#getting!!!! impatient :( okay back to grocery planning bye everyone

[aturnoftheearth]

that news article saying lord huron is filming a music video for “who laughs last” (woah new song title??) this week in santa clarita first of all. gonna pass out. but also- actually maybe i should keep my thoughts to myself

[inyournightmares97]

My Youth (Chapter 6)

Broken and miserable, Park Jinyoung returns to his hometown to learn that no matter how hard he falls, there are still people who think he’s a hero.

Warnings: Mentions of suicide/depression, death, angst, slow build, maybe some language.(Please don’t ask when I’ll update. Wait until the series is finished to read if you’re impatient.)

Word Count: 5.7k+

(Can’t put links to the other parts here, please check my Masterlist/the reblog for the Prologue and Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

“-Mom, I’m busy,” Jinyoung muttered into the phone. He had been sitting in a crucial meeting with the Finance Director of GOT Tech and representatives of the Financial Regulatory Board. Receiving approval for his company to go public was one of the most critical and risky steps in Jinyoung’s career.

His mother, however, had been calling him constantly for the last twenty minutes.

Mrs. Park sounded upset. “I’m sorry, Jinyoung, dear. I just needed to reach you-”

“Mom, I’m in an extremely important meeting right now. Do you know how it looks when the Managing Director of GOT Group keeps getting calls from his mother during business meetings? What do you want from me?” Jinyoung demanded in a frustrated whisper, running his fingers through his hair. He tried not to let his agitation show on his face; the other high-profile attendees of the meeting could still see him through the glass wall of the conference room.

“Jinyoung, there’s been a terrible tragedy in town,” his mother began nervously. “I don’t… I don’t know how to tell you this, but i suppose there’s no easy way to talk about a death.  Remember I told you that I’ve been going to the hospital every day to meet-”

Jinyoung felt a burst of irritation. The clock was ticking. The Board members were waiting for him impatiently and he could see the disapproval on their faces. “Mom, did you call me to tell me that someone died?”

“Well… yes, but-”

“Mom, I have been preparing for this presentation for months. The future of my company depends on this meeting. This is absolutely the worst time you could have chosen to tell me something like this,” Jinyoung muttered through gritted teeth. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. “Please don’t mess up my focus right now. We can talk about this later. Do you need anything from me urgently?”

Mrs. Park hesitated. “You always seem to be busy these days. I just thought… if we could maybe help out with the funeral expenses or the hospital bills…”

Jinyoung closed his eyes. “Mom, you can just call my secretary for that. She’ll send you whatever amount you need. Send them flowers from me or something, okay? I have to go now.”

“Take care, Jinyoung, dear-”

“Bye, Mom.”

Jinyoung hung up and sighed, pressing his fingers to his temple. His personal secretary had followed him out of the room and was watching him nervously. He hadn’t even asked his mother who it was that had passed away. Was it somebody he knew? Maybe it was best that he didn’t think about it too much for now.

“Take my Mom’s call and ask her who died, send them money for the funeral and all those formalities,” Jinyoung told his secretary shortly. She nodded and made a note of it on her phone quickly while Jinyoung cleared his mind.

Focus. The presentation. The numbers.  

Jinyoung took a deep, calming breath and plastered a rehearsed smile on his face before he turned to enter the conference room once more.

“I’m so sorry to keep you gentlemen waiting,” Jinyoung greeted all the well-dressed men with a bright smile. “I hope you can forgive me. Mothers seem to have a knack for calling at the most inconvenient times, don’t they?”

The men chuckled politely. “That’s perfectly fine, Mr. Park.”

“May I begin the presentation?”

“Please, do.”

--------

Jinyoung believed that to achieve something great, you needed to make certain sacrifices.

He had always known that the path he was embarking upon was not an easy one. Establishing your own business meant that you didn't get off work at 5 pm sharp, you couldn’t spend your weekends at a countryside cabin or getting drinks with your friends. You needed to keep working until things got done. You needed to compete in the market. You needed to be strong enough to pick up after your losses and clever enough to make friends in the right places. People were depending on you.

Jinyoung hadn’t merely chosen a career, he had chosen a life.

A very lonely life.

Whenever his mother would call him and try to have a casual chat, Jinyoung would find himself irritated. Who cared whether Mrs. Lee from the grocery store was giving a discount on strawberry bread? What did it matter if Mr. Cha had been trying to sell his little farmland? There was important work to be done. Jinyoung needed to talk to the advertising agents to make sure his products were being launched properly, he needed to negotiate discounts with suppliers to ensure he could meet the planned pricing goals. There were employees relying on him. There were investors who had trusted him with their money. There were quarterly goals that had to be met.

Every second of Jinyoung’s time was precious. Why couldn’t everyone understand that? Why couldn’t his mother stop thinking that her tiny little world in this tiny little town was everything, and understand the importance of what her son was doing?

There are a limited number of hours every man has at his disposal. We each make a conscious choice regarding how to spend each one.

It was only now, standing in front of your mother’s grave, that Jinyoung came a terrifying realization.

He had made the wrong choices.

------

“It was heart failure,” Mrs. Park whispered.

Jinyoung’s hands clutched the cup of tea firmly. It was hot and uncomfortable, but not more than the sick feeling in his stomach. Every word his mother spoke made him feel more pathetic.

What had he been doing all those months while your mother was in hospital and when she’d died? Preparing for his company to go public? Sitting in meetings and sucking up to corporate officials? Only to be fired and thrown out of the company. Only to have missed the death of somebody who had trusted him and cared for him.

“But she couldn’t have been that old…” Jinyoung muttered.

Mrs. Park shook her head softly. “She’d always had a weak heart, Jinyoung. Her health was fragile and after her husband passed away she had no choice but to work to support her daughter. All those long hours and late nights for years… they took their toll in the end. She had her first stroke three years ago. She was in hospital for a few weeks and then she had the second one; the one that took her life.”

Jinyoung closed his eyes, remembering your mother in his mind’s eye.

“She always looked tired. And worried.”

“She was.” Mrs. Park reached out and placed a hand over her son’s nervously. “I’m sorry, Jinyoung. I should have told you about it sooner. But you were always so busy in Seoul, always doing important things. It never seemed like the right time to tell you about something so devastating. It’s my fault.”

Jinyoung let out a small scoff. “Don’t take the blame on yourself. That doesn’t help me.”

Mrs. Park looked upset. “Jinyoung-”

She was interrupted by a loud knocking at the front door. Jinyoung closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temple while he listened to his father go to the door and yell at the person on the other side. The reporters had already found his home address. They had started arriving one-by-one since this morning. Each of them desperately wanted an interview with Park Jinyoung, the man who had lost his empire overnight. They wanted to know what he had to say about his dismissal from his own company.

Mr. Park re-entered the living room and sighed. “They’re getting more persistent. I think I should call the local police before they start trying to shove their way into our house.”

Jinyoung nodded and stood up. “I’ll go down to the police station myself and ask them to send someone to deal with this harrassment. Mom, you’ve told everyone we know to deny any reporters who request them for an interview, right?”

“Yes, but is it really a good idea for you to be going outside now-”

“I think I’ll lose my mind if I stay indoors,” Jinyoung muttered. He grabbed the black hoodie that was slung over the back of the sofa and glanced at his parents. They were both looking at him with wide, worried eyes.

Jinyoung felt a sudden wave of guilt wash over him; why should they have to deal with so much because of his mistakes? Why was he always the one taking and yet never giving?

“I’m sorry,” he apologized softly. “I’ll try and be back for dinner.”

------

Jinyoung’s legs carried him naturally towards the elementary school.

Perhaps it was a subconscious urge to see you, even though he had no idea what he would say if you really appeared before him. Anything Jinyoung could have said to help should have been said three years ago. Words like I’m sorry seemed like an insensitive joke at this point; too little and far too late.

Jinyoung sat silently on the bench by the schoolyard with his face covered by his dark hoodie, and wondered how his life had brought him to this point.

Left with nothing with shame.

“Ahjussi!”

By the time Jinyoung looked up, there was already a tiny figure running straight towards him at full speed. He flinched and braced himself for the impact; only to have the small boy stop centimetres away from him and throw his arms around him happily. Jinyoung stiffened.

“What-”

“Ahjussi, you are Park Jinyoung!” Ki-woo cried delightedly. The boy was beaming. Jinyoung noticed for the first time that one of his front teeth was missing, but it was still one of the brightest smiles he had ever seen. “Miss told me yesterday! Why did you lie and say you weren't? I can’t believe the King of the Playground walked me home after school and I didn’t even know!”

