression fall as he thinks about what that means. Johnny got the girl he never thought to look for while Jeremy can’t get the girl he can’t stop looking at. “Jere.” Maddy didn’t know what to say, Jeremy trying to keep his cool while he stared at his hands. “I think she does love you.” 

“Does it matter? She’s with Keelan.” 

“Eventually, it will. It might just take her some time to realize it. You have to decide whether or not she’s worth the wait.” 

Jeremy and Maddy sit there in silence, Jeremy trying to take in what she just said. 

He had moved in a year ago, seeing Emeline for the first time waiting in the lobby of the building when he was going upstairs with some of his things. He immediately thought she was beautiful, figuring he would never see her again if she wasn’t in one of the apartments upstairs. He saw she was surrounded by papers, the bright green pen in her hand flying down the sheets, checking and crossing out line after line. She looked up from everything, smiled at him, and asked him if he needed any help with his stuff. 

He told her he was fine, he was just moving the last of his stuff in. He asked her what she was doing, putting the box down on the table on top of the papers, when she told him she was grading quizzes she wanted to get back to her students the next day, then asked again if he was sure he didn’t need any help, that she could do her work later if it meant helping him now. 

He had started to fall for her then, seeing her in passing, always doing something or offering to help someone else. Jeremy had wanted to know more about her and get to know her the entire time, laying low because he wasn’t sure what to do. 

He had already been waiting for this long, what was a little longer?

__________________________

“Remind me again where we’re going?” Emeline asks, climbing in the passenger seat next to Jeremy, while Johnny, Fran, and Maddy pile in the back.

“One of the guys has a house right over state lines in Vermont. We normally go up there all together right before Thanksgiving.” 

“So you guys spend every day together and regularly travel the continent together and then still go on vacations together?” Fran asks. 

“Yes,” Johnny says, as if it’s obvious.

Maddy laughs, Jeremy looking in his rearview mirror as he gets settled on the highway, Johnny and Maddy’s hands finding each other in the back seat. They hadn’t officially told Emeline and Fran as far as he knew, the two of them keeping it a secret still for who knows what reason, “You guys are so weird.”

Fran, John, and Maddy fall into a conversation, leaving Emeline and Jeremy with the sound of the radio. “So, how were conferences?” Jeremy asks. The group had to wait to leave until late Monday night because Emeline was locked in her room doing parent/teacher conferences the entire day, and she had to do the same for tomorrow morning, too. He was pretty sure she mentioned it being a ‘light year’ for her, having only thirty sets of parents sign up across the twelve hours they were scheduled for. 

Emeline doesn’t turn from the window, staring at the trees lining the highway he knew she very rarely ventured on. “They were really good this year, actually. But the parents I needed to talk to didn’t show up, so that’ll be an email I have to send on Monday.”

“What do you mean, ‘this year’ they were good?”

Emeline lets out a short laugh. “I had one parent my first year rip me a new asshole,” she says, a smile still on her face that made Jeremy confused. “She was mad that the teacher I replaced was asked to leave and she was taking it out on me. She went on and on about how she didn’t like my teaching style and how the way I taught wasn’t how she taught in an elementary school in Beverly Hills when she was my age.”

“Yeah, because a high school in Boston is the same thing.”

“Exactly. She even said that I should be surprised if I had a contract for the next school. Anderson even agreed with her.”

“Jesus, what?”

“She couldn’t do shit. Anderson couldn’t do shit either. None of the students complained and she was the only parent who ever said anything about me. There’s a teacher shortage, and I’m the only person in the department who has a full chemistry degree along with my teaching degrees. They aren’t going to fire me unless I majorly fuck up.” 

“I wish I had that kind of security.”

“Oh, come on,” Emeline says, finally turning to Jeremy. “If Boston trades you, there will be riots. You think any of your teammates will go down without a fight? Your entire team, and probably the Boston fans, would fully commit a felony for you..”

Jeremy can’t help but laugh. “You’re gonna like the guys.”

“Are they all coming?”

“Yeah, the entire team. They’re all gonna love you.” He almost slipped, adding ‘just like I do,’ catching himself before the rest of the car could mercilessly roast him for it.

“How big is this house?”

“Big enough that somehow everyone fits. Not big enough that the five of us and probably a few others are going to have to share a room.” 

“Wait a second,” Fran interrupts. “No one said anything about sharing rooms.” 

“Fran, the three of us have shared a room before.”

“Yeah, hotel rooms overnight when we were traveling for games. The last time we shared a room was Maryland when we finally won the championship. We haven’t done that since.” 

“You can share a room with us for a few nights, Princess,” Johnny says.

“Call me, ‘Princess,’ again, see what happens to you.” 

“Hey, ok,” Emeline says, her teacher-voice coming out. “Fran, you’re going to be fine. Yes, it’s been a few years, but this is a free trip where we don’t have to wake up, work out, and play for hours before we hop on a bus exhausted still having to do homework. This is better. And Johnny, I highly encourage you not to say anything else condescending because we all know that Fran is capable of killing you and making it look like it was self-defense.”

Jeremy could feel his face getting red, hating that her scolding his roommate was such a turn on to him. God, his mind wandered to some dark places, her taking charge of him if they ever got together. 

“How far away are we?” Maddy asks, changing the subject.

“Um,” Jeremy says, clearing his throat and shifting in his seat, trying to keep the wheel as steady as possible. “It says we’re about twenty minutes away.” 

Jeremy just had to get through Wednesday with Emeline sleeping in the same room as him. He could do that without issue, right?

He glanced quickly at her, trying not to let his vision stray from the road ahead of him for too long. She was pretty much turned around, talking and laughing with the rest of their friends. He loved her smile, how it lit up her entire face. 

‘Fucking, hell,’ he thought to himself, taking the exit off the highway. He really was screwed. 

By the time everyone gets settled in the house, they were in their room that was being shared with a couple of the other single guys. The rest of their teammates and their partners were spread out across the grounds, Fran, Maddy, and Johnny heading off to explore. 

Emeline and Jeremy elected to hang out in what Brad had referred to as the den, despite the fact that the singular room was probably bigger than both of their apartments combined. The couch was big enough that they could both comfortably sleep on it without being in the same time zone as each other, let alone have any worry about brushing up against each other. 

That was good, that was what Jeremy needed. 

Emeline said that she needed a minute to grab something from their room, telling Jeremy to pick something for them to watch while he waited for her.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Keel,” he heard her angrily whisper into her phone as if there was more than just him around to hear her. “There’s a bunch of us, what’s the problem? I’m already spending Thanksgiving alone, not that you seem to care, so why does it matter that I’m going somewhere with my friends before the holiday?”

He couldn’t hear what Keelan was saying, of course, but from Emeline’s reactions, it couldn’t be anything good. “Why don’t you trust me anymore? Why is it ok for you to go away on trips for weeks on end, your friends fine to go with you, Jacklyn from Accounting being in the room right next to you in every hotel you stay in, while I can’t go away with Fran and Maddy and my neighbors without you freaking out?”

She was arguing with Keelan about Jeremy. He muted the TV, trying to hear as much as he could. He shouldn’t be listening, but he had to. He couldn’t help it. 

“For fucks sake, you have been jealous and worried about Jeremy for months now,” she scolds him. “Grow the fuck up.”

She pauses, Keelan so loud on the other end that Jeremy could almost make out what he was saying. “You know what? If there was something going on with me and Jeremy, it serves you right. We haven’t been on the same page for a while, Keelan, and I know you know it, too. You wouldn’t have texted me that if you didn’t.” Emeline lets out a long sigh. “You had ‘no choice?’ If you had no choice, then I’m glad. At least I know you had the decency to wait until after my birthday before you broke up with me, even if we haven’t seen each other in two fuckign weeks. You didn’t even text me ‘happy birthday,’ until you were about to go to bed. The only kind of boyfriend that does that is a shitty ex-boyfriend.”

He was breaking up with her? Keelan actually thought he was the one who should be dumping Emeline, when it was clear to Jeremy, and probably anyone who cared, it should have been the other way around? 

Emeline finally comes over to the couch, throwing her phone on the opposite end and sitting next to Jeremy despite the space. Her eyes were red, her nose running. She looked like a mess. 

And Jeremy still thought she looked perfect.

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“My mom has another family.”

“I meant-” Jeremy starts, quietly, quickly cut off by Emeline.

“I found her on Facebook, right before I was going to start college. She’s never reached out, and I never reached out to her. She had me when she was 21 and I guess she just wasn’t ready to be a mom. But now, she has a husband and three boys in Connecticut. Her oldest is a freshman in college by now, if he went. And I know she loves them. I just wonder why she couldn’t love me. 

“Fran and Maddy don’t even know where she is, that I know where she is. Wethersfield, Connecticut. Literally a two hour ride. Less than that if you took the T to Riverside and drove the rest of the way down. She was so close to me this entire time, literally in our backyard, and never bothered to look. 

“I remember the first time I thought I was in love with Keelan,” she starts, looking down at her hands as she pulled her legs to her chest and changed the subject. “He called me every night to make sure I was ok after my grandmother died. He would bring me a change of clothes to the house and take my dirty ones back to the dorm and throw everything in with his stuff so I didn’t have to add laundry to the never ending list that came with cleaning out and getting rid of my dad and grandmother’s lives. 

“He was the one who helped me arrange for the house to be professionally cleaned, staged, and sold when Maddy and Fran didn’t know what to do. He was there for me when I didn’t know how to tell Fran and Maddy what was going on and what I was feeling. He was the one I went to when I had no one else.

“We were at the house one weekend trying to get the last bits of things laying around sorted into what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to donate, and he had put on Dead Poets Society because he knew it was my favorite movie at the time. The lights were off, we were just sitting on the couch under the blanket together, and I felt overwhelmed by the fact that the house I grew up in was bare, everything of the two most important people in my life getting slowly stripped away while I knew my mother was somewhere out there probably not thinking of me at all. And, I don’t know, he wrapped his arms around me and I felt safe and calm for the first time in what felt like forever. I loved how gentle he was when he kissed the top of my head and just let me cry during the last scene, because of the movie, because of my dad, my grandmother, I think even because of my mom.

“I fell asleep at some point, and I woke up to him making me breakfast, already having more of my grandmother's stuff pulled out and sorted because he knew that I was getting overwhelmed and he wanted to try to help me. He didn’t even know that I was in the kitchen when I saw him, and, I don’t know, I just knew I was in love with him.” 

“Emeline,” Jeremy says, wanting to reach out to hug her. This felt like the other night, her spilling her guts to him while all he could do is sit there and try his best. He wanted to do more for her. His best wasn’t anywhere good enough compared to what she really deserved. 

He thought back to what Fran told him that night in the stairwell, how Keelan wanted to break up with her, all while Emeline was falling in love with him. 

“I wasted seven years on him. I don’t think I’ve loved him for a while. I shouldn’t have loved him for this long if Fran and Maddy hated him so much. I shouldn’t have loved a guy who had the nerve to break up with me over text because I told him I was going away for a few nights with my friends. Why do I care so much about people who don’t want to care about me? Deep down, I still love my mom, even though I never knew her. Or, I guess, I love the idea of who she could have been to me. But Keelan? He was the one who was supposed to last. He was the one who filled in everything when things started to crack.” 

“What can I do?” Jeremy asks. 

Emeline hesitates. Jeremy wanted to just kiss her right there. Doing it now meant it wouldn’t be cheating for her. But that was the last thing he could do, with her sitting next to him, crying over her boyfriend breaking up with her just moments before. “Can we just sit here?”

He nods, unmuting the TV and turning his attention towards the screen. He feels Emeline grabbing the blanket that had been hanging over the back of the couch, nestling herself up against Jeremy as she threw it over the both of them. He put his arm around her, one of her arms resting on his leg. 

Eventually, she fell asleep, the guys shuffling in and around, not noticing them or not saying anything to them. 

He looked at her, her eyes closed with her head against his chest. 

“I think I love you, Emeline,” he whispers, knowing it wasn’t the entire truth, not loud enough for her to hear even if she was awake. 

Now he had a chance, though. He had a chance to be more than her friend.

[evermoreparker]

Lost in Translation- Chapter Six

Synopsis: Peter and you were inseparable since you were kids, until you started hating each other right before you two went to college, but now Peter needs your help to win a bet.

A/n: Hi!! It's been sooo long! I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes, I didn't check it this time. Enjoyyy! 💜

Did you really just sleep with Peter Parker? Your arch nemesis? Yeah. But you can’t deny that he looks so cute, softly snoring. Is that such a huge mistake?

Definitely. What the hell were you thinking? You hate his guts, and he hates yours. He didn’t mean any of that shit he said to you last night. You two were just in the moment. That's it. Two adults that slept with each other. Does he think that too? Was it meaningless? You really can’t tell. It’s just driving you crazy, having all these thoughts running through your head, and he is sleeping so pretty, without a care in the world. You can fix that. 

“Get up.” You throw a pillow on his face and he catches it mid air. Well… Does the ground count as mid air?

“God you were so nice last night, forgot how bitchy you can really be.” He mumbles against your pillow.

“Yea, great night. Whatever. Had better.” He smirks.

“Great night, huh? It meant that much to you?” Peter sits on your bed, rubbing his eyes just like he did when you two were kids. Carelessly and with a big yawl after. 

“Just shush. We should have recorded this…” Peter laughs.

“Oh my God! You are so obsessed with me.” He smiles. 

“For the bet we made, dumbass! They wanted something like my moans or some shit. Now we need to reenact it.” You see Peter smirking. “Absolutely not like that. More like in Easy A.” Peter nods. You loved that movie when you were a teen. 

“Fine.” Peter gets up heading to your bathroom and coming back smelling like your very expensive body wash after 5 minutes. 

“YOU DID NOT.” He knew exactly what was yours and what was your roommate’s. 

“Oh I did.” He attempts to hair flip. “Thanks for the shampoo!” He proceeds to sit on your bed with a wet towel around his waist. 

“PETER GET OUT OF MY BED.” He smiles, not moving from your bed at all. In fact, he just grabbed his phone to check and there are a lot of messages from his ‘friend group’. 

All of them are talking about that they heard from someone, that they heard from someone else, that he left the party with you. God he hates every single one of them.

“Do you wanna call the bet off?” You snort at what he says. “What? Are you scared?” Peter rolls his eyes. “Now get OUT OF BED.” 

“Fine!” He giggles at something on his phone, and you don’t know why but it pissed you off so much. 

“Can’t you leave already?” He scoffs. 

“Oh please, stop lying. We both know you want a piece of this again.” You stare at him before you burst out laughing making him feel self conscious. “Fuck you! That was mean.”

You nod. “I am mean. And we need to win this bet. I wanna buy a new bed.” He nods.

“Yours look good. What’s wrong with it?”

“You were on it.” He gasps. 

“So what? You are gonna burn it or some shit?’’ You scoff. 

“No! But the sheets, yes I will.” He laughs, coming closer to you. 

“You can lie how much you want, but we both know you don’t regret last night. Neither do I. So let’s just be grown ups, which I know is extremely hard for you, and admit we had great sex last night and that was it. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, just casual. And you know…’’ He reaches out for your hand. “It could happen again if you wanted to.” You stare at him, getting a bit lost for words. How the fuck do you respond to that? And he was right! Sex was great. But that’s Peter we’re talking about! 

As you ponder on what and how you should answer to Peter, your roommate bursts the door open. Thankfully, Peter is putting his clothes on.

“OMG! Sorry, I didn’t know you had someone over! You didn’t text me! Wait, is that…”She rudely points to Peter. 

“Yes and he was just leaving.’” Peter gives your friend a half smile and finishes getting his stuff. 

“Alrighty then… Bye Y/n.’’ He curses out himself for saying alrighty as he closes the door. 

Back in your dorm, your friend is smirking at you.

“You dirty little b-”

“I didn't plan it! It just happened, and- Well, yea.” She nods, waiting to hear more about it but you’re saving the details for yourself, it seems. No one can know that Peter fucked you that good. 

“And?” She sits on her bed waiting for more. 

“And it was just sex! Nothing special, so don’t get your panties in a twist!’’ You can’t help but blush as you recall what happened the night before. She keeps smirking, knowing you’re about to blurt out everything. You take a deep breath before admitting what you’ve been dreading. “He’s so…goodinbed” She gasps. 

“Now was that hard to admit? Did you come?’’ You nod. You two had a very open relationship about everything. 

“God why was it so good?’’ Your friend rolls her eyes at your question.

“Because you two are both young and attractive people who happen to have an unresolved past and will later on fall in love?” You laugh. 

“Oh please, we don’t hate ourselves that much.” She smiles with a knowing look.

“You two are already a ‘we’!” You hit her with your pillow.

And outside of your dorm , Peter doesn’t know what to do with what he just heard.

[theprincelyking]

TADC Headcanons (Mostly about their memories)

I’ve been thinking of headcounts for the circus. Just tiny parts of their lives that shine through in one form or another. If you want me to expand more on the specifics, let me know.

I think subconsciously they do retain some vague glimmer of their memories, which contributes to their personalities. And that small things can trigger something primal and unknown within them, for example:

…

Pom: “Ugh, we really are gonna be stuck here forever.” Jax: “Glad you managed to figure that out toots! After all, you gotta get used to the next how many years we’re gonna be in here.” Pom: “I’m gonna be old enough to be someone’s grandma.”

She looked over to see Jax’s eyes welling with tears, that threatened to spill out

Pom: “Ahh! Are you okay? Did I upset you?” Jax: “Ugh, right. Fair warning. Random words can set us off. For some reason, my body starts bugging out everytime I hear the word, "grandma". Tried to get Caine to fix it, but no luck.” . . .

But it can also be wholesome I betcha …

Ragatha was sitting at the table bored. Seemingly unimpressed with her plate of digital food

Pom: “…Are…Are you going to eat that?”

She slides it over to Pomni and she gingerly eats it

Pom: “Uhh…This place sure has…well food.” Rag: “Yeah. Nothing too interesting.” Pom: “True. I wish they had something more diverse…Like something seasoned, or something like desert. Ohh, I could really go for some beans.”

She smiles warmly at that

Rag: “I don’t know why, but everytime I hear the word "beans’" I feel weirdly happy. It’s almost nostalgic.” Pom: “Do you like beans?” Rag: “I don’t know. But I like that word a lot.” . . .

And some can be just plain weird …

Zooble was walking back to their room while Pomni followed

Pom: “So…What’s it like having…A body like that?” Zoo: “Hard to keep track of when your roommate keeps using your hand as a back scratcher. Also walking was a NIGHTMARE when I first got here.” Pom: “I can only imagine. It looks like a lot.” Zoo: “Yeah. It’s so annoying.”

Pomni nodded

Pom: “Well, maybe we could do something to get away from the others.” Zoo: “Not interested.” Pom: “Oh, that’s okay. Uhh, I guess I just wanted to forget about the whole…In a video game thing.” Zoo: “sigh I know it’s hard. But I’m not really the person you wanna hang out with.” Pom: “I’m sure your not a drag or anything. Ehh…I guess if you need me, I’ll be outside the tent. I think I saw a bunch of weird stuff outside. Balls, Board games. I think I even saw a pair of skates-”

Zooble immediately bursted out with laughter, almost falling to the floor, beating their mismatched feet on the ground as they wheezed hard at the word

Zooble: [censored] [censored] [censored]- Oh [censored], don’t say that word around me. It drives me nuts.” Pom: “Huh? Skates?” Zoo: WHEEZE . . .

And some are just…Completely out of left field … Pom: “Marco!” Rag: “Polo!”

They were in the digital lake, going on another one of Caine’s adventures. Thankfully today was rather simple. A pool party in the digital lake. Nothing more.

Pom: “Marco!” Jax: “Polo.”

Jax was using a giant rubber ducky to swim away from her immediately after that

Rag: “Hey! That’s not fair!” Jax: “Oh please, she’ll be fine.” Pom: “Marco!” Gang: “…Help?”

Pomni unblindfolded herself and could see Gangle, sort of stuck to the surface of the water…It didn’t seem like she could move. Pomni picked her up and she wrapped herself around her head, sort of creating a cute little bow on her head

Gang: “Oh that’s better, so cold…” Rag: “I was wondering where she was.” Jax: “I wasn’t.”

Pomni akwardly patted her mask and put back on the blindfold. She drifted in the water a bit before yelling out again

Pomni: “Marco!” Kinger: “I’ll have the Neapolitan cappuccino, More Cappa than Chino. Make sure it's got no more than 4oz of milk, The beans won't have the right texture otherwise-“

He explained in disturbing detail a very lengthy coffee order, which completely stopped the game.

Pom: “…Okay, maybe we should take a break.” Zoo: “I agree, especially since Jax is using my FACE AS A F[censored]G FOOTREST!”

Looks like Zooble also came apart in the water. And was not happy about it.

Rag: “I got your arm!” King: “…Oh!”

He paddles over with their torso, using it as a board to propel himself across

King: “Here you go!” Zoo: “…Gee. Thanks.”

They sneered a bit

[tangerinenotions95]

Always Been You - Chapter 4

You let out a long sigh as you finally changes out of your scrubs. You weren't sure if your shift today was particularly slow or was it because you were still reeling about your encounter with one Bradley Bradshaw last night; wither way you were exhausted and just wanted your bed.

You grabbed your stuff and closed the locker behind you making your way to the hospital exit waving to your roommate Nicole as you passed who had just clocked in an hour ago to start her night shift.

Finally reaching your car you began the short but what felt like long drive home. What you weren't expecting was the Kawasaki parked in your drive. You smiled knowing that bike anywhere and suddenly you were a little less tired when you look towards your house and noticed your dad was on the porch with his back to you.

You got out of your car and walked up behind him, "Are you seriously changing the bulb in my porch light?" you ask him with a knowing smile.

He turned around with a serious face, "Well maybe if the previous bulb didn't look like it hadn't been there since the place was built I wouldn't have to" he tells me with a raised eyebrow and I just roll my eyes before walking up the steps and being engulfed in a large hug. 

"I've missed you" he told me, I pulled back and looked at him, "Hey I've lived in the same place for the last four years unlike some of us" I countered causing him to chuckle.

"Okay okay, you win, I'm sorry"

I playfully nudged his arm as I walked past to unlock the door, "Don't worry about it dad" I tell him like always and I mean it. I'm reality, I'm not sure if it's because I didn't actually mind it or because I got used to it over the years being the daughter of a single parent who was also a naval aviator.

He followed me inside as I dropped my things by the couch and making my way over to the kitchen to grab us both drinks.

"Still living with Lisa?" He asks looking around to see if much has change. "Mm Hmm" I answer taking a gulp of water before passing him one, "For now anyway, she's hoping to move in with her girlfriend once she moves here permanently at the end of the summer" he nods and I lean against the kitchen island watching him suspiciously.

"So" I start causing him to look at me expectantly, "Does your visit have anything to do with why I ran into Bradley at the Hard Deck last night?" I ask him and I notice he freezes for a moment before sighing.

"I was hoping to give you a heads up before you ran into him but apparently I'm too late" he sighs, "You okay?"

I roll my eyes and smile at him, "I'm fine dad, it was years ago, left in the past" I told him but I could tell he didn't completely believe me.

"If you say so"

A beat passes before he coughs awkwardly, "So ho..how was it seeing Bradley?" he asks and I not entirely sure how to answer him so I just say "It was fine, kind of weird"

I compose myself before letting him know that "He's still pissed at you know know?" 

"Yeah I know, he made it very obvious on Monday when he saw me for the first time"

I walk over to him and give his arm a reassuring squeeze, "Maybe this is what you both need" I say hoping to convince him. He smiles at me before chucking, "Honey, we know better than anyone the grudge that boy can hold" I let a sad smile grace my face, "Yeah, I know".

We spend the next while catching up before dad leaves to head back to base having an early start and I take the chance to relax for the evening trying to clear my mind of all things Bradshaw related which is easier said than done.

[this-witch-writes]

Part 3 (Show Don't Tell)

back to: part 1, part 2

'Nothing's ever going to be good enough for his highness, is it?'

The words echoed in the small space. Steve got out of the van and knew he had to leave. He didn’t want to, he was a snotty crying mess  it, but over it, if he stayed in Hawkins begging to be loved any longer he would end up at the bottom the quarry by the fastest route.

It wasn’t like he had much to pack that he cared about. He didn’t care much about clothes beyond looking presentable. Two pairs of jeans, some shirts, and a pair shorts would last him until he planned his next move. It was the personal stuff that took time to pack. With the trunk of his car full, he left a message with Robin’s dorm roommate that he was driving out to New York and that he’d call her again from a motel along the way. He repeated the ‘no need to worry’ part of the message twice but he knew that she would worry anyway.

Steve drove for a few hours that night until he got to a motel so he’d be further away before he second guessed himself. He called Robin in the morning, once he was done pretending he could sleep, nervous about what she’d say. She’d never been sure about him dating Eddie. Robin had bonded with Eddie over the summer, Upside Down survivors and all that, but apparently she hadn’t liked the King of Freaks any better than King Steve back in high school. ‘Same macho social cliché bullshit, different dress code’ she’d said. She wasn’t sure Eddie and Steve were “compatible”.

So Steve dreaded the ‘I told you so’ even though he knew it wouldn’t come if she knew he was genuinely upset.

‘What’s wrong?’ Were the first words out of her mouth when she answered.

‘Me and Eddie broke up’ Steve sniffed. ‘I needed out of Hawkins so I’m driving to New York.’

‘You’re always welcome, dingus,’ Robin assured him. ‘Do I need to be mad at him?’

‘No?’ She scoffed at how unsure he sounded. ‘He didn’t, like, cheat or hurt me or anything.’

‘Jesus your bar is low, Steve-o.’

He laughed bitterly. ‘Right? Still asked too much though.’

‘Was it the “I love you” thing?’ Robin guessed. They’d talked about it over Christmas break. Even though Eddie had been lovely and attentive, Steve was still upset that he hadn’t said I love you back. Robin had told him to ask Eddie once the stress of the holidays passed.

‘Yeah. I finally asked him if he loved me and he acted like I asked him to run an errand on the moon. Bit my head off.’

‘Like actually angry?’ She was surprised, which was fair, it was out of character.

‘His exact words were “Nothing's ever going to be good enough for his highness, is it?”.’

‘Oh fuck that guy.’ Robin growled supportively. ‘Was there something going on? Were you fighting about something that made him think you were trying to pick a fight or something?’

‘No,’ Steve frowned. ‘Two minutes earlier everything had been perfect, that was kind of why I asked?’

‘I don’t get it.’

‘He acted like he loved me. He made me so fucking happy, Rob. But every time I said it, he just brushed it off, never acknowledged it at all, not even to say he needed time or something. He was being so sweet that it confused me so I asked and he snapped.’

‘You’ll be here by tonight right? We’ll talk more then.’ Then her voice went much softer than usual. ‘Sometimes we love someone, but that doesn’t mean we should stay with them, you know?  I love you, dingus, no matter what.’

Steve teared up. ‘Love you too.’

Was that so hard to say?

It was a long drive before Steve hit New York and got smuggled into Robin’s dorm room. Her roommate was nearly always with her boyfriend at night so wasn’t there to complain about Steve squashed into Robin’s twin bed with her. They didn’t talk that night, he was too tired. They don’t talk immediately the next day either. Steve lets Robin show him around Columbia, take him to trendy cafes and look at graffiti. Then they find a grotty diner and the whole story comes out. To Steve’s surprise, Robin’s first response was ‘you should call him.’

‘Wait I thought you didn’t want us together?’

‘I didn’t say that,’ she complained. ‘I said I wasn’t sure it would work out because you were too alike in some ways and too different in others, which like…’ a pointed silence took the place of an I Told You So.

‘Then why…?’

‘Because he’s still our friend and even if you guys breakup, he deserves a better goodbye than a weird cryptic note you wrote while panic crying.’ Robin wasn’t mincing words.

‘Harsh.’ He grumbled.

‘But true.’ Then she took him back to the dorm and sat him by the phone.

‘Hello?’ A deep voice answered, not Eddie. Dammit.

‘Hi Wayne,’ Steve croaked, awkward and shaking. ‘Is Eddie there?’

‘He is.’ Wayne’s voice was level. ‘He’s been pretty damn upset, Steve, and I do think I said something to you about that.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Steve’s too tired to point fingers. Eddie started it would just sound ridiculous anyway.

Wayne just sighed at the meagre come back and shouted for Eddie to come to the phone. Given the stern way Wayne had warned Steve not to hurt his nephew back in the fall, he had gotten out of their first post-breakup conversation pretty lightly. It still ached though.

‘Yeah?’ If Wayne’s voice had been carefully level, Eddie’s was roadkill flat.

‘Hey, Eds.’ Steve swallowed around the lump in his throat. ‘I’m sorry I just took off like that, it was childish. You deserved better.’

‘But not sorry you left?’ Eddie sounded wounded and small.

‘I couldn’t breathe, Eddie,’ Steve gasped, like speaking it made it true. ‘It hurt that you wouldn’t say it, but it hurt more that you acted like I was crazy for even thinking it.’

‘Why are you still acting like I don’t love you!?’ Eddie snapped back, frustrated to near anger.

‘Because I asked and you freaked out!’ Steve shouted back. ‘I practically had to bully you into admitting we were even in a committed relationship at all.’

‘I’ve been committed!’ Eddie snarled. ‘I might not care about labels as much as you, but I’m not the one who ran!’

‘Because I’ve already spent my whole life waiting for people I love to want to love me too.’

‘What more could I have done?’ Eddie sounded tired. ‘I’ve been there though the nightmares and the bad days. I took care of you and was honest with you and never forgot you hate mushrooms…’

‘And I’m so grateful, you did more than I would ever have asked for, I never said you weren’t lovely just that you didn’t love me.’

‘Why do you think that?!’

‘Because you never say it! I say it and you smile and nodded along and when I asked you, needed to hear it, you acted like I was a spoiled child asking for more cake!’

‘Maybe you are a spoiled child!’

Steve hung up. He couldn’t take it anymore. He slammed the receiver down and curled up on his side, sobbing. Robin had stepped awkwardly into the corridor to give him some privacy but could obviously hear enough to know when to rush back in.

‘I’m sorry, Steve,’ she hugged him tight. ‘Maybe I was wrong about calling… what do I know about relationships?’

‘No,’ he sniffed. ‘I needed to hear that. I needed to know it wasn’t just one silly thing, that something was really wrong.’

‘If you’re sure.’

‘I have to be now.’

-

Part 1, Part 2, Part 4

[jj-nhlgirly]

Paper Hearts:- Game Day

Luca Fantilli x F!Reader

AN:- myself and @greazyfloz have decided to create a new series together, how will this work? I hear you ask, well it’s simple we will each take it in turns to publish a part for the series. This is part one, part two will be posted on @greazyfloz page so if you haven’t already GO AND FOLLOW 🫶🏼!!! We hope you enjoy! 🫶🏼

TW:- swearing🤷🏼‍♀️

Y/N pov

I woke up to a loud obnoxious beeping noise, groaning, I rolled over and shut off my alarm. I assume due to the lack of noise in the apartment that my roommate and self-proclaimed best friend Mia is still sleeping, I stretch and get out of bed heading to the bathroom to get ready for classes.

After freshening up, I walk out and head over to Mia's bedroom, shaking her awake. “Mia babes you need to get up, it's 7:30” I said as she shot up, “I’ll pack your bag as you shower” I added before walking to my room and heading for my closet. I reached for light wash ripped jeans, and one of my boyfriend Luca’s hoodies.

I packed my own bag before moving onto Mia’s, placing a granola bar and a mango celsius in knowing she wouldn’t have time for breakfast. As I waited for Mia I decided to check my phone, seeing a message from Luca.

From Luca❤️: Morning baby ❤️

To Luca❤️: Morning babe ❤️

From Luca❤️: what class do you have this morning?❤️

To Luca❤️: health sciences, what do you have? ❤️

From Luca❤️: sports and leadership ❤️

Before I could reply Mia appeared, “let’s go, I’ll drive” I said as I knew she wasn’t exactly a morning person. Climbing into the driver's seat, I connected my phone to the aux cable playing our playlist.

We arrived on campus 20 minutes later, parking in a space near the motorcycle parking as I usually did, I spotted Luca walking towards us. My smile instantly brightened as I climbed out of my car, Luca wrapped his arms around the small of my back squeezing me slightly. “Hey bubs I missed you” he greeted leaning down to kiss me, “mmm I missed you too” I mumbled against his lips.

We pulled away and Luca grabbed my bag from the back seat pulling it over his shoulder, he reached for my hand and we began walking to our classes. Luckily our first class was in the same building, so Luca dropped Mia and I off before heading to his class.

Class was pretty uneventful as usual, Mia copied my notes from the last lecture as she was sick. My phone vibrating in my pocket disrupted my focus, looking down I saw a text from Luca.

From Luca❤️: omg class is so boring today!! ❤️

To Luca❤️: right? It feels like it’s never ending! ❤️

From Luca❤️: is this the Friday you only have 2 classes? ❤️

To Luca❤️: yeah thank fuck, I think I’d pass away if I had anymore ❤️

From Luca❤️: 😂😂please don’t, wanna grab lunch before I have to train for the game?

To Luca❤️: yeah of course, my next class finishes at 11:30 ❤️

From Luca❤️: perfect I’ll see you then gorgeous 😘

To Luca❤️: can’t wait 😘

Looking up at the clock on the wall I realise we still have 25 minutes left.

~Time skip ~

The moment it hit 11:30 I was packing my stuff up and heading out of the classroom as quickly as possible. As I speed walk around the corner I come into contact with a hard chest knocking me over, I await for the impact of the floor but it never comes as I feel two arms steadying me.

“Woah Y/N/N think you’re falling for the wrong brother here” Adam laughs, my eyes shoot up as I pull out of his grip “oh hey Adam.”

Adam laughs again, “what’s got you rushing around?” He asks as we begin walking outside. “Just rushing to meet Lu, has he finished class yet?” I ask as Adam pulls the door open for me, I mumble a thank you.

“Erm I’m not sure, I had a different class second period. He shouldn’t be too much longer.” Adam replied, adjusting the bag on his shoulder.

“I’d stay but I’ve gotta run. Johnny and Rut wanna go for lunch before training” Adam waves as he walks away as I stand there waiting for Luca.

10 minutes later I see Luca walking out of the building, “hey bubs” I greet him with a kiss. “Hey love, sorry class ran over a little” Luca kisses my cheek and reaches for my hand.

“It’s ok Lu, are you hungry?” I looked up at him smiling, “I’m starving, where do you wanna go baby? My treat” Luca replied walking toward the strip of restaurants and bars not far from campus.

We arrived at a small diner decorated with blue and white stripes, walking in it was fairly quiet. Luca lead me to a small booth in the corner ushering me in first and slinging his arm across my shoulders as he sat.

Luca and I chatted mindlessly amongst ourselves as we waited for a waitress to come over. “There’s a party tonight at the sophomore house after the game tonight if you wanna come, you can ask Mia” Luca smiled at me, “ooo sounds fun, I’m sure she’ll be up for it. She’s had a pretty shitty week” I smiled back.

“Hey I’m Jenna, I’ll be your waitress today. Are you ready to order?” Jenna smiled at us both, I recognised her from one of my classes and she quickly became a good friend of mine, “oh Jenna hey, how have you been?” I asked.

Jenna looked a little confused until she realised who I was, “Y/N? Hi it’s been a while I’ve missed you girl” Jenna smiled a little brighter.

“I’ve been good, how have you been? There’s a party at soph house tonight if you wanna come with Mia and I” I offered, looking at Luca to check if it was ok, he smiled and nodded.

“Oh that sounds so fun! I finish here at 6, I don’t have any spare clothes with me though” Jenna frowned, “I’m sure between Mia and I we’ll find you something, swing by after work and get ready with us before the game” I smiled.

“Ok perfect, now what would you guys like to eat? I recommend our chocolate shakes” Jenna asked, “well I’ll have a chocolate shake and some fries” I smiled at the girl, Luca frowned at the menu in front of him.

“What’s up baby?” I asked, “I’m not sure what to get that won’t be so heavy on my stomach for training and the game” he said scanning the menu.

“Why don’t you get a soda and a chicken sandwich?” I suggested, Luca smiled and nodded. Jenna wrote our order and walked away leaving us to chat again.

“Do you have a spare jersey I can wear bubs? Mines in the wash” I asked Luca, “yeah I have a spare for you baby” he smiled and we began chatting about this and that.

After eating our food, and Luca paying even though I tried to pay, we headed out of the diner waving bye to Jenna. Luca and I walked back to campus, hand in hand, “are you nervous about the game tonight?” I asked him.

“A little MSU are our rivals after all” Luca laughed, “true but I know you’ll do amazing bubs” I smiled leaning up to kiss his cheek as we approached my car.

“I’ll drop off the jersey before I head to the game, I love you” Luca kissed me, “I love you too” I mumbled against his lips.

I climbed into my car and backed out of the space driving back to my apartment to finish some essays and homework.

6PM came around quicker than expected, I packed away my textbooks and stationery. I was just bending down to put my bag underneath my desk when I heard a knock on the front door, “I’ll get it” I heard Mia shout.

“Luca?” My head instantly shot up at the mention of my boyfriend's name. Standing up, I make my way to the front door.

“Hey babe” I greeted, as Mia walked back to her bedroom. Luca leaned forward giving me a quick peck on the lips, “hey angel, I’m just dropping off my jersey for you. I can’t stay long, Adams waiting for me outside” he explained, presenting me with said jersey.

“Mmm can’t wait to wear it, good luck bubs” I said as I took the jersey from his hands. I leaned up to give him another kiss for good luck. “Mmm I’ll see you later, I love you” Luca mumbled against my lips, “Mmm i love you too” I mumbled back.

Luca pulled away before turning to leave, I watched him walk away before closing the door and heading back to my bedroom. After a quick shower I decided to start on my makeup, doing my usual routine and listening to music. I got changed wearing black jeans, Luca’s jersey and a cropped black tank underneath it.

I plait my hair into two Dutch braids and spray my perfume before the door goes again, this time I go and answer seeing Jenna. “Hey girly, come in” I greet her with a hug before stepping aside, “hey hun, I’m not late am I?” Jenna questions.

“Not at all, lemme check my closet for a shirt for you to borrow” I said as Jenna followed me to my room. After scanning my closet I reached for a navy umich sweater that I DIY cut into a cropped sweater. “Here you can borrow this if you want” I handed it to Jenna and left the room to give her some privacy.

As Jenna was changing I knocked on Mia’s door, “Mia are you ready? We need to head out or we’ll be late” I shouted through the door. “Yeah just gimme one sec” Mia shouted back, before opening the door.

Jenna opened my door a minute later, we all headed out Jenna offering to drive. We arrived at Yost at 6:45 just in time to find our seats before puck drop.

Luca smiled as he saw me in front of the glass, waving, I smiled and waved back blowing him a kiss as he went back to concentrate on the game. The girls and I cheered along with a few of the other girls associated with the team.

By the time the third period ended the score was 4-3 to Umich, Mark scored 2 and Mackie scored 2 with the assist of Luca. Fourth period started shortly afterwards, Adam had the puck and was skating towards the MSU goal, a gasp escaped my mouth as I saw Adam being shoved up against the boards quickly falling to the ice, I held my breath hoping he’d get up. Luca skated towards his brother, pushing the MSU player away from him which quickly escalated into a fight between the two.

Part of me found it hot watching Luca fight, and part of me worried for him and Adam who was still laying on the ice. I stood up as I saw Luca knock the other player's helmet off, his own following shortly after. “Why aren’t they stopping it?” I asked no one in particular, “I don’t know Y/N/N” Mia replied.

I watched as another MSU player started laying punches into Luca from behind, I shouted out at no one in particular as I watched my boyfriend attempt to fight off two boys now, “SOMEONE FUCKING HELP HIM” I shouted at the boys on the ice, and it was as if Mark and Ethan heard me as they skate towards Luca. Mark threw a punch at one player as Ethan punched the other pulling him away from Luca.

The referee finally approached the boys, both MSU players being ejected from the game, Luca was as well. Mark and Ethan got a penalty each, and Adam finally got up and skated off the ice with medics on either side.

I sat back down, taking a deep breath before gathering my things, “I should go and calm Lu down” I explained to Mia who immediately nodded. “Go, go I’ll meet you later” Mia and Jenna nodded as I walked away.

I walked down to the locker room, I knocked on the door in case other people were in there, “come in” I heard Luca shout across the room. I pushed the door open, walking in and shutting it behind me. “Hey bubs” I cooed while walking to sit on the bench next to him, “hey love” Luca grumbled out still reaching across to kiss my cheek. I smiled at that, no matter how he was feeling Luca would always kiss me.

“You played so well superstar, I’m really proud of you” I praised him, “you’re proud I got thrown out of the game?” Luca grumbled again, “Well whilst that wasn’t an ideal move to make, you were protecting your brother and whilst I don’t wanna see you fight I must admit it was hot” I smirked as Luca shot his head back to look at me. “Oh really?” Luca smirked.

“Mhm, so fucking hot” I leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “but don’t go making it a habit Fantilli you hear me!” I scolded. “Yes ma’am, no fighting unless necessary” Luca saluted at me. I laughed, “mhm that’s what I like to hear, you wanna talk about it? The fight, because it seemed a little more than just Adam being knocked” I asked.

Luca sighed, “he’s been hounding me all night, throwing comments to rile me up” Luca shook his head. “What kinda comments?” I asked, intrigued.

Luca sighed again balling his hands into fists, “about you” he grumbled. “Me? What about me?” I was now confused. “About how I managed to pull a sweet piece of ass like you, and how pretty you’d sound in bed moaning his name instead of mine, calling you a fucking puck bunny. It fucking pissed me off” Luca spoke, his fists shaking. I quickly grabbed his hands, unclenching his fists and playing with his fingers.

“Lu, baby, he was just trying to get under your skin bubs. You pulled this sweet piece of ass as he so graciously said by being you, your incredible, caring, loving, thoughtful, handsome self and I love you so damn much. You’re the only one to hear me moan, and it will forever be your name” I reassured him, leaning over to kiss him, he immediately reciprocated holding my cheeks with his hands as mine wove into the hair at the nape of his neck. I didn’t care that his hair was still sweaty.

Luca started to deepen the kiss, swiping his tongue across my bottom lip, asking for access which I quickly granted, but before it could go any further we heard the sound of the boys coming down the hallway. Luca sighed pulling away, “I should probably head out now Lu, I’ll wait for you outside and we can head to the party together if you want? Jenna drove here” I explained as I leaned in to quickly peck him again.

“Mhm I’ll meet you outside babe, I won’t be too long. But Rut is taking us, Adam if he’s feeling up to it and Johnny” Luca mumbled against my lips. “That’s fine, I’ll let Mia and Jenna know” I smiled as I walked out the room, just as the boys rounded the corner. Rutger giving me a knowing look, I laughed at him before heading to wait by the opening of the hallway where the rest of the girls were waiting.

Approaching Mia and Jenna I smile, “Hey how’s Luca?” Mia asks. “He’s fine, calmed down now. Is it ok if I ride with him to the party? Or do you want me to ride with you two?” I ask not wanting the girls to feel like I’ve ditched them. “Girl we’ll be fine riding together, I know the address, just get us a drink ready if you get there before us” Mia teased laughing.

Jenna laughed as well, “yeah we’ll be fine, we’ll probably be following behind you anyways” she smiled reassuringly at me. After we’d sorted out travel we chatted to the other girls as we waited for the boys.

One by one the boys walked out of the locker room, Adam soon approached us. “Adam, are you ok?” Mia asked, “hey, I’m fine, just got a sprained wrist so I’ll be out for the next couple games” he replied.

“Aww Adam I'm sorry, that sucks” Jenna replied sympathetically, Adam shrugged “to be honest I was more worried about Luca” he said as he looked at me.

“I already spoke to him, he’s okay now. One of the MSU players was riling him up all game” I responded as Luca approached us, with Rutger and Johnny in tow.

[patchwork-oil]

❧ "Blue Hour”

Chapter 2/?

Pairing: Karkat/Reader (Gender Neutral) Word count: 2,386 Warnings: strong language

Summary: Turns out, you forgot Nepeta was stopping by. She’ll be able to help you sort through your feelings, though.

Author’s Note: Happy Christmas Eve I guess? What better is there to do than write fanfic lollll

As is only reasonable, I refused to think anymore. I went completely head-empty watching some videos on my phone in the dark of my room before eventually passing out without a thought to my name. Everything should go by perfectly, I’ll forget about yesterday and today should proceed as normal.

Right?

I lay in a half-asleep stupor when something possesses me to check my phone. 11:30 AM..? How late was I up watching videos... A Pesterchum notification?

AC: :33< hey (name)! be there at 12!

Oh.

AC: :33< ill make karkitten open the door if youre sl33ping in again h33h33 AC: :33< is it pawlright if aradia comes too?

Oh no.

I completely forgot Nepeta was stopping by to pick up part of her cosplay she left behind last time we held DnD here. And we’re supposed to go out to the craft store after.

With all the practice of a college student who had woken up minutes before class began way too many times, I rush out of bed and get dressed in a flash—it’s just Nepeta and Aradia, they can handle it if I accidentally wear my shirt backwards. Breakfast! Breakfast? Is there time for breakfast?

I scramble out the door and beeline it to the fridge. Yogurt will have to do. Karkat was leaning over the counter with a bowl of cereal and his phone in hand, watching me in bewilderment.

“(Name)-“

“Hm?!” WHAT. Why didn’t he start by swearing at me? What does he want? I probably responded too fast-

“-if you have the time, which, by the looks of it, maybe you don’t… No, wait, what the hell has you all flighty?”

“Um!” I shovel some yogurt into my mouth and dunk the empty container in the trash. “See, uh, in like, 10 minutes Nepeta’s coming over?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, (Name), you know we tell each other before we have guests,” he moves to pick up his bowl.

“No, no! She won’t be staying—we’re leaving right after. I would have told you yesterday if we had something planned, but really she won’t be here long so I forgot. I… also overslept, sorry.”

Karkat’s face contorts, trying to read me as if I were a sign across the room. I find myself avoiding his gaze, for some reason. He gives up, and with a sigh places the food back down.

“Fine.”

“… Aradia too.”

“Fuckin’—The more the goddamn merrier, I guess.”

I smile in relief and wash the spoon I was using. He seems to have forgotten what he wanted to talk to me about, so that’s a plus!

“So,” Goddammit. “I just wanted to say-“

“Brush my teeth! I have to go brush my teeth. Tell me after?”

“Wha-“

I’m in the bathroom with the door closed before I hear the end of that. Why the HELL am I freaking out so bad? I don’t even know what he wants to say! It probably isn’t about last night. There isn’t even anything to say about last night! I was just on top of him a little! Roommates can get touchy with… each other… no they don’t. Do they? I’m spitting out paste before I even realized I started brushing. I check myself in the mirror. I really could have messed up today with forgetting to tell him about Nep coming over. I owe it to him to at least listen to what he has to say. Can’t find a solution when you’re too scared to look at the problem, or something.

I pull open the handle in defeat.

“Hi Karkat!” That’s… not my voice.

“Hey Nepeta. (Name)’s in the bathroom. Yeah, Aradia, go ahead. Make this your hive.” Karkat dripped with all the sarcasm I was to blame for.

“Hi! I’m here, I'm almost ready! I just need to grab my bag and stuff.”

Karkat was holding the door open as Aradia and Nepeta filed in. I wave to them both as they talk quietly between themselves. Karkat’s iconic scowl hit me like a headshot. Yeah. He’s going to tear me to shreds when I get back.

I mouth “sorry” at him as I hurry past.

Last week, I stored Nepeta’s delicate cosplay hat in my closet when I noticed she had left it here. I suppose if I kept it out I wouldn’t have forgotten about today, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.

Her craftsmanship is gorgeous. From what I remember, Kanaya knit the base as some sort of a beanie, but Nepeta created these intricate fantasy flowers and sewn them into a sort of laurel configuration around the rim. I loved Nep’s DnD character, probably the most interesting out of the groups just by the way Nepeta role-played her, but the cosplay she brings every week just goes to show how much time and care went into creating the character as well. A druid swiftstride shifter, can’t get more Nepeta than that. 

I should probably stop gawking and get back out there.

“Eee! Thank you so much for keeping it safe!” I feel almost too guilty to smile when Nepeta takes the hat from me. She puts it on as she bounces excitedly in place, apparently down to wear it out of the house. Honestly, she should wear it everywhere with how much time it must have taken to make.

“Of course! I’m just sorry about oversleeping today. We should get going right away. Have you guys eaten?”

“No,” says Aradia, stepping out into the hallway. “When Nepeta told me you weren’t answering, we both suspected you’d be too busy rushing to get ready to eat.”

“Wow! Geez, gumshoe, give me a break.” The other two are already down the hall when Karkat grabs me by the arm.

“Kar!?“

“We are going to talk when you get back. And before you flip whatever’s left in your stupid, rotting thinkpan, I’m. Not. Mad at you.”

… Allllllright.

Kinda out of character for Karkat if I’m honest.

His eyes bore into me with some expression I couldn’t understand. Yet, despite staring down each other for what felt like the rest of the afternoon, I don’t get the chance to dumbly respond with at least an “okay” before he shuts the door. _________________

Aradia pulled us to a cafe when I said I couldn’t stop dreaming about a hot breakfast sandwich. I’m honestly just saying anything to try not to think about how serious Karkat sounded. The other two go secure a table outside while I stand waiting for our orders. The cafe is almost crowded but mostly it’s pleasant with its mild chattering. I’m just grateful to sit outside in the crisp autumn air, hopefully it will clear my head. A tray appears on the counter before me and a server calls my name.

Nepeta and I have been friends nearly since college began. We were both art majors and we just clicked too well not to stick like glue. To top it off, I adored her art style. I often tell her how adorable her art style is, but she compliments mine back just as much if not more. She majored in 2D animation and it always felt like she was much more well-rounded than me. We make it a habit to gush about each other’s art constantly, she’s more than aware of how much I admire her. I mean, she’s getting plenty more commissions than I ever had.

And Aradia was a friend that Nepeta had introduced me to when we were batting around the idea of starting a DnD session. There’s no one with better time management than Aradia, and that’s like half the battle of being a dungeon master, I’m pretty sure. Not to mention her stories are always so exciting, she really knows how to make it feel like we’re really exploring dungeons and looting ruins.

The only other players in our session are Dave and Karkat, Dave who claims to have been dragged along by Aradia and Karkat who wouldn’t shut up about it until I let him join back when we first started dorming together. Ever since him and I got that table, we’ve been using it every other Sunday to play together in person.

“(Name)? Hellooo?”

“Ah! Sorry, did you say something? I was totally in my head.” Nepeta had apparently been trying to get my attention. Maybe this is more of a ruminating week.

“Heehee! You seem like you have a bit of a full heart, lately. You were acting strange since you caught up with us back at your apartment.”

“Huh? Oh...”

“Something on your mind?” Aradia leaned in.

I guess I trust these two more than anyone…

“I… Promise it’s not a big deal. In fact I’m pretty sure I’m making a bigger deal of it than it needs to be.” The two share a look briefly. “It was just something that happened between me and Karkat yesterday.”

“Did you guys fight?” Aradia asked way too fast and with too big a smile on her face. She does love drama after all.

“No. Not really, I guess. Well, it’s weird. And you have to promise not to make fun of me because this is actually super easy to make fun of me about.”

They both start giggling, which evolves into just full laughter.

“Right, not sure why I even asked,” I laugh along with them.

“We won’t! We won’t, we’ll be so serious,” Nepeta mediates with a lingering smirk.

“Nepeta, do you, like...” I look for my words like they’re somewhere on the table with my sandwich. “When you lived with Equius, did you guys… hug?”

“Yes of course! But I also just hug people all the time.” She demonstrates by half-hugging Aradia right next to her.

“What, did you just hug Karkat for the first time?” Aradia asks incredulously, almost ignoring Nepeta at her side.

“No,” I say with almost a scolding tone. “We’ve hugged before… I think. It’s not about that. I’m sorta just trying to find a roundabout way to explain… Well, I sorta was on top of him.” 

“YOU WHAT?” They scream in unison.

“NOT LIKE THAT! It wasn’t like that! I just had my leg on his! But we were really close and for I don’t know how long—we were playing a game together!”

“Well what did he do?” One of them asks, I’m too busy burying my head in my hands.

“So when we won the level, at some point he put his arm on my back? And we still didn’t notice until we looked at each other.”

“And?”

“And that’s it”

“That’s it?” Aradia presses.

“Yes ‘that’s it!’ And I’m freaking out!”

“Really, (Name). That seems pretty normal to me! You both got excited is all. Even if it is weird that Karkat gets excited at anything at all,” Aradia tries to reason, Nepeta stays focused on me.

“But I really can’t read him! Ok, but this morning is when it gets weird. I think he was trying to talk to me about it, but I’m way too scared to hear him out.”

“What is there to be scared of? You’re the only one Karkat doesn’t really scream at. He’s more at, like, 70% with you at most.”

“I’m not scared of that. I… don’t know. That’s what I’m having trouble with. I don’t even know why I’m nervous. I just don’t want anything to change between us. He’s the best roommate I’ve ever had.”

“Are you worried he may have liked you all along?” Nepeta asks very quietly, but very pointedly. I stare at her like she has the answer written on her face.

“I… think so. I guess that’s what I haven’t been able to put into words. I don’t know how I’d feel if this whole time he was only nice to me because he liked me like that. Only moved in together because…”

My heart catches in my throat, I really don’t know what I’d do…

The two share a look, this time more troubled.

“(Name)…” Aradia starts.

“I don’t think that’s happening. I mean no offense, but when Karkat likes someone, it’s very obvious. We would have seen something during our sessions at the least,” Nepeta finishes.

Oh, right. It’s no secret Nepeta had a huge crush on Karkat for a very long time. It wasn’t until maybe sophomore year that we encouraged Nepeta to tell him, all of us knowing fully well he didn’t feel the same way. It was strange, though, the way Nepeta gained a lot of confidence after he rejected her feelings. She was a completely different, happier person. They’d been friends much longer than I knew either of them, but it was only after that day that they both seemed completely honest with one another. Karkat, too, could laugh around her more and more since then. I hope I’m not reviving any bad history.

“And if I know him, I’d say he’s probably trying to clear this up as well.”

“Nepeta’s right. Everyone noticed how you started to act similar once you were dorming together. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was freaking out as much as you for the same reasons.”

I sighed as if I had been out of breath. “So there’s nothing to worry about?”

“Not at all,” Nepeta smiled and put both hands on one of mine. She looked absolutely charming with the afternoon sun on her hat and her cute cat-ear horns.

“Aw man. It would have been much more exciting if he made a move on you. Imagine how awkward next session would be.”

“I don’t think you’d like that as much as you say you would, Aradia.”

“It would enhance your characters!”

The heavy air leaves the table with our fit of laughter. I’m definitely ready to see Karkat tonight, even if he needs to cut me to ribbons.

“Thank you guys. I promise I’ll be more present for the rest of the day.”

Nepeta perks up “You better! I just got a huge commission and I want to spend all day in the craft store!”

Aradia tags along. “And I’ve been getting into woodworking, we may have to stop at a hardware store too.”

“Oh, what the hell! All I need is a new sketchbook!”

Previous Chapter

Author's Note: I always wanted to read a fic where Aradia and the reader were friends :3

I don't know why tumblr isnt letting me do my indenting :( i love my indenting

[atinytease08]

Accident with consequences...[P.J]

˜”*°•.˜”*°•.•°*”˜.•°*”˜˜”*°•.˜”*°•.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

SUMMERY - You weren't a commonly disliked person but for some reason you can't seem to make him like you, so you decide to deny your feelings and hate him, just like he hates you. But when you got involved in a car accident, everything changed. In emergencies even the biggest enimies can become friends...or even more?

GENRE - enemies to lovers, college au, smut

WARNINGS - car accident, some mentionings of blood, smut ;)

NOTES - ///

"Oh, wow...", you huffed and rolled your eyes when you saw the list that was laying in front of you.

"What am I supposed to say?", he hissed and combed through his silky hair with his fingers,"Now I'm stuck with you."

You sighed.

Park Jongseong, or Jay as everyone called him, wasn't very fond of you and had absolutely no intentions of hiding it. You didn't know why and to be honest it really hurt at times since you actually really liked him in the beginning.

But you knew you deserved better than an asshole like him, so you decided to keep your feelings to yourself and lock them away. Now, instead of your love, there was a forced hatred that filled its place.

Although you tried to keep your distance, it was just your luck that your teacher decided to team you up for the upcoming project. Since you weren't going to work with your friends most of the time in the future, your teacher wanted you to learn how to work with strangers which made sense, although you still didn't want to work with Jay.

"Don't be such a bitch about it. This project counts 30% of our final grade so I don't really care what you do, but I need to get a good grade.", you practically spat back.

"You don't think I want to get a good grade?", he rolled his eyes, "You're the one annoying me."

"What? No, you started!"

"Not true."

"You little-"

Sometimes you just wanted to twist his fucking head off.

But you were in college and not kindergarden after all so you didn't see why you should have to deal with his behaviour.

"Doesn't matter. When are you free to start?", you asked, pushing your anger aside. It wasn't easy being the bigger person.

"Tomorrow after class?", he asked and you nodded.

"We can go to my place. There no one can interrupt or bother us.", he winked.

"The hell is wrong with you...", you mumbled. You didn't want to admit how much his simple words affected you, so you looked away to hide the blush that crept up your cheeks.

You didn't actually fall for him. It's just that his sudden statement caught you off guard. Yeah, that must be it...right?

"Fine, my roommate is too noisy anyways, she wouldn't leave us alone..."

"Then see you tomorrow.", he said in his typical annoyed voice as he got up and left.

You furrowed your brows. You really couldn't tell what he was thinking and why he was acting like this.

"What's his deal anyways?"

[...]

You had packed your stuff and left your dorms as you were now on your way to Jays flat. He had sent you the adress and simply by the location of it, you could tell that he had money.

"Of course he's rich...", you rolled your eyes. You looked at your phone one last time before crossing the green light.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a car started speeding towards you. You were caught like a deer in head lights.

You had seen this multiple times before in movies, where the main character freezes in place and you had wondered why they wouldn't get off the street but now you could finally understand why.

You tried to move, your thoughts kept yelling at you, but anxiety took over, making your body not move an inch.

Everything suddenly was in slow motion as the car hit you. You flew through the air, hitting the cold ground underneath.

The taste of blood filled your mouth and your whole body ached. Someone was calling out for you but before you could make out who it was, your mind started slipping away.

[...]

You slowly opened your eyes, the bright light causing you to furrow your eyebrows.

"Y/n, you're awake!", you heard your roomate saying.

You turned your head to look at her.

"What happened?"

Your throath was as dry as a desert.

"Some asshole speeded because he thought he could still cross over while it was green although it was red! I swear to god, if I catch him-", she held her fist in the air, "Can you believe it?! He just drove away and left you there! I'm so glad there was a wittness who called an ambulance!"

You smiled at her softly.

"Let me just get a doctor!"

Like that she got up and left. After some minutes she came back with another two people following her.

"Ah, I see you're awake.", the doctor smiled, "How are we feeling?"

"To be honest, I just have a bad headache right now..."

"You were lucky, you know? You somehow managed to get away with some small wounds and cuts but nothing too serious.", the doctor explained,"Just get a good rest, just in case anything happens, we are still keeping you here until tomorrow."

You nodded and thanked her, before she left you alone with your roommate.

"I'm so glad it's nothing too serious!", she exclaimed.

"Same..."

"I'm just going to let you rest, I'm going to pick you up tomorrow and drive you home.", she winked at you and you looked at her in awe.

"Naw, thank you! You're an angel~", you said,"See you tomorrow!"

[...]

Three days had passed since the accident and you were as good as new, except for the fact that it was going to take a while for you to be able to enter a car. Well...

You were sitting on your bed, as a wave of guilt overcame you. You hadn't been able to cancel your meeting with Jay but you also couldn't text him because your phone broke when the car hit you.

You knew it wasn't your fault and yet you felt responsible for not helping him with the project. You were the one warning him to not be lazy in the first place, although you ended up not doing anything.

"Y/n?", you suddenly heard your roommate say.

"Yeah?"

"I've been calling you four times already!"

"Oh, sorry...I was lost in my thoughts...", you smiled at her apologizing.

"Don't worry 'bout it. Just wanted to tell you that dinner is ready if you're hungry."

"Thanks."

She wanted to leave but then hesitated. You furrowed your brows.

"Is something wrong?", you asked.

"Well, I was just wondering...Who was that guy in the hospital? Do you have a secret boyfriend or something?"

"What?!", you snorted in disbelief,"What guy?"

"There was a guy- Quite tall, dark brown middle part, sharp nose and jawline, kinda hot..."

The more she described him, the clearer the picture of who she was talking about became.

But it couldn't be, could it?!

"I think he was the one who called the ambulance. He was by your side the whole time until shortly before you woke up."

"You're kidding, right?!"

"I'm not", she shrugged,"He seemed very concerned about you..."

"Sorry, I think dinner has to wait, I need to talk to a specific person.", you said hastily as you jumped up and started getting ready.

"Okayy, just text me if you're going to stay at his place~", she winked at you teasingly causing you to roll your eyes to hide your deep blush.

"Oh, come on!"

Without giving much thought to it, you grabbed your things and left.

Had Jay really been the one who called an ambulence? Had he really been the one who was by your side the whole time and cared for you?

You ran as fast as you could to Jay's flat. It was already quite late, but still, you hoped that he was home.

When you stood in front of his door, you knocked until someone finally opened.

When you saw him, you couldn't believe your eyes. His dark hair was wet and messy, single strands falling into his face. He was wearing a tanktop, a towl was laying over his shoulder. On top of that was he wearing his shorts which matched perfectly.

How could someone look that good in such a simple outfit? Nevermind, you weren't here to thirst over him anyways...

When he saw you, he leaned onto the door frame and looked you up and down.

"Y/n, I think you're about three days too late for our meeting.", he scoffed,"What are you doing here?"

Maybe you were stupid and it hadn't been him, but before you could let your doubt take over, your mouth started talking.

"I-I came to thank you..."

He furrowed his brows.

"Come in", he demanded and turned around. You took off your shoes and followed him quietly until you both sat down on his couch.

"As I said, I came here to thank you.", you repeated. His dark eyes were staring right into yours, making your heart skip a beat,"My roommate told me you were the one who called an ambulance..."

"It was just a coincidence, I just came back from the grocery store around the corner and happened to wittness it", he shrugged.

"Then why did you stay with me the whole night? You didn't have to..."

"What would you do if someone was hit by a car and no one showed up for you?", he rolled his eyes,"And besides, I still need you for our project. I wasn't planning on doing it alone."

Just why was he acting like this?

"I was hit by a fucking car, but you did this because you were being selfish? You really didn't care about me?", you asked anger and disappointment bubbling up inside you. If tears wouldn't have filled your eyes, you would have seen how his gaze softned.

Jay had always confused you since the second you two met. He acted as if he hated you, yet sometimes he did things that made you question that. Normally you couldn't care less about his moodswings but right now you were just feeling so vulnerable, you didn't know if you could take it right now.

"Yes."

This was enought to let the tears stream down your face.

"You're such an asshole, you know?! I'm a human too! I can't beliebe I loved someone like you...", you breathed the last sentence rather to yourself than to him although he still caught what you said.

Your own words confused you. You loved him? It hurt, yet it also felt relieving to finally admit it, instead of living in denial.

"You what?!-"

"What did I ever do to you? Why do you keep confusing me and keep treating me like that?!", you yelled. You were so caught up with your feelings and thoughts, you didn't realise his astonished expression.

"Why do you hate me so much, Jay-"

"I don't. It's just that-"

You froze. What did he just say?

"W-What?"

"You heard me. I don't hate you. To be honest it's even quite the opposite..."

All the colour left your face.

"What are you saying? Is this a prank? You having a crush on me?"

"Not just a crush I would say...I-I didn't know what to do...I'm so sorry, Y/n for having you treated like this, it's just that I can't..."

You moved closer to him, your tears had stopped but your confusion just grew. Jay started chewing on his lower lip before he continued.

"You know Jake?"

You nodded.

"He told me he liked you..."

Silence.

"So?", you asked after few seconds of collecting your thoughts.

"He's my best friend! I can't just betray him and steal the girl he likes!", he explained,"He didn't know about my feelings for you though..."

Your mouth was slightly agape as you blankly stared at him. You were speechless.

"Jay, I don't even know Jake! In all these months, he hadn't made a single move towards me!", you started,"What do you feel? You can't just put his feelings over yours..."

"I love you, Y/n..."

Your heart stopped for a second. What did he just say?

"I really really do love you Y/n, but..."

"Jay, you're the one I love, not Jake...If he really was your best friend he would accept and support you feelings just like you did with him for all this time!"

He inched closer.

"I understand you, it's not an easy decision..."

"It really isn't", he admitted. His gaze was laying on you, it was soft and so full of emotions. You had never seen him look like that before.

"But Jay, you sometimes need to prioritize your own feelings-"

"You're right."

Then suddenly he moved forward and crashed his lips onto yours. Within seconds you were laying underneath him on his couch, feeling his soft lips move against yours as if you were made for eachother.

It felt amazing.

After all these months of having to suppress your feelings and having your crush treat you like shit, you finally had something that showed how the fight paied off.

Although it still wasn't okay what he did, you just didn't care enough to even think about that. Love is blind, as they say.

"I really tried to push you away, but it made my cravings even worse...I don't think I can hold back anymore~"

"Please, don't hold back~", you whispered.

Your hands found their way to the back of his head as you buried your hands in his hair to pull him in again.

This time the kiss was wilder, more passionate. You had never felt anything that could even compete with this feeling.

"You don't know how long i've been waiting for this~", he mumbled in your ear as he slipped his hand slowly under your shirt. His long lanky fingers left hot burning traces all over your skin, making it tingle.

His hand found his way to your breast where he softly started to massage it trough the thick fabric of your bra, while his other hand trapped you between it and the back of his couch.

"Ngh, Jay...", you whimpered. His touch made you feel butterflies in your stomach and you couldn't help but want more of it.

He sat down on you, his clothed dick directly over your cunt, before he got rid of his shirt. You inspected his body and let's just say...It was better than you could have ever imagined. The clothes he usually wore somehow managed to hide his lean yet prominent muscles so you had actually assumed he was rather the skinny type.

You let your hand wander over his soft skin, letting your fingers run over his sensitive nipple. As soon as you touched his bud, he breathed out sharply.

"Y/n, now it's your turn.", he said dominantly and before you could even think, he somehow grabbed your waist, pulling you up and sliding underneath you, so your positions were switched.

You were now sitting on his dick, feeling his errection through the fabric of his pants, his growing bulge.

You quickly got up and stripped, getting rid of your shirt and pants, leaving you in your black lace panties and nude bra only.

You were a bit embarassed if you were honest. If you had known how your visit would have ended, you would have worn a matching, prettier set of underwear, but as you tried to strip as arousing as you could, you noticed that Jay couldn't care less about you underwear. The way his eyes hungryly pierced into you, made you feel some type of way.

You had his attention– And only you.

You walked over to him and started to undo his belt.

"Mhh, ready?", you asked as you played with the hem of his underwear. He nodded eagerly and not even a minute later, you pulled down his remaining clothes, revealing his big dick.

You had never thought you would ever see one so beautiful. The tip was red, a vein pulsating on its side. You could only anticipate what it would feel like inside of you.

Carefully, you wrapped your hand around his lengh, which caused him to let out a sharp sigh.

After studying his furrowed expression, you started moving your hand up and down, sometimes even applying pressure to his tip with your thumb.

"Ngh, Y/n~ How are you so good at this?", he chuckled between his whimpers and moans, "Innocent much, huh?"

You grinned sheepishly. Even in this situation he couldn't stop teasing you. Maybe this was even one of the reasons you felt drawn to him, like a moth to a flame.

"Y-Y/n", he whispered. Only then, you saw the precum leaking out of his tip, the beads running down his lengh, making going up and down even smoother like lube.

"In the cupboard, second drawer.", he said and you immediately got it. You got up and quickly pulled out a condom. You unpacked it and put it over him.

You noticed, everytime you touched him or you felt him, your body tensed up. By now, your panties were soaking wet.

"What are you waiting for?~", he sat up, and pulled you onto his lap,"You prepared me so well, now it's your turn, babygirl..."

He softly laied you down on the couch, before he put his fingers in your mouth for you to wet them. Your tongue playfully moved around every single one of them and when he pulled them out, you could see threads of saliva.

Soon, you could feel him pushing one, then two fingers inside of you. You gasped.

Your hands automatically buried themselves in his silky dark hair, tugging a bit at it. He seemed to really enjoy it.

"Want me to make you feel good?"

You whimpered as a response, when he started moving his fingers.

"I want you...", you whined, only getting a chuckle from him.

"But you already have me, baby. I'm right here."

"N-No, I want you~"

"I see...Begging already? What happened to the feisty girl from before?", he teased. His free hand moved to you face and tucked a loose strand of your hair behind your ear.

"You look so beautiful, my pretty girl."

You couldn't help but blush at his comment.

"Time to give you what you deserve."

And with that, he pulled his fingers out, but instead placed his tip at your entrance, slowly rubbing it, before carefully pushing his cock inside.

Your hands went from his hair to his muscular back, scratching his skin from the overwhelming sensation.

At first it hurt, but because of his preparation and the sensitiveness in his touch, this pain soon turned into pure pleasure.

The feeling of him filling you out completely made you go insane and when he pulled out just to thrust into you again, you couldn't hold in your moans any longer.

"You sound so beautiful...", he complimented you,"Taking me so well, such a good girl."

You loved the way he talked to you. His raspy voice and pet names mixed with his moans of pleasure were like music in your ears.

After a while, he started picking up the pace, your lewd noises and the sound of your naked skin slapping onto each other filled the room. Your nails digged deep into his skin but he didn't even seem to care.

His hands were holding onto your hips, trying to reach deeper each time while hitting your sweet spot.

"Does it feel good? Mh?", he cooed. You nodded.

"Ngh, Jay~ I-I'm cu-cumming!", you screamed. The knot inside you tightened, until, within seconds, it released. Your climax felt amazing, him riding it out, the overstimulation driving you crazy.

Seconds later, just from seeing your slick spread all over his dick and hearing your forbidden noises, he came too.

Jay pulled out of you and threw his head back. Still trying to catch his breath. Then he bowed down and gave you on last passionat kiss before whispering:

"I love you, Y/n~"

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Begin Again: Chapter Two | Spencer Reid

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist!

<< Chapter One

Chapter Two: Room 304

Pairing: Spencer Reid x OC!Charlotte Morris

Warnings: Suggestive language, foul language, talk of murder, talk of death, description of a crime scene, mention of blood.

Author's note: Wooohooo part two!

Words: 1.6K

He had been staring at his phone for hours. The phone number he had saved last night had been screaming at him, telling him to call it. Yet, he still hesitated. Every logical sense in him told him he shouldn’t call her. It would’ve been too creepy, too stalkery for him to call her so out of the blue. 

“What are you up to, Pretty Boy?” Derek asked when he found his coworker at his desk, staring at his cellphone, something the young profiler usually never did. 

Spencer coughed and stuffed his phone in his pocket. “N-nothing,” he stuttered. 

“Oh, come on now.” Derek sat down on the corner of Spencer’s desk. “You’re thinking about calling her, aren’t you?” 

Of course Spencer couldn’t lie to Derek. To none of his colleagues, for that matter. They were the best at their job. It shouldn’t surprise him that he knew what was happening. 

“Isn’t it weird to call someone after not having seen them for seventeen years?” Spencer asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. 

Derek shrugged. “It’s only gonna be weird if you make it weird,” he said, then sighed at the sight of his coworker’s forlorn expression. “If you don’t feel confident calling her, then don’t. Give it some time. Think it over. But, kid…” Spencer looked up at him again. “If a girl has been on your mind for seventeen years, it must mean something.” 

“Yeah… I guess…” 

“Morning, sunshine,” Thomas greeted when Charlotte raced out of her room with her blouse only half done up and still sticking out of her dress pants. The young man was enjoying the sight in front him more than his morning cereal. 

His roommate was racing around the house looking for her stuff whilst still getting dressed, clearly in a rush to get to work. 

“Morning,” Charlotte grunted as she clasped her watch around her wrist before moving to continue buttoning her blouse. “I-I need… Did you see my–” 

“On the kitchen counter,” Thomas replied, pointing at the kitchen. 

He didn’t even need any more information to know what she was looking for. It was the little bracelet she always wore with the Las Vegas charms. One had the Vegas skyline, the other was a deck of cards. She had taken it off last night when she was heating up the dinner Thomas had left for  her. 

She could never leave the house with it. 

“Thanks, my sweet,” she mumbled as she walked over to the counter and put the bracelet back on around her wrist, right next to her watch. “Oh, hey, do you wanna have lunch with me and Val later? We’ve got the big meeting with the mayor just before noon, so we figured we could take a break and have some lunch together. Wanna join?” 

Thomas sipped his coffee, letting the question simmer in his mind. “Oh, uh, yeah, sure!” 

“Can I come?” The incredibly beautiful British accent of Yanisha Kumar echoed through the air. 

The beautiful Indian-Brit slunk around her boyfriend and pressed a kiss to his cheek. She was wearing one of his shirts, which was big enough to reach beneath her bum and made her long legs look even longer. Next to Yanisha, Charlotte was but a blob, but she had managed to get over her insecurities the more she got to know Yanisha. 

“Yes! Please, join us,” Charlotte affirmed as she tucked his shirt in her pants. “I’ll see you both later then.” She kissed both of them on the cheek, took a gulp of Thomas’ coffee and then grabbed her stuff to leave the apartment. 

“Good luck on the big meeting, Lot!” Yanisha called after her whilst Thomas simply yelled out a “bye!”. 

As Charlotte moved through the hotel on her morning walk-through, she ran all the things that she wanted to talk about during the meeting with the mayor through her head. There was so much she had to be thinking about. Nothing could make her stray from the boost of confidence she was on to tackle the mayor down and get what she needed for the hotel. 

“Jeez,” Val complained when Charlotte walked into the back offices. The young receptionist was vacuuming the carpeted floor around their desks. “I suck dick better than this piece of shit.” 

The thirty-something general manager chuckled. “You don’t suck dick, Val.” 

She stopped her vacuum-cleaning and looked up. “Exactly my point.”

“You’re a menace to society, my darling.” Charlotte took a seat at her desk and sighed. “Can you go and check on Joy and Tinashe? One of them needed more rose petals.” 

Valencia hummed as she straightened out her skirt before heading off to check up on the housekeeping team. With a sigh, Charlotte started rummaging through her files and wrote down all of the bullet points that had rushed through her head during her walk-through.  

“Lottie…” 

Charlotte looked up from her paperwork at Val and her heart shot up to her throat. The look on her face didn’t predict much good. In fact, it was the same look she had given her a little over a week ago when one of the guests didn’t check out on time and they were met with the most horrifying scene of their career. 

“No,” Charlotte mumbled and got up before grabbing Val’s hand, allowing the receptionist to guide her towards the room in question. “304, again?” She whispered as she took out her keycard to open the door. 

Neither of them stepped inside, but Charlotte did lean in to slide her card into the slot for electricity, her hands shaking as she did so. The lights in the room flickered on, revealing the one thing both women were so afraid of. 

“Val, honey… Go downstairs and call 911…” She whispered, not taking her eyes off the man on the bed. Splatters of blood decorated the walls and furniture around. From where she stood, the man was stabbed to death, multiple times before his throat was slashed. 

It was the second time she had seen something like this, though nothing could ever prepare you for how horrifying it is. 

It made her wonder how anyone in law enforcement could possibly do it. 

“We’re going to Hartford, Connecticut,” JJ started the briefing, showing the crime scene photos of the hotel room. “It’s the second murder in the same hotel in two weeks.”

Ignoring the little flip of his heart at the mention of the city, Spencer dove straight into the case file. “Stab wounds and a sliced throat, that’s overkill. Was the previous MO the same?” 

“No. The first time, the victim died from asphyxiation,” JJ informed. 

Emily’s brows furrowed. “Then how do we even know it’s the same UnSub?” 

“It happened in the same exact room, room 304 and he left this behind…” JJ showed a close-up of the shreds of paper scattered around the body and room. “Paper shreds around the body, all seemingly with the same handwriting.” 

Hotch nodded his head whilst gathering the files in the folder and scraping his chair back. “He’s accelerating. We’ll debrief further on the plane. Wheels up in ten.” 

“Hey,” Morgan started when the team filed into the jet. Spencer and Derek sat down opposite each other. “Doesn’t Charlotte live in Hartford?” he asked with a half-teasing smirk on his face. 

“Who’s Charlotte?” Emily queried, interested in any and all workplace gossip. 

Chuckling, Derek turned to his female coworkers, wanting them in on what he and Penelope had found out for Spencer. “She's Spencer’s high school crush.” 

“Oh,” JJ tried to bite back a smirk. The boy next to her was blushing furiously. “Weren’t you like twelve in high school?” 

Spencer hummed. “Yes, I was,” he simply answered, not giving any details. 

“How old does that make her?” Emily asked, furrowing her eyebrows in thought. 

“Thirty-three,” Penelope responded as she pushed through the aisle with her luggage. “She was born on January twentieth, 1976, which makes her four years older than our dear Reid and a Capricorn.” 

Derek’s brows furrowed as he shot up to help her put her luggage in the overhead compartment. “What are you doing here?” he asked. 

“Hotch asked me to come,” she replied, nodding towards Hotch and Rossi, who had just boarded the plane. “Said I could do my sleuthing there with the security cameras and everything.” 

“Can we focus on the case instead of Spencer’s high school crushes?” Hotch ordered, though he couldn’t hide the proud smile on his face. He knew something Spencer did not know yet and he wasn’t going to say anything before Spencer could find out himself. 

For a good hour and a half, the team bounced theories off each other, based on the facts they had, until they landed in Hartford, Connecticut. Hotch had told them they were all going to set up at the hotel where it had happened as the general manager had told them they were allowed to set up shop in the meeting room, just so they could be close to the crime scene. 

The team entered the hotel, looking around and taking everything in so they wouldn’t miss any details that could come in handy later. The only detail Spencer did miss was the young general manager walking up to them and shaking JJ’s hand. 

“Hi, I’m Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone,” JJ introduced herself. 

“I’m Charlotte Morris, general manager.” 

As the words rolled off her lips, Spencer’s head snapped up and when his eyes landed on her, his world started spinning. There she was. Although her hair had grown longer and the pink was all gone, it was still her. The same girl from seventeen years ago was still very visible through her kind smile and her worry-filled eyes. 

Then, their eyes locked and for a second, Spencer thought he was going to black out. 

He watched all of it begin again.

Everything taglist: @calamitykaty @n0wornever @wanniiieeee @unnowhatthisistbh

Criminal Minds Taglist: @boimlers-gonna-boim @samsbirks @tinaasthings @dysphoricsanity @love4lando @elenamoncada-ibarra @r-3dlips @magstheslayer @astess @sylvcaplath @tillypettitt @mordechaisworld @ssameadows @spikedhe4rt @spencers-bookworm  @littlemissaddict @kirbybean

[snarkythewoecrow]

okay, for a little treat, here's some super big feels in snippet form from my mpreg!buck story (which i should make a special tag for) but this is a buddie, one night stand to enemies to reluctant roommates to lovers/family fic, with misunderstandings and lots of hurt/comfort, and this out-of-context snippet is from some stuff I wrote tonight, with Athena being the best surrogate mom to Buck in his time of need, like the feels!

tagging @kookieisbaby and @underwater-ninja-13 since i think they might be interested, i've never done a tag list but i can try to make one for snippets from this fic if you want, just let me know if you want on it

“Buck, sweetheart, you did take it, didn’t you?” she asked.

Something clawed at his throat, scraping upwards and making him cough, trying to ease it. The sensation didn’t abate, but he pushed past it, nodding tightly a few times, then managing to rasp, “Yeah, I—it’s in there, but, uh, I couldn’t—I couldn’t—I can’t—”

He shook his head, not able to explain—and not just because he didn’t know how, but because his chest had suddenly refused to expand how it should, leaving the tissues burning for oxygen, screaming for him to suck in faster--pull harder--to fill his lungs. Though that only made the panic worse.

“Woah, woah, woah,” she said, touching his shoulders, then his face, turning him to face her. “Breathe, Buck. Come on, baby.”

The room spun when he shook his head. “Can’t—can’t—I can’t.”

“Easy—look at me—that’s it, baby—there you are.” One of her hands slid to the back of his neck, putting him in a scruff that sent a jolt through his arms, then into his chest, working like the opposite of adrenaline. “I promise—you can, and very much are, breathing. You’re moving air, baby. It might not feel like it, but I promise you are.”

The tight cinch of panic around his ribcage eased.

His gaze locked with hers, latching on and finding faith. In and out. He wasn’t suffocating—Athena wouldn’t let him drown.

Her lips twitched, an almost smile. “There you go—those lungs are working a little better for you now, huh? Alright, just keep breathing, nice and slow, for a bit longer, then we’ll go from there. That sound good to you?”

A quick nod, then he closed his eyes, focusing on the warmth of her hand squeezing his neck, grounding and reminding him of a childhood he never had, with a mother who’d never cared to soothe him this way.

Then, after gathering himself, though his nerves still buzzed with static, he took an easier breath and opened his eyes to face Athena, and everything that time refused to stop chasing.

Because no matter what, sooner or later, the test would need to be read—and his life would change—even if he wasn’t pregnant, as this experience had already left its mark.

“Um, thanks—and sorry, for, you know, all that.”

She rolled her eyes, brows lifting and dropping her hand from his neck. “You’re just as bad as Bobby—and you know, you’re not the only one who struggles—we all do from time to time. But that’s what pack is for, right? We’re here for each other, through thick and thin, or whatever is waiting behind that door.”

“Yeah, I know.”

She shrugged a little. “Eh, I’m not sure you do, but it’s a work in progress, baby. We all are, in our own ways. But the real question is, are you ready to see what the next step is gonna be—where this path is leading?”

His throat still ached when he swallowed. Then he inhaled hard and fast, exhaling just as roughly afterward. “I’m scared, ’Thena.”

“I bet you are—probably downright terrified, but I’m here, and the pack is a phone call away. You know Maddie will drop everything if you ask, and no matter what—we’ll back you up. However you want to play it.”

He had to stop his hand from sliding to his lower belly. Then, glancing at the door, he asked, not even turning back to her, “Can you—would you look? Then—then tell me. I can’t and I—I think it would be easier if you…”

She patted his shoulder. “Of course, baby.”

[pigeonwhumps]

Blackmail

Finding Safety masterlist

Whump Girl Summer day 6: Blackmail

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @whumpymirages @flowersarefreetherapy @painful-pooch (plus @justplainwhump bc you've been waiting for this)

While at university in Canada, Aaliyah is forcefully reminded of her past as a pet.

Set a few years after Cass and Aaliyah move to Canada. Aaliyah's in her second year.

1.8k

CWs: BBU, pet whump, rape/non-con, sexual slurs, flashbacks, conditioned whumpee, degradation, self-degradation, blackmail, non-con nude photos, discrimination, briefly implied homophobia, dehumanisation

Aaliyah closes her laptop and removes her headphones, stretching widely. She's enjoying researching for this essay but despite her ability to stay in one place for hours at a time she's getting stiff. And her ears are aching.

Her roommate Zac looks up from his own textbook. "You want to take a break? We have plenty of time."

She picks up her tablet and chooses her words from the symbols. Zac waits patiently, something he's good at and which she's always grateful for, given how some people act about her AAC software.

"Get water. Will be quick."

"Take as long as you need, I'll look after your stuff."

"Thank you."

She heads out of the library and crosses the corridor to the water fountain, drinking as much as she can and splashing a little on her face too. It feels nice.

She hears footsteps behind her and moves out of the way in case whoever it is wants to use the water fountain.

They don't. Instead, they bark out an order.

"Respect."

Aaliyah drops to her knees before she even knows what's happening. No, this can't happen here. She didn't even realise she still did that.

She tries to get up but her body's locked. If she gets up before Master says she can–

No. No, she's not there, she's safe, Master isn't here. He never will be.

So why can't she move?

"I thought so," says a confident, sneering voice from behind her. "See, my cousin's studying in the States, and his frat house just bought a box boy. So cute and eager to please. Combination of some sort, I think. Apparently you're not gay if it's a boxie you're fucking. Anyway, he showed me their pet on a video call and it's funny. The way you cock your head, your inability to read and write, and you always cover your left forearm, no matter how warm it is or what else you're wearing. You're a WRU slut, aren't you?"

Aaliyah doesn't respond. She doesn't reach for her tablet, or move her head, or try to get up. She can't do anything, and that's probably enough of an indictment by itself.

"I knew it." The voice is gleeful now, and he grabs her arm in a bruising grip, pulling her up and pushing her along. "Disabled restroom should be free, right?"

Distantly, Aaliyah realises she should resist. Master isn't here anymore to make her do this. She doesn't want to do this.

But she's not a person. And it has never mattered what she wants.

The boy shoves her into the bathroom and she tumbles to the floor, ending up sprawled on the tiles.

She hears the lock click with a dreadful finality.

"Now, I don't know any of the positions, but I want you on your hands and knees. I'm sure you know how to do that, at least. Oh yeah. And strip."

Aaliyah obeys with shaking hands, throat tight. She wishes the floor wasn't so white and the light wasn't so bright, it reminds her too much of the facility.

She flushes as he looks her up and down. She's not sure how he knows her, but she recognises him from somewhere. The name will come eventually, she thinks.

She doesn't want him seeing her. This isn't like when she plays with Cass and Calixte, this is different, it's like she's a pet again.

No, not just a pet. Owned.

"You really are hot. No wonder you volunteered to be a slut, your looks are your best asset. I don't see why you hide them, I mean most Romantics don't, right? They seduce and manipulate using them. Your looks might not be your very best asset though, I think I'd like to try you out now. You're bottoming, obviously. Let's see how good a slut you can be for me."

Aaliyah holds back her tears as the boy climbs on top of her. She's been taught how to hide her emotions, she's an expert at it, and she blinks her eyelashes seductively at him as he positions her to his liking. She ends up on her back, legs spread between his. He looks at her like she's a banquet.

"Oh, you really are a nice-looking pet. Keep your eyes on me, I want to see your face while I fuck you. I hear you Romantics are trained to love your owners, and really, that sounds ideal."

He's not her owner. He's not. But as he opens the lube in his pocket and slicks her up, teasing her with his finger, she finds that difficult to remember.

He positions himself and slides his cock inside with a wink. Fuck. She hates this. She wishes she could go back to not caring, but now she knows what it's like not to have to do this, not to believe it's all she's worth, not to have an owner (and that's the most important thing she's learnt, and the most painful), it seems impossible to do. The boy isn't her owner, but he feels that way.

So many people fucked her in training, and then there was Jacob, too, so maybe it doesn't matter if he's her owner anyway. She's a WRU slut at heart, after all, and with her owner gone it would make sense that she's a general slut for everyone now.

No... no, that wouldn't make sense. Not the way she'd like. She has Cass and Calixte, although she doesn't want to think of them right now, doesn't want them associated with this.

She buries her emotions deep down where they can't show, covering her anger and sorrow and utter terror with a veil of pleasure. She desperately wants to curl up in a ball and cry it out but she can't. She has to behave, and do what she was made to do.

She's a good pet at heart, after all.

He fucks into her, not caring how she feels about it, and she turns the small moans and sobs that escape into sounds of enjoyment.

"Oh, you're so good at this pet, my god. Keep doing that, this is good."

Aaliyah wants to stop. Just stop, stop giving him this, stop giving in, kick him and stop him from ever doing it again. But she's a good pet, so she won't. The lights are bright and it's so white and she knows she can't disobey or she'll get shocked. The handlers will use their batons if she fights back.

No. No, she's not there, she's free. Free and still a pet and still being fucked against her will.

A hand slaps her cheek, the stinging pain bringing her back to the present.

"Hey. Bitch. Don't zone out on me now, I was enjoying your attention."

Aaliyah bats her eyelids and does what she should. It hurts, but she's made to take that, so she does, even if she desperately wishes she was somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Almost anywhere.

It seems like an eternity before he comes inside her, which is usually permission for her to orgasm too. The boy sighs blissfully and withdraws.

"You are an excellent pet slut." He does up his trousers and pulls his phone out of his pocket, cocky grin back on his face. "Just gotta do something."

Later Aaliyah will wish she had punched him or covered her face or run or something, but right now she just lets herself be manouvred. She's a pet, she doesn't have any free will, and anyway she can't bring herself to move. It's all too much, all over again. He takes photos of her face and her barcode and the two together, and other parts too, making it very clear who and what she is, and what she's done.

"Nice photos. I won't share them so long as you don't tell anyone about this. And, well. I might come up with more terms later. Gotta finish college before I can move and get a Romantic of my own, after all. Do we have a deal?"

Aaliyah nods, barely keeping the tears at bay. How did she end up like this?

"Great. See ya."

He stalks out of the bathroom without so much as a backward glance, and Aaliyah locks the door again before sinking to the floor. Now, the tears come. They can, now he's gone, she doesn't need to keep such a tight rein on her emotions now she's alone.

She didn't... how did this happen? How could she let something like this happen? She's not a person, this is a clear reminder of that, because a person wouldn't be so useless. They wouldn't have a barcode that makes them so easy to control. Master's dead and she's still a pet, still owned in every sense except the completely literal one. She scrunches up under the sink, giving herself a few minutes to cry messily, snottily. Not silently pretty, as a Romantic should.

She takes a deep breath, then another. Then she gets up and leans over the sink, scrubbing her face, wiping away the tears, making her eyes less puffy.

Maybe Zac will assume she's had a panic attack and not ask too many questions. She hopes so.

She dresses hurriedly with shaking hands, wanting nothing more than to go home and curl up in Cass' arms. But she can't do that, because then he'd ask and she'd tell him and she can't risk those photos being shared.

As a pet, she's not allowed wants anyway.

She brushes herself down, takes another deep breath, and heads back out.

Zac spots her as she re-enters the library and frowns. As soon as she's close enough, he murmurs, "Are you okay?" She nods. She's fine, she always is. "Okay. If you say so. Another half hour, then we'll go get food?" She nods again. She's in no shape to use her tablet to communicate right now. Zac squeezes her shoulder and looks back down at his textbook, frowning thoughtfully and highlighting another line.

Aaliyah opens up her laptop and puts on her headphones, pressing play. She prepares to draw down her notes and bookmark the sections she needs for her essay.

It's hard, so much harder than earlier. She was enjoying it before but now she can barely concentrate. Her head swims as she tries to settle back into the research. She has to rewind the audio of her textbook several times as she zones out, constantly replaying the last half hour or so. It hurts, physically, mentally, everything, she was hoping she'd never feel that hurt again.

She's useless. She can't concentrate, can't even read or write. She doesn't know things that everyone else finds obvious, that they all stare at her for not understanding. She's trying, she really is, but she's hopeless at it.

She's been pretending to be a person for a while now, but she's not. She never will be. She's a pet, and that's all she'll ever be.

[hedgiwithapen]

Secret-keeper Eddie AU?

so of course this is The One Where, during the confrontation with Clyde Mardon, Joe gets knocked out and Eddie's the one who sees Barry. 1. they tell Iris, like, immediately. Barry starts talking To Eddie, while they're, you know, figuring out how to Explain the destroyed barn and Clyde's body and all, and goes " Have you told Iris?" "uhhh, no?" "why not? you're like, best friends." So Barry tells Iris right away 2. Wellsobard is once again Chagrinned to find Eddie Thawne constantly in his Star Labs. Eddie. Do you realize how difficult this makes some of his plans???? (Eddie does Not) 3. they do not tell Joe. Barry starts to, you know, " hey, so I've noticed the uptick of weird stuff..." and Joe shuts that shit down (like he does in canon before he sees barry) and Barry gets rightfully a lil pissed off like fine! you never believe in me! Joe ends up Big Mad about Eddie investigating Barry's mom's murder. Madder about that than the secretly dating Iris thing, all considered. Joe in fact does come to believe, and apologize, after 1x09 but Barry still doesn't tell him "so, why aren't we telling Joe?" Eddie asks. "spite," Iris says "yeah pretty much" barry agrees 4. this of course means the weather wizard kidnaps Eddie instead of Joe. Barry, episode 16: " Dr wells I NEED to talk about the time travel. Wellsobard: Barry do not fuck with time. Barry: but if I hadn't Eddie was going to die!! Wellsobard, internally:.... ok that's a good reason thank you for doing that. Wellsobard outloud: well hopefully that doesn't break time. what else is up? barry: I kissed Iris and she has feelings for me but also when I thought Eddie was dead I couldn't breathe??? Wellsobard, internally: do not fucking tell me you're also my great great great grandfather, gideon conviently left that OUT of the family tree if it's true Wellsobard outloud: hmm. probably you were just stressed. you'd have been sad if it was say, cisco who died too, I'm sure. Barry: (bisexual confusion noises) 5. barry does not move back into Joe's house so probably he and Cisco are roommates.