#grabs a last minute flight to ny

[alphabetboyluvr]

just read the new yu chapter and i can't stop crying

i'm literally

i really thought they-

*sobs*

i just think they needed a little more room to grow away from each other!! their brains still needed a little time to develop!!!

i know exactly what i think happens after the chapter ends tho he he

[umadosedepascal]

HIGH MILES CLUB | Pedro Pascal x f!reader | PART I

Written by Santa Trindade

Banner: @ithedevilsbaby

Made in Brazil

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x f!reader

Summary: After partying hard at Met Gala making out with you in the bathroom and later taking you to his hotel room in NY, he finds something inside his red overcoat pocket in the middle of the airport. But it doesn’t stop, more unexpected and hot things happens during his flight back home.

wc: 3.6k

rating/warnings: [Smut] [unprotected PiV] [Semi public sex][Sex on the plane][Pedro out of control][Pedro dom][Masturbation m][Bites][Suck/kiss with cum][Drugs][Do not make noise]

Exactly 7:00 a.m., his phone alarm goes on. Unfortunately the only and most annoying way not to miss his flight.

Pedro takes a few seconds to assimilate that he is no longer sleeping and that loud sound is not part of a nightmare.

With a grunt, he runs his hand over his face and opens his eyes.

_Damn hangover_

He gets up going to the bathroom with heavy head and eyes throbbing.

He just wanted to take a quick shower and catch his flight back home. It was a simple thing, he just wanted to rest until that discomfort went away.

When he came out of the drowsiness, while watching the hot shower water run in front of him, he remembered the events of last night and immediately felt a twinge, a sudden horniness that came along with images of the previous night.

The way you frowned your eyebrow, suffering of pleasure for him.

_Damn, was she feeling that horny? _

Pedro's hand is already holding his cock, which was already hard, pre cum shining on top of light pink head, veins all apparent pulsating as he squeezed while the hot water now hit his neck and went down his back. His muscles were relaxing with the heat while his cock only got harder and harder, he felt the constant throbbing, the way when his hand went up to the tip of the cock, thick drops of pre cum accumulated, Pedro passed his thumb around the head spreading his horniness, sliding his hand until he almost touched his balls.

Biting his lips with his eyes closed, some highlights of you in the bathroom, totally surrendered to what he well wanted to do, obviously in a state that would never tell him "no", makes him feel his cock pulsating desperately. Breathing failing between your teeth, making your toes squirm.

It doesn't take long. Releasing a low moan, he cums on the bathtub floor. He straightens his body, not getting carried away by the feeling of relaxation, and decides that finishing that quick bath would be the best thing to do. Despite the effort, he does not realize that he spent good minutes staring at the mirror, the towel wrapped around his waist, drops of water dripping from his hair, going down his neck until they accumulate in the towel on his hips. Still lost in memories.

“Fuck!” He goes from one side to the other in the room, picking up clothes throwning here and there, sticking everything in the suitcase anyway. He hates being late, so it would have to be like that. So rushes sticking all clothes inside the suitcase including the red overcoat..

Arriving at the airport, he orders a 6 shots coffee and a something to eat, however, he realizes that his suitcase is badly closed, deciding to open and tidy up properly before boarding.. he takes the red coat and sees a black tip in its pocket and pulls out.

Taking off slowly, looking at the delicate black lace on his fingers, coming out of the pocket of his red overcoat, it was inevitable not to remember the night before that he was still so vivid in his memory. He grabs those panties and in a quick thought puts it in the pocket of his jeans while closing the suitcase quickly.

A wave of excitement begins to rise all over his body, he can remember exactly the moment he took it out of your body to feel your pussy swallowing his cock inside that bathroom. Damn, he was in the middle of the airport having a coffee and the only thought that comes to his mind is: did these damn panties have to show up right here? He then finishes his coffee and goes to the boarding gate, his flight is next, but his thoughts are too far away, he is still in the hotel, in that bed, and now, with panties inside his pocket, which seems to burn his skin.

It's strange the feeling of dissociating for a few minutes. That's how Pedro felt, his legs leading him towards boarding, because only what he saw before his eyes were those sheets, the feeling of your hands scratching him, his legs trembling, his mouth half open while looking into your eyes asking for more. Full of desire, but indescribable. What was going on in your head while he touched you? Why was that suddenly in his head?

That's exactly why. Because he thought it would be a predictable situation, but there was you surpassing yourself once again. fucking panties in your pocket? He didn't expect such a surprise.

When he got on the plane, he was still in auto mode, greeting the flight attendants while looking at the number of seats, but barely understood what was written. By a miracle, he found his place. As he sat down, Pedro took a deep breath, with his hands on his face for a few seconds. "Just a couple hours... then I'm home. It's fine.", he thought.

He thought he would relax on this flight back home.

He couldn't be more mistaken.

Pedro stretches his legs and tries to relax as much as he can. After a few minutes, he no longer knew how much time had passed, he saw a person entering the plane's restroom.

"No. Fuck, no" He thought, as he felt his heart beat in his ears, the idea that went through his head. The fingers of his left hand that were resting on his leg flexed, scratching the jeans.

_Too late. _

He thinks too late, but his fingers think something else. He feels his cock harden little by little in his underwear "Fuck...not here, wait until you get home at least, you idiot"

But his body wants it and that's stronger than any thought. Pedro runs his fingers down his knee feeling the texture of the jeans, the feeling of the clothes too tight, everything bothered him, he just needed to get rid of these clothes and bury himself in a wet pussy.

He looks at the restroom door again and sees that is now free.

“Fuck it..”

He gets up, feeling these panties in his left pocket, it still looks wet, it looks crazy but he feels the moisture.

He enters the restroom, locks the door and looks at himself in the mirror

¿Qué hace un viejo como tú?

He leans on the wall in front of the mirror, his left hand squeezing your panties, taking it out of his pocket he raises almost the height of his eyes and thinks how you had the balls to sneak this inside his overcoat.

The right hand quickly opens the belt and buttons, slightly pulls the pants down leaving only his hardon out. He looks at himself in the mirror and sees the complete mess he is, messy hair, sweat accumulates on his forehead, crumpled shirt and low jeans with your panties in his hand.

Pedro touches himself, first squeezes his cock, feeling a shiver climb his spine, lowering his head with your panties in his hand, looking and watching some parts of his dry cum.. and thinks loudly "what a hell am I doing? ... shit...”

He starts to caress his cock while rubbing the black tiny panties in his nose, he begins to imagine that you were there.. squeezing his cock, spitting on it and making sudden up and down movements, he imagines that he is shoving it in your pussy. He's already a few minutes inside that restroom and someone knocks on the door.

He was already so immersed in pleasure that it takes a few seconds to notice the noise, and only then after the third knock he does come back to himself... "oh... fuck! Restroom is busy.." he replies panting, with his eyes closed, biting his lower lip while caressing his cock more slowly, his head thrown back, imagining that his sliding his hands on your lips and pussy, both so hot. Trying to control all the pleasure that consumes him, Pedro feels how dirty is what he is doing at this moment, dozens of people on this plane, but he can only focus on the smell of your panties, the smell mixed with yours, the smell of pleasure you both had the night before, and this only makes his cock throbbing even more on his fingers. He bites his lip hard and start stroking again while remembering how your pussy squeezed his cock every time he pushed hard, his fingers putting more presure as he slides hard down the cock, pre cum accumulating more and more he grabs the edge of the sink, with his head thrown back he lets out a low moan... "shit... how I want to fuck that pussy right now.."

His heart beating so fast, rubbing your panties tightly on his face, his eyes closing again, while in his mind it was inevitable the dilemma that was going on. He wanted to forget everything, he just wanted to focus on your face in his mind, but not when you said something indecent, or almost screamed, but on the low moans you let out sometimes, almost a trembling cry, showing how much you liked it when he went deeper. How hungry and thirsty you were for him, for his body.

He could only think about how much he wanted to be inside you again. Cumming inside you. And then run fingers in that pussy, soaked. He wanted you to see his cum dripping on his fingers, all mixed, with that hungry look. His mind was already going far, the knocks on the door already forgotten, everything getting far away.

The image of you sucking his fingers, feeling his taste, yours, biting slowly and soon after smiling as you stared at him, was enough.

"F-fuc..k... Fuck! Fuc-ki..ng hell...". He already knows that, as much as he wants, he couldn't last any longer, Pedro puts your panties on his cock head and cums hot. He stays there for a few seconds touching himself, feeling his balls, his breathing calming down.

Holding the panties firmly over his cock, in that tiny restroom, he leans his back against the wall. Stands there, staring at his messy reflection in the mirror, feeling the sweat on his back. "That filthy brat..." It's just what you think about at the moment.

He takes you panties with both hands, observes the new stain spots, and that makes him still pulsate. “Take a deep breath and get out of this place..”

He sighs, wraps it and tuck and keeps inside his pocket again. He arranges his pants and belt, his breath is still returning to normal. Pedro throws water on his face, washing his dirty hand with cum, but his mind imagining that you is the one who should clean his hand, licking every remaining drop. Paying for what he just did in public.

Pedro checks his look in the mirror again and hopes that no one notices the red face, the face of that guy who just came hot. He opens the door facing two people waiting in line, he smiles embarrassed and apologizes. He goes back to the hallway and to his seat, but a tou are standing nearby, you are picking up something in the luggage compartment facing back to him, he waits for you to pick up the bag helping lower the compartment door. You look up to thank the person, when you realize widen your eyes and giggles at him saying “no…Pedro? What you doing here? Same flight?”

He freezes for a second thinking that he just came in a pair of panties, that is yours.

Shy, he smiles and asks

“What are you doing here?”

He laughs, he feels his cheeks burn.

You say “Same as you, coming back home”

He is so nervous, thinking about what he just did in the restroom and seeing you in front of him. He scratches the back of his neck and passes by you sitting on his spot. You go to yours and wave to him trying not to disturb people going to their own seat.

He rests his head on the backrest and closing his eyes with his right hand scratching his nose, close to his eyebrow.

Pedro feels his cock pulsating in his boxers

“What the fuck is your problem?”

He's in 6A and you in 4D, just two rows away... the on-board service starts. He looks at the hallway and sees you picking up a glass of sparkling wine and thinks.. "huh.. I'll take the same..”

After the flight attendant passes with the cart through his row.. he gets up holding his glass, goes to you and asks..

“Can I sit by your side? You know.. sometimes I'm afraid of turbulence...”

You opens a huge smile and points to the seat next to you.

He gets anxious somehow and starting saying... "was good last night huh? And you blushing "yep, that piercing on your lips...how can I forget" trying not to talk dirty around people. He soon interrupts you by saying "that piercing? Ohhhhh I hated, btw I can't stop thinking about us last night.. I wish I could be doing sassy thing with you now...” grabbing your thigh discreetly and smiling without taking his eyes off yours.

You laughs as you drink the sparkling wine, feeling his soft and warm hand on your thigh. With just one touch you are automatically taken to that bed at that fancy hotel room. You looks at him, feeling the lust burn on his skin and asks "after yesterday, you must be all booked I believe.." putting your hand on his. He gives a smile from the corner of his mouth, takes a sip of the sparkling wine and approaching your ear saying "I cancel any appointments so I can fuck you again". Give you a soft kiss on your cheek and get back up to his spot. His words was enough to flood your pussy, reminding you of every inch of that room, the smell of him and the wine. You looks at the clock and realizes that there are only a few more minutes left for the plane to land. A few more minutes and you will be able to feel him again inside you, just a few more minutes...

Pilot announces "open time in Los Angeles with 20 degrees.. we are 15 minutes from LAX, please recline your seats and keep your belts fastened."

So Pedro thinks "15 minutes...and probably I won't meet her again soon..." he gets up and goes towards the restroom.. passing by your seat he says low "come, come with me right now, restroom is free.." and you laugh nervously and say “are you crazy?.." without an answer you are just pulled by the arm by him.

He walks behind you slowly down the hallway, without raising suspicions.

Pedro locks the door with one hand, and with the other pulls you by the neck kissing you talking softly between pauses in the kiss "let's do it quick, babe"

The first impact of his lips is a surprise, but you take a deep breath and closes your eyes. That's really happening again and on a plane! The feeling of being attacked, in your mind, was better than any waiting or encounters within the normality. So the heat in your body took over quickly, and in seconds the kiss was already a mess of tongues, bites and panting breaths.

Desperate.

Pedro simply emptied his mind completely. Only desire existed, only extinct took care of his body. If the rational side came into play at any moment, it would be a disaster.

And that's exactly why he acts fast, turning you against the sink. He thinks "I bet you like the vision. Force you to watch yourself come apart like this...", like an animal, but dont you dare to scream out loud, using what is still left of self-control. Quickly Pedro bends down, getting on his knees lowering your skirt, your panties together, taking a bite of your ass. He gets up panting, his breath running down your spine, when he looks you in the eyes, what you sees is another Pedro, it was difficult to hide the horniness he was feeling. He didn't want to think, he didn't want to calculate anything.

You look at yourself in the mirror, your hair messy, gasping, while you hear the noise of his belt opening. That's enough to make you wet. The feeling of anticipation was always incredible, the cold air hitting the thighs, the exposed pussy. You bite your lip and closes your eyes again, just giving yourself to the moment, but soon after you are surprised. You let out a sigh, staring at him in the mirror, while you feel the tip of his cock rub your pussy lips while his left hand now holds your hip firmly.

"Are you ok?" Despite feeling like an animal, he still worried about you.

"Fuck, it's fine" you don’t even let him finish the question and moves his hip back and he can't hold the moan, quickly putting his lips on your shoulder, biting so that no one outside hears, his hand squeezing your hip even more.

With his free hand, he covers your lips, because as soon as he puts his whole cock inside your pussy you moan loudly, biting his middle finger. That just makes him feel more horny. The sight of you having his cock holding the edge of to the tiny sink, his hand covering your mouth, but wishing to squeeze your neck until you beg. But you don't have much time, he punches hard feeling your pussy squeeze his cock, the sounds are inevitable, you are so wet that he slides perfectly. The skin-to-skin feeling is suffocating.

You press your ass against him, feeling his cock go deeper. He moans softly biting and licking your shoulders, caring little about the marks that are appearing.

- “Cum on my cock baby girl, please”

You bite his finger more, sucking, and squeezes his cock with your pussy. He takes his hand off your hip and scratching your waist he reachs down to the middle of your legs, pressing your swollen clit. You moan rolling your eyes.

-“ I want to feel that hot pussy squeezing my cock..”

You enjoy biting and sucking his fingers hard, your hands holding the sink so hard.

Pedro removes his hand from your lips, and puts his hand in the middle of your back, causing you to bend more in the sink.

- “I'ma cum so hard in that pussy babe... Fuck so fucking tight..”

He cums releasing a long growl in your ear, looking at the reflection of the two in the mirror and you both giggles, thinking about the craziness they did.

Pedro licks your back going up and giving you a kiss on your neck, he helps you get dressed, turning you in front of him, but first Pedro slides his finger through your pussy sticking a finger inside you, leaving some of his cum and your cum, he presses on your lips and kiss you, licking it all.

“- You're dangerous Pascal, get me to your bed or we'll have another round here” you say.

Pedro says "you playing dirty calling me like that..."

And you.. “is that an invite?”

And he.. “two knocks on the door and you are mine..”

You get out first so he does right after, and when he passes by your seat, stares at you and gives a wink.

Plane lands, each one following his way as if you were strangers. he comes home exhausted but satisfied, thinking about how crazy this trip was, he sits on the couch and starts laughing alone thinking "what a week.." he stays awake for another couple hours.. but no one knocks at his door.

While putting an empty glass of whiskey in the sink, he smokes some weed while staring through the night out the window. Silence, the house empty, comfortable, the way he always liked it. But this time something bothers. He felt an immense sense of satisfaction after a week like this. Nothing was missing. He could do what he wanted, and so he did on this trip.

What was the problem then?

He crosses the hallways of his house singing softly, weed in hands, wearing only gray sweatpants with bare feet sliding on the floor with laziness.

It was already late, there was no place to wait for more than such an intense day.

"Nobody's gonna show up, your fuckin' moron..."

He throws himself in bed still messy the last time he was at home. Releasing smoke through his nose, he looks at his phone. Many notifications, but none interesting.

He thinks he's too old for such nonsense. After all, what did you expect? More adventures, as if you were 20 years old?

One more drag, looking at the ceiling, he stretches his hand filling the ashtray on the bedside table, puts out the weed. Nestling in the bed between the duvets, that's how Pedro falls asleep. It wasn't always that he slept like this, but after everything that happened, the tension always present in his body decreased considerably. Self-esteem screaming. All this with the feeling of being high. He quickly forgot that he was anxious about a possible visit, plus a one night stand. He was feeling too fucked up.

3:00 AM. While sleeping peacefully, his phone vibrates with a notification.

Pedro didn't catch it.

—————————————

Thanks for being here and read our delusional fics, likes are appreciate, comments even more. If you want to ask anything, blast it!

[st4rgzer]

NOW PLAYING…

↳ WELCOME TO NEW YORK (1980 TV) MATT STURNIOLO

genre: fluff, with a touch of angst

cw!: cursing, fem pronouns

summary: in which the reader is, half ready, to move to new york after booking her first major gig

a/n: this is the first track and i hope ill release one every weekend, maybe more, thank you for reading!

after 7 years, no, all my life working my ass off, going to every audition I can get my hands on, reading too many scripts a day, I finally got an audition.

And the best thing, it wasn’t because of the triplets! me being friends with them, and dating one, had made it incredibly difficult to make my own image, be my own person, even though I love them, I want people to know me for me, not know me as “matt’s girlfriend” or, “that girl that hangs out with the triplets”.

The only problem about getting a major gig, it’s in New York, and it’s going to be a pretty long time rolling, so I’d have to move there, at least for a year. That means leaving thee triplets at home. Leaving Matt home, and its not like NY is next to LA or Boston, 5 hours on plane. And it´s already difficult when they have leave for LA.

“babe, c’mon, just, come, spend the night here and in the morning we can drive you to the airport” Matt wined, pulling me towards him on the sofa, he had been trying to convince me not to leave early all day, and that they were closer to the airport so they could be the ones to take me there.

“well…maybe…” I sighed, the airport anxiety making me doubt wether or not to stay tonight, well, they are closer to the airport than me…fine, I sleep better with him anyways.

“yes! see i always win” he says lifting his arms up in victory, earning a laugh from me, he may be very persistent but it was sweet to see how he celebrated when he finally won.

He tugged me towards him and I laid my head on his chest, closing my eyes in a moment of peace before I had to worry about the move.

I nearly fell asleep when his hands started caressing my hair and detangling all the knots, slowly putting me in a trance, then I came to the realization that my bags were still in my house, and sighed, taking his hand away from my hair gently and sitting up.

“I just remembered my suitcase is still in my house, we have to go get it before anything” I kneaded my forehead and breathed deep, then I felt Matt’s hand on my back.

“relax ok, I can take us there in a minute, don’t worry about anything, the important things are already being shipped to your flat and the flight leaves at 10 am, enough time to sleep in a bit or have breakfast.” he said stroking my shoulder reassuringly, I grabbed his hand and placed it on mine, sighing as I backed myself against his chest once again, grateful I had an organized boyfriend opposed to the mess I was with this kind of stuff.

We pulled up to my driveway, I fiddled with the keys before finally opening the door. I went up to my room to get my big suitcase, them I realized a staircase and a big suitcase wasn’t a good match for me, I yelled Matt’s name but I saw him already going up the stairs, probably cause he knows me too well.

“thank you” I said with a sly smile. Grabbing the other end of the suitcase to at least help a bit, though he took all the weight.

We got into the car, the sun was setting and the weather was perfect for reminiscing and being nostalgic.

I laid my head against the damp car window , I started to think if this gig was going to be my big break. Even though I’ve wanted to be an actress since I was a young child, I never liked change, I despised it even.

This was going to be a big change, I had the last month to think about it and get used to the idea, but still, the thought of me and Matt breaking up because of long distance…

I felt a hand be placed on my knee, snapping me out of my thoughts, my mouth curved up into a slight smile, I placed his hand in mine, he rubbed small circles on my knuckles, and pulled it closer to him, placing a soft kiss to them.

“I’m so happy for you, do you know that?” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at me with genuine joy. I tilted me head slightly and pursed my lips together.

“Do you think we’ll- survive the long distance…?” I looked down, guilt lingering in my voice, It was my fault I was moving to NY, I took the job, if the relationship went down the drain…I wouldn’t help to think it was my doing.

“What? That’s stupid, of course we will, Its not like you’re moving to a whole other country, phones exist, planes do as well” He insisted, tilting my head up to meet my line of view.

“trust me, okay? I’m a professional at the whole moving stuff…” He saw I was still unsure.

“baby I wouldn’t care if you moved to a whole other continent, I’d still book the flight every weekend to come see you” He said, gently moving a strand of hair out of my face, he wanted me to look at him, and I did. I half-smiled at him, feeling a bit more sure about the move thanks to his pep talk.

I realized I didn’t recognize where we were heading to, turning confused to Matt as he kept his eyes on the rode.

“Matt, where are we going? As far as I know, your house isn’t in a forest” I shook my head when he didn’t respond, scoffing as I laid back into the carseat.

As we parked in a rocky spot, he got out and went ‘round the car to open my door, what a gentlemen.

“What? are you gonna murder me out here or…?” I laughed as I got out of the vehicle, closing the door behind me. I was shut up as he placed a hand on my cheek, pulling me closer, and planting a sweet kiss onto my lips.

“oh?” I grinned, resting my hands over his shoulders, he grabbed one gently and led me in front of the car.

“ok, so, you know how I decorated my room all foresty?” He finally spoke, turning so he could make eye contact with me, I nodded.

“well, that’s cause the woods, mountains, they help calm me down, ease my anxiety and worries about things. After our first argument I came here, to clear my head. I come here a lot, and…I thought maybe it would help you a little? at least give you some peace of mind for while…”

He said, sweet words spewing from his mouth, I could’ve melted then and there. God, he was thoughtful. I smiled at him so widely, pecking his lips gently, I then peppered his cheeks and forehead with some more, he was right, this WAS giving me peace of mind. There was a slight fog surrounding the trees, and a soft breeze.

“thank you, Matt, this means a lot, like, really” I sighed as he opened his arms and held me, I closed my eyes at the smell of his cologne and the soft fabric of his plaid flannel.

“anything for you, lovely. I just wanted to give you a good afternoon to end with before the exhausting week that awaits you” He said kissing the top of my head and resting his chin there.

Hours passed. We were crossed legged, sat on the ground, watching the sky get darker and darker, contemplating as the stars slowly appeared.

My head was rested on his shoulder, his arm intertwined with mine, and his head laid back on the front of the car. It was simple and sweet, but better than anything I could’ve asked for.

It was silent, the comfort of our company being enough substitute for meaningless conversation. He sighed, contempt, we both knew the night was coming to an end, as I still wanted to get in at least 9 hours of sleep.

“do you think we should go now? its getting a bit late” he said stroking the palm of my hand.

“mhm, it is” I hummed, I gave him one more kiss before getting up and grabbing the makeshift blanket beneath us.

We drove to the car humming songs on the radio, his hands always resting either on my knee, my thigh, or my hand.

As the car pulled into the garage, Nick and Chris’s voices were heard, I think they were screaming something along the lines of “fucking finally”

We both looked at each other and sighed, holding in a laugh as he turned the doorknob, we were greeted with an angry blonde haired boy and a hyperactive Chris.

“where the fuck were you guys?! we wanted to do a going away movie party for tonight!” Nick yelled, he breathed and tried to calm himself, me and Matt were delighted watching the scene unfold.

“I took y/n somewhere.” he smirked slyly at him. Nick scoffed, he wasn’t too mad, after all, they were going to see me just next week.

After some more banter and such, Matt and I headed up to his room. He had his hand intertwined with mine and wasn’t dropping it anytime soon.

“m’lady” he said with a country accent, that always earned a chuckle out of me, opening the door for me, following behind. I sighed, letting myself fall onto the soft sheets of his bed.

He laid down next to me, as routine, I placed my head on his chest, he wrapped his arm languidly around my waist, pulling me close.

“im tired” I yawned and felt the vibrations from his chest as he laughed.

“of course you are, we’ve had a busy day, huh? He said kissing my hair softly, rubbing small shapes on the exposed skin of my waist.

I nodded, closing my eyes, sighing, I grew more tired every heartbeat of his I felt from his chest, the lullaby of his heart clearing my mind.

He felt I drifted off, he kissed the top of my head once again and whispered goodnight.

“I love you.”

“i love you too” I mumbled.

I recounted the previous moments in our day, everything from the starbucks he bought me when picking me up, to watching the sun set in his favorite place, with his favorite person.

Im scared of new beginnings, but New York can’t be so bad, right?

…

‘welcome to New York’ The big sign I was met with read, people were hustling and seemed like they had somewhere to go, I could here sirens blaring and people yelling “taxi!” I smiled. Everyone here wants something more. I guess I maybe could get used to this.

taglist: @dwntwn-strnlo @iha8you @lovelysturniolo @gabbylovesreading @hedgehogperalta @iloveneilperry @stvrni0lo @sturniolol @stvrniolo @sturniololoverr @oneirophobic (nicole idk if you wanna be added or not, tell me if you want me to take you off😭) @gaytoadwithapopsicle (same for you)

reblogs and likes are appreciated!

[holdmeclosertinytaron]

RHW: Chapter Seven

Story Page / Playlist / Wattpad / AO3

A/N: The chapter where things...take a turn, let's say. I genuinely think that this is my favourite chapter so far. It's so sweet and just ugh! @brayndilyn

Word Count: 11.2k (the longest one yet!!)

Warnings: Explicit language, mentions of childhood trauma, smut...

March 6th, 2022

The steam that filled Liliana’s bathroom allowed her to breathe for what felt like the first time since she’d left Taron’s hotel room in New York. After an almost eight hour plane ride where she hadn’t been able to sleep, a hot shower had been first on her to-do list when she finally fell through her door. A shower in her own bathroom. Something she hadn’t realised she would miss as much as she did. 

As soon as the first drops of hot water hit her skin, she sighed happily and let her head fall forward so that the water could trickle onto the back of her neck and down the length of her back. Goosebumps raced to the surface of her skin and she shivered involuntarily. Being away from home for almost a month had stressed her out more than she thought it would have, but that stress washed away instantly in the shower. 

Every few days on tour she had been in yet another unknown bed, having nobody to talk to once Evelyn and Jacob left her room to go to bed themselves or do some work that they’d put off during the day. When she’d been in Boston, she’d been able to text Taron but after everything that happened in New York, her texts went unanswered, leaving her alone with her thoughts and the incessant nagging feeling of wanting to be home. 

In the two weeks between leaving Taron’s hotel room and getting home and him being at the airport waiting for her, she could count on one hand the number of messages he’d replied to. Things had ended so badly in New York and it was all she could think of on the flight home. She thought about going to his flat to see him and talk to him. But she didn’t need to. 

When she saw him, she had to rub her eyes to make sure that she wasn’t seeing things. He was the last person she had expected to see when she got to the arrivals lounge at Heathrow. He’d made a sign reading ‘NY Bestselling Author Liliana Esme’ and held it in front of him with a grin just as cheesy as the sign. She ran into his arms and held him tight. 

He held her back just as tightly after he dropped the sign to the floor. When they finally pulled apart, Taron grabbed the handle of her suitcase while she bent down to get the sign. He looked at her curiously to which she’d told him that she wanted to keep it. 

Taron hadn’t mentioned anything about New York during their journey to her flat, or when they got back and she’d told him to make himself comfortable while she had a shower. Taron’s hoodie sat unfolded at the end of her bed from where she’d peeled it off before her shower. She’d lost count of how many times she’d worn it since that night in New York. 

Neither of them had uttered a word about that night and as much as Liliana wanted to ignore everything that had happened and just continue as they were before, she knew that it would be near impossible. They were so close to sharing their first kiss and then she’d just…walked out on him and then hadn’t spoken to him since. Not for lack of trying. 

The shower had been so hot that as she stepped out, the room was filled with a humid mist. She cleared the bathroom mirror with the corner of her towel and took a minute to really look at herself. Her skin was dull and her under eyes were such a deep purple that it looked like she’d been in a boxing ring with Mike Tyson. She tugged and pulled at her face, inspecting it close up. She let out a frustrated sigh and let her hands drop to her sides. It would take some serious skin care to make her feel better. 

The moisturiser she used everyday was still at the bottom of her suitcase and she didn’t want to mess around trying to find it so she grabbed the expensive one that she kept for special occasions from the drawers next to the sink. She massaged it into her face and let her eyes fall closed. With the steam in the room, the feeling of exceptionally clean skin, and the smell of her moisturiser, she could close her eyes and pretend that she was at a spa being treated to the good stuff. 

Even just a tiny bit of moisturiser was enough for her to feel a little better but the tips of her fingers were tingling from the dryness of her skin. She made a mental note to give herself a full at home facial the following day. Maybe she would ask Evelyn to join and they could make a girls’ night out of it. 

Her hair dripped water onto the tiled floor as she padded through to the bedroom to get changed. The sun had started to set over the London horizon– not that she could see it fully from her flat– and a beautiful golden stream of light flooded the floor, warming her feet as she scrunched her toes into the carpet, one of her favourite feelings. 

‘Taron,’ she called through the flat from the bottom of the stairs that led to the other rooms, ‘I’m just going to get changed so please don’t leave whatever room you’re in for a couple of minutes.’ 

‘Okay,’ he responded from the kitchen. She could hear the soft chuckle that laced his words and the corners of her lips twitched into a soft smile. ‘Where the fuck do you keep your mugs, by the way? This kitchen might be tiny but it’s like a maze!’ 

‘Cupboard behind the door,’ she laughed, holding the towel a little tighter around herself. ‘Why?’ 

‘Because unless you want a cuppa tea in a pan big enough to share with the entire population of London, I need to find a mug for you.’ 

‘Tea?’ She asked happily, her eyes glazing over at the thought of a proper cuppa. ‘A pan of tea sounds heavenly right now. Do you know how much I paid for a pack of twenty tea bags in New York? Eight freaking dollars! Nearly seven quid for tea bags!’ 

‘Daylight robbery if you ask me,’ Taron joked happily. Liliana smiled, happy that they were able to ignore what had happened for a little while and just be again. ‘Right, I know you’re a weirdo who has a specific mug that you like for tea and I can guarantee that it isn’t this aztec one at the front of the cupboard, so which mug do you want?’ 

Liliana’s heart soared at Taron and she took a deep breath to stop herself from doing anything rash. ‘I’ll have that one.’ 

‘Lil, which mug do you want? I know you enough to know that this is the one you absolutely do not want to use.’ 

‘You’re going to think I’m weird though.’ 

‘Too late for that,’ he laughed. ‘Which mug?’ 

Okay so put your hand on the purple heart mug, then move it back two and to the right once. You should land on a black mug that has a little patch of weird looking sunflowers on it. It’s my colour changing one. The mug behind that one should be a blue Cath Kidston one with clocks all over it. I’ll have that one please.’ 

She could picture Taron shaking his head as he blindly followed her instructions, and she winced when she heard a few of her mugs move and clash against one another in the cupboard. It took a lot for her to not run into the kitchen and do it herself, but she knew that she could trust Taron to get one. And he was being nice enough to make her a cuppa. The worst case was that she had to reorganise the cupboard when he was gone. 

‘You truly are the weirdest person I know,’ he sighed. ‘Who remembers exactly where each mug is in their cupboard? To the point that even after being away for a few weeks, they still know? Oh I know, that would be Liliana Esme.’ 

‘I like specific mugs and if people use my favourite ones I get really antsy and can’t deal with it.’ Her toes curled at the thought of someone using her best mugs. She shook her body to rid herself of the uncomfortable feeling. ‘But shut up and let me get dressed, please.’ 

‘One last question. What mug can I use?’ 

‘Whichever one you want to.’ 

‘But you just said-’ 

‘Use whichever you want. I need to get dressed.’ 

The sound of the kettle boiling motivated Liliana to get dressed a little quicker. A proper brew was all she needed to feel better. A hot mug filled with steamy tea sweetened with two small spoonfuls of sugar. She could taste it already. 

‘Lil, you have no milk!’ 

‘Oh for fuck’s sake. It’s fine, I’ll have it black please. But I’ll have an extra sugar.’ 

‘It’s fine, I’ll run to the shop quickly. What milk do you have?’ 

‘Taron, it’s fine,’ she called as she pulled her cycling shorts up her legs, jumping on the spot to get them to where she wanted them to sit on her waist. ‘I’ll have a black tea tonight and then I’ll go to the shop tomorrow morning. It’s all good, I promise.’ 

She quickly threw on an oversized t-shirt and slid her feet into the slippers at the top of the stairs. Taron fumbled around the kitchen, not sure where anything he needed was. Even though he’d been to the flat a number of times since Christmas, he hadn’t been the one to make drinks. 

‘I can nip to the shop. It’s two seconds down the road and you’ve been away and need a proper brew.’ 

‘Taron,’ Liliana whispered as she got to the kitchen. He hadn’t been looking at the doorway as he spoke so he’d missed the way she smiled fondly at him, and the way that she’d taken a long, deep breath. ‘About New York.’ 

It was a drastic change of subject but Liliana knew that if she didn’t talk to him about it then, she wouldn’t have talked about it at all. And they’d both avoided the conversation for way too long. 

‘It’s alright,’ he said quickly, turning around so that he could look at her. He let out a breathy laugh when he saw her hair in the towel at the top of her head but turned serious instantly when he saw how serious she was. ‘You were vulnerable, and I overstepped the mark completely. We don’t have to have this conversation right now. Or ever. I shouldn’t have done what I did. It was stupid and-’ 

‘You didn’t do anything wrong,’ Liliana whispered. She bit her top lip into her mouth and let it go slowly before she continued. ‘You were so sweet and caring and I just…shut you down. It’s all I’ve ever known. I’ve never been good at the whole feelings thing. Even when I was younger.’ 

‘I did do something wrong,’ he insisted, stepping closer to her, wanting to be as close as he could without making her feel uncomfortable. ‘You had just told me everything I wanted to know, you let me understand you fully and then I went to try and kiss you? That’s not a good thing, Liliana. I would have been taking advantage of you. You told me in New York that you always felt safe at my house growing up?’ 

‘I did,’ she responded, resting her body against the doorframe. She pulled the towel away from her hair and threw it at the washing machine in the corner of the room. A few stray drops of water fell onto her back as she brushed through her hair with her fingers so that it looked a little less dishevelled. ‘I still do. At Christmas when I walked into your mum’s house, something happened and I don’t know how to even begin explaining it. I haven’t felt that safe for so long. And then you walked in with the girls and I just…’ 

Liliana trailed off and ran her hands down the length of her face with a sigh. She didn’t know how to articulate the feelings that ran rampant through her. There wasn’t one specific emotion that she felt, it was more like a hurricane of different ones blowing around her head at such a speed it made her dizzy. 

‘Pictured a life where you had a family coming home to you and you got scared because you worry that any relationship you ever have is going to end like your mum and dad’s did?’ Taron finished for her. 

Liliana nodded solemnly with a small hum.‘I can’t put kids through the shit I went through. It wouldn’t be fair to them. For them to get to my age and still have nightmares about the things that they heard. To be so scared to fall in love because the worry of things ending badly outweighs every positive that could possibly happen. Even when the guy they love is the most amazing person they’ve ever met, who knows how weird they are and that they like to use a specific mug for their tea; who will laugh at them singing in the street rather than telling them to shut up; who will surprise them in New York just so they could spend time together. How did you know? That I felt like that?’ 

‘Because walking into the house that day felt more like walking into a home than it has since I was a teenager. Since you were there,’ Taron said softly, reaching forward to grab Liliana’s hands. She let his fingers graze hers before she pulled back slowly. Taron didn’t flinch. He let her pull away despite wanting to wrap her in a bone crushing hug. ‘When you told me that you were leaving and going to Edinburgh for uni, I felt physically sick for days. I thought that I was going to lose you. I guess in the end, I did. But I’ve been here this entire time. Right here, waiting. And I don’t want to wait for you anymore.

‘I don’t want to think about all the what ifs that have been running around in my head for all these years. What if I’d told you how I really felt? What if I ran away to Edinburgh with you? What if I’d tried harder? I want to try now. I want to be everything you’ve ever wanted, and all you’ll ever need. I know that you’re scared, and you have every right to be scared with everything that you’ve gone through, but I love you. 

‘I am in love with you, Liliana Esme. Whole, painful, true love. It’s like I have fireworks going off in my body continuously when you’re around, my love for you burns so intensely that I can feel it in my fingertips. I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you. Lil, you must know that after everything you’ve ever told me, I will always be in your corner. As your friend or as your partner. I want this. I want you. I already know that if you feel the same way that it’ll be hard for you to fully let yourself feel and be happy, but I am so in love with you that I’ll go at whatever pace you feel comfortable with. Even if it takes years, I’ll be here.’

Liliana could do nothing but stare at him. Out of all the possible scenarios that she’d imagined when she thought about the conversation they would have about New York, standing in her kitchen doorway with wet hair dripping down her back, Taron leaning against the worktop with two mugs behind him, his hands at either side of his body holding him up and his eyes growing red with tears wasn’t one of them. 

‘Okay maybe I hadn’t overstepped in New York. But I definitely have now.’ Taron pushed himself forward and towards the door. ‘I’ll just g-’ 

‘I haven’t slept in days,’ Liliana confessed, blocking him in the kitchen so that he couldn’t leave. ‘Because all I can think about is you.’ 

Taron stepped back into the kitchen and sniffed quietly as he looked at Liliana. He didn’t say anything else. Partly because he knew that she hadn’t finished talking, but partly because he didn’t know what to say. He’d poured the most vulnerable part of himself out to her and now the ball was in her court. 

‘When I left your room in New York, I cried myself to sleep hugging your hoodie. I thought I’d ruined everything. It was like I’d just gotten you back and my life was starting to feel like mine again, and then I left you and I just thought that I’d lost you again. I didn’t know how I was going to survive losing you a second time when I was barely hanging on the first time.’ 

‘Lil,’ Taron started, but Liliana cut him off with a soft shake of her head. 

‘They talk about falling in love like it’s this big, sudden feeling that you only know when you know. Love is described as this thing that you fall into, like a door opens and you realise that you’re somewhere new, and that you love the person in front of you. You go from feeling a kind of adoration for them to being in love with them. But nobody talks about falling in love slowly, over time, to the point where you don’t even realise that you’ve fallen in love until you’re watching them read your little sister a story before bed on Christmas Eve.’ 

They both stood in silence for a few seconds, Taron looking at Liliana and Liliana looking at the floor. Her eyes were damp and she couldn’t contain the tears that were starting to fall down her cheeks, no matter how hard she tried. When she finally looked back to Taron, his expression mirrored hers, tears falling and a grin plastered on his face. 

‘I am in love with you, Taron. That feel-so-much-you-get-scared kind of love. The kind of love that terrifies you because you’ve never felt that way before. The kind of love that makes you my every thought, and the only person I ever want to think about. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’d lay in bed trying to sleep and wondered what would have happened if I had told you sooner. Before I left for Edinburgh. Because I have loved you for longer than that. I’ve loved you since that day we got caught in a rainstorm at the top of the hill.’ 

Taron reached forward for her once more and she didn’t pull away. She let herself fall into him, and he caught her. He caught her and held her so tightly that she knew that she was safe. That she would always be safe as long as he was around. 

‘Fall,’ he said firmly. ‘And I’ll catch you. I’ll always catch you.’ 

It took milliseconds for tears to fall down Liliana’s cheeks, but Taron wiped them away with his thumb the second he saw them. He let his eyes close as he held her close to his front again where he rocked her gently and kissed the top of her head so softly she could have mistaken it for a light breeze brushing around her. 

‘I won’t let you go like I did before. I won’t let you leave thinking that you weren’t loved. Because as long as I’m around, you’re always going to be loved.’ 

‘Taron.’ She pulled out of his embrace just enough to look at him fully, a small smile tugging at her lips when she found him already looking at her. ‘I love you.’ 

Taron caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers, letting the heat from her skin erupt volcanoes in his stomach. He could smell her shampoo and her shower gel and it was all too much and not enough of her. For so long he’d wondered what it would feel like to have her in his arms, to know that they both felt the same. 

Liliana looked up at him gently as she fisted his t-shirt to keep him as close to her as she could. It had taken her too long to open up to him about how she felt towards him to let him go now. He was already watching her when her eyes met his again. She took a deep breath and her chest pushed against his more. 

A noise halfway between a gasp and a moan escaped her and her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. Taron laughed softly and hooked his fingers under her chin to pull her face up to him. Her breath jittered a tiny bit at the way he looked at her, his eyes a shade brighter than she’d ever known with the most beautiful twinkle. Liliana would never look at a star the same way again. Not after she’d seen them in Taron’s eyes. 

His eyes flicked from hers down to her lips before shifting back up to her eyes again. He wet his lips as Liliana sighed softly at him. 

‘Lil,’ he whispered as he caressed her cheek once more, tiny fires igniting under her skin with each pass of his fingers, ‘I’ve wanted to kiss you every day since we were eighteen years old on top of that god forsaken hill getting caught in the rain.’ 

Taron’s confession had both of their hearts beating faster. Liliana bit her bottom lip into her mouth as she stared at him. She couldn’t look away. He was intoxicating, her favourite bottle of wine that she simply couldn’t have one sip of. She had to have it all. She wanted to have all of him, whatever the consequences. 

‘I’ve wanted to kiss you forever, Lil. I wanted to kiss you on your happiest days. I wanted to kiss you on your hardest days. I wanted to kiss you even when we weren’t together all those years. You are… God you are perfect, and I really, really, really want to kiss you.’ 

‘Then kiss me.’

Taron let his free hand find purchase at her waist as he watched her intently. He watched the way her tongue wet her lips softly…slowly, taunting him in the best way; the way she blinked up at him innocently, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks; the way that her chest rose closer to his with each breath.

Her hands found their way to his waist where she held him tightly against her, unwilling to let him go now that she had him. 

Time stopped as his breath fanned over her lips and goosebumps rose across her legs. Her breathing was shaky as she took a peek at him. Words failed them both, but their looks spoke volumes. Taron’s eyes told her that she was safe and that he wouldn’t do anything she wasn’t comfortable with, while Liliana’s told Taron that she was all in. 

They looked at each other through wet eyelashes, their cheeks stained from fallen tears, and their hearts were both full and heavy from their own confessions. Liliana, for the first time in her life, didn’t want to run away from love. 

All the feelings she’d had when previous boyfriends had told her they loved her weren’t there. She didn’t want to pack a bag and leave in the middle of the night like she’d done before, sending nothing but a text in her wake. She wanted to run into it with open arms and embrace all things that come with being happily in love. 

Liliana had known Taron for as long as she could remember. He was the person who was with her when her parents split up and she lost the ability to believe in love. He was the person who dropped everything to be with her. He was who she wanted. 

Taron loved Liliana in a way that she knew if something was wrong or he fell out of love with her, he would tell her instead of sleeping with somebody else. She could trust him with every fibre in her being and it made falling for him that much easier. 

Liliana whimpered softly as Taron leaned down a little more. Their lips were so close that it would take one swift movement for them to be pressed together fully. Taron let his breath fan over Liliana’s top lips before he pressed against them so softly they could barely feel it. It was a tickle of a kiss, but a tickle that had a zap run the length of Liliana’s back.  

She leaned her head up the extra millimetre to allow her lips to press against Taron’s completely. In less than a second, her entire body relaxed and she sighed into him. Her eyes closed as she breathed him in. His lips were soft and she wondered why they’d never kissed before. It was magical, and all that other fairytale stuff that she’d stopped believing in years before. 

It was the right kiss. 

Taron pulled her into his body even more so that their chests were flush for a second. He pecked her lips three times before pulling away. Liliana’s eyes stayed closed for a little while, taking in the moment and committing it to memory to relive whenever she needed to. 

As her eyes blinked open and she looked at him, her lips pulled into a shy smile. Taron rubbed his nose against Liliana’s before pressing one last peck to her lips. He couldn’t get enough of her. The way she looked at him took his breath away, and he had to plant his feet firmly on the ground to stop himself from swaying. 

‘God, Lil,’ he breathed. ‘You are so…I’m so…Jesus, you’ve literally rendered me speechless.’ 

A blush rose to Liliana’s cheeks as she peered up at him, her lips pulling back to his. ‘Kiss me again,’ she just about managed to mumble. ‘Please.’ 

Taron cupped Liliana’s cheeks and planted his lips over hers completely. They slotted together perfectly, and as he traced her lower lips with his tongue, begging silently to give her more, she sighed into him happily and granted him the thing he wanted as though it was the only thing she wanted to do ever again. 

His tongue explored her mouth the same that hers did his, and Liliana let out a soft, almost inaudible moan when Taron nibbled on her lower lip slightly. Liliana’s hands grabbed whatever part of Taron she could just to try and remain upright. She gripped his waist, the hem of his t-shirt, his biceps, his cheeks, his neck, his hair, and everywhere else that she physically could. 

It was an impossible task for both of them to try and find just one place to keep their hands. They played Twister around one another’s body trying so desperately to find purchase for their hands. 

The kiss was passionate, sweet but messy as they almost knocked teeth a couple of times. They needed so badly to show one another how much they meant every word that had been shared between them that evening. 

Taron wanted to show Liliana that he was going to be there for her through everything, that he wanted her through better or for worse. Liliana wanted to show Taron that she trusted him wholly. That she wanted to surrender her heart to him because she truly believed that he would be the person to look after it, and her. 

They poured two decades worth of feelings into one kiss and they were lost in it. They wanted to stay there forever, in the moment that changed the entire trajectory of their lives. Where they’d both admitted their deepest secrets to one another and were met with nothing but requited love. 

Neither of them wanted to be the first to pull away from the kiss, even when they were struggling for breath. Taron, when he physically couldn’t breathe any longer, pulled away first, just enough that they could breathe easily but where they were still tangled together. He looked down at Liliana as her chest heaved while trying to catch her breath, and she mirrored the smile on his face. 

His hands, which had finally settled on the small of her back, rubbed Liliana’s skin softly as he looked at her, so in love that he couldn’t help but just stare at her. Liliana toyed with the material of his t-shirt, something she had come to realise calmed her and helped her to stay grounded and not float into the atmosphere. 

She looked at him with a gentle smile as she stepped onto her tiptoes to press one last peck to his lips. ‘I know you said that we could take this at my pace, and I appreciate you for that more than I will ever be able to put into words, but right now all I can think about is taking you to my bedroom and showing you just how much I love you.’ 

Liliana could see Taron’s breath hitch as he looked at her with wide eyes. He blinked at her rapidly as he licked his lips and took a deep, shaky breath. Liliana’s eyes never left his and she didn’t show an ounce of hesitation, something that Taron hadn’t quite been prepared for. 

‘Lil, I meant what I said. I’m happy to just take things slow so that you feel comfortable. I don’t want to push you into something that you might not be ready for. Please don’t be suggesting this for me, because as much as I would love to do that too, I am genuinely so prepared to wait as long as it takes, years, if that’s what you need. Forever and a day, as long as you are ready. I know how hard it is for you to open up and I don’t want you to go too far too fast and then regret it. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.’ 

‘Taron,’ she said as she cupped his cheek. She could feel the beginnings of stubble tickle her skin and she smiled to herself. ‘I want to. I want to show you how much I love you. How much I trust you. I want you to show me how much you love me. Please? If you have reservations then that’s totally fine but I’m ready if you are.’ 

Taron licked his lips with a small, knowing grin that inched into a smirk as he held Liliana’s waist tightly. ‘Take me to your bedroom, Lil.’ 

***

The second they got to Liliana’s bedroom, her nerves barrelled to the surface. Taron, able to read Liliana with just one look, could tell that she was nervous so kept his movements slow and light, giving Liliana the space to step away if she needed to. He could tell that Liliana was holding back from him.

‘Lil, we really don’t have to, you know.’ 

‘No, it’s not that I don’t want to. I really do. I’m just…scared? I guess. This is a big deal and I’m a little bit nervous, which seems so silly at my age but you’re you and you’re perfect and I’m-’ 

‘Perfect,’ Taron finished for her. He kissed her lips and she turned to putty in his arms. He chuckled at her and guided her hands to his t-shirt so that she could be the one to take it off, when she was ready. ‘One step at a time, yeah? We can stop whenever. It doesn’t bother me. Even if we’re in the throes.’ 

 Liliana burst into a fit of giggles and let the hem of his t-shirt go so that she could balance herself against him. ‘Never, and I mean never, say ‘in the throes’ again. I’m begging,’ she laughed loudly. Taron laughed with her while nuzzling his nose into the top of her head. ‘I love you.’ 

The words came so effortlessly that they made Liliana stop for a second. She looked at Taron, who was already smiling down at her. Liliana was calm. She felt safe and steady rather than full of butterflies like she was used to. 

‘I love you,’ she repeated, the corners of her lips twitching up into a smile, her eyes sparkling. Taron looked at her with the same glint in his eyes. ‘I love you. I love you. I love you.’ 

‘I love you too, Lil. So fucking much. You have no idea.’ 

‘I think I do.’ 

Liliana grabbed the hem of Taron’s t-shirt once again and tugged it up over his body, throwing it to the bedroom floor before she pressed her lips back to Taron’s. She wouldn’t ever forget how perfect he was, or how right it felt to kiss him again and again, as though she’d never gone a day without kissing him before. 

Every kiss she’d had before Taron felt obligatory and as though it was just what was expected of her. And at the time, it felt right, and she’d liked it. But kissing Taron, and knowing that kissing someone could feel like absolutely everything, she knew that no other kiss had ever meant anything before. 

Running her hands over his abdomen, Liliana took a sharp intake of breath. After so many years of only being able to look, it was nice to be able to feel him. His stomach was soft and squeezable in areas but there were harder areas where his abs were starting to protrude against his skin. Liliana traced each one with a featherlight touch and he squirmed away from her. 

‘You’re ticklish?’ She giggled into his mouth, running her finger over his abdomen again to get the same reaction from him. ‘Oh my god, you are ticklish! How did I not know this? Have you always been ticklish?’ 

‘It’s mean to do that,’ he pouted against her when she did it a third time. 

Liliana caught his lip in her mouth and moaned into him when he held her firmly by the bum to crash her body into his once more. Their hips pressed together and Liliana could make out the hardness of him through his jeans. 

‘Can I take your top off?’ Taron asked sceptically, pulling a kiss from her lips before holding back to look at her fully. ‘You know, seeing as though you were mean and tickled me.’ 

Liliana nodded with one last giggle that turned into a gasp when Taron’s fingers trailed across the waistband of her shorts. He smirked to himself as he held his palms flat against her skin to push the clothing up her body while also tracing her skin at the same time. 

Her skin was soft under his slightly calloused hands and Liliana’s eyes closed at the feel of him. When he reached her breasts he paused. After her shower, Liliana hadn’t bothered to put a bra on, and Taron could tell that her nipples were getting hard from the friction of his hands and the anticipation of what was coming. 

‘Do you not have a bra on?’ He asked, though he already knew the answer. 

Liliana squirmed when he pulled her top off fully and eyed her breasts. He swallowed thickly, and even with the serious look, Liliana could still see the boyish glint in his eyes. ‘They’re uncomfortable so I just didn’t put one on after the shower.’ 

‘God, you are so beautiful,’ Taron whispered. 

With his hands on her shoulders, slowly massaging the muscles so well that her head started to fall forward, he pushed her away from him just enough that he could look at her properly. He wanted to take her in for the first time. 

He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and swallowed thickly. Liliana saw the shift in his eyes. His pupils grew three times their normal size, hiding most of the green of his irises. When he let his lip go, she ran the pad of her thumb over it softly. Taron kissed it lightly. He continued to look at her bare for him, hardly able to believe that they were there. 

Liliana started to grow conscious of how bare she was and started to overthink how she looked so she lifted her hands to try to cover herself. Taron looked at her in disbelief and took her wrists in his hands to stop her from hiding. 

‘I don’t think so,’ he mumbled. He looked deeply into her eyes and leaned forward to suck another kiss from her already swollen lips. Liliana melted into him and let her arms go limp, no longer bothered about hiding herself from him. 

Taron, now knowing what it was like to kiss her, and to have her kiss him back with the same amount of passion and longing, never wanted to stop feeling that feeling. He wanted to feel that every day for the rest of his life. He’d waited every day for half of his life. 

‘You don’t ever have to hide your body from me, okay?’ He said while trailing his fingers up the length of her arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake. ‘But if you feel like you want to stop then-’ 

Liliana crashed her lips to Taron’s to shut him up and pressed her front into him entirely. She could feel the firmness of his chest against her breaths. Taron stumbled back a tiny bit before he regained his balance and pulled her into him, lifting her feet off the ground as he did. 

When Liliana pulled away for air, Taron held her hand and spun her around once so that he could look at her fully. A blush rose to her cheeks but Taron whistled to himself. ‘You are perfect.’ 

He leaned in to peck her lips before he cupped her cheeks with his hands. ‘Absolutely perfect.’ 

His last admission was more for himself than Liliana, but she appreciated it nonetheless. Taron reattached their lips in a passionate kiss as he walked Liliana back slowly until the back of her knees hit the soft duvet of her bed. Liliana could feel her heart rate increase as Taron pushed her down slightly so she had no choice but to sit on the edge of her bed. 

She looked up at him and could so clearly see the hunger in his eyes that she grew wet with anticipation. After wetting her lips, which were swollen and three shades darker than normal, she gulped as Taron leaned down to plant more kisses to her lips. When he moved to kiss her neck, Liliana’s eyes fell closed. 

Taron’s lips erupted every single nerve ending underneath her skin and ignited them all in a frenzy of fireworks that made the blood rush to her core. Liliana could feel the trail of his kisses long after his lips had moved to caress another part of her skin, and she relished in the pleasure he gave her. 

He kept leaning forward until Liliana was laying on the bed, her legs dangling awkwardly over the edge. When he pulled away, Liliana scooted back up the bed to give Taron more space to get comfortable. She nervously pushed her shorts and underwear down her legs as she went, leaving herself completely exposed and vulnerable to Taron. Though she was safe in the knowledge that he loved her and that he would take care of her. 

Taron stripped his joggers and his own underwear before he joined her on the bed. Liliana tried to avert her eyes up to Taron’s face, but she caught a glimpse of all of him. She took note of how substantial he was and she felt her breath catch in her throat. He was more beautiful than she could ever have imagined and she felt so lucky that she got to see him like that, and that she got to share herself with him in such a way. 

A blush rose to her cheeks at the sight of him, but if Taron noticed he didn’t say anything. Instead he leaned down to plant more kisses to her bare skin, as though he didn’t want to leave a single part of her untouched by his lips. He was alive with passion and couldn’t help but land a small kiss to the swell of her breast on the way back to her lips. 

Liliana moaned at the contact, and saw Taron smirk to himself as he kissed her lips once again. He reached down to rest one hand on the outside of her thigh, and she inhaled sharply at his fingers dancing against her. She could feel herself getting more aroused but Taron didn’t move his hand.

He moved his lips to her neck, sucking gentle kisses and nipping at her skin with such a gentle pressure that she pressed her thighs together for any semblance of friction. She needed more so she guided Taron’s hand to her centre where he felt just how wet she was. 

Taron’s throat bobbed as he moved to look at her, the desire so evident in her eyes that he knew she wouldn’t change her mind. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. It was all he’d ever wanted. Liliana wordlessly took a hold of Taron and stroked him, sending a shiver down his back. 

His head fell into her shoulder where he kissed up her neck, over her ear and cheek and back down to her lips. His hips bucked into her hand as his fingers lifted her arousal from her entrance to her clit. He rubbed soft circles against her and Liliana moaned above him, arching her back off the bed. 

Taron kissed her before pulling away and moving her hand from his length. ‘As much as I love that, I’m going to need you to stop. Because if you don’t, I’m going to finish right here and that’s not how I want tonight to go.’

Liliana blushed a little and nodded with a nervous smile. ‘There’s a condom in the nightstand drawer.’ 

‘Expecting this, were you?’ Taron teased as he leaned over her to open the drawer and get the condom. 

‘As much as I’ve always hoped this would happen, not quite. Now isn’t the time for the story about why I have condoms in my bedside table though. I’ll tell you another time.’ 

Taron closed the drawer and ripped the foil packet open with his teeth. He rolled it onto himself and Liliana watched, licking her lips and reaching out to touch his torso. 

‘You’re so perfect,’ she told him, using his own words against him. He blushed softly as he leaned down to hover over her again. His breath caught in his throat as what was about to happen truly set in. 

Liliana cupped his cheeks and pressed their foreheads together. The simplicity of the move was slow and intimate, and they lay like that for a little while, looking at one another and taking everything in. It was more than either of them could have ever imagined and they didn’t want to take it for granted. 

Taron lined himself up at Liliana’s entrance when she nodded at him, and she breathed deeply. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ 

Liliana nodded at him. ‘I need to hear you say it. I need to hear you tell me that this is what you want, please.’ 

Taron’s voice caught in his throat on his last word, and Liliana ran her thumb over his lips as she took another deep breath, not trusting her voice to give in the same way Taron’s had. 

‘I want you, Taron,’ she managed to croak out. ‘I’ve wanted you for so long. Long before the book launch. Long before I left for Edinburgh. I cannot think of a time where I haven’t wanted you. Tonight is no different. I want this. So badly.’ 

They stare at one another as Taron pressed himself into Liliana, their lips parted at the feel of finally being connected in a way they’d never connected before. He pulled out a tiny bit before pushing in further with a little more momentum. 

Liliana’s legs wrapped around his waist and her arms wrapped around his neck as he kissed her, continuing to press into her. His movements were slow and intense, and they looked at one another deeply, communicating without words. Liliana’s moans filled the small room, but Taron swallowed them as though they were his favourite meal. 

A decade’s worth of emotion was being poured onto them as they lay connected on Liliana’s bed, and as Taron looked at her and she told him that she loved him again, tears forced their way down his cheeks. Liliana immediately wiped them away as his movements halted. 

‘I’m sorry,’ he sniffled against her, his forehead pressed against hers and his chest lowered even more over her. His weight on top of her was all she ever wanted to feel again. ‘I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you before. I’m sorry that I didn’t text you when you went to Edinburgh. You said you needed to do it on your own and,’ he paused as a hiccup erupted from him. Liliana continued to wipe tears away as tears of her own started to trickle down her cheeks. 

‘I thought I was doing the right thing by leaving you be. But I shouldn’t have. I should have followed you to Scotland and made sure that you were okay. I should have followed you. I am so sorry, Lil.’ 

Liliana wiped more tears away from his cheeks and pressed her lips to his once, so softly he could have imagined it. She sniffled as Taron hiccuped again. 

‘Please don’t ever apologise for that,’ she begged. ‘I asked you not to follow me and I still think that it was for the best. It’s made getting to know you again so much more special and I don’t take a single day with you for granted anymore. Because I know how precious time with you is, and I don’t ever want to forget that. Being away from you made me realise how much I love you, Taron. How much I’ve always loved you.

‘I think I’ve loved you forever but I’ve been too scared to let myself open up to those feelings. You were there for me when nobody else was. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to thank you enough for that.’ 

Taron kissed Liliana and thrust into her again slowly. A moan escaped her as her eyes rolled back a little. 

‘And besides,’ she continued through pleasure, ‘if you had followed me to Edinburgh, you’d never have gone to RADA and become this big shot, award winning movie star!’ 

Taron let out a chuckle as he thrust into her again, silently begging for her to come undone beneath him. 

‘Everything that happened led us to this very moment and I wouldn’t change a thing. Because this right here, what we’re doing now, connecting this way, it’s shifted something inside me that I can’t describe. I just know that I love you so much and this feels right. It feels so right, and so, so good.’ 

Taron kissed her deeply and sped up his movements, unable to form the words to converse with her. Liliana understood. She’d gone from not sharing any of her feelings to exploding all over him and he was a little overwhelmed. 

Liliana moved her hips in time with Taron’s and watched in amazement as his eyes rolled into the back of his head when she pushed her feet into his bum and pushed him to the hilt. 

‘God, fuck, Lil. Y’feel so good.’ 

He thrust into her over and over until he came undone above her, his damp forehead falling to her chest as he rode out his high. Liliana traced her fingers up and down the length of his back as she rocked with him. When he looked up at her and saw her smiling down at him, a warmth to her eyes he hadn’t seen before, he couldn’t help but kiss her lips. 

‘I love you,’ he said as he looked into her eyes. ‘Everything you said, it’s, this feels so right.’ 

‘Because it is right,’ Liliana responded. ‘This between us is special, and time is fleeting. I wish I could say I regret that we didn’t keep in touch but I’m not sure that we’d be where we are if we had. I missed you like crazy and there were days where I’d cry from the moment I woke up because I felt like I’d lost the best thing that had ever happened to me. But I think we would have been stuck in a rut if we’d spoken.’ 

‘How do you mean?’ Taron asked as he pulled out of Liliana, a realisation hitting him in the face. ‘Hold up, you didn’t finish.’ 

Liliana smiled up at him in a daze and brushed his hair away from his forehead before she kissed the tip of his nose. ‘I’m very satisfied, I promise.’ 

‘Yeah but-’ 

‘Taron, come cuddle me. Please? That’s all I want right now. I didn’t need to orgasm.’ 

‘Ew, you said orgasm,’ Taron teased with a huge grin. 

Liliana shoved him away with a guffaw, no longer caring that she was completely naked. Taron pulled the condom away and disposed of it in the bin in the bedroom while Liliana watched. 

‘Take a picture, it lasts longer.’ 

‘Oh my god,’ she laughed. ‘Do you always ruin a tender moment by being such a boy?’ 

‘Only with you. Because I love you. And you love me. You do still love me, right? I haven’t just given you the worst sex of your life have I? Oh god.’ 

Liliana grabbed Taron’s wrist and pulled him down onto the bed with her, kissing him deeply and wrapping her arms around him. 

‘I still love you. Nothing would make me fall out of love with you.’ 

Taron wrapped his arms around Liliana and held her close to his body, trailing kisses over her cheeks as she sighed happily. ‘And the sex? It wasn’t awful?’ 

‘God no,’ she breathed. ‘In fact, it was the best sex I’ve ever had.’ 

Liliana snuggled deeper into Taron’s chest as he pulled her in closer to him. She could feel the weight of her jet lag and lack of sleep finally hitting her. Her eyes felt heavy and she knew she would be asleep in minutes.

Before drifting off, she looked up and saw that Taron’s eyes were closed as well and he was already starting to snore lightly. 

Liliana planted a soft kiss on Taron’s chest and whispered ‘Goodnight T, I love you,’ against his skin, her fingers drawing delicate patterns against him.

He wasn’t completely asleep as Liliana had assumed, and he responded to her by gently kissing the top of her head. 

‘Sleep well. I love you more.’ 

March 7th, 2022 

Liliana was already two glasses of wine in by the time Evelyn arrived and buzzed the intercom to be let in. After a morning tangled in bed with Taron before he left for the theatre to rehearse, a mess of limbs playing a game of Twister on their own and lips locked over giggles and whispers of love, Liliana had poured a large glass of wine and sank into the bathtub to ease the soreness in her muscles. 

She only got out of the bath when the water was cool against her skin and Evelyn texted to see if she was up for a girls’ night, complete with face masks and a takeaway. Liliana had jumped at the offer, desperate to tell her best friend all about the night, and morning, she’d had with Taron. She poured herself another glass of wine and grabbed some clothes from her comfy drawer to wear for the evening. 

Evelyn, living up to the legend, arrived laden with more wine, her gel nail polish kit, and face masks. She took one look at Liliana and the smile crept onto her mouth quickly. ‘Go put the record on, I’ll pour the wine, then you will tell me everything that has happened since Christmas!’ 

‘I’ve seen you everyday for two months at this point, how is Christmas only just coming up?’ Liliana chuckled as she put a record on. ‘I swear we’ve spoken about this before, anyway.’ 

‘Not to the extent that we need to talk about it,’ Evelyn called from the kitchen. ‘Plus, that shit-eating grin you gave me when I walked through the door tells me that there are new things to tell so you’re going to spill it all.’ 

Liliana shook her head. Evelyn walked back through the living room and handed the glass of wine over. It was bigger than the two glasses she’d poured for herself and Liliana knew that she would be a little more than tipsy by the time she rolled into bed that night. 

Evelyn hopped onto the sofa and crossed her legs before she leaned forward eagerly and motioned for Liliana to spill everything she needed to spill. ‘Come on, out with it.’ 

‘What do you want to know?’ 

‘I want to know what happened on Christmas Eve. One minute you’re texting me to tell me that you’d had a shit evening with your mum, and then the next it’s Christmas Eve and Taron is reading a story to Matilda before bed? You left me hanging, girl!’ 

‘I’m sorry,’ Liliana said softly after she’d taken her seat next to Evelyn. She’d grabbed a bowl for the popcorn Evelyn had brought over and poured the sweet treat into it so they could snack. ‘Those few days were an emotional rollercoaster that I’ve tried so hard to forget. He came over on Christmas Eve to try to diffuse the tension between mum and me because it was bad, Ev. I’d not been home an hour before she started.’ 

‘Oh, Lili, we don’t have to talk about this if it’s too much.’ Evelyn put her hand on Liliana’s knee to comfort her and Liliana smiled sadly at her. ‘We don’t talk about your mum much and I can see that it’s already getting to you.’ 

‘No, it’s fine. He came over, Matilda loved him which I knew she would. Then Taron asked if Tilly had seen a film and she hadn’t so we watched that while mum and Hudson went out for the night. He stayed and read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and then he went home. I thought there was a moment where he was going to kiss me but he didn’t. I wish he’d kissed me then,’ she admitted before gulping down a large mouthful of wine. ‘I would have let him. He came the next day and I’d been having a shit morning. He bought me the most perfect present ever.’ 

Liliana untucked the necklace from her t-shirt to show Evelyn, and Evelyn raised her eyebrows in a knowing way. 

‘A necklace? The man’s got it bad, Lils. Did he kiss you then? Please tell me he kissed you!’

Liliana shook her head, a smile so small it could be seen as a twitch, flashing over her lips. ‘No, he didn’t. But like I said, I’d had the worst Christmas morning with my mum and I think he could just tell.’ 

Evelyn nodded but kept quiet while Liliana took a deep breath before she downed more of her drink. Her conversation with her mum that morning still ate at her and made her get emotional even though it wasn’t that big of a surprise to her when it happened. 

‘I could tell that he wanted to say something,’ she continued after a short pause, ‘but he knew it wasn’t the right time. I came home before I could see him again and say anything he wanted to. And we never mentioned it again until New York.’ 

As if cued up perfectly, Ever Since New York started playing on the record player, and Liliana chuckled softly. Evelyn could clearly see the pinkish blush that made its way to her best friend’s cheeks. 

‘You’re holding out on me, Lils. There’s something you aren’t telling me and it’s killing me, as your best friend, not knowing what you are thinking. This is the first time I haven’t been able to read your mind and I need you to tell me everything! What has happened since the book tour? The last I knew, you were sad after we left New York and you sulked the rest of the trip.’ 

Liliana took another large gulp of wine, finishing her glass completely. She poured herself and Evelyn another glass and looked through the nail colours to decide what she would get done. She wondered how Taron’s rehearsal had gone and wanted to text him, but it was her time with Evelyn. She would have to text him when she had five minutes to herself when Evelyn left. 

‘The day he surprised me in New York, thank you, by the way, for not telling me that he would be there.’ Evelyn winked with a smile. ‘We went back to the hotel after our day out and-’ 

‘Oh my god, you slept with him!’ 

‘No.’ Liliana crushed Evelyn’s dreams with one single word. ‘I told him about why I left Aber for uni, and why I struggle to go back. I opened up to him for the first time ever and it was both the most freeing and the most suffocating thing I’ve done. I’ve wanted to tell him everything for years but having him look at me with those sad, sympathetic eyes made me want to take it all back and bottle it back up. Then he tried to kiss me.’ 

Liliana bit her bottom lip hard, leaving teeth marks in the plush skin. The pain distracted her from the tears that threatened to spill. She hadn’t told Evelyn the whole truth about New York. 

‘Lili…’ 

‘I ran out of his room,’ Liliana said as she wiped under her eyes and stood up to change the record. ‘I went back to my room, I lay in bed all night barely getting any sleep and then I got radio silence from him for the rest of the trip. Until he picked me up from the airport yesterday.’ 

‘You’re welcome for that,’ Evelyn said. ‘He texted me and asked for our flight details but he wouldn’t tell me why he needed them. I gathered he wanted to do something special so I gave them to him. What happened after you both dropped Jacob and me off?’ 

Taron had insisted that they drive Evelyn and Jacob back to their flats as it was getting late and they each had a large suitcase. He drove to three parts of the city to drop them all off and they’d thanked him profusely. Though Taron, being the gentleman that he was, told them that it wasn’t a bother and that he hoped to see them again soon. 

Liliana had spent most of the drive listening to her three best friends getting to know one another and chatting about work while she sat quietly. When it was just the two of them, Taron gushed about Evelyn and Jacob, expressing how much he liked them and how he could see why Liliana loved them so much. She wanted to ask him about New York but she didn’t. Not then. 

‘We got back here and he brought my suitcase up for me. I asked if he could stay for a bit so we could talk and he agreed. I had a shower and he made a cuppa.’ 

‘Liliana, you’re making this sound so boring, I want juicy details,’ Evelyn chuckled. 

Liliana brushed her off with a playful scowl. ‘I brought New York up and he apologised, then I apologised. He then confessed that he is in love with me, always has been.’ 

Evelyn’s eyes grew wide and her mouth hung open. ‘Oh my god, Lili!’ 

‘Turns out, I feel the same way about him. We kissed right in the doorway to the kitchen, the cups of tea going cold by the second. I was freshly out of the shower, wet hair, no makeup, a pair of cycling shorts and a t-shirt but right then I felt like a million bucks. He made me feel that way just by one kiss. One thing led to another and…’ 

The second the cogs started to turn in Evelyn’s head, her eyes bulged from their sockets and she shifted position so that she was on her knees. 

Liliana’s cheeks were beetroot red by that point and were warm to the touch. But all she could feel was the burning in them from where she’d smiled so widely at Evelyn, who was so excited for her. 

She practically bounced up and down on the sofa and Liliana shook her head with a laugh. Evelyn was happy that Liliana had met someone and let some steam off. She’d been telling her for months that she needed to get laid, which is why she’d bought a box of condoms for her. 

It was even better that she’d found someone who looked at her like she hung the moon. Like she was the most expensive piece of art in the museum. Like she was everything they’d ever wanted, and all they would ever need. 

‘Lili, I am so happy for you. This is huge. How was it? Did he make you come? How many times? Was there a starter or was this a dessert first kinda meal? If there was a starter, was it reciprocated? I need details, woman!’ 

‘Evelyn!’ Liliana guffawed. ‘A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.’ 

‘You are no lady, Liliana Esme,’ Evelyn smirked. ‘You are a wild beast and I know you enjoy sharing details with me.’ 

‘You are absolutely unbelievable. There was dessert. The best dessert I’ve ever had, honestly. When he realised that I hadn’t finished, he tried multiple times to go back for starter, but all I wanted to do was snuggle and fall asleep in his arms. I was so satisfied that the fact I hadn’t finished didn’t bother me in the slightest.’ 

‘Wait, wait, so he came, but you didn’t?’ Evelyn asked, dumbfounded. 

Liliana nodded. ‘Yes, but like I said, I felt so satisfied that it didn’t matter. And he more than made up for it this morning.’ 

‘So you had sex, you didn’t finish but you snuggled until you went to sleep? Do you know how cheesy that sounds?’ Evelyn asked playfully. 

‘I do,’ Liliana responded with a small nod. ‘But there’s something about Taron that I just can’t get my head around. It’s like, I’m so safe around him, and that moment after sex, when we were in bed together just tangled up in one another, my head on his chest and his arms wrapped around me, I felt so safe. The safest I’ve felt in a long time. And I felt so loved, which after recent events was nice.’ 

‘You’re so in love. I love it! Wait, you said he made up for it this morning?’ Liliana nodded as she smiled at the memory of the previous night and that morning. Evelyn nudged her with a gasp. ‘What time did he leave the flat? Is he still here hiding in your bedroom?’ 

Liliana blushed. ‘He left a couple of hours before you got here. It’s been a…fun day.'

‘Yes girl, you get some! Ugh I feel like a proud big sister. Is he coming back here tonight? Are you waiting for me to leave so he can come back and rock your world in the bedroom?’ 

‘Evelyn!’ Liliana knew not to expect any less from her best friend, and secretly she loved how happy Evelyn was for her. ‘He’s at the theatre until late so we’re going to play it by ear. But he did suggest he goes home and you stay here for the night so you aren’t travelling back to your flat while you’re drunk and on your own in the dark. So I guess it’s up to you. If you want to stay the night, which I would love, then he’ll go home but if you wanted to go home, which is also okay, then chances are he’ll come here.’ 

Evelyn shook her head with a knowing grin. ‘I’ll go home. You get yourself laid…again.’ 

‘I still can’t believe he wants me after all these years,’ Liliana confessed at the end of her wine, tilting the glass up to get every last drop of the sweet white wine. 

They were officially out of alcohol and they had only been together for a little over an hour. Liliana debated ordering more online but thought better of it. She wanted to be coherent the next day at work. They were both happily merry, Liliana bordering on drunk but not quite there. 

‘Lili,’ Evelyn sighed in exasperation. Or maybe it wasn’t exasperation. Liliana couldn’t quite tell. ‘When are you going to realise that you are the total package and he’s been in love with you since you were teenagers? You were both just too stubborn to say anything. When he texted me about coming to New York, it was so obvious, but he made me promise not to say anything to you. And then the whole surprise at the airport and a necklace at Christmas? I wish I had a man pining after me to this extent!’ 

Liliana held the pendant of her necklace between her thumb and finger as she thought back to all of the times he’d looked like he wanted to tell her something, how she’d wondered if he was about to lean forward and kiss her. She realised that all of the time she had been pining about him behind closed doors, wishing that he would kiss her, he was trying to stop himself from doing it in case she didn’t want that. 

‘I’m just so happy that I have a chance to make up for lost time. I really love him, Ev. I’ve never loved anybody like this before and it’s so fucking scary.’ 

‘I can see how much you do,’ Evelyn smiled, finally pulling Liliana in for a hug. ‘I’m so happy for you both. You deserve all of this happiness after all of the dark days. I’ll have to nail down someone so we can double date!’ 

‘I’ll see what I can do for you. Maybe Taron has some single actor friends!’ 

‘That would a dream. Don’t forget…Richard Madden.’ 

For the rest of the evening, Evelyn and Liliana talked about work, the book tour, Harry Styles, and what Liliana’s plans were for the second book. They painted one another’s nails, Liliana opting for a pale lilac and Evelyn going for a bright yellow, two perfectly opposite best friends. 

Liliana and Taron texted multiple times, and when Liliana asked if he would stay the night because Evelyn was going home, he jumped at the opportunity and told her that he would drop Evelyn off at home so she didn’t have to take public transport. She would just have to wait until he was finished at the theatre.

Come scream at me :)

[weabooweedwitch]

As a disabled person you have no idea how much these moving walkways in the airport are totally saving me right now and I very much appreciate how depending where you are you're just hitting one after the other. I had to walk from A74 to B5 and I had no idea airports could even have over 70 gates for a single airline 😩 and what's with airport food being so outrageous my god??? $20 for a bacon cheeseburger and some fries? They don't even have McDonald's and like regular affordable fast food anymore besides subway and I have like, subway ptsd from that time I missed the transfer flight to my grandmas funeral because I stopped to get a meatball sub 😩

Anyways my transfer in Detroit is going good! We're about to start boarding the flight to Buffalo in about 20 minutes and then after that, I can kind of chill in the airport and maybe grab some food and kill time because my bus into Canada isn't until 5pm which sucks but, what can you do. I'm just glad I haven't hit any problems so far, but once I land in Buffalo I definitely have to look in my checked suitcase to see if TSA took anything :( I tried to follow the guidelines but there were some things they might have taken like a half empty tube of toothpaste and hopefully not the soup my friend wants me to bring because apparently the dip is for like a little get together or something and its for more than just the two of us? So I can't let anyone down, haha. If the TSA took it I can always buy more, unless all the stores in Buffalo are completely cleared out because of the recent horrible bomb cyclone and the issues caused by that...

Also on a happier note oh my goodness my last flight had the tiniest little Yorkie on it 🥺❤ definition of a purse dog, she was carrying that thing one handed and it was so cute and well behaved, and I just noticed there's a woman with a dachshund on my flight to NY ❤

[eastcoastboyos]

Home

The travel day started bumpy. Miami rain persisted in the morning, so Joel and I got soaked walking to the parking garage to pick up the van. This wouldn't have been too big of an issue, but because I had thrown out my stinky shoes the day before, all I had to wear was my now soaked sandals.

Swallowing the misfortune, Joel and I grabbed the rest of the boys and headed to the airport. Joel explained our earlier incident to the car rental company and managed to get us a nice, and justified, 7 day discount off our rental. Huge.

Checking into Air Canada, my shorts and shirt had dried out but my sandals had not. Taking them off to walk barefoot through security only to be flagged by the body scan, and requiring a personal pat down around my gonads, only added insult.

Getting to the gate, I was stressed from forgetting to take the day off work and my tight connecting flight. The state of my feet worsened and they did not smell good.

Taking advice from the boys, I attempted to dry my sandals and feet in the private bathroom. Avoiding the floor by standing on toilet seat covers, things went from bad to worse as the 1-ply paper got stuck to my clamy feet, and attempting the clean them with disintegrating toilet paper did not help either.

Abandoning my drying efforts, I slapped on some socks and hoped they would hold the stench. To my horror, the girl next to me in the plane covered her nose a few times and I was petrified for the three hour flight. I cranked my air flow nozzle up to max and buried my feet as best I could under the seat in front of me. I was terrified to move.

Scrambling off the plane to catch my connecting flight, I jogged through customs, feeling uncomfortable. Making it to my terminal just as the last people we boarding, I learned that I had been rebooked to a flight 30 minutes later. Darn.

Feeling beat up, I used this time to swap socks, disposing of the current pair, and ate my supper of pringles, m&ms, and a slim jim. The universe must have been feeling sorry for me at this point, because on the next flight, it gave me a seat with a TV and nobody was beside me. I could relax a bit.

Getting home, I learned that the my bags were delayed, and my phone screen had a broken pixel line in it, but all was ok. I hugged Tova and felt gratitude.

Hopefully the rest of of the boys trip home was smooth. Here are some random things not mentioned in the past two week but worth remembering:

- Derek hallucinating centipedes In the tent (too many ants in there)

- Blake loving boiled peanuts

- Sucking another man's dick Guy

- Boys shopping spree in the NASA gift store

- Dylan and I sitting on the Orlando porch talking

- Nervousness over eating the danger watermelon that was left in the hot van.

- Way too many Surf Style and NY Gifts Shops.

- Defogging van chaos with Dylan getting hit by the washer spray

- Joel burnt on the last day

- Sandy floors in the Miami Airbnb

Derek

[pulsdmedia]

The Week Ahead 8/13-8/19

Round up your besties, because the last month of summer is looking hot! Outdoors, on the roof, in the club, and just out & about in the city, there's so much happening, and we're here for it all...

$29 Rhythm & Rum Beach Party: 3Hr Open Bar, Music & More

A tropical oasis full of flavor, festive feels, and fabulous New Yorkers awaits at Lady Blue's Rhythm & Rum: Padum, Padum Beach Party! Grab your $29 Ticket that gets you access to a 3 Hour Open Bar serving Rum Punch, Rum Runners, Wines, and Beers. A live DJ will play a mix of Afrobeats, reggae, and island music to make you feel the oasis sensations as you sip on your lusty libations, taking a break only to dance, try rum samples, learn more about this historic spirit, witness Cigar Rollers work their magic, and maybe even order some tasty food for purchase. Who needs a flight when you can get on island time right here in New York City...

A Skincare & Portrait Experience

Don't miss an exclusive Portrait Event where the Fresh Face Lab will highlight your stunning features! You'll have the golden opportunity to celebrate and embrace your unique beauty. Stop by Shopify NY for a quick, 5-minute photo session against a white backdrop. The Community Managers will snap 3-4 pictures and transfer them to you on the spot!

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**LAST IN THE SERIES** Rooftop Moroccan Nights Experience

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[mountswhore]

I need some angsty Christian in my life so maybe one where you and Christian have been long distance since you’re studying in America and you find out he slept with someone else after a night out. Once you found out you immediately broke up with him and cut off all contact and that just killed him so the next opportunity he had he got on a flight to come see you and try to win you back

𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 — christian pulisic

summary: you're in NY for university, and christian cheats on you.

notes: requests are OPEN.

“How’s studying going?” Christian asked, staring at his phone screen as you walked around campus. You had called him as it was dark, and late, and you knew he’d be up. Honestly, you needed every reason to call him or talk to him, because being long-distance sucked.

“It’s going great,” you beamed, looking down at your phone and seeing him smiling. He looked cozy in bed, wearing the tracksuit you had bought him for his birthday last year. And he stared back at you, taking notice of your rosy cheeks and nose due to the cold New York weather, and he missed the sparkle only he could see in your eyes.

“Really? Because it doesn’t look like you’re doing much studying right now,” Christian laughed, earning a small giggle from you, “what are you doing, anyway? You’ve been outside for almost twenty minutes now.”

“I just came home from a coffee break with friends,” you told him, finally entering your dorm building and sighing in relief at the warmth, “and I'll have you know that I'm top of my class, and I'm ahead of my work."

"Yes you are, my smart girl. You'll never understand just how proud I am of you." His words were sweet, and true, and they had you feeling warmer inside than your dorm did.

Little did the both of you know, this was the last time you had spoken on a call. Christian had no idea of the night he was about to have, neither did you.

Night out tonight, I will call tomorrow, Christian texted, forgetting about his phone for the rest of the night. And you'd sent him a small heart in reply, getting back to reading through your notecards for an upcoming end of unit test.

Christian had no clue what tonight was celebrating, but he never turned down an invitation to party with his teammates and friends. Drinks were arriving at the table quicker than he could finish the last round, many people were coming up to the booth to chat to the boys surrounding him, and they were all having a genuinely good time. But Christian was stuck on you, he couldn't stop thinking about the distance.

You were thousands of miles from each other, and he hadn't been able to touch you, hold you, kiss you in months. The last time he'd seen you was when you'd come home for Christmas, and that wasn't nearly enough time with you.

It had been two hours, and Christian felt like a buzzkill. He felt as if he were bringing the mood down for everyone, moping around missing his girlfriend.

"Cheer up," a very clearly drunk Mason chirped, throwing his arm over Christian's shoulder, "come on, we're celebrating, having fun, Y/N would want you to have fun." And he was right, you would always encourage him to have fun, even when you were stuck in your dorm studying.

So Christian started to drink more, dance more, and he could barely make out who was who under the steaming lights. He could feel people dancing with him, holding him, and he'd finally let go. He didn't want to control his actions, think about anything, his mind was iced over and the alcohol was now taking the wheel.

You had woken up far too early, deciding to take a slow walk into the city to grab some coffee and breakfast before your exam this afternoon. It was still freezing, making you crave the material of Christian's hoodie, that was now wrapped around you as you left your building and walked through the chilly New York air.

You hadn't paid attention to your phone until you got back, and had only brushed off the constant buzzing as your Psychology group chat arranging a time to meet in the library to study, but once you were back in your dorm and packing your bag full of revision materials, you'd seen it was Ben.

You and Ben weren't close at all, but you often talked when you'd visit the training grounds to see Christian. You'd gotten his number as Christian had called you on his phone, and you'd only text in regards to Christian. So seeing 12 missed calls from Ben, was strange.

Ben: Y/N answer, please.

Ben: Please

Ben: It's important.

You were close to going into cardiac arrest, sitting at your desk as you shakily called Ben back. He'd answered immediately, sounding like he was about to throw up. What the fuck was going on?

"Y/N, listen, I need to talk to you," Ben spoke, his voice low and it only worried you more.

"Ben, what the fuck is going on? Is Christian okay?" You questioned, getting antsy now and no longer wanting to wait for Ben to just spill what had happened.

Ben sighed. "Last night, we all went out. I don't even know why, we were celebrating something. But Christian was sat like a grouch, refusing to have fun. I don't know what happened, but I disappeared to the toilets, and I came back to find him necking another girl."

Your sigh was shaky, you wanted to throw up. You couldn't say anything, despite the rush of thoughts in your head.

"I had to tell you, because I don't know if Christian will. Y/N, say something, please." Ben added, and you could hear the guilt dripping from his voice. But why would Ben be guilty? He wasn't an accomplice to Christian's affair.

"I have to go," you spoke, afraid to raise your voice above a whisper in fears of it breaking, "I have an exam in two hours."

Ben's heart clenched. He felt bad for telling you, especially before your exam, he knew how important your work was to you. It was all Christian spoke about, apart from how stunning you were. But he had to tell you, you had to know, he felt horrible about keeping it from you.

Your walk to the library was fast-paced, you had arrived ten minutes before your friends, leaving you to think about Christian and what he'd done. You couldn't understand it. He had never shown any disinterest in you, he was always the one to call and text you in the morning, he was always the one to call you his smart girl or tell you he was proud of you. It made no sense for him to just randomly cheat on you.

You had composed twenty different messages in the time you were waiting for your friends. And you'd settled on it the moment your friends came into view, this was it. No more thinking about Christian. You had given your friends a weak smile before greeting them, getting ready to revise for your exam in 90 minutes.

Christian had woken up to that message, and he was hunched over the side of the bed, rereading it. His heart heart as much as his head did now, he felt even more sick than he did yesterday, and now he had to get used to you being gone. He didn't want to, he could barely gather his memories of last night, and the hate he felt in his heart for himself had kept him in bed all day, like a magnet.

You left your exam in the late afternoon, declining the dinner invitation from your friends and deciding to have a quiet night in. And it took all of you not to call Christian, like you usually would after an exam, and tell him all about it. But you couldn't. He'd made his decision, and now you had to deal with the consequences.

You had gotten into bed, turning your laptop on and planning to watch Netflix, but it was forgotten quickly as you read the messages that came through to your phone. All from Christian.

C <3: I'm sorry

C <3: I'm so sorry, I don't have an excuse.

C <3: I don't remember last night at all, but I can't believe I've hurt you.

C <3: I love you, I need you. And I've ruined it.

C <3: I will get you back, I will. I will make this right, first plane to New York, and I'm on it.

[georgiaheartsdilfs]

→ last time sebastian s x f!reader

song : Infrunami - Steve Lacy prompt : you had recently visited new york and luckily you met sebastian stan, despite his famous reputation he insisted that since it was the first time you've visited NY he would show you around, that was until the day you left.

"will this be the last time we see each other?"

warnings

:

New York was beautiful especially in the middle of the night, in the two weeks i've been her Sebastian has showed me every food joint to every monument in new york.

I was sad when I realised that my flight back home to California, especially since in the small amount of time that I had known Sebastian he managed to find his way to my heart faster than any I've ever known.

With many sleepless nights came many restless days, but, Sebastian dealt with it by shoving food in my face. It was a dream come true to finally go to New York, then meeting Sebastian who I fell in love with the moment I watched Captain America was crazy.

I had been staying in a motel for a couple days before I met Sebastian, he had insisted that he showed me around the place and obviously at first not knowing who he was. I agreed.

"y/n come on, the beach is the best part in the middle of the night" Sebastian groaned on my hotel chair leaning his head back, I place my earrings in "Sebastian I can't swim" I say, of course I could but I hadn't even worked out for weeks if I even got into a bikini and noticed a hint of fat hanging out I'd get back into my usual clothes. "y/n no one goes to the beach at night, it will be me and you i promise" he said, he had been trying to get me to go to swimming with him for the past hour and a half.

"i'll do anything" he whines and I turn around "you get pasta for me and make it when we get back here" I point at him as he claps "deal, sold can we go now it's ten it will be perfect" he said standing up "let me get dressed" I sigh and he starts dancing.

He runs over to me grabbing me pulling me closer "hey siri play magic moment" he says tossing his phone on the bed next to us "dance with me" he says wrapping his arms around my waist "Sebastian I really can't dance" I mumble "you just said that about swimming yet you mentioned yesterday how great of a swimmer you are" he smirked and I roll my eyes wrapping my arms around his neck.

The dance was slow, usually I'd run away and lock myself in the bathroom but being here, with him, it felt right so I didn't fight it.

"Sebastian we have to go swimming, I want to go swimming" I say quietly looking up at him noticing he had his eyes closed "after this song hunny I promise" he said and I nod laying my head back on his chest as we continued to slow dance for the next three minutes.

"ok" he said "SWIMMING TIME" he yells throwing his arms up and I clap running to the bathroom to go get dressed, I put on my bikini top and underwear and look up in the mirror holding my stomach.

I walk out continuing to hold my stomach, Sebastian immediately noticed and ran over grabbing my hands "stop it, you're beautiful" he smiled giving me a confidence boost as I sigh looking down "dont question it" he says and I nod putting on my shorts and a shirt before grabbing a towel "race ya" I say "HEY" he screams as I run out the door to the elevator.

He catches up before I was able to even close the elevator door, he picks me up kissing my cheek and I giggle "no fair" I continue to giggle and he puts my down still holding me.

"so fair" he says pushing the button to the ground floor with one arm, the other still wrapped around my torso, since he was far taller than me he was able to use me as a chin rest and he did so for the whole elevator ride.

The elevator door opened and he races out running towards the parking lot, he was faster than me so by the time i reached the car he was already in and he had locked the car, I knock on the window twice and he waves innocently "I could easily just run back up and lock myself in the hotel with all your stuff" I say and he winds the window down "sorry i think you're locked out" he says and I quickly reach down unlocking the door.

Sebastian laughs as I get in and we drive off.

Winding the window down I hang my head outside, the new york night sky always amazed me especially the lights beaming off of the tall towers.

Sebastian placed his hand on my thigh, i think he liked me the way i liked him... I say I think because after tomorrow I could have just been the girl that showed him a good time without sex. Pulling my head back in to the car I turn to see Sebastian smiling "what are you smiling about it's my last day you're suppose to be sad you loser" I say "I'm just happy, i like it away from the cameras with you" he says not taking an eye off the road. "im bummed i have to go, i love it here" i say looking out the window holding Sebastian's hand "do you have a boyfriend back in california?" he asks and I look at him "yeah totally" I laugh and he quickly looks at me before looking back at the road "i mean if i was going to new york for no reason I'd not bring him" I say sarcastically. "don't tell me you have a girlfriend" I say and he laughs "of course not, im just curious we never really established friendships and all that you know?" he said "yeah no i know" I smile. "honestly, i don't think i could get a boyfriend" I say truthfully playing with Sebastian's fingers "why?" he said "I don't know I dont think i'm a lovable person" I say quietly "you love to hate on yourself huh" he says and I nod chuckling. "if i wasn't so bummed about you leaving, i'd so marry you" he said "i would marry me too" I say and he laughs as we pull into the beach, thankfully no one else was there "no one is ever here at night" he says reaching back for the towels and we get out of his car. He dumps the towels on the sand quickly taking off his shirt, I place my phone on a rock with the flash on recording a video. I had gotten a new phone last week since I lost my last one at an amusement park but I assume it was smashed by now. So since I had a lot of storage I thought I'd record and photograph every day I had with Sebastian so I didn't miss him as much when I left. "COME ON" he yells form the water "ONE MOMENT" I yell back adjusting the camera before taking of my shirt and shorts and running towards his, he opens his arms and I run towards his and he wraps his arms around me lifting me up before throwing me in the water "AAAAH" I scream before being fully submerged under the water. I stand up and look at him with a serious face and he looks at me with a concerned face, suddenly I splash him and he laughs grabbing me "SEBASTIAN IM SORRY" I squeal before kissing me on the cheek and throwing me back in. I stand up again laughing "god you're so beautiful" he says submerging his head getting his hair wet and then flicking it back "SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL" he yells and I laugh blushing. "come here" he says with his arms open again, I walk towards him laying my head on his chest. It seems that we spend most of the day doing this but it didnt matter. "god I wish you didn't have to go" he said kissing my head, I didn't want to leave but I had to. This was the only time I got off from work, as soon as I went back it would go back to normal, back to reality. "please dont go" he says grabbing my cheeks gently making me look up at him "i have work seb" I said gently and he looked at me sadly "i dont want you to go home and think I was that one famous actor that gave you a tour guide" he said and I moan closing my eyes "can we not think about it, my flight is like hours away" I say. He looks down at me still holding me, his eyes met mine despite all the waves hitting our legs the only things we were focusing on where each other. "fuck you" I say before grabbing him and kissing him, if I truly wanted something from this trip it would've been a friend but instead I fell in love, with somebody who i couldn’t have. The flash on my phone stayed and any car who drove past could see us right now, I pulled away and he smiles running his thumb along my cheek caressing it gently "people definitely saw" I say and he shrugs "doesn't matter" he said, I then tackle him putting him under the water. He stays under swimming towards me slowly like a shark when he jumps up to grab me he pulls me down with him. My body remains underwater as I poke my head up and see

Sebastian already standing up laughing "so what was that about the whole fuck me thing?" he said shaking the water out of his hair before pushing it back. "shut up" I chuckle "i'm so in love with you right now" he said staring at me with a gentle sweet smile, his cheeks almost as pink as his lips "don't you feel that way?" he asked still staring at me as I stand up pushing my hair back "yeah" i smile. "so don't go" he groans "i have to, besides there is someone prettier out there for you" I wink at him and he pouts shaking his head "i beg to differ, the prettiest girl in the world is right in front of me and then tomorrow she will be on the other side of the country" he says sadly. "you got to LA all the time Seb, I'll see you" I smile sweetly going over to hug him, he kisses my forehead one final time "what do you think the time is"?" I ask "hm probably twelvish" he says "we should go get food right, can you hear it my tummy its rumbling" he says and I laugh "same" and he grabs my hand dragging me out of the water. Grabbing the towels he throws his one over his shoulder before running back to me and wrapping my towel around me as he picks me up "let's go let's go let's go" he says excitedly. He gently places me in the car "my phone seb" I chuckle as he runs to the rock I had placed it on quickly posing in front of it and then grabbing it handing it to me when he got in the car. "FOOOOOOD" he yells turning the on the car immediately driving off, he opens Spotify playing infrunami which I had told him to be my favourite song I used to study to. I look over to him and smile as he grabs my hand kissing it gently, my other hand waving out the window "girl, you're the one i want, you're the one i need" he sings "i'm begging you please" I sing along "can you come back to me cause I was blind to see that you were right in front of me" he says quickly looking at me and then back to the road with a smile. By the time the song had finished we found a place that sold pasta, Sebastian ran out to order the food. Ten minutes pass and Sebastian gets in the car with a bag of food "HOTEL MOTEL HOLIDAY INN" he yells driving off. "two hours at the beach, i thought you didn't like swimming babe" he said looking over to me "eyes on the road young man, i love swimming just not here" I say completely ignoring the fact he called me babe. "i'll take that down for the next time I buy a house when we move in together" he says and I laugh "you really think i'd live with a famous actor, i'd have to get rid of my bucky shrine" I say jokingly "well why when you have a real life bucky right here" he smiles and I smile back at him. God, I was so in love with him. I don't want to go, I really don't. To be honest I shouldn't go but the job I have makes me happy... sort of. We get back to the hotel, racing each other to the elevator obviously Sebastian won despite carrying all the food. "No fair" I groan "you're way too fit for this" I say and he laughs "you'll win tomorrow morning I promise" he says and the elevator door opens. I press the button that goes to my floor and Sebastian laughs "what" I say "nothing" he says smiling at me "if you ever come to LA you promise to visit me?" I ask "you're actually like I wont call you every time I wake and every time I go to sleep" he says and I laugh. "you're so perfect y/n" he said as the elevator door opens and we walk down the hallway "thanks seb" I smile "no I mean it, all these woman you know they are beautiful sure but you, you're different to them you dont want to fit it because you naturally do" he paused. "you don't have to try to be funny in front of a guy because you just are, don't get me started on your humor and then you are just drop dead stunning and I want you to be my wife so so so so so bad" he says and I smile. We reach the door and I unlock it, Sebastian had been sleeping on the couch for the past few days that he had been staying although I insisted nothing bad could come out of two friends sleeping in the same bed. "you're being very vocal on your feelings tonight seb" I

say walking in dumping the towels in the washing basket "because tonight is my last night with you, what am i going to do just sit at my house and continuously look at all the photos i snuck of you when I could have told you how I felt come on LAME" he says and I turn around "You snuck photos" I say shocked and he chuckles going to get forks. He gives me a fork as we sit on the couch opening the food "who wouldn't" he said and I giggle. "if i asked you to marry me right now would you?" he asked and I look at him "if that means i get to stay sure" I respond and he looks over to me "STAYYY" he whines throwing his head back on the couch "I can't afford another plane ticket back seb" I groan "I also don't have any more off days" I continue. "I have money let me" he says "Sebastian Stan you have spent more than enough money on me shut up" I say and he shakes his head "you think this was nothing wait until our wedding" he says shoving some food in his mouth. My flight was in 8 hours and it just started to really hit me that I was going to leave the only person who made me feel normal, who made me feel loved. When I thought about it deeply it made me more than sad, it actually made me depressed. We had moved from sitting on the sofa to the bed because the TV there had a big screen "let's watch rush hour, I haven't seen it" he says and I turn to look at him "Your meaning to tell me you havent seen the famous Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker dancing to war!" I say and he shakes his head "you're so missing out" I laugh playing Rush Hour. By the time we had reached one of my favourite parts of the movie, the food had all disappeared and Sebastian and I were cuddling "OH OH WAIT ITS THE PART" I say getting out of his grip and standing up on the bed as he looks up at me "YALL HUH" I sing "WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR" I say dancing "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING" i say mocking Chris Tucker. Sebastian laughs looking up at me clapping "WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR" I point to Sebastian "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING" He laughs jumping up and dancing with me then the song finished and we fell back on the bed laughing. "i'm gonna miss this" I smile to him and he smiles back "I will too" he says sadly. We finish the movie and I look over to Sebastian who had fallen asleep, I dont blame him it was almost 2 and my flight was now in 6 hours, I had everything packed for the morning but I just wasnt ready to say goodbye yet. I stared at Sebastian who was lightly snoring and smiled, he had fallen asleep shirtless because it was boiling hot but then again when I asked him to hold me he did it anyways despite the body heat adding to the already hot temperature in the room. After a while I had fallen asleep.

This morning I was woken by my alarm, the moment I dreaded had come and even thought I had four hours of sleep that wasn't even the worst part of this morning. I turned my head to look at Sebastian to see him already staring at me with his cheesy smile, I rubbed the back of my hand along the bottom of his jawline smiling at him "don't go" he said caressing my cheek "i don't like the thought of you leaving me" he mumbled "nor do I seb" I said "will this be the last time we see each other?" he asked quietly "of course not love" I smile holding back the copious amount of tears prepared to flow down my cheeks. "it sucks, i've only known you for a week and a bit, but in that week and a bit i found someone " he said "I went to a carnival" he continued smiling "I watched Rush hour whilst eating pasta" he said making me giggle "but most of all i fell in love, with somebody who I can't even keep" he mumbled and a tear escaped from my eyes. "you'd think saying goodbye to my pet snake was hard enough when I had to let him go into the forest" I chuckle and he wipes my tear "nope" I say "this has to be the hardest" I continue, sighing in disbelief. "fuck that call me when you land" he says and I nod.

[spenciegoob]

Who Needs Luck?

A/N: hi! I solely wrote this because of my 3 recent visits to NY (no, I sadly did not meet mgg)... plus i’ve been going there my whole life.. this is becoming the longest authors note, but as i’m writing I just want to say the people who work at food trucks in nyc are the nicest people ever, ask them about their day (AND TIP OMG PLS)

Summary: Reader invites Spencer to go to New York City with her where he finally sees the beauty right in front of him.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Category: Fluff!

Content Warnings: reader can’t drive very well (I apologize if this is a callout post), slight road rage, language

Masterlist

Word Count: 2.4K

____

I never considered myself a lucky man. Life had proven time and time again that no matter how many four leaf clovers I set out to search for, how many pennies on the ground faced heads up I stumbled across, luck was never on my side. I’ve learned to live with it, accepted my fate as the world’s smartest punching bag long before I was even in college.

But then I met her, and as cheesy as it sounds, I didn’t need luck that morning.

The second I woke up, the universe seemed to have it out for me specifically. I swung my legs over my bed, and in my half asleep daze stepped on my glasses, successfully breaking them. Unable to see on my short trip to the bathroom, I stubbed my toe… twice. Once I finally finished my morning routine more methodically, I walked out of my apartment only to bump into a stranger, sending the coffee she was holding all the both of us.

I had tried to apologize so many times, cutting my words short when they didn’t feel right. I had gotten through a series of “I’m, uh, oh, I, you,” before her smile interrupted my thought process, leaving me awestruck instead.

“That’s okay, but you owe me a coffee now.” She giggled, actually giggled, even with the scorching liquid causing her shirt to stick to her body. “Maybe… together?”

I didn’t hesitate to agree, taking her up on the offer that weekend and never looking back. Even when a loud crash, followed by a quiet, harsh ‘shit’ woke me up in a startle, there was no regret. Maybe just a little concern for my girlfriend who now that my eyes have adjusted to the darkness, can be seen holding her knee on the floor of our bedroom.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered out, grabbing onto the dresser to stand straight again. Once she was on her feet, she came over to sit on the edge of our bed, immediately running her fingers through my hair. If I wasn’t so worried about her knee, I probably would’ve fell asleep again.

“Are you okay?” She giggled at my scratchy morning voice before nodding her head. It’s then I realized how the sun hasn’t even begun to rise, the room still pitchblack. “What are you doing up?”

“Getting ready to go to the city, sleepyhead,” she said as if it was the most obvious answer, but truthfully, it left me with more questions.

“At... 5 am?” I sat up, glancing at the alarm clock three times just to make sure I was reading it right. She may have always been a little strange, but usually at a reasonable hour.

At this, she stood up to continue getting ready for the very early morning. Now I notice why she fell, the piles of clothes leading to the closet had to have at least half of her outfits compiled together.

“Well, yeah. I want to get there before noon.” Even in my perplexed state, I rose from the bed and carefully tiptoed around haphazardly thrown clothes to reach her.

While wrapping my arms around her waist still hidden under my t-shirt, I questioned. “It’s right outside? You have 7 hours.”

She turned to look at me funny as if I wasn’t the one digging through clothes and waking up before dawn to walk literally 5 minutes to my desired location. My eyebrows must have subconsciously furrowed at one point, because she brought her hand up to stroke her thumb on my forehead. Immediately, I felt the tension melt, no longer caring to correct my confusion. She still did it anyway.

“Not DC, silly. New York!” I wish it were untrue, but my heart dropped at her words. She was leaving, going to a city I wasn’t familiar with beyond reading about, solving cases, and memorizing subway maps. Is this how she feels every time I board that jet?

“W-what? You’re just going to New York City?” I inwardly cringed at how desperate and sad I sounded, but I really didn’t want her to leave.

“Mhm,” she mumbled, turning back around to return digging in her closet.

“For how long?” Please change your mind. Please change your mind. Please change you-

Realizing that I was fully awake, she let out a boisterous laugh, allowing the way it bounced off our four little walls to return back to us. It was a sound most treasured. “I was hoping to get back around 9.”

“What?” I leaned back to look at her like she was absolutely preposterous. I mean, she was!

“Roadtrip!”

That’s how I found myself in the passenger seat of her car, no coffee in my hand because I wasn’t allowed until I have “a real cup of coffee.” Whatever the hell that means better happen soon, because as much as I loved watching the way she concentrates on the road in front of her, my eyes were starting to droop.

“It’s going to be another 4 hours. You can sleep, my love.” How she knew me so well, I will never be able to figure out, but I was out before we even made it across state borders.

That however, didn’t last very long. My girlfriend may be short and sweet, but behind the wheel? That’s a different story. The horn to her car is a very familiar sound when I’m jolted awake by a sudden stop.

“Really, asshole? Go!” She yelled, slamming her hand against the top of the steering wheel before looking over at me. “Hey, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to wake you yet. I forgot how awful drivers are here.”

“Where is here exactly?” I questioned, sitting up from my slouched position to find cars practically on top of each other on a road not wide enough for two lanes.

“New Jersey. We’re 10 minutes away.” Wow, I didn’t realize I slept for that long, and I have to admit I’m a little surprised I wasn’t woken up sooner.

“How are we 10 minutes away? It’s at least another 30 to get to the tunnel.” Looking at our surroundings didn’t help me determine our exact location. To the left of us, there were dozens of graffiti murals on the side of what I assumed was another elevated highway. To the right, sidestreets with local businesses ranging from auto repair shops to fast food joints to gyms.

“Nuh uh, stop analyzing mister. You’ll know when we get there.” She waved a finger in my directions, putting a pin in my scrutinization. I pouted right back, successfully playing along to the theme of her scolding me like a 5 year old.

“I don’t like surprises you know.” It was the truth, but her contagious laughter that filled the car made me slightly less disinclined to stop asking questions.

“Oh I know, but trust me, you’ll like this one.” She went to go reach over to grab my hand from where it was resting in my lap, but stopped short and retracted in favor of slamming the horn. “Oh, come on!”

***

“So you drove to a train station... in New Jersey?” I asked while she was… attempting to park the car.

“Well, yeah. I’ve been taking this route since I was a little girl.” Once she finally figured out how to evenly space a two door convertible in a very spacious parking spot, she unbuckled her seatbelt, and was quick to grab her bag from the backseat. “Well, come on mister, we’re going to miss the train.”

To be quite honest, I have never been so lost in my life. I could probably pinpoint our exact location on a map if I wanted to, granted I was given any sort of information, but part of me didn’t want to. Scratch that, all of me didn’t want to, because my entire life has been planned out in front of me before, but right now, I get to be spontaneous with the most beautiful girl on the planet.

“Don’t let go of my hand,” she told me, lacing our fingers together and pulling me forward. “Don’t stop to look around, you will get pushed.”

We made it inside, and if I thought the DC transit system was bustling with people constantly, this place was so much worse. There were hallways left and right, all packed with people in a rush. It seems everybody had some place to be and zero time to get there.

“Upstairs.” We walked up two flights before reaching a platform, buying our tickets and making it just in time for a train to arrive. “I know they come every 8 minutes, but thank god we made this one,” she said as she sat down.

The cart we were in wasn’t too crowded, and once I finally found a map on the wall across from us, I saw that it was a direct ride to the World Trade Center.

“You said you took this train when you were little?”

“Yeah, I went to the city a lot as a kid. This was the easiest, and the cheapest way there.” A small smile played at her lips, obviously the product of some childhood memory. “I used to hop it.”

“Of course you did,” I laughed back with her, thinking about how an innocent looking child would be the first person to get away with sneaking onto the train.

***

“I said it before, I will say it again. Do not let go of my hand.” This time it was more stern, and if I were being honest, I would say that it got me the slightest bit nervous. She must have noticed, she always does, because she continued. “Don’t worry, it just gets congested and I don’t want to lose you.”

She was right about that, it indeed was very congested, but that was okay because she was holding my hand, and I would follow her just about anywhere if it meant she kept looking over her shoulder and smiling when she saw me. Once we made it across the way, and in front of heavy looking glass doors, she turned to me and started walking backwards.

“You okay? This is definitely not off to a great start.” She was wrong, it was off to a perfect start.

“Yeah, I’m okay, but you might want to watch where you’re going,” I said before her back hit the door.

“Please I can get here with my eyes closed.” And then we were outside, and all 5 of my senses were hit immediately. The sun was shining down on us, and before I could complain about not bringing my sunglasses, she handed them to me. My heart fluttered at the innocent act, taking the sunglasses with such gratitude even though she had already moved on to retrieve hers. “Do you smell that?” She asked.

“There are a lot of answers to that question,” I told her, not knowing if she was talking about the smell of the construction happening at the corner, the permanent garbage smell or something entirely different.

“The hotdogs, silly. Come on, there’s nothing like ‘em.” This time, I laced our fingers together, not because I was scared of losing her, I was, but I just really wanted to be closer to her. She didn’t mind, in fact, she let out a content hum and leaned her head on my arm as we walked to the stand.

“Can I get four hotdogs with sauerkraut and two grape sodas,” she asked the vendor, who politely nodded before moving on to prepare our food.

“You’re going to have a heart attack by 35,” I said as I nudged her with my shoulder. She gave me a small push back before answering.

“Is that a doctor’s diagnosis?” She asked as she took our now ready food into her hands, after paying the man before I even had time to blink. I just grabbed the two cans of soda and followed her where she was making a beeline for a park bench. “Watch out for skaters.”

“Yes, it is indeed a doctor's diagnosis.” I unwrapped one of the hotdogs before taking a bite. I closed my eyes and let out a content hum. “It may be a little worth it.”

“Exactly.” We sat there quietly, enjoying the warm weather and sounds of wheels against pavement. At one point, she rested her head against my shoulder, and I am convinced wherever she went would be Heaven.

***

“Are your eyes closed?” We found ourselves with both our hands interlocked, my eyes closed while she walked backwards. I gave an ‘mhm’ before she continued. “We’re here, just keep them closed, and…” her words trailed off. “Okay open.”

I opened my eyes to her holding her arms out in the middle of the largest bookstore I’ve ever seen. “Surprise!” My eyes were bouncing everywhere. It wasn’t too crowded, the large stairwell across the store catching my eye first. There were bookshelves tens of feet high, all loaded with different genres and authors. To the right of us, tiny knick knacks and pins and socks. It was beautiful.

“Wow,” I whispered out, still stuck in my place admiring our surroundings. She was beaming up at me, a hint of pride at her successfulness to drag me 6 hours away to the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.

“The Strand has always been my favorite place in the city. Come on, let’s go explore.” She grabbed my hands again, pulling me deeper into the store towards a shelf labeled adult fiction.

***

Six books, three pairs of socks and a postcard later, we were back on the busy streets of New York, aimlessly walking and admiring the tall buildings and different attractions. Well she was, I was admiring the way she was looking around like it was her first time here. Maybe I should have been paying more attention to our surroundings, but no amount of skyscrapers or fountains could possibly ever match up to her level of beauty. 

“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” I asked randomly, startling her into jumping a tiny bit before giggling. She stopped us, turning to face me fully before reaching up to grab my face in her hands.

“Once or twice.” The kiss we shared on the New York streets were no different than the ones before, but this time, it felt like a silent promise. A passing between two lovers that no matter where we are, our love is the most beautiful thing there is. “I love you too, dork.”

___

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[mooncademia]

Boys vs. Boys — PART 1.

PAIRING ~ prohero au! friends to lovers, Bakugou x reader ( x Yo Shindo) 

GENRE ~ fluff, a little bit of angst!, jealously 

WARNINGS ~ language! a tiny ~spicy~ joke inserted 

WORD COUNT ~ 8.1k 

SUMMARY ~ After more than a month being away in the States, you have finally returned to Tokyo...with a party more than one. And when Bakugou realizes who the extra person was, tension grows between him and ‘pretty boy dunce-face’ a.k.a, the one and only: Yo Shindo. 

[Bakugou] 10:35 a.m :

Text me when you arrive at Narita Airport, okay?

[Y/N] 10:41 a.m:

Of course :)

Bakugou leaned back on his chair in his apartment and read the text that you have sent to him yesterday, over and over again. In less than 30 minutes, you will finally arrive back to Tokyo after spending a month and a half in New York and LA for pro-hero work in the States.

Bakugou was never the type to be constantly checking his social media. He doesn’t even turn on his notifications because his simple rule was: if you had something to tell him, text him through Messages. Or just straight up call him. He doesn’t want to be spending time scrolling through Instagram, liking people’s outfit or food posts, nor did he want to retweet some silly tweet that Kaminari posted, complaining about how his neighbor’s cat hated him on a personal level. Bakugou had his own pro-hero work to do.

But today was different! And he had to be honest to himself, he was a little embarrassed to admit it. But ever since you texted him yesterday, he immediately turned on all his social media apps and now, he has spent way too long scrolling through your friend’s posts--hoping to know if there were any news of your arrival.

Bakugou grunted as he ruffled his blonde hair messily, feeling impatient that he hasn’t received any news about your arrival yet. He leaned over to his desk to grab his water bottle, but right before he unscrewed the cap, his phone vibrates loudly on his desk and he immediately dropped the water bottle and unlock his phone.

Finally! After so many weeks of you being away…you were finally here.

Closer to him.

Bakugou impatiently swiped right to unlock his phone and saw your message.

[Y/N] 7:56 p.m

At Narita, finally 🥴

His lips twitched a smile when he saw the emoji. Yeah, a 14 hour flight isn’t really the most comfortable, huh? He quickly replied back with his thumbs running with speed.

[Bakugou] 7:56 p.m:

How was the flight?

A few minutes past, no response. Bakugou shrugged, a smile still on his face knowing that you were safely here at Tokyo now, and in a few hours, he will be able to see you at the welcome-home party that Yaoyoruzu is preparing at the very moment in her godly-rich mansion.

But, before he rests his phone back on his desk, hundreds of notifications blew up on his phone and he checks his insta story to see what Mina, Uraraka, and Tsuyu posted. After all, they were currently at the airport picking you up.

Bakugou clicked on Mina’s latest insta story, his heart throbbed in excitement to finally see you until—

His face fell.

“I KNEW IT! I FUCKING KNEW YOU TWO WERE DATING!,” Mina squealed in the short clip captioned: “I WAS RIGHT! @yaomomo u owe me $20 bucks 😘😘!” Her phone went flying everywhere which made the video awfully blurry. But Bakugou already caught it and oh, did he feel sour in the mouth.

You looked as beautiful as ever, with your simple yet stylish slightly cropped cream-T and gray sweatpants. Even though your eyes looked a bit dazed as if you had just woken up, you looked so cute to his eyes.

But what made Bakugou’s emotion shift so fast was not of you. Of course not!! How could he ever?!

No. 

It was who you were walking with.

He clicked next on Mina’s insta story, hoping in that split millisecond it was not who he think it is. Not the person in his mind that kept bugging him after seeing so many headlines on the news of the two of you working together in New York and LA. It can’t be him, right?

Right?!!!

But Bakugou’s guts knew way fucking better. And his eyes grew angry when he saw the pro-hero, Yo Shindo, standing next to you. Wrapping you closely in his arms with a smirk plastered on his face. And you looked just as pleased too as Mina caught you laughing with Shindo so lovingly before running towards Mina with your arms wide open.

“Wow,” Bakugou heard Tsuyu gleefully whisper next to Mina. “He’s even more hot in real life! Why the hell can’t I find men like that?!”

“It’s a rarity.” 

Bakugou heard Tsuyu scoffed playfully. “Tell me about it.” 

Mina continued to wobble the phone, which makes Bakugou want to shout at the device on his hand to stop! moving! But alas, the next clip that was just posted 16 seconds ago, he saw you with your arms wide open, giving all your girlfriends a hug.

“Aw, I miss you guys so much!!” You squealed. Bakugou could no longer see “pretty boy dunce-face ” anymore but he knew he was with you and his stomach drop.

Ah, Yo Shindo. The pro-hero who study abroad in New York after high school for an internship at a country-famous agency, second best from Captain Celebrity (who was #1 hero in the U.S!), becoming a famous pro-hero in America.

And surely enough, when you flew to NY and LA to collaborate with Yo Shindo, news broke out nation wide in America about the two of you working together that even Japan starred the news on television one day. And those past weeks while you were gone, Bakugou had to suffer from all the pictures that the paparazzi took in New York and Los Angeles. And he admits it. He spent way too many nights awake, changing his VPN to U.S.A on his computer (thank you Kaminari for the tip!) to read and watch CNN, New York Times, and any other newsline that starred or mentioned you and Yo Shindo, hoping to grasp any updates about you.

But now you were finally here in Tokyo…with a party more than one. And as Bakugou closed Instagram, he closed his eyes to calm himself down aka, reassuring yourself that you and Yo Shindo were definitely no more than just friends…

Who spent more than a month together in the States…

And flew back to Tokyo together in the same flight…

Yeah…not helping.

Bakugou lifted himself off his chair and threw a towel over his shoulder, heading towards the shower to wash up before the party at Yao-momo’s tonight. But Bakugou’s phone buzzed once more and when he leaned in to check it, his heart did a little flip when he read your text.

[Y/N] 8:14 p.m

Not the very best 😔 a flight attendant and I had this argument because there was a seating error!

Bakugou relaxed a bit. He knew it was a little self-indulgent and selfish to feel this, and maybe it was jealously that was pouring over him, but he felt his nerves relaxed a bit knowing that perhaps you didn’t at all fell for that Yo Shindo boy.

Bakugou began to type back. Not an overly-top-gushy-pick-me-up text that he know that idiot Deku would type, but a nice and cool but sweet text to cheer you up from your bad flight. But before he clicked the sent button, he received another message.

[Y/N] 8:15 p.m

Thankfully Yo Shindo was there to help me out, he’s here in Tokyo too by the way! 

Bakugou felt his stomach drop again. He backspaced his previous text and rewrote a new one.

[Bakugou] 8:16 p.m

Oh, that’s great!

He knew it was far from the truth as jealously crept up behind his back again, but he had to play it cool. He can’t be jumping into conclusions before he knows anything about the two of you!

[Y/N] 8:16 p.m

I’ll see you at Momo’s, right?

Bakugou smiled at the screen. Despite the news of pretty-boy dunce face in town, he still can’t wait to finally see you after so many weeks. Of course you have been keeping him updated through your texts every week, but to see you actually in person after so long…his heart couldn’t stop beating when he typed back.

[Bakugou] 8:17 p.m

Yeah, I’ll be there.

And with that, Bakugou finally rested his phone back on his desk and headed towards the shower, hoping to wash away all silly thoughts flowing in his mind.  Hoping that…when he sees you tonight, he is able to have an opportunity in the near future to tell you about the emotions he has been feeling ever since you left Tokyo last month. 

With no distractions in the way—especially not that  pretty boy idiot!

—————

Okay so his previous plan came to a halt.

“Yo, Yao-Momo!!” Kaminari shouted as he hopped back onto the couch. He pointed behind him excitingly. “I didn’t know you had black custom-made toilets!!”

“Black toilets?” Kirishima asked, setting up the living room table with cups and beverages.

“Yeah! And there’s even a TV mounted on the wall above the bath tub. And OH! There’s “jacuzzi” mode in the tub! And there are speakers so you can listen to music and the mirror above the sink opens up to a—“

“So did you go pee, or did you just take a full-ass bath in my bathroom?” Yaoyorozu asked with her hands on her hips and sneered eyes.

Kaminari widened his eyes like a puppy. “I CAN TAKE A BATH IN YOUR COOL BATHROOM?!”

Yaoyorozu sighed as she placed two finger on her nose bridge, but Kaminari could tell that she was trying not to laugh.

“Food’s here!!” Yaoyorozu’s boyfriend, Yosetsu Awase, announced as he plopped down six pizza boxes on the table.

“Thanks babe for picking it up,” Yaoyorozu said before giving Awase a kiss on the cheek. She smiled happily at her boyfriend and when Bakugou glanced up, the two of them looked so good together that he couldn’t help but feel a sour in his stomach as he reflected back at the news he saw on Mina’s Instagram story.

Bakugou cleared his throat as he helped Kirishima set up all the props. “So…when’s Y/N getting here?”

Kirishima looked at him and when he saw his best friend look so curious and innocent, Kirishima’s eyes immediately lit up and he nudged Bakugou on the ribs even though he knew he may be dead meat from teasing him.

“You still like her, huh!” Kirishima said in a low whisper with a smirk, which almost caused Bakugou to light up his hands and slam Kirishima face down on Momo’s fancy wooden floors. But before he could even act, he heard the entrance door whoosh open with Mina’s voice echoing from the door to the main room.

“YOU OWE ME $20 BUCKS MOMOOOOOOOO!!!!” Mina shouted as she dragged you to the living room. When Bakugou saw you standing a couple feet away from him, he sucked in a breath.

You were still wearing your airport outfit that he saw you last on Mina’s post. But when he thought that you couldn’t look any more beautiful from the small screen on his phone, he was so wrong. As you stood there with a sheepish grin on your face—to Bakugou’s eyes— you were 10 times more prettier in real life. Hell, make that a hundred.

When you locked eyes with Bakugou after giving Kirishima a hug, you blushed before stepping towards him, about to do the same, until—

“Y/N!! YOU’RE FINALLY FUCKING HERE!!! I MISS YOU SO GODDAMN MUCH!!!” Yaoyorozu squealed as she ran over, cutting Bakugou from his hug. Bakugou had to back up before Yaoyorozu jumped over him and he was not happy about that. But when you let out an “oof!” and rested your shoulder on Momo’s shoulder, your eyes were still on Bakugou’s and you gave him a weary smile that said: “sorry!”

Bakugou couldn’t stay furious too long when he saw your apologetic smile as you hugged Momo back. He gave an appreciative nod at you that made you know that he was glad to finally see you back.

When Momo parted away, she blinked her eyes at Mina, who was standing right next to you with her arms crossed and a sly smirk plastered on her face.

Momo perked up. “Wait, I owe you $20 bucks?”

Mina widened her eyes and grabbed your arm, shaking it so excitingly that Bakugou swore she probably loosened all your bones now. “Bitch! You owe me $20 bucks when we bet on Y/N and Yo Shindo being together!”

You shot your head at Mina with eyes widened. “You guys bet WHAT?!” You asked so sternly that it made Mina and Momo tuck their hands sheepishly behind their backs.

“Well…” Mina teased, eyes staring at the ground as she drew circles on the floor with her shoe. “We kinda bet on whether you will get together with Yo Shindo when you were away…”

“We? As in just the two of you, right?”

Momo clamped the back of her neck embarrassingly. “Uh…plus Asui and Ochaco..?”

You gasped, shaking your head in disbelief. “You guys! I cannot believe—“

“That you love us too much for you to get mad at us?” Mina interrupted with such a cute smile that you parted your mouth for a few seconds and darted your eyes from Mina to Momo before dropping your hands and releasing a sigh.

“Fine…” you said, rolling your eyes but your lips lifted up to a smile. You extended your arms to your friends. “Come here you guys…Ya’ll are so lucky I haven’t seen you two for more than a month. Or else you’ll be dead meat!”

Your girlfriends ran in to hug you one more time, continuing their warm comments on how much they have missed you.

Yaoyorozu parted away when a thought came across her mind. “WAIT, Y/N, FOR REAL THO. Are you guys dating? .… Oh my god,” Yaoyorozu cupped her cheeks with her hands and blushed warmly. “Don’t tell me he’s actually here, is he?!”

Bakugou silently pleaded to himself that pretty boy dunce face is not here. Oh god, please let him have mercy!

“He’s here!” Mina squealed turning her head back to Yaoyorozu. “And he’s so cute in real life!”

Yaoyorozu clamped her hand over her mouth. “Oh my god. Yo Shindo. In my house.” She scanned the whole living room, making sure that everything looked fine.

“Uh. Your boyfriend. Also. In your house.”  Awase cleared his throat as he and Kaminari came back with paper plates.

Yaoyorozu walked towards her boyfriend and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek. “Of course you know I love you, babe. But Yo Shindo is here. That’s like…that's like having Brian the Sun come over to perform a song, y’know. We are all just fangirling!”

“We?” Bakugou sputtered out. Kirishima flashed him a smirk which made him roll his eyes and mutter out a “whatever”.

But no one heard him, because right after Bakugou’s comment, Tsuyu and Uraraka entered in with the man that Bakugou never thought he’d ever have to see since his pre-license exam during his first year in U.A.

Yo Shindo came in holding two pack of beers and bowed slightly with a celebrity-level smile that would have all girls swooning after him. He was wearing a Gucci shirt under a blue flannel, paired with ripped vintage denim jeans and a black beanie that made the bangs on his head scoot down just a tiny bit. His face mask was resting right below his lips and his whole aura screamed: “FASHION” in all the right places. But it wasn’t just his looks that demanded attention, it was also his aura of easy confidence that he held. And if he wasn’t a pro-hero, he’s the type of guy that would be easily mistaken as a supermodel.

His yellow Gentle Monster sunglasses were tucked in his shirt and Tsuyu and Uraraka giggled as they sat down the rest of the beers on the table and directed Shindo to do the same.

“Hey,” Shindo greeted everyone as he moved next to where you were standing which made Bakugou’s eyes squint just a bit. You nodded at him with a smile that made Bakugou want to twist his guts. “It’s so nice to meet everyone! Y/N talks a lot about you guys.”

“SO YOU REMEMBER US FROM THE LICENSE EXAM?!” Kaminari asked excitingly, almost jumping out of his seat.

Yo Shindo chuckled as he wrapped his arms around your waist, making you widen your eyes just a bit from his touch, but the look on your face didn’t really show any uncomfortableness—as if you were already used to it.

But oh, if only Bakugou shot lasers out of his eyes!! He would zap away his hand from your waist in a blink of an eye.

“Yeah,” Shindo nodded his head cooly. “You, Kirishima, and Bakugou are awesome!” He said looking at the each of them. Kaminari and Kirishima grinned appreciatively back. But weirdly, when Shindo’s eyes landed on Bakugou his gaze stayed a tiny bit longer than usual.

What? Bakugou mentally questioned to himself when he saw the way Shindo stared at him seriously. It was like he was challenging him, and there was a string of tension that only the two boys could feel and Bakugou already knew from the start that he and him were not going to get along.

Shindo blinked his eyes back to reality and flashed a friendly smile to you—a complete change of face for what he was expressing to Bakugou, but no one else seemed to notice. Shindo pulled you closer. “Well, let’s get this party started shall we?”

You nodded happily back and everyone began handing out plates and popping bottles of beer. Bakugou joined in too, with a grin on his face.

But although he smiled as he listened to you talk about your crazy adventures of that one creepy stalker you encountered in LA or how everyone must order the pastrami egg n’ cheese bagel at Frankel’s Deli in Brooklyn, Bakugou couldn’t help but feel a discomfort itch in the back of his mind as he saw you sitting on the couch with Shindo so closely next to you.

And whenever Shindo glanced at Bakugou, there was always this silent edge that he could feel from the look of his eyes. Unfortunately, in such a social environment, he couldn’t excuse himself with his best friend Kirishima to talk about this. Bakugou knew that people will question him. What’s there to be uncomfortable about in Y/N’s Welcome Home party?

So as Bakugou took another sip of his beer while you talked about your crazy adventures, he mentally crossed his fingers that you and Yo Shindo are merely just friends.

Even if a part of him told him otherwise.

————

“Wait, you two went on a date?!” Momo asked looking at Shindo as her back sat comfortably on the sofa with her boyfriend’s arm around her. “In New York?!”

Shindo smiled at you and laughed. You mirrored his expression and shook your head at Momo. “Well, it wasn’t really a date actually, it was just a tour around New York.” You said.

“Oh, please tell us!!” Uraraka said to Shindo with excited eyes. Shindo laughed and nodded happily, making all the girls put their full attention on what he had to say.

“Well, I first met Y/N in New York City. And after seeing her and her awesome abilities—“

“Oh please,” you said, waving your hand dismissively from that with an embarrassing smile.

Yo Shindo pouted adorably at you. “It’s true!”

Bakugou saw Uraraka and Tsuyu quietly exchanging each other glances that didn’t need much for him to know what they were thinking. And as much as it hurts his guts and heart to think about this, he couldn’t help it.

You and Shindo looked so good together. It was like those couples on k-drama or whatever the hell people were watching, where the audience knows that they are perfect for each other. And even though you hadn’t mentioned anything about him being your boyfriend and all…well, it was just obvious. Even your girlfriends could see it. And from the look of Kirishima giving him a lopsided smile as if saying “Ouch. Sorry bro.”  Bakugou could basically confirm his hypothesis correct.

But instead of wanting to just punch pretty boy in the face to release his anger (which, he wanted to do so bad) he kept his cool and restrained his emotions as he listened to Shindo explain this “date” that the two of you went on.

“Well, I offered to take Y/N around New York City, since she was new to the place on my motorbike and—“

“ON YOUR MOTORBIKE?!” All the girls (plus Kaminari) squealed. Awase tilted his head back to laugh at everyone’s reaction and Kirishima muttered a phrase that included: “dude, that’s so manly!” causing Bakugou to turn his head at him and shoot him a death dagger.

Kaminari—who by the way— is obsessed with motorcycles and dreams to own a Harley Davidson one so he could be as cool as Keanu Reeves, pumped his hand in the air and excitingly asked, “Yo, Shindo, what type of motorbike do you have?”

“The one I took with Y/N?” Shindo said, which meant that he had more than one. But the way Shindo said it wasn’t in an egotistic kind of way, nor was it annoying (which bugged Bakugou) but rather, he said it in a humble and polite tone.

Shindo glanced at you with a charming smirk on his face, as if remembering that precious time with you in New York. “It was a Harley Davidson Sportster Iron 883! In black.”

“WHAT!” Kaminari slammed his beer down on the table. “C-can I have a ride?”

Ugh, an idiot I swear! Bakugou said to himself as jealously crept up to him once again as he saw everyone—even Kirishima—so engaged on Yo Shindo.

Shindo laughed again and nodded. “Sure! I actually shipped that one to Tokyo since I’ll be staying here for a while.”

Mina lifted her eyebrows at Shindo. “You’re staying in Tokyo?”

Shindo shook his head. “I’m just staying here for a couple of weeks for some pro-hero work. I’ve been away so long and I wanted to come back since I realized I missed Japan so much. And a friend of mine offered me to collab with his agency for now!”

Bakugou let out a puff of air as Uraraka gleefully smiled and said, “Wow, that’s so great to hear!”

And so the conversation continued. After Shindo took you around on his motorbike, he took you to this fancy, romantic restaurant down in Manhattan, and then took you around Central Park when evening came. And during this whole conversation, everyone pitched in their squeals and glees here and there, but Bakugou remained silent the whole time. You laughed at Shindo’s jokes and descriptions and added a story on how clumsy he actually is, despite his cool exterior.  And Bakugou grew slightly more furious—but it wasn’t a challenging kind of anger. It was just that it frustrated him that he couldn’t point out, or find, any particular ”flawed” that Yo Shindo had.

As the conversation moved along from one to the other, Yo Shindo offered to help Awase and Kaminari to clean up the empty pizza boxes. Kirishima and Bakugou offered to help as well, recycling empty bottles away and folding paper plates to the waste bin.

And as Bakugou walked across the living room, picking up the last few empty bottles of beer on the side table of the couch, he heard you and your girlfriends lowly whispering.

“Well?! “ Yaoyorozu questioned curiously, patting your knee. “Did you…you know!?”

“What?” You asked curiously.

“You know…Yo Shindo…vibration quirkkkkk,” Tsuyu moaned as Uraraka and Mina nodded in agreement, eyes clearly swooned away by Shindo.

Tsuyu grabbed your arm and stared at you dead deep into your eyes before glancing to where Shindo and the other boys were at in the kitchen. “Please tell me what happened! You two obviously hit it up, right?!”

Bakugou wanted to throw up right then and there. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear what you were about to say next. And as much as his conscious tells him to “WALK AWAY KATSUKI”!!! Curiosity killed the cat as he watched you in the corner of his eyes while he cleaned up the table slowly to the side.

You covered your face with your hands as embarrassment crept up on you and squeezed your eyes shut.

“I KNEW IT!” Uraraka said in a low whispered as she snapped her fingers.

Bakugou’s stomach dropped and his jaw tightened in grit.

“Guys, no,” You whispered sternly back, but your cheeks still glowed with heat. “Nothing happened between me and Shindo.”

Bakugou eyes widened as he darted his attention back on the table. Wait a minute… there is hope! A wash of relief swept through him when he heard your reply, but his happy thoughts immediately crumpled when he heard Mina’s suspicious tone.

“Sureeeeeeeee,” Mina exhaled a puff of air sharply—not convinced that you were telling the truth. “I can see it in your face that that’s a LIE!”

Bakugou knew it would be wrong for him to continue hearing this (wrong in a sense that if you were just hiding the true secret, he may blow the roof off of Momo’s house, and that wouldn’t be appropriate). Plus, who the hell takes 5 goddamn minutes to clear up some trash?!

So, with all his might, Bakugou bravely walked around the couch, passing you and the girls as he headed towards the kitchen. And when you saw Bakugou walk pass in front of you, you silently let out a gasp with a parted mouth shaped as an ‘o’ on your face.

————

After the party was over and it was getting pretty late, all the girls decided to finally head home. They offered you to join them but you passed appreciatively by saying how you had to thank and Awase and Momo for everything and Awase was still in the back, cleaning a few things up, while Momo had some errands to run.

“How do you not drink Momo-Yaoo!!” Mina said as she threw one arm around Momo’s shoulder.  

Momo sighed but a smile graced her lips. “Cuz I know I’ll have to take you guys home!” She said sternly but sarcastically.

Mina gave Momo a “thank you” hug and you and the girls laughed

“Since you’re finally here, we all have to go to that tendon place in Shinjuku!” Tsuyu announced happily, giving you one last hug before heading out.

“Tendon Tuesdays are definitely back ya’ll!” You laughed happily and all the girls hovered above the two of you, joining in for one last group hug as they shared “I love yous” and goodbyes.

“You guys are acting like I will be leaving again,” you laughed when you all pulled away and saw your friends getting teary.

Mina smiled softly. “We’re just happy you’re finally back.”

And after Mina said her sweet comment, Uraraka wailed a “You GUYSssssssss!” in a sarcastic tone and everyone bunched up together again for another group hug as they wailed their hearts out.

Bakugou walked in and saw all the girls form into one ball and he couldn’t help but grin at the sight. Yeah, he was so happy that you are actually in Tokyo.

After more “text me!” and goodbyes, the four girls exited out the door and you stood in the living room by yourself, cleaning up the last few trash on the table for Momo.

This is the time. Bakugou said to himself as he began to walk towards you. Nervousness crept on his neck which was unusual for him since you were one of his closest friends. Kirishima and Kaminari headed back to their places and before Kirishima exited, he gave one last talk to Bakugou.

“Dude, you don’t even know if she’s with him yet,” Kirishima said outside the front gate. “Maybe they’re just friends!”

“Just friends?” Bakugou repeated slightly icily—almost like a scoff. He tucked his hands in his pockets and shook his head. “I don’t know, man. You see it too though.”

Kirishima stares at his friend and bit his lip, knowing that from the way Shindo has been treating you and all the stories you two of shared together, it looked like you two were together. Sure! Maybe you two were just friends, but Bakugou felt like it was highly unlikely. Plus, you were exchanging whispers with your friends and from the look on their faces, it was like something exciting was stirring up.

“Yeah,” Kirishima finally said. “But still…we don’t really know. And now that everyone is almost gone, now’s your chance to finally talk to her in peace!”

And with that in mind, Bakugou walked towards you in the main room.

“Hey.”

You looked up from the table and widened your eyes. “Bakugou! I thought you already left with the other boys. You’re still here?” You asked. But you immediately blushed and waved your hands quickly when you realized how wrong that sounded out your mouth. “Not that it’s bad that you’re here! I didn’t mean that. I’m happy you’re still here!”

Bakugou laughed, his shoulders relaxing as he looked at you with a smile. You laughed too at your own dumb act and the awkward tension was slowly replaced with a comforting one.

“You really don’t wanna see me, huh?” Bakugou teased with a smirk.  

You rolled your eyes. “You know it’s not like that.”

Bakugou grabbed the back of his neck and locked his eyes with you. You hummed curiously, knowing that he wanted to say something.

“Y/N, I just wanted to say that I’m really glad that—“

“Y/N!!” Shindo’s voice echoed from the back kitchen. He waved his arm excitingly with a bright smile but then paused when he saw you and Bakugou standing in front of each other, alone.

Ugh! Bakugou thought to himself as he saw Shindo’s face grow slightly tensed when he looked at him.

Shindo walked towards you respectfully with a smile. “Hey, I know it’s pretty late. Do you want me to take you home?”

Bakugou parted his mouth opened for just a bit. His anger and jealously was rising high now and he wasn’t sure why.

“Oh!” You said, turning your head to Shindo. “No, it’s fine, really!”

“You sure?”

You smiled at him. “Yeah, thank you though.”

“Well then,” Shindo turned to Bakugou and then back to you. His gaze turned serious. “Can- Can I talk to you in private for a moment?”

You opened your mouth and directed your hand towards Bakugou. “Oh! Bakugou was actually talking—“

“It’s fine, Y/N” Bakugou said in almost a strict tone that your face fell a bit. He nodded his head at Shindo and then smiled at you, telling you that it really was okay. “It’s not important, really. Actually…I think I’m going to head out.”

“Bakugou, wait—“ you said, your eyes staring directly at his.

“Y/N,” Bakugou tried to laugh. But you knew him too well that the laugh was forced. “Seriously, we can chat again later some time. Plus, since you’re back, we can finally hang out like we used too.”

Shindo glared at Bakugou sternly after he said that, but at this point Bakugou couldn’t care anymore.

You paused and stared at him before mumbling out an “okay” as Shindo turned and pulled you away from him.

And after letting Awase know that he was finally heading home, Bakugou exited the door and walked towards the front gate. He tucked his hands in his pockets and felt his heart grow heavier and heavier until—

“Katsuki! Wait!”

Bakugou twirled around to see you extend your arm up high out the front door. You ran towards him and put your hands on your knees to gasp for air.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to call you so directly.” You said apologetically.

Bakugou shook his head, but his heart skipped a few beats when he heard you call his first name. “It’s fine. You can call me that.”

You widened your eyes and hugged yourself closely. “Oh?” You smiled. “Okay then.”

“Uhm…did you need to tell me something…or..?” Bakugou asked curiously, internally wondering why you suddenly exited out of the house.

“Oh! Right!” You tapped your head dumbly. “Right….I- I actually wanted to say goodbye to you and-”

“Weren’t you just talking to Shindo?” Bakugou pointed out so cold that your face immediately fell when you heard his sudden shift of tone.  

“Um-”

“Sorry.”

“No! I- I actually need to apologize for that. I should have spoken up more. We haven’t…really chatted during the party.”

Bakugou scoffed and smiled as he tilted his head up towards the night sky in silence. He was so furious just a few seconds ago that any one who dared stopped him will be blasted off to space. But when he heard you call his actual name, he felt more at peace. But sadness lingered in his heart as he darted his gaze behind you at the door, knowing that Shindo was in there. 

From the door entrance to the front gate was a large garden in between, and when you realized how quiet it was, you cleared your throat and looked up at him.

“We’re not together,” you finally said.  “I mean, Shindo and I.”

Bakugou’s eyebrows shot up immediately but quickly replaced his shock look with a calm one.

Wait…what?

“Oh…?”

He blinked his eyes and parted his mouth slowly, carefully thinking about the words before saying them out loud. “But Mina and them—“

“Kept teasing about the two of us being together? Momo kept throwing us questions about our quests? All the girls teasing and the “date”?” You said in air quotes with a smirk. “Shindo is really nice and he’s like that to almost everyone, really. Plus…”

You stopped, glancing up at Bakugo and then turning your head away. Heat crept up to the apples of your cheeks as you continued. “Plus, there’s someone else…”

Bakugou’s mind buzzed with clouds as he felt like a a horde of demons was ready to swallow him up.

There’s someone else.

It can’t be him, right? Bakugou’s shoulders fell and frowned a bit. How could he be so stupid thinking that you actually liked him in the first place? Could it be…Kirishima? Kaminari? Oh fuck, maybe it’s Deku. His mind continued to swarm with possibilities of the “someone else,” casting more and more doubt onto himself until he heard your laughter.

You clenched your arms around your stomach and laughed. A beautiful melody that never ceases to amaze Bakugou. It was like a warm breeze in the summer swooping him away. But Bakugou lowered his gaze with confusion as he stared at you. “What’s so funny?”

You looked up, wiping a small tear on the corner of your eye with a bright but soft smile on your face.

“It’s you, dumbass.”

Under normal circumstances, anyone who called him that will immediately turn into dust, but with you… He couldn’t even get riled up an inch. Because when he heard those words left your mouth, it was like fog clearing up on a raining day, a heavy weight now off his shoulders.

Wait…is this really happening?

A cunning smirk graced his lips as he stepped closer to you.

The cool evening air no longer felt cold and you grabbed his hand pulling him closer. It was dark but he could still see the perfect outlines of your face.

“Really?” Bakugou whispered huskily above you, not sure if he was dreaming or not. Excitement buzzed throughout his body, his focus entirely on you.

You laughed with a happy smile on your face. “Really.”

Bakugou smirked cockily. “Well, then dumbass…I’m glad… because I like you too.” He said slowly in such a cute way that it made you giggled.

“I’m glad then.” You said quietly.

“Do you… want to go grab lunch someday…?” Bakugou asked, the words rolling off his tongue seemed so foreign to him. Everything happened so fast but it felt so nice at the same time.

You nodded your head still smiling. “Yeah…that sounds nice. Though I want your homemade curry, I’ve been craving Japanese food for so long and New York and LA doesn’t even beat the meals that you make!”

Bakugou laughed, his heart feeling so overwhelmingly content. “Well then, I’ll bring you some food tomorrow. You’ll be jet lag and all.”

You groaned cutely. “Oh god, yeah. I’ll probably be sleeping all morning tomorrow. But at least I’ll have something to look forward to when I wake up.” You smiled.

Bakugou nodded, and you pulled him into a hug that surprised him at first but he wrapped his arms around you ever so gently and warmly. The two of you just wrapped in each other’s arms for a few seconds, enjoying the quiet night that Bakugou wished could last forever.

“I’m glad you’re back, Y/N.” He whispered softly in your ear that made you shivered with happiness. “I…I’ve missed you.” He added ever so quietly in a way that it sounded like he was talking to himself. But you still heard those words and it made you hug him a bit tighter.

You tucked your head into his shoulder and whispered out a soft “me too.”  

When the two of you parted away, you both exchanged goodbyes once more, but this time, there was a layer of love and excitement in the air. Bakugou glanced at the door behind you, and the sudden reminder of Shindo who was still in there came to mind. Bakugou has never felt so happy in his whole entire life, knowing that you had the same feelings he had for you. But seeing the shadows on the windows, the sudden flash of Shindo’s disapproving face re-resurfaced. He had a feeling that you didn’t know that Shindo actually liked you. And sure! He only met the guy today but his gut instincts knew better that the faces he gave to Bakugou plus his expression whenever he looked at you, it was something more than just a friendship. But before Bakugou could even dive deeper into this thought as he turned towards the gate, you stopped him.

“Katsuki—! Wait.” You called, causing him to turn his head once more at you. But before he could even ask what’s wrong, you slipped a hand through his and stepped on your tippy toes as you planted a warm kiss on his cheek, holding it there for a few seconds. Bakugou widened his eyes for a quick second, and just like magic, that kiss washed his doubts about you and Shindo down the drain. It was like a message that you were his—as dominating as that sound. But it nevertheless made him less tensed. 

You swallowed a lump on your throat as you parted away. A little embarrassed at your sudden move but when you saw Bakugou’s face glowed, you smiled and nodded. Words didn’t need to be said for the two of you to understand each other.

“Have a goodnight, okay? Drive safe.” You waved before turning your back to return to the house.

“Yeah,” Bakugou smiled as he tucked his hands into his pocket, turning to the front gate once more. “I will.”

And with that, the two of you parted your ways, with bright smiles and warm hearts that continued to simultaneously flow in the air.

—————

“Cuz I know I’ll have to take you guys home!” Shindo heard Momo from the living room said as he carried the trash bags into the kitchen.

“Uhm.., where should I place these?” Shindo asked Awase who was washing a few cups in the sink.

Awase pointed at the corner besides him where all the other bags were laid. “You can leave them here Thanks, man.”

Before Shindo nodded respectfully at him, he heard you and the girls burst out into a loud laughter, making him turn to the direction of the sound coming from the main room. His eyes softened, as if reminiscing precious memories from a time. And in all honestly, his attention was just focused on your laughter. The melody that he can always listen to and never get tired of.

Shindo had never believed “love at first sight.” But when he first saw you in New York, his heart bloomed in a way that he has never felt before and he was so interested in you ever since. Of course, he kept cool about it, but since he was such an open and honest guy, he always slipped in a move here and there, hoping to grab your attention or sneak in hints, to show that what you meant to him was in a way that was more than a friend.

After cleaning up, Awase takes a sip of his beer, glancing at Shindo’s still turned-head for a moment before saying, “You like her, don’t you?”

Shindo looked stunned as he immediately shot his head back at Awase. His heart pounded in his chest when he heard the question. “H-how did you know?”

Awase smirked. “I know that feeling, dude. That’s how I felt when I met Momo,” He said, tilting his head towards the living room where his girlfriend was.

“I don’t want anyone to find out,” Shindo said quietly as he rested his elbows on the kitchen island across Awase.

“Of course. This is just between me and you.” Awase replied respectfully, knowing what Shindo is going thorough, having a similar experience himself.

Shindo smiled at him appreciatively. He cleared his throat. “And uhm, I know that we just met and all…but do…do you you know if Y/N is involved with anyone—like, romantically?”

Awase pondered on that comment seriously for a moment. “I don’t really know, man. I think Kirishima and the others will know since they were all in the same class as her since U.A. But…from what I’ve heard from my girlfriend, I don’t think so.”

“Not even, uhm, Bakugou?” Shindo slid in the question curiously.  

“Y/N and Bakugou!?” Awase laughed. “I’ve never heard of that before! Who gave you the idea?”

Shindo just shrugged, not wanting to say why he asked. Ever since the day he accidentally saw your phone lock screen of you and Bakugou in your days in U.A when your phone dinged on his table, his suspicion arose. Of course it wasn’t much, but the way you talked about him was different compared to the others…

“Hey,” Awase said, interrupting his thoughts. “From what I’ve learned… you can wait to get the answers, or just be honest with her.”

“Be honest with her?”

Awase shrugged. “Yeah. In fact you can even tell her how you feel now, most of her friends are returning home now.”

Shindo nodded appreciatively at him and smiled. “Thanks man, really.”

“You got it, and don’t worry,” Awase reassured when he saw Shindo’s mouth open again. “I’ll keep things low-key.”

Shindo smiled again and walked back towards the main room to find you. Awase was right. After all that you two of been through for the past couple weeks there was a new foundation built upon your friendship—trust. And he trusted you that you can at least understand his feelings. Shindo knew he told everyone that he came back to Tokyo for a change of environment and for hero work…but that wasn’t necessarily the entire truth. Because in all transparency, he came back for you too…and maybe its because he has loved working with you, or maybe it was the way you described Tokyo to him in New York made him really miss home…

Or maybe it’s because he was falling in love with you.

Shindo made his way to the living room and called out your name, but his high emotions toppled over when he saw you standing with Bakugou in the now empty living room, alone.

He doesn’t really hate Bakugou, but ever since he had his suspicion, he couldn’t look at him the same way. And sure, it may be unfair of him to act like that but when he saw the way Bakugou locked eyes with him, he knew something was up that confirmed his suscpisoun. He could feel this unprecedented tension in the air between him and Bakugou—almost like an undeclared challenge.

Shindo mustered up the courage as he walked towards you with a smile. “Hey, I know it’s pretty late. Do you want me to take you home?”

“Oh!” You replied when you noticed Shindo. “No, it’s fine, really!”

“You sure?”

You smiled at him which made Shindo’s stomach flutter with butterflies. “Yeah, thank you though.”

“Well then,” Shindo turned to Bakugou and then back to you, hesitating just a bit about his next act act. His gaze turned serious and he lowered his voice so almost only you could hear him.  “Can… Can I talk to you in private for a moment?”

Shindo saw you opened your mouth slowly. “Oh! Bakugou was actually talking—“

“It’s fine, Y/N” Bakugou cut in, looking at Shindo and then back to you. “It’s not important, really. Actually…I think I’m going to head out.”

“Bakugou, wait—“

“Y/N,” Bakugou continued. “Seriously, we can chat again later some time. Plus, since you’re back, we can finally hang out like we used too.”

Shindo glared at Bakugou. He felt his heart ache when he heard that, knowing that the two of you are pretty close. But finally when you agreed, you and Shindo stepped aside for more space.

You turned your head at Shindo and noticed his serious expression. “Is there something wrong?”

Shindo blinked his eyes and cleared his throat. “N-no! I mean, not anything super important. Actually, Y/N… I just wanted to—“

Click!

Before Shindo could continue, your head shot to where the door was just closed and you saw Bakugou’s shadow exit out of the house. Shindo saw you turned your head back towards him as you bit your lip.

“Shindo, I’m so sorry. Can you give me a few minutes really quick?” You said with the kindest smile you had.

Shindo looked at you with a tinge of solemn in his eyes as he smiled. His gut feeling knew what you were about to do, but he didn’t want to force you to listen to him and so he smiled and nodded, earning you a brighter smile on your face that Shindo loved.

“Thank you.” You said as you grabbed his hand and giving it a squeeze.

Shindo saw you run towards the door, not hesitating a bit to open it immediately.

And when you exited, Shindo gave out a sigh. This was a lot harder than he expected. He headed towards the table near the door to pack up some of his things that he laid near, but his mistake was when he glanced up at the window.  His eyes widened and sucked in a breath when he saw you standing near the front gate with Bakugou.

It looked like it was all happening in slow motion.

The way you slipped your hand through his. The cute way you leaned in closer a few inches with the tip of your toes and kissed him on the cheek.

It wasn’t an actual real kiss, but still...Shindo felt a surge of jealously come crashing down on him. He swallowed a lump in his throat as a mixture of anger and sadness stirred in him. And as he saw you wave goodbye to Bakugou, Shindou looked away in sadness as his stomach dropped and his once cool smile now turned into a deep frown.

He felt like he lost you — even though he never really had you in the beginning.

But maybe there’s still a chance for him to confess how he feels.

Because even if you don’t share the same feelings as him...he’ll still find release… that at least the person he loves …. knows.  

Yeah… Shindo thought to himself quietly as he pulled out his sunglasses, getting ready to leave. He knew he couldn’t say it now…not after what he just witnessed. So with a sharp glide of his hand like a professional, he slipped on his sunglasses and beanie ever so smoothly and picked up his bags.

I’ll come back to you Y/N…you’ll see.

-------

A/N ~ oh gosh, yo shindo vs. bakugou. this love triangle just suddenly appeared and i’ll need to figure out how to unravel this mess. But thank you to everyone who read this fic! I know it is longer than my usual works so words cannot express how much it means to me. Thank you 💗 Please do not hesitate to send me a message through my inbox on about this fic (WHOSE TEAM R U ON?!) or about anything! Let’s just say...next chapter will def. be more about the charming Yo Shindo ;) 

[imaginationintowords]

Folklore [song series]

this is me trying

Modern Day AU! Steve Rogers x OC!Reader; Bucky Barnes x Natasha Romanoff

Plot: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s new album folklore. The story follows the timeline of Bucky and Elizabeth’s life throughout the years.

word count: 3592

[a/n: I’m so sorry that it’s taken me so long to update this and my other story. i’ve been busy with school and work. thank you for your continued patience and support]

previous part

Series Masterlist

Age: 20 Year: Dec. 2014 Location: Brooklyn, NY

"How have you been James?”

Bucky looks out the window to his right. Hands grasped together in his lap as he sits on the dark green sofa across from the woman he's been seeing for the last 5 months.

He ponders the question, making sure to answer it honestly. He looks back at her giving her his full attention again.

"Good," he answers truthfully, a small smile planted on his face. Life has been good. School is going incredibly well. My job is going better than I could've imagined. Really learning a lot."

"How are things going with Natasha?" The older lady asks.

“Great. Really great," Bucky says with a slightly bigger smile.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that," she smiles back, proud to the see progress James has made since his first visit moths ago.

After the blow up he and Steve had, Bucky fell into a depressive state. He refused to talk to anyone about what had happened. It wasn't until his younger sister Rebecca came to talk to him:

"I get you don't want to talk to any of us about what happened last week," she said as Bucky laid in bed looking out the window, his back facing her, "But you can't just stay in bed, hiding for the world. Starving yourself isn't going to solve anything.

"Sulking is only going to make you worse. It's not healthy, Buck. We're all worried. Ma is incredibly worried. She's barely been eating. I hear her wandering the house at all hours, because she can't sleep."

"You don't want to talk to us, fine. But you need to talk to someone. If not for yourself, but for Ma. Please," she begs, before leaving Bucky alone to ponder what she said.

He knew he wasn't coping the healthy way. He hadn't realized how much he was affecting his family by shutting down. The last thing he wanted to do was worry his mother. So he got himself up, took a shower, ate breakfast with his family. They were surprised to see him come down, but tried not to draw any extra attention to it. Rebecca gave him an understanding nod, which he reciprocated. After breakfast, he began his research. He decided to listen to Rebecca's advice and find someone to talk to someone to help him make sense of what is going on in his mind.

And that's how he ended up in Dr. Abraham's office.

"Have you contacted Steve yet?" She asks.

"No," he answered fiddling with his fingers, "I feel embarrassed about the way I reacted."

"That's normal, James," she assured him, "But in order to repair any damage that's been cost, you need to talk to Steve. To move forward. From what you've told me he's a very understanding person. I'm sure once you've apologized and explain to him the steps you've taken to help your mental health, I'm sure he'd be willing to accept you back into his life."

"I'm not so sure," he looked down at his hands.

"You won't know until you've tried. Listen, I'm not here to tell you what to do or what not to do. I'm just here to help you navigate your thoughts a little better. In a more healthy way. If you're really serious about living a more healthier mental life, I think you should talk to him. You don't want to really throw this lifelong friendship away, do you?"

"No, I don't," he shakes his head.

"Good. Remember to be honest," she tells him, "Vulnerability isn't a bad thing. Your feelings aren't a nuisance. it's how you handle them is what matters. I'm not saying you have to talk to him as soon as you walkout of here. I just want you to start making the notion of doing so. Our time is just about up, how about we do this. Some homework for the week.

"I want you to write a letter to Steve. Bring it in next week, you don't have to read it. But I would like to discuss it. What do you say?"

"Okay, I could do that," he agreed.

Christmas week

Steve and Elizabeth flew back home a few days before Christmas. They put their bags in the trunk of their rental car.

The car ride was silent for awhile, both tired after a long flight, now sitting in traffic on their way back to their parents' place. This would be their first time back to Brooklyn since the whole Bucky situation. The road trip back to California was fun, but there was a looming sadness over Steve. It's not like he regrets standing up to Bucky he doesn't. He just wishes thing would've played out differently. He really wished Bucky would've talked to him before he left back to California.

"How are you feeling about being back?" Elizabeth asks, while they sat in traffic.

"I don't know," Steve sighs, "Feels weird going back home and not talking to Bucky."

"Maybe you should try calling him. It's been a few months. I'm sure he'd be willing to hear you out," she said, rubbing his right arm.

"I don't want to push him," Steve said through gritted teeth, his grip on the steering wheel getting tighter.

Bucky had been a touchy subject the last few months. During the first month Elizabeth would ask Steve if he'd heard from him, the answer always being no, followed by Steve shutting down. After that Elizabeth stopped asking, noticing how much it was affecting Steve, but the constant reminder of it wasn't helping. She knew that if Bucky ever did call, Steve would tell her. The only thing she could do was be patient and be there for Steve whenever he needed her.

The holidays kept everyone busy. On Christmas Eve. Steve spent it with Elizabeth's family at her grandma's house. Elizabeth found herself watching Steve play with her younger cousins, she couldn't help but giggle when they roped him into a tea party. She found herself imagining a future where Steve would do the same with their own children. She quickly shook the daydream away. Reprimanding herself a little for even thinking about kids at their young age.

On Christmas morning Elizabeth and Steve spent it with his parents. It was a nice peaceful day just lounging around in their pajamas. For dinner, Elizabeth's parents went over to have dinner at the Rogers' house. It was a nice little send off dinner for their parents who were leaving for Mexico to spend the New Years for a couples' getaway.

Elizabeth and Steve were heading to the Hamptons to spent NYE with Wanda, Thor, Loki, and Scott. They had planned to have a nice, peaceful trip.

While Steve and Elizabeth were at the Hamptons, Bucky and Natasha were spending their NYE at his family's beach cottage in Port Washington.

They were cuddled on the couch surrounded by take out containers, watching the New Years Eve special waiting for midnight to happen.

Bucky got up about 15 minutes to midnight to grab something from the kitchen. He walked back into the room with a new bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes.

"Got some champagne," he said holding it up for Natasha to see.

"Um," Natasha awkwardly shifted in her seat, "Actually about that."

Bucky looked at Nat confused, putting the bottle and flutes down on the coffee table before sitting back down next to her.

"What's wrong" he asked, grabbing the tv remote to mute the tv, and give Natasha his full undivided attention.

"So there's something I haven't told you," she says looking down at her fidgeting fingers.

"You're worrying me Nat," Bucky said, grabbing her hands to help ease her nerves

She looked up to meet his worry filled eyes.

"I'm pregnant," she announced.

Bucky eyes widen at her announcement, instantly dropping her hands. The look on her face showing she was telling the truth.

"How is that possible?" He asks in disbelief, "We've been so careful. We use double the protection. Condoms and you're on the pill."

"Actually about that," she nervously shifted under his intense gaze, "I haven't been on birth control in a little over two months."

"What?" Bucky yelled, quickly rising from his seat, "What do you mean you haven't been on birth control in a little over two months?"

"I got off of it," she shrugged trying to play it off, "It's my body and I can do what I want with it. And I just wanted to give my body a break, I've been on the pill since I was 15."

"I get it's your body, Natasha, I'm all for you doing whatever you want," he stresses, "but you should've told me. I'm your boyfriend, we have sex frequently. You should've at least had the respect of your sexual partner, letting him know that you were no longer on birth control. So in that case I could've been a tad more careful."

"We were using condoms," she half heartedly defended herself.

"They aren't 100% effective Natasha," he gripped his hair, in complete disbelief over this entire conversation, "You even know that. That also doesn't defend yourself for not telling me. You should've told me."

"I'm sorry. It's not like I was planning for this to happen," she yelled.

Bucky just stared at her like she just grew two heads. How is she not freaking out, he thought. They were clearly way too young for this. Which is why they took precautionary measures.

After a few moments of silence Natasha spoke up, "I'm keeping the baby."

Bucky didn't know what to say. He felt the room closing in on him. He started having a hard time catching his breath.

"James," Natasha quietly said, getting up to check on him. He raised his hand, silently telling her to stay where she's at.

He headed for the back door, the house felt too suffocating for him. He walked through the the small yard to the gate that led to the beach. Stumbling around.

To a stranger they would just think he's drunk. In reality he was just having a panic attack.

It was all too much. His mind was racing.

She's pregnant. With a baby. My baby. I'm going to have a kid. I'm going to be a dad. I'm not ready to be a dad. My dad was shit. God I can't be like my dad. I'm not ready for all of this.

He put his hands on his knees, hunched over trying to catch his breath. But he just couldn't. He did the only thing he could think of. He pulled out his phone and dialed the only person he knew would help.

Steve and Elizabeth were laughing with their friends, waiting for the countdown to begin. Steve felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He moved his shoulder off of the back of the couch, where Elizabeth was cuddled up against.

He pulled his phone out and his heart dropped at the name that appeared. He quickly got up and walked out of the living room and upstairs to the room where he was staying in for the week.

Wanda raised her eyebrow at Elizabeth, who just shrugged her shoulders, equally as confused.

"Bucky?" Steve answered the phone, closing the door behind him. He could hear Bucky hyperventilating on the other side.

"Steve," he tried to get out.

"Buck, what's wrong?" Steve asked, pressing the phone even closer to his ear the sound of everyone downstairs counting down to midnight.

"Steve, I-," Bucky was struggling to get out.

"Buck, please try to calm down," Steve stressed, "Inhale, hold it for a few seconds and then exhale. You need to calm down. I can't help you, if I can't understand you."

Bucky tried his best to calm himself down, with Steve talking him through it.

"Now, can you explain to me what's wrong?" Steve asked, hearing Bucky's breathing leveling out more.

"I-I'm not re-ready Steve," Bucky stutters, sniffling his nose.

"It's okay take your time, I'm here whenever you're ready."

"No, it's Natasha.”

"What's Natasha? Is she okay?" Steve questioned, getting more concerned.

"Yes, she's fi-ine," he stuttered again, trying to say the words.

"Where are you Buck?" Steve asked, looking around for his shoes and keys.

"I'm at the beach cottage."

"I'm in the Hamptons. Is there any way you can meet me back at my place?"

"Yeah, I think I can," Bucky said a bit more calmer now.

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

When midnight struck Elizabeth went upstairs to check on Steve, making sure everything was okay. She could hear him on the phone talking to Bucky, trying to calm him down. She waited outside of the door to give them some privacy.

Twenty minutes later Wanda went to go check on them, to find Elizabeth sitting on the floor.

"Is everything okay?" She whispered.

"I don't know," she answered, "I'm waiting for Steve. You can head back down, I'll be down shortly."

"Okay. We're here if you guys need anything," Wanda said before walking back down.

After another 25 minutes Elizabeth heard Steve hang up the phone. She softly knocked on the door, and let herself in. She walked in to see Steve frantically going around the room collecting his things.

"Steve is everything okay?"

"It's Buck. He called me while he was having a panic attack. Something about Natasha," he tells her.

"Is she okay?"

"I think so. I was able to calm him down. I need to get back home," he said putting his things in his suitcase.

"Okay. I completely understand. Do you want me to go with you for the drive?" She asked.

"I don't want you to have to cut your time here short," he says, feeling guilty for bringing this on her.

"Steve, something is clearly going on with Bucky. I want you to go to him, but maybe it's best if I drove. I haven't had a drink in hours, and you seem too frantic. Please let me help," she pleaded, placing her hand on his stopping him.

Steve looked up and noticed the worry on Elizabeth's face.

"Okay," he gave in, "We'll need to leave as soon as we can."

Elizabeth nodded, quickly grabbing her weekender bag and start shoving things in. If they forgot anything's he knew Wanda would bring it back.

They said their quick goodbyes and were on the road within 5 minutes, with Elizabeth behind the wheel and Steve fidgeting in the passenger seat.

Bucky took a few minutes to himself on the beach, trying to make sure his anxiety was at rest before he headed back inside. When he entered the house, Natasha shot up from her seat.

"Happy New Years," she awkwardly said, trying to cut the obvious tension.

"Umm," Bucky scratched his head looking everywhere but at Natasha, "We need to leave."

"What?"

"I mean, you can stay if you want and I'll pick you up tomorrow," he rephrased, "But I can't stay here. I need to go. Steve is meeting me at his house."

"Steve?" She was taken back by that mention, not expecting to hear Bucky say his name. He hasn't mentioned Steve in months.

"Yeah, I called him," Bucky says rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well that's good right?"

"Yeah, listen. I really need to go, so are you going to stay or come with me?"

"To see Steve?"

"No. I would drop you off at your place," he tells her, "I'm seeing Steve alone."

"Will she be there?"

Natasha didn't really know exactly why Steve and Bucky weren't talking, at first. Then she heard that Steve and Elizabeth were dating, and it all made sense. The only person that could tear Bucky and Steve apart. She never told Bucky that she knew. Figured it wasn't worth the fight. Especially not now when she was carrying his child.

To an outsider it might seem like she got pregnant on purpose, but that wasn't the case. She knew they were too young for this, at least that's what she thought when she first found out about the pregnancy a week ago. But now that she's sat with it she's taking it as a sign that this is meant to happen. She's just really hoping that Bucky would see it, if not now but eventually.

"Listen, Natasha, I don't have time for this," he looks her in the eyes, "Are you coming or not?"

"I'll get my bag," she remarked with a snark tone, walking passed him to their shared room.

A couple of hours later Bucky was pulling up in front of the Rogers' house. 2:15 am read the clock in his car. He looked to his right, out the passenger side window to see a dark figure sat on the front steps of the house.

Bucky took one last breath before exiting the vehicle.

As soon as he opened the front gate Steve stood up from where he was sat on the stairs.

Once Bucky approached him both young men threw their arms around each other. Gripping each other tightly, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. They stayed like that for awhile. Relishing in the comfort of being back in each other's arms. Their silent fight no longer important. All they knew in that moment was everything was going to be okay, because no matter what they'll always have each other.

Steve walked into his parents' living room holding two mugs of coffee. As he rounded the couch, he handed one to Bucky.

"Sorry, if I ruined any of your plans," Bucky apologized, "Tell Elizabeth I'm sorry for taking you away."

'Buck, don't worry about it," Steve waved him off, "She completely understands. And truth be told, I wasn't necessarily feeling in the New Year's mood."

"Yeah," Bucky sighs.

"Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?" Bucky nods his head, placing the coffee mug on the coffee table in front of him. He shifted his body to the left to face Steve.

"She's pregnant," he announces.

"What?" Steve asked, not expecting that to be the reason, he quickly placed his mug next to Bucky's.

"Yeah, my reaction exactly," Bucky said.

"What? How?"

"Apparently Natasha hasn't been on the pill in a couple of months," Bucky explains, "And even though we always used condoms, they aren't exactly 100% effective."

"Did you know she wasn't on the pill?"

"Nope," Bucky tells him, "If I knew I wouldn't been a bit more cautious."

"So she told you she was pregnant?" Steve said getting back to it.

"Yeah. She was so nonchalant about it. Like it was no big deal," Bucky stressed,

"How is she just so calm. We're not prepared for this. I'm not ready for this Steve. I can't be a dad. I don't even know how to be a decent human being."

"That's not true Buck," Steve disagreed.

"Come on Steve, we haven't talked in months, and we both know it's not because you didn't try," Bucky says, "I was so caught up in my own jealousy. And selfishness, that I never even considered your feelings or Elizabeth's. And I don't think I can ever make it up to you for treating you like you're nothing to me."

"You were hurt," Steve tried to excuse.

"Doesn't excuse the way I behaved," Bucky says, "I know that now."

"I've been seeing a therapist," Bucky informs him, "I never realized how much my mental health was taking a toll on those around me. So after our fight, I found someone to talk to. To work through the shit that's going on in my mind."

"How's that been going?" Steve asked.

"Good," Bucky gives a half smile, "Really good. She's good. I've realized a lot about myself that I didn't know. Working through all the issues I've had with my father leaving."

"That's good Buck. I'm proud of you, truly," Steve beamed, patting Bucky on the shoulder.

"I really am sorry for the way I behaved," Bucky repeated again.

"Buck, you really don't have to apologize again," Steve told him.

"I need to Steve," he said, "I can't believe I acted that way. I should've been happy for you and Elizabeth. I'm glad you two have each other. Seriously. I couldn't imagine her with anyone better, same goes for you. I won't cause any more issues for you two. It's not worth not having you in my life. You're my brother Steve, and I don't want to miss anything."

"Thanks, Buck. It really means a lot to me to hear that," Steve smiles, "Because I don't want to miss anything in your life also."

"Yeah, especially now," he says, the reality of why they're there dawning back.

"How are you feeling now about the baby?"

"I don't know, man," Bucky shakes his head, "I'm afraid I'm going to screw this up, like everything else."

"But now you're working on that," Steve reminds him, "And you're not going to be doing this alone. You have people who are always going to be there. I may be in California now, but I'm just a phone call away. You're not alone. But you do have to try Buck. That's all that you can ever do. Try your best, no one's asking you to be perfect, but as long as you're trying your best, that's what's important."

Age: 21 Year: 2015

The sounds of a baby crying woke Bucky up from his sleep in the early depths of the morning. He quietly and quickly got out of bed, making his way to the small New York kitchen to make a bottle.

He walked into the small nursery where the two-month-old baby wailed from hunger.

"It's okay," Bucky shushed gently, picking up the small baby, "Daddy's here."

He adjusted the small baby in his arms before placing the bottle in the baby's mouth.

"There you go," he encouraged the small one, as soon as he heard the sounds of the baby drinking.

Bucky sat down on the chair in the corner of the room, opposite of the crib. He just stared as the newborn drank their bottle, while simultaneously falling asleep. Even though he was completely exhausted, he had never felt more happier. More at peace with where his life was at.

As long as he kept trying his best, he knows he can do this for the rest of his life.

[halsteadshailey]

So you are seeing someone?

upstead fluff/angst one shot

Hailey meets someone while working with the FBI in New York but when she comes home to her partner, her best friend, how long will that relationship last?

can also be read on wattpad or ao3

——

set at the beginning of s8 after hailey gets back from ny (i’m going with hailey being in new york for 4 weeks bcos i’m not sure if they ever told us how long she was supposed to be there but i know tracy she was supposed to be in more fbi eps but cldnt bcos of corona , sorry if this is wrong)

*slight language*

——

For the first couple of weeks that Hailey had been out in New York to work with the FBI, her and Jay had FaceTimed religiously. In the morning on the way to work, whenever they could both catch a break at the same time, and on their drives home, most importantly though, once they were both home and settled. It was as close to ‘their thing’ they could get after a long day of work while separated by hundreds of miles.

After about 14 days, Jay was starting to notice something different about Hailey, they were calling less, even her texting game was off. She was starting to be busy more frequently in the evenings and her texts had become rare, short and sweet.

On the Wednesday evening of her third week away, Jay decided to bring it up while they were on FaceTime.

“Hey what’s been going on over there?” he questioned “I feel like we haven’t talked in ages”

Hailey’s brows furrowed a little as she struggled to think of what to say, anything to say to avoid Jay finding out about Liam, she wasn’t ready to tell him and definitely not over the phone when she wasn’t even sure how serious things were.

“Yeah, sorry about that, we’ve had lots of tough cases, I’ve been working late” she said.

Her partner knew she wasn’t telling the truth, he could always tell. However, he didn’t want to push, it wasn’t worth it after the long day that he’d had and he knew that Hailey would tell him whatever it was when she wanted to so he settled on saying:

“Don’t work yourself too hard” with a chuckle.

The two spoke for a little bit longer after that, Jay telling Hailey about all the weird things Kev and Adam have been up to and Hailey realising how much she misses her Intelligence family, not that she would ever tell Jay that.

A few days passed and all the interaction that the detectives had had with one another was through text, but when Saturday came around Jay needed to change that.

It was around 10:30pm when he shot her a text:

‘Hey, I know it’s late but I just got home from a tough case and was wondering if you’re free to call?’

Luckily for him, Hailey replied to Jay’s text only a few minutes later by calling him.

“Hey how are you?” she said when she saw that her partner had connected to the call.

“I’m ok, just needed to do our thing i guess” the emphasis Jay put on the ‘our thing’ was slight, but it was there. “How are y-“ he paused.

“What?”

“You’re wearing make-up, you never wear make-up, am I interrupting something? A date?” Jay teased.

Without thinking, Hailey replied with “As a matter of fact, you texted me just before dessert so it was actually perfect timing”

Jay froze, trying to process that words that he just heard. It’s not like he thought that Hailey wasn’t allowed to go on dates, he didn’t own her. But he was jealous, a lot more jealous that he would care to admit. Deep down he knew that it was his fault, he’d had feelings for Hailey for a long time and didn’t do anything about it because ‘nothing good comes out of a workplace romance’ or whatever bullshit he had told himself.

“Was it not going well? If you wanted to get out of there before dessert I mean” he clarified.

“No, no, it was going great. I just meant it made an ok place to stop so I could check on you” she responded.

“I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have left, if I had known I wouldn’t have texted” Jay said, in an attempt to clear the air. Their conversation had become quite stale and neither of them were willing to accept that it was just awkward.

“Jay, stop” Hailey said, causing her partner to crack a small smile. “If you need to talk to me after a bad case, that’s the only place I want to be. I’m always here for you, even when we’re this far away” the last part was delivered with a bit of scorn.

“Thanks Hailey, and you too” he said, lifting a little bit of weight off both of their shoulders as they began to flow back into normal conversation.

Another week had passed and Hailey had told Jay a little more about Liam, but only if it came up in conversation so currently all he knew was his name and his job and what his coffee order is (he’d heard Hailey getting it for him while they were on FaceTime). She quickly realised that Jay didn’t enjoy listening to her talk about him so she tried to keep it lowkey.

During her last few days in New York, Hailey and Liam came to the mutual decision that they wouldn’t take the relationship any further. They had a lot of fun while it lasted but they both knew that long distance relationships were a lot of effort and with the jobs they had, it would just but impractical.

While she was waiting in the airport for her flight back to Chicago, Hailey found herself saddened by the fact that her and Jay hadn’t texted or called for a couple of days so she opened her phone, pulled up Jay’s contact and called it.

No answer, so she texted.

‘About to board my plane, just wanted to check in’

Jay sent a response quickly.

‘Sorry, deep in a case. Have a safe flight, text me when you land’

She decided to shrug it off but Hailey knew something wasn’t right.

The journey felt like years but after her flight and a taxi ride home, Hailey was finally back in her own apartment in Chicago. It was 2am when she arrived so when she reached her bedroom she quickly changed and got straight into bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next morning she got up, easily slipping back into her normal routine and went to work. Voight had had offered for her to take a few days to get settled back into Chicago and sleep off the jet lag but she politely declined as she just wanted her normal back.

The day went pretty slowly, no major cases, but Jay was acting different and Hailey knew it. When she first showed up at work she got warm welcomes from Trudy and the whole unit but nothing from Jay, they barely said two words to each other all day that weren’t work-related and it was making Hailey a little upset.

Since they had spent most of the day doing paperwork, the team got sent home at a reasonable time. Adam and Kim left together closely followed by Kevin as Voight silently worked in his office.

Hailey entered the locker room where she knew she would find Jay, and she was right.

As she hesitantly walked through the doorway, Hailey spoke. “Can we talk?”

Jay wasn’t facing the door when his partner walked in but, upon hearing her voice, he quickly adjusted his positioning on the bench he had planted himself on to grab his stuff from his locker so he was looking at her.

“Sure” he replied softly, pretty confident he knew what she wanted to talk about.

“Come over to mine in about half an hour?” Hailey asked.

Jay nodded in response and they both grabbed their things and walked to the parking lot together.

They walked in silence but it wasn’t their usual, comfortable, silence. The air around the two was stiff. Either way, it wasn’t long before they reached their cars and headed their separate ways.

Almost exactly half an hour later, Hailey heard a knock at her door. She got up from her position on her couch and went to answer the door, knowing it would be her partner on the other side.

“Hey” Jay said with a weak smile as Hailey opened the door and he walked inside.

He set his jacket on one of the hooks by the door as he always did when he was at her apartment and made his way to her couch.

Sitting in silence on opposite ends of the furniture both detectives waited for the other to talk first and after a few uncomfortable seconds, Hailey decided that it was probably fair for her to talk first seeing as she was the one who wanted to talk to him and she invited him over.

“What is going on with you?” she asked, not wanting to beat around the bush, just getting straight to the point.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on Jay, don’t give me that crap. You haven’t spoken to me at all since I got back from New York so I’m sorry for assuming my best friend would have more to say after I left for 4 weeks” Hailey rebuked at Jay’s easy response.

“I guess I figured you’d wanna catch up with the team rather than talk to me seeing as we spoke to each other so much while you were over there” he said but Hailey knew that wasn’t the truth.

She started to get angrier but did her best not to show it and kept her cool.

“Well that’s a load of bull” she snapped. “We both know that over the second half of my trip we barely spoke, compared to the first two weeks anyway”

“Oh and thats my fault?” Jay jabbed back, beginning to feel anger rise in himself. Still, they both sat in the same spots on the couch and neither raised their voice.

“Well is it mine?” Hailey replied.

“More like your boyfriend’s” Jay murmered without thinking.

Hailey couldn’t believe what he had just said.

“Is that why you’ve been weird for these past weeks?” She asked “You’re jealous of Liam?”

That word ‘jealous’ played with his head but Jay didn’t reply, still regretting even bringing it up.

“Not that its any of your business, but he wasn’t my boyfriend” Hailey hissed and moved her body to a much more upright position, but keeping their eye contact. “It was a two-week fling, it didn’t mean anything” she continued with a quizzical look on her face.

“Wait so you guys aren’t together anymore?” Jay asked, a little taken aback by what his partner had just said.

“No, we ended things the day before I left because we agreed it was just a bit of fun and neither of us had the want to try a long distance relationship.” she said while relaxing back into the couch again.

Silence fell in the room for a moment as Hailey waited for Jay to say something but instead he just stayed where he was and his brows furrowed.

“Is that really why you’ve been acting weird?” she finally asked when she realised Jay had no intention of speaking.

Still not saying a word, Jay shrugged his shoulders a little embarrassed that he had even made this into a thing, it’s not like he could control who Hailey was dating.

“Oh my god will you please say something or I’m abut to get really mad” she exclaimed with a little more volume.

Jay had no idea what he could say without confessing his feelings right there in the middle of her living room so he kept his mouth shut which really pushed Hailey over the edge.

“Jay” she scoffed “for fuck’s sake what are you doing? You’re in no place to act like this because of a guy I dated for like a minute, last time I checked this partnership wasn’t an exclusive relationship and I can date whoever the hell I want” she began to stand up and continued “Just because you’re not looking for someone doesn’t mean I can’t be”

In reality, both of them knew exactly who they really wanted to date and it was none other than the person right in front of them at that very moment but neither were ready to admit that. Or so they thought, Jay’s mind had other plans.

“Who says a haven’t already found them?” Jay whispered, loud enough for Hailey to hear.

That was the second time this evening that Jay had said something that was meant to be kept in his head. ’God I really need to think more before I speak’ he thought.

“What?” Hailey asked, sitting back down.

“I didn’t mean-“ Jay began.

“So you are seeing someone” Hailey cut in.

“What?” his forehead creased “no, I’m not seeing anyone” he said truthfully.

“But you just said you found-“

“You, Hailey” and he did it again, Jay spoke before he could stop himself. However, this time, it proved to work in his favour, as a large smile appeared on his partner’s face.

For Chicago’s best detectives, both Jay and Hailey looked pretty stupid right now. But not stupid in a bad way, stupid in a huge-smile-on-your-face-don’t-know-what-to-say way.

For a second, they both remained still, not entirely sure what had just happened and where to go from there. Then Hailey made a spur of the moment decision and launched herself at Jay.

First she put a hand on his cheek and that was quickly followed by her placing her lips to his and pulling her leg over his knees so she was sitting in his lap and they were face to face.

Without ever breaking the kiss, Jay’s hands momentarily explored Hailey’s body, mainly moving up and down her torso, whereas Hailey kept both hands on his cheeks or gently around his neck, softly touching the hair on the back of his head.

Both were very content as it felt like the whole world was slipping away and they were all that existed. Hailey could feel a huge smile on Jay’s face as they kissed and it only made hers grow wider as their tongues intertwined and they bit at each other’s lips.

Though they had exchanged no words further than Jay implying that Hailey was all he was looking for, neither of them felt it was necessary.

Since they day they had met, the two had gone from strangers, to partners, to best friends, to admitting they trust each other more than anyone else and would follow each other blind. But they had always been Hailey and Jay, and thats exactly what they were that night, nothing had changed between them apart from the enormous weight that was their unspoken love for each other was lifted off their shoulders and they were just Hailey and Jay.

[slapshot-to-the-heart]

Flatbush & Atlantic: part x

part i part ii part iii part iv part v part vi part vii part viii part ix

And we’ve finally come to the end of Cass and Mat’s story! I want to thank every person who’s read this over the past few months, especially those of you who have reblogged, commented, and shared this with your friends. Your feedback means the world to me, and please tell me what you think of this final part! I’ve also got some ideas floating around for an epilogue, so don’t be surprised if that pops up in the next few weeks.

part x

May 21 (fri)

For once, it wasn’t Cass’ alarm that woke her up. Her internal clock didn’t let her sleep in past 6, but as she lay in her bed, comforter pulled up to her chin and curls up in a haphazard messy bun, a realization struck her. She didn’t have anything to do, and that was just about as far from normal for her as possible. Normally, she’d be hopping in the shower at this time, getting out and shoveling some cereal down her throat before running to catch the train, or desperately trying to finish some last-minute reading before an early lecture. Her grandparents’ flight didn’t land at JFK until 1, and she wouldn’t need to leave until an hour before that to get Mat and drive to the airport. 

Padding out to the kitchen, she just caught Ryanne, who was about to leave for a clinical rotation. “What department are you in this month?” Cass asked.

“OB/GYN,” Ryanne responded. “I got to observe a birth the other day, and it was one of my favorite things I’ve gotten to do so far. Obviously I don’t know for sure yet, but I think I might want to match into it. You get to do a little bit of everything — there’s some surgery, some routine care, some deliveries. And with the Black maternal health crisis, I figure we need all the Black OBs we can get as a country.” 

Cass smiled. “That’s wonderful, I’m glad to hear.” She knew that Ryanne had been a little stressed out with the prospect of trying to pick a residency; she hadn’t felt drawn to any of the other rotations she’d gone through quite like this one. 

“What about you? What’s your schedule like today?” Ryanne asked as she poured coffee into her travel mug. 

Cass flopped down on the couch, looking over at her. “It’s just...I have nothing to do. Nothing needs to get done. No cases to read, no essays to finish, no paperwork to file or anything. Chris gave me this week off for finals anyways, so I couldn’t even go into the office if I wanted to because there’s just nothing for me to do. Do you know how rare that is for me?”

Ryanne laughed. “Cass, I’m in med school. The last time I had a true ‘off day’ was two weeks ago, and even then I spent most of it studying.” She slung her backpack over one shoulder. “See you tonight, have a good day, babe!”

After some toast and a smoothie, Cass was back on the couch, trying desperately to think of something to do. She thrived on being busy, thrived on feeling like she was needed and contributing to something worthwhile. Pushing herself up, she walked back to her room, deciding to change and go out for a run. Cass liked to keep in shape and exercise as often as she could, even though it had been a few years since she had been on an organized sports team. She was usually able to make yoga classes at the school gym twice a week, but typically didn’t have the spare time in the mornings for a run. And by the time she got back it was almost always dark, way too late to even think about going out alone. 

Lacing up her tennis shoes and grabbing her AirPods and keys, she set out, down the stairs and past the door. As she jogged down the streets, making familiar turn after familiar turn, Cass realized something remarkably profound. Every place she passed had played a part in the last three years. St. Lucy’s, where she had stumbled in with inconsolable tears after her abuelo’s stroke, lighting a candle and praying with some old Italian woman for his recovery. The bodega on the corner run by Carlos Gonzalez, one of the first people she met when she moved to the city and the only one who knew how to smoosh her sandwiches down how she likes. The Edible Arrangements where she, Stella, and Ryanne had bought Alicia a congratulatory fruit bouquet for finally asking out her coworker Juliette. They had been dating for six months. The high school she passed every morning on her way to the subway station. These were the people and places that had made her life what it was, and she owed them her thanks. 

An hour and five miles later, Cass decided to call it quits, walking the last few blocks back to the apartment as a sort of cool-down. She jumped in the shower, throwing her hair up in a towel once she got out and resigning herself to watching whatever was on TV. Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives it was, apparently. Four episodes and one snack break later, it was time to get in the car to head over and pick up Mat. Cass drove down Manhattan Island, tapping her fingers in boredom as she hit yet more traffic. It was noon, why was there even traffic in the first place? She pulled into the visitor’s spot in the underground lot of Mat’s apartment complex, taking out her phone. Just got here! Mat popped out of the elevator a few minutes later, holding a bouquet of tulips. “Sorry I’m late, I was going back and forth between tulips and sunflowers for awhile, but I figured the pink was maybe a better choice? What do you think?” Cass started to laugh, and Mat looked offended. “What?”

“Babe, it’s so sweet that you want to impress my grandma, but have you thought about how the poor flowers will fare?”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Cass adjusted her seatbelt, leaning over. “We’re going to be out for awhile. We’re not going straight back to their hotel. So…” she prompted.

“They’ll wilt.” Mat finished, his face falling. 

She covered his hand with her own. “Don’t worry. It’s a sweet gesture and I’m sure she’ll appreciate them. We’re all going out for dinner after the ceremony tomorrow, why don’t you bring them then?” 

He perked up. “I’ll run up and put them back in a vase, be back in a few!” Mat gave Cass a quick peck on her cheek, leaving her with just one question. Mat owned vases? He slid back into the passenger’s seat shortly after, clicking his seatbelt in and connecting his phone to the speakers. 

Cass rolled her eyes. “I don’t know a single guy your age who’s not obsessed with John Mayer. It’s kind of weird, honestly.”

“You don’t like him?” Mat asked curiously. Cass was usually into more guitar-based, acoustic stuff, so he figured she’d be into at least some of his stuff. 

“Some of it,” Cass responded, pulling out of the lot and onto the street. “Go ahead and play it, I don’t mind at all. Not what I’d usually put on if I’m alone, that’s all.”

Mat nodded, looking absentmindedly out the window. “So, what should I know about your grandparents?”

Cass’ face immediately burst into a smile at their mention. It was always so clear how much she loved her family, and that was one of Mat’s favorite things about her. How hard she loved. “Alright, so it’s Dolores and Roberto Cabrera. They’re wonderful people, I genuinely think you’re going to like them a lot. They’re both super fluent in English, so don’t worry about communication. They originally immigrated to Texas when they were in their teens, abuela was a housekeeper at a few hotels in San Antonio and abuelo worked in the fields for awhile before getting a job at a little hardware store in town, where he worked until they retired. My mom’s the middle of four, two older sisters and a younger brother.”Mat listened intently. “My abuelo’s a little more rough around the edges, so don’t be surprised if he gives you  a little bit of a hard time, but it’s not out of malice or anything. He’s always been very protective over us, my mom and her siblings, and now us three. He might do the whole ‘nobody’s good enough for my Cassidy” thing, but he’ll get over it. He means well.” 

She glanced over at Mat, who was looking decidedly nervous. “Seriously, chou, it’s going to be fine. Abuela’s totally different, they’re like polar opposites. I can almost guarantee that she’ll say something to the effect of ‘if my granddaughter loves you, I love you.’ Very much go with the flow, she’ll probably want to come over to your apartment and cook for you.” Her expression softened. “As long as you’re kind and respectful, they won’t have an issue with you, Mat. They’ll see that you treat me how I deserve to be treated and love me like I deserve to be loved.”

Cass pulled into the garage by the international arrivals terminal, cutting the gas and checking the time. “The flight was supposed to land at one, so they should be getting out of passport control by the time we get inside.” It was a little after one thirty, but if there was anything Cass knew, it was just how long customs could take at an airport as big as JFK. Even in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, and even though her grandparents were travelling on their American passports and could use the citizen’s line, she had heard that it could take upwards of an hour or two to get through. 

The concourse was pretty bare apart from a few kiosks selling “I ❤️ NY” shirts and a surprisingly busy Noah’s Bagels, so Mat and Cass made themselves comfortable on one of the rows of plastic chairs lining the room. The arrivals screen had marked their flight from Mexico City as having landed nearly an hour prior, so it was little surprise when Cass popped up from the chair, straightening her shirt and walking over to a couple that he could only assume were her grandparents. Mat quickly followed, catching up to her just as she threw her arms around her grandma. “Abuela, te extrañé,” she said, the sound muffled by Dolores’ scarf. She pulled back, kissing her grandpa on the cheek before stepping over to Mat, one hand placed reassuringly on his back. “Abuela, abuelo, this is Mat, my boyfriend.”

Mat stuck his hand out, shaking theirs. “Mr. and Mrs. Cabrera, it’s so amazing to finally meet you. Cass speaks so highly of you, and she always talks about her summers in Hermosillo.” 

Dolores pulled Mat in, embracing him from the start just as Cass had expected. “Mat, it’s wonderful to finally meet you. Cassidy has told us so much about you, it’s clear she loves you a great deal.”

Mat ducked his head and blushed. “I’m not sure if she can love me more than I love her, but I’m happy to be in such good company.” 

He took both of their suitcases as Cass gestured to the sliding doors. “I want to get back to the car before they charge me for another half hour,” she said. 

Mat slid the bags in the trunk of the car as Dolores got in the passenger’s seat. With a gulp, Mat realized that meant he had to sit next to Roberto. He had been perfectly nice on the walk over, but as Cass had warned him, it was clear that he was a little guarded. Whether that was just his personality or whether Mat had yet to earn his trust hadn’t been determined. 

Her grandparents had been to New York once or twice before, but it had almost always been just to fly in before driving up to visit Cass’ family in Connecticut; they had never really been able to see the city. Cass  felt strongly that that had to change, so she had arranged for a mini-tour of Manhattan before they got dropped off at their hotel for the night. “So, Mat,” Dolores said, turning around in her chair, “Cassidy tells us you’re a hockey player? That must be so exciting, how long have you been playing?”

Mat nodded. “Yes ma’am. I play for the Islanders, so we’re right here in Brooklyn, but I live over in Manhattan. I’ve been playing the sport since I was four or so? Really little. But I just finished my fourth season on the Islanders. And it is exciting, I love being with my team and being on the ice, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.” 

“That must keep you busy, though?” Roberto asked gruffly. 

Mat froze. He couldn’t lie and say that he was home all the time, able to be there for Cass as often as he’d like to, because he wasn’t. But if he let on just how often he was gone, would that make him even more wary? “Oftentimes, yes,” Mat began slowly. “The team’s usually on two or so road trips a month, they’re usually about a week long. But they’re balanced out with plenty of home games, and there’s lots of guys who balance the job with a family and other responsibilities. I’m always excited to be able to be back in New York, I love it here. And to be with Cass.” Roberto nodded, not seemingly totally satisfied but content enough to not push the issue further. 

“He’s really good about spending time with me, abuelo, even though we’ve both got busy schedules,” Cass added, catching Roberto’s eye in the rearview mirror. “We meet in the morning before a class to get coffee, or lunch in between studying if I’ve got time. I go to every game I’m able to when he’s playing here in the city, or over in Jersey. We spend plenty of time together, he doesn’t blow me off. You don’t have to worry.” He seemed much more at ease with his granddaughter’s response. 

It was a whirlwind three hours around New York, Cass playing chauffeur as they went to the top of the Empire State Building — her pick — in St. Patrick’s Cathedral  — her grandpa’s pick — and around Central Park, stopping at one of the many pretzel carts for a snack. They dropped them off at the hotel, Cass’ eyes getting misty as her grandma pulled out the serape stole from her purse. Her fingers danced over the colors, the stripes of red and blue and pink and green, and knowing that it was made by the hands of someone so important to her made it all the more beautiful. The rest of her family was driving in later that night, after Nick got out of school, so everyone wouldn’t be together until the graduation ceremony the next day. 

The couple decided to get takeout on the way back to Mat’s apartment, Mat jumping out of the car to run in and pick up the order while Cass circled the block until he was out. As they sat on the couch, cuddled into each other as they broke into the boxes of Chinese food, Cass thought absentmindedly that Mat handled his chopsticks way better than she ever would have given him credit for. Her grandparents had been on her mind. More specifically, her grandparents and Mat had been on her mind. It wasn’t that she thought he had messed up in any way — she was positive he’d absolutely won over her grandma and her grandpa was slowly but surely coming around — but some lingering concerns about what they might think about their relationship. “I’m not sure that they’d actually care, but when you talk to them tomorrow maybe don’t mention how often I sleep over here? They’re wonderful people, but they’re a little old school about this stuff.” 

“This stuff?” Mat asked curiously. 

“Living together, sex before marriage, that kind of stuff.” 

“And how do you feel about it?” 

Cass raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you think you could ever get me to do something I didn’t want to do? I’m way too stubborn for that.” Mat threw his head back, laughing. “But seriously. I don’t make the decision lightly, because commitment and intimacy in that way is something really big and important to me. You already knew that I don’t do hookups, it’s just not my thing. But I can see this, us, going places. I want us to go places. And I’ve never been very good at listening to people when I don’t want to. So I’ve made my peace that my choices might not be ones everyone would be thrilled with, but it doesn’t really matter to me as long as I have you.” 

Mat nodded, putting down his food to card one hand through her curls. “I get that, I do. Obviously that’s not so much the attitude with a lot of the boys, but your principles are part of what makes you who you are, and I love who you are. Every part of you.” Cass smiled against his neck, leaning down and kissing him on the shoulder. “I want us to go places too, I hope you know that.”

“Glad to hear.”

They ate without speaking for a few more minutes until Mat broke the silence. “Where do you see yourself in five years?” 

“With you,” Cass answered honestly. “Here, or we could get a nice brownstone over in Brooklyn.” 

“Somewhere with a yard,” Mat mused. 

“Yeah, a yard would be nice,” Cass agreed. “I’d like to get a dog, I’ve always grown up with dogs and it would be nice to have someone to keep me company when you’re gone.” Her family’s two dogs, Patches and Scout, were back at the house in Connecticut, and on more than one occasion, Cass had made the two-hour drive up just to see them. She paused, glancing down at her hands. “In five years? You’d better have put a ring on my finger by then, Mat. I’ll be almost thirty. Approaching old maid status” 

Mat laughed, an easy, breathy sort of laugh that somehow erased all of the tension in the room. “I think you should double-hyphen.” 

Cass looked at him doubtfully. “Cabrera-Shaw-Barzal? Yeah, I’m going to have to pass on that one.” 

He shrugged, the corner of his lip pulled up in a half-smile. “Just saying. It’s got a ring to it.”

“Have you given much thought to what you’d want to do with your name when you get married?” Mat asked curiously. It really didn’t matter much to him, since it would ultimately be Cass’ decision, but he didn’t want to assume anything regardless. And it didn’t escape Cass that he said when, as if it was certain, as if it was a given. The surety made her heart flutter. 

Cass shook her head. “Not particularly. On one hand, I do like the idea of the whole family having the same name. It seems nice. Unified. But I don’t want to feel like I’m erasing my culture and who I am just because I’m getting married. And all due respect, chou,” Cass poked Mat’s cheek, “but Cabrera Shaw’s the name on my degrees. Cassidy Barzal didn’t go to law school.”

“Very fair,” Mat said with a chuckle. 

Cass took a deep breath. If it seemed like they were having the “future talk,” she figured it was best to go all in. “Do you want kids?” she asked, tentatively, hesitantly. It was obvious that Mat was good with kids, she’d seen as much, but being good with kids and wanting children of your own were two very different things. Cass had wanted to be a mom since she knew what a mom was, and even though they probably should have brought up the topic earlier, she wasn’t sure what she’d do if he said no. Thank God, she never had to find out. 

“Definitely,” Mat said, nodding. “Not now, obviously, we’re young and haven’t really settled down yet. If you got pregnant we’d make it work, but I don’t think either of us is looking to be parents right away. But in a couple years, once we’re married and have a proper house with space...Yeah, I’d like to have kids.” He looked over at Cass. “What about you?”

“Always wanted kids,” Cass responded fondly. “I loved growing up with siblings, and I know my parents were the same way. Two or three, I think. I’ve thought about adoption too, but obviously that’s way in the future.”

Mat kissed the top of her head. “We’ve got time.”

 May 22 (sat)

 The graduation ceremony itself wasn’t until noon, so Cass had more than enough time to get ready after waking up at 7. Alicia barrelled into her room at exactly 7:22, throwing a shirt at her and telling her to get dressed. Cass stumbled out of the room ten minutes later, pulling on socks and grabbing her phone from the charger by her door. “What are you guys trying to pull?” she asked, yawning and trying to wipe the sleep out of her eyes. 

“Uh, we’re going to the diner, duh,” Stella said with a smile, tossing Cass her purse. “Come on! You know it fills up early on weekends.” Glen’s Diner had become an apartment staple over the past few years, the restaurant having been the first place the four of them had eaten in the city when they moved, not having bought groceries yet and not wanting to pay the premium for delivery. It was cheap, open 24/7, and Cass would swear up and down that their blueberry pancakes were the best she’d ever had. 

They were seated just after 8, happily slurping coffee and stealing bites of each other’s breakfast twenty minutes later. It was a nice day and hadn’t gotten too hot yet, so they decided to walk back after finishing the meal. In reality, “going back” meant Alicia stopping to buy a new necklace, listening to a busker for a few minutes, and petting no fewer than five dogs on the one-mile walk. There was still plenty of time before they had to leave for the ceremony, but after Cass did her makeup and tamed her curls, there was just enough time to watch an episode of Parks & Rec before having to actually get her stuff together. Not as flexible as she once had been, Ryanne helped zip up the back of her dress, a white lace bodycon from her sorority days that she had definitely worn to at least two semiformals. Hey, Cass thought as she straightened her hemline, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

She had ironed her robe and put it into a dress bag the night before, and gently folded her school stole and the serape from her abuela into her purse. Mat’s necklace hadn’t left its place since Valentine’s. Her dad’s parents had given her a beautiful pair of pearl studs for her undergraduate graduation, and it felt only right to wear them for her next step. She fastened the ankle straps on her heels, and popped her head out to the living room. “Everyone ready?” She was met with a chorus of “yeses,” and grabbed her keys from their dish by the front door. 

“Let’s go get our girl graduated!” Alicia hollered into the street. 

The girls had originally objected to Cass driving herself to her own graduation, but relented as soon as Cass reminded them that she was the only one who knew where to find the free parking, and the rest of them only drove sedans. “Cheryl has way more room. Y’all want to be cramped on purpose?” 

“Fair point,” Stella had said begrudgingly. 

Exactly twenty-six minutes later, Cass pulled into a spot about two blocks away from the arena where she would be graduating in an hour’s time, hugging each of her friends as Ryanne handed her the dress bag. “You’re going to kill it in there,” she said, rubbing her back. 

Cass laughed. “Ry, all I’ve got to do is walk across a stage without tripping.”

She shrugged. “It’s a fine art that few have mastered.” 

Cass entered through the side, flashing her ID to the security guard standing by the door. Half an hour later, everyone had been ushered into their seats, carefully arranged in alphabetical order. For the most part, Cass was friendly with everyone in her class; if they weren’t outwardly hostile to her, she saw no reason why they deserved anything other than kindness, but was relieved to see Robin sitting next to her. “You excited?” Robin asked, brushing a piece of her auburn hair behind her ear. The lobby doors must have opened, because as she asked, crowds started to mill into the seats, waving at anyone who would catch their eye. 

Cass bounced her head. “I am, but it’s kind of surreal, you know? I knew we’d get to this point, obviously. It’s what we’ve been working towards for seven years, really. But the idea that it all essentially comes down to this…”

“An hour, a few handshakes, and a piece of paper,” Robin helpfully supplied. 

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s almost anticlimactic in a way? Like sure, we’ve got our JDs after this, but knowing we’ve still got to pass the bar. We’re not over the finish line yet.”

“Columbia has a 97% pass rate, and you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, Cass. And I’ve spent three years surrounded by the smartest people I’ve ever met.”

“Fair,” Cass said, “it’s just kind of a weird feeling, you know?” Robin nodded. “And plus, for most of us, we’ve pretty much spent our whole lives in school. Aside from positions as summer associates, or part-time jobs and internships, we don’t really know how to do anything other than school. It’s just a little bit of a daunting thought to suddenly feel like we’re being thrown out to the wolves without really knowing what to expect.” Cass’ phone, which she wasn’t technically supposed to have but had snuck in anyways, chose that moment to buzz with a text notification. It was from Mat.

Met up with the crew! Can’t wait to see you walk across that stage, Cass. I love you and we’re all so proud of you. Mat had attached a photo of everyone she had brought with her — both sets of grandparents, her parents and siblings, and roommates. 

“Your boyfriend is nauseatingly cute,” Robin observed, looking over her shoulder at the message. 

Cass laughed. “That’s true, but I knew what I was getting myself into.” The music started ten minutes later, and the ceremony began. If Cass was being honest, she didn’t really remember much of anything from the first half of the ceremony, before the conferral of diplomas. She was so excited and nervous and unbelievably ready all at the same time that all she recalled from the dean’s speech and the student speeches were vague comments about their “awesome responsibility” and “duty to pursue truth and justice” and “commitment to fight for what is right over what is easy.” 

As soon as she realized it, her row was being ushered into line to receive their diplomas. “Cassidy María Cabrera Shaw.” She heard her name, but really had no clue who had spoken it. The dean? One of her professors? As Cass walked up the steps and across the stage, the only thing she could think was don’t trip don’t trip don’t trip. Then she was handed a diploma, flashed a brilliant smile for the photographer, and shook hand after hand after hand before walking off the other side of the stage. She was pretty sure she could hear Mat and Noah yelling their congratulations from her seat on the floor. 

Having a name towards the front of the alphabet meant that Cass was almost always called on quickly in class, or on roll call, or at graduation, as the case was. But that meant that she had to sit, quietly and politely, for the other four hundred names to be called. And it took awhile. After Robin Cahill came Wesley Coleman, then Samuel Cogswell, then Fiona Chan. Cass didn’t mind having to sit through the whole thing, especially when Fiona, Les, Samaira, and her other friends crossed the stage — she cheered as much as anybody — but it was a long time to be sitting in a folding chair and the thousands of people packed into a small space didn’t help her temperature regulation. 

There was the benediction and congratulations, and then the recessional of the graduates. Graduates, Cass thought. She was a graduate. She had finished, she was done, she had accomplished the one thing she wanted most to do since she was a little girl watching Legally Blonde for the first time, looking at Elle Woods and thinking I can do that. And she had. Her feet carried her to the back room of their own accord, where she picked up her bag and was engulfed in a flurry of hugs, congratulations, and kisses on the cheek from her friends, the people who she had spent countless late nights in the library with, bar hopping to celebrate the end of finals, and afternoons on each other’s apartment couches, yelling fact patterns at each other and trying to come up with an analysis before the timer went off.  

Following the stream of sky blue graduation gowns, Cass walked outside, waving at her family when she spotted Eliana hanging off of a lamppost in the courtyard to get a better view. Her sister nearly tackled her as she made her way to the group. “Cass. I already knew you were brilliant, and I still think  you’re the smartest out of any of us,” she gestured between the two of them and Noah, “but now you’ve got the degree to prove it. I’m so proud of you.” 

Noah was next. “You worked hard, and I know how badly you wanted this. You’re a really good sister.” He wasn’t usually a big talker, and Cass’ eyes definitely got a little misty as he spoke. He had verbally committed to Minnesota State the week before, and Mat might have been more excited than even Cass when he heard the news. It was an incredible program that had a serious track record of sending players to the NHL, and she was so proud to see her little brother doing what he loved. Her mom and both grandmas were crying, as expected, and Grandpa Joe wrapped her up in a hug as soon as he got the chance. 

Mat had been hanging towards the back of the crowd, not wanting to feel like he was intruding on family time, until her dad nudged him forward. “Go say hi to your girl, Mat,” Patrick said.

“Will do,” Mat said, squeezing Cass’ hand and pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head. “Sometimes it blows my mind how incredible you are,” he said. “Everyone’s already said how smart you are, and every bit of that is true. But you’re so much more than that, you know?” His thumb rubbed over her hand. “You’re beautiful, and curious, and you always keep me on my toes. You’re so passionate about your work, and you’ve got the biggest heart out of anyone I know. You’ve never met a person you didn’t want to help. And I promise I’m not biased just because I’m in love with you.” 

Cass gave a watery laugh, blinking and thanking God she had the foresight to wear waterproof mascara. “God, I love you, Mat.”

Her dad had always been the picture type, insisting on documenting every waking moment. He was the living embodiment of “pics or it didn’t happen,” for better or worse. He took a few of her with her law school friends, then Alicia snapped one with just her immediate family, then there was one with everyone. Cass also got a picture with Mat, where he was bending down to kiss her, the tassel on her mortarboard just barely brushing his nose. Then she was in one with all of the seniors on the law review, and a friend pulled her away for a few with the Latinx Student Association. By the time they finally managed to tear Patrick away from his camera, it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for dinner. 

Mat got Patrick to send him the photo of him and Cass, and was about to post it on Instagram when he hesitated. “Hey, is it cool if I post this?” Mat said, showing Cass his phone. Most people knew who she was, and he had posted pictures of her before, but they had never been this obvious, this clear, this real. 

“Go for it.”

Mat pressed post. So, so proud of my incredible girlfriend @casscshaw for graduating law school. You’re one of the smartest, most empathetic people I know, and you’re going to make an amazing lawyer. 

Cass grinned, a big, genuine smile as she was surrounded by her family, the people who meant the most to her — whether they were related or not. She looked up at Mat, who was smiling softly down at her as he reached one hand up to fix her tassel. “What’s next?”

[brasskier]

First chapter of my six-part fluffy geraskefer modern AU holiday series spanning five years of holiday celebrations is up! 

Christmas 2016, or The One Where Flights are Cancelled. After a string of delayed flights and closed rail lines, Geralt, his new music teacher friend Jaskier, and his on-again/off-again girlfriend Yennefer find themselves trapped on Christmas Eve. Thank god for duty-free stores.

Read it below the cut or on my ao3

When Geralt first met Jaskier, checking an ID he was almost certain had to be fake (it wasn't; Jaskier was twenty-four), he slid off his coat to reveal an incredibly garish reindeer-emblazoned tie. At Geralt's judgemental stare, he shrugged and said, "work party."

"Pre-gaming or post-gaming?" Geralt gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Post." He settled onto the barstool, called for a Blue Moon - "and don't forget the orange slice!" - and let out an exhausted sigh before returning his gaze to Geralt. "It's just - it's my first year teaching, and I'm not really used to the political fraternizing, which is hard enough. But they nearly cut the music program before they ended up hiring me, so not everyone's exactly happy to see me there." He scrubbed a hand against his face, noting silently that he needed to shave. "Sorry, didn't mean to chew your ear off." Geralt shrugged again from the doorway. It was a slow, dull night, the usually thriving college-town bar nearly dead over winter break. 

"Not like I don't get paid for it." This elicited a chuckle out of Jaskier, who seemed to relax some. "You teach music?" 

"Yeah." He smiled fondly. "High school. Had every intention of making it big and touring the world, or maybe becoming principal trombone at the Phil. Just wasn't in the cards." 

"I'm not exactly familiar with classroom politics, but I know someone who might have some pointers." He was referring to, as he'd later reveal to Jaskier, his on-again/off-again, city councilwoman girlfriend. 

"I do like Christmas, you know," Jaskier's voice came again from the bar, between sips at his beer. "Just not the parties." 

"Humbug." Jaskier giggled again, swiping the foam mustache off his lip with the back of his hand. "Geralt, by the way."

"Jaskier." He sat in contemplative silence for a moment. "What time do you get off?" Geralt's brow furrowed, startled by the question. "It's just - I just - sorry if that was a little forward." He heaved a sigh. "My apartment's decorated. Thought you might like to see it." 

"Hmm." He glanced down at his watch, then up at the bar, empty save for Jaskier and a handful of other patrons. "Ten." Jaskier's face lit up. 

Decorated, as it turns out, was an understatement, and Geralt couldn't help but gawk as Jaskier led him through the threshold of his tiny apartment. A beautiful, grand tree stood in the corner of the living room and stretched so tall it nearly scraped the ceiling. Tinsel and garlands adorned the doorways and the arch leading to the kitchen, a buffalo plaid throw was carefully folded on the back of the couch, and a single stocking hung just below the television. Lights snaked around the perimeter of the room, warm white and snowflake-shaped. 

"Do you like it?" Jaskier asked pleadingly, shattering the protracted silence.

"It's cozy," Geralt remarked. It really was. He flopped unceremoniously onto the couch while Jaskier disappeared into his kitchen.

"Jack or moscato?" He called from the archway, holding up a bottle of whiskey in one hand and white wine in the other. "Sorry, I don't have much right now." 

"Jack is fine." He gazed around the room absentmindedly. "On the rocks." Jaskier returned before long, pressing a glass of whiskey into his hand before sipping at his own glass of wine. 

"Wanna watch something? I have Netflix." Geralt, against his better judgement, shrugged and agreed.

Jaskier was back at the bar not even a week later, excitement flashing across his face when he laid eyes on Geralt. To his credit, Geralt was keenly aware that the man had never visited the bar in his life prior to last week, let alone frequented the establishment. He just decided some things were best left unsaid.

Speaking of unsaid, Jaskier was in love - it was obvious from the way he’d follow Geralt around like a lost puppy. Started lingering around the bar every evening, choosing the seat nearest the door every time, inviting Geralt back to his apartment just as frequently. And Geralt would usually accept, watch stupid movies through all hours of the night until his new music teacher friend inevitably passed out, and then silently creep out of the apartment.

It was three days before Christmas, and the chatter of choice for the evening was holiday plans. Jaskier, as it turned out, had a flight to catch back to Jersey. 

"The worst part's taking NJ Transit down to Lettenhove," he groaned, nursing a bay breeze complete with the little paper umbrella. "It's always delayed coming out of Newark." Geralt himself had plans back in the mountains of Vermont, mainly dinner and then watching his younger brothers play football with nothing but shorts on in the freezing cold over a few cigars with his old man. 

"I have a layover in Newark," he remarked idly. Yennefer - who had hit it off interestingly with Jaskier, to say the least - was heading to New York, and he'd arranged his first flight so they'd be on it together. Which meant it was way earlier than he liked.

"What time? Maybe we'll run into each other." Jaskier looked way too excited by that possibility, leaning back on the bar with all the composure of a middle-schooler. Geralt, despite his best efforts, couldn't help but find it endearing.

"8:15," he grumbled, exasperated just thinking about having to be at the airport at 6am. Jaskier's head perked up.

"Delta?" He asked, grin growing impossibly bigger by the minute. Geralt nodded, and Jaskier was already tearing through his phone to pull up the app. "What gate?" 

"Hold on." He fished his own phone from his pocket with a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure his boss wasn't nearby, and pulled up the screenshot of the boarding pass Yen had sent him. "B4?" Jaskier nearly fell off the barstool.

"Geralt," he squeaked, struggling to right himself. "We're on the same flight." Just as soon as he'd regained his composure he lost it again, doubling over with laughter. 

"So's Yennefer," he added, and Jaskier shrugged.

"Well, then I'll be sure to pack my trombone." Geralt couldn't stop the snicker that escaped him at the sight of Jaskier's shit-eating grin.

For as much as he might wax poetic about the prospect, Jaskier absolutely despised a white Christmas. Which, just as well, is exactly what they got. He was shivering in just the time it took to flee his Uber and shuffle into the waiting warmth of the airport. Security went blessedly quickly, as it tended to at six in the morning - precisely why he settled on such an early flight. (Nevermind the fact his parents practically demanded it of him.) 

He was nursing a venti peppermint mocha latte - light and sweet, with an extra shot of espresso - when Geralt appeared at the edge of the terminal, and he patted his instrument fondly when Yennefer waltzed up behind him. 

"Geralt!" He exclaimed, rising from his seat and wrapping his free arm around him. "Yennefer!" She held a hand up as he moved towards her.

"Not so fast. I'm not sure if I like you yet." His face fell briefly, but he laughed anyway. 

"Can take the girl out of New York but not the New York–" he began to joke, but Yennefer cut him off with a roll of her eyes.

"Save it. I'm from Connecticut." That finally, properly, seemed to shut him up, and he nestled back into his seat with his coffee. She softened a little. "Where are you going?" 

"Me? Just south Jersey," he perked up. Geralt looked like he had something to add, but before he could the gate attendant started boarding calls.

The flight was thankfully brief, if a little turbulent. Geralt spent the journey playing peacekeeper in the middle seat, while Yennefer idly read some news articles she'd saved on her phone, and Jaskier slept soundly against the window, curled around his trombone. 

It was midday when they arrived in Newark. Yennefer was teasing Jaskier for managing to pass out despite the massive cup of caffeine and sugar he'd consumed, Jaskier was trying his best to put together a groggy retort, and Geralt decidedly just wanted them to shut up. At least they were all about to part ways, and he could enjoy his next flight in – shit.

"Flights to Vermont are cancelled," Jaskier's words, urgent and harried, snapped him out of his thoughts. 

"Fuck," he growled under his breath, eyeing the departure board. Sure enough, in bright red letters, his flight was delayed until further notice, with a little asterisk telling him to download the app to keep up-to-date with any developments. 

"I'd offer to let you join me," Yennefer began with a deep sigh. "But you know how my parents feel about you." Geralt ran a hand down his face. Just his luck, wasn't it. So much for cigars with his old man.

"You can come with me." Jaskier's voice was so uncertain, so small, he almost didn't hear it. "My parents haven't had a chance to hate you yet." Geralt groaned.

"Sure. Why not?" He forced a smile across his gruff features, and Jaskier met him with a toothy grin in return.

"Beats this shithole." He glanced around, trying to find his bearings in the busy airport. "Let's grab some lunch before we head out, yeah?" Geralt nodded before turning to Yennefer.

"Joining us?" She shrugged.

"As a wise man once said, 'sure. Why not?'" The wait at McDonald's wasn't terrible, so they shifted eagerly into line, and all but devoured their food the moment it was in their hands. 

"Right, so," Jaskier began between mouthfuls of Big Mac. "Northeastern Corridor down to Trenton, and my parents will pick us up there." He peered over his burger at Yennefer.

"Northeastern Corridor to NY Penn," she replied flatly, the straw of her drink stained with deep burgundy lipstick. They tossed their trash and headed off towards the train terminal, and, at the very least, Geralt would only now have to deal with one of them at a time. Except god, it seemed, was laughing at him that Christmas Eve. 

"Are you kidding me!" He'd never seen Jaskier so worked up - though, granted, he'd only known him for a month. "NJ Transit's down!?" He flung his arms about dramatically before squatting right in the middle of the station, head in his hands. Yennefer quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Is he… Okay?" Geralt shrugged, fitted a palm on Jaskier's shoulder. He gazed up at him, wide-eyed and pink-cheeked. 

"Fine, fine." He pressed his hands against his knees and shifted to his feet. "Now what?"

"We're stuck here," Geralt groaned and heaved a breathy chuckle. "Merry Christmas, huh?"

"Wait…" Yennefer held a finger up, face drawn in thought. "Won't they put you up in a hotel?" Geralt hummed, and ran a finger along the massive, glowing map kiosk, searching for the nearest Delta help center.

They did, in fact, put him up in a hotel, and he did, in fact, agree to let Yennefer and Jaskier tag along. Not before stopping at one of the duty-free shops and snagging as much overpriced liquor as his wallet would allow, of course. Jaskier cast an appraising eye at his haul, shook his head, and wordlessly extracted his trombone from its case. Thank god for all those solos he'd memorized in college.

"What the hell are you–" Yennefer began, but cut herself off when the first dollar bills landed at his feet. "Oh." A few more followed, and then some more, and within a few minutes a crowd had gathered, phones out and pointed at him. He ate up the attention, playing to the crowd for another twenty or so minutes before excusing himself and collecting the cash that had collected at his feet. He bought yet more alcohol, and they departed for the hotel.

It was small and held only the bare essentials - queen bed, TV, bathroom, and the world's smallest fridge. He popped open a bottle of whiskey before he even bothered to kick his shoes off, tilting his head back and taking a deep swig before grabbing the bottle of wine still in the bag and holding it at arm's length for whoever wanted it next. 

"Thank god," Yennefer sighed, yanking it from his hand. It was a deep red that matched her lips. Jaskier dumped his bags in the corner and fished out one of his bottles of vodka. 

"Cheers," he called, raising the bottle to the air, and Geralt and Yennefer held theirs up as well, clinking the three together. "To Christmas!" They dissolved into laughter, shoes discarded randomly across the floor, limbs splayed across the bed, and alcohol sploshing precariously. 

When Geralt cracked his eyes open the next morning, early light was slipping through the blinds, a series of texts from Delta informed him his new flight was set to leave in four hours, and, well. Yennefer was naked in his arms, which he supposed wasn't entirely surprising. He shifted up against the headboard, rubbing sleep from his eyes and gently extricating himself from her unconscious grasp, jarred by the rattling of liquor bottles. His feet were about to finally hit the floor when his heart nearly stopped, and he paused urgently. Yennefer wasn't the only one he'd shared the room with…

"G'morning?" Came a breathy yawn, and soft brown hair poked up from the blankets. Fuck. He planted his feet firmly below him and scanned the room for his scattered clothing. "G'ralt?" Brown hair was followed by scrunched eyes, a half-ajar mouth, and a splotch of pink on his cheek where his hand has been pressed against it in his sleep. Geralt cursed under his breath and plucked up his underwear.

"Did we…?" He half-asked, not daring to finish the question. Jaskier - naked, for the love of god, stalked around the bed to Geralt's side and pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"Yes," he said warmly.

"All of us?" Jaskier nodded and hummed, following suit in tracking the remains of the previous day's outfit. "And… did we… did we like it?" Jaskier laughed, soft and breathy.

"We had a great time, Geralt. Relax." He slid his sweater over his head.

"Right." Finally he spotted his pants, and stepped into them unsteadily. "Suppose we should wake her?" Jaskier shrugged.

"Probably." They roused Yennefer, who also seemed to have a better recollection of the night before than Geralt, and was none too surprised. Breakfast was a brief affair in the hotel lobby, all of them downing cup after cup of shitty black coffee and basking in afterglow. Finally, at long last, they bid their goodbyes and parted ways. Geralt could finally get some peace, quiet, and alone time. On the flight to Vermont, he found himself missing the two anyway.

[jjyusmile]

lonely | kang hyung-gu (kino)

kang hyung-gu (kino) | lonely

pairing: bestfriend!kino x {gender-neutral} reader!

word count: 2,693

notes: best friends to lovers au! this story is inspired by kino’s song and music video ‘lonely’ because its pure and he deserves attention. i love kino and you should too :) i take requests!

here is the link to the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSoN4v1G8Os

__________________________________

The steam rose from the idle cups of black coffee that sat between you. They served more purpose as hand warmers than they did a delicious drink. You were sat outside of a café on a set of wicker chairs opposite one another. The winter sun fell over Tokyo like a cosy blanket; the way Kino’s ears poked out under his cap made the grin that hadn’t faded since you surprised him last night even more endearing.

Everything had been planned with Hongseok and it all went smoothly, except for him being late to pick you up at Haneda airport.

[me: 21:17pm] hey seok, i’m here

[hongseokie 🤪: 21:19pm] ah shit, I uh- forgot

[me: 21:20pm] i swear to god if you’re not here in 5 minutes~ I’ll hide your chicken breasts.

[hongseokie 🤪: 21:21pm] 🗿

He turned up 25 minutes later – hot chocolate in hand with a smiling Hui in the passenger seat. It warmed your heart that you got to see the rest of the boys, as well as your best friend.

Today was their only scheduled day off, and Kino was more than excited to spend it with his best friend. Spending the morning messing about in your hotel room, it was almost sunset by the time you left to start exploring.

He broke the comfortable silence as he sang under his breath, staring into the distance of the skyline. “A day without you is so lonely.”

You giggled, your warmed hand coming to cover your mouth. It had been months since you last saw each other. Your last memory was your brother’s wedding when he had to leave halfway through to catch a flight to Thailand for the first leg of their tour. You smiled fondly at your best friend for a moment.

“Lonely indeed,” you retorted sarcastically. “What are we doing with the rest of our day then, Gu?”

He pondered exaggeratedly, a finger cupping his chin. The movement made you giggle louder. You knew what you would do. You did the same in any city you visited with Kino – wander aimlessly until you found something you liked.

Within moments, you were strolling down the streets of Shinjuku with your arm wrapped around Kino’s. Before leaving the café, he forced you to wear his oversized black ‘fxxking rabbits’ sweatshirt after you had left your hotel room in a short-sleeved shirt on a chilly day. The length of the sleeves drowned your short arms creating sweater paws that you gladly welcomed in the icy climate. Your camera hung from its straps loosely around your neck, bumping slightly against your stomach as you fell into step together.

Heading in the direction of the National Garden, you focused on how the winter sunset caught Kino’s skin with a natural glow. Under his purple NY Yankees, you noticed how the high points of his cheeks turned a rosy pink from the chill, a similar shade covering his nose. With his cosy sweatshirt now on your person, he was left in a faded beige button-up with a black t-shirt underneath loosely tucked into his dark-wash denim jeans.

He must be freezing. You snuggled in a little closer than usual, to which Kino welcomed the warmth.

Usually, silence between people would be uncomfortable, with the occasional awkward glance toward the other. But this was different. Even after months of video calls until early hours of the morning, it only seemed like yesterday he left your brother’s wedding. The silence was oddly comforting, enjoying each other’s company whilst strolling across the overpass of the highway.

“What are you thinking about?” Your thoughts formed into words before you could confirm the action, breaking the silence with his eyes trained on you.

“Nothing… For the first time in a long time, I’m not thinking of anything.” You smiled at his genuine response. It had been a hectic time for Kino and the group; in the last two years, you had seen him for more than a week at only Christmas.

You were nervous to meet him this time. It wasn’t unusual for you to travel to a city to join the boys for a few days, but this time felt different.

You wanted to hold him closer than you usually would. You felt more comfortable when his attention was focused on you, rather than the girl whose attention he caught by just passing by.

With the camera focused to capture his content look, your movements went barely noticed by Kino. As you got older, you knew that your love for him had shifted; you weren’t sure when, or what moment, but absence always makes the heart grow fonder.

He turned his head at the perfect moment as the shutter clicked. His rosy features filled the frame; they complimented his joyful grin as his focus lingered on you.

“Can I try?” He removed the straps from under the hood of his sweatshirt and placed them around his own neck.

You hated being in front of the camera – it was the sole reason you took up photography in the first place. To be the one behind the lens. But the look on his face and his playful mood made you feel more at ease. Attempting to hide your face, your fists came up to shape your cheeks as they knocked against your glasses.

Enamoured by the view, Kino focused on the way your small figure glowed against the skyline behind you. The sun radiated against your skin in a way that made him feel warm. He clicked the shutter on your camera quickly before moving on.

“Kino!” you whined, “please just give it back.”

But within moments, he took out his phone to snap a shot of you, candidly walking toward him with a half-playful, half-serious look that he adored. Your hand was slightly reaching toward him to grab the camera, the sleeve completely protecting it from any sunlight. You failed to notice how that image became his wallpaper from that moment on.

“Fine, fine.” You snatched the camera back, with a playful glare toward your best friend. The look earned you a cheeky grin in return, as his arm looped around your shoulders, heading back into the direction of the Gardens.

You wandered aimlessly as usual, with occasional chatter and playfulness between you. Kino managed to persuade you to buy him Takoyaki from the friendly woman at the vendor outside of the park as you left. She complimented how happy you looked together, causing a blush to arise on your cheeks and your attempt to drag Kino away by his shirt before he says anything stupid was quick.

Before long, Kino had dragged you to a set of escalators that led to an arcade. They lit up in rainbow LED lights that turned Kino’s glowing skin from blue to pink, to orange then green. As you went up the escalator, you admired how he lifted his cap to fix his fair. Another comfortable silence surrounded you both as you looked up into the direction you were heading.

Lost in thought, Kino noticed how your hand was slightly peeking out of his sweatshirt sleeve. You felt his fingers loosely intertwine with your own, making you almost lose your balance as you stepped off the escalator. You stopped walking once you were both off the moving staircase and out of harm’s way, looking up to meeting his eyes.

“What?” he questioned, “your hands are cold.” He turned away mid-sentence, hiding his face under his cap once more.

You missed the small smile that fell on his lips as he started to drag you toward the claw machine.

He spent over twenty minutes on a single claw machine with the promise that he would win you the Eevee plush you have wanted since you were a child. The whole time, his fingers had not let go of your own. The point of contact serving as an energy and warmth booster to you both.

Kino grinned at your captivated look as you pressed your forehead to the glass with your free hand sliding down the glass dramatically. Your breath visible was against the machine as you inhaled and exhaled rhythmically. You watched as the final claw wrapped around Eevee and clung on like its life depended on it; you were frozen in place until it unhinged its clench and the plush dropped into the winner’s pit.

You squealed excitedly as Kino handed you the prize and you squeezed it with a wide grin. Your eyes crinkled genuinely making Kino’s hold on your hand grow a little bit tighter.

You continued to wander the streets throughout the evening. Coming to a stop by a small plaza covered in Christmas decorations, Kino led you under a dome of lights and stopped in the center to take a picture of you. The common occurrence of the day became a lot less daunting, especially when he turned the camera onto both of you.

You smiled fondly at the front camera lens, and noticed Kino pointed to his cheek on the screen. A flow of confidence came over you as you leant up to kiss him on the cheek, which turned his bubbly aura into a shocked, humoured one.

Giggling, your hand came up to your face to hide your slight blush.

“You’re supposed to do it like this,” Kino murmured distractedly.

He pointed to your cheek, and then the other. He moved to point to your eyes one at time, then settled for the bridge of your nose. Each spot met with a soft brush of his lips with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes that failed to go unnoticed.

His face was much closer than it had ever been to your own as he leant down to your eye level. His previous actions were a mere whisper compared to how close his nose brushed your own, and the slight feather of his breath that fell onto your lips.

Although his face serious, the mischievous glimmer had not shifted, confirming your thoughts that this really was your best friend.

His hand came up to brush your fringe that had fallen into your eyes and slowly ran his thumb against your cheek before backing away and wandering into the crowded streets once more.

It took a few moments to catch your breath before you hurried after him with new-found courage. Finding his figure wasn’t difficult after this many years of friendship, and when your hand found his from behind he barely flinched, the movement becoming more natural as the night went on.

As the sun completely disappeared and your breath had become more visible in the moonlit atmosphere, Kino pulled you into the nearest clothing store to buy more layers for you both. It wasn’t much like Kino to be materialistic, but the puffy jacket he bought you was more about his generous personality than the money. That was what you loved about him - Hyunggu had a big heart.

Alongside your black jacket, he bought himself a matching one with a white sweatshirt to go underneath. Hand in hand, you left the shop feeling warm with your layers, as well as the warmth coming from his hand wrapped around your smaller one. Throughout the night, Kino got used to holding your hand, feeling less of an urge to squeeze it to reassure him that you’re still there.

You were still there as you sipped on your milk tea. You were still there when the street performer invited him up mid-performance, earning a giggle from you.

He had become much more intimate with his touches, rather than a soft bump on the shoulder when he found you funny, he resorted to a slight boop to your nose – another endearing trait that made you want to joke all the time.

His longing gazes caught you yawning every so often, the street lights faintly accentuating your tired features. The way his sweatshirt engulfed your body looked much cuter paired with the jacket he had just bought you. Your glasses were slowly slipping down the bridge of your nose.

Sighing, Kino turned the edge of the pavement, his free hand waving down a taxi. You perked up slightly at his actions, questioning with a furrowed brow.

“Don’t even try to tell me you’re ready and raring for another walk around the block. You haven’t stopped yawning since we left the boba place.” Another boop to the nose. So, it’s not just jokes – noted.

You smiled drowsily and huddled into his side to keep warm as you waited. His arm wrapped around your shoulder as he gently caressed the nape of your neck absentmindedly.

The journey back to your hotel was silent, but the buzz that ran through your body mirrored that of Kino’s. You were tired but you knew you were far from sleep.

His hand had barely left yours all evening. This heart-warming feeling wasn’t new – he had ached to hold your hand for a long time. The subtle confidence that had awoken in both of you crossed the boundaries that were automatically set between best friends.

Despite your efforts, sleep had washed over you quickly as the warmth radiated from Kino. Without waking you, he had paid the driver and managed to carry you on his back to your hotel room. Your head rested lightly against his shoulder sending chills down his spine as your breath fanned over his neck.

Silently taking your room key out of your cross body, he stepped into the room and place you on the bed with your head on the pillow. As he went over to close the curtains and camp out on the floor, your hand subconsciously grabbed onto the hem of his jacket, pulling him back. The peaceful look that washed over your face as you realised he wasn’t going anywhere made your unconscious state even more adorable in his eyes.

Leaving the curtains open slightly, Kino lifted you up to remove your jacket and shoes while doing the same with his own. Finding a blanket in the closet, he draped it over your figure while leaving room behind you for himself.

___

You woke suddenly from your dreamy state to a slight weight on your body whilst checking the clock that faintly illuminated the room: 4:03am.

The curtains had been left open slightly with slight flashes of billboards and passing cars leaking through the slit. The weight focused around your waist as an arm wrapped a bit tighter to ensure you stayed in place.

The heat becoming unbearable, you wriggled your way out of Kino’s arms to lift the sweatshirt that you were wearing over your head and lowered the blanket to waist height before you snuggled back into bed.

A wave of confidence washed over you as you turned from your previous position to lie facing Kino. The faint lights from the window created a shadow on the left side of his face that smushed against the pillow – his styled hair now falling in tufts over his forehead.

Subconsciously, you smoothed away loose strands that fell into his eyes as you gazed at the dimples that adorned the corners of his mouth as he slept. Your actions stirred Kino awake slowly, but you didn’t bother to remove your hand from his face.

As his hand grazed your side to pull you closer, your palm fell against his cheek as your thumb rubbed against his cheekbone. His once content face shifted as his eyes began to crinkle along with a shy smile that adorned his lips. His free hand lifted to cup your own cheek and brought your face close enough so his lips could brush against your forehead.

And you remained in that position until the sun began to rise over the Shinjuku skyline, bringing a new day that welcomed the slight shift in your relationship.

Your eyes opened as the rhythmic exhales that came from Kino became more prominent. But Kino was already awake, his eyes wandering across your face trying to memorise every feature he could.

A soft smile grazed his lips. “So, I guess we should talk, huh?”

A day without you is lonely, indeed.