#group swim lessons near me

[neo-percs]

DEEP END:: ( park Sunghoon )

WARNING:: 80's au, summer fling, high school au, skinny dipping, rich boy! Sunghoon, smut, harsh language, descriptions of drowning and passing out, smoking (weed & cigarettes ) Angst, misunderstood situation, mutual pining, fluff, insults & accusations, mentions of vomiting, terrible parenting, trespassing, oral! (f&m receiving ), riding, handjob, masterbation (m) virgin! Sunghoon, poor! Reader, experienced! Reader, pool sex, y/n teaches sunghoon

SUMMARY::  after saving Sunghoon from drowning at the local pool; y/n offers to give him swimming lessons which leads into way more than expected.

WORD COUNT:: 36.6K

A/N:: this is a repost from my old account, the longest fic I’ve ever written and I refuse to make a part 2 since this took me half a year to write.

You were broke, while most girls at the ripe age of 19 would be living it up on the beach with booze they stole from their parents liquor cabinet; you were stuck on lifeguard patrol in the slums of the south side right next to an old run down diner scraping 5 dollars an hour for 5 days a week.

While girls your age could bat their lashes and easily get 100 bucks out of their fathers; you could barely be trusted with a sticky nickel and a paper clip. It's not that you hated the job, you just disliked the reason you had to work there.

The community pool is for mothers who are freshly divorced preying on boys who just graduated or even other womens husbands, snot nosed kids wanting a sense of freedom, and teenagers who just show up and stare down someone else they find attractive.

You only sigh and continue to look around the pool area. Your eyes catch a familiar face, Choi Yeonjun. He had already graduated and yet he was staying back with his friends for the summer before he's off to another semester of college in the fall, and boy was he a sight to see. Shirtless, hair wet and covering his forehead as his smirk tugged his lips as he watched his friend dunking each other's heads under water.

Lucky enough for you; your sunglasses shielded your eyes as you practically drool over the older boy, and it wasn't until you heard loud obnoxious laughs coming from a group of boys as they moved in a pack all near the edge of the pool. As they near the deep end.

As many of them rough house and find their way into the warm water of the pool one boy sat at the ledge only letting his feet dip into the water. Kicking his feet splashing the clear water as his eyes focus on the tiled flooring on the pool that reached almost 20 feet.

Sunghoon's heart pounded in his throat as he looked at the bottomless pit that was the community pool. And although Sunghoon lived nowhere near this part of town he still came with his friends because they rough house too much to go to the country club pool that his family liked to bring him and his sister to every year.

This year there were a few new additions to the group; Jake Sim had just moved into town from Australia, and Yang Jungwon and Nishimura Riki had been introduced to the group sometime last school year. Sunghoon had seemed to adjust to the new additions yet he guesses that they don't know much about his summer secret.

"Get in the pool Hoon, it's fucking hot" Jake says with a bright smile to his friend only to be brushed off with a shake of his head "I'm good, I think I just wanna chill here for a bit" he reasoned. Sunghoon hated to admit he can't swim, and if anybody hasn't noticed he has a big ego and it would in fact bruise said ego to admit he can't do something a toddler can do.

It was very embarrassing, Sunghoon has met plenty of cute girls at the community pool but immediately when being offered to swim with them he has to turn them down, his ego is too bruised already from knowing he can't swim but telling his friends that he can't seriously kicked him down a few pegs.

"Don't be lame Sunghoon it's only a little water" Jay teases as he splashed the brunette with the water in his face making Sunghoon's nose scrunch in distaste. Without the realization that Riki had been plotting. "Whatever I'm just gonna sit over on one of those chairs," he says as he lets his feet pull out of the water leaving wet prints on the concrete in his wake.

As soon as he stood at his pull height a pair of large hands were felt on his back. "Just swim with us for a bit Hoon, the water won't hurt you," Niki says as he pushes Sunghoon's back gently. Making Sunghoon's heart leap immediately "I'm good, I just don't feel like swimming," he says nervously as he stumbles over his words. "Come on, I wanted to play chicken" Ni-ki whines as he repeatedly presses into Sunghoon's pale freckled back.

But soon the small pushes turn into shoves and Sunghoon can feel his feet on the ledge coming closer and closer to slipping on the soaked slippery cement. Anxiety crept into the front of his mind as his friends watched with smirks and smiles while they tease him. His own personal torment, he felt like everything around him was becoming muffled watching as all his friends float at the surface while the cool water splashed around.

"Really Riki I think I'll sit this out" he stutters as feels the shoves are becoming too much and hopes that his younger friend will just ease up. But to his dismay, Riki is determined to get his friend in the water. Sunghoon could feel his heel on the edge and his breathing was becoming more and more ragged he let out a yelp, twisting on his foot Riki's push mid-turn left Sunghoon free-falling into the air as the sound of friends cheering reached his ears.

Panic. Sunghoon could feel the cold water engulf him as he sinks deeper into the water. Flailing his arms in hopes air could fill his lungs and his body would feel the heat of the sun again. But to no avail, he sinks further and further until he touches the bottom of the pool. Holding his breath until his throat burned his eyes seeing the bottom half of other people swimming.

For what felt like minutes Sunghoon let a scream die in his throat while water filled his lungs, his vision blurred and darkening with every passing second as his hair clouds his vision he lets exhaustion take over his person. His fight to keep conscious is a weak one, and the bubbles slipping past his lips reach the surface of the pool.

His friends all stare with wide and worried eyes as they realize that Sunghoon wasn't coming back up, the bubbles coming from the bottom of the pool in the same spot he had fallen in signifying that. "Alright Sunghoon, you can come up now. You don't have to hold your breath to scare us" Jake says with a worried tone. Anxiety creeps up on his friends as they all refuse to believe that their friend intends to put fear into them.

But the eldest of the group had taken extra precautions. Sinking his head underneath the water letting the chemicals burn his eyes, the blurred sight of his younger friend at the bottom of the pool where nobody could reach with a limp body. Panic takes over him as he comes up catching his breath "he's at the bottom passed out, wave down the lifeguard" Heeseung says in a rush as he dunks his head once more to see if Sunghoon would move. Yet to no avail he had sat in the same slumped position as his hair messily covers his face.

The distant sound of his friends yelling for the lifeguard had Heeseung pulling his head away from chemically induced water as he shouts "he's over here at the bottom" he sees you, pulling your keychain and glasses off your eyes are frantic as you make eye contact with the wide Bambi eyes of Heeseung who's guiding you over to his passed out friend.

And without little hesitation you dive in head first with wide eyes, looking at the very bottom of the pool you see him. The brunette boy with messy hair passed out against the very bottom of the pool. As you near him you lift his arm over your shoulder and push your legs against the floor helping you both float back to the surface as you use the rest of your willpower to kick your feet until your both above water.

Swimming past everyone in your way you see two people at the edge of the pool reaching to help you pull him out. "How long was he under there for?" You asked as you pulled yourself out of the pool seeing as they lay him down on his back. "2 or 3 minutes" one of them answers you as you push his hair out of his face and press your fingers against the space between his jaw for a pulse.

It was barely there but he wasn't breathing without another word; you tilt his head back and center your hands on his chest preparing him for CPR. Pressing into his chest repeatedly as you trained, fingers pinch his nose as your other hand holds his chin leaving his mouth to open you press your lips to his cold ones blowing air into his lungs as his chest weakly rises and falls.

Doing it a few more times and as you were about to press your lips to his once again a loud fit of coughing could be heard making everyone sigh in relief at the sight of the boy leaning over onto his side coughing up water as you held a hand over your fast-beating heart. Patting his back as he coughs up pool water you look up at his friends. "He'll be fine, he just needs to rest. '' You stand up, grabbing the towel his friend held out to you and wrapping it around Sunghoon's shoulders who had been shivering.

"I'll call a medic out to check on him, just sit him down in a chair" you look back down at the boy who had seemingly gained the attention of almost everyone at the pool. And as you walk away to the small staff building you hear the boy mumble "how long was I out?" And you almost crack a grin.

Sunghoon felt embarrassed. Not only did people refuse to go back in the pool for at least 30 minutes because of him but when he was getting checked by the medic you stood there the whole time watching his flushed face as they ask him stupid questions he could barely comprehend. And after deeming that Park Sunghoon had not suffered any real damages other than a bruised ego he told his friends to go back to swimming while he sat down.

You had been given a break and you chose to grab a popsicle and approach the boy you had single-handedly saved. Sitting down in one of the harsh pleather beach chairs "so... you feeling any better?" You ask as you take a bite out of the sweet blueberry-flavored ice. "yeah, just embarrassed I guess. Now everyone knows... I can't swim" he trails off his words as he feels his face heat up with embarrassment.

"It's okay to not know how to swim you know?" You say trying to make the boy feel a tinge better. "Yeah right," he scoffed "You know how to swim, and if it wasn't for you I'd probably be in an ambulance on the way to the hospital while some old man gives me mouth to mouth," he says giving a dry chuckle. You couldn't help but laugh at his words.

"I'll tell you what. I can teach you how to swim. I give lessons to kids during the weekends" you say with a small smile as you think about the young kids who you always have a giggle with every Saturday morning as they all ask you to watch whatever stunts they pull.

"I didn't know you taught teenagers," he says looking at you as you bite off another chunk of your popsicle. You shake your head "I don't, but I could make an exception and teach you when the pool closes since I lock up and everyone else leaves" you said. You had only offered because you truly felt bad.

"I don't know... couldn't you get in trouble for that?" He asks wearily, really Sunghoon was just afraid to learn how on the off chance he ends up drowning, again. "Not if we don't get caught... I have the keys so just show up tomorrow a little after 8 the gate will be closed but not locked. I'll be waiting" you say as you get up from the seat walking into the small building reserved for employees only.

"I never agreed....to that" he trailed off as he was now talking to himself. Squinting as he sees his friends happily swimming and splashing each other, while the teen girls and pretty moms dressed in color-coated bathing suits tan in the raging sun that was practically blinding.

——

Although Sunghoon never agreed to swim classes, he sure did wait in the parking lot of the community pool waiting 15 minutes past 8. Sitting in his car contemplating if he seriously should be doing this. Of course, the only cons were that: he doesn't learn how to swim and possibly drown again, or that he could be caught sneaking in by security.

The pros outweighed the cons so he opened his car door, locked it, and walked past the closed gate of the community pool being met with your back facing him as your feet were in the cool water. The clanking of the entrance closing makes you turn your head.

Sunghoon stood awkwardly watching as you look at him "you were sitting in your car for so long I thought you'd never come in here" you laugh shaking your head. "Well can't a guy be cautious? I mean I'm not exactly ecstatic to get back in a pool the day after I drowned" he said monotonously which makes you laugh.

"Well aren't we here to fix that now? I was just gonna do the floaty method until you were ready to try and swim on your own" you shrug. "The floaty method?" He asks curiously as he walks closer and sits on the edge beside you and looks at the reflection of the soft light coming off the pool.

"Yeah. It's when you lay on top of a floaty and you paddle around until you get the hang of swimming. That's how I learned as a kid" you smile as you look over at him seeing the soft blue hues from the water on his skin. "That doesn't seem too hard," he says content with the likes of how you decided to reach him.

And with that the both of you shed out your clothes and dressed in your bathing suits, you grabbed a spare floaty and handed it off to Sunghoon who looked exasperated "why'd you give me a pink sparkly one?!" He whined "because it was the first one I found," you say defensively. "And you didn't think I'd want one that's like uh I don't know not pink?" He says.

"I'm sorry princess I'll be more considerate next time, but right now I'm not worried about the stupid color of your floaty. Just get in the pool and lay on the damn thing" you tease him as he tosses his head back groaning and mumbling snarky comments under his breath.

Watching as the boy tosses the glittery floaty into the pool he uses the steps to get in slowly as he whines at the cold water. "You need to stop whining about everything," you say making sunghoon roll his eyes.

"For someone who doesn't know my name you sure do find yourself being comfortable telling me what to do," he says spitefully which makes you purse your lips in the realization that neither of you had introduced yourselves. "And for someone trying to blame me you didn't even ask my name to begin with,"  you said rolling your eyes.

"You can't be criticizing me when you haven't told me yours either?!" He bickers which makes you groan. "Y/n, but I asked you first and you couldn't use common courtesy to introduce yourself?" you ask with a faux offended tone. "Are you trying to peer pressure me into feeling bad?" He asks dodging your question.

"Just tell me your name or by the time you get in the water, the sun will be down" you sigh as you point to the pool. "Sunghoon, I mean I already knew your name because your one of the cool lifeguards" he nods "really? I just sit down and blow a whistle for like three hours" you explain with a small chuckle. "Yeah, but half of the time you let us get away with anything" he laughs as thinks of the time you were on duty and watched them play a full match of chicken and never once told them to stop.

"Let's just- start the lesson before the sun goes down completely" you mumbled as you felt heat on your cheeks and neck at his comments. "Lay your stomach flat on the floaty hold both of your arms out fully and paddle like you've seen your friends do at the pool." You say watching as he slowly inches into the warm water. "What if I fall off?" He asks he was too anxious to find out, he hoped, and prayed that he didn't have to relive the nightmare of drowning again.

"You won't. And this is the shallow end. So if you fall of just stand up on your own two feet and you'll be okay" you say in an attempt to comfort him. "I'll be in the pool watching you the whole time. So if you do end up drowning, I'll be there okay?" You say raising your brows at him with soft eyes almost instantly making him melt. He nods as he was now waist deep into the water, the waters blue reflection on his skin as he settles onto the small donut shaped floaty.

Stepping into the water yourself you stand near the edge of the pool feeling the small slippery tiles on your skin as the sound of the filter hums in the background of soft splashing and squelching of wet skin against the plastic toy sticking to Sunghoon's skin. "Like this?" He asks as you see his arms get lost inside the water soaking under the burnt yellow and orange hues of the sun.

And you don't know why it had taken you from when you saved him up until now that he was kind of attractive. The way his brown hair stuck to his forehead, or how buff he looked, maybe it was the freckles and moles that littered his back along with his muscles that flex every time he tried to adjust himself comfortably.

Blinking away your small daze you nod "yeah, now just kick your feet and paddle with your hands at the same time" you say watching as you watch the chlorine filled water ripple over his skin as he by memory mocks what he'd seen often at the pool. It was not really good to say the least.

"You need to stable your kicks or else your gonna sink, that floaty won't be able to hold you up forever" you scold him slightly watching as he fails to move very far with his lack of support that he legs are providing. "It's hard to move your feet and hands at the same time" he whines. "Well then you'll keep struggling if your body can't adjust" you said with a grin hearing him whine even louder.

You felt bad because he couldn't do much, so you caved. You caved and you pulled his floaty near the steps of the pool. You told him not to move his hands and hold onto the floaty while he kicked his feet. It was like the young kids you taught in the early morning, he was so excited when you let him go and he actually moved.

Not too far, he was dead serious about not going close to the deep end, he looked like his life flashed before his eyes when he saw how bigger the numbers got when paddled half way through the pool, he was so scared he asked you to pull him back to the shallow end.

You knew that you were gonna struggle with him.

——

And man we're you right. You decided that you would start teaching him 3 times a week and you were now on your 6th lesson. He ditched the floaty and was now asking you to help him hold his breath. The both of you had gotten so comfortable with each other that you would sometimes even dry off at the edge of the pool eating popsicles and talk for 30 minutes before deciding it was getting too late.

Now being one of those times. It had been a few minutes after the both of you had decided that the lesson was over, you had opened up the staff only building and took out two Cherry popsicles from the freezer you and you coworkers had often put cold drinks and treats inside. You could hear the distant buzzing of street lights and the chirping of crickets.

As you settle on the now dried concrete you hand him the cold treat and stare off into the water with a question sitting on your tongue you had been waiting to ask for a while. "How come... your parents never offered to get you a swimming class?" You ask just above a whisper hoping not to ruin the peacefulness around you.

He only shrugged "my parents don't care about that stuff. While everybody else was learning how to swim at seven, I was attending business meetings with my parents" he mumbled in realization that he never got to have fun much when he was younger. "Ouch" you say flatly. "Yeah, and it wasn't like I had any friends to swim with anyways. My parents called them 'distractions from my own success' but when I got older they didn't care as much. No more business meetings, and at one point I think my dad tried to pimp me out to his friends daughters so he could get in a good word" he laughed.

"So your living it up now that they aren't breathing down your neck?" You ask in speculation "I mean if that's what you would call it. My mom still flaunts me off to her girlfriends about how smart I am, so I just do everything I can to make her happy" he mumbles slightly embarrassed about how he just opened up to you about family.

"Mama's boy" you giggle which makes him scoff as he gently shoved your shoulder "what about you and you're family?" He asks as he watches your giggles die out in your throat. "I mean we aren't the most wealthy on the block, and we damn sure aren't any country club members. But I guess we get by just fine" you shrug "you got any siblings?" He asks in hopes that lightens the mood "no but I wish I did" you say with a feint smile.

"You don't. Trust me, if you had to wait an hour for your sister to get out of the shower I bet you'd be telling anyone who's an only child to not even ask your parent for another kid" he laughs as he's reminded of his little sister and him bickering early mornings when the other has places to be. "Really?" You laugh "it's a nightmare" he groaned.

The both of you begin to revel in the short silence between the both of you until you heard footsteps and a clicking of what you assumed what a flashlight making you gasp "oh shit" you wince as you stand up off the concrete floor. "What?" Sunghoon asked in a loud whisper "security, we gotta run or else we could get arrested and I could lose my job" you wince as the both of you look for the closet way out due to the security guard standing at the entrance.

As you see the light from his flashlight you lock eyes as you point to the fence. "We either jump that, or hope he's not in good shape" you say as you watch the guard turn the corner. "Hey! It's after 8 o'clock you can't be here!" He shouted as he sees you and Sunghoon scramble to collect all of his things and dashing around the pool and into the frigid grass.

Only for the guard to run in the same direction trying to beat you to the fence. Throwing his bag and towel over you both begin to as the cold metal of the fence digs into your bare feet. "You little bastards! I don't get paid enough to deal with horny teens!" He shouts as he approaches the gate with an attempt to grab your ankle but to his dismay was kicked in the nose harshly feeling the wet grass that has stuck to the bottom of your foot now on his face.

You and Sunghoon shouting and laughing out of pure fear you wouldn't be able to get out of there without most likely getting arrested for trespassing. "You know you aren't getting paid enough for this" you laughed as you wiggled your leg out of his grasp, Sunghoon finally jumping down to the other side standing infront of you holding out his hands hoping you'd trust him to catch you.

"Hurry" he laughed watching you pull your leg over to the other side and without much thought let yourself jump into his arms, you ignore the slight burning in the bottom of your feet as you feel his hands around your waist tightly. "Do you have a car?" He asks as the both of you jog towards the parking lot.

"No, I walk to work" you say as you feel small pebbles stick to the bottom of your feet as you both lead yourselves towards the almost empty lot. "Why didn't you say so? I could've been giving you rides home after lessons" he said as he unzipped his bag to pull out his keys. Trying to find the right one he unlocks it.

His headlights beaming onto you giving the both making you wince at the sudden flash. "Well can you give me a ride now?" You ask as he begins to walk to his car "that was the plan in the first place. I'm not leaving you here" he says snidely "not every rich person is a douche you know?" he says mockingly which makes you feel a sudden heat flash of embarrassment on your skin at his sudden assumption which was correct.

You follow behind him almost awkwardly as if you two hadn't been spending the past few weeks sneaking back into the pool and teaching him how to swim. Approaching the door of his car barely seeing the cherry red paint of the handles of his car you pull it open. The scent matching its color; sickeningly sweet cherry candy and leather.

You sit in the white leather seats hoping the feeling of it wouldn't absolutely burn you alive from being under the sun in the parking lot all day. But to your suprise his seats were mildly warm, the both of you putting on your seatbelts and he put his keys into the ignition listening as wind blows through the small vents on his dashboard and his engine practically groans and vibrates your whole body. Smiling at you he could hear the feint voice of Janet Jackson playing he didn't mind too much.

"Which side of town is your house on?" He asks as he pulls out of his parking space slightly hoping the pudgy security guard won't try and push his luck trying to get extra cash if he gets his license plate. "The west side, just keep going up the street and take a left I'll show you the streets to turn down" you mumble in an attempt to hide your embarrassment from explaining that your from the run down side of town. "I know where it is, just point out the turn on the main road" he says trying to push the lump in his throat.

Sunghoon was nervous, he's only been to west side once before and it was to get onto the highway for a road trip with his friends, he's never actually made a stop, let alone had to leave alone on the more violent side of town. He didn't think there was anything wrong with the people who lived there like you for example; you were nice enough to teach him how to swim. He didn't know about everyone else though, he was born and raised in the suburbs coddled into believing that the safety of his neighborhood had everything he needed and he wouldn't dare set foot into a neighborhood lesser than that.

You didn't blame him for looking shaken up, most people assume that all people from the west side are thieves, druggies, gun slingers who don't have jobs or live off of paycheck after paycheck. It was just a reputation that had stuck and though you never fit the criteria you weren't one to let it affect the way you lived life, you would just hope that it doesn't change the way Sunghoon sees you after you've built yourself a good budding friendship with him.

But the look of nervousness was blinked away in an instant as he looks over at the glove compartment in front of your lap. "I have a few tapes in there if you like any of the songs I have" he says pointing at it, you nod fiddling with the handle until it slammed open which almost earns a yelp from you. Sunghoon laughs at your tiny struggle while he turns onto the basically empty road and leaving behind an empty parking lot.

As you dig through the cassettes you see a bunch of mixed music, some jazz, hip hop, even rock, you make a few impressed faces at his music which has his eyes flickering at the tapes then to your face which makes him scoff with a small grin on his lips "why are you making those faces? Is my music taste that bad?" He his eyes goes back to the road as he nears a stop sign easing on his breaks. "No I'm kind of impressed, I didn't take you for an AC/DC fan" you pick up one of his tapes flashing the cover of it written in black marker.

"You shook me all night long is my guilty pleasure" he mumbled with a shy shrug which earns him a small giggle from you. Pushing the tape inside the slot you hear it shuffling around before it starts to play which makes you smile and put the rest of the tapes that had fallen into your lap back inside the glove compartment. Sunghoon turning up the volume he starts to sing in a terrible accent that has you laughing.

"You're corny" you laugh as you both exchange looks while he sings along messily and shouting over his own speakers, it all felt nice in the moment. Loud music, smiling and laughing, the top down on his car and you could feel the wind whipping past your face it felt nice. Singing along while you both laugh as you zip through a silent neighborhood and onto a busy street with more cars.

The lights turning into orange blurs as you see the streets of the middle class disappear into more run down and abandoned buildings, smaller one story homes, house that looked to have been burnt down or worse. Sunghoon still managed to hold his smile as he could hear the soundtrack end, and when the two of you made it to the main road on the west side it was utter silence between you two.

"Tell me when to turn" he mumbled looking around at the houses with a curious gaze. "Turn at the next street" you answer him pointing to green sign that read 'church hill avenue' Sunghoon eases himself until he turns onto your street, he can see the obvious smile on your face at the familiar houses that you've always known. He slowly drives down the road making sure he doesn't miss your house.

"My house is the small yellow one at the end" you grumble at how you have to describe your poor living situation; small, cramped, it didn't look bad in the least if sunghoon was honest. He could see the small garden he assumed your mom has right beside your front porch that had a few plastic chairs and a table with a rusted metal lid as an ashtray. Sunghoon was unfamiliar with a neighborhood and it was very obvious from the way he pulled into your driveway instead of stopping at the curb.

Shutting his car off he gets out of the car and opens your door. He was treating you as if the both of you had just come back from a date, but regardless you took the hand he held out to you as he ushered you to the front door. You both stood on your porch awkwardly. "I hate to break it to you, but I don't think we can do lessons at the pool anymore" you say almost biting back a smile. "That's fine, I have a pool at my place you can teach me there if you want" he suggests which makes your eye almost twitch in annoyance.

"So you've had a pool this whole time?" You ask in disbelief "yeah" he says bluntly nodding along with his answer "and you didn't think to tell me that before I risked losing my job and sneaking you in?" You ask breathily almost laughing at how stupid the both of you had been. "Sorry?" He says almost as a question. "It's fine" you shake your head.

"Uh I can start picking you up after your shifts and you can give me lessons, how does that sound?" He asks which makes your brows furrow "pick me up?" You ask, you have no idea why he was going out of his way to come get you when he would have to drive all the way from the south to come get you, then east to his house and then to the west side just to drop you off.

"Well I'm not gonna make you walk, I already told you" he mumbled he felt a heat on his face regardless of the cold night air on his skin. "You don't have to do that Sunghoon really" you try to reason with him "I want to. You should really get inside though, it's kind of cold tonight" he said with a sickeningly sweet smile looking at you with soft eyes.

"Right, and thanks for the ride and stuff" you give a smile back stepping closer you lean in giving a small chaste kiss to his cheek "goodnight hoon" you whisper as you pull away opening your front door leaving a stunned sunghoon who was lifting his fingers to his warm cheek that had turned a deep shade of red as he could feel your sticky lipgloss on his cheek.

He watched as you disappeared behind your front door, when you close the door he could only mumble a goodbye before walking back to his car in a small daze too caught up in the little peck you delivered to his cheek. Starting his car he replays the same tape you both had been blasting and having the time of your life to on repeat with sickeningly sweet smile on his face driving back to his side of town.

——

When lessons at Sunghoon's house began it was almost awkward, running into his parents who seemed almost out of touch with kids your age and let alone their money getting to their head. How could you forget the third lesson in Sunghoon's pool and you were doing a lap, the feeling of cold water on your skin and the familiar scent of sunscreen and melting cherry popsicles that were sitting on the plastic wrappers.

You could hear the sound of the back door sliding open to which you only assumed was the lanky brunette boy coming back with whatever snacks he could find for you both. But you were completely and utterly wrong. It was his mother Mrs. Park, you could see where Sunghoon had gotten his looks from he was almost a carbon copy from the smile to the beauty marks that littered her face and neck, brunette hair just like her son, she looked to be in her early 40's or late 30's yet no wrinkles on her flawless skin.

You swim to the edge as she stood there "hello" she says politely to which only makes you smile and return the greeting "are you Sunghoon's girlfriend? I've never seen him bring a girl home before" the woman giggles as she looks down on you, almost as if she was judging your looks to see if you were fit for her son just based upon looks alone.

"I'm not.  We met at the community pool where I work at" you smile at her but you watch as her smile almost fades "you work a job...on the North?" She asks sounding almost disgusted at the sound of it. You let your smile drop, your first impression of his mother seemed to not be going well already, though you weren't the type to judge someone based off first conversation yet the look on her face says it all.

"I do, but I live on the West, getting around is hard when your only ride is a bike while your money goes to tuition" you says letting out an awkward huff of a chuckle. "Right... what college are you applying for hon?" She asks tilting her head "most likely Duke or Brown. I'm still debating, my credits and GPA were high enough I just I'm struggling to choose" you say which makes her brows furrow. "Best advice, go to a community college; it saves your cash especially for someone who lives on the west side" she shrugs scrunching her face before turning on her heel and retreating towards the gate that leads directly to the driveway.

You clench your teeth at the comment watching the privileged woman walk away with her head held high. You didn't like people who looked down on you for social class, and you would think that because Sunghoon didn't treat you any less than because he figured out that you weren't living it up in the suburbs sipping on wine coolers and inviting boys over that his mom would be less than pretentious and not make comments.

But what could you expect from a rich woman with nerve and audacity. "Hey, you okay?" Sunghoon says trying to slip past the small crack in between the sliding door and the doorframe. He looked stuck but you could only giggle letting the moment with his mother past. "Yeah I'm good, what did you find in the pantry this time princess?" You laugh as you lift yourself on the warm concrete soaking it in the shape of your thighs and hands while water dripped all over the place.

"Nothin' much peaches, just stuff to make s'more on the stove and a pack of cherries from the fridge" he says holding up the plastics bags filled with different things wiggling them around teasingly. Peaches, he had been calling you that for a while now. After you kissed his cheek he could smell the peach lipgloss you had marked his cheek with.

"Before we even eat I want to try half of a lap around the pool. You can touch 10 feet for me right?" You ask mindlessly looking at the pool as the orange-ish hues from the sky bounce off the heavy chlorine filled pool. For you? Of course Sunghoon would do it for you. He doesn't know what's gotten into him since a week has passed and that kiss on the cheek had practically aligned the sun and moon for him. He was fuzzy in the head and anytime he thought about it he couldn't help but hold a hand to his heated cheek in the same spot.

"Hm? Hoon. You can do it right?" You ask once again breaking him from his thoughts immediately as he nods dumbly. "Yeah, no I can do it. I've been training for this" he says lying through his teeth. He was shitting himself, yes he did trust your lessons and he's been swimming without a floaty for half a week but he doesn't trust himself. Sunghoon has been so eager to impress you that even when you leave after lessons he sits in the pool for an extra hour or two to keep trying. He doesn't want to waste your time.

"I'll watch, I'm gonna be in the pool too. You don't have to be scared because I'll keep watch and if you want to quit midway I'll come get you" you say sweetly. Sunghoon softens completely, you were so nice for what? It didn't make sense to him; you and him were so different in so many ways, yet you go out of your way to do all these nice things for him while he can barely offer to drive you home after lessons without you putting up a fight.

You pull him by his forearm to the pool while he messily tosses down the bags of food into a lawn chair, guiding him over to the stairs only at five feet, the both of you walking in like it's a routine you have been doing for weeks now. The water feels warm now as it laps over your skin and darkening the red color of your swimsuit.

"You ready?" You ask looking over at the weary boy who seemed to be in deep thought staring blankly the water ahead, he thought of how it got deeper and even though he was attempting to achieve getting farther into the deep end 10 feet was nothing. "Mhm" he nodded as his eyes narrowed, he refused to let himself be embarrassed in front of you again and he wanted to prove he was making progress without a stupid floating toy holding him up.

"Just remember to come up for air if it starts to become too much" you mumble bringing your finger to your mouth anxiously biting at your nail that had chipped away polish on it. Sunghoon let himself walk deeper into the pool until he feel it was harder to reach with his feet. Sucking in a deep breath his eyes are screwed shut tightly, letting himself sink under the water.

He does exactly what you taught him, kicking his feet and basically scooping up water to push himself further to the 10 foot mark on the side of the pool. Not wanting to go any further his eyes burned from the chemicals, rushing to the top of the pool he paddles himself to the edge gripping the concrete with an iron grip he was anxious at how far he had gotten and was not ready to push his luck.

When his ears had finally popped he could hear you cheering him, you were smiling so wide that sunghoon couldn't help but smile back equal as happy maybe even more, hearing you laugh made his chest swell with pride. While he takes in deep ragged breaths and swims back over, his hair sticking to his face and his eyes red, and blurry. "I did it!" He says nearing you.

Pulling you into a hug the both of you are smiling, you can feel the warm water stick to your skin as well, not that you minded much, lifting your arms around his neck you bask in the hug feeling like a proud teacher who watched her kid get their first A+. But as your giggles and laughs grow quiet the both of you latch onto each other not wanting to waste the moment of being so close and basking in the sweet and sentimental achievement.

Sunghoon's hold on your waist tightens as he leans back to catch your gaze. He looked unreal, his eyes red, water dripping from his hair down his face, his lips puffy and stained from eating popsicles, and his skin was so warm pressed against yours. Your hand moving from his shoulder to the side of his neck, you could see the way his sharp eyes flicker from your lips back to your eyes.

Hesitantly he leans in, you do the same until your foreheads press together gently and you feel the bridge of your nose bump his your eyes fluttering shut anticipating the warmth of his lips on yours he leans closer, hesitation dripping all over him. You lean in as well, your stomach felt like you had been riding a roller coaster over and over again and the closer you moved together you could feel his warm breath on your lips which makes you feel like you're at the tipping point of the ride and you're about to hit the drop.

Your eyes flutter closed and you both pull together like two magnets as your lips catch each other's softness. You suck in a small breath through your nose as your lips move in a rhythm. Your hands find their way to the nape of his neck letting your fingers entangle in his brown hair .

His hand on your hip giving it a small squeeze, his tongue licks a small stripe against your bottom lip making your part your lips, you brush your tongue against his shyly feeling his warm wet tongue against yours. Letting out a small groan, Sunghoon backs you against the tiled wall of the pool lifting one of your legs over his hip. You could feel the bulge behind his shorts grow as it presses into your front.

"Do you wanna come inside? It's getting dark" he mumbled against your lips that were aching from all the hard pressure on your lips yet nodding as you were almost begging for more. You lift yourself onto the still wet concrete feeling the water drip down your legs as your swimsuit sticks to you like a second skin. You watch as Sunghoon pulls himself out and by the gods themselves had the blessed you with the sight.

You could see his muscles and veins protruding throughout his arms, his hair messily dripping wet and falling over his eyes, he looked absolutely delicious with his feint abs glistening with a small happy trail just below his navel. To say that the gods above took their time with Park Sunghoon was an understatement, because they put every attractive trait on that man and gave him a heartbeat.

When he's back to his feet you see a smile on his face as he holds his hand out to you, the excitement rushing through your veins hand your heart beating a mile a minute the wind blowing in your ears makes you shiver, watching him fumble with the sliding door awkwardly before slamming it open after using his fingers to pry it open eagerly by the crack. You could only giggle at how needy he was being as he pulled you inside, this time using the handle this time to shut it.

You've only been through Sunghoon's living room and kitchen, so when he guides you through the spacious halls as you blindly follow him just as eager and needy. When you finally stop in front of a door which you assume is his bedroom you think about how big the door is, how nice his upstairs is. Everything about the Park residence was expensive and gorgeous although it wasn't really the first thing on your mind at the moment.

Sunghoon opens the door to his bedroom, the curtains drowning out anything from the outside world that had nothing to do with him and you right now. Closing the door behind him he gently presses you against the door his lips colliding with yours once again, his hands pressed to your hips you both grind into each other letting the friction get you both worked up while you tug on his hair.

Rubbing your tongue over his the feint taste of cherry popsicles is just as apparent between the both of you. Titling your head to the side deepening the kiss you could feel his hands trail from your hips to the curve of your ass kneading the flesh harshly pulling you even closer if that was even possible.

Your skin sticky as the feint smell of sweat and chlorine became apparent, Sunghoon pulls you both away from the door not bothering to break from the hot and heavy kiss until you come to a stop, Sunghoon's legs hit the edge of the mattress he pulls away sitting down you could see it sink underneath him. His hands greedily pulls at the back of your thigh while his dark eyes look up at you "sit on my lap" he mumbled as he leaves small wet pecks of your stomach.

While you lazily attempt a nod your legs feel heavier than before you straddle his waist, your can feel through the skimpy bottoms of your bathing suit how hard he had become making you smirk. Before pulling him into a kiss much more needier than before, your teeth clashing and tongues tracing, spit falling onto your chins as you sloppily make out.

Your hips slowly start grinding against him earning a low groan, you smile into the kiss as his hands trace from your lower back to your thighs, rubbing gentle shapes into your skin. Slowly pulling back your teeth latch onto his swollen bottom lip making him gasp as his nails dig into the skin of your thighs most likely leaving crescent shaped indents.

Pulling away your lips latch onto his jaw leaving opened mouth kisses down his neck finding the perfect place to suck and bite on his skin, hissing at the feeling Sunghoon was throbbing through his shorts as your finger nails drag across his chest sending shivers down his spine. He didn't mind the feeling of your warm breath on his skin, or the way your hips drag against his, not even when he tilts his head back and he feels your tongue against his throat.

He was utterly intoxicated by the feeling, more than that. Sunghoon was needy, he needed more, but a thought had crept from the back of his mind— he lacks experience in bed, the farthest he had ever gotten is going down on a girl and vise versa, but it made him even more nervous that you wouldn't want to do anything because he is a virgin.

"Wait- wait" he mumbled as he pulls back gently "I've never had sex before" he whispers he looks down at his lap hoping that you wouldn't laugh at him or anything of the such for ever even being inside of someone before. He's 19 for crying out loud, and it makes his skin burn and mind race admitting that to you. Your presence made him vulnerable in ways he's never been with girls he's dated in the past.

Your eyes soften as you sat pressed against his chest "we don't have to do anything you don't want to do" you shake your head as you hoped he would meet your gaze, when his eyes flicker from his lap to your eyes he can see you genuinely mean every word spilling from your lips. "It's not that I don't want to do anything- because god I really want to, I just- I've never went as far as being in between someone's legs" he muttered gently.

Your hands trail up into his hair with a soft smile "if that's what you wanna do then- we can do that" you say nodding your head sternly. You were grateful for his honesty, most boys you've ever had a fair share of hook ups with have always lied about experience, the amount of fake orgasms you've had in your time was one too many in your opinion.

Smiling at your words Sunghoon nods and steals a peck on your lips, humming in satisfaction of your warm glossy lips pressed against his. Your breathing becomes heavier as you let out small choked moans practically be swallowed by Sunghoon; who was absolutely eager and needy he could barely let your lips separate for longer than a second.

"Can you sit on my face?" He whispers breathlessly against your lips, you can feel your legs quiver at the question as his fingers brush against the warm skin on your thighs letting out a shaky breath you nod as you pull yourself out of his lap. Pulling your swimsuit bottoms down and kicking them off your ankles you could barely look at the expression Sunghoon held on his face as your self consciousness had settled within bones.

Sunghoon's eyes met your bottom half, he could see the slick of your own arousal on your thighs and he couldn't wait to have his face between your them. But as his eyes meet your face he could see the worried look you carried making his brows furrow "you look beautiful" he murmurs as he reaches out for your hand tugging you close. "You look really beautiful" he says even louder than before as he leans his head down to meet your gaze hoping to see how genuine he had been.

Seeing your smile rest easily on your lips has him releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding. His hand dropping from your hand to the back of your thigh urging you to sit. Straddling over his waist he eases himself on his back as you crawl over his chest. You straddle his face over it as he comes face to face with your pussy making your thighs shake.

Your knees dig into the mattress as you crawl over his face, your thighs trapping his head between your thighs, the smile on his lips makes your stomach flutter. You were nervous to sit down all the way, making you hover over his face cautiously. "What are you doing? Sit all the way" he spoke to him with a small laugh that made his chest bubble.

He's met with the pretty sight of your pussy and thighs glistening in your slick arousal. Looking back up at you his gaze darkened as he gave small kisses against your thigh.

You gasp as you watch his head disappear between your legs. The heat of his mouth nearing your pussy he licks small stripes against your clit before he sensually licks from your entrance to your clit, and sucking on your clit with fervor.

You moan as your head falls back and your fingers find their way to his hair. The sounds you make are so pleasurable to his ears. He presses his nose on your clit, inhaling your scent deeply before his tongue dives inside your waiting pussy. You pull onto his hair, writhing against his face.

"Oh fuck" you manage to whimper out you tug at his hair as he groaned, your eyes shut as you "please fuck me with your fingers" you moan neediness dripping from your tone. His hand moving from your plush thighs, his thumb rubbing harsh circles on your clit he pulled away licking your clit once more his middle and ring fingers make way to your entrance.

Pushing in slowly you groan at the penetration, easing your tight walls around his thick fingers as he pushes them deeper you feel the cold metal on his rings all the way at the knuckles of his fingers as it grounds you from the euphoric feeling.

Pulling his head away he looks up at you with your juices on his swollen lips and on his chin his fingers begin to move opening your eyes you look down at him feeling his gaze as he watches you react gasping as the feeling you grind down against his fingers "you like that? Don't you?" He says as he licks your essence off of his lips.

His hair now disheveled as his cheeks were heating up, yet if it weren't for the lights that were barely peeking through his window into his bedroom you would see his raging blush. you nod eagerly "yeah? You want me to go faster for you?" He coos feeling you clench around him at the sound of his lewd words.

"Say it" he demanded, making you clench harder "yes please- please go faster Sunghoon" you say losing your mind on his fingers as you absentmindedly grind down on his.He hums as he watches his finger get sucked inside of you. Moaning at the sight with sparkling eyes. His fingers hitting all the right places stuffing your pussy as the sloppy sounds of his fingers pounding into you as if you were his personal fuck toy.

"So good- just for me right?" He asks as his tongue finds its way back to your clit, he looks up at you choking on your moans "yes" you say feeling a familiar pressure build in the pit of your stomach. "I'm so close" you whimper.

sending tingles down your body before he licked big stripes of your cunt, sucking on your clit, his tongue working wonders on you. "Cum on my face- please" he says, his free hand shaking on your thigh. Your hips grind against his face as the feeling of his fingers so deep inside you curling had you gasping for air desperately.

His thumb replacing his tongue as he rubs circles on your clit, your hips shake as your mind is clouded with the sudden rush of your orgasm. You let out an almost pornographic moan as he continues to pump his fingers in and out of you until you ride out your high.

"So good" he coos as you grip his wrist as overstimulation starts to creep in. Waiting for you to come down he slowly removes his fingers as he is eager to taste you.

Sunghoon's dripping fingers make their way up to your clit as his mouth makes its descent to your puffy lips. he pushes his heavy fingers on your clit as he adorns your lips with light pecks and kitten licks before using his free hand to pull them apart and licking your entrance. his mouth sucks hard in its endeavour to taste all of you.

Your hips buck at the feeling the sloppy sounds make your head spin. one of your hands moves to grip the hair on the back of his head and you push his face into yourself even more "oh god" you say shivering at the feeling. Pulling away his eyes look up at you while his lips attach themselves to your thigh, he bites and sucks the skin on your thigh in different spots leaving red and purple spots to bloom into hickeys as the hours pass.

Pulling away he lifts his fingers still covered in your cum up to his lips sucking on them becoming addicted to the way you taste. Licking whatever remnants of cum was left on his plump lips "You taste so good" he mumbled as he watched you pull away from him with a poor attempt to catch your breath and come down from the sensitivity between your legs.

"When you said you'd never had sex before I didn't expect you to be that good at going down on someone" you say breathlessly making Sunghoon laugh as he sits up using his forearms to hold his weight. "I didn't say I was bad at being in between someone's legs" he says shaking his head. "Well for a virgin I'm assuming you wouldn't between many peoples legs that much" you huff as your back hits the pillows on his bed. He coos at you while his hand reaches out for you "all that teasing and now you're all pouty" he says as he scoots closer to you landing a hand on your still naked thighs.

Shaking your head at his sudden cockiness "what about you?" You nod at him which earns you a soft yet confused look "what about me?" He asks as he finally adjusts himself to be seated beside you. "You're still hard" you point out as both of your gazes fall to his lap. "Oh. You don't have to worry about that, whenever this happens I'm typically doing all the work before she's off somewhere else" he shrugs like it's nothing .

"But I'm not them, I want to finish you off" you whisper as you roll over onto your chest waiting for him to grant approval of your new found fixation. "Okay" he says wide eyed and slightly breathless. Sunghoon was never on the receiving end of pleasure, and for you to be the first girl to even offer made everything align for him. You were nothing like the other girls he involved himself with; all too shallow and cocky, swimming in money, and selfish.

Sunghoon liked you more than he was leading on yet he didn't mind the feeling that settled within his chest as he watched you settle between his legs. Your fingers latch onto the elastic band of his shorts tugging them down as his painfully hard cock spring free from its confinements. His tip blushing red, yet shining with precum down his shaft. The sight made your mouth water you look up at him who had shown signs of nervousness.

"Show me how you touch yourself" you mumbled looking at his hands that had a tight grip on the bedsheets until his knuckles turned red. Nodding mindlessly his hand finds its way to his shaft as his thumb presses against his slit rubbing it gently his hips buck in sensitivity. Reaching his hand over he lets your fingers wrap around his length. His hand covered yours, guiding gently as you fisted your own up and down the length of him. The only sounds were your heavy breathing, Sunghoon's harsh pants that he pressed into your neck, his lips pushing kisses to your throat and shoulders when he could.

"Feels so good" he puffs out with a small groan. His words had you breathless, your hand fisting over him with more confidence now, palm slick from how excited he was, moaning at the feeling your thighs press together at the sweet sounds you pull from his throat. Leaning down flattening your tongue against the underside of his cock you dragged up against the vein running up to the tip— he let out a rich moan that ended with a groan "shit". His head was thrown back against the pillow and his breathing was labored.

Lifting his head from the mattress looking down at you, the sight makes him twitch in your hand, because this is what he's been thinking about all day. This was his selfish wish, to see you on your knees, your lip caught between your teeth, with a look of satisfaction as you get him off.

The feeling of your wet palm rubbing against him slowly has left his breathing unsteady and his mind completely blank. His hand covered yours, guiding gently as you fisted your own up and down the length of him. The only sounds were his heavy breathing, and you letting out a small giggle at how big his hand looked over yours as he tightened his grip.

He squeezed you, applying a little more pressure and you did, twisting your wrist a little as you got to his head, thumb stroking over him. His hips lifted into your hand and you couldn't help but clench your thighs tight.

"Your hand feels so good" he groans, His words had you breathless, your hand fisting over him with more confidence now, palm slick from how excited he was and you gasp ripped through you as he pulls away letting his hand run through his hair, eyes rolling back at the feeling.

Pressing a kiss to his tip softly earns you a small hiss at the feeling, dragging your tongue against the underside vein of his cock had his jaw slacked and back to his tip before letting a Pearl of spit fall past your lips watching as it slowly runs down shaft fisting him in your hand a few more times before taking him in your mouth.

He's big. thick. and the stretch that comes along with taking him in your mouth is a plaguing reminder. but you don't mind it too much, you like the thought of him when he's all deep in your mouth and you can feel the tip of him hot and heavy in the back of your throat it makes you gag, and choke, and your eyes get cloudy with tears to the point they spill over, but it's worth it. It's worth it without fail.

You swallow down the already-there taste of him on your tongue—you both let out a moan. Can feel the top half of him shift like his head has fallen back, an image of his beautifully parted mouth hung open, eyes screwed shut in pleasure has you moaning against him ; your body on fire, your pussy aching.

You match the pumps of your hand with the drag of your mouth up and down his dick. Swirl your tongue around the head and suck when you reach it. Let yourself go as far as your gag reflex will let you until you're gagging around him and he's cursing and digging his nails into the mattress once again.

And when you steal a glance to the side you can see how red his knuckles look from the death grip he has the sheets in. How his fingers twitch and hand runs along his thigh, acting as if he wants to touch you but not daring to. You steal another glance up at him, "oh, ohmygod" tumbling from his lips when your eyes meet; he looks so desperate right now. So flushed and pretty.

The feeling of his tip repeatedly meeting the back of your throat has you gagging and tightening around him. His head was spinning as he tried not to reach for your hair and face fuck you it was becoming harder. Giving up he teaches for the back of your neck pulling you into him as he becomes more and more addicted to the warm and wet feeling in the back of your throat.

His hips thrust into your mouth as he feels himself becoming closer to his much needed orgasm. He really can't help himself you felt so good around his cock, firm hand on the back of your neck as he thrusted his cock in and out of your pretty mouth while salvia dripping down your chin with every snap of his hips. You looked so damn gorgeous covered in pre-cum and spit for him, he couldn't deny that.

He moaned out your name,"Your fucking mouth,"He moaned out to you, caressed the side of your face with his hand  on your cheeks your throat constricted around the thick length but god, you didn't care how sore your jaw was, it was so worth it.

"Please? Can I cum all over your pretty face?" He whined as his brows scrunch as he was getting closer to what he wanted. Barely nodding Sunghoon  took his chance to keep fucking your mouth finding heaven. a string of profanities leave his lips. he's close, and you can tell by the way he begins to fuck into your face with unparalleled ferocity. to guide him there, you begin to hollow your cheeks and narrow your throat, using a single hand to massage his balls.

he can feel you start to get antsy, and when you start to scratch and claw at his thighs for air, that does it for him. with a final, lazy thrust, he releases the entirety of his load down your throat, keeping you pressed down on him until he's sure every last drop has been emptied into your mouth.

He felt utterly shy as he watched you pull away as strings of cum and spit attached the both of you still, watching as you run a finger against the corner of your lip; cum on your finger you press it against your tongue enjoying every flash of lust in his eyes as you try and catch your breath you laughed. "That was" sunghoon trailed off as he attempts to find the exact words of how he felt in his post-orgasm daze.

"Amazing" you huffed as you rolled over to the empty side of the bed. Sunghoon nodded in agreement as he mentally patted himself on the back at being able to make you finish. When your warm hands touched his bare chest he looked over at you seeing how you cuddled up to his side. The skin to skin contact making warmth wash over the both of you.

Basking in the small silence you can hear Sunghoon's breathing which almost makes you fall asleep in his arms. "I'm having a family function Saturday, and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" You look up at him with hopeful eyes that he'd take up the offer. Sunghoon on the other hand was nervous. He had never met your parents, let alone your friends within the month you've been giving him lessons.

"Sure" he said before his mind could even process that he'd be meeting your father, uncles, cousins, aunts, and on the off chance any one of your grandparents. But Sunghoon knew he'd honestly never be ready. "Okay, good" you mumbled as you fight the smile on your lips, sunghoon nods in agreement "good" tumbles out of his mouth just barely as the warmth in his chest starts to grow. The feeling is unsettling for Sunghoon, he's felt butterflies, and his face and ears heating up... but never the warmth in his chest.

"Let's take a shower and then I'll drop you off Hm?" He says looking down at you with utter infatuation. You smile at him as you feel the same unfamiliar warmth. The intimate moments shared in the shower of lingering touches and washing each other's backs and chaste kisses was something that came so easily and it scared you how the moment had come and passed like it was nothing, but your mind would save the moments within your mental scrap book of memories you never wanted to forget.

——

Sunghoon was nervous, he felt like he had been riding rollercoasters all morning; even when he had taken a shower he felt slightly light headed thinking about meeting your family. Excited was another emotion Sunghoon almost felt was eating him up from the inside out and ready to rip through his stomach. Dressing nicely for the hot weather and slicking his hair back. Just a few strands that were irritatingly not cooperating with him on the one day he needed it to.

Yet he let it go and decided that just around the time you had told him to show up, grabbing his keys off the kitchen counter and kissing his mom's cheek murmuring out a goodbye. "Where are you off to that has you so spaced out?" Mrs.Park asks with a small smile on her face watching her son stop in his tracks.

sunghoon could feel a smile on his lips "y/n's having a family get together and asked me to stop by for a while and say hi" he says as his smile grows stronger.

Mrs.Parks smile had disappeared just as fast as it had came. "The girl that gives you swimming lessons?" She asked as her tones sported a sort of annoyance in it. "Yeah, we've gotten really close since she started giving me those lessons" he nods smiling as he thought to the last time he had saw you. Close, Mrs. Park doesn't do close. Especially not with lower class girls like you that make her son and family get odd looks.

"That's...great honey, have a good time. Don't forget that the country club is having mid summer festival on Monday, it's gonna start at 8:30" she huffs bitterly with a fake smile on her face. Sunghoon doesn't catch her tone nor does he see the tight lipped smile she gives him, only nodding off and taking his leave without a care in the world. His feet felt lighter and his stomach felt like it had been flipped on the drive to your house.

The houses and people walking on the sidewalks blur past, the same AC/DC tape playing from the night you ran from security at the pool, he couldn't help but smile brightly at the memory of it managed to evolve from strictly swimming lessons to whatever the two of you are now (not that he minded). Turning down the familiar street he could see cars lined up against the curb and some parked in the front lawn grass.

Almost baffled at how many cars there had been parked when normally Sunghoon had dropped you off to 4 cars parked in their driveways. The feint sound of music coming from the small yellow house with pretty garden, and people scattered all over the front lawn. Slowing down as he drove past hoping to catch a glimpse of you he does. Sitting at the top of the steps on the porch fitted in a t-shirt tucked into your high waist shorts that showed off your legs, chunky bright red earrings, and your hair styled just right, paired with some white sneakers.

You looked good, different compared to all the times he's seen you always clad in a bathing suit and towel, shorts and tank tops, and hair messy from swimming. He likes the way you look all the time, as he rolls his windows down you make contact and smile almost immediately, waving. Waving back with a grin he felt giddy seeing how happy you had become by his arrival. He find a spot at the curb  and stepping out not forgetting to lock his doors like you advised the first time he dropped you off home.

He already has a fond memory at your front doorstep that clouds his mind as you leave a peach scented lip gloss stain on his warm cheek. Blinking away his thoughts as he sees you meet him halfway between the yard and sidewalk with a bright smile.

"Hey, I was wondering when you'd show up. My mom is really excited to meet you" you gush as Sunghoon pulls you in for an almost bone crushing hug. Both of you were surprised by his action. Sunghoon had seen you no less than 48 hours ago yet he was hugging you like he hadn't seen a glimpse of you in years.

Your face heated up at the sudden affection he showed you no less in front of some of your family members scattered around the front lawn. Finding comfort in his tight embrace you wrap your arms around his neck and let your eyes flutter shut as you take in the intimate moment not wanting to pull away at the now familiar warmth in your chest began to grow and your stomach felt like it had flipped.

Slowly pulling away Sunghoon's arms are lazily wrapped around your waist as you hold a minimum eye contact. "Everyone's in the backyard waiting for food, I want you to meet my grandma first" you smile as you think about the sweet aged woman who was awfully honest and hilarious without trying.

"Sounds good, I can't wait to meet her" he says with a bright smile. Hearing how much you were looking forward to introducing him to your family members. When you escort him to the large gate that separated your yard from your neighbors he felt like he could vomit from being so nervous. Wearing a tight lipped smile that screamed 'im going to cry any second'.

But the sight behind the gate made his brown eyes soften; you family dancing and laughing, drinking, younger kids chasing each other around, while the older kids sit at tables talking and gossiping about their summer. Sunghoon had never been in this environment once, just narrow eyes and gossip, expensive family dinners and posh music.

Your family was cool and the most interactive he had ever seen one outside of his small circle of friends who could barely say the same. The music blasts through one of the biggest boom boxes he had ever seen propped up on an empty table. "Wow" he whispers to himself as adoration fills your eyes at the sight of your family. "Come on, I want you say hi to everyone. I don't want it to be an hour from now and someone says 'so your friend can't speak' it happened the last time I brought a friend over. Never again" you say.

Nodding his head Sunghoon watched you shut the gate and guide you towards a large cushioned chair, he assumed by the gray hair peaking over it was your grandma and his smile hadn't wavered once. Your hand rests on the spine of the chair as your face brightens "grandma, I want you to meet my friend Sunghoon" you smile enthusiastically as her lips stretch into a smile.

"Oh! Hello, it's so nice to meet you. You're so handsome" she gushed as her eyes meet Sunghoon's as he laughs at the compliment from the elder women. "Thank you, it's nice to meet you as well! Y/n told me great things about you" he says remembering the time one of your days at the community pool when you told him about how your grandmother taught you how to swim in the large swimming pool she used to own.

"Y/n! How'd you find such a nice boy?" She smiles as she reaches her hand out for Sunghoon's pale one. Grasping it softly she shakes his hand "I met him at the community pool, and I give him swimming lessons" you smile fondly at the two holding hands. "Oh, you live on the north end of town? I heard it's pretty nice over there" your grandma nods. Sunghoon felt flushed and almost embarrassed he didn't know how anyone would react to not living remotely close to how they do.

"No, he lives on the East side, just a few blocks from where grandpa used to live back when you were in high school" you say making your grandma shoot you a surprised look "east side? Do people still grow those little cherry trees in the lawns?" She asks reminiscing her teen years. "Some do, my family doesn't have any trees we have little bushes and a small vegetable garden" he sulks.

"We have a peach tree over there in the corner, but we don't really eat the peaches because my mom is scared that there gonna make us sick or something" you smile. "We should pick some and clean them up sometime" Sunghoon says making you nod. "Go ahead and bring him to your mom, you know how crazy she gets about guests who don't speak" your grandma rolls her eyes just thinking about it.

You laugh and nod your head, Sunghoon bids your Grandmother goodbye as you guide him closer to a crowd of women. Their eyes pierce through him like a pack of Lions preying on their next 'meal' of judgement. "Is this Sunghoon? The boy you've been helping?" Your mom asks a cross the table and Sunghoon could've swore he was looking at the older version of you, yet she looked to be about late thirties with no wrinkles in sight nor a gray hair.

"Mhm, Sunghoon this is my mom" you smile as you wrap your arm comfortably around her waist smiling up at him. "It's so nice to meet you, I'm glad to put a face to a name that I'm hearing of often" your mom says making your face heat up in embarrassment at how easily she could say that. "Glad to know y/n talks about me" Sunghoon smirks at the idea of you talking to your parents about him.

"Y/n can you go in and check on the food in the oven?" Your mom asks as her hand rubs against your shoulder comfortingly. "Sure. If anything is done do you want me to set it out?" You ask pulling away from her grasp she hums watching you pass Sunghoon's now stiff standing figure as he and your mother share awkward eye contact.

Seeing that you were now out of ear shot your mom now taking her chance to evaluate Sunghoon fully. He's handsome, rich, a gentleman, polite, teasing yet humble. "Does she make you happy?" Your mom blurts it was almost surprising to Sunghoon if it hadn't been for the way her lips had twitched and her eyes narrowed while she stared him down.

"Very" he answers quickly, the sudden feeling of being interrogated washed over him. "Good, because I can tell you make her happy. She never brings friends over, let alone a boy. So your special" she says adoring the thought of her child finally showing off her social skills to her family. "I very well I hope I am. She's the nicest, most selfless and considerate person I have ever met" he says with a soft smile and eyes filled with an unknown look.

"Keep her. And I'm not saying it as her mom, I'm saying it because you look like a lovesick puppy just thinking about her" your mom laughs. "What was it like for you when you met the first person you loved?" Sunghoon asks pensively hoping for a serious answer. "I met him in High school, I held on to him, we got married and had y/n. We may not be the richest family but we do what we can" she says thinking of all her years with your father and you.

"Did it ever feel...scary? Not like a stupid crush but something that just doesn't feel real?" He asks once again. Your mom genuinely couldn't help the smile on her face "love is different for everyone, so I couldn't tell you exactly how love feels, but if your interested in someone else your not in love" she says reaching out to pat his arm.

——

Watching through the kitchen window the heat of the oven making the entire house feel like sauna; you watch your mom and Sunghoon converse in the middle of the backyard. You squint your eyes hoping you could read their lips but the beaming sun shining off the glass tables aimed straight for the window almost takes out your ability to have vision completely.

You sigh as you grab oven mitts off the counter seeing how ragged and charred from its run in time you make a small sound in disgust as you open the oven door feeling an even hotter wave roll out onto your skin looking inside seeing a pie baked crisply, smiling as you realize your mom made a peach pie, one of your favorites.

Pulling it out of the oven carefully the warmth of the tin holding the desert seeps through the fabric warming up your palms. You carefully find a free spot on the stove that hadn't been filled by a pot or pan filled with food. You hear the back door sliding open making you look over your shoulder to see Sunghoon standing Awkwardly in the small dining room finding his way through the table and chairs.

Standing in the small doorway watching as you take off the oven mits "you look like someone's mom" he smiles as you toss them onto the counter "yeah right, I'm bad with kids" you laugh even thinking about having to babysit someone else's child. "I doubt that, you work where tons of kids are for hours" Sunghoon says furrowing his brows. "Yet your kid friend still managed to make you drown" your lips curl awkwardly.

"You did not have to bring that up" he points a finger at you sulking at the memory which makes your lips quirk in a smile "I'm sorry, I won't bring it up again" you almost giggle at the pout on his lips. Dragging your feet over to him your arms slink around his neck making his stomach instantly flutter. Like second nature his hands wrap around your waist "yeah? You promise?" He asks with a grin pulling your hips into his.

"Mhm, I promise" you coo as you rake your fingers through his soft hair. "Thank you" he whispers as he leans in pressing a chaste kiss to your lips making you hum unsatisfied with how quick the feeling of his lips on yours felt. "One more kiss" you say dazed looking into his eyes. "Just one more?" He asks softly, you knew it wasn't going to be just one more making you snicker and shake your head.

Pressing your lips to his, shifting over until his back was pressed against the archway, hands perched against your lower back rubbing comforting circles against the fabric. The sound of the back door being pulled open again makes the two of you rip away almost immediately as your cousin comes into view holding a baby wrapped in a small blanket.

"Relax it's just me. Where's your mom's room? I need to put her down for a nap or else she'll get fussy" she says smirking at the two of you smugly, wiping the corner of your mouth shyly you point to the hallway "down there last door on the right" you whisper. She nods as she walks away eyeing up Sunghoon with audacious eyes almost as if she was evaluating him.

His head falls back against the wall looking up at the ceiling as his face is flushed. Sunghoon felt like his stomach had dropped to his ass when the two of you heard the door open only to be relieved when someone just about your age had walked in. "Is that her baby?" He asks curiously as he hears the door to a bedroom click shut.

You nod "no that's her sister, she practically raises the child herself" you roll your eyes at the thought of your aunt who loudly talks and drinks, and hands off her baby to anyone who has free hands. "Ah, you wanna go back outside for a bit it's really warm in here" Sunghoon says as he wipes the small sheen of sweat building up at the back of his neck.

Nodding you both walk out the same way you entered hearing all of the loudness and joy of your family come to surface. It was chaotic hearing the squeal of your younger cousins and the shouting of your uncles as they talk about whatever in the moment had them rowdy.

You felt a tug at your jeans shorts making you look down with furrowed brows until they soften at the sight of one of your smaller cousins at the ripe age of 5 doe eyed and clueless as she holds her arms up awaiting a seat on your hip making you smile at the young girl. "I haven't seen you all morning" you coo at her with a sweet grin. She smiles as her feet are no longer touching the ground as you engulf her in a sweet hug and her legs wrap around your hip.

"I went to go play- and I saw a really pretty flower that I want to give you so I came back" she says her eyes turning to crescents with a sweet smile on her lips as she struggles to let out the words that had already been made up in her mind but you understood perfectly. Reaching into the pockets of her tiny dress you see a small damaged flower, the green stem bent out of shape and some of the small purple petals missing.

Nonetheless you accepted the flower with a smile and nothing but a warmth in the pit of your stomach thank you, it's so pretty" you say as your smile had made the girl reciprocate the same face. Tucking the flower into your hair the petals itching at your temple that you ignore.

From your angle you had missed the way Sunghoon's face had softened and his ears turned slightly red 'not good with kids my ass' was on the top of his tongue yet he held it back watching you set the young girl back down on her feet watching her bicker about being put down with a smile on your face watching the stubborn young girl gripe about the rejection of affection she wanted give her older cousin only brushed off with "I have company but when I get the chance I'll come find you okay?"  You say but the girls short attention span caves in on her only running off mumbling a confirmation she understood.

"I thought you were bad with kids?" Sunghoon asks scrunching his nose "she's my favorite kid so I try" you grin making him shake his head "I thought they say 'i can't pick a favorite' when it came to family?" Sunghoon adds making you laugh. "They say that about kids, nobody says it's a rule with cousins because I definitely have favorites" you nod firmly to stand on your point.

"Why is she your favorite?" He asks as he watches the small girl run hurriedly into the crowd of your other cousins to which he assumed were playing tag. "She reminds me of myself when I was younger. Always trying to make other people happy" you say with a feint smile adorning your lips. "She feels like the little sister I never got to have" you say as your eyes latch onto Sunghoon's side profile as he watched your family with envious eyes.

"Why don't we sit down for a while and wait until dinners ready" you say patting his back softly making his eyes rip away from everyone else and zero in on you. "Yeah, what are we eat?" He asks which makes you smile "well at parties like these it's a lot of stuff so you can choose whatever you want and eat it. If you want seconds you can always go back for more" you nod as you guide him to an empty seat at the table filled with all your cousins around yours and Sunghoon's age.

——

Well into a few hours after eating and talking it had started to become dark, all the younger kids settled into the living room watching cartoons or sleeping in random rooms that their parents could find. A small bonfire had been made you and sunghoon settled down in two lawn chairs letting the warmth of the fire run over your skin. One of your uncles slipping the both of you bottles of beer with a sheer smirk  only turning away with the face of innocence like nothing happened.

"Did you have fun?" You ask Sunghoon watching his eyes stare into the pit of heat, orange hues wash over his face flickering as the crackling of the fire bring a sort of calmness to the atmosphere. "Yeah, I don't think I've seen a family as hyper as yours other than in movies" he laughs. "Is that a bad thing? Being hyper I mean?" You ask with a slight tilt hoping to catch the look in his eyes.

His head snaps towards you with wide eyes almost panicked "no! Not at all- it's a great thing I just, I'm never this close with my family" he trailed off awkwardly making your lips fall into a small frown. "I know Hoon I'm just fucking with you" you smile as you pat his thigh. Sunghoon makes a sound of false annoyance before his eyes eyes narrowed at you.

Then he noticed the way your arms wrapped around your torso tightly as you began to shiver, the night winds starting to pick up. Sunghoon felt guilty for not having a jacket "you cold?" He asks as he scoots the lawn chair closer hearing the distinct chattering of your teeth. "Yeah but...I'll be fine" you say waving him off making Sunghoon's brows furrow in confusion.

"No, we're going inside it's too cold and you'll get sick" he disapproved of your dismissive attitude as he stands up from the chair holding his hand out to you. Your eyes hold a longing question back. "Are- are you sure you want to come inside? You can go home if you want to I'm sure your tired" you ask with genuine concern.

"I want to see what your room looks like. What kid of host doesn't show their guest around? That's like proper hosting etiquette" Sunghoon snarks as he shakes his hand feigning annoyance at you for not taking it. Your warm fingers tangle themselves between his as he uses basic strength to haul you out of your chair. "I think you need more west side friends hoon.... even they'd tell you to never invite people in your house, that's how shit gets stolen" you say as the both of you begin to treck through following the dim light that shines through the small back door.

"Do I have to worry about that with you?" He asks jokingly and you immediately push his arm making him stumble. The both of you completely forgetting your holding hands making him drag you along with him during his side steps earning a giggle out of you. "Why because I'm from the west side?" You asked with a playful tone but you see Sunghoon's playful smile drop to something more serious "never" he flatly answers making you straighten up.

"I know, don't worry about it I would never steal anyways, my mom raised me better than that" you say hoping to air out the serious tone before the both of you were alone. The both of you finally are engulfed in the familiar warmth of the house as the lights are more dim. Neither of you knowing exactly what time it is and not that it matters you were too wrapped up in the comforting silence and presence of Sunghoon to care.

"You said you wanted a tour right?" You ask looking over at him seeing how he wrapped his arms around himself rubbing his bare arms hoping to get rid of the goosebumps that had risen on his skin. "Yeah, Show me around please?" He asks as he awaits your guide around the small home.

You trail through the kitchen that he had already been in once before, tracking into a small living room with a singular couch and a reclining chair all filled with sleeping kids. Stepping carefully through the small slumped bodies you and Sunghoon stop in front of a wall littered in paintings and pictures of you and your family.

One had caught his eye though; a picture of you and your grandma when she was visibly much younger. You were in a floaty that looked almost identical to the one sunghoon had been using at the community pool. You were smiling as your grandma held onto the pink plastic as the water you kicked had turned into a big blur behind you. Sunghoon smiled softly just imagining a younger you going through the same struggle he is now with disheveled hair and a few teeth missing.

"Who took this picture?" He asks as he smiles at the sight of your younger self as you described. "My grandpa, he and my grandpa didn't live that far away from your house. But after he passed she couldn't afford the rent or taking care of herself alone" you say lowly thinking about how your grandmother had to move in with your family after the loss of her husband.

"Where does she live now?" He asks, though Sunghoon didn't want to pry he wanted to know as much as he could about you and your family. "Here, she has my old room and I have the attic" you shake your head. "Is it not scary up there?" He asks with an undertone of concer written on his face. "It used to freak the absolute fuck out of me. My older cousins used to tell me that spirits haunt the attic and slept on the fucking couch for a month" you almost pout at the the thought of thirteen year old you bundled on the couch in the dark praying the spirits would decide your feeble under-grown body wasn't worth eating.

"And you believed it?" Sunghoon was almost at a loss for words. "You wouldn't? I believed anything those shit heads told me when I was a kid. Now I'm the one telling my cousins if they say Bloody Mary in the mirror three times she'll kill them" you chuckle as you think about the stupid myth that even you believed at one point.

"So you've turned into one of those shit heads?" He asks with clear amusement written all over his face "I take all the credit for all the kids ages 10 through 15 trauma of traditional scary stories" you shrug holding back your smile. "Yeah I see it, you really are a shit head. If my cousins ever did that to me we'd never speak again" Sunghoon jokes making you shove him.

The moment of silence was comforting as the both of you continue to skim over the wall of pictures, sometimes he'd point out one of you over the year and you'd explain. After a while you both managed to trail over to the door that led to the attic. A hallway with two doors, it had seemed very ominous but if it wasn't for the fact that there was a light in the very small hallway.

"I heard a rumor during Sophomore year you shanked a girl in the locker rooms, and if this is your way of taking me out; make it quick" Sunghoon mumbled shakily becoming all too stressed out at the quietness between you two. "You knew me during Sophomore year?" You ask turning your head stopping in the middle of the narrow staircase to look at him.

"Is that all you got of that entire sentence?" He deadpanned. "Well I heard that you got a hand job under the bleacher last year by that Mandy chick who smokes cigarettes in the bathroom" you laugh at the mumbles and rumors that spread like wild fire about Sunghoon and his friends in high school.

"How come we were never friends in school?" He asks completely brushing off your comment, "because I wasn't rich and you weren't exactly the nicest to my friends" you say with a wince remembering one of your run ins with Sunghoon and the rest of his rich preppy friends that he ran around school with.

"What? I was nice to everybody in school" he says defensively. "Park Jisung, the week before Christmas break. You and one of your friends were fighting and basically slammed him into his locker and neither of you said sorry" you say deadpanned earning a hiss from Sunghoon. "Ouch, I don't exactly remember that but now I feel bad" he says with guilt dripping all over his tone as the both of you finally reach the top of the stairs.

Guiding him past the very first door you and Sunghoon enter your bedroom. Neat, decorated, and a lot of records arranged by artist and genre. "Why do you have a picture of Johnny Depp above your bed?" He asks as he eyes the poster poorly taped to your ceiling. "Don't worry about that" you feel your body heat up.

"Right... your room is nice. I knew you had thing for music but I didn't know you had an entire bookshelf dedicated to records" he says as his fingers trail over the many plastic coverings reading them off. "It's a lot of rap in here" he says as he pulls out a random tape skimming over the cover to see it.

You smile "some of those were my dads, he has a real knack for music. But he listens more to Jazz and old school" you shrug as your fingers brush against the rim of one of the old dusty cases of a tape.As Sunghoon's eyes trail around your room once for hoping he wouldn't miss a single detail he see's a small box TV with a small pile of movies and a VCR on top of a long dresser that seemed to be catching up in age as it had paint scratched off and faded old stickers he assumed was from when you were much younger.

"So you've never had anyone in here before?" He asked as he walks a few steps closer, you could feel the air becoming warmer as you heard the slight undertone of suggestiveness in his words. "Nope, nobody was special enough to make the cut" you murmur as you sit on the edge of your bed. "So I'm special?" Sunghoon asks with fire in his eyes as he understands the meaning behind your moms words.

"You could say that" you shrug stubbornly as you look up at him who was only 2 strides away from his legs touching your knees. "You know I am" He nods firmly as if he was trying to convince you to say it out loud. "Only special people get to lay in bed with me and help completely hot box the shit out of my room" you say lifting a brow up at him suggesting he takes the offer.

"What makes you think I smoke weed?" He asks with narrow eyes. Sunghoon does smoke he just wants to be difficult and rile you up. "Because the last time we were in your room I saw an ash tray and a half smoked blunt sitting inside of it" you purse your lips looking at him with expectant eyes. "And you kind of always smell like weed mixed with cologne" you shrug as you attempt to roll onto the other side of the bed and open the bed side drawer with a glass bong standing tall.

Grabbing all of the necessities you smile at the glass shaped like a woman's naked body. Packing the bowl with the green plant and pressing down gently with your finger your hand scampers around the sheets for your lighter. "Sit on the bed don't be shy it's not like I'm gonna smash it on your head" you say with a grin as you see sunghoon sit on the edge and grabbing the small metal lighter off your pillow.

"Seems like you know what you're doing" he says in a matter-of-fact way which makes you scoff. "I smoke a lot sue me. Working with a bunch of kids and parents all week makes me need soothing" you crack a smile at how stressed you sound. "When did you start smoking?" He asks quizzically making you laugh. "When I was 16? One of my friends had helped me sneak out for the first time to a party and she wanted to teach me so she shot gunned me until I actually wanted to smoke from the blunt" you explained as you was the flame of the lighter flicker and engulf the weed.

Sunghoon watches as you take the very first hit as the smoke builds inside of the see through glass as the bubbles formulate, you pull the small tube attached to the bowl taking a larger hit to clear the rest of the smoke before holding it in your lungs and exhaling to let out the largest puff of smoke Sunghoon has ever seen someone indulge in ever.

Watching you a few more times you finally hold it out for Sunghoon who takes it following in what he saw you do. The both of you are practically sinking into your bed on different side as the both of you talk nonsense and memories. "Wait...do you have a record player?" Sunghoon asks as he finally realized as he looks at the bedside table to see the old red and black record player.

"Yeah...choose a song and play it" you say slowly as your eyes feel heavy. The fur blanket underneath you bringing you slight warmth, as the tall lamp in the corner of your room was dim and brought a warmth to the look of your bed room and your pillows threatened to pull you into sleep. But the sudden movements of Sunghoon standing up from your bed and blowing your thick shelf of records kept you wide awake.

The distant sound of your family still outside loud as can be drinking and probably playing a card game brought you a sense of familiarity and a small smile on your face. Lugging himself back over to your bed and slumping himself close enough to your thighs he hands you a record "Selena....didn't expect that" you say softly as you tilt your head opening the jacket and watching carefully pulling to the round shiny black disk from the pocket of the record casing.

Leaning over you set the record on the platter and position the tone arm before hearing the soft crackles of the track beginning. Hearing the beat of 'Dreaming of you' beginning to play brings you relaxation. "When did you listen to love songs? I've only heard you listen to rock and a little of pop" you smile hazily while teasing the brunette boy.

"Who says I can't be romantic?" He asks looking up at you with an arched brow. "I'd just like to see it myself, I know you may have a lot of girls chasing you for the experience but I want front row seats" you smirk as your hand lifts to his hair carding through his dark locks. Sunghoon's hand wraps around your wrist as he keeps your hand on the back of his neck as he slowly leans into you.

Pressing a soft chaste kiss to your lips as if you were glass and if he kissed you any harder you would break. Both of your eyes are low and red, as you both search each other's eyes for any sign of wanting to stop but neither of your faces showed an ounce of it. Slotting your lips between his your lips move at a more passionate rate.

You felt Sunghoon's hand press flat against your thigh needing your skin as his tongue licks a small stripe against your lip, taking it the hint your tongue presses against his making you moan softly into his mouth. Sitting up from his position on his stomach Sunghoon can feel the kiss grow more intense. His hand finds your cheek as he sits up on his knees gently guiding you on your back with your head against the pillow.

His body hovering over yours his hand on one side of your head while the other begins to travel your body down to your upper thigh. Tugging on his hair as your feel the aching between your thighs start to pound. His hands settling on your hip gripping it. Gasping you pull away from the kiss Sunghoon slightly chasing for the feeling. "Do you....want to keep going? I don't want you to think you have to" you say just above a whisper as you and sunghoon hold a stare.

Everything had fallen into place for Sunghoon, he hadn't even cared enough to realize he was getting hard in his jeans from just kissing you in the moment, but he wasn't apposed to the idea at all. "Yeah- yeah I'm ready" He staggered over his words in such a list driven daze. Pressing open mouth kisses to your exposed neck sucking and biting the spot just below your ear that had your moaning softly as you grind against lap pressed against you agonizingly hard.

The friction was just barely enough making you almost whine. As your grip on his hair loosens and your breathing becomes heavier. Sunghoon was becoming needy, he wanted to feel you; all of you. Grabbing onto the hem of your shirt letting his cold hand touch the warm bare skin of your waist.

Although Sunghoon has seen you naked and has kissed you before it all feels different, his stomach was churning, his body was impatient and needy, his hands wants to touch every part of your body he possibly could that you would allow. "Can I take this off?" He asks slipping his hand from under your shirt and tugging at the fabric anticipating your true answer.

"Yeah. Take as much or as little as you want. You want to do this sunghoon so I'm telling you that you don't have to ask for everything when you know the answer is yes" you explain softly, you understood that this was Sunghoon's first time but you want it to come naturally and that he needed not to worry at all.

Inhaling a shaky breath he nods as he pulls your shirt over your head and tossing onto the floor without a care in the world, his lips latch onto your chest kiss and sucking marks all over your collarbones while his hands settle on your waist. Letting your head lay comfortably against the pillow you let out a soft sigh at the feeling of his warm open mouthed kisses against your skin.

Feeling him become more eager as he trails his kisses further down your chest until he reaches the fabric of your bra pressing his face in between your mounds and inhaling the sweet perfume you had on. Your eyes roll back at the feeling making you pull down the straps and unhook it completely. With lust hazed eyes Sunghoon looks up at you as you pull down your bra and drop it onto the floor next to your shirt.

Sunghoon could feel himself twitch in his pants at the sight of you completely topless, your breast look so pretty and he can't help but touch you more and more growing desperate to strip you of every last bit of clothes, touch and kiss every inch he could discover.

Licking a stripe on one of your nipples you roll your hips at the feeling. But as soon as he pulled away you whine, "sit on my lap" he says in a low tone.

Catching a glimpse of the look on his face as the both of you shift until Sunghoon's back presses against the headboard. Pulling his jeans down and tossing them on the floor he looks up expectantly waiting for you to pull yours off as well.

Understanding without saying a word you pull them off discarding them with his as well. Leaving you in your panties that were sticking to you with a small wet patch seeping through the thin fabric.

Crawling into his lap your press your ass down on his bulge with no regard earning you a choked moan. You could feel as your pussy practically stuck to the wet fabric of your panties while you grind your hips against him.

The small wet watch of precum becomes larger as your panties make friction soaking his underwear as well. The outline of his cock rubbing against your clit makes your head spin and you couldn't help but moan and grind harder against him.

"You feel so good" you whimper hearing the sticky sounds of your slick thighs rubbing together, it was messy yet the both of you were too eager chasing some form of an orgasm to care what kind of mess you make.

As you look down at Sunghoon whose head was thrown back while he lets out the deepest groans of pleasure. His hands guiding your hips against his at a faster pace makes you choke out louder moans.

"Fuck" he whispered harshly as you land your eyes on a dazed Sunghoon who was on cloud 9.

You moan at the sight of him making Sunghoon open his eyes and look up at you, "you looked too good" you whisper placing one of your hands down on his lower abdomen as you feel Sunghoon buck his hips into you faster.

The feeling of the fabric running against your pussy slightly burned but it felt too good to care. "Feels so good" he grumbled as the pressure began to build. The both of you chasing your orgasms push your panties to the side rubbing your bare pussy against the fabric of his boxers at a fast pace that makes you whine.

You gasp feeling yourself being sent over the edge, Sunghoon began to slow down but you only shake your head as you anticipate him reaching his peak. "Please keep going, I want you to cum" you moan as your nails drag against his skin leaving behind a trail of red marks.

Your needy words make his eyes roll back as he pushes your hips down, he ruts into you as he moans shamelessly. Sunghoon had no idea if it was just the weed or if your pussy had fucking magic but your sweet moans and the sloppy sounds send him into a spiral of pleasure.

His cum seeps through his boxers as his hips twitch in a bit of overstimulation he didn't care, his hips slow down and then stop completely as he feels himself slowly coming back down to earth.

He lets out a large huff as a shy smile finds its way on his face, he can't believe he just came in his boxers after literally letting you dry hump him like a needy puppy. His hands grip at the flesh of your ass he lets out a small chuckle with a smirk on his lips.

"You're driving me crazy- fuck" he groaned as he continues to catch his breath. You giggle at him still feeling your mind trying to process. You've had sex many times high, drunk, but mostly sober, and none of those times had an orgasm ever felt so good to the point your thighs quivered or you had been at a loss for words. Yet here you were with Park Sunghoon some rich boy you've been hanging out with all summer high and hooking up in your bed room.

No less it was passionate, you didn't understand how a heated make out could lead up to taking someone's virginity but you didn't question it. You were content with just kissing and grinding against the cute brunette boy.

You weren't the only one feeling this way, Sunghoon would have never seen himself actually getting close to third place. Before summer Sunghoon had kept 2 secrets to himself:

1. He doesn't know how to swim,

2. He is a raging virgin.

But no thanks to you by the end of the summer he assumes neither of those things he will have to worry about anymore. The thought makes him smile at you. "What?" You ask sitting up in his lap letting your arms wrap around his neck comfortably. "You teach me how to do a lot of things. Are you sure your a great influence?" He teases as he presses his nose against yours holding eye contact.

"I don't know, are you learning anything valuable with me?" You ask pressing your hips against his with a tilt to the head and a small hum. "Yeah I am" He says pressing small kisses to the corner of you lips, then to your neck and shoulders. "I wanna keep going" he mumbled making you meet his soft gaze. "We can keep going Sunghoon I don't mind" you laugh softly.

"I'll take care of you, I promise you can always tell me to stop" you whispered as you plant a soft kiss on his warm cheek, your hand landed on his rubbing comforting circles on his knuckles. Slowly turning his head, your forehead gently presses against his, the bridge of your nose grazing his you both lean in closing the small gap.

And the moment your lips meet it felt like your very first one, kissing messily while your teeth and tongues clash and your moans practically mixing I to background noise along with the music. He's stealing your breath, and inhaling all the sweet little sounds you make, swiping his tongue to get a taste of your lip balm before it's completely kissed away. You're smiling against his mouth, you can't help it, giggling lightly at the feel of his breath fanning over your kiss-swollen lips. "We'll go real slow" you mumbled pressing chaste kisses to his lips that made him chase after them hoping for more.

Pulling away far enough, your hand angling his jaw to the side getting a good view of his blank skin just waiting to be marked with purple and red splotches. Your lips pressed into his skin earning a soft huff from him. Your tongue running against his skin left him gripping against the edge of your mattress letting his nails dig into the material leaving behind crescent shapes.

Your teeth brush against a spot on his neck that had him choking on a moan "does that feel good right there?" You ask seductively looking down at the wet red splotch on his skin where a small mole had sat idly. Kissing the same spot gently you feel him nod. Humming as you kiss along the nape of his neck and littering hickeys until you reach the hem of his collar. "You wanna take this off for me?" You mumble tugging on his shirt.

"Yeah- I can take it off" he whispered almost as if he were nervous. Sunghoon has never been on the bottom nor has he been inside someone, ever or even coming close. He always thought to take charge, but the way you were kissing his sweet spot and talking to him had him ready to let you do whatever you wanted to him as he pulled his loose shirt over his head messing with his long brown hair messily falling back against his forehead.

To you he looked like he had been made from the heavens above, his skin pale and imperfect yet every scar, mole, freckle, and scab that littered his body. The image of him under you moaning alone had your panties sodden with slick, and you could feel it begin to pool and settle. you were so unbearably wet, so touch-starved, you wanted to feel some sort of relief.

Your cold hands met the warm skin on his chest trailing down to his stomach and down to his v-line where you could see a faint-happy trail that disappeared into the boxers that were practically suffocating him. "Lay back" you whisper to him as you slightly put pressure on his stomach implying that you wanted his head to meet the warm soft sheets on your bed.

Your hands rub over him as a trail of goosebumps follows up his skin. "I wanna make you feel as good as you make me feel" you mumble as you lean down your hair falling over your shoulder you press a kiss to his plump lips that were starting to become red and swollen with every passing moment.

Trailing your lips down the column of his throat as he swallows the lump in his throat harshly. Moving down to his collarbones you nip at his skin with your teeth kissing the same spots continuing to give him his own slow and pleasure-filled torture. He chokes out a moan as your warm tongue traced around his nipple and his hips jerk up into you almost shocked at the stimulation and pleasure he had gotten from your tongue on his skin.

"You like that?" You say almost teasingly as your tongue licks a stripe on his nipple that earns another needy moan to ripple through his throat and fill the room. "Feels so good," he says breathlessly "I know baby, I'll go real slow for you" you coo at him seeing how his eyes flutter shut at the feeling of your lips ghosting over his chest.

Kissing and sucking on his skin until you reached his jeans pushing yourself up from his lap your hands trail down to the loops of his jeans which make his eyes open "can I take these off of you?" You ask softly looking down at a dazed and pleasure-driven Sunghoon with red, glossy, doe eyes looking up at you who stood over him.

"Yeah, do whatever you want" he shook his head agreeing to be the victim of your lust and was ready to let you do whatever it is that you pleased with his body. "Good" you say seeing his black boxers you hook your fingers under the waistband of his boxers tugging them down, over his thighs as he lifts his hips to help you tug them down to his ankles and letting him kick them away onto your floors.

The sight of his cock flushed, and his tip pink and glistening under the lights of your room. Your hands are on his thighs as you get on your knees on the far end of the mattress digging into the springs feeling them ache already and will most likely get fabric burn. Rubbing his thigh you began to kiss up his thigh as he huffs out small shaky breaths awaiting the sheer pleasure you were going to inflict upon him, he was utterly eager to feel your warm mouth on his cock.

Kissing a small beauty mark on his hip that has him squirming as your lips trail and skin across his lower abdomen which earns moans and whines as you take your time leaving small marks on his skin. Your hand trails where his cock rested against his lower stomach semi-hard as your index finger rubs against his tip seeing as a string of precum sticks to your finger still attached to him.

Puckering your lips you press small kisses and his base and up his shaft until you reach his blushed tip, licking a stripe of saliva against his slit had his thighs quiver "fuck" he groaned feeling your lips envelope his tip slowly taking him in your warm mouth,your hand still at his base jerking him off Sunghoon closes his eyes as his hand pushes your head down further.

Flattening your tongue against the underside of his dick you dragged up against the vein running up to the tip— he let out a rich moan that ended with a groan "shit". His head was thrown back and his breathing was labored.

you rubbed your thighs together as that incessant warmth between your legs became stronger and stronger. You could, feeling the tip nudge the back of your throat while your nose was nestled tightly against his pubic bone. While your eyes were closed tight to focus on relaxing your gag reflex to not ruin the tight feeling for him. Sunghoon let his hand guide your head to bob while you hollow your cheeks, Sunghoon was losing his mind at the feeling.

Breathing through your nose you could barely breathe as Sunghoon bucked his hips into your mouth, losing himself in the feeling of your warm mouth. Spitting on his tip you use your tongue to spread it, earning a moan as his pats become tugs when your lips wrap around his and you push your head down relaxing your throat you feel tears well up in the corner of your eyes.

Pushing your head down further you relax your throat taking him deeper until your nose hits his pelvis. Tears cloud your eyes as you almost gag, pulling your head back just a bit you take a deep breath through your nose and begin to bob your head.

You moan as you feel him buck his hips into your throat. "Feels good," he said as you continued to take him in your mouth slurping and bobbing your head, all without hands you were heaven-sent."don't stop" he cursed while moaning out, you speed up your pace as his balls were greeted with a squeeze from your hand. He was approaching his orgasm as his hips buck into your throat relentlessly you gag with each thrust. Tears spilled past your lashes and down your saliva-covered cheeks.

The groans made your pussy ache so you clenched your thighs closed. Sounds of groans buzzing in his chest you couldn't help but let out gags and moans at the tall man above you tears pricked your eyes again but you blink them away and continue taking him. He felt so good your warm and wet mouth was doing it but when you hollow your cheeks. Your hand that was at his base continued to move leaving him to buck his hips into your warm and wet cavern.

You gag as he repeatedly lets his tip meet the back of your throat yet you never pull away. "You take it so fucking- good" he slurs feeling himself twitch, your moans muffled sending vibrations to his dick making him shutter and his orgasm approach. "I'm gonna cum" He moaned as he thrusts one final time before he pushes your head down, cumming down your throat.

Sunghoon felt utterly drunk on the feeling of him coming down from his high, realizing you were still dressed in your pretty panties. "Please fuck me" he whispered, he was desperate to have himself buried inside of you. "You want it that bad?" You whispered looking down at him with a slight shock.

"Yeah, I just wanna feel you so bad" he mumbled as he could feel a blush creeping up on him and his body feeling like it was on fire just from the way you look at him. Pressing his lips to your chest and neck as you grind on his still-hard cock, the feeling of your wet panties and him panting against your skin. "You're so pretty" he mumbled as he sucks and bites at your skin making you bite your lip in hopes that he wouldn't see the smile on your face at the slight compliment.

Humming his mouth attaches to your nipple sucking gently, your mouth falls open as you moan "fuck" you whisper as your fingers entangle into his brunette hair pushing him into your chest, the feeling of his teeth brushing against you makes you unconsciously rut your hips against him dragging the fabric of your panties against his sensitive cock as you both moan.

"I'm done teasing," you say slowly coming back down from your list filled high. Catching your bottom lip between your teeth you lift your hips almost whining at the loss of warmth from Sunghoon's cum covered thighs pulling off your panties but didn't have much time to think about it as you wrap your hand around his still-hard cock.

Rubbing his tip against your clit hearing the slick sounds made you hum as you press him against your entrance slowly pushing him inside your warm and soaked walls you both moan in sensitivity as you sink into him the feeling of hin you had you clenching around him, feeling filled to the hilt "I just wanna cum" he whined under his breath as he guides your hips weakly to move.

"You're gonna cum soon I promise" you whisper as you pepper kisses on his face as you lift your hips to slowly begin bouncing against his lap, a moan dying in your throat as the feeling of his cock dragging against your walls leaves you in an early state of ecstasy. You pull out slowly, just enough to keep his head inside before pushing back in. A groan escaped his throat at how good it felt.

His nails digging into your hips as nothing but pleasure is all he could think about. You hear him breathily moan your name as his tip rubs against a spot inside you that had your eyes squeezing shut, you could feel his hips chasing yours lazily thrusting into you making the both of you groan.

You felt like you were stuffed, Sunghoon sat up until your chests touched. He slowly began guiding your hips to bounce repeatedly at a set pace. The way you sink into him was addictive. Your hands move back to grip his hair, and you tug and pull with each bounce.

"You feel so good" you whisper into his ear, Hoon could feel his eyes roll to the back of his head from just hearing you talk dirty. He began to thrust into you, setting a faster pace. You moan at the feeling of his thick shaft rubbing against your silky walls and his tip practically kissing your cervix.

His nails began to dig into the skin of your ass as he continued to let you bounce in his lap, the sound of your moans and the creaking of the bed was all Sunghoon's ears could pick up on with his foggy and fucked out mind.

He was drunk on the feeling of you wrapped around his cock like this and it felt amazing. He whispered heavy 'please' for you to go harder as you rut yourself against his base.

A small ring of cum from your previous orgasm began to drip from his base as his thighs hit yours as you continued to fuck yourself harder on his cock. You feel hazy as you moan your nails dragging against the back of his shoulder.

You clenching down on him kept his mind set on doing one thing, and that was getting you both to your hopeful orgasm. Your hair bounced with every hard thrust he gave you hope that you both would cum soon. Your hand found its way to his hair grabbing at his brown tresses making his eyes water at the pleasure and pain

"Fuck, you look so damn good when you cry" you choked out along with a whimper as his tip practically abused your insides. The twist in your stomach made you realize that you were close. "I'm gonna cum" You had moaned, feeling your walls gripping around him tightly. Hoon began to thrust into you faster as he felt that same feeling bubbling up inside of him moaning and whining for release.

He couldn't help but let out a string of curses and moans "fuck" he groaned feeling how you squeezed down on him letting your orgasm wash over you.

The sweet moan you let out pushed him over the edge as he let his cum paint you white on the inside. He could feel you throbbing and his cum spilling past your walls. He couldn't help but thrust deeper into you fucking his cum deeper inside you.

Your hips are shaking with overstimulation. He couldn't even put together a coherent sentence. He just let you fuck him dumb. His whimpers fall on deaf ears as he lays his head against your chest in exhaustion giving small kisses to your skin.

Sunghoon felt like he just won the lottery, not only did he lose his virginity but he lasted longer than you did but only by a short lived 20 seconds, but he didn't care he was too high and honestly caught up in the moment to pay it any mind.

Slowly pulling your body away from his you were tempted to see his cum dripping from your thighs but exhaustion and the weight of your own body convincing enough to make you lay down next to Sunghoon and stare at your ceiling letting your actions and feelings sink in.

Then you realized that your record had still been playing making you close your eyes. "About our Monday lesson...my mom told me there was a summer festival for the country club she goes to and I wanted to bring you" he mumbled as he uses his little strength to turn over onto his side and drape his hand across your waist.

"No" you answer straight barely giving him a chance breath. "Why not? I thought maybe you'd want to meet my friends and y'know have fun" he mumbled as he clutches the sheets that covers your naked bodies. "Sunghoon it's nothing wrong with meeting your friends, it's just- isn't it weird bringing the poor girl to the rich people event?" You ask narrowing your eyes up at the ceiling seeing the poster of the movie star Sunghoon had brought up earlier.

"What? No. Why would that even bother you? Everyone's going to be having too much fun to care about how much money you have. Besides I'll pay for everything you get. And if someone gives you shit for living on the west side I promise I'll handle it ok?" He asks softly.

Does he really want you to go that badly? The answer is yes. The exposure Hoon has had this summer was starting to rub off on him, the trips to the west side and maybe even stopping at corner stores for snack with you, and now seeing how a family is supposed to treat each other and happily see each other, seeing how it wasn't as tight knit and well kept together as the suburban houses, mothers and their book clubs, teenagers who were even more close, and families that only stick together for image had it not been because everyone was so judgmental many families would be ripped apart by now.

"Ok, but as soon as some one asks me if I'm working staff I'm out" you joke poking at him arm, his laugh was like music to your ears. "Nobody is gonna think your working, you're too pretty to be a caterer" he says grabbing your your wrist guiding your hand into his hair. "You're too nice" you mumbled as you press more kisses to his lips.

You and Sunghoon kept the flirting, kissing, and banter going for a few more hours before the both of you realized everyone had gone home and your parents were asleep, helping Sunghoon sneak out the front door you kiss him goodnight and watch as he sneaks out of your front yard as the moon is to bear witness as he starts his car and drives off with biggest smirk on his face.

———————

You and Sunghoon had been putting great use of the landlines in your houses calling whenever you thought of each other, or had even the most minor questions to ask. A day apart felt almost empty without each other. Sunghoon decided to hang out with his friends and you would enjoy your day off with yours.

Having a day off and being home alone was like a blessing, both of your parents were at work and your grandma staying with a friend for the day, laying in your bed the sheets clean and your room neat yet just like the day before it was completely filled with smoke and the smell of weed.

"So the entire time you haven't been hanging out with us is because you've been fucking Park Sunghoon?" Mark's voice groveled as he watches Haechan blow out smoke. "Okay first of all, don't act like I didn't tell you that I wasn't giving him swimming lessons" you say pointedly "after he drowned at the pool" Haechan says not missing the main detail "right. And then you fucked him" Jaemin finally chimes in as he digs into a bag of very cheap and off brand Cheetos staining his fingers deep orange color along with crumbs all over his lips from the bean bag chair that sits on your floor.

"No! Why can't any of you prepubescent incels just be mature and let me tell the story" you groan falling back onto the pillow. "Fine, no need to be so hostile and rude" Haechan pouts as he rolls his eyes. "Since when did you know the definition of hostile? You can barely read the ingredients of a peanut butter jar" you snap.

Taking charge of diffusing the oncoming argument Mark just pats Haechan's arm in comfort knowing whatever comeback he had brewing in his head wouldn't even compete. "We've been hanging out, we kissed a few nights ago and hooked up, then yesterday we kind of went all the way. It's not that big of a deal" you say shrugging your shoulders ignoring the way your face heat up.

"So you don't have feelings for him?" Jaemin asks looking up from the large bag of chips he stole from your cabinet. "I haven't really thought that far into it. Sunghoon is a really nice guy, and I took his virginity but...doesn't it seem kind of-" you trailed off looking for the right words.

"Seem too good to be true? Rich guy from the suburbs wanting to date some girl who's broke giving up her paychecks to pay for college? And living on the worst side of town" Jaemin continues flatly as digging through his bag with low red eyes and a grin as he digs for a good chip. Making the room silent as they all look at the boy completely high off of his ass.

"What? Just because I don't always say the smartest shit doesn't mean I can't use common sense in the right moment" he meets the 3 pairs of eyes looking back at him equally as high. "Did you slip some shit that makes you smarter into that weed? Because I've never heard Jaemin be so logical" Mark mumbles to you making you snicker.

"Well he's not wrong, I just feel like there's so much more for him than me if I'm being honest. What guy from the east side would ever willingly come to the worst side of town just for a girl?" You ask looking at your three friends. "Park Sunghoon apparently. But listen honestly, if he hasn't given you a reason to give up so easily on his feelings then look into your feelings, if he's giving signs back to you that shows he's actually interested in you then take your chance" Mark says adjusting the beanie that covers his black hair.

"Since when did you dummies become so smart about dating advice?" You ask with a teasing grin you reach over messing with the tethered beanie on your friends head making him groan in faux annoyance. "You always give us dating advice why not return the favor?" Haechan says not daring to let his sarcastic and almost childish persona break.

"Yeah, remember that time you had to talk to a girl for Mark and one of YangYang's parties?" Jaemin recalls with a smirk "yeah that same party when you flirted with that guy wearing a really shitty costume wig" Mark snaps at the younger boy. "Maybe tequila and a few blunts isn't my best friend, but in my defense the dude was really pretty" Jaemin says with a shrug not even trying egg on an argument.

"Ten says thanks by the way, his ass did look pretty nice in those jeans" Haechan recalls making you snicker. "When did this go from talking about my love life to Ten being sexy with terrible Demi Moore extensions?" You say exasperated at the topic switch. "Well when is the next time you see him?" Jaemin asks as he finally lets the bag filled with practically crumbs sit on the floor. "Tomorrow...he wants me to meet his friends and go to some country club festival" you say awkwardly.

"Ew, make sure to hand out my number to the hot girl who cleans the pool, she gives me sexy eyes when I work at the snack bar" Jaemin says making you snort. "I know Christy, she has a lazy eye and I'm pretty sure her boyfriend works as a server" you snicker earning a dirty look from Jaemin.

"...anyways. Did you say yes?" Mark asks awkwardly as he picks at the dead skin around his nails that already forming scabs. "Yeah, I told him I'd go" you shrug although your expression didn't show much excitement. "Why do you look constipated?" Haechan asks with a scrunched nose.

"No I don't" you deny almost too fast you got whiplash "you do. It looks like you're gonna shit yourself. What's wrong?" Jaemin asks his eyes are finally filled with concern he's never seen you feet over something as small as a date with a guy.

"What if somebody talks about me because I live on the west side?" You ask hoping your tone didn't come off as scared or weak. "Who cares? You're going because you were invited. Nobody said you had to be rich and live in the suburbs with nice pretty houses and expensive cars to get in" Jaemin says feeling the heat of frustration warm up his body.

"You don't need to fit in with anybody, if he lets you get treated wrong then forget him. There are plenty of hot rich guys who would take you on dates" Mark says patting your shoulder. "Who knows maybe you'll get a sugar daddy" Haechan snickers making you shove him "I do not want to end up like those botched 50 year olds from the country club with a bunch of falling plastic in my face and a husband who looks like he's waiting to be put in a casket" you say almost gagging.

"Yeah whatever, those ladies are the same ones getting millions after their husband kicks the bucket" Haechan shrugs with a grin. "Seriously Hyuck I feel like absolutely nothing but dust swirls around behind your skull." You joke as the three boys surrounding you are nothing but giggles and cackles.

———————

When Monday settled you felt your stomach flutter and you had yet to decide if it was because you were genuinely excited or genuinely scared. Yet you worked your shift and could barely stare off into space without think of Sunghoon, it was like the mere sight of something made you think of him.

The 20 feet deep pool, the popsicles melting on the concrete, the pure heat, music playing from the boombox one one of the beach chairs, the smell of chlorine. Anything minor from the corner of your eyes had you thinking of Sunghoon that it almost made you cringe every time you caught yourself day dreaming.

When your shift ended you gladly locked up and went home, you took your time rummaging through your wardrobe for any semi decent clothes and only salvaging a dress you got for Easter family pictures. White, just a few inches above the knee and it fit you perfectly. You spent the rest of your time doing your hair and make up that your mom handed down to you that she no longer used.

And as time passed you couldn't help but give yourself the final touches every time you looked in the mirror or looking at the time. This wasn't your first date, to say you would have been to many would be a far stretch; saying you've attended a date and left happy, would have been a blatant lie.

Leaving your room you were quiet enough to sneak past the living room both of your parents swept away into their sleep after grueling work and long hours the TV still on and blaring. Closing and locking the door behind yourself you sit on your front porch step waiting for the familiar cherry red thunderbird. You could feel the summer nights were starting to become more cold as the months pass by.

Wrapping your arms around your shoulder hoping for the slightest inkling of body heat as some cars rhat usually stroll through the neighborhood drive through and park in their driveways or at the curb. The sight of your neighbor standing on her front porch smoking a cigarette makes you smile as the older woman looks over at you as well. "what are you doing here so late dressed like that?" She asks with a smirk, you were used to the nosiness of the woman and yet you seem to never get sick of answering any questions she has to ask.

"I'm going out with a friend, some festival going on at the country club" you say awkwardly nodding your head. The woman only makes a slight face you catch "country club? You got yourself an east side boy?" She laughs with a slight shake of her head. "It's not like that" you were quick to say although it was a lie completely, it was like that and she knew it. And it was on the top of your tongue to correct yourself but you just didn't understand why. The sound of breaks whistling at the curb of your house makes your eyes break from the sweet stare of your neighbor.

The car still running Sunghoon steps out of the drivers side walking through your grass to approach you, he looked too good to fathom his hair slick, and his clothes neat, jeans, a polo shirt that had little to no wrinkles and some white sneakers. It all fit him perfectly which earns a pretty smile out of you. "Hey, it's pretty cold you shouldn't have waited for me out here" he shakes his head with a small guilty look on his face.

"It's fine, I'm not that cold and I've only been out here maybe 5 minutes?" You says standing up trailing closer to him as he looks down at the floor he could see the goosebumps on your legs which makes him feel worse. Your hand trails to his jaw making him look up at you with soft eyes "I'm serious, I'm fine. Just turn the heat on in your car and I promise I'll be warm" you mumbled with a small grin at his concern.

"Okay" he whispered his eyes flutter over your face taking in all of your looks, you looked great, beautiful even more but he just couldn't gather the words for how breathtaking you truly looked. Instead leaning in to peck your lips "let's go, you look like your gonna start shivering any minute" he says grabbing your hand trailing you along behind him with firm steps you smile hardly remembering that your neighbor had watched your entire exchange.

Sunghoon hold the door open for you and even insists on buckling your seatbelt for you as you laugh at him. Sunghoon felt a shutter of relief when he had sat in the drivers seat and out of the corner of his eyes he could see a small grin on your face, you looked happy; and it made him feel happy.

"What are these festival things like?" You ask as you rub your hands together for some slight warmth as his car heats up. "First of all, call it a fest. You sound old calling it a festival, and it's basically like a carnival on the wide streets they have for golf carts. Uh- A lot of the kids our age ditch mid-way through to go drink at this lake" you says as he pulls away from the curb and goes his usual way towards the east side.

"The lake? What kind of preppy bullshit do they have you participating in?" You asked almost giggling at the thought of Sunghoon around a bunch of people listening to some bullshit sound track while drinking cheep booze. "And what do you and your friends do at parties?" He asks raising an eyebrow wearing a faux offended face.

"House parties, we drink, get high listen to good music and a bunch of shit that would most likely get us a night in jail" you smirk at the thought of having Sunghoon meet your friends. "That sounds...scary" he trails off with a small smile. "We have very different taste in parties I guess" you laugh.

The longer you remain in the car and look out of the windows the more you see how the areas change from garbage on the side of the street and abandoned house, to tidy houses with well kept lawns and nice cars driving down the road in the same direction.

You had realized you've never taken a close look at the East side, the houses were big of course, the white picket fences and rose bushes that were neatly planted and trimmed, the small bird baths and fountains along with huge driveways and sprinklers that coated the perfectly green glass. You were jealous, you wished that you could live in a neighborhood as beautiful and big as this one. But you were grateful for what you had and dared not to complain.

"What are you thinking about" Sunghoon asks as his eyes flicker from the road towards you, his hand settles on your thigh giving you a gentle squeeze. "Have you ever wished you weren't rich?" You ask pensively ripping your eyes away from the window and over to the brunette boy. "I wonder would life would be like. But wish I wasn't? I don't think I have no." He says as he tries to think of a time only coming up blank.

"Why?" He asks also becoming quite curious with the topic. "I don't know, I realized that I wish I wasn't low class but I've never heard someone who's rich say they've never wished to be rich" you shrug as your hand gently lays on top of Sunghoon's you rub comforting circles on his skin. "Doesn't everyone wish to be rich? I mean sure you live comfortably and get damn near whatever you want. But no one ever talks about how lonely it is" he trails off.

"Do you feel lonely?" You ask as you feel his hand grip yours tighter. "No, not anymore" he whispers. The car ride was so quiet and tense that Sunghoon almost drove past the entrance to get in. And when you made it to the parking lot of a packed Carnival you knew this date would be fun.

The both of you get out of the car and walk into the crowds of people, keeping close you could feel Sunghoon's large hand on your lower back as the both of you point and look around for things you want to do.

"How about we get on a rollercoaster first do we know what we're dealing with yeah?" He asks as he tears his eyes from the large ride that was spinning and carrying kids of all ages screaming their heads off. "Yeah, that sounds like fun" you smile up at him, pointing in the direction of the big ride.

"You wanna get on this ride? I mean if you're scared or anything we can get on something else" he says as you both walk closer "I'm sure" you nod with a smile on your lips watching as kids spill from the exit gate looking pale and sick.

"Really? Like you're 100% sure?" He asks his voice going up in pitch making you laugh "Hoon if you're scared to ride it then you don't have to get on it with me" you said laughing it up.

He scoffs as he straightens his posture "I'm not a kid y/n I can handle some stupid 5-minute ride that spins" he rolls his eyes dramatically making you smile "if you say so. But if you throw up on this ride I think we can get on the kiddy rides" you say with a big smile that has your eyes almost closing which has his heart fluttering.

"Whatever. But just know, I won't because I'm a man and I can handle a stupid ride" he says once again making you shake your head as the ride conductor opens the gate letting people on the ride and taking their tickets.

And as the two of you got on you see that only a few spots were left the both of you right beside each other as you press your backs to the cold rusting metal you push the bar below your waist close and grip onto the handles. "Is this safe? I mean there are no straps or anything" he says from beside you as he grips the metal bars that seemed to have chipped away red paint.

"We'll be moving too fast to even move hoon besides they have a bar holding down our waists, we're gonna be fine. And- if you want you can hold my hand until it's over" you say as you watch the worker close the gate to the ride taking the safety precautions before going into the control booth.

"I'm only taking your hand because you'll probably be scared. I don't need to hold your hand like a kid" he says scoffing as he repeatedly tries to put up a brave front while he was practically screaming his head off on the inside. His large hand grips yours over the bar turning his head to see you already looking at him with a fond smile.

"What?" He asks with a soft smile "you're scared" you coo making his jaw slack as he's ready to defend himself which makes you smile even wider as the dramatic and intense music of the ride plays and small lights flash. "It's about to start! Aren't you excited?!" You ask almost jumping with joy to see the nauseous look on his face.

"Sure" he nods as he closes his eyes and lets his head fall back he was stressed out and the ride hadn't even moved yet. His grip on your hand becomes tighter once he feels the ride begin to slowly move and he can hear the old gears and screws sputter. "Oh god" he whispers to himself.

He feels his heart flip at the sound of your screaming and laughing, and when he opens his eyes he can't help but smile and laugh at your wide eyes while the wind flows your hair wildly the yellow bright lights from the carnival rides around you lighting up your face. He laughs as he sees your head toss back in sheer delight, he realized the ride wasn't so bad after all.

And when it was over he was dizzy and lovesick. And as the both of you walk out of the small exit gate you stop eyeing all of the stands and trucks with food and games.Sunghoon could see how your eyes light up at the water guns game and it makes him smile. "Let's go play that game" he says grabbing your hand and gently tugging you along.

As the both of you stood in line you could see a pack of middle aged women eyeing you and Sunghoon making you step closer towards him. Your eye catches how one of them mumbled and you could only read lips so well. "You okay? We're up next and I was calling your name" Sunghoon says as he tilts his head down to see where your eyes had been latched to.

Once he does he sees the small glare the woman gives him and he almost gave one back if it weren't for the man behind the counter asking for 2 tickets from you. Handing them over Sunghoon completely let's the thought of the judgmental women go. "Im going to kick your ass at this game" you smirk at your attempt to rile him up which makes him look over at you with narrow eyes "and why is that?" He asks with a sharp tone.

"I was a bad ass kid, my friends had little pellet guns and we'd shoot them at cans and bottles, anything we could find. I accidentally put a pellet through this poor old woman's window. I felt so bad I knocked on her door and cried apologizing" you say with a grin at the memory. "You were a horrible child!" Sunghoon bursts into a fit of laughter.

Sunghoon caught whim of it as you both sit on the stools in front of the booth. The woman behind the booth smiles as she states the rules, counting down the both of you hearing the ring that urges you to start. And just as you presumed your aim was really good, hitting the target you saw the balloon over the top of it filling up with water.

Sunghoon shouts as he struggles to aim the water where he needs making you laugh as his balloon is barely filled with water. "If you want I can help you," you say loudly over the noises of people around you. "I can still win, I don't need your help" he sassed you which makes you giggle at his stubbornness.

When your balloon popped and a loud ringing sound to determine you had won making sunghoon laugh at how you shot out of your chair shouting in celebration. "I told you I'd win," you say as you pat his shoulders "whatever, I just let you win because you were so excited" he drags out his words as he rolls his eyes dramatically.

"Just admit you have shit aim, and I beat you fair and square," you say as you arch a brow at him he only shakes his head "we'll just have to see after this when I beat you at the next game," he says with a casual shrug only making you shake your head. You turn towards the woman at the stand smiling at your bickering.

"Choose whatever stuffed animal you want," she says as she points a wooden staff at the toys hung up along a small wire. "The big penguin" you smile as you point to it with shimmering eyes which makes Sunghoon's brows furrow as he remembers you looking at the teddy bear.

The woman handing it off to you as Sunghoon pays, you see him turn to look at you "I won you this" you hold it out for him to take wide eyes peering up at him for a reaction. "What? It's your prize, why don't you just keep it?" He asks shaking his head "because it reminded me of you so I wanted to give it to you" you smile. Most girls remember guys when they win them stuffed animals, but you- you won Sunghoon a stuffed animal and he'd cherish it with his whole heart.

"You didn't have to. I saw you looking at the teddy bear, so I thought you'd get it for yourself" he says as he gently takes the plushie from your hands holding it to his chest and squeezing it. "I felt bad, you've paid for everything we've done today. I just thought this was the least I could do" you say softly making him practically melt.

Everything about you made Sunghoon feel fuzzy. How your eyes crinkle when you laugh, how you had birthmarks and moles littering your pretty skin, how you looked breathtaking underneath the colorful lights all over the place, even after you got on a ride your hair tussled and you didn't even bother to fix it because regardless you still looked good.

"Hoon! Hey, everybody's going to the lake in about 10 or 20 minutes so hurry up and say hi to your parents we passed them on the way here" Jake says as he suddenly passes through the crowd and continues to shuffle pass only sparing you a mere glance. You didn't take it to heart and just decided that it was in your best interest to get Sunghoon close to his parents.

"Come on, I don't think you've met my dad or sister yet and there here tonight. So let's go say hi before we leave" he says patting your butt gently making your hand slap his away with a small yelp. The both of you bicker as Sunghoