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stsgluver · 11 months ago

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𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓 𝐏𝐓.𝟒 — gojo satoru

synopsis. nobara can’t find the dvd anywhere and gojo has a decision to make

wc. 4k

tags. fluff, angst (kinda), reader is described as fem, possibly ooc gojo (my bad), cliffhanger-ish, any spelling mistakes blame on my cats, possible plotholes

a/n. several things to address: firstly my description of dvds and how they work ARE SO FLAWED IK DON'T JUDGE. secondly, look I get how rct works so not everything I say is accurate but like this is also about 2d men so who's to judge. finally I'm not too sure about this chapter so if its shit lmk BUT I HOPE YOU ALL LOVE IT THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT <333 ily all but I do have upcoming exams so the ending(s), won't be posted till possibly early February as I have to get back to studying :(

previous part / final part / series masterlist

“guys we’ve lost it.” nobara pushed up her mattress, phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder as she peered beneath the wooden slats. all there was was her suitcase and a bag from an expensive shop she’d convinced gojo to buy for her. “it’s gone. poof. here once and now it’s not.” the ‘it’ in question being the dvd they’d treasured for the last few weeks (well, yuuji and nobara anyways).

after gojo had taken the dvd – unbeknownst to the first years – nobara had ended up sleeping for the next fourty eight hours, and then afterwards spending several days catching up on the classwork she’d missed. she hadn’t had the time or energy to force her classmates into another movie night so now here they were, almost a week since it was last touched, finally realising its disappearance.

“do you want me and megumi to come help?” yuuji asked tentatively as he heard her curse as she dropped the mattress back down. nobara sighed, glancing around at the chaos she’d created. her room was a mess – drawers half open and half her clothes and books on the floor in case the dvd had slipped into a pile by accident.

“it’s not in my room,” she said adamantly, pushing her hair back from her face in frustration as she struggled to piece together the final moments she had with the dvd. she could remember sending megumi away, beginning her little day of research and even some of the videos she watched (the arcade and the christmas reunion), but then she fell asleep and everything was hazy from there.

“when was the last time you had it?” megumi asked and nobara felt her eye twitch like she hadn't retraced her steps a million times already.

“the first day i was off sick. i was watching a few–”

“without us?” the pink haired sorcerer cut in with a gasp.

“what else was there to do?” nobara argued back with no bite but he quietened down nonetheless.

a moment of silence settled between the three as each tried to figure out where it could have been misplaced or who could’ve accidentally picked it up. if nobara had dropped it somewhere outside of her dorm, could one of the older years taken it?

nobara was brought out of deep thought by yuuji flippantly asking: “did you watch any after sensei came to see you?” she froze at the implication of his words. at no point could she recall their teacher ever coming in to check on her – it had always been either yuuji, megumi or maki.

“what?”

several hours later, the three first years found themselves huddled on the benches, nobara in the middle and the boys either side of her. in front of them were the second years and gojo – the latter having said something to annoy maki as yuuta held her back from making a swing at their laughing teacher. the second year teacher was off ill today so the larger class meant that the three had a distraction as they tried to figure out what their next step was – if they even had one at this point.

the assumed facts were as such: the first years were no longer in possession of the dvd, and gojo had it. though there was little doubt that this was true, it didn’t stop them questioning the possibility – after all, megumi had pointed out, there’d been no alter in his behaviour whatsoever since the minute he’d checked on nobara. surely, even the strongest would be noticeably affected by a disk that immortalised a happiness and innocence he’d never be able to return to.

but then again, maybe this was just another thing that separated gojo from the rest of society. being the strongest came before all else, he didn’t have the time to mourn resurfaced memories.

“maybe he just doesn’t have it,” yuuji suggested.

“he has to,” nobara reaffirmed. at this point they’d exhausted all other options about where it could possibly be and surely they would have heard if one of the older years found what they had. “would he tell you if he had it?” she asked megumi.

“no,” megumi said quickly, shaking his head and leaning back on the bench as he looked over at gojo, “we… he wouldn’t talk to me about that. about them.”

“could we steal it back?” yuuji offered and nobara debated duct taping his mouth closed.

megumi scoffed, shaking his head, “he has six eyes. even if we tried, he’d know for sure it was us.”

“he already knows it was us,” nobara countered, not that she agreed with yuuji’s solution by any means. “which is why i don’t get why he hasn’t said anyth–”

“oi, you three!” the first years jumped apart from their circle, hearts pounding as gojo appeared before them with a smirk toying at the corner of his lips and his hands clasped behind his back. “whoever beats maki in hand to hand combat gets the day off tomorrow!”

“yuuji if you win, i’m taking your day off,” nobara called out as she trailed behind the aforementioned boy running to the centre of the field.

“okay!”

unsurprisingly, all three first years lost against the second year. megumi came closest to winning but when he tried to use his cursed technique, gojo countered it, catching him off guard and giving maki the opportunity to sweep him off his feet with her staff.

gojo found himself still laughing over megumi’s shocked expression as he fell flat on his back as he stepped past the threshold of his office. even after all he’d taught the boy in combat, with no cursed technique it was hard to overcome the zenin girl’s strength and skill she’d mastered to take on her own clan.

he let out a small sigh as the door locked shut and, for the first time that day, he was alone with his own thoughts.

dropping down into his office chair, gojo crossed one leg over the other as he pulled open a drawer. on the top of a pile of unread paperwork for the higher ups was the dvd the first years were so fixated on.

he wasn’t stupid; he knew eventually they would figure out he had it and, unlike himself, they’d been way less subtle once they’d put two and two together. yuuji’s speech had tripled in speed, nobara was way too keen on being anywhere but where he was and megumi… gojo couldn’t forget the guilt and hurt in the teenage boy’s eyes after telling him you were gone. it was here again, had been for several weeks, and it was only after stumbling upon the disk in nobara’s room that he’d understood why.

gojo gritted his teeth together as he held the disk up between shaky fingers. it was pathetic, he scolded himself, it was just a bit of plastic with memories lasered into divots in a never ending spiral. it wasn’t worth the heartache.

if he looked closely enough, he could see shoko’s name written on the centrepiece in faded black sharpie. after gojo had stumbled upon the old camera several years after graduating from jujutsu high, shoko had taken back the camera to transfer all of the old clips onto dvds and given him, herself, nanami and you your own copies. he couldn’t even remember where his and yours were anymore, in fact he’d pretty much forgotten about their existence until a week ago.

he wasn’t sure where shoko had lost the dvd for the first years to get their hands on it but he hadn’t worked up the courage to speak to her about it. he hadn’t worked up the courage to do anything more than just spin the disk between his fingers, cry about it for a bit, and go back to pretending he didn’t have the last remnants of his youth in his drawer.

gojo glanced between the disk and the laptop on his desk. it was the last step he needed to take to hear your voice again. it had been on repeat for the last week in his mind; you uttering his name and that innocent question, would you last beyond your teenage years?

he missed it, missed you so bad.

raising megumi was a lot harder without you there; you were his favourite after all, bridging the gap between the two when they bumped heads with their contrasting personalities. gojo was all rainbows and giggles and megumi was everything but. you were a happy medium, creating a balance that maintained order in the home you shared. it was a peace that megumi deserved after losing his parents.

gojo clicked his tongue, reaching across to press a button that opened up a space for the disk. slotting it in place, he clicked the device shut and held his breath as he waited. it took several seconds for the files to load and then there he was again, back in those fields under the large weeping willow that was your spot.

the video was paused, exactly where it had been left, except this time gojo could actually see the screen.

your face wasn’t in it, just his. his glasses were off – balanced on your head if he remembered correctly – as he used your lap as a pillow. one of your hands was holding the camera while the other was held over his eyes to block any sort of light. the only thing he could make out was your cursed energy.

you were nearing the end of your first year and whilst gojo was growing more powerful, he was also growing more and more reliant on his glasses to stop himself from becoming so overwhelmed with the constant information he received with his six eyes. he’d overworked himself that day, as he so often did, hence why you’d dragged him away from the school to the seclusion of the tree.

your questions about the longevity of your relationship weren’t meant to hold deep meaning, you just wanted to take his mind off of the headaches. gojo would choose thinking about you over the searing pain in the back of his head any day. yaga said that once he had a better understanding of his reversed curse technique it wouldn’t be so bad but until then it was just about riding it out.

gojo snorted at the notion. his reversed curse technique only marginally helped. you were what got him through the days when he’d lock himself in his bedroom with blackout blinds pulled down, hiding under his covers till he felt like he could function in society again.

he didn’t unpause the video, however, instead clicking onto the main tab with all of the files stored.

lifting up his blindfold and dropping it down onto the desk, gojo took a deep breath before he began scrolling. unlike when the first years were simply searching for the ones with their favourite thumbnail, gojo was specifically searching for the ones he knew focused on you.

he needed to hear your voice again, to play it on repeat until it became so ingrained into his skin he could feel your touch.

gojo halted the cursor over the familiar date of your birthday, clicking on it without a second thought as the video filled the screen. it buffered for a moment, giving him a view of the dorm he’d practically spent three years in (despite yaga’s constant complaints and reminders that dorms were segregated on gender).

in the corner of your room was a stack of plushies that he’d won for you at arcades, and your walls were covered in photobooth photos and polaroids of your group of friends. his personal favourite was the polaroid you had pinned just above your desk. it was the two of you on new years eve sharing your first kiss of the year, sparklers in hand and the faint pink of a firework in the background. on the bottom of the polaroid was haibara’s handwriting as he’d scribbled on the date and a small smiley face.

“happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!” seventeen year old gojo sung in the video, swaying the camera side to side above a pile of duvet and pillows. you were somewhere in the middle, half asleep and trying to push yourself deeper into the comfort of your bed and further from whatever the screeching was in your room.

you’d never been a morning person whereas he, on the other hand, had a reserve of energy that never depleted. it was what made getting up at the crack of dawn on your birthday so much more entertaining for him. even as an adult, when the two of you lived together in the comfort of your own apartment, he would either force you to stay up until midnight or gently nudge you awake at 4am to tell you he loved you.

“satoru,” you whispered groggily when you gave up trying to ignore his awful singing, lifting your head up just enough to meet his eyes. he would have done anything to see you physically before him instead of watching you through the lens of a camera. to be looked at with love as you did and not a mix of fear and respect. “if yaga catches you–”

“i’m just singing happy birthday to my girl,” his younger self dismissed, plopping down onto the bed next to you. he preferred your bed over his, a softer mattress he used to argue when shoko would complain about him showing up at your shared dorm several nights in a row. that particular birthday, he was pretty sure she’d been sent on a training mission over in kyoto. gojo’s hand came into frame as he ran a gentle hand through your hair, giving it a little pat when you quietly hummed at the contact. “he can’t hate on me for that.”

“yes he can,” you retorted, rolling your eyes with a tired smile. gojo felt his chest tighten – two years without waking up by that very same smile after almost a decade of having it everyday.

“i’ll blame shoko,” gojo shrugged with a grin, kicking his legs up onto your bed, despite your small protest that he was taking up all of your space. like you weren’t just as clingy as he was.

you huffed out a quiet laugh, your elbow digging into your pillow as you rested your head in your hand to stare incredulously at your boyfriend. “shoko forced the strongest sorcerer of the modern day to enter the girls’ dorms? uh huh.”

“woah woah, i’m the strongest of all time baby, i don’t do second best,” he corrected, leaning down to give you a peck on the forehead. you scrunched your nose up at the contact, but even through the viewpoint of the camera, he can see how your eyes dropped down to his lips.

“i know you don’t,” you smiled and gojo dropped the camera down as he moved to give you your first real kiss of seventeen. present day gojo sucked in a breath, willing for himself to get through at least one several minute video of you until he started crying.

the kiss ended all too quickly as gojo shoved the camera back into your face, the flash causing you to squint and squeeze your eyes closed. “now smile and say cheese, you’re seventeen!”

“woo!” you cheered half heartedly, giving in to his infectious excitement. blowing the camera a tired kiss, you shuffled yourself back deep beneath your duvet. “now can i go back to sleep?”

“as long as i can stay.”

“fine,” you dragged out, though you both knew you wanted him to just as much. yaga be damned. the video ended several seconds later and an odd silence filled his office.

he’d only ever watched several of these videos once or twice – back when he still had you to curl up into his side and reminisce with him and laugh at nanami’s old haircut. if he was being honest, he didn’t even remember he’d recorded that (though he was glad he did).

gojo was more confident this time when he scrolled, his hands no longer shaking as much as they had been as he smiled at the life he once had. a life with you and geto.

this time he stopped at a thumbnail with the three of you; gojo holding up the camera high as the three of you posed like it was a photo. it was at one of only a handful clan events you had attended together, with both you and geto as gojo’s plus ones. he and geto were in matching suits and you were in a floor length dress that he’d spent way too much money on (but you looked so pretty when you tried it on he couldn’t not get it for you).

“hi this is mtv,” you clapped your hands together, “and welcome to my crib.” his younger self waved his hands around in the background (geto was recording), showing off the spiralling architecture that cost more money than fathomable.

gojo quietly laughed in his office. the politics of clans and these events were the last reason he’d ever chosen to attend them. seeing you all dressed up and running around buildings with a million rooms were right at the top. his favourite had to be when both the first years, shoko and utahime had also been in attendance, but after haibara’s death, hanging around with the clans that upheld the institution that killed their friend seemed distasteful.

“this is my in house art museum collection.” you led geto along one of the vast corridors, pointing into a room with dozens of framed canvases of art from all across the globe. “this is where i come in for inspiration and to truly just feel art you know?”

“i wasn’t aware you had skills beyond stickmen,” geto interjected and you raised both your middle fingers at him.

“art is subjective, di–”

“woah, i have standards to uphold here,” gojo cupped a hand over your mouth, stopping any expletive leaving you. you hummed in annoyance and the white haired sorcerer grinned, nodding his head over to a partially opened door. “we don’t need to argue when we have a whole cinema room to ourselves.” gojo remembered the stain of red lipstick you’d left on his hand when he let you go (you’d refused to kiss him all evening because of your makeup).

the cinema room was massive: rows and rows of sleek leather seats that looked out of place when compared to the aesthetic of the building. this was someone’s home, though it looked like anything but.

“this is my cinema room,” geto held onto the back of one of the chairs as he loosened his tie. he lowered his voice as he leant closer to the camera gojo was now holding. “we used to have two but daddy converted the smaller one into a sauna so now we only have this one,” he said with an upturned nose, and you could be heard giggling in the background at his faux disgust.

you nor geto were from the same wealthy background as gojo was and loved to poke fun at his high status background.

“oi!” an official that was supposed to be watching for any curses or curse users that tried to sneak into the event pointed a light into the cinema room. “you kids shouldn’t be back here!”

gojo laughed, throwing the camera to geto as he grabbed your hand and led you quickly down the stairs to another exit at the bottom of the stairs. geto turned off the recording once he’d grabbed a hold of the device in favour of focusing on not being caught. it wasn’t like there would be any real consequence – they were with gojo satoru after all.

the white hair sorcerer smiled as he thought back to the rest of the night. obviously, you’d all managed to get away – though he had suffered your wrath at the fact your legs weren’t as long as their’s were and you were running in heels. two strikes, but he’d made it up to you by taking you out for ice cream instead of going back to hear the speeches.

it wasn’t an exaggeration to say gojo would have done anything for you then.

gojo swallowed a lump in his throat as your last interaction came to mind. you were arguing, as you had been in the weeks up until megumi’s birthday as he inched closer and closer to being old enough to enrol in jujutsu high.

the only wish he’d ever refused to fulfil: keeping megumi away from jujutsu.

“he’s our responsibility.” you were yelling at him, desperate for him to understand your point of view and he was walking away. dodging your anger by going wherever his legs took him – anywhere but where you were. “we need to protect him. we can’t protect him if he becomes a sorcerer too.”

“i can,” he insisted, halting in his place to turn and look down at you. his cursed technique was activated, though there was no need for it to be, and all it did was frustrate you further.

“i nearly died today!” you countered, pointing to your neck with a faint scar. shoko’s reversed cursed technique was almost perfect, but not even that could fully erase the deep lacerations that had almost taken your life. “where were you? you can’t be everywhere and help everyone at the same time. it’s just not possible.”

“i can try.” his jaw was tight as he responded through gritted teeth.

“and if that’s not enough?” you didn’t need to see his eyes to know his were locked directly onto yours, daring you to continue. he wouldn’t hurt you, would never dream of it, angry or not, but how could you of all people doubt him? “what then gojo satoru?” you uttered his full name like it was an insult, “you may be the strongest but he’s not. i’m not. we’re mortals compared to you.”

“you’re my family,” his voice broke.

“yu and suguru were family once too.”

gojo clenched his fists at the memory, at the reminder he walked out after that. you were trying to get him to see your concerns, and he’d taken that as you blaming him for the outcome of your close friends. that was the last time he ever saw you; tears welling up in the corner of your eyes at his insensitivity, at his inability to admit that maybe, just maybe, he too was just a mortal.

everything you said was logical and made sense – he had almost lost you that day, having not initially received the message that you had needed backup as he was preoccupied with his own mission. by the time he had arrived, the curse had its claws dug deep into your skin and it had taken everything in him not to use hollow purple and bring the entire infrastructure down in seconds.

despite all he’d done to save you that day, he’d still lost you. he’d only delayed the seemingly inevitable by mere hours.

megumi sat up in bed at the sound of two knocks on the door. he highly doubted it would be yuuji since the pink haired sorcerer had only left several minutes prior, saying something about needing to meet panda.

to his surprise, gojo stood before him, hands in the pockets of his pants as he half smiled at the younger boy.

“is itadori here?” megumi hesitated before shaking his head. “good,” gojo held up the missing dvd, “we need to talk.”

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gyorouis · 5 months ago

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𐙚 WHY I LOVE YOU - CSB.

— soobin had always known you better than anyone else, and it made the silence between you two more unbearable.

genre: fluff, slight angst but it's just because soobin loves reader sm! established relationship, romance, slice of life.

pairing: boyfriend!soobin x afab!reader

warning: emotional content, themes of self-isolation and self-sabotage, mild conflict, reconciliation, if i forgot anything pls let me know!

wordcount: 7.8k

now playing: orange & lemons — hanggang kailan ୨ৎ

“soobinie~” a sweet voice called out, effortlessly cutting through the hum of conversation that filled the room. soobin’s head turned instinctively, and as his eyes landed on you, his entire face lit up with a warmth that radiated from the depths of his heart. those eyes—bright and full of the same gentle affection that had captured his heart back in college—met his gaze, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“there she is,” taehyun whispered, nudging soobin with a knowing grin.

soobin’s smile softened, the corners of his mouth lifting in a way that only you could bring out of him. “love,” he greeted you, his voice tender. his soft hand made it’s way to your back to caress it.

you beamed, your happiness evident as you took in the sight of everyone gathered around the table. “how are you guys? i haven’t seen you all in so long!” you exclaimed, your voice bubbling with the joy of reunion.

beomgyu glanced up from his phone, a lazy smile playing on his lips. “yeah, i think the last time we all got together was christmas last year, right?” he chuckled, though his attention quickly drifted back to his phone. every now and then, his eyes would dart around the venue, as if he was searching for someone amidst the crowd.

you chuckled, shaking your head. “actually, i’ve been meaning to ask you guys to come over this weekend,” you began, a teasing glint in your eyes as you turned to soobin. “soobin’s been nagging me about how much he misses you all, and he practically begged me to invite you.”

soobin’s eyes widened in mock horror, his cheeks tinged with a hint of pink. “love, i told you not to tell them that,” he protested, his voice tinged with playful embarrassment.

you shrugged nonchalantly, a mischievous smile tugging at your lips as you reached out to caress his shoulder. “why not? it’s exactly what you said,” you teased, watching the way he sighed in defeat, a soft laugh escaping your lips.

“you’re still like that? that’s adorable,” hueningkai chimed in, his voice laced with amusement as he watched the interaction between the two of you.

you turned your attention to hueningkai, grinning. “yeah, he’s still too easy to tease,” you confirmed, casting a loving glance at soobin, who now sat up a little straighter, a playful smirk beginning to form on his lips.

“and she still cries whenever we fight,” soobin shot back, his tone light, but the glint in his eyes suggested he wasn’t entirely joking.

“oh yeah! remember that time? soobin actually cried himself to sleep when you wouldn’t talk to him for days,” beomgyu added, his voice teasing as he finally looked up from his phone, a mischievous grin on his face.

soobin’s expression shifted as he shot beomgyu a sharp look. “just shut your mouth and focus on your phone,” he warned, though the laughter in his eyes betrayed any real annoyance.

you blinked, your curiosity piqued. “eh? when was that?” you asked, turning to soobin with a puzzled expression.

taehyun couldn’t resist jumping in. “it’s happened so many times, she doesn’t even remember,” he joked, and the entire table erupted into laughter once more.

leaning closer to soobin, you whispered softly, “when did that happen, love?”soobin’s lips curled into a fond smile as he let his mind wander back to that moment in time. his heart swelled with the memory, but before he could answer, he found himself pulled even further back—back to the very first time he had ever laid eyes on you. the memory was so vivid, so full of color and emotion, that it felt like he was living it all over again. the moment that had changed everything for him—the moment he realized that his life would never be the same because of you.

the clinking of glasses and the low murmur of sophisticated conversation filled the grand dining hall. soobin, dressed in a tailored suit that made him feel more like a stranger to himself, stood quietly at the edge of the room, his hands neatly clasped in front of him. these business dinners were a common occurrence in his life, but they never got any less daunting. the weight of expectations from his father and the high society crowd often left him feeling out of place, like he was wearing a mask that didn’t quite fit.

he scanned the room, his eyes sweeping over the sea of unfamiliar faces, until they landed on someone who stood out from the rest. you. you were dressed elegantly, yet there was something refreshingly unpretentious about you. unlike the other guests, who seemed engrossed in their conversations, you were gazing out of the large windows, your expression serene, as if you were somewhere else entirely. the way the soft lighting played on your features made you look almost ethereal, and soobin found himself drawn to you in a way he couldn’t quite explain.

it was as if the noise of the room faded, leaving just the two of you in that moment. summoning the courage that often eluded him in these settings, he made his way toward you, his heart pounding with a mix of nerves and anticipation. each step felt like it was taking him closer to something significant, something that would alter the course of his life in ways he couldn’t yet comprehend.

“hi,” he greeted, his voice a little softer than he intended. you turned towards him, your eyes meeting his, and the world seemed to stand still. there was a warmth in your gaze that made the formal setting feel a little less intimidating, a little more like a place where he could just be himself.

“hello,” you replied, a small, polite smile gracing your lips. there was something in the way you looked at him that made him feel like you weren’t just seeing the polished exterior he had to present at these events—you were seeing him.

“i’m soobin,” he introduced himself, trying to ignore the awkwardness that threatened to creep into his voice. “my father... well, he’s hosting this dinner.”

“i know who you are,” you said, your smile widening slightly. “i’m y/n. my father works closely with yours. i think we’ve seen each other at a few events, but we’ve never had the chance to talk.” your voice was calm, steady, and it put him at ease in a way he hadn’t expected.

he nodded, suddenly feeling self-conscious under your gaze. “yeah, these events tend to be a bit... overwhelming.”

you chuckled softly, and the sound of it was like music to his ears, a melody that he wanted to hear again and again. “they do. but it’s nice to finally meet you. i’ve heard a lot about you.”

“good things, i hope?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood, though there was an edge of genuine curiosity in his voice.

“mostly,” you teased, and the ease with which you responded made him relax, the tension in his shoulders easing. “i’ve heard you’re quite the scholar.”

soobin’s cheeks tinged pink at the compliment. “i try my best.” there was something endearing about how flustered he felt in your presence, something that made him want to impress you even more.

the conversation flowed effortlessly from there, as if you’d known each other for much longer than just these few minutes. you talked about everything from school to your favorite books, and as the night wore on, soobin found himself completely captivated by you. there was a warmth and genuineness in your words that made him feel like he could talk to you forever, like you were a breath of fresh air in the otherwise stifling atmosphere of the evening.

the way you listened to him, truly listened, with a soft smile and an occasional laugh, made him feel seen in a way that was rare for him. most people saw him as the polished, perfect son of a powerful businessman, but you... you saw something more, something deeper. and that scared him just as much as it thrilled him.

before he knew it, the dinner was winding down, and guests began to make their polite goodbyes. soobin realized with a pang of regret that the evening was coming to an end, and he wasn’t ready to let go of this connection just yet. as you both stood near the entrance, waiting for your parents to finish their farewells, soobin turned to you, a hesitant smile on his lips.

“i really enjoyed talking to you tonight,” he said earnestly, his heart pounding in his chest. “i don’t usually enjoy these events, but... tonight was different.” there was a vulnerability in his words, an unspoken hope that you felt the same way.

you looked up at him, your eyes twinkling with the same gentle affection that would one day become so familiar to him. “i enjoyed it too, soobin. maybe we’ll run into each other again soon.”

“i hope so,” he replied, and he meant it with every fiber of his being. the thought of seeing you again filled him with a quiet anticipation, a hope that maybe, just maybe, this was the beginning of something special.

as your parents called for you, you gave him one last smile, a soft, lingering look that stayed with him long after you walked out of the grand hall. soobin found himself watching you until you disappeared from view. he didn’t know it then, but that was the moment his life had truly begun to change—the moment he met you.

just a week after meeting you, the universe seemed to have more amazing plans in store for both of you. the university campus buzzed with energy during the university week. booths lined the pathways, each one offering something different—food, games, crafts, and a hundred other distractions that drew students in like moths to a flame. soobin wandered through the crowd with yeonjun, beomgyu, taehyun, and hueningkai, their laughter and banter blending with the lively atmosphere around them.

“i can’t believe you convinced me to skip studying for this,” taehyun muttered, though his lips twitched into a reluctant smile as he watched yeonjun try to win a stuffed animal at one of the game booths.

“come on, you needed a break,” hueningkai chimed in, nudging taehyun with his elbow. “besides, it’s not like you’re actually missing anything important. just think of it as a mental health day.”

“he’s right,” beomgyu added, his eyes scanning the various stalls. soobin chuckled at their playful arguments, but his mind was only half in the conversation. the vibrant colors of the booths and the excited chatter of students filled the air, yet there was something else that caught his attention, something—or rather, someone—that made everything else fade into the background.

it was you.

standing by a fruit stall, you were dressed casually, yet effortlessly chic. your hair cascaded around your shoulders, catching the sunlight and framing your face perfectly. you were smiling, a soft, genuine smile that reached your eyes as you chatted with the vendor, selecting a few fresh strawberries from the display. the sight of you—so natural, so unguarded—took his breath away. he had no idea you went to the same university, but now that he saw you, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed you sooner.

“soobin, you okay?” yeonjun’s voice cut through his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. he blinked, realizing he had been staring.

“uh, yeah,” soobin replied quickly, trying to sound casual. “i just... i think i see someone i know.” his voice trailed off, his gaze drifting back to you.

the others followed his line of sight, their expressions shifting from curiosity to knowing grins as they spotted you.

“well, well, well,” beomgyu drawled, a teasing lilt in his voice. “who’s this mysterious girl that’s got our soobin all starry-eyed?”

soobin’s cheeks flushed, but he didn’t deny it. “i met her at one of my dad’s business dinners,” he explained, his eyes never leaving you. “i didn’t know she went here.”

“so what are you waiting for?” yeonjun urged, nudging soobin forward. “go talk to her. we’ll cover for you if anyone asks.”

“yeah, man,” hueningkai added with a grin. “you don’t get chances like this every day.”

soobin hesitated for only a moment before he nodded, his heart pounding in his chest. “okay, i’m going,” he said, his voice filled with a mix of nerves and excitement.

as he made his way through the crowd, the noise around him seemed to fade into a distant hum. his focus was solely on you, the way your eyes sparkled when you laughed, the way the sun highlighted the soft waves in your hair, and the way you seemed so at ease in your own world.

when he reached the fruit stall, you looked up, and your eyes met his. recognition flickered across your face, followed by a warm smile that made his heart skip a beat.

“soobin?” you said, a note of surprise in your voice. “what are you doing here?”

“hey,” he greeted, trying to keep his voice steady. “i, uh, didn’t realize we go to the same university.”

you laughed softly, the sound making his heart flutter. “small world, huh? i didn’t know either. it’s nice to see a familiar face in such a big crowd.”

“yeah, it is,” soobin agreed, feeling the tension in his shoulders ease as you continued to smile at him. “what have you been up to? enjoying the university week?”

“yeah, i’ve been checking out the booths and trying all the snacks,” you replied, holding up the small basket of strawberries you’d just purchased. “want one?”

“sure,” soobin said, accepting the strawberry you offered him. as he bit into the juicy fruit, he found himself smiling too. “these are really good.”

“aren’t they? i’ve been coming to this stall since they opened,” you said with a grin. “there’s just something about fresh fruit that makes everything better.”

“i couldn’t agree more,” soobin said, feeling more at ease now that you were talking. he glanced around the bustling campus, then back at you. “do you... maybe want to check out some more booths together?”

your eyes lit up at the suggestion. “i’d love that.”

the rest of the day passed in a blur of laughter and easy conversation. you and soobin tried different snacks, played games at the booths, and even got caught up in a spontaneous dance performance by a group of students. everything felt so natural, so right, that it was easy to forget about the world outside this little bubble you’d created together.

as the sun began to set, casting a golden glow over the campus, you found yourselves sitting on a bench near the fountain, the gentle sound of water mingling with the distant music from the celebration.

“this was really nice,” you said, leaning back and closing your eyes for a moment, letting the warmth of the day settle into your bones. “i didn’t expect to have such a good time today.”

“me neither,” soobin replied, watching you with a soft smile. “i’m glad we got to spend it together.”

you opened your eyes and turned to him, your expression thoughtful. “couldn't agree more.”

over the next few weeks, soobin found himself increasingly eager to see you again. it began subtly. one evening, as you were heading back to your dorm after a long day of classes, you noticed soobin standing near the entrance, seemingly engrossed in his phone. his eyes lit up when he saw you, and he greeted you with that warm, familiar smile.

“hey,” he said casually, as if it were perfectly normal for him to be there.

“hey, soobin,” you replied, slightly surprised. “what’s up?”

“oh, just waiting for a friend,” he said with a shrug. “what about you?”

“just heading back to my room,” you said, trying to shake off the odd feeling. “care to join me for a coffee? it’s been a long day.”

“i’d love to,” soobin said, falling into step beside you as you walked towards the café.

this happened a few more times over the next few weeks. soobin would suddenly appear near your building, as if by coincidence, just when you were about to head out or take a break. each time, he greeted you with that same easy smile and casual demeanor, making it seem like he was always in the right place at the right time.

one day, as you were walking to the library, you saw him sitting on a bench, pretending to read a book. his eyes met yours, and he waved enthusiastically.

“hi again,” he said, his tone cheerful.

“hi, soobin,” you replied, trying to mask your curiosity. “you seem to be around here a lot lately.”

“yeah,” he admitted, looking slightly embarrassed. “i guess i just like this spot. it’s peaceful.”

you chuckled softly. “well, it’s nice to see you.”

the conversations continued effortlessly, and you began to enjoy these spontaneous encounters. the first time you noticed it, it was a chilly autumn afternoon. you had just finished a long day of classes and were walking back to your dorm, the crunch of fallen leaves beneath your feet. as you approached the entrance to your building, you saw him—soobin, standing casually by the front steps, as if he had just happened to be there. his eyes lit up when he saw you, and he waved.

“hey, fancy seeing you here,” he greeted with a smile that seemed just a little too perfect for a coincidence.

you raised an eyebrow, trying to mask your curiosity. “hey, soobin. what brings you here?”

“oh, just passing by,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly. “thought i’d see if you were around.”

you shrugged off the odd feeling, chalking it up to chance. after all, it was a big campus, and he could have been in the area for any number of reasons. but as the days went by, these chance encounters started to become more frequent.

one morning, as you were heading to the library, you spotted soobin in the distance, sitting on a bench, engrossed in a book, again. the same book that you’ve been seeing him read. he looked up just as you approached and smiled warmly.

“good morning,” he called out, his voice carrying through the crisp air.

“good morning,” you replied, your curiosity piqued. “you seem to be here a lot lately.”

“yeah,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “guess i just enjoy this spot. it’s nice and quiet.”

“it is,” you agreed, sitting down beside him. “do you come here often?”

“only when i get a chance,” he said, glancing at you with a look that seemed to say there was more to it. “it’s a good place to clear my head.”

the two of you chatted for a while, the conversation flowing easily as always. but what you didn’t know was that this was no random occurrence. soobin had planned it with his friends. they had been giving him tips on where you would be, thanks to their own observations and a bit of discreet information sharing.

a few days later, you were at the campus café, waiting in line for your coffee when soobin appeared at the counter, ordering the same drink as you. he gave you a friendly wave when he saw you.

“what a coincidence,” you remarked, raising an eyebrow.

“seems like it,” he said with a grin, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “mind if i join you?”

“sure,” you said, gesturing to the empty seat across from you.

they were always pleasant encounters, but the repetition made you wonder if there was more to them. you mentioned it to your friend, mina, who laughed it off.

“maybe he’s just really into the same places you are,” she suggested, though there was a hint of teasing in her voice.

then came a rainy afternoon. you were huddled under an umbrella, making your way to a small bookstore you loved. as you reached the entrance, you saw soobin leaning against the door frame, checking his phone. he looked up and his face brightened.

“again?” you asked, feigning surprise.

“again,” he replied with a chuckle. “you seem to have great taste in bookstores.”

“or you just follow me around,” you teased.

soobin laughed, shaking his head. “i swear, it’s just a coincidence.”

this was all part of a plan that had been set in motion by soobin and his friends. they had been working behind the scenes to make these “accidental” meetings happen. beomgyu and yeonjun, who had a knack for knowing your schedule, were often the ones feeding soobin with tips about where you might be. taehyun and hueningkai, always ready with a bit of distraction, made sure that soobin was always in the right place at the right time.

one evening, after another of these coincidental encounters, soobin and his friends gathered at a café near campus. the group was huddled around a table, laughing and chatting about their day.

“so, how’s the mission going?” beomgyu asked, sipping his coffee.

“it’s going well,” soobin replied, glancing at his phone. “we’ve managed to bump into her a lot.”

“it’s like magic,” hueningkai teased. “almost like you’re everywhere she is.”

“i just hope she doesn’t catch on.”

“she’s smart,” yeonjun warned, “but she also likes you. if you keep this up, you might just win her over.” soobin smiled, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness.

and as for you, while you couldn’t deny the growing affection you felt for soobin, you still couldn’t shake the feeling that these meetings were more than just coincidence. you just weren’t sure yet whether to laugh about it or confront him about it.

one afternoon, as you and soobin wandered through a park, the warm sunlight filtering through the leaves, you decided to broach a topic that had been on your mind for a while.

“soobin,” you began, a playful edge to your voice, “do you have some kind of magical power that makes you show up wherever i am?”

he looked at you, his eyes twinkling with a mix of surprise and amusement. “maybe i do,” he said with a grin. “or maybe i just really enjoy your company.”

“you know,” you said, teasingly, “if you keep this up, people might start talking.”

“let them talk,” he replied, his smile widening.

as the two of you continued your walk, the world seemed to shrink down to just the two of you. the laughter and chatter of the park faded into the background as you both reveled in the easy comfort of each other’s presence. it was in this quiet, stolen moment that you began to wonder if these coincidences might be leading to something more than you had ever imagined.

your curiosity got the better of you, and you suddenly asked, “i’m starting to think that you like me.”

soobin’s eyes widened in surprise, but then he grinned, that familiar, mischievous glint in his eyes. “you’re not so slow,” he said, his tone teasing. “oh, so i was right…” you chuckled, covering your face as a blush spread across your cheeks. “when did it start?” you added, still grinning.

“the business party,” he admitted bluntly, his tone carrying a mix of nostalgia and warmth.

“wow… just… wow. that long?” you asked, incredulous. “yeah. is there a problem?” he asked, a hint of concern creeping into his voice.

“yeah,” you said, your tone serious but with a twinkle of amusement. soobin’s face fell, panic flashing in his eyes as he avoided meeting your gaze. “w-why?” he stammered.

“because it took you too long to confess when i’ve been waiting for you to,” you said, trying to hide your smile.

soobin looked up at you, his eyes meeting your sweet gaze. “waiting, since?” he asked.

you rolled your eyes, a playful smile tugging at your lips. “i don’t know when exactly, but i probably started liking you when I would run into you ‘accidentally,’” you said, making air quotes around the word “accidentally.”

“am i obvious?” he asked shyly, his cheeks flushing slightly.

“too obvious,” you said with a laugh, “that I was starting to get frustrated because you wouldn’t just come to me and say, ‘hey, i like you, let’s go out.’ i mean, i would say yes immediately. you just have to tell me—”

but your words were cut off when soobin pulled you closer. his eyes searched yours for a moment, and then he asked, “would you mind if i kiss you?”

you were taken aback by his sudden courage, but you found yourself smiling warmly. “i don’t mind,” you said softly.

slowly, as if savoring every moment, soobin’s lips met yours. the kiss was gentle at first, a tender exploration that spoke volumes of the feelings that had been building between you. in that shared, quiet space, everything else seemed to melt away, leaving just the two of you and the promise of something beautiful unfolding.

as your relationship with soobin deepened, the two of you discovered so much about each other, learning the small quirks and habits that made you both unique. each moment, each discovery, only brought you closer. one of the things soobin quickly learned about you was your love for movies, especially ones with complex plots that made you think. every friday, you and soobin would settle in for a movie night, a bowl of popcorn between you, and a stack of your favorite films on the coffee table. it became a ritual, a quiet time that the two of you cherished.

“you always pick the best movies,” soobin remarked one evening, as the credits rolled on another mind-bending thriller.

you smiled, snuggling closer to him on the couch. “i just like movies that make you think, you know? ones that stay with you long after they’re over.”

soobin nodded, his arm wrapped around your shoulders. “i’ve noticed,” he said, his voice soft. “you always have that little furrow between your brows when you’re really into the plot, like you’re trying to solve the puzzle before it ends.”

you laughed, nudging him playfully. “you’re so observant, soobin. i didn’t even realize i did that.”

“it’s one of the things i love about you,” he admitted, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “you’re always thinking, always analyzing. it’s fascinating to watch.”

soobin also learned that you had a weakness for a particular type of snack: spicy chips. it wasn’t just a casual liking; it was an obsession. he noticed how your eyes would light up whenever you spotted a bag in the store, how you’d always grab one or two, even if you had plenty at home.

one afternoon, after a particularly long day from school, you came home to find a surprise waiting for you. on the kitchen counter was a small basket filled with all your favorite snacks, including a few bags of your beloved spicy chips. a small note was attached to the basket, written in soobin’s neat handwriting: just in case you need a pick-me-up. love, soobin.

you smiled to yourself, feeling a warm rush of affection for him. “you’re too good to me, soobin,” you said as you found him in the living room, leaning over the back of the couch to give him a kiss on the cheek.

he looked up at you with a shy smile. “i just wanted to make sure you had everything you needed. i know how much you love those chips.”

“i do,” you said, laughing softly. “but i love you more.”

as the months went by, soobin also learned the little things about your daily routines. he noticed how you liked to start your mornings with a cup of tea instead of coffee, how you always needed a few minutes to yourself after waking up, just to gather your thoughts for the day ahead. he made a habit of quietly making your tea for you in the mornings, leaving it on the kitchen counter for you to find when you came downstairs.

“you’re spoiling me like a child” you teased one morning as you took a sip of the tea he had prepared for you.

“i just want to make your mornings a little easier,” soobin said with a smile, leaning against the counter as he watched you.

“you always know exactly what i need,” you said, your voice soft with gratitude. “even when i don’t say anything.”

“i pay attention,” he said simply. “i like knowing the little things about you. it’s what makes us… us.”

soobin also learned about your fears, the things that made you anxious or worried. he noticed how you would get quiet whenever something was bothering you, how you would retreat into yourself, trying to work through your thoughts alone. it took time, but he gradually learned how to gently coax you out of those moments, offering comfort and understanding without pushing too hard.

one night, after a particularly stressful day, you found yourself overwhelmed by worries that you couldn’t quite shake. you were sitting on the edge of the bed, lost in thought, when soobin came in and sat beside you.

“what’s on your mind?” he asked softly, his hand resting on your back.

you sighed, feeling the weight of your thoughts pressing down on you. “just… everything,” you admitted. “sometimes it feels like it’s all too much.”

soobin nodded, understanding without needing to ask for details. “you don’t have to go through it alone,” he said gently. “i’m here, and i’ll always be here. whatever it is, we can face it together.”

you looked at him, your heart swelling with gratitude. “i don’t know what i’d do without you, soobin.”

“you’ll never have to find out,” he said, his voice filled with quiet determination. “i’m not going anywhere.”

soobin had always been observant, especially when it came to you. he noticed the little things—the way your eyes would dart away when you were avoiding something, the way your smile didn’t quite reach your eyes when you were trying to hide how you really felt. it was something that became more apparent as time went on, particularly when the stress of school began to weigh heavily on you.

one afternoon, as the two of you sat together in the university courtyard, soobin noticed that you seemed distant. you were both supposed to be studying for an upcoming exam, but while soobin’s notes were spread out in front of him, yours remained untouched. instead, you were staring off into the distance, your expression blank.

“hey,” soobin said softly, reaching out to touch your hand. “are you okay?”

you blinked, as if snapping out of a trance, and turned to him with a forced smile. “yeah, i’m fine. just thinking.”

he wasn’t convinced. “you sure? you’ve been really quiet lately.”

you nodded, trying to brush off his concern. “just tired, that’s all.”

but soobin knew better. he had seen this before—the way you would retreat into yourself when things got overwhelming. it was your way of coping, but it also meant shutting out the people who cared about you. he hated seeing you like this, carrying all that weight alone.

a few days later, the pattern continued. you’d been more withdrawn than usual, spending most of your time buried in your books, but soobin could see the tension in your posture, the way your hands trembled slightly when you thought no one was looking. it was obvious that something was bothering you, but every time he asked, you just shrugged it off with a half-hearted “i’m fine.”

one evening, after another long day of classes, soobin decided he couldn’t just let this continue. you were sitting at your desk in your room, your laptop open but your attention elsewhere. he knocked lightly on the door before stepping inside.

“can we talk?” he asked, his voice gentle.

you looked up, surprised by the seriousness in his tone. “about what?”

“about you,” he said, pulling up a chair to sit beside you. “i’ve noticed you’ve been really quiet lately. and i know you keep saying you’re fine, but… i don’t think you are.”

you sighed, closing your laptop and leaning back in your chair. “i’m just… stressed. school, everything. it’s a lot.”

“i know it is,” soobin said, his eyes soft with concern. “but you don’t have to go through it alone. you know that, right?”

you looked down at your hands, avoiding his gaze. “i don’t want to be a burden.”

“you’re not a burden,” he said firmly, reaching out to take your hand. “i care about you, and it hurts me to see you struggling like this. i want to help, but i can’t if you keep pushing me away.”

you felt a lump form in your throat, the weight of his words sinking in. “i just… i don’t know how to ask for help,” you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper.

“you don’t have to ask,” soobin said, squeezing your hand gently. “i’m here for you, always. whether you want to talk, or just need someone to sit with you in silence, i’m here.”

tears welled up in your eyes, the emotions you’d been bottling up finally coming to the surface. “i’m scared, soobin,” you whispered, your voice trembling. “scared of failing, scared of letting everyone down… letting you down.”

“you could never let me down,” soobin said, his voice soft but unwavering. “you’re doing your best, and that’s all anyone can ask for. and no matter what happens, i’ll be here for you, okay? we’ll get through this together.”

you nodded, tears spilling down your cheeks trying to let go of the walls you’d built around yourself. soobin pulled you into a gentle embrace, holding you close as you cried softly against his shoulder.

but despite his reassurances, you found yourself slipping back into old habits. the demands of school, the pressure to excel—it all felt like too much. and so you started shutting soobin out again, telling yourself that you didn’t want to burden him with your problems.

whenever soobin tried to talk to you about what was bothering you, you brushed him off with the same excuse: “i’m fine, really. just tired.”

he could see the exhaustion in your eyes, the way your shoulders slumped under the weight of everything you were carrying. it broke his heart to see you like this, but no matter how hard he tried, you wouldn’t let him in.

it all came to a head on the day of your second anniversary. the day was supposed to be special, a celebration of two years together. soobin had been planning for weeks, arranging a surprise dinner, getting you a thoughtful gift. he couldn’t wait to see the smile on your face when he surprised you.

but when he arrived at your apartment that evening, his excitement was quickly dashed. you greeted him with a tired expression, your eyes puffy and red as if you’d been crying. the room was dark, the usual warmth replaced with a cold silence that made soobin’s heart sink.

“hey,” he said softly, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. “what’s wrong?”

you shook your head, trying to force a smile. “nothing, just… had a rough day.”

soobin could see right through you, but he didn’t want to push too hard. instead, he pulled you into a hug, hoping to comfort you. “come on, let’s sit down. i brought your favorite.”

he led you to the couch and sat down beside you, pulling you close. “you seem to be forgetting something,” he teased gently, trying to lighten the mood.

you looked at him, confused. “what did i forget? oh my god, i’m sorry.”

“think about it,” soobin said, a playful smile on his face.

“just tell me already,” you said, frustration creeping into your voice.

“no, i won’t. guess it,” he teased, his tone light.

but instead of laughing, you felt a surge of irritation. everything felt overwhelming—the stress of school, the weight of your problems, and now soobin’s playful teasing. it was too much.

“soobin, just stop,” you snapped, your voice harsher than you intended.

he blinked, taken aback by your sudden outburst. “what’s wrong?”

“everything!” you burst out, the words spilling out before you could stop them. “i’m stressed, i’m exhausted, and i can’t handle it anymore! and now you’re sitting here teasing me like everything’s fine when it’s not!”

soobin’s eyes widened in shock, but he quickly composed himself. “i’m sorry, i didn’t know you were going through this…” he said softly, his voice filled with concern.

“how would you know when you never ask?” you shot back, tears welling up in your eyes. “i’m drowning here, soobin, and you’re acting like everything’s okay!”

“i always do, love. i always ask,” soobin said, his voice breaking slightly. “but you always push me away…”

the room fell into a heavy silence, your harsh words hanging in the air. soobin looked at you with such sadness in his eyes, it made your heart ache.

“let’s talk tomorrow,” he said quietly, his voice full of hurt. “come on, let me wash you up.”

he led you to the bathroom, his hands gentle as he helped you wash away the tears and the stress of the day. you were both quiet, the tension from your argument still lingering in the air.

as he wiped your face with a towel, he finally broke the silence. “i’ll leave something for you to eat tomorrow. please eat, okay?” his voice was soft, almost pleading.

you nodded, unable to find the words to respond. after sending you to bed, he caressed your face gently, his touch tender despite everything that had happened. “rest now. i’ll leave when you’re asleep.”

you felt tears prick at your eyes again as you watched him, his caring nature only making the guilt in your chest grow heavier. you wanted to apologize, to ask him to stay the night, but the words wouldn’t come out.

soobin leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to your lips, his touch full of love and understanding. “happy anniversary, love. i love you,�� he whispered.

as your eyes slowly drifted shut, exhausted from crying, you felt soobin’s hand gently brush your hair back. he stayed for a moment, watching you as you fell asleep, before quietly leaving the room.

later that night, soobin found himself sitting on a bench in a nearby park, the weight of the evening pressing down on him. he pulled out his phone and called beomgyu, his voice trembling as he explained what had happened.

“give her time,” beomgyu advised after listening to soobin’s story. “she’s going through a lot, and sometimes people just need space to process everything.”

“but what if she needs me?” soobin asked, his voice laced with worry.

“she does,” beomgyu replied, “but you can’t force her to open up. just let her know you’re there for her, and she’ll come to you when she’s ready.”

“i guess you’re right,” soobin sighed, his heart heavy.

taehyun, who had been listening quietly, chimed in. “you shouldn’t have left her alone in the first place. if you really love her, you should stay and support her.”

beomgyu frowned, disagreeing. “soobin’s here because he doesn’t want to push her too hard. he knows what she needs.”

soobin remained silent, torn between his friends’ advice. he knew they both had valid points, but he wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was.

when he returned to his apartment, he felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally. he sat down on his bed, his mind replaying the events of the evening over and over.

meanwhile, you lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. you felt a deep sense of regret for how you had treated soobin, but you didn’t know how to make things right. the weight of your responsibilities and the stress of school had been overwhelming, and you hadn’t meant to take it out on him.

soobin had always known you better than anyone else, and it was that knowledge that made the silence between you two even more unbearable. days had passed since your argument on your anniversary, and while soobin had tried to give you the space you needed, the emptiness in his chest grew with each passing moment without you.

he missed everything about you—your laughter, your warmth, the way your eyes sparkled when you were excited. but most of all, he missed the way you made him feel like he was the luckiest person in the world just by being by his side.

one evening, as the sun began to set, casting a golden glow over the city, soobin found himself walking towards your apartment, his heart pounding in his chest. he couldn’t wait any longer; he needed to see you, to hold you, to tell you how much he loved you.

when he reached your door, he hesitated for a moment, his hand hovering over the doorbell. he wasn’t sure how you would react, but he knew that he had to try. taking a deep breath, he pressed the doorbell, the sound echoing in the quiet hallway.

a few moments later, the door opened, and there you stood, your eyes wide with surprise. you looked tired, but beautiful as ever, and the sight of you made soobin’s heart ache.

“soobin…” you whispered, your voice trembling.

“hi,” he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. “can we talk?”

you nodded, stepping aside to let him in. the two of you stood in the middle of your living room, the silence between you heavy with unspoken words.

“i’ve missed you,” soobin finally said, his voice thick with emotion. “i’ve missed you so much.”

your eyes filled with tears, and you looked down, unable to meet his gaze. “i’m so sorry, soobin… for everything. i didn’t mean to push you away. i just… i didn’t know how to handle everything.”

soobin stepped closer, gently cupping your face in his hands. “you don’t have to apologize, love. i’m sorry for not being there for you when you needed me the most. i should have tried harder to understand what you were going through.”

you shook your head, tears spilling down your cheeks. “no, it’s not your fault. i was scared, soobin. scared that i wasn’t good enough, that i was letting you down… and instead of talking to you, i pushed you away.”

soobin’s heart broke at the sight of your tears, and he pulled you into his arms, holding you close as you sobbed against his chest. “shhh, it’s okay,” he whispered, his voice soothing. “i’m here now, and i’m not going anywhere. we’ll get through this together, i promise.”

you clung to him, your fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt as if you were afraid he might disappear. “i don’t want to lose you, soobin,” you choked out, your voice muffled against his chest.

“you won’t lose me,” soobin said firmly, his hand gently rubbing your back. “i love you, more than anything in this world. nothing will ever change that.”

you pulled back slightly, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. “i love you too, soobin. i’ve never stopped loving you.”

soobin smiled, his eyes soft with affection as he wiped away your tears with his thumb. “then that’s all that matters,” he said softly. “we’ll take it one step at a time, together.”

he leaned down, pressing his forehead against yours, his breath warm against your skin. “i’ve been so worried about you,” he murmured, his voice filled with emotion. “i just want you to be happy.”

“i am happy,” you whispered, your voice trembling. “as long as i have you, i’m happy.”

soobin’s heart swelled with love, and he pressed a tender kiss to your lips, pouring all of his feelings into that one kiss. it was soft, sweet, and filled with all the love and devotion he had for you.

when he pulled back, he looked into your eyes, his own shining with tears. “we’re going to be okay,” he said, his voice full of conviction. “as long as we have each other, we can get through anything.”

you nodded, a small smile finally breaking through the tears. “together,” you echoed, your voice filled with hope.

soobin smiled, his heart feeling lighter than it had in days. he pulled you close again, wrapping his arms around you and holding you tight, as if he never wanted to let you go.

the two of you stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms, the world outside fading away. in that moment, nothing else mattered but the love you shared—the love that had weathered storms, faced challenges, and come out stronger on the other side.

and so, slowly but surely, you began to let soobin back into your life. it wasn’t easy, and there were still days when you struggled, but knowing that he was there for you made all the difference. he continued to support you, never pushing you too hard, but always reminding you that he was there whenever you needed him.

as the weeks went by, you began to feel more like yourself again. the weight of your responsibilities didn’t seem as overwhelming anymore, and you were able to focus on the things that really mattered—your relationship with soobin, your friends, and your own well-being.

and through it all, soobin remained by your side, his love for you unwavering. he never once made you feel like you were a burden, and he always reminded you of how proud he was of you, no matter what.

it was in those moments that you realized just how lucky you were to have someone like soobin in your life. someone who loved you, flaws and all, and who was willing to stand by you through the ups and downs.

“so you really cried that time?” you teased, a playful glint in your eyes.

soobin shrugged his shoulders, trying to maintain a nonchalant air. “they’re over-exaggerating everything.”

“sure, sure,” you said, grinning.

you both laughed together, the sound of your shared amusement filling the room. soobin playfully nudged you, and you nudged him back, each of you trying to outdo the other in a light-hearted battle of teasing.

the table filled with memories of youth, all of you continued to chat and laugh, the warmth of the evening filled with shared stories and laughter, a reminder of how far you had come and how much more you had to look forward to.

as the night drew to a close, you and soobin knew that no matter what the future held, you would face it together, with love, laughter, and a bond that had only grown stronger over time. taehyun on the other hand starts noticing beomgyu fidgeting on his seat, “you good man?” he asks. “how do i look?” he asks, touching his hair. “chill dude, have you seen her around?” taehyun’s eyes roamed around the venue. “oh fuck,” taehyun whispers. “why?” beomgyu panics, “she’s here, dude.” his voice was a little loud and it had everyone’s attention. “who’s here?” kai asks. “beomgyu’s heartbreaker.”

gyo's note: heyyy, i'm sorry i didn’t get to post yesterday, and i might change the posting schedule for alumni homecoming. this will be the last post for the week; the rest will be posted next week, starting on monday. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ i kind of had a hard time writing this bcs i haven't had a healthy relationship before (ᵕ—ᴗ—) lol, but yeah, i hope you liked it! if you made it to this part, thank you so much. you will be loved, xoxo.

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magics-neptunes-things · 1 year ago

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Baby Sister

Hi guys!

This one is from resquets, lot of them actually. I hope you will enjoy this ficlet :)

TW : Jealousy, secret relationship, Reader is Jenni Hermoso's little sister.

PART 2 IS HERE!

_____________________________________________________________

Being Jenni Hermoso’s little sister has always been a great pride for you. You wear your last name with great happiness and you have always attended all the matches you could see. You have never missed any of his important matches, whether with the Barça team or the Spanish national team. This summer, you even made the trip to attend each stage of the competition, until seeing her lift the trophy at the finale.

What happened after and around this victory, you’d rather not talk about. This story makes you green with rage and you sincerely believe that if you had faced these men at the end of the summer, things would have gone very badly.

Jenni now playing in Mexico, it’s obviously harder for you to go and see her play. You watch her evolve on the other side of the ocean thanks to VPN, what you find ridiculous, it’s your sister for God’s sake.

But you’ve been used to long distance relationships for a while now. Because your girlfriend doesn’t happen to live in Barcelona either. Leila has been playing for Manchester City since the summer of 2022, a few months after you two started dating. The long-distance relationship is clearly not something easy to manage, but your reunions are incredible every time. Now that Jenni is no longer in Barcelona, it’s easier for you to fly to Leila for a weekend in Manchester.

Yes, because Jenni obviously doesn’t know that you’re in a relationship with one of her friends. Former colleagues at Barça and in the Spanish national team, there is no need to draw a picture to know how you met. It took some time for you to get closer, you were long persuaded that Leila only saw you as Jenni’s little sister. Baby Hermoso, like most of Jenni’s teammates like to call you.

It’s not a nickname that bothers you, you know it’s affectionate and again it’s not something pejorative for you to be compared to your sister. You love her. Even though she tends to be very protective of you, scaring away all your girlfriends pretty quickly. No one is good enough for you in her eyes and even if you know that her goal is to protect you and to avoid the mistakes that she made herself, you must admit that it’s for this reason that Leila and you decided to remain hidden.

Lying or hiding things from Jenni is really not easy for you. You are used to telling her everything and you have sometimes picked yourself up at the last moment when you want to tell her an anecdote about something you saw or did with Leila. Luckily, you didn’t make any missteps in a year and a half, almost two years.

But the secret is starting to weigh you more and more. Being away from the two most important women in your life is difficult for you and you regularly find yourself with lower morale than usual. When Jenni asks you about it, you just tell her you miss her. Which is true, but not totally. It’s easier for you to talk about it with Leila, even if you don’t want to impose your moods on her.

With Christmas coming, Leila is back in Barcelona, just like your big sister. You managed to establish a schedule in the rules of the art, juggling between family meals and stolen moments with your girlfriend. You even managed to set up an afternoon with Ona, Leila and other friends you have in common. You even asked Alba Putellas to join you, but she already had something planned.

So, when Ona and her brother went back to their parents, Leila offered to take you home, which you obviously accepted. Except she stayed at your place to end the night between lovers, catching up on all the kisses, hugs and love whispers you’re late for. You could spend hours with Leila, hidden under your sheets, exchanging confessions between two kisses.

********

It was between Christmas and New Year’s that Jenni asked you to have lunch and an afternoon with her. If her proposal obviously excited you, you found yourself hesitating when she told you she wanted to invite Leila to join you. It’s been a while since they met again and Leila apparently misses her. And since you two are getting along, Jenni thought it was a good idea to bring people together.

If only she knew how well you two get along…

From the exchange of messages that you had with Leila to talk about this, you realized that the situation seems to amuse your girlfriend more than anything else. It helped you see things in a different light. Maybe there’s no reason to worry, after all?

You’re the last arrived in the restaurant Jenni picked, both brunettes already sitting at a table. You have no trouble spotting them, it would have been difficult to do it anyway with Jenni’s great gestures. You approach Leila to hug her, giving her a stern look when her hand is dangerously low on your hip. Then you put a kiss on your sister’s cheek, which makes you sit next to her before grabbing a lock of your hair.

"Since when do you have red streaks?" laughs your sister

You shrug your shoulders and get rid of your jacket to place it on the back of your chair. The facility is already pretty full and people don’t seem to pay too much attention to your table. A good thing for you.

"Since yesterday"

"It suits her well I think"

Jenni looks at you for a few more seconds before smiling and nodding. Just like her, you have very dark hair, but your eyes are more on gray than on brown like those of Jenni. When you turn your attention to Leila, she winks at you and you find yourself blushing slightly while smiling.

The discussion between the three of you goes rather well in the end and after you go to choose tapas, you relax completely. The laughter burst and you spend a pleasant moment with the two brunettes.

Between two tapas, you grab your phone to open whatsapp and show a message from your mother to Jenni to show that you are right about something. Honestly, you can’t even say why it was, as the subject is quickly forgot when another conversation seems to have caught your big sister’s eye.

"Who is the lion?"

"What?"

You’re trying to quickly put your phone in your jacket pocket, because you know exactly what Jenni is talking about. Instead of saving Leila’s full name, you inserted a lion emoji and an emoji with a burning heart next to it. You find it cuter and it saves you a little today. But not as much as you would have liked.

No doubt thanks to her reflexes worked during training, Jenni managed to grab your phone before you put it away, hurrying to change her hand to get away from you.

"Jenni give it back to me" you half get up and try to take it back.

In front of you two, Leila looks at you with big eyes, without really knowing what to do. Luckily you never call yourself by your first names. And luckily too, you tend to send yourself photos through other apps.

"I miss you, I can’t wait to find you" starts reading Jenni out loud, frowning. "I count the days before I see you again… Who is this girl?"

When Jenni turns to you, you manage to take the phone out of her hands and put it away from her. Your cheeks are so red we could probably bake eggs on them.

"No one" you grunt carrying your glass to your lips.

"Well if that’s nobody, I don’t dare imagine what the messages with your girlfriend are" laughs Leila.

You almost strangle yourself with your drink and Jenni doesn’t seem to blame you to the point of letting you die on the spot since she gives you little pats on the back. On the other hand, you shoot your girlfriend with the look by seeing her drive the nail.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" asks Jenni, eyebrows still frowned.

You sigh softly and hesitate a split second before answering. After all, she doesn’t need to know who it is, right?

"Yes" you simply answer, giving her a look of challenge.

Jenni supports your gaze, obviously, and you feel the questions swirling through her head. You don’t know what you’ll get first.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" your older sister asks.

"Because you drove away all the last ones I’ve been with" you answer, rolling your eyes.

"Oh right away the big words…" sighs Jenni, even if her amused smile proves her guilt.

A few seconds pass and you naively hope that this will be enough for Jenni as information for the moment. Maybe the fact that you’re with Leila will hold her back from pushing things too hard and getting other information out of you.

"How is she?"

It’s Leila’s voice which resounds however and you return once again a dismayed look in her direction. She’s supposed to help you, not the other way around. However, when you answer that it’s not her business, Jenni insists by asking you the question in turn.

"She is kind, she is attentive and understanding" you end up answering, a deeply upset look displayed on the face.

"Is she pretty?" asks Leila

"Obviously" you snort.

In front of you, Leila seems to be having a great time. And if you think that you may laugh about it later, currently you can’t help but think that you intend to make her pay for it later.

"Is she a good kisser?" continues Leila.

"Wow no, I don’t want to hear the answer to that question" Jenni steps in with one hand up. "I can’t believe it, you’re still a baby."

You roll your eyes sighing, hearing the moan in the voice of your big sister. You’re almost eight years apart, but she sometimes has a hard time forgetting that you’ve been fifteen almost ten years ago.

"I’m 25, Jenni" you point out, but this information seems to fall on deaf ears.

"Wait, is that the girl from your job here? Aida?"

"Who is Aida?" asks Leila

This time, the fun left your girlfriend’s voice and face. This makes you shudder from the inside, the main flaw of the brunette being undoubtedly her jealousy. This has already highlighted some tensions between you, but you have always been able to communicate in order to avoid too much conflict.

"It’s nobody" you respond quickly to Leila, to whom you have already mentioned her existence, you are almost sure of it. "And no, it’s not Aida. Can we change the subject now, please?"

Groaning in her beard, Jenni finally accepts your request, even if she specifies that you pay nothing to wait. You roll your eyes again and peck the last crumbs on your plate while Jenni apologizes to go to the toilet.

As soon as she has her heels turned, you feel Leila leaning in your direction.

"Who’s Aida?" asks the brunette again.

You sigh softly and shift your attention to Leila. You’re relieved that your sister went to the bathroom quickly after that, or you know that your girlfriend would have had her blood blown out until you two were alone.

"One of my colleagues Babe, I already told you about it" you answer in a low voice, leaning mechanically too in her direction.

Leila answers nothing, content to look at you at length with her black eyes, arms crossed on her chest. She’s too far away for you to catch her hand, so you try to keep eye contact with her.

"Leila stop, we already discussed it. You have no reason to be jealous"

A few seconds pass during which Leila seems to pass you to the X-ray using her eyes. Time seems to last you a little too long, you end up arching an eyebrow in her direction.

"And excuse me, but if one of them should be jealous, it’s me. You’re the one who’s tactile with all your friends and you’re the one who’s got edits of your person on TikTok. Not me."

You see Leila’s face relaxing under the effect of her surprise. You’ve never mentioned these two things until now and this may not be the best time to do so since your older sister was reappearing next to you two. She seems surprised by your two sulky faces and your similar position, your arms crossed on your chests.

"Uh… is everything okay?" she asks while sitting next to you.

You nod your head while Leila just grunts for a simple answer.

"I have to go." You suddenly decide "See you before you go, right?"

Jenni answers yes, probably a little surprised by your quick departure. She stands up in turn to put a kiss on your cheek and take you in her arms.

"Do you need a ride? Where are you going?"

You know perfectly well that Leila’s question is not innocent but on the other hand the kindness and helpfulness of the brunette alone could explain the proposal. But, on your side, if you had to describe yourself in one flaw, it’s impulsivity. You prefer to talk about spontaneity, but that’s why you find yourself answering her sarcastically

"Seeing Aida, what else?"

The flash of anger and jealousy passing through Leila’s face is very fast, but visible to you. And apparently to Jenni as well.

Still standing, Jenni lets go of a surprise exclamation before pointing at Leila.

"It’s you!"

"Huh?" Leila replies, turning to Jenni, having forgotten for a split second her presence.

"The lion and the burning heart! It’s you!"

"She puts a burning heart next to the lion?"

Leila’s question makes you hit your forehead with your hand. It’s a disaster. She could have responded positively to Jenni’s question that it would have come back to the same thing.

Your sister remains silent for a long time, her gaze passing from Leila to you many times. She opens her mouth several times before finally finding the words that dare to suit her. For your part, your heart rate is so high that you wonder if your heart is not trying to come out of your chest.

"Why didn’t you tell me before?"

You sigh softly, leaning against the bench on which Leila is installed.

"I told you. You traumatized all my last girlfriends Jenni, I’m sure some of them even changed countries after you finished talking to them. I didn’t want this to happen this time."

You feel Leila’s gaze rise on you, you have after all just confided that this relationship is important to you.

"Your ex-girlfriends were selfish first-league idiots" grumbled Jenni rolling her eyes at her turn. "I know Leila isn’t"

You pout a little before shrugging. You’re not sure that if she hadn’t faced the fact her reaction would have been the same. If you had told her about your relationship with Leila when it took place, you are convinced that things would have been different.

"How long has it been?" keeps asking Jenni.

"A year and a half" answers Leila for you.

The information seems to surprise your sister as she bows her eyebrows at you. You mumble an excuse and shrug.

"Well, it doesn’t look like I have a something to say anyway" sighs Jenni as Leila pulls you by the arm to make you sit next to her.

You let yourself be willingly, the revelations of the last minutes making you forget that you managed to argue while Jenni went to the toilet. Jenni sits down again, looking at you carefully, before pointing again at Leila.

"You’re my friend Leila. But I swear to God, if you hurt her, you’re still six feet under."

#woso x reader #woso imagine #leila ouahabi imagine #leila ouahabi x reader #leila ouahabi

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ladykailitha · 4 days ago

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A Holly, Jolly Harrington Christmas

Hello and welcome to my Christmas AUvent Calendar! Every day from now until the 24th I will be posting a ficlet that is 500-1500 from an AU I've done over the years.

All stories will be marked with the tag #12 aus of christmas so you can follow along as I will only be tagging my permanent list for this (it would get too confusing otherwise).

The next one on our list is: The Reunion verse. You can read the story here. All links will be to the first chapter, but the chapter itself will have links to the rest of the story.

Thanks to @bookworm0690 for help with the title.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

The newly blended Munson/Harrington clan was experiencing the Christmas holiday for the first time.

Edie knew to sit back and watch the chaos. Harri and Eddie did not. She braced for the sonic blast that was about to occur in three, two, one...

“What?!!” Steve squawked. “You guys didn’t do Christmas? But how? Why?”

Harri and Eddie shared a glance and then Eddie just shrugged. “Jai was Muslim and I prefer Halloween. You don’t get mocked for Santa bringing you socks instead of toys when it’s a candy free for all.”

Steve blinked at them in confusion and then tilted his head to side. Edie hid a smile behind her glass of chocolate milk. She always thought her dad looked like a puppy when he did that.

Apparently so did Eddie.

“Oh, no,” he whispered. “The puppy dog eyes.” He turned to Harri. “What have we done?”

“Buckle up, buckaroos!” Edie said cheerfully. “Dad’s going to give you two a crash course in Christmas cheer. He’s almost militant about it.”

“I am not militant,” Steve huffed, putting his hands on his hips. “Just very well organized.”

Edie turned to the Munson boys. “Santa wishes he was as organized as Dad, and the fat little elf has magic.”

Eddie realized all too quickly that Edie had absolutely undersold the militant aspect of the Christmas mania that overtaken their home. They had decided to move in Eddie’s place (so he wouldn’t have to rebuild his ridiculous setup regarding the identity of Harri’s surrogate mom. They had told him after the wedding to forestall any meltdowns, but Harri had taken it like a champ and understood why there was so much secrecy.

But Eddie was digressing and his spouse was decorating. It had started innocent enough when he put up the first tree in their main hallway. Then second went up in Steve’s office, in the corner of the room. Then the third one went up in the family room. And this one was the presents and for everyone to decorate. Not the other two. Those were just centerpieces.

Steve scoffed when he brought it up. “You mean like the ten foot skeleton that was there only two months ago? Or the dragon that was on top of the house? Like those decorations, my love?”

Eddie blinked at him for a moment. So, yes. The Munsons had gone all out for Halloween. “Point taken, sweetheart. I will bow to your superior knowledge in this regard.”

Steve nodded smugly. Eddie should have known what was coming next. But he was woefully unprepared.

The train set went up complete with a ceramic Christmas village and its residents. It had working lights on the houses, street lights, and even traffic lights. Eddie had asked Dustin how it all worked.

“Fuck if I know, dude,” Dustin said, “by all rights it shouldn’t. Only Steve in his bumbling way could create such a mess of wires and connections that somehow feedback on each other and still fucking work.”

Eddie looked over at his husband with new appreciation. Because yeah, only Stevie.

Then he learned that there were two Christmas parties. One for the company which was not mandatory, but Steve went all puppy dog eyes and it might as well had been. And the other was the friend and family party.

According to Jeff who had gone to these the last couple of years, was the party. Like Steve hired a Santa Claus to pass out gifts, the food was catered, full professionally tended bar, the works. If Eddie thought the charity gala was obscene, this was that on crack.

The office Christmas party was a blast. Eddie spent most of the time learning new swear words in ASL from Steve’s secretary, Vanessa until her husband Nate dragged her away to meet someone in his department.

Then he spent the rest of the time teaching Dustin the new swears.

Then the day of the Christmas party arrived. And there weren’t as many people as Eddie thought there were going to be. He thought it would be wall to wall with stars like the gala and their wedding reception. But no. It was just friends.

But make no mistake the intimacy of the party did not make it any less grand. In fact, Eddie would have gone as far as to say it made it more intimate.

Eddie slipped his arm around Steve waist and pressed a gentle kiss to his neck. “This has been fun, sweetheart. Thank you.”

Steve flushed with pride. “You’re welcome. I hope Harri is having a good first Christmas.”

“Oh yeah,” Eddie said with a grin. He pointed at his son dancing goofily with his friends. “I don’t think I’ve seen him this happy.”

And then as if called Harri came bounding up to them all smiles. “This is the best holiday ever! Thanks Steve!” He hugged Steve tight.

“You’re welcome, Harri,” Steve said warmly.

Then Harri left the way he came, practically vibrating with joy.

“Betrayal by my own flesh and blood!” Eddie gasped clutching his chest.

Steve shook his head. “As though you don’t have Edie hook, line and sinker for Halloween.”

Eddie looked at Steve for a moment. “Did our children get swapped at birth? Because that is the only explanation.”

Steve just shook his head. This year was the best Christmas he had since his divorce, because Eddie and Harri were apart of it now. And that’s what made it the best holiday ever.

Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 @a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @cryptid-system @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @genderless-spoon @fearieshadow @thesecondfate

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #the 12 aus of christmas

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lostloveletters · 5 months ago

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Human Touch (Gale Cleven x OC)

Summary: By 1954, Gale Cleven's a widower, and Leona Spinelli's a divorced single mom, but a reunion brings the two lonely hearts together, thawing a mutual longing that had been on ice for over a decade.

Note: I’ve been wanting to write for Buck for a while and thought a post-war dynamic would be an interesting place to start! I hope I did alright with his characterization...Leona was featured briefly in Crimson and Clover. Title comes from the Bruce Springsteen song, but in all honesty, I listened to the I'm On Fire intro loop a lot. Do not interact if you're under 18, terf or radfem, or post thinspo/ED content.

Word count: 3.8k

Warnings: Inevitable historical inaccuracies (I know flavored lip balm wasn't invented until the 70s but let me have this one thing). Some canon divergence. References to death, grief/loss, guilt, and period-typical misogyny. Brief mentions of past sex.

1954

Gale glanced across the bar in the hotel ballroom, and though Leona had no good reason to be looking at him, he hoped she was. Couldn’t exactly tell who she was talking to by the back of the guy’s head, but her hand reached for her conversation partner’s shoulder as she laughed. Gale took a sip of his ginger ale. With the distance, he wasn’t able to tell if her wedding and engagement rings were gone. He had heard as much from Holly, but wanted to see it for himself.

Leona’s profile always made his eyes linger on her longer than they should have. Two thousand years contained in her cupid’s bow lips and strong Roman nose. Whenever he walked into a museum, her face echoed in the clay and marble statues on display. She’d find the complement undoubtedly strange, but she had a knack for making him feel that way.

Like how his stomach flipped when she caught him staring, her dark eyes lighting up at the sight of him. He heard others say making eye contact with her was uncomfortable, a little too intense for their comfort, as if she could see something in them that they weren’t even aware of. In this instance, as he held her gaze, it made him feel awake, whereas for the past few hours, he’d been stumbling around the reunion in a haze of condolences and pitied glances.

She brought her attention back to whoever she was speaking with, said something accompanied by a parting kiss on the cheek. He quickly pulled the toothpick from his mouth and placed it on the cocktail napkin next to his drink. The room fell to a hush as she walked over to him. Or maybe it was the blood pounding in his ears.

“Hi Buck,” she said, giving him a hug, her lips gentle against his cheek. Her hair, the same dark brown as her eyes, brushed the tip of his nose with the gesture and he could smell it—gardenias, lighter and fresher than he remembered, but it’d been a while.

“Good to see you, Leona,” he said, squeezing her lightly against him. She felt almost plush beneath his fingers. Must have gained weight since the last time he held her so close. “Missed you last year.”

“The divorce was a mess. I just couldn’t make it out here.”

His gaze fell to the hand wrapped around her wine glass, the stripe of pale skin on her ring finger nearly matched his. He’d only just stopped wearing his own wedding band two months prior. Felt almost naked without it. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Can’t have it all, huh?” she sighed. “How have you been holding up?”

“Just…taking it day by day.”

“That’s the most you can do sometimes.”

He cleared his throat, placing the toothpick back in his mouth. “Seat’s open, if you want it.”

“Sure, thanks, Buck.” She smiled. “I’m gonna see if I can wave down the bartender from here.”

When she turned beneath the low bar lights, strands of gray shimmered in her dark hair like Christmas tinsel. His mouth went dry for a moment, and he brought his glass to his lips, drinking his watery ginger ale.

She looked good. Really good. About as good as she did in the summer of ‘43, when she basked in the sun the way her cat-like eyes almost implied she would—taking in the rays, her honeyed skin glimmering with a sheen of sweat whenever he saw her sunbathing, her blouse unbuttoned, black heels kicked off in the grass somewhere impossibly quiet. He wondered if, at the time, he had subconsciously gone out of his way to wander to one of her usual spots just to catch a glimpse of her.

He almost slunk into himself when she brought her attention back to him. He knew he looked rough. Bags under his eyes, sometimes would go a day or two before remembering to eat. Going through the motions did him no favors. But he came out for the weekend, if only to placate Bucky and Holly. He was trying.

The bartender refilled Leona’s wine glass, and she took a sip before turning back to Gale. Maybe not exactly liquid courage, but something to loosen her up a little before they actually got into a conversation. From the first day she met him, she thought he looked like an absolute dream, almost acted just like one, too, and the years had been kinder to him than to her. Thought the scars he returned from the Stalags with added a layer of rugged intrigue to his poster-perfect flyboy look.

Barely able to take the time off of work and find a babysitter for Luke, Leona was aware her appearance left much to be desired with the limited time and budget she had been working with. She decided painting her nails and waxing her eyebrows and upper lip took precedence over dyeing the grays that’d been popping up in her hair ever since the divorce.

He motioned to her drink. “How’s your—“

“Merlot, and this is my second and last glass of the night,” she said. “I don’t even drink around Luke.”

“How is he?” he asked. “Luke’s gotta be three, now, right?”

“He’s actually turning five in October.”

“He’s that old?” Gale smiled. “Shoot, I remember when you showed us his baby pictures.”

“I still have the little hat Marge knitted for him, with the ducks on it and the ribbon,” she said. “Before he got too big for it, I put it on him all the time, especially back when we’d go to the Shore.”

“She was always making things like that. She really appreciated it when you sent the photo of him with it on. Probably still have it around the house somewhere.”

Leona sent a card when she heard from Holly that Marge died. Wasn’t even sure she had the right address at that point, but was surprised to get a response from Gale. A simple thanks, and good wishes for her and her family. Funny to receive in the middle of filing for divorce, but it had been nice to get something in the mail that wasn’t from a lawyer.

‘Best wishes to you, your husband, and Luke’ like he couldn’t remember Will’s name but wanted to be polite. The envelope was addressed to Mrs. Leona Deguire, so she suspected that had been the case.

But Luke. He remembered Luke. She had named her son after the Gospel, the news of her pregnancy the greatest she’d ever heard. The second best day of her life after the day he was born, followed closely by his baptism.

And she wasn’t even allowed to take communion anymore.

She could forget about that for a few hours, though. Gale was more than good for that, had plenty of stories in his pocket that made her nearly howl with laughter. She noticed, though, that while she accidentally peppered in mentions of Will, however dismissively, Gale didn’t really bring up Marge. Made her wonder if she misstepped in mentioning the hat, if she simply shoved her finger into an open wound instead of sharing a fond memory. She nearly scoffed at herself. Of course she had. His wife had died suddenly and tragically. It wasn’t a contentious and bitter divorce like she had.

Luke was a safe conversation topic. Gale at least seemed interested in her little anecdotes about her son and his antics. In the middle of a story about Luke and some of his friends, the opening notes of an all too familiar song began playing, and a cacophony of groans and heckling was directed toward Bucky.

“Oh god,” Gale groaned.

Leona laughed. “Can’t say I missed that last year.”

“Do you wanna take this conversation somewhere else?” he asked, his voice nearly drowned out by Bucky’s off-key singing.

“That sounds perfect. Let me close out my tab.”

She got up from her seat to wave down the bartender.

Gale’s attention turned to Bucky, half-serenading a giggling, blushing Holly—until Bucky nodded toward Leona and winked at him. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to thank or strangle his best friend in that moment, but Leona rejoined him before he had time to do more than shoot a playful glare Bucky’s way.

“They’re so funny,” Leona said, a slight smile on her face.

“If you mean funny–weird, then yeah, they’re funny.”

“Well, where are we off to now?”

“Is my room alright?” he asked.

She nodded. “Sure.”

Walking side by side to the elevator, she wondered if the heat radiating off of him was real, or just the buzz she had after two glasses of wine with barely anything else to eat or drink for the past few hours. Christ, she couldn’t hold her alcohol as well as she used to. Things looked almost sideways until she leaned against the wall on the far side of the elevator, watching as Gale pressed the button for the seventh floor. Her room was on the fifth.

“You okay, Lee?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said when the elevator doors finally opened. “I–I think I just need a glass of water or something.”

Almost felt like a sunburn, his hand on the small of her back, leading her to his hotel room with concern etched across his handsome face. She nearly insisted she was fine, but knew he wouldn’t be satisfied until he knew for sure.

He sat her on the edge of the bed and disappeared into the bathroom for a few moments. Her gaze fell to her hands as the faucet ran, her nose crinkling in disappointment when she noticed her cheap drugstore nail polish already chipping. Should’ve dyed her hair instead.

Gale emerged from the bathroom with a glass of water before she could sink too far into the depths of self-consciousness. “You’re probably dehydrated.” It seemed he'd thrown away his toothpick while in there, too. Almost odd to see him without it.

He sat down next to her, rubbing comforting circles on her back as she drank. It was almost too overwhelming. She hadn’t been taken care of in so long, but she felt like her head was back on straight with something other than wine in her.

“Thanks,” she said, setting the glass down on the nightstand and wishing he hadn’t pulled his hand away from her when she did. “I really don’t drink. Especially not around—I already told you that, didn’t I?”

He smiled sympathetically. “Who's been watching Luke since you’re out here?”

“One of my neighbors in the building. He likes going over there anyway, they have a television and their son is about his age, so they play cops and robbers, or superheroes.”

“It’s good he’s made friends.”

“He sees—maybe sees isn’t the right word since he refuses to wear his glasses,” she half-joked. “Everything's an adventure to him. He hasn’t started asking a lot of questions yet—not the heavy stuff, anyway—so it gives me time to think of answers.”

“Must be hard on your own.”

“I manage. It took a while to find a job that paid halfway decent, but the alimony helps,” she said. “I think once we settle down somewhere, I’ll buy a television. Not that anyone in their right mind would give me a line of credit, but I can save up for one if I’m careful. I think he deserves it after everything.”

“He’s lucky to have you as a mother.” The sincerity in his voice made her breath catch in her throat. “You’re doing a lot for him, more than most people could handle. You’ve always been pretty tough, though.”

She couldn’t acknowledge the compliment or she’d start crying. Wasn’t something she heard very often, typically the opposite over the past year or so.

In Newark, the first day she showed up to work without her rings on was her last, as her boss brought her into his office and told her that as a family business, he simply couldn’t abide a woman separated from her husband working there. Humiliation and rage initially blinded her through the first few hundred miles of the drive to Nevada to establish the six-week residency required to file for divorce from Will. Making the move with Luke in tow, the reason she was certain divorce was the right choice in the first place, replaced those feelings with determination to make the messy situation work.

Money was inevitably tight on her lone income until the court finally ordered Will to back pay alimony. But she had a chance to really start over, without the judgmental stares and whispers from the people she’d spent her whole life around. Outright condemnation from her oldest sister, a nun, disapproval from her parents, and varying degrees of skepticism from the rest of her siblings. How could they expect her to grin and bear it, to allow her son to grow up in a home where his own father barely acknowledged his existence, hardly bothered to even pretend he gave a damn about him, so complacent in the casual cruelty. She felt almost sick thinking about it again.

“I don’t know if I’ll stay in Reno forever, especially with Luke starting school next year. It’d be like raising him in Atlantic City,” she said, quickly waving her hand as if to dismiss her own worry. “But I’ll figure it out, maybe go to a few different places and see where he likes best.”

“I’m back in Wyoming for a while. You two are more than welcome to visit if you want to make the trip.”

“How long is a while?”

“Till the end of the summer, at least.”

“Are you sure, Gale?” she asked. “I mean, Luke’s a good kid, but he can be a little wild sometimes. I just don’t want to put you out or anything.”

He smiled. “I’m sure he and I will get along just fine. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it.”

“Reno to Wyoming…I’ll have to drive through Utah or something, won’t I?”

“We’ll find Croz tomorrow and get him to map it for us.”

She laughed. “Come on, I made it from Newark to Reno on my own, and I only got lost twice. Maybe three times, but that last one was because Luke had to go to some miniatures museum in Oklahoma.”

“Oklahoma?” He raised an eyebrow. “What were you doing driving through there to get to Reno from Jersey?”

“We mapped out a road trip ahead of time. I wanted to make it fun for him, not like he was stuck in the car for a week because…” she trailed off, sighing softly to herself.

“It sounds to me like you did the right thing.”

“That means a lot coming from you.”

His light scoff held a hint of nervousness. “It shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Come on, Lee.”

Her lips twitched a bit. “You were far from my worst, Gale.”

“The way I acted after was horrible.”

“You were scared,” she said. “We all were.”

“That’s not an excuse.”

“I’ve barely even thought about it since then,” she lied.

“That’s funny. It’s always…been on my mind, somehow,” he said, fidgeting with his watch. “Maybe—maybe I made it out to be more than it was.”

“What was it to you?”

“Back then?” He hesitated. “Everything.”

Leona was silent for a few moments, her feline gaze sizing him up. “I would’ve never guessed.”

He only ever lingered, made himself known to her one time. The space had been murky, there was no other way for him to put it. Blindsided by a letter in which Marge expressed the desire to end things despite all of her promises otherwise, Gale spent hours pouring over her previous letters for some indication of her discontent, a tell he had foolishly missed. It wasn’t until Bucky pulled him from his cot, telling him moping wouldn’t do him any good, that he should embrace his singleness, as if he weren’t already head over heels with Holly.

Gale embraced Leona instead. He’d always liked her. Interesting, nice to talk to, but most of all, he wanted her to see him, really see him, and know for certain that deep inside him there was someone worth wanting, maybe even loving, despite everything else.

Her buttery skin shimmered with sweat which lent a salty tinge to her usual gardenias, the foreign name of her perfume whispered softly in his ear when he sat next to her in the grass and mentioned it. Made him feel dizzy, her proximity and his heartbreak mixing into a heady impulsiveness that saw him placing a hand on her knee, and then a bit higher when she smiled at the gesture. Felt that smile against his own lips, fingers digging into her tender thighs in an attempt to steady himself. In that single sweltering afternoon, he fell a little bit in love with Leona Spinelli, and never quite fell out of it.

And it did scare him, how quickly the taste of her cherry-balmed lips and sounds of her moans seared in his memory.

The sleepless night that followed found him scrawling an impassioned letter to Marge imploring her to give them another chance, to not give up on them (not as easily as he seemed to, though he never whispered a word of it to her in shame—perhaps not so much for doing it, but for finding pleasure in another woman so easily). She was worth fighting for, that one last desperate cry for the woman who was his one and only.

An alien sickness filled his gut when he confronted Leona after bringing the letter to be sent back Stateside. It was a mistake, he told her, he should have never taken advantage of her kindness the way he did, so intimately and impulsively. Her gaze cut through him like shards of glass, though her voice was cool when she assured him she understood and they could still be friends.

Miraculously, she didn’t hate him. He was almost certain she would. They didn’t speak much again after that, but just as everyone else had, she embraced him upon his escape from the Germans, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek and a ‘Welcome back, Major’ , his knees almost giving out at the gesture.

“Leona, I should’ve—“

Except she was asleep, lying on the bed like she did on the blanket she’d taken from the women’s barracks back then, during his last summer as a free man for nearly two years.

He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek before lying down on the other side of the bed, a respectable amount of space between them. When he closed his eyes, he fell into a dreamless sleep for the first time in weeks.

The following morning, Leona awoke to a dimly lit room, a top sheet having been thrown over her at some point. Good thing, because her skirt had bunched up, and she awkwardly pulled it down before pushing the covers off. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw Gale standing in front of the nearby mirror.

She realized she hadn’t seen him in anything besides a uniform, as like Bucky, he continued his career in the Air Force following the end of the war instead of returning to civilian life like so many others.

“Do you own any other clothes?” she asked, her voice hoarse and judgment lacking from drowsiness.

He snickered. “Yes, I do, and good morning.”

“Morning,” she said, sitting up. The glass on the nightstand was full again, and she smiled softly at Gale in thanks before taking a sip of water. “What time is it?”

“A little after eight. You fell asleep around midnight.”

“Oh, you could’ve kicked me out.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you, Lee. Besides, there was plenty of room.”

She got up from the bed and made her way over to him, feeling a bit awkward standing beside him in her wrinkled clothes. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Better than I have in a while,” he said, adjusting his tie in the mirror before turning to her. “How about you?”

“I just have a little bit of a crick in my neck is all.”

She tilted her head to the side slightly, trying to relieve the tension that had built up overnight but winced when she pushed it too far.

He placed his hand on the side of her neck, his fingers pressing tenderly against her skin. “Here?”

“Yeah.” She knew he could feel it, her rabbit pulse thumping beneath his touch.

His gaze fell to her parted lips. Each breath she took gently beckoned him closer, to close the distance between them. Either her sighing or his imagination rang in his ears with a whisper-quiet plea—‘kiss me’.

She didn’t leave him any room for doubt or hesitation, kissing him back as soon as his lips met hers. Different from how she remembered, the combination of experience and longing made her a little weak in the knees. It’d been so long since she’d been kissed, and kissed so well, at that. She nearly whined when he pulled away.

“My address is the same,” he said quietly, his nose brushing hers.

Her brows furrowed. “What?”

“From when you sent the card,” he said. “I really wanna see you again, Leona, and I don’t wanna have to wait another year for that to happen.”

She hesitated, letting his words settle in her mind before responding. “Are you sure it’s not too soon?”

“Rather it be too soon than too late. These things…you never know.”

“Oh Gale,” she whispered, caressing his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t—don’t pity me. You weren’t doing that last night,” he said. “It was the first time in a while that I felt like I was having a real conversation with someone besides Bucky.”

“Okay,” she said. “Okay. I have to square some things in Reno first, like telling Luke, most importantly. If you give me your phone number, I’ll call you when I get home and have a better idea of when we can visit.”

He nodded. “Anytime, Lee. I’ll be waiting there for you.”

“Maybe we should make it a surprise, then,” she joked. “Keep you on your toes.”

He smiled, pulling her closer and kissing her again.

She felt almost sorry when she reminded him that she still needed to go down to her own hotel room to shower and change clothes. Ten minutes of gentle coaxing and half a dozen kisses that were supposed to be the last before she slipped out, but not without swollen lips, hopelessly mussed hair, and the ghost of his hands squeezing her hips.

In return, she had his phone number written neatly on the hotel stationary and folded securely between her fingers, and the satisfaction of finally knowing what he sounded like when he moaned without holding back.

#i started this 2 months ago and im still not sure how i feel about it but i knew if it didn't post it now i never would #thank you kara and parm for letting me scream about this in your messages #gale cleven x oc #buck cleven x oc #masters of the air x oc #masters of the air #mota x oc #mota #hbo war x oc #hbo war #buck cleven #gale cleven #mota oc #mota fanfic #masters of the air fanfic #ch: leona

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vanmarkus · 1 year ago

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2023 Writing Round-Up 💫

• 15 fics / 138.6k words posted; out of which 8 fics / 67.8k were buddie

Phew, it's been such a productive year, especially the second half, thank you for everyone who tagged along for the ride!! 🤗

(also I'm doing it in reverse order because... well if you know, you know 😪)

•December•

we’ve got something permanent (i mean in the way we care) [buddie, 7.1k, Explicit]

Buck has baby fever and it’s Eddie’s job to give him what he wants. Kind of.

Keep My Heart Warm In Yours [buddie, 18.5k, Mature]

Christopher decides that he wants to go skiing, Buck makes it happen and the cabin at the foot of the mountains turns out to be quite the romantic backdrop for their little getaway.

Of Love, Hospital Jitters And Christmas Lights [buddie, 6.3k, Teen + Up]

Eddie and Buck end up in the hospital waiting room a few days before Christmas.

You Ring, I Drool [buddie, 8.6k, Explicit]

5+1 times Buck reminds Eddie of a dog // alternatively; the one in which Eddie accidentally conditions Buck to beg for treats

If This Is What The Season Is Bringing [buddie, 2k, Teen + Up]

Buck and Eddie made a promise after Eddie decided to leave the 118 and they finally make good on it this Christmas.

•November•

Out Of Order, Still In Line [buddie, 6.2k, Explicit]

When Buck finally gets to the Clinic, the long awaited release doesn’t seem to come; cue Eddie to the rescue.

'Cause I'm still seeing colours that are red (If I close my chest and let it take me) [steddie, 11.4k, Explicit]

Ever since they came back from the Upside Down, Steve has been struggling on rainy days, but Eddie’s there to provide support and a maybe even a little more than that. - Project #182 of Steddie Bigbang 2023

How It Was Meant To Be [steddie, <1k, Gen]

Steve's casually calling Eddie 'baby' all the time, without even registering what he’s doing.

•October•

I Was Betting On Forever (But Forever Comes And Goes) [buddie, 4k, Teen + Up]

Eddie gets a call from Buck in the middle of the night and it’s about as bad as one would expect.

It gets better, it gets worse [steddie, 52.7k, Explicit]

Steve tried to tell Eddie how he felt, only to get shut down immediately. Now meeting for the first time in a year, they have to figure out how to be around each other.

Coming On Ever So Strong / Coming Off Ever So Soft [buddie, 14.7k, Explicit]

They get drunk, Eddie makes a move and then there is the next morning.

•July•

But where they lay, they cannot stay [radskier, 4.3k, Explicit]

Jaskier comes to Tretogor and meets Radovid for the first time in months, but their reunion is bittersweet given how much everything has changed since they’ve last seen each other.

•May•

Helping hands (are better than praying lips) [steddie, 5.5k, Explicit]

Eddie breaks his arms and Steve is on nurse duty. [cw for watersports]

•February•

Who we are in the dark [steddie, 3.4k, Explicit]

It's their first anniversary and they go to the cinema.

•January•

It might walk like a duck [steddie, 10k, Explicit]

Eddie Munson is a busy man, busy enough to have a planner. Steve misses his friend so he hijacks said planner, learning something unexpected in the process.

Aaand that's all, folks! 💛 Now, here are some tags:

I was tagged by the lovely @wikiangela and @jamespearce9-1-1 thank you~ 💛

(these guys went in so early and I left it for the last minute lmao but just in case you missed their round-ups, you can read them: here and here)

✨tagging (if you've already done it, no worries and still no pressure otherwise either): @malewifediaz @spagheddiediaz @jeeyuns @eddiebabygirldiaz @hippolotamus @daffi-990 @disasterbuckdiaz @nmcggg @thewolvesof1998 @watchyourbuck @theotherbuckley @fortheloveofbuddie @ladydorian05 @rainbow-nerdss

#what a year fam what a year #buddie #911 #writing round-up #writing round-up 2023 #self fic rec

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blue-disco-lights · 1 year ago

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One Year as a Beta!

@gallavich-fic-club said Sprinkle Some Joy on our writers this month, so I thought I'd compile all the incredible stories I've had the chance to help beta over the last year! It's been such a great experience and I've loved meeting and working with all of you!

✨ === ✨ Fics Below! ✨ === ✨

🌟 Miss_SnowWhitePink ~ @look-i-love-u

Puppy Love: People say nothing good happens after two a.m. Mickey's life experiences have told him that this rumour is very much true. At least till now - Enter a cute puppy which turns Mickey's life upside down and changes it for the better...

Sirens: Being an EMT during the holiday season is bad enough without having a TV crew watching his every step, so Ian hates everything about his superior`s new project. Including the members of the crew. At least till he sees the guy manning the huge camera as if it weighs nothing and isn't afraid to speak his mind...

🌟 IanGalagher ~ @ian-galagher

Africa: When Ian lands himself an internship with famous wildlife photographer Mickey Milkovich he can't believe his luck. Spending one month traveling through South Africa with his big hero is a dream come true. The two are off on a wild adventure but there's something mysterious about Mickey who seems to be holding more to his chest than just the tricks of the trade Ian had hoped to learn from him.

🌟 Pink_Ink ~ @palepinkgoat

The Ink is a Witness to This: six chapters about the stories tattoos can hold and hide.

🌟 tooschoolforcool95 ~ @too-schoolforcool

Ghosts of a South Side Christmas: After a fight on Christmas Eve, Mickey and Ian spend some time apart. Mickey gets a little hope and learns to be brave while Ian learns more about his crush.

🌟 sam_writes_fics ~ @sam-loves-seb

you make my dreams come true: post-canon: ian and mickey host their first thanksgiving

🌟 sweetbee78 ~ @sweetbee78

The Reunion: ... The ski resort that the reunion is held at looses power, Ian and Mickey are then sharing close quarters. Ian does tell him what had happened after high school; they agree to start over. Mickey finds out Ian was originally planning on hooking up with someone else...

Not So Secret Santa: Ian and Mickey are co-workers and are each other’s Secret Santa. Mickey is a manager at a financial company while Ian is a temp who was hired to work in the call centre.

🌟 NotAWriterButITry

What If?: What if Mickey was released from prison in season 7 instead of escaped? What if Ian found out because he got a call to the Milkovich house and Mickey turned out to be their patient? What if Ian has to choose between his new life with Trevor, or his old life with Mickey?

🌟 commonthugs ~ @stocious

lava java: He's being really unprofessional. Mickey might not even be gay. He might be hitting on a straight man through takeout cups.

🌟 MaySunshine ~ @honeyvanillin

Apple Tart and Salted Caramel: Stoneridge is a small but very picturesque town on the edge of the state. Surrounded by majestic mountains to the north, icy ocean waters to the west and impenetrable forests to the east, it is safely sheltered from tourists and GPS....

All Roads Lead to Rome: This story is about the breath of life with the berry aftertaste of Passito di Pantelleria wine, about the transience of time with lemon notes of magnolia blossoms, about the thrill of first kisses with the cool sweetness of creamy Gelato.

Lead the Way, Jedi: "Me?" the mechanic exhaled, mostly surprised that the Jedi had chosen to entrust him, a throwback from the filthy depths, with his droid buddy. "I'm sure you, proud droid dad, can handle it just fine. It's no big deal."

🌟 Itsuki59 ~ @shinygalaxyperson

Where is my Jell-O?: A conversation about the past makes our boys horny.

On His knees: Day 11 - “Open your mouth.” Ian definitely wants to try the glory hole. (Gallavich Kinktober 2022) Home at last: Day 29 - punishment X “Suck on my fingers and get them nice and wet for me"Ian wants to spend some quality time with his husband (Gallavich Kinktober 2022)

You are Mine: Usually, I don’t care about humans. I hunt them, bite them, kill them and throw them away in some sordid place. But not him. I don’t know what makes Mickey Milkovich so special.

🌟 roseapothecarys ~ @babygirlmickey

Designs on You: At twenty-four, Ian has just moved out of his family home to live on his own for the first time. Working as a paramedic, he’s finally happy, stable, and moving forward with his life. But first, there’s one last remnant of his past self that he needs to let go of: his accidental porn tattoo of his late mother. It’s nothing but a reminder of all the bad decisions he’s made. At his best friend Mandy’s behest, he makes an appointment with her brother who has just opened a tattoo shop nearby. Upon arriving for his consultation, he meets Mickey: intimidating, foul-mouthed, overall living up to the Milkovich name, yet somehow running a clean, professional, and legal business.

#fanfic writer appreciation post!#i 💗 beta reading #gallavich fan fic #gallavich fic club

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winderlylandchime · 1 year ago

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I feel like I have to keep you updated for these last few days and 70% of that is because I unfortunately made you all aware of my brothers existence and the other 30% is because he bullies me into telling stuff to his new ‘homies’. But also soooo much happened that i immediately thought to myself ‘i know a few people that would like to hear all this’ and my brother shared the same thought. So I apologize in advance for any spam that will happen in the next few days but I will also try my best to put it all into one message.

So first of all: MY BROTHER IS OFFICIALLY CLEARED UP TO GO HOME!! His tests all came back amazing so he is officially going back home on Sunday. Ngl the feeling is bittersweet because who is going to wake up half of the neighborhood with Sandstorm now and get stuck trying to climb a fence and force 50-60 year olds into watching qaf with him? And he’s taking the cat with him as well. Rude.

Anyway! I wish you guys could’ve seen him go into his lasy check up, he brought chocolates for everyone and got them each a card with personalized messages to say thanks for taking care of him. He was all happy and sweet, it was like a kid on Christmas. And then towards the end of the check up, one of the nurses was like ‘hey (his name), we actually wanted to give you a little something, to remember us by and also as a goodbye since you’re going home’ and they gave him a gift and guys, this shit was so freaking cute! They first got him some snacks he loves (he always came to the check ups with snacks and was offering them to all of the staff), but they also got him a penguin plushie (context: when he first came for the surgery, they told him to bring his pajamas from home since he will stay for a few days and he rolled up with two different penguin pajamas cause it’s his favorite animal..again this man is a grown 36 year old) And the plushie has the exact same scar on his chest/stomach as my brother does from his accident. And the surgeon goes ‘i made sure that they were identical, that way you’re no longer one of a kind’ because after the surgery when they showed him how it looked he was all high on meds and went ‘not gonna lie, this looks badass but fuck now i really am one of a kind and all alone.’ So the surgeon sewed the plushie to make it look the same. It was actually adorable as fuck! And my brother was all teary eyed about it. And then!!! the nurse goes ‘there’s one more thing inside and you have to check it now.’ And she explained that the nurse who knew about qaf (from when he ripped his stitches) is also a big part of this last gift. And it was a card and on the front it said ‘you’re cool but we really hope to never see you again’ (its kinda like a thing they say there bc it’s trauma department or whatever). Also sidenote: Did you guys know there’s a greeting/birthday card you can buy online that allows you to record a message and design the cover? So when you open it, it starts saying the message or whatever? Me neither. But apparently the nurses knew about it. So he opens the fucking card and Lover’s spit starts playing and all that is inside is a picture of Britin from the end of 3x14 where everyone is celebrating and they hug (Brian is like hugging Justin but he’s looking over him somewhere). And they go ‘you talked so much about that episode we figured it was fitting.’ And then they explained that the nurse who knew about the show helped them find the photos and everything and even fought them to make sure Lover’s spit is used since originally they wanted to put Cue The Pulse. And that nurse eventually won the “fight” because they remembered that my brother went on a whole speech when he watched 3x08 about the reunion scene. And my brother on the verge of tears goes ‘thank fuck cause this is way fucking cooler. No offense’ And that’s literally all there is in the card (well and all their signatures on the opposite side from the photo).

And then after the check up as we are leaving, the surgeon goes ‘well I think I can honestly say, that i will never ever have a patient like you ever again’ and my brother obviously took that as a compliment and went ‘well duuh, every other patient is boring compared to me’ and guys!!!! We were leaving, my brother is almost out the door, I’m already outside the office and the fucking surgeon goes ‘oh (his name), by the way, you were right. That proposal was ridiculous and the finale really did suck. In fact if it was up to me? I’d erase the entire last season.‘ and he’s like smirking at my brother and my brother (and me too ngl) is SHOCKED! And he starts stuttering and goes ‘you..you knew the show this whole time?’ And the doctor goes ‘don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t even know it existed but after your 3rd spiral over it, I had to check it out to see what the big deal was about it’ and then my brother was like ‘why didnt you say anything? We could’ve been buddies over it this whole time’ and the doctor walked up to the door and goes ‘Exactly’ and then he just slowly closed the door while waving to my brother and my brother was just standing outside the door not moving for so long, i had to drag him away. And he walked past the nurse and goes ‘he watched it!’ And the nurse goes ‘oh yeah, he came in one day and was like “you know that show (his name) is always talking about? Well my wife and i watched it and holy shit’

The whole car ride home, we were both in absolute shock. Him more but that’s because only one of us was giving full speeches and rundowns about episodes to the doctor. And as for the card? You know that scene in Easy A, where she keeps opening and closing the birthday card to hear the song? That’s what half of my Wednesday looked like.

Dear sweet anon and brother anon! I am so happy he’s cleared and discharged. That makes me so happy!

I am beyond surprised that the doctors and nurses all got him presents. Admittedly, any surgeries I’ve had have been done outpatient except for when I was 8 and 13, and with follow up only with my doctor so I don’t know what is common these days. But their presents! Those weren’t generic, we give these to all the patients, gifts. The penguin! With the matching scar! The card with the photo and Lover’s Spit! I’m dying.

And. The. Surgeon. Watched. Qaf. Like all 5 seasons. I am deceased. Ofc he didn’t tell your brother until the end. (Your poor brother has all these people doing things behind his back while he’s watching this show. He’s going to develop trust issues.) But he has all correct opinions.

Wait. As I’m typing this I realized. A trauma surgeon (if I understand correctly) watched prom and 201. He must have opinions about Justin’s injury and recovery. Wait. I have some questions. How comfortable does your brother feel calling up the surgeon and saying “so I’m tumblr famous and this rando girl who is equally obsessed with QAF wants to know what you think the long term effects of the bashing would be on Justin.”

I am just as shocked as both of you about this turn of events. What a way to start my Thursday.

#ask winderlylandchime #dear sweet anon #queer as folk #a straight man watches qaf us 2000 in the year of our lord 2023 #2024 edition

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huckleberrykai · 2 years ago

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Imagine being Soobin’s first love and him being yours :((

Meeting each other in high school though beomgyu, dating the whole senior year 🩵😔🩵😔🩵😔🩵 just being all lovey dovey

But then parting ways due to college; you moving to another country and not keeping in touch–except for beomgyu.

Beomgyu who arranges a meeting after all of you graduate and you move back in and soobin wants to murder him, he’s so embarrassed.

Despite everything, though, he has never stopped loving you and neither have you!

Soobin, who had a few more drinks than he can take it, mumbling if you’re taken and if you have ever thought about him on those past 4 years and Soobin, who texts you next morning apologizing for his behavior but gets so blushy and excited when you tell him you’re willing to give it a try once again <3

warnings: mentions of alcohol

HI ANONNN u r so big-brained for this i love first love soob <33

i feel like he'd be so so shy at first, just rly wanting to be your friend n researching stuff you like just so he had something to talk to u about. i don't think he even Realises he likes you until beomgyu is like.. "yeah it's obvious u like her bro. ur officially the last to know ."

and so he probs convinces you to hang out a bunch during the summer before your senior year and asks u to be his girlfriend in some cute cafe, giving you your latte that he made the barista draw a foam heart on :')

he'd be crushed when you broke up for college, he'd try dating other people but nothing was ever serious,, and beomgyu scolded him for comparing everyone to you. "she's funny, but not as funny as Y/N... her hair isn't as soft as hers either."

he was Sick of soobin pining over his lost love like a lovesick puppy.

so!! if you want something done right do it yourself!!

he sets up a reunion party, all of your friends from highschool or rather just the people that he liked / could bear to talk to for a few hours while you fixed your relationship

soobin was already a little tipsy when you arrived, and the poor guy nearly fell to his damn knees the second he saw you. he was perfectly content just.. watching you all night.

until beomgyu called him a creep and pushed him forwards, bumping directly into your shoulder. "soobin!" your eyes were wide, he thought you were even prettier than you were when you dated.

"you're beautiful."

"huh?"

"nothing."

long story short, you ended up in beomgyu's room somehow with a tall lanky man wrapped around you, begging for forgiveness when he didn't do anything wrong to begin with 😭

he rambles So Much.

"do you have a boyfriend? god i hope not. you're so pretty. please take me back Y/Nie.. i never got over you" :(

eventually, he fell asleep, and you had to leave. you weren't going to just say yes since you'd much rather hear it all from him sober, but you weren't sure when you'd see him again. before you left you unlocked his phone with his sleeping face ID and put your number in, putting his own into yours.

soobin was mortified.

his memory was hazy, but he knew he did something when he saw the text on his phone.

Y/N: sorry i unlocked your phone while you slept, i just wanted to be able to contact you

Y/N: we should talk

Y/N: you still look cute when you're rambling :)

and so he called you. a few tears and confessions were shared from both sides, and he learned that you never stopped thinking about him either. he looked like a kid on Christmas with the grin on his face when you told him you'd like to try again - and within 5 minutes he'd already planned your perfect date <3

and your wedding but you didn't need to know that

absolutely shoves his face in the pillow and flails his limbs about in excitement once you end the phone call, squeals and all >.<

takes you back to the same cafe and gets you a heart latte, just like before, asking for another chance at being your boyfriend <3

and when you officially got back together beomgyu Definitely took credit for it

#berry's anon buddies ⋆˚✿˖°#berry's inbox ‧₊˚✩彡 #txt x reader #txt fluff #txt soft thoughts #soobin x reader #soobin #choi soobin #berry's brain spills ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆

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trashboatprince · 1 year ago

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As is tradition since I think I started this account in 2012, I tend to do a post about all the more interesting things that happened in the year and what I hope happens in the next so...

Yeah.

Here we go.

Met David Tennant and got not only my photo taken with him and his signature, but I also got three hugs from him. He is a very lovely man, and gosh is he pretty in person. <3

Met Rhys Darby in person and made him burst out laughing when I told him I recognized him as the freaking Pistachio King from Milo Murphy's Law. He wasn't expecting that role of all things.

Last day of my trip for the con I discovered a lump on my chest that really hurt and for two and a half months I was stuck in a constant state of anxiety because they thought it was inflammatory breast cancer. Turns out it was just a really bad infection that had very similar symptoms.

Lost our oldest dog in October :(

My mom did get a pug puppy a few months beforehand tho, as she had been wanting a pug for years

Had probably one of the most absolutely obnoxious family reunions this year, but was able to go up into the mountains and had a lovely time in nature. And I got to pick huckleberries, which I've never done before. That was nice.

Went to Colorado and sat the Monsters of Metal tour's last show there, with Mastodon (third time seeing them) and Gojira (first time seeing them)

Had a fucking experience listening to The Chant live at that showing and it was just... impossible to describe. It was beautiful.

Went to the Devil's Tower on the way to Colorado, it was pretty dang cool. Lots of alien shit everywhere, the area really loves to play up on that. Also went to the Denver Zoo and Meow Wolf, both of which were delightful. :D

Went to my little brother's high school graduation, cannot believe he's out of high school.

Experienced season two of Good Omens and am still recovering.

I was there when EVERY happened, in just ten minutes it was known and then quickly NO LONGER SPOKEN ABOUT. That was a fun hour of panic from the fandom. :)

Watched OFMD season 2 and... eh.

Watched all four of the new Doctor Who specials when they dropped and now Fourteen and Fifteen are my favorite Doctors. I love them.

Had probably some of the most stressful months I've ever had with my job because we were down to just three people for a staff that is meant to run a home that is 24/7. I'm still dealing with the stress from it even after we got more people hired. My paychecks were beautiful tho, so much overtime...

Apparently I got a stress fracture on Thanksgiving, happened in my sleep. I should be out of the boot officially next week.

Participated in a David Tennant-themed zine

Absolutely dumb thing to add, but my mom got me a DT cutout who now lives in my room. He's wearing a paper crown from a Christmas cracker because he's a king Plans for the next year:

Going to see Hozier in August

Probably going to go back to Colorado, I want to see the aquarium

Going to ECCC for the third year in a row, going to get Jodie Whitaker's autograph

Hopefully I'll get to see my girlfriend again

Hopefully I'll get to finally see my best friends irl (We need to plan this better, guys!)

See if I can finally get my second tattoo

#john's commentary

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vinbee631 · 2 years ago

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Welcome to the Family

day 3!! thank you guys for all the support on the last two works, it really means a lot! (and keeps me motivated to actually do these lol)

listen this doesn't completely fit the prompt but it's too late not it's already here :)

i used the day four (winter) prompt today, so day 3 will be tomorrow actually!!

enjoy! <3

Roman’s family was absolutely massive. Roman himself had a twin and four other siblings, and that wasn’t even taking into account his parents’ siblings and niblings.

So, family reunions were entirely chaotic.

Roman loved it, the loud, exuberant voices of relatives seeing each other for the first time in a year or two, kids excitedly weaning through his feet and playing little games that could keep anyone entertained, and his Abuela, the head of the house, gathering everyone together like a flock of sheep that moved at the speed of a hurricane.

This year, however, he was a bit more worried about the chaos. Not worried for himself! No, he always knew he was going to have a fantastic time!

This year, he was bringing Logan along.

Logan’s family was tiny, just his mother and grandfather had been available to celebrate holidays, birthdays, and other accomplishments.

Roman thought that sounded incredibly boring, but Logan’s small family made him happy.

Except, after Logan had made it through college and received his degree, he’d decided to come out to his little family, thinking that, after all the time they’d spent, just the three of them, they would be nothing but supportive.

He was very wrong about that.

It had been a year since they had last spoken, and this was about to be Logan’s first Christmas ever, completely alone.

Not if Roman had anything to say about it.

Of course, he gave Logan the option to decline, but after seeing how excited Roman was about the opportunity for his family to meet one of his closest friends, it was almost impossible for him to say no.

Roman knew that if at any point Logan felt uncomfortable or unsure, he could simply leave, and there wouldn’t be any problems. He just… he really wanted things to go fantastically! And he was going to make sure he did everything in his power to make it so.

Logan was only coming for the last day of a week-long event. His entire family would drive, or fly, to his grandmother’s house, some staying there, some scattered in other relatives’ houses or in hotels.

The week leading up to the holiday itself was packed full of family activities, chaotic dinners spread out at a comically long table, and so much love Roman’s heart was full to the brim and it stayed that way for about a month after he left.

He wouldn’t trade these holidays for anything.

When he told Gram, the head of the whole shebang, about his plans to bring a friend, she was ecstatic. It had been a few years since any more grandchildren had come along (although one of Roman’s aunts was expecting). They were due for another new face at the table.

He’d gotten quite a few excited texts when he announced the news to the rest of his family.

(And a few teasing ones asking about a potential boyfriend, but he was used to brushing those off that this point.)

It was a good thing he’d texted them, too, because he’d almost forgotten about the all important gift exchange. He hadn’t been planning on making Logan participate, but once he heard about it, his friend practically refused to not join in.

“It would be a bit awkward if I were the only one there with no gift. Besides, I can’t say I’ve ever participated in one before, other than the normal Christmas presents I gave to my family, so I suppose this will be a fun new experience,” Logan had reasoned.

Once Roman found out it was his first gift exchange? Yeah no, he wasn’t getting out of it.

Soon, but not fast enough, winter break finally arrived. Roman and Logan drove up to Georgia together a week before Christmas. Logan didn’t have to participate in anything other than the celebration the day of, but it gave him a chance to explore the area (and it saved the boys some gas money if they were to travel separately).

Roman really hoped everything was going to work out.

…

Although, in hindsight, maybe he shouldn’t have given Logan the aux cord.

It was not Logan’s first road trip, fortunately. Roman would have been insufferable the whole way if it was. Their friend group had driven down to California one year to visit some of Janus’ family and sightsee.

Logan had sat in the back for that trip, but he had still been goaded into many road trip “traditions,” most of which were only slightly annoying.

He hadn’t gotten the chance to handle the music, but now that he had the chance, he could tell Roman was regretting his choice.

“Does it have to be podcasts?” Roman groaned, only half an hour into their four-hour drive.

“You were the one who put me in control here, and you never said it had to be music. You only instructed that I not ‘pick something cringey,’ and I believe I’ve accomplished that.”

Roman just groaned again, ignoring Logan’s gentle and unnecessary reminder to keep his eyes on the road. “But I’m the one that has to drive us there! If I fall asleep at the wheel from sheer boredom, you are completely to blame!”

“If you think this is boring, I can’t imagine what monstrosities of music you are going to subject me to on the way home.” Logan shook his head, trying to keep the teasing smirk off his face.

“Oh, whatever. I suppose I’ll live. It better not be podcasts the whole time, though. I know you do actually like music. I’ve seen your playlists.”

“Oh, whatever,” Logan mocked, “the music will come when I feel like it.”

“Never let anyone convince you you’re not just as childish as I am,” Roman huffed, reaching over to flick Logan on the arm.

“Keep both your hands on the wheel!” Logan complained, but he was smiling, so Roman considered that a win.

Despite so readily agreeing to come with him, Logan had been genuinely upset about the holiday season. Roman knew just how much his mother and grandfather had meant to him, and they threw their relationship away with him very quickly.

It made him sick to think about it, and he couldn’t even imagine how it made Logan felt.

Now, it served as a reminder that he really needed to make things perfect. Logan was likely already in a bit of a sour mood, and the whole reason he was going was to avoid that. If his family made things worse, Roman would never forgive himself.

“So, is there anything you’re planning on doing other than spending time with me?” Roman questioned, getting antsy in the silence, even with the podcast droning on silently in the background.

“And your family,” Logan tacked on, “but yes, I suppose there are a few things in the area I would enjoy checking out this week. Although, I haven’t thought to put together any sort of itinerary. I figured your family would also have plans I may want to join you for.”

“You know, you don’t have to spend the entire week with my family. I know I invited you to spend time with them, and me, but this is also about you. They can be… well I mean, there are a ton of us. I understand if it’s too overwhelming to throw yourself into at first.”

“Roman, really, I’ll be alright. I’m sure it’s going to be… different than most of my other experiences with family, but I’m prepared for it. You don’t have to worry.”

“Well, I’m going to anyway,” Roman huffed, but the two exchanged a smile, and he was already starting to feel a bit better about this thing.

“Now, keep your eyes on the road!”

…

The rest of the week passed in an incredibly joyful (and incredibly chaotic) haze. Logan and Roman had booked a hotel room about five minutes out from Roman’s grandma, but that really didn’t matter much. They spent basically the whole day, every day, out doing something.

One day it was aquariums, yes, plural! The next, Roman’s uncles were inviting them to wine tastings and restaurants, and whatever else.

Roman had been consistently worried that something was going to overwhelm Logan, but everytime he checked in with him, he was so unashamedly happy.

Roman was more than a little proud his plan was working.

After a crazy long week, and yet far too soon, the very last day came along. Roman spent almost the entire day running around with the kids and keeping them entertained. While he would have enjoyed the company, he was ecstatic to find Logan had stuck behind with his Gram to help with cooking.

And getting to see his face when Logan actually got to eat all the food they made?

Yeah, this was maybe the best Christmas ever.

And then, as soon as dinner was over, a flurry of movement rose from the table as the enitre family, Logan included, huddled into the living room for the gift exchange.

When Logan made his way in, he was pleased to find Roman had saved him a seat. He smiled gratefully, settling down onto one of the couches to see what was going on.

He caught the tail end of a growing argument between the sea of kids. Seriously, Roman had a ton of niblings. How did he keep track of all of them? Logan admired him for it.

Oh, right, screaming kids. That was still going on. They were all crowded around the tree, some holding presents, some simply jumping up and down and waiting for the main event to get started.

“No, no, no! It was your turn last year!”

“But I’ve never gotten a turn! You’re big, you’ve already had two!!”

“You’re not even holding your present! That’s Auntie Gabby’s!”

“What if we let our new guest have the first turn this time?” The children all went silent simultaneously (good going, Gram), one of them rushing over and selecting a gift to place in Logan’s lap. “That one says you!” They exclaimed with a bright smile.

Logan accepted the parcel gratefully, although the stares that accompanied it were not as pleasant. Roman gently squeezed his shoulder in that comforting way of his.

Before he moved to open the thing, he suddenly realized he still had no idea what was going on. Was he even supposed to open this?

One of the older kids, sensing his overwhelming conclusion, took pity on him and caught everyone’s attention so they could explain. Or re-explain, for everyone else.

“So! As everyone here knows, except our special guest-” the kid (Bristol! Logan suddenly remembered) sent a wink in his direction- “for the past couple of years, as the family has gotten bigger and bigger, the yearly gift exchange has gotten… a bit complicated.

“Instead of giving people normal gifts, because of this problem, we decided to have a little… I guess it’s kind of a competition, to see who could get someone the goofiest gift they can find! Ro, I figured you would have told him about this, since we added him to the gift pool and everything!”

Roman shrugged helplessly. “I forgot he wouldn’t know what was going on! I did make him actually buy his present, though, so I hope you picked something good, Logie,” he teased lightly.

“Considering the person Gram picked for me was you, I think I got something perfect,” he shot back, smirking a bit at the betrayed expression Roman shot his grandma.

“Oh, so when I ask to be his gift exchange it’s a no, but him having me is perfectly fine?” Gram laughed, boisterous and loud in a way that reminded Logan so clearly of his friend. “Oh come on, let an old woman have her fun. I was perhaps cutting Logan a bit of a break since this is his first-ever Christmas with the Rey-os Incarnate family. But you’re used to this, you’ll live.”

Roman huffed, folding himself back into his chair. “Fine. I’ll bet my gift’s cooler than yours, though. Also, that was not your best pun.”

“Alright, enough, enough! I wanna see Lo-Lo open his present!” Elliot cut in, the little one practically bouncing in excitement along with his cousins.

“I don’t know why I let you convince them to call me that,” Logan grumbled, but he did comply and opened up his present.

The wrapping paper revealed a flimsy, clothing box, which Logan folded open to find a large, chunky sweater. Like, obnoxiously chunky.

“I didn’t have very much time to make it, so there might be a few loose ends. But, everyone in the family has to have one,” Gram explained with a smile. She made this for him??

Logan stared at the item in his lap, the sweater hiding his legs completely. It was fairly simple, a plain sweater with a large letter “L” on the front.

But it was his. And she’d made it for him.

“I- I was under the impression these were supposed to be comedic gifts.” Logan realized, quite mortifyingly, that the thing had nearly reduced him to tears.

“Oh, trust me, it normally is. Everyone here’s got one, and some of them are quite the creations. But, I suppose it does seem a bit more sentimental to you. I hope I’ll get to make you some even weirder ones in the future, honey.”

Logan, by some miracle, kept his composure enough to keep his cheeks dry through the entire hug Gram gave him. “Welcome to the family, Logan.”

Okay, that wasn’t fair. Now he was crying.

Suddenly, he was enveloped in warmth as the entire family tried to cram themselves together for a massive group hug. They didn’t all fit but the thought, the effort they provided for someone that they hadn’t even met until this morning, touched Logan’s heart completely.

He understood now why Roman had been so worried. He’d wanted everything to go perfectly because he didn’t want Logan to miss out on this, this incredible outpouring of love and acceptance, something he realized he’d never really had in this amount before.

As much as he had teased Roman for his mother-henning earlier, there was no amount of thanks he could provide that would make up for the experience Roman had given him.

He got a pretty comfy sweater out of it, too.

aaaand that's it! can you tell i'm a sucker for logan angst and hurt/comfort lmaoo, i promise i will make one more roman centered too, I just have a hard time writing him and i had very little time to write today <3

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #tumblr fanfic #logan sanders #roman sanders #hurt/comfort #chirstmas #winter holidays #found family #and it's a big ass family lol #loginceweek2023

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bubblekidaesthetics · 2 years ago

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Merry Cozy Christmas to everyone!!!❤️🌟💚

Oh, and a Happy New Year too😊😇😊

So these lil' guys are the Christmasiest I've went yet.

Last year, I've drawn those two as a little Christmas treat, but soon discovered I've fallen in love with Santa's nameless helpers.

And from the get go it was decided they are queer, just cause I wanted to draw boys in cute christmas looks that kinda break outside of the gendered expectations, but then again they are gender ambiguous enough to be read as either

lesbians or gays, which is perfect. They can even be nonbinary, simply put they are my queer little babies whom I love very much. So here they are, queer, together and celebrating their second year anniversary. May there be more anniversaries to come for my joyous lil' Santa Helpers🌈

Again, have happy holidays, and hope to see you again for another Christmas Elf Reunion next year🥰

#drawing practice #christmas #merry holidays #queer romance #queer stuff #queer christmas #be gay do crimes #gingerbread man #Them queers are taking christmas back #Christmas is for all #baby gay #nostalgia #gay art #Gay girlies

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birchkillchronicles · 2 years ago

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Getting to Marigold

Chapter Eleven

Icy-Pink, Mint, Almond Cream

“Oopsie-daisy!” cried Jeanie. “Spot the mom!”

The elderly man had slipped and fallen on an icy patch on the city sidewalk in front of Lindy Styre’s house.

“Are you okay?” Jeanie enquired, offering a friendly hand-up.

“Fine!” snapped the man, ignoring her help to stagger to his feet under his own power. “Now—bug off!” Brushing the ice crystals from his knees, the old grouch limped away.

Jeanie let Mr. Boor go without further comment. The world has gotten less and less courteous over the last few years, she frowned to herself. Thank goodness that Chuckie and Dolores made sure to teach Tara her p’s and q’s…

Turning on her heel to resume her walk down to the convenience store post office with her bag full of Christmas cards, Jeanie skidded sideways just a little bit.

“Watch out for that icy patch, Jeanie,” came Lindy’s voice. “You don’t want to fall like that other guy did.”

“Maybe you should throw some salt on it,” muttered Jeanie.

“Sorry?” said Lindy from her open front door. “What did you say?”

“I said, may-be—” over-enunciated Jeanie, “—you should—”

“Ms. Jeanie!” Warmly wrapped in the icy-pink lamb’s wool coat that Jeanie had purchased on their last shopping expedition to complement the child’s Deep Winter complexion, Tara came running up the sidewalk to where she stood. “I said I was coming with you!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, kidlet,” said Jeanie, completely changing her tone to address the little girl. “I thought you were searching for something upstairs with your daddy.”

“My new winter boots, Ms. Jeanie! Daddy put them in a bag inside my wardrobe, instead of in the mudroom where they belong!”

“That was very silly of your daddy,” readily agreed Jeanie. “It only takes a moment to sort things into their proper spots—”

“That’s what I told him!” nodded Tara. “But he always just laughs or makes a dumb joke.” The seven-year-old sighed at the foibles of her elders. “Boots go on the boot mat, I told him—even if they’re brand new from the store—!”

“Tara?” called Lindy, still hovering in her open door. “Can you take a script from me to your dad?”

“Sure, Ms. Lindy! But first I have to help Ms. Jeanie post her Christmas cards at the store. She always sends hand-signed cards to her West Coast relatives on the first Saturday in December. But I’ll pick up whatever you want on my way home.”

“Thanks, Tara,” called Lindy, disappearing inside her house.

Jeanie and Tara made quick work of their mission and were soon ringing the doorbell at Lindy’s place.

“Hi, guys,” said Lindy, as she opened the door. “I’m having some trouble getting my printer to work. Do you two want to come in and wait for a minute or so? It shouldn’t take much longer.”

“Okay,” replied Tara, readily stepping into the front vestibule and unzipping her coat. Scenting an opportunity—at long last—to buttonhole the playwright about her Reunion skit, Jeanie followed suit. For a moment, the pair stood quietly with their boots dripping onto the scruffy red linoleum floor.

“Lindy? Have we got company?” came a masculine voice from the hall and then Malcolm stuck his head around the vestibule door. Spotting Jeanie, his tone soured. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, coolly.

“It’s me too!” piped up Tara, as she slid from behind her companion into his line of vision.

Malcolm’s face lightened and his voice warmed. “Oh, hi there, Bugsy—”

“Mr. Malcolm.” Tara’s eyes narrowed accusingly.

“I mean, Miss Tara, of course. Please come inside...” And Malcolm gave them a royal wave into Lindy’s home.

Slipping off their boots, Tara and Jeanie hung their coats on hooks and, crossing the hall, seated themselves in the shabby living room where, as far as Jeanie could see—despite her perceptive comments in August—nothing had changed at all.

“Would you like a hot chocolate or a soda pop?” Malcolm asked Tara very pleasantly. Then, losing his smile, “Drink?” he enquired of Jeanie.

“Thanks, Mr. Malcolm,” replied Tara, politely. “I don’t drink soda pop, but I do like mint hot chocolate. Do you have any of that?”

“I’ll check the larder immediately,” said Malcolm, with a serious nod. “But—if we don’t have mint—will regular do?”

“I think so,” said Tara, equally seriously. “As long as you add plenty of whole milk or table cream.”

“I’m on it,” guaranteed Malcolm, heading for the kitchen but, at the doorway, he paused and turned to ask Jeanie, in a slightly kinder voice, “Tea? Coffee? Soda?”

Again, mindful of where the coffee had come from the first time she’d been there, Jeanie requested black tea, with no milk or sugar, “Thanks very much...”

Malcolm nodded and disappeared.

Left alone, Jeanie and Tara settled into an amiable silence that was only broken by the entrance from the dining room of a beautiful silver-grey cat.

“Phyllis…!” called Tara, lightly twiddling her fingers toward the feline.

Phyllis sat down on the rug well out of range of the little girl’s reach and licked a velvet paw. Why should she bother having her fur ruffled by a miniature intruder who clearly admired her a lot?

Tara sighed. “She never lets me pet her unless Ms. Lindy makes her sit on my lap. Why do you suppose that is, Ms. Jeanie?”

“Cats are pretty contrary creatures,” replied Jeanie, but her mind was on something else. “So—have you been here often?” she asked the little girl.

“Pretty often,” said Tara, still trying to get Phyllis to come over to her by wriggling one of the pompom tassels that dangled from the edge of her tunic top. “One time, Daddy brought me to a table reading when he couldn’t get a sitter. And a couple more times when Ms. Lindy was having a party. But I see her and Mr. Malcolm a lot more when Mommy drops me off at the parks or at the playhouse when it’s time to go to Daddy’s place.”

“We did have mint hot chocolate, Miss Tara!” announced Malcolm, triumphantly, as he brought four mugs into the living room on the plastic Hawaiian tray and placed it on the coffee table. “That’s yours, and yours, and mine,” he said handing them around. “Lindy should be here in a minute. She says the paper ran out—scat, Phyllis!” he growled, when—the very second he sat down—the cat sidled over to rub her furry body against his leg.

“She won’t ever come to see me,” lamented Tara and took a cautious sip from her mug. “This is perfect, thank you, Mr. Malcolm,” was the considered verdict once she’d swallowed a mouthful. “Not everyone puts in the correct amount of milk.”

Malcolm smiled. “That’s high praise from you, Tara. Thank you very much.” He drank some coffee and then gave Jeanie a quizzical look. “Did you just happen to be wandering around with Tara or were you—?”

Jeanie took a delicate sip of her tea and smiled as sweetly as she could. “No, no. Tara and I were posting Christmas cards and Lindy invited us in to give Tara a script for Chuckie. That’s all…”

“Posting Christmas cards? I didn’t realize that anyone did that anymore.”

“Oh, I know. E-mail’s easier. But I think it’s important to reach out in a more personal manner. That’s why I’m trying to put together a Family Reunion for next summer—all in the old-fashioned way. I’m sending snail-mail invitations and including postal reply cards and envelopes—"

“Sounds expensive.”

“A little, I guess. But people spend way too much time—and a whole lot of money—on their devices. You know, phones and computers and tablets—”

“Skyping has kept me a lot closer to my daughter and grandson in Calgary than handwritten letters ever could—”

“Okay—I’m not saying that—”

“It’s finally done.” Lindy came in through the hallway carrying a folder of paper which she tossed on the coffee table as she flopped into an ancient armchair. “I guess I could have just e-mailed it to him but then he’d have to print it out anyway so he could use it for rehearsals—”

“But then Chuckie would have paid for the printing, Lindy—”

“Oh, quit being such a Scrooge, Malcolm!” chuckled the playwright. “It’s practically Christmas, and he obviously has other places to stick his cash. Thanks for the tea.” She took a swig from her mug. “So—what were you all talking about?” she asked Malcolm.

“Oh, one of your favourite subjects,” he replied. “Phones and computers versus old-fashioned contacts with folks. You know, sending actual Christmas cards and invitations through the mail...”

Lindy took another sip and shrugged. “Nobody does that anymore.”

“I do,” said Jeanie, while Tara faithfully echoed, “She does…”

“Really? Oh but, of course, you told me that you hate phones—”

“Those and the other devices. Which is why I want to put on an Olde Fashioned Family Reunion with a Roaring Twenties theme—”

“Yeah, you said—”

“—but I can’t send the invitations until I know your schedule.”

“Jeanie,” sighed Lindy, “I already told you that I don’t want to accept your ‘deal.’ I’m comfortable with my house the way it is. So, you might as well set any date you want—”

“I can’t do that until you tell me when—!”

“I haven’t got a clue when—!"

“But there won’t be a Grand Finale to our Reunion Week if you won’t be reasonable about writing the skit—!”

“For the last time, Jeanie, I don’t write skits—!”

“LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!” interrupted Tara. She’d put her hands over her ears to block out the racket.

Both Lindy and Jeanie came to a screeching halt.

“Tara—?” enquired Malcolm, with a worried look.

“I hate it when people argue about stuff I don’t understand,” moaned the child, hands still guarding her ears. “Mommy and Tío Mark are always doing it—and sometimes Mommy and Daddy too! I wish everybody would just stop!”

“Sorry, kidlet,” said Jeanie, contritely. “You didn’t need to hear us bicker.”

“Yes, that was very rude of us, Tara,” added Lindy. “We ought to discuss matters more quietly.”

“Okay,” said the little girl, slowly lowering her hands. “But I really hate it when the people that I like fight with each other.”

“You’re quite right, Tara,” said Malcolm, scooping up Phyllis and handing her over for a petting. “Those are always the most painful words to hear.”

Tara nodded, holding the cat gently but firmly on her lap. “I worry that sometime it will get so bad that they’ll just give up and never talk to each other again. And then where will I be? Maybe all by myself ’cause they can’t agree…” She ducked her head to give Phyllis a kiss between her ears to hide her trembling lips from the grown ups, but it was clear to them all that she was definitely on the brink of tears.

“Well—maybe we can work something out,” mumbled Lindy to Jeanie.

“I’d appreciate that,” replied Jeanie, softly.

“Now, I’m not crazy about the idea of turning A Tale into a skit. But perhaps I could write a short one-acter set in the nineteen-twenties anyway.”

“That would be good.”

“But you’re going to have to pay me a stipend. And I don’t want you messing with my house.”

“Okay,” nodded Jeanie. “I understand.”

Although she didn’t.

In Jeanie’s opinion, Lindy’s house was as dark and cluttered a hole as Bernie’s bedroom. About as liveable as a hollow stump. Which something as simple as applying a coat of almond cream paint to the scruffy wooden trim and a soft brandied-pear colour on the walls would instantly lighten and brighten—but—

Jeanie didn’t have to live there.

And a win was a win.

And Tara, diligently stroking purring Phyllis, had begun to smile.

So, everything was working out fine. She could call it a victory for rationality—and a huge step forward for her plans.

Now Jeanie could finally pick the dates, fill in the blanks and get those invitations into the mail. Swiftly, the RSVPs would start flowing in, and the Olde-Fashioned Dinmont-Todd Family Reunion would be really and truly an upcoming event.

The Event of the Summer.

The Event of a Lifetime!

And, then, every other family reunion would be green with envy.

Because Jeanie was going to make this The Greatest Family Reunion in The World—no!—The Greatest Family Reunion in the History of the Universe!

As Sylvie would have said, ‘Just watch this space…’

#gettingtomarigold #original novel #satire #parenting #summer theatre #theater #family reunion #grief/mourning

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