Jinyoung couldn’t resist a small smile. The sight of the little boy bouncing on his feet warmed him for a moment and he patted Ki-woo on the head. “If somebody asked Clark Kent if he was Superman, he wouldn’t say yes, now would he?”

Ki-woo’s eyes widened in understanding. “Wow. That’s so true! You’re so cool!”

“You’ll have to keep my secret.”

“Of course I will! Ahjussi, can you tell me how you did it? How did you manage to climb the oak tree?” Ki-woo demanded, grabbing Jinyoung’s arm and tugging on it eagerly. “You have to tell me, you just have to! Were you really tall?”

Jinyoung blinked. “Tall? Not particularly…”

“Then how? How did you do it?”

Jinyoung opened his mouth to respond but he was cut off by a loud yell. He had been so preoccupied with Ki-woo that he hadn’t noticed the much larger man that was making his way across the school yard. Jackson Wang had a huge smile on his face and without greeting, he threw his arms around Jinyoung in a fierce hug.

“Park Jinyoung! Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence!” Jackson cried happily. He pulled back and noticed the blank look on Jinyoung’s face. With a frown, he pointed to himself eagerly. “Remember me? Jackson! Jackson Wang! You used to pass me all the answers in History class!”

Jinyoung swallowed. “Uh…”

“Mr. Wang, you’re friends with Park Jinyoung?” Ki-woo asked, his mouth gaping open.

Jackson blinked and looked down at the boy sheepishly. “Ah, Ki-woo. I didn’t see you down there. Didn’t your teacher tell you to wait inside until someone came to pick you up? Go back indoors now.”

Ki-woo pouted. “But-”

“Nope. Back inside. Now.”

Jackson waited until Ki-woo began to slouch back towards the school building and then turned back to Jinyoung. “Man, you’re pretty much the celebrity around these parts now, eh? We had a couple of reporters come by the school this morning, asking for anyone who used to know you. You have nothing to worry about! I scared them off. These babies aren’t here for nothing,” Jackson beamed and flexed his bare bicep.

Jinyoung didn’t really know how to respond. “Nice.”

Jackson narrowed his eyes. “You do remember me, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course-”

“We should get drinks sometime and catch up now that you’re back in town! Man, I really owe you. You did me a solid one that Christmas before you left, remember? I’ll buy you a couple of beers at the pub. What’s your phone number?” Jackson demanded.

“I don’t really have a phone right now…”

“Don’t have a phone?” Jackson looked confused. “Weird but okay. I guess I can always ask Miss First Grade to get in touch with you. I can’t believe she didn’t tell me you were back in town!” he cried, slapping Jinyoung’s arm playfully. “Hold on… you’re here to see her, aren’t you?”

Jinyoung cleared his throat. “Not exactly…”

Jackson chuckled knowingly. “No worries, man. I’ve got your back. I need to go inside and take care of the kids now, so I’ll tell her to come out and meet you here, yeah? Let me know if any more of those reporters come around. I’ll take handle them for you!”

Jinyoung forced a smile. “Thanks-”

“No problem, man. It’s what friends are for. We’ll catch up soon!”

“Sure.”

Jinyoung watched Jackson half-run back to the school building, letting out a sigh of relief. Each person he came across in this town seemed to remember something about him and the one who possessed the most dangerous knowledge was Jackson Wang. In addition to having been the resident supplier of inappropriate magazines and the one who’d convinced Jinyoung to try his first cigarette behind the park back in high school, Jackson simply knew a little too much about everybody.

Jinyoung sat down on the bench and took a deep breath. He just realized that Jackson had said he would send you out to meet him. Why hadn’t he told him not to? He wasn’t prepared to face you. Idiot.

It was a few minutes before you emerged from the school building and walked towards Jinyoung. There was a pleasant smile on your face as you approached, and it made Jinyoung’s stomach turn. How could you smile at him like that? How could you be so calm about everything?

“Jinyoung,” you greeted him, confused. “Should you be roaming around out here? There are reporters buzzing all around town.”

Jinyoung cleared his throat. “Uh. Yeah, I know. Jackson said he drove them away...”

You rolled your eyes. “That idiot Jackson Wang? He was fully prepared to seize his five minutes of fame by telling them how you used to help him cheat in History class. I had to step in and force him to deny the request for an interview,” you muttered. Jinyoung’s eyes widened and you gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I sent a message to the principal of the middle school and the high school. Nobody’s going to give any interviews about you.”

Jinyoung felt small.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

“Did they find your house?”

“Yeah. They’ve been knocking the door all day. It’s really starting to bother Mom and Dad.”

Your expression was sympathetic. “Should I call the police?”

“Don’t worry. I was going to go down to the station myself and ask them to send someone to get rid of the reporters,” Jinyoung reassured you. He felt his heartbeat thump wildly as he looked at your gently smiling face. Should he say it? Should he talk about the elephant in the room? Even though he hadn’t prepared what to say?

“About… about last night…”

You blinked. “Yeah?”

He sighed. “About your mother. I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I know that’s no excuse, but I should have been there and-”

You cut him off with a forced smile. “Jinyoung. It’s okay. It’s not like you could have done anything for her even if you were here, you’re not a doctor. Everyone did the best they could.”

Jinyoung swallowed. “I might not have been able to help her. But… I should have been there for you.”

The smile dropped from your face. What could you say? Jinyoung’s eyes were filled with shame but it wasn’t the right time for him to be offering condolences. That time had long passed.

But you still remembered his words from last night as he’d hugged you. I don’t feel as alone when I’m here. Jinyoung had been through so much. How could you say anything to such a broken man except for it’s okay? How could you offer him anything but comfort when he had nobody but you?

How could you not be the bigger person when he was suffering?

“It’s fine, Jinyoung,” you promised him softly. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

“How can I not-”

“Seriously. Please. It’s in the past and nobody was to blame. It happened around the time your company was going public, so I can only imagine how chaotic your life and work must have been back then. I don’t resent you.”

Jinyoung looked up at you in disbelief. “How can you not?”

“I just… don’t. It’s fine.”

“Do you really mean that? Do you really mean that?” he demanded.

“I do,” you insisted firmly. You glanced at your watch and sighed. “Wow, it’s getting late. We have a PTA fundraiser at school tonight so I need to start setting up. Oh! Did you bring my bicycle by any chance?” you asked him hopefully.

Jinyoung shook his head. “Uh, no. The reporters were in front of my house so I slipped out through the back…”

“Can you drop it by the school later? I’m going to staying back pretty late because I have to wrap up after the event is over. It might even take till midnight and the buses stop running at 9 so I need a way to get home. It’s not too much trouble, is it?”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll drop it off here later.”

You gave him a small smile as you turned to go back indoors. “Bye, Jinyoung.”

“Bye.”

---------------------------

The PTA fundraiser left you drained of energy.

You would much rather have dealt with a hundred kids at once than with a handful of parents. At least kids could be made to see reason, they could be convinced with a little bit of logic (however flawed). Adults, on the other hand, believed that they knew best and that things had to be done exactly the way they wanted. Adults were unreasonable. Adults liked to throw around their authority.

You had never wanted to get into bed so badly.

You stayed back late to clean up after the fundraiser was over. It wasn’t required of you, but it was something that you somehow ended up volunteering to do. All the other teachers had families to go home to and kids to take care of. You only had an empty apartment.

Asking them to stay back instead of you felt selfish.

You slung your bag over your shoulder and trudged out into the parking lot to see that the bicycle racks were empty. Shit. Had Jinyoung forgotten to leave the bicycle behind for you? Where was he?

You pulled out your cell phone and then sighed. Damn Park Jinyoung. He didn’t even have a stupid phone. It was far past the time that Mr. and Mrs. Park would have gone to bed and you didn't want to wake them by calling them. But your apartment was too far to walk and you would have to pass by the pub; you had no interest in meeting the town’s drunkards alone in those narrow alleys  at midnight.

You sighed and dialled another number.

“Jackson, hey. I’m so sorry, I know you just left a little while ago, but…”

-------------------

It was 1am when you heard a loud banging on your front door.

You had just finished taking a shower and were getting ready to slip into bed when the noise began. Your heartbeat racing, you grabbed hold of a kitchen knife quickly and then slowly approached your door.

“Who’s there?” you yelled out, voice shaking.

The voice that replied was muffled. “Jinyoung!”

Jinyoung? At this time of night?

You opened the door carefully. The first thing that hit you was the awful smell; Jinyoung stank of sweat and cheap beer. His eyes were red and his face flushed as he looked at you almost wildly.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, grabbing your shoulders to look at you properly. His hands were trembling and he seemed unaware of how loud his voice was. “Are you all right? I was looking for you everywhere!”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Wow, you’re drunk.”

Jinyoung’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry- I’m so, so, sorry-”

“How about you come inside before you bring my neighbours running over with all of your noise?” you snapped. You had little patience for drunks, and knowing that Jinyoung had been out getting drunk instead of returning your bicycle did not please you. “Where have you been?”

Jinyoung stared at you helplessly, his arms waving around as he spoke. “I-I was just going to get one drink, I swear. But it led to another and I totally forgot about your bike and I was so scared that you might have walked home because I know that path passes by the pub and it’s not safe-”

“Relax,” you told Jinyoung as you guided him gently towards your couch. “I didn't walk. I called Jackson, he drove me home.”

“Jackson? Wang? Why? Are you guys close?” he asked, plopping down heavily on the couch.

You shrugged. “He’s a good friend.”

Jinyoung paused for a moment and then hung his head quietly.

“We used to be good friends.”

You looked down at Jinyoung properly. He was a wreck. His dark hair was a tangled mess and the light blue dress shirt he was wearing was wrinkled with a beer stain on it. There were even large sweat stains under his arms; he’d probably cycled all the way here in a panic.

And he’s one of the Most Eligible Bachelors under 40. If only the magazine had seen him like this.

“We’re still friends,” you told him lightly. “Although it wouldn’t do any harm to return my bicycle when I ask for it. Do you want a glass of water?”

Jinyoung blinked at you dazedly. “Do you have beer?”

“Absolutely not. Haven’t you had enough?”

His lower lip pouted slightly as he stared down at the floor. “I’ve been drinking all evening but I haven’t reached the point where I feel good or forget about my problems yet. In fact, I keep thinking about them even more. How about a cigarette?”

“You will not smoke in my house,” you told him with a firm glare.

To your surprise, Jinyoung suddenly smiled. It was only a gentle curve of his lips but you spotted it and frowned at him with your arms folded across your chest. “Are you feeling proud of yourself right now? Do you think your behaviour is something to laugh about?” you demanded.

Jinyoung looked up at you softly. “No.”

“Then why are you-”

“Because this is the first time you’ve given me that look since I came back,” Jinyoung admitted quietly. His voice trembled. “This is the first time you got angry at me. You don’t seem to get angry at me anymore.”

You didn’t understand. “Why would you want me to be angry at you-”

“Because you have to be angry with someone before you can forgive them. You have to first admit that they hurt you or that they did something wrong, and only then can you begin to repair your relationship,” Jinyoung whispered. He looked up at you and you could see the tears brimming in his eyes. “So tell me honestly. Have you forgiven me already?”

You swallowed. “I was never mad at you to begin with-”

“You’re lying.”

You clenched your fists as your heartbeat thudded. “I’m not lying. You’re drunk. You should drink some water and you can sleep on the couch-”

Jinyoung looked up at you, his eyes bloodshot yet surprisingly clear. “You are lying. Either you’re lying or you’re not the same girl I remember.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because the girl I knew wouldn’t have pretended to forgive a friend to spare his feelings. She would have grabbed me by the shirt, looked me in the eye, and said Park Jinyoung, you’re an absolute bastard for leaving me here when I was having a hard time. She wouldn’t have spared my feelings. She would have expected me to be there for her because that’s what friends do. They count on each other.”

You closed your eyes. How had Jinyoung seen right through you? Even after 10 years, how could he see through you like you were made of glass?

“I’m not angry,” you tried to tell him slowly, even though you weren’t sure who you were convincing anymore. “Because I never expected you to be there. You were busy and I had no expectations-”

Jinyoung scoffed. “You’re lying again.”

“I’m not-”

“You are. Friendship is when you help someone, because you trust that they would do the same for you. What you’re doing for me isn’t friendship. You don’t trust me anymore. If you have no expectations from me, then that’s charity!” Jinyoung spat out. Tears were brimming in his eyes and his voice was choked. “Is that what I am to you? Charity?”

You clenched your fists and let out a small, humourless laugh. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”

“What?”

“Where the fuck do you get off accusing me of treating you like charity? After what you did?” you snapped.

Jinyoung stared at you blankly. “Tell me.”

Your throat closed up. You didn’t want to talk about it. You didn’t want to drag yourself back to what had been the lowest point of your life, especially not in front of Jinyoung. You didn’t know who he was to you anymore. How could you open up to him?

“I can’t,” you muttered. “I don’t want to talk about it, Jinyoung.”

“Please,” Jinyoung whispered. “Please. At least tell me I was a terrible friend for not being there. Tell me I was a terrible friend for not even knowing about your mother.”

You took a deep breath and sat down, your knees feeling weak. You had never imagined that you would have to sit next to Jinyoung and say these words to him while he was drunk. Yet, as his dark eyes pierced into yours, he looked more sober than ever.

“It was my fault she died,” you whispered, shakily. “I know how hard my Mom worked to raise me. I know how much she struggled after my Dad passed away. The doctor told me her heart attack was probably caused by stress- years of it. She was growing old but she’d never even gone for a health check-up because we couldn’t afford it.”

Jinyoung stared at you silently.

“I needed someone to say this to back then,” you admitted quietly. “I needed someone who would listen to me and who wouldn’t try to convince me that it wasn’t my fault or that I didn't do anything wrong. That’s what everyone kept doing. They kept trying to comfort me but I just wanted someone who would listen. I wanted you,” you mumbled.

Jinyoung only nodded. His hands reached out to take both of yours. He grasped them tightly.

“I knew you were busy, but I always had this hope that maybe you would come to the funeral,” you whispered. “I thought… surely, whatever I did to make you cut me off, it wasn’t so bad that you wouldn't even turn up to my mother’s funeral. But the truth was that I couldn’t grieve properly because the hospital was hounding me about the bills, I…”

You took a deep breath. You hated thinking about those moments. You had felt so helpless and alone, backed into a corner. “I don’t think it even sank in that my mother was dead until a few days later,” you mumbled. “ I spent the first day wondering how the hell I was going to pay the hospital bills instead of thinking about her. Your mother tried comforting me, she told me it would all be fine and that she would call you for help.”

Jinyoung closed his eyes; tears were clinging to his eyelashes.

“She did,” he mumbled.

You felt the walls around you come crashing down as you looked at the broken man in front of you. You remembered how badly you’d wanted to see him then, how much you’d craved his comfort. You remembered how furious you had been when you realized that Jinyoung had abandoned you.

“I thought you would call,” you mumbled. “I didn’t want to disturb you but at the same time I trusted that you wouldn’t leave me alone at a time like that.”

Jinyoung’s voice was soft. “I’m sorry.”

“It would have been better if you hadn't done anything at all,” you mumbled. “Maybe then I could have forgotten about it in the mess that I was going through. But you didn’t. I got a call from your secretary the night before the funeral.”

Jinyoung lowered his head. His hands were trembling even as they held yours and you could hear his soft sniffle. “Shit,” he muttered, his voice thick with tears. “Shit, I can’t believe-”

“I thought you’d finally called. But it wasn’t you. I had to hear some strange woman tell me over the phone that Park Jinyoung is sorry he can’t make it to the funeral but he sends his condolences,” you choked out. You smiled humorlessly. “As if I was some distance acquaintance you barely knew. You sent me your condolences through your secretary.”

“I didn’t- I didn’t know it was you…”

“And then she told me that if I would just email her a copy of the hospital and funeral bills then all the expenses would be taken care of,” you mumbled. “She said that she could send me as much as I needed, no limit. I was so embarrassed. I wanted-I wanted to tell her that you could go fuck yourself and that I didn’t want your condolences and your money. I wanted to refuse so badly, but…”

You hung your head in shame. “But I couldn’t,” you whispered. “I couldn’t say that to her because it was true. I had no other way of paying those bills. So I sent her the details and I let you pay for them. Whether you know it or not, you paid for all my mother’s hospital bills and funeral while I sat here and wondered how I had become such a worthless daughter.”

Jinyoung’s hands clasped yours so tightly that it hurt. His shoulders were shaking and you could see the sobs racking his chest. “I didn’t mean to-” he sobbed. Jinyoung’s tears landed on your clasped hands. “I didn’t mean to, I swear…”

You slowly removed your hands from his. “I have the accounts,” you muttered. “I’ve been saving up to pay you back. It might take me a few more years but-”

Jinyoung flinched. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s not open to discussion, Jinyoung.”

“Don’t say you’ll pay me back, please-”

“I will pay you back,” you said firmly. You took a deep breath. “You know why? Because I might be able to forgive you for not being there when I needed you. But I will never, never forget how cheap I felt the moment I ended that phone call. So don’t talk to me about charity; I know how it feels to be on the other end of it.”

Jinyoung closed his eyes. He felt light-headed and blank as he thought about everything you’d said. No wonder you didn’t consider him a friend. No wonder you couldn't bring yourself to be honest with him. No wonder there was something fake and forced about your every smile.

Jinyoung hadn’t just messed up.

He had destroyed something precious to him without even realizing it.

“It’s late,” you mumbled after a brief silence. “You should go to sleep. Here, just; make yourself comfortable on the couch and I’ll get you a blanket and some pillows.”

Jinyoung swallowed. “I-I can’t…”

“You’re not going anywhere at this time of night while you’re drunk,” you told him. You pushed him lightly so that he leaned back against the sofa. “Stay put. I’ll be back. I think we’ve talked enough for tonight.”

“Can you just promise me one thing?” Jinyoung asked quietly.

“What’s that?”

“Even if you don’t consider me your friend anymore, even if you’re just being nice to me because you’re that kind of a caring person… don’t give up on me completely.” Jinyoung looked up at you desperately. “Please. Tell me that I can fix things. Tell me I haven’t broken our friendship and my life beyond repair.”

You looked down at him. Lying on your couch in his crumpled dress shirt and the beer stains, Jinyoung looked pathetic. Perhaps it was because you’d finally let out all the resentment you’d been bottling up for so long. Perhaps it was because, looking into Jinyoung’s eyes now, you could see that he did care. But you suddenly didn’t feel so hollow anymore.

You didn’t feel so lonely in your pain.

“Everything can be fixed, Jinyoung,” you told him softly.

“Even us?” he mumbled.

You nodded. “Even us.”

“Even me?”

“Especially you.”

Jinyoung slowly closed his eyes and you went into the other room to get him a spare pillow and a blanket. He let you place the pillow under his head and snuggled into the soft blanket. You turned to switch off the light when you heard him mumble.

“You know something?”

“What, Jinyoung?”

“I thought that the most unbearable thing about being fired from the company was all the effort I’d put into it. I thought I couldn’t bear it because I’d done so much for it for the years,” he said slowly.

You blinked at his curled up figure under the blanket.

“But it’s not?” you asked.

Jinyoung shook his head. “It’s not how much I’ve done for the company that I can’t bear. It’s how much I sacrificed for it.”

-------------------

[t-h-e-seance-tua]

In My Time of Dying

Luther is about to announce his findings about something important. The only question is though: Where are you?

“Klaus, I already promised I would bring them over when I come over tomorrow,” You sighed into the phone. It was a Tuesday night and you had just gotten home from picking up stuff from the shops for dinner. Klaus insisted on calling you for the third time that day to remind you about tomorrow.

“I know, but I just wanted to make sure you remembered. I haven't seen them in years!” Klaus exclaimed, getting excited. When your father passed away, you found a box of your old toys in the attic. You brought it back to your apartment and didn’t look at it until recently, which was when you discovered it also had some of Klaus’s toys in there.

“I know, but I really do promise that I will bring it. I even have your toys sitting right near my keys so I don’t forget,” You answered, picking up one of the Barbie dolls that Klaus had claimed from your collection.

“Thank you so much!! So what are your plans for tonight?” Klaus questioned.

“Not a lot, probably just dinner and then watch something on Netflix,” You explain, still unpacking the groceries. Suddenly, you heard a scraping noise. You quickly turn around but see nothing.

“Y/n? Are you still there?” Klaus questioned over the phone. You turned back around to your groceries and shrugged it off.

“Yeah, sorry. I thought I heard something,” You replied.

“That's okay, I have to go anyway so I’ll see you tomorrow?” Klaus questioned, once again making sure you were coming.

“Yes Klaus, I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” You laughed.

“Alright bye,” Klaus called out before hanging up.

You chuckled to yourself and finished the rest of the groceries. That was until you heard the same noise again right behind you.

You spun around quickly to come face to face with two masked men, one holding a gun.“Hi, darling.”

***

It was the next day and everyone was sitting around in the living room. Luther had tried to call everyone together to tell them something he had found out. The only person that wasn’t there yet was you. Klaus had told the others that you were coming over anyway, but didn’t mention the toys as he was too embarrassed. Everyone was beginning to become impatient though as they waited.

“I just rang her home phone and she didn’t answer so she must be on her way here,” Allison announced as she walked back into the living room.

“I’m just going to start, we’ve wasted enough time,” Luther sighed.

“Ah, no you’re not. Family meetings mean that everyone has to be here,” Diego called out.

“We don’t have time,” Luther stated firmly. Making everyone go quiet again. “Now, fi-”

“Aw, there she is!” Klaus exclaimed once again cutting you off as he watched you walk in. He kept watching as you gave him a sad smile. “What’s going on, y/n?” Klaus questioned.

“What are you going on about, Klaus? No one’s there,” Luther questioned, frustrated that

Klaus looked at you again, confused why he could see you but no one else when it suddenly dawned on him.

Slowly, a patch of blood started to form on your shirt where a bullet had ripped through your chest.

“No,” Klaus choked out.

“What's going on?” Allison questioned

“Y/n’s dead.”

[qvestchen]

Lockscreen // Yuwin NCT : Chapter Two

Summary: There’s a thin line between reality and playacting, and Dong Sicheng tripped hard over it when he fell head over heels in love with Nakamoto Yuta.

Author: qvestchen

Status: Ongoing

Chapters: Home, Previous, Next.

Lockscreen // Yuwin NCT

Chapter 2 : It was a rhetorical question

Winwin walked downstairs to the breakfast table, hair still slightly damp from the shower. He was humming a tune merrily despite having woken up early. It felt that it was going to be a good day. His room that he shared with Yuta and Taeil had been surprisingly quiet and empty. He wondered where they were. Probably working out somewhere. He shook his head, smiling. They had great will power to do this early in the morning.

It was too early for breakfast to be ready so he would have to do with cornflakes, he guessed. Maybe call Kun for a sandwich. He was in the mood for a sandwich. A nice double decker sandwich with a tall glass of litchi juice.

"Oh, Winwin, good morning."

"Winwin, did you have a good sleep?"

Winwin stopped short.

Standing dangerously close to each other but still somehow managing to ignore each other's presence stood Yuta and Taeil. Both of them had dazzling, expectant smiles.

"Uh, good morning? Why are you-"

"I prepared some breakfast for you."

"I prepared some breakfast for you."

They looked at each other with slightly strained smiles. Winwin saw that both of them had laid out sandwiches and glasses of juice for him. He wanted to feel grateful but instead he could already feel a headache climbing to his temples. He had an idea of what was coming next already.

Yuta raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you did too? It's alright. Winwin can have yours then."

Taeil frowned. "No, no, it's fine. Winwin-ah can have yours."

"Taeil hyung, I really don't mind."

"But I mind if your hard work goes to waste."

Yuta swept his hair back, jaw set tight. "It's a big day for Winwin."

Taeil nodded. "I agree. We shouldn't argue over such a trivial thing. Not that we're arguing." He cast a quick look at Winwin.

"Exactly my thoughts. So, you'll agree if we just spare Winwin the ordeal of this. He can have yours."

Winwin sighed and opened his mouth but they were already arguing. He watched as they stood next to each other, getting redder by the minute, being extremely polite in their arguments but still very much arguing.

"I told you I'm making breakfast for him."

"But I was in the kitchen first."

"I woke up first."

"That litchi juice is going to give him a sore throat anyway."

"Your double decker sandwich is going to cause him indigestion."

That was it. He had to intervene before they woke up everyone in the dorm. "Oh my god, can you two stop?"

Yuta and Taeil stopped immediately, both of them blinking, suddenly aware of the situation.

"Can we just not argue like this all the time?" Winwin said. "I keep telling you guys that I don't want this-this idiocy. It's really not funny. I wish you both would just let this charade die already." He couldn't understand why he was getting worked up. But he was. He felt like shouting but was grateful that his voice was low. "You're taking this whole ship joke far too long. So just don't."

Yuta looked like he had been slapped. He drew in a quick breath. "I'm sorry, Winwin-ah." He swallowed and walked out of the room. They could hear his footsteps on the staircase as he walked up to their room.

"Winwin," Taeil said, walking towards him. "We didn't-we don't...seriously, it's not like you think." He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know, okay? It's not like anyone thinks and that irritates me even more." There was a harshness in his tone that shocked Taeil who drew back quickly.

"I remembered I had to get some groceries," he said suddenly. "Good luck for today. See you later."

Winwin stared after him long after he had left the house, the door closing slowly behind his retreating form.

"Might as well eat the breakfast," came a voice from the living room.

He nearly jumped out of his skin. “D-Doyoung? You scared me.”

Doyoung put down his phone and got up from the couch. He looked at the spread on the table and nodded appreciatively. “There’s enough for two. Let’s have breakfast. We can talk while we eat.”

Winwin gave him a look. “Uh, we’re not talking because there’s nothing to talk about.” He wanted to ask how he had been there, what all he had heard and what did he make of it but he just couldn’t. Glancing at Doyoung’s calm but determined face he had no choice but to sit down and pick up a sandwich.

Doyoung watched Winwin reposition the sandwiches and juice so that he had a combination of double decker sandwiches and litchi juice. “I didn’t know Taeil hyung and Yuta hyung would actually get up and cook for you. I’m even more surprised this is edible.”

“Both of them are good cooks. They just never want to cook,” Winwin said, gulping down the food. “Why are you up so early? Were you planning on making breakfast for me too?”

Doyoung snorted. He pointed to a paper bag on the counter. “I thought you could deliver something for me since you are going to meet the WayV members today.”

“Oh what is it? Is this a celebratory gift because the last WayV teaser is releasing today? This is so sweet. Thank you,” Winwin said, grinning.

“It’s not for you. It’s for Ku—” Doyoung paused as the doorbell rang.

They stared at each other.

“You go open it,” Doyoung said quickly.

“I’m eating.”

Doyoung hurriedly popped some food into his mouth. “I’m eating too. Besides it’s probably your delivery.”

“You’re the hyung.”

“That’s why you should listen to me.”

Winwin pouted. “It’s a big day for me. Open the door as a gift.”

“I’ll give you an actual gift later.”

The bell rang again.

“Everyone is going to wake up but I suppose it’s just Kun ge come to get me. He can wait outside while I eat, I guess,” Winwin said, very innocently.

Doyoung was already on the way to open the front door. “Kun, hi.”

“Hey, Doyoung. You’re up early.” Kun smiled warmly. “Is Winwin up?”

Doyoung smiled back at Kun who walked in. “Yeah. Yeah, he’s up.”

Kun was wearing a simple sweater over jeans, immaculate and in control. Even his expressions were careful. Nothing to betray that he was as excited as Winwin for their upcoming debut. But then, Doyoung remembered that Kun was also nursing a heartbreak under the calm, easy-going smile. That was the thing about Kun. You never knew what he was thinking and Doyoung wanted to know everything.

“Kun ge, morning! I’m nearly done. Want to have some breakfast? Oh right, take that paper bag on the counter before I forget. Doyoung hyung got it for—”

Doyoung’s eyes widened as he heard Winwin. In record time, he reached the paper bag and quickly handed it to Kun. “It’s for Ten. It’s for Ten.”

“Okay.” Kun nodded, smiling at what seemed like a very excited Doyoung. “I’ll make sure that it reaches him.”

“They’re donuts. You can have some too. They’re really good. Uh, if you like them, you could have the whole thing. I’ll buy some for Ten later. Just keep the whole thing. Or don’t. Share it with the kids.”

“Okay, I’m done,” Winwin said, getting up. “We’ll have that talk later or preferably never. Bye. We’re going now.” He dragged Kun out before Doyoung could say anything about their pending ‘talk’.

As the door shut, Doyoung let out a groan. “Ugh, what was I even saying? I’m so stupid. Should have just kept my mouth shut.”

When Taeil left, citing groceries as an excuse, he hadn’t really meant to go to the cornerstore but that’s where his feet took him. It was just his thing. He liked the place even though the woman behind the counter—known to him only as ahjumma—was really impatient and often threatened to throw him out for loitering in the aisles.

It was quiet, mildly air-conditioned and there was no concept of time there. He could spend hours just glancing over the snacks in the aisles or sitting at the glass windows with a steaming cup of ramen; time would slow down.

He braced himself for the retort the ahjumma would send his way for coming here in his pajamas. However, there was none. Soon, he was walking across the store, seemingly looking at the items but actually replaying the breakfast scene. Sure, Yuta and him often bickered over little things related to Winwin but surely it was all harmless. He didn’t mind and he knew Yuta didn’t too. Winwin himself had laughed about it several times, directing some quip Taeil’s way too. He liked sharing jokes with Winwin, he liked seeing him smile and he wanted to impress him so bad.

Lately, Winwin had begun to distance himself from him, though. He hadn’t said anything. Just a careful sidestepping here and there. Just enough for Taeil to know that he wasn’t taken seriously by the other boy. He didn’t want to feel the hurt that came with such a realisation. He wish he didn’t have to feel any of it.

He found himself sitting at the store’s windows, absent-mindedly stirring a cup of ramen and for the first time in years, he felt lonely. He hadn’t even finished taking his second bite when he choked over his food, coughing and spluttering, face reddening.

“Mr. Customer, have some water,” the employee behind the counter said urgently, bringing him a paper cup. He patted his back as Taeil downed the glass and took a deep breath. “You should pay attention to your food.”

“Thank you…” Taeil looked for a nametag on this new employee. “Azhar?”

Azhar corrected his pronunciation slightly. “Are you okay now?”

Taeil nodded, looking around. “Where’s the ahjumma?”

“Oh Mrs. Kim? She left. I’m her replacement. Nice to meet you.”

Taeil looked even more miserable. He had been coming here since over a year and ahjumma—Mrs. Kim—hadn’t even said goodbye. He thought they had some sort of acquaintance even though it was mostly her snapping, “Young boy, I’m warning you if you steal anything, I’m calling the police.”

He got up. “Thank you for your help. I’ll leave.”

The employee nodded. “Just wear this when you go out?”

Taeil frowned at the face mask he was being offered.

“You’re kind of recognizable and you might get ambushed if you go around like that.”

Great, so the new employee knew who he was. He couldn’t even mope around in his favourite store anymore. Nevertheless, he took the mask before he left.

Yuta had been staring at his phone screen for far too long. He hadn’t realized it but the video that he had put on had changed more than a couple of times. His mind was elsewhere, regretting everything. He rubbed his eyes, feeling so upset with himself. Why couldn’t he forget it, him, everything?

At first, it hadn’t been like this. Things had been easy between Winwin and himself. It had been a surprisingly easy friendship to acquire, something that helped them both. They were both foreigners. Yuta just had more experience and he had promised himself to look out for the younger one so that he wouldn’t have to go through the painful homesickness that Yuta felt even now.

Things change. Or rather sometimes, they stagnate. Winwin and himself were still where they had been. Easy friendship where he looked out for Winwin and Winwin looked out for him. Always the little things. The larger picture was turning out different for both of them, Yuta realized.

What had happened in the morning was just one of the many, seemingly meaningless, heat-of-the-moment kind of things that had happened recently but all these little things were adding up to a pattern.. Slowly, Winwin was drifting away and Yuta had thought he would be able to handle it. He had been wrong.

“Yuta?”

Yuta looked up from his phone at the person peeking into his room. He felt disoriented suddenly, some random video playing on his phone as he bowed his head quickly so that his hair would cover his eyes.

It was Johnny. “May I come in?”

“No,” Yuta replied, turning back to the phone screen.

Johnny entered the room nevertheless, finally sitting at the foot of his bed. “It was a rhetorical question.”

Yuta pretended that he couldn’t hear anything over his earphones. To be honest, he really wanted to lie holed up in his room forever. He wished there had been some schedule today. Anything to take his mind off the argument he had had with Winwin. It wasn’t often that Winwin was outright in his words but this morning he had not only been disappointed at them but also angry.

“I heard from Taeyong who heard from Doyoung that Winwin went off at Taeil and you this morning,” Johnny began. When Yuta didn’t reply he went on softly, “Did you really throw a pillow at Taeyong and tell him to fuck off?”

“I might have,” Yuta said, reddening.

“He is so upset right now. I thought something horrible happened when he came to me just now, babbling about how much Yuta hates him.”

Yuta put down his phone. “I shouldn’t have done that.” He groaned. “I kept on telling him to leave me alone. Seriously, there is nothing wrong. I just want some me-time to spend on Youtube. Can’t I have that?”

“Of course, you can, but if you’re facing something that is hurting you, you needn’t do it alone and in silence,” Johnny said. “Just let us help you and if we can’t then you can throw all the pillows at us and we’ll leave it at that.”

“You and Taeyong can’t relate, Johnny,” Yuta sighed. “It’s different for you guys. You aren’t…” He blinked back and trailed off, looking miserable. “Where is Taeil hyung?” he asked.

“Jungwoo went to get him from the corner store.”

“Good, I was getting worried for him.”

“Jungwoo said he asked about you too.”

“We understand each other, I guess. I mean, we bicker but we understand what both of us are going through.” Yuta closed his eyes and laid back. “I can’t believe I thought getting up to make breakfast for Winwin was a great plan. It’s probably lying in the trash right now.”

“Yuta.” Johnny looked at him, sadly.

He got up. “Fine, I need your help. Help me apologize to Taeyong.”

“You’re very bad at changing the subject.”

Yuta smiled. “I’m going to do what I can right now. Apologizing to Taeyong is what I can do. Sorting my shit? Maybe later.”

hello, everyone! hope you enjoyed the chapter. the story is only just beginning and some parts may not make total sense right now but we promise things will get clearer as the story moves forward. until then please let us know what you thought of this chapter, winwin, yuta and taeil and of course, our superior side-story characters doyoung and kun ;)

thank you so much for the great response to the first chapter! you all are so supportive, we really appreciate it.

love, positive vibes and litchi juice~~

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

The next pair of days were mostly uneventful now that Anna and Elsa were no longer bending over backwards for the other girls. Most of Monday was just spent having fun with their kids, playing games rather than doing any set activities. After running around all day, both girls had collapsed in their room and simply cuddled until they fell asleep; too exhausted to do much else.

It was Tuesday evening now and Anna was gazing up at the sunset from her perch near the top of a sturdy pine tree. Her phone was gripped in her hand, the familiar number staring up at her as her finger hovered over the call button. She was torn. Anna had never kept a secret from her father before. She had always been as straightforward and honest with him as he was with her. So the internal conflict between telling him about just how… close she and Elsa were now or not was a heavy lead weight in her heart.

In the end, Anna decided that the conversation was best left for when she was face to face with him. It would only be a few more days until the end of camp, anyway. Instead, she pressed the button and lifted the phone to her ear for the first time since first telling him about Elsa; waiting patiently for him to pick up.

"Hey there, Anna Banana!" came his cheery voice a few seconds later.

"Hi, Papa," Anna greeted back, smiling to herself. Over the last few weeks, she hadn't taken the time to realize how much she missed him. "Did I call at a bad time?"

"No, not at all; just gettin' in the door." There was a grunt, as if he set down something heavy; probably a sack of groceries. "You've been pretty quiet up there. I wondered if I'd even be getting another text before Saturday."

"Sorry, Papa, a lot's been happening since we last talked. What's been up with you the last few weeks? How's Kris?"

"Oh, fine, fine. See him cutting the grass sometimes. Good lad, fine lad. So… do I take it from 'a lot's been happening' that things are going okay with you and Elsie?"

Anna chuckled at her father's obvious impatience. "Everything's been going-" Wonderful? Fantastic? Better than I could've dreamed in all my life? "-Amazing," she finally settled on. She couldn't stop the happy sigh that passed her lips at the word. "She's so amazing, Papa."

"Really?" The surprise was pretty obvious in his tone. "Wow, that's a… big turnaround. She warmed up to you, eh? That's great, honey!"

"Yeah…" Anna smiled a little before she frowned. "It was a bit tough at first. Mama had convinced her that we deserted them and I found out why, Papa. It's because I told Mama I'm gay and… she disowned me as her daughter…"

A long sigh came from the other end of the phone. "Yeah, I was kind of afraid of that. Honestly, I just… hoped she was bigger than this, but who was I kidding? We split for some pretty good reasons."

"She didn't want my 'filth' to rub off on Elsa," Anna mumbled, frowning out at the horizon. "So she cut us out completely. But Elsa knows now and she accepts me — everything about me. It's… it feels so nice to be with her again, but I'm a little scared, Papa… what if Mama finds a way to keep us apart again?

"Now come on, my little daffodil. She's not gonna do that. Or more like… she only can if the two of you let her. Geeze, I'd love to be having this conversation with both of you!" A quick grunt, probably because he was picking something up or putting it down. "I know this isn't a great situation. But you have to know how happy it makes me to hear that you two patched things up!"

Anna leaned back against the trunk. "I'm really happy, too, Papa. Thank you for pushing me into doing this." She bit her lip slightly, thinking. "Hey… Would you help me fill out some things when I get back? I… I think I want to try getting into the same school as Elsa this year!"

At that, he had to laugh a little. "Wow, didn't realise you'd get along as well as all that!"

"I just… don't want to be apart from her anymore," Anna confessed. "I missed her so much, and the thought of separating from her once camp is over is painful. So I thought that if I could get into the same university as her…" She smiled wistfully. "I love her too much to just let the end of camp be 'it', y'know?" She hoped he wouldn't catch the deeper meaning behind her words.

"Anna…" Another little sigh. "Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry all this had to happen. I've known for a while that you were heartbroken about the family breaking up. But do you really think you need to make life decisions based on where your sister's going? I mean… she's going to be leaving that uni before you do. And either way, I'm sure you can stay in touch."

"B-But Papa…" Anna bit her lip, wondering if it was wise to argue her point over the phone rather than in person. But the feistypants in her reared its head as she said, "I don't want to just 'stay in touch' and only talk to her every once in awhile. I really want to be with her, Papa!"

The man didn't seem that moved. At least, not to change his standpoint; his voice was clearly full of emotion. "Alright, alright, but I think we should discuss it more when you get back. Maybe we can at least plan a trip to check out her school and then figure it out from there. But… I don't want you to think I'm not happy. I really am glad you two are hitting it off again!"

"Okay. Okay, that sounds good." Anna calmed down at that; he was open to the idea. Hope was not lost. "I'm really happy, too… and-" Here she smiled tenderly at the phone, planning her next words carefully. She knew how much he needed to hear these words despite not outright confessing it. As much as her father tried to play it off as no big deal, Anna knew just how badly he missed Elsa. How sometimes he would look at a picture of her and try to hold back tears because of it. "Your snow princess really misses you, too, Papa… she really wants to see you again."

"She said that?" There was a pause, and when he spoke again his voice was clearly tighter. "I'm glad you two could talk. I, um, I think I need to go for now, but I'll be seeing you soon, okay, buttercup?"

"Okay, Papa." Anna smiled to herself. Her father really was a sentimental man, even if he tried to keep her from knowing that. "I love you. See you on Saturday."

"Will do. Love you lots, alright? And tell Elsa the same!"

"Yes, Papa," Anna chuckled, "I'll let her know, and I'm pretty sure she'll say she loves you, too. Bye!"

She hung up the phone before her father could respond, taking a few seconds to continue admiring the view from her perch. She wondered if Elsa's conversation was going as smoothly. As doubtful as it was, Anna couldn't stop feeling at least a little optimistic that, while not smooth, her mother was at least a little more understanding than they had been dreading.

It didn't take long for Anna to touch back to Earth and go searching for her girlfriend. And she found her, sitting in their room and staring at the wall, a little dazed. Her phone was still in her hands, screen off by now. Anna frowned in concern and slowly moved to sit beside her.

"Elsa?" She reached up to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"That… could have gone better, but… oh well." Sighing, she finally seemed to surface from her reverie and cast a wan smile at her sister. "She's very, very upset with Papa. Probably going to call him right now, if she didn't already interrupt your call."

"He did seem in a bit of a rush to hang up but I thought it was because he was embarrassed," Anna confessed, starting to run her fingers through Elsa's hair. "Want to talk about it?"

Shaking her head, she sighed at the gentle feeling. She still seemed tense. Then she finally said, "Mother yelled at me for not informing her of the full situation right away. And she tried to tell me you were 'poison', of course. It was… not a happy conversation."

Anna tried not to let her hurt show. Instead, she reached out to give her older sister a tight hug, placing a soft kiss in the platinum crown. "I'm sorry…"

"You're not poison. God, I can't believe…" Her voice broke a little as she pushed on, "Didn't she even try to talk to you? I did! Why was it so impossible for her to do the same thing?!"

"I don't know," Anna murmured against Elsa's hair, holding her a little tighter, "M-Mama just… doesn't understand." Even to Anna's ears, the excuse was painfully weak. However, the redhead didn't know what else to say about it.

This time, Elsa only took a minute or so of shaky breathing, a few tears leaking past her defenses, before she could pull back and give her sister a gentle kiss. Anna returned the kiss, petting the soft hairs at the back of her neck with a soft sigh.

"It's okay," she finally whispered, scared and upset but having somewhere to look for hope. "I have you, and… and I'm never losing you. Never. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you," Anna whispered back, resting her forehead against her sister's and staring lovingly into those bright blue irises. "You have me, Elsa, always. Just like I have you. We're together, no matter what." She planted a soft kiss on Elsa's nose before pulling away. "We should get ready to go to the bonfire," she added, wrapping her arms loosely around Elsa's shoulder. "We can cuddle and have some s'mores. Forget all about this for now, okay?"

Nodding weakly, she finally took a deep, bolstering breath and hugged her back harder. "That sounds great. I'd love to feed you some more."

Anna grinned and rolled her eyes, giving Elsa's cheek a gentle pinch. "That was awful."

"Of course. I got my sense of humour from you." Anna attacked her, and Elsa fended her off with a fit of giggles.

                                                    ~ o ~

The bonfire was every bit as celebratory as the first one. Moreso, even; many of the campers who had no friends at the start were now getting along with everyone, so things were freer and more casual. All around them, groups of campers and counselors were gathering, chatting and laughing and reminiscing about their camp experiences. Anna listened with only half an ear, perfectly content sitting quietly next to Elsa and taking it all in. Admittedly, she knew she was going to miss this place when it came time for her to leave. Not just because she would have to leave Elsa but because while the experience was somewhat dampened by certain events, she had a lot of fun these past few weeks.

"Okay," Elsa said with a playful little grin as she finally got her s'more assembled. "Open wide…"

Anna beamed back and opened her mouth for the treat. She wasted no time sliding it in past her lips, which was an entirely different feeling now that their relationship had changed. Anna's eyes twinkled mischievously and she could hardly resist pulling the same stunt she did the last time they had a bonfire. She closed her mouth around Elsa's fingers playfully, well aware that they are well concealed from the other girls' sights by the flickering shadows and the flames. Even if they were to glance over. And Elsa could tell that was what she was doing.

"You're so bad," she whispered, but the whisper was so shaky that Elsa clamped her mouth shut right afterward to keep from letting out sounds that would be even more telling. Anna grinned like a Cheshire Cat and gave the fingers in her mouth a few licks, collecting the melted chocolate that stained them, before withdrawing and licking her lips of any of the stray blobs.

"Only for you," she whispered softly, teasingly reaching up to tug on Elsa's bangs. "You, on the other hand, are delicious."

Cheeks pinkening, she said, "I… can't let you eat me here, Anna. You'll have to wait." After all, why shouldn't she give as good as she was getting? "Now… my turn."

Anna bit her lip hard to keep back the flirtatious remark at Elsa's subtle implication. While she was now incredibly impatient to drag her sister back to the cabin, she was willing to indulge Elsa's request as she made her up one of the delicious treats. Besides, despite the burn in her loins, Anna was perfectly content to sit where she was for awhile longer. She was enjoying herself.

It didn't take long for Anna to offer the sweet to her older sister. Leaning inward, she wrapped her lips around the fingers and took in the gooey, warm treat, letting her eyelids fall closed as she hummed her pleasure — only loud enough so that Anna would feel it against her skin, not so that the other campers could possibly hear over their shouting and cavorting. The vibration sent a lance of pure heat straight to Anna's core and she gave Elsa a heated look, her fingers trembling faintly in Elsa's mouth.

"Now who's the bad one?" she growled quietly. "Teasing me like that."

"Both of us, really," she fired back, with a chocolatey grin. Anna really couldn't argue that point so she just gave Elsa's bangs another little tug instead. It was very hard for the redhead to resist kissing the chocolate straight from Elsa's very inviting mouth but she finally managed to pull back before she fell into Elsa's enticing spell.

"Can't argue with that, I suppose," Anna huffed, crossing her arms and smirking instead. "You do realize you are taking care of this later, right, you little minx?"

The grin was positively lascivious. "Counting on it. Maybe I'll cover you in chocolate from nose to toes and lick you clean."

The redhead twitched and bit her lip again even harder to hold back the wave of arousal that threatened to shatter her self-control. It wouldn't do for her to lose herself and get them caught in a situation both of them had only narrowly avoided in the first place. Still, if Elsa - her shy, sweet, adorably nervous about anything sex related Elsa! - kept talking like that… there was no way Anna was going to last much longer.

Instead, Anna laughed nervously, the sound cracking due to her aroused nerves like she's some pre-teen, and tried to shake the image out of her head. Around that time, Elsa also slowly ducked her head down between her shoulders.

"Wow. I'm… did that just come out of me?!"

"Yes it did, and if you keep talking like that, I may just have to punish you later for being naughty." Anna clapped a hand over her mouth and blushed darkly at the unexpected remark that left her mouth. She had fully intended to say something to get the conversation back into something more light-hearted...

"I…" Pushing a hand to her forehead, she glanced around urgently before whispering, "Why the hell did that make me tingle?"

"T-Tingle? As in… are you getting turned on?" Anna asked, just as quiet. All the blonde did in response was shush her, covering her face with both hands. An image of Elsa whimpering for more as Anna 'punished' her flashed across her subconscious and Anna bit back the mewl that threatened to escape at the insane thought. She hid it by busying herself making another s'more.

But she became distracted from completing it by a very quiet scuffle nearby. Seemed Belle was determined to pull Aurora and Meg over to where they were sitting. Snow was trailing after them, looking resigned and a little nervous, but she wasn't resisting. Anna blinked in confusion; previous arousal forgotten. What was this about?

Soon enough, all four girls were seated across from them. Aurora fidgeted, looking nervous rather than angry or upset. Meg looked altogether indifferent, her violet eyes narrowed at nothing in particular. Anna cleared her throat in the hopes to cut the tension in the air.

"What can we do for you?" she asked, not even bothering to keep the slight wariness out of her tone.

Aurora let out a sigh. "We're here to….apologise."

"Oh?" Elsa said, clearing her throat to try and abate the lingering arousal. "Apologise?"

"Go on," Belle grunted out of the corner of her mouth.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Aurora let out another sigh before she opened them again and looked first at Anna, then to Elsa. "I'm sorry… for the way we've treated you," she managed to get out. "I'm sorry for blackmailing you… and for all the stupid things we made you do for us."

Anna tilted her head as she listened though her eyebrow was slightly furrowed. It was Belle who finally continued for them, "And for being bigots. I'm still a little… yeah, I'm not sure about homosexuality, with everybody telling us different things about how it is or isn't alright, but I definitely know it's not Jesus-like to use it the way we did."

"It was wrong," Aurora confessed, running a hand through her long hair. "Despite the church's stance. We shouldn't have done what we did and we're sorry for it. Aren't we, girls?" She looked towards Meg and Snow.

"I could have told you that," Meg grunted harshly. "I mean, I for one have never had that much of a problem with gays. Like, as long as girls don't hit on me, we're cool. Plus, the guys are usually wicked amazing with hair, helping me pick out clothes…"

"You didn't say anything like this when we brought the idea up with you!" Aurora said sharply back. Meg only shrugged helplessly.

Anna rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "What you guys did was really harsh and completely unnecessary…" She crossed her arms. "Gay or not, we're still human and we still live in God's kingdom and, more or less, we abide by His rules. Are you saying 'sorry' to earn our forgiveness? Or His?"

"Yours," Belle put in before the others could speak up. "I've already been praying about this a lot, but… it's not enough to just say 'sorry' to Him when it's someone here on Earth we've hurt. So… I'm sorry, too."

"And me," Meg said, though she was still glaring at Aurora.

Anna looked to her sister, her teal eyes soft and concerned. "What do you think, Els? They hurt you more than they hurt me."

"Not sure." Elsa was chewing her lip, looking between the other girls. Finally, she leaned in a bit more. "How about… I'll accept it from all of you, if Aurora tells us the full story on what happened when she was younger to make her so… homophobic. No glossing over anything. And I promise, it goes no further than us."

"That's not fair," Aurora bristled, instinctively slipping back into her defensive habit as Meg and Snow turned curious gazes to her. "I didn't force you to tell us anything like that! Besides, I already told you!"

The situation was getting dicey again. Anna looped her arm with Elsa's, though she made sure to keep a more platonic distance between their bodies, despite the desperate yearning to press closer. While Anna was a little more willing to trust that the girls wouldn't pull anything stupid, there was no guarantee and it would be wiser to be more safe than sorry. Instead, she peered at Elsa curiously to see what she would say.

"Don't forget, we're 'worse' than you since it's… still going on for us," Elsa said, edging around the subject. "So even if there's a lot more to the story than you let on, we're certainly not going to pass judgment. And it's the last night of camp. What's the harm? Seriously, I think it'll be good for you to get it off your chest. Might even make sense of why you're so… upset about Anna and me."

Belle was silent, of course, since she was present for the last conversation. Meg squinted over at Aurora and piped up, "Alright, now I'm mad curious. Dish!"

Aurora looked like she wanted to protest but she simply grunted, "Where should I start, then?"

"Just tell us what happened to start it all, and what was going through your head," Elsa prompted. Anna noticed she was speaking to her almost the way she would have spoken to the campers; gently encouraging. The notion that her sister would make a great mom flashed through her brain, and she had to resist the temptation to smile.

Aurora gazed quietly at the flames of the bonfire for a few minutes, obviously to collect her thoughts. "I… I told my parents that I thought Mel, this tall, cool girl in my class with killer cheekbones, was really cute when I was fifteen," she began hesitantly. "I- I said I would date her. I don't know why that came out, and I wasn't serious about that, but it slipped out. My parents hit the ceiling."

Anna gazed at Aurora sympathetically, her heart constricting in her chest as she thought of her own mother. Meanwhile, Elsa was saying, "I think that wasn't fair of them to hold you to it when you were only fifteen."

"Really," Belle put in softly, patting Aurora's arm. The rest of her "squad" looked too surprised by this admission to respond right away. "I mean… did you mean it? Or were you just like, speaking hypothetically? Like, saying she's date-worthy?"

"I don't even remember," Aurora answered, though the pink in her cheeks gave her away. "I think I meant that I would if I was a boy, but at the time I said it as a joke. But my father… he's the pastor of my hometown and he can be pretty strict about things like that. Even making comments like that about boys is enough to warrant one of his lectures." Aurora paused briefly. "He made me do every single chore in the house and I would have to sit and listen to one of his lectures for two hours before bed for months. I… I really got off easy."

Out the side of her mouth, Elsa muttered, "I can relate. My mother is highly involved in the church, as well. Though that's probably true for a lot of our campers and counselors."

"I'm sorry that your Dad is like that," Anna spoke up softly. "It's sad that he can't trust your word that you were kidding, but… even if you weren't, it's really okay to date other girls. It's not a bad thing, or even a 'sinful' thing. It's the same as dating a boy. If you care for her, if you love her… it's not wrong."

"I guess," Belle put in, voice skeptical. But she wasn't arguing with Anna and Elsa, either.

"Like I said, I already figured being gay isn't any of my business." Meg sat down next to Aurora and pulled her into a one-armed hug. "You wanna be a muff-diver? Be my guest." Anna didn't stop herself from face palming at Meg's blunt statement, especially when she saw Aurora stiffen in discomfort.

"I am not that!" she hissed at the taller brunette, glaring at her. "And keep your voice down! There are children present!"

"So? Kids can be gay, too. Like, I can remember a girl in second grade really wanted to kiss me. What's the big deal?"

"Really?" Elsa asked Meg in some surprise. "I can't remember anything like that… well, I mean…" But she trailed off, sparing a brief glance at Anna. There wasn't any way they could fully talk about that in the open without revealing they were sisters and gay for each other.

"That sure is true," Anna chuckled softly. "I remember how this girl named Kida used to follow my sister around like a puppy and we used to argue for her attention all the time when we were really little." She laughed to herself at the memory. She had fond memories of those times despite how furiously jealous she had been of the white haired girl at the time. "I'm pretty sure Kida had a crush on her."

"Really? I don't remember…" Elsa just barely caught herself. Again. "I don't, um, remember you telling me about that."

But Meg saved her from being focused on too much. "Exactly, see? Happens all the time. The only reason I didn't kiss her was because she took my Polly Pocket the week before and bitch thought I would forget. But nope! I hold grudges."

Aurora couldn't help but let out a little laugh at the image. "Regardless, Meg, that language still isn't appropriate." She scolded though her tone was much lighter than before. She sighed, "I honestly don't know what to think anymore. Mel was so pretty… and really strong; she was in track and field, and cheerleading. She's doing some modelling now, I think. Back then, I thought I just admired her a lot, and didn't know why I would joke about being gay for her. But… well, I don't know."

That got Elsa thinking. As she tapped her chin, she finally said, "Well… in my opinion, you probably have some lesbian leanings. If I could have been suppressing my interest in women from birth until this year, then it's at least theoretically possible that you are, as well. Not that I'm saying you do for sure, of course, or that you have to start dating women because of them."

Anna nodded. "It's okay if you don't know. Heck, even I didn't really think it was possible for me to be anything but straight until I was thirteen. And there are people out there who haven't realized until they are well into their forties."

"Granny lesbians," Meg laughed.

Aurora gave the pair a look before letting out a soft exhale through her nose. She closed her eyes. "Thanks, you two," she said softly. "I… I think I'm going to sit and contemplate for awhile. Hopefully we'll get a chance to speak again before we leave tomorrow." She gave Anna and Elsa a smile. "Have a good night, ladies," she said before she began to walk off, arms around herself and looking deep in thought.

"Poor Aurora," Belle said in a soft voice as she got up to follow her. Glancing back at Elsa, she remarked, "I think it was a little mean to tell her she might be gay, right after she admits she liked a girl once… but on the other hand, probably was going to come out sooner or later."

"Or she would," Meg snorted.

Anna rolled her eyes. "We weren't trying to be mean. We were acknowledging the possibility and trying to tell her it's okay regardless." She gripped Elsa's arm a little tighter. "She'll be fine, Belle. Trust me."

Not that Belle seemed all that comforted. She shrugged helplessly at the others as she trailed off after Aurora.

"Don't sweat it," Meg told them as she stood, brushing off her own butt. "I'm sure tomorrow, she'll be back to bossing everybody around in the nicest way possible. But hey, you guys tried your best."

"We did," Elsa sighed as she put another marshmallow on her skewer. "At least she's not trying to tell us we're 'sinners' anymore; that's… a relief."

"Yeah," Anna agreed with her sister, regarding her in concern. "Thanks for the help, Meg. We appreciate it." Meg and Snow left, but not before Meg waggled her eyebrows at the two "lovebirds". Anna rolled her eyes again, shaking her head. "Gosh, those girls sure are… unique, huh, Snowflake?" She smiled tenderly at Elsa. "You doing okay?"

The blonde had to hum a little "Hm?" as she focused on Anna's words. Then she smiled. "Fine, fine. A little worried about Aurora, I guess, but… other than that, I'm having a great time."

"I'm glad." Anna leaned forward and gave Elsa a brief kiss on the lips, closing her eyes and enjoying it while it lasted before sitting back down with a grin. "Okay, whose turn is it to make the next s'more?"

A very flushed Elsa whispered, "I'm going to feed you one. Doesn't matter whose turn it is." She held up the marshmallow she had already skewered, grinning across at her sister. Anna grinned and nodded eagerly, her braids bouncing. She wrapped her arms tightly around her sister, giving her a loving squeeze. She no longer worried about the other girls doing anything, and no one was paying them any attention anyway.

She nuzzled Elsa's cheek and murmured quietly in her ear, "So… before we were interrupted, we were talking about how much of a tease you are and what I'm going to do about it…"

The smirk Elsa gave her as she put the marshmallow back into the fire promised things. "Were we? Hmm, I don't seem to remember…"

"Once that marshmallow is finished, we'll go back to the cabin so I can refresh your memory. I do believe you were getting tingly over me punishing you."

The marshmallow was definitely finished sooner rather than later; it fell off the skewer when Elsa shivered. They both had a good laugh about that.

                                                    To Be Continued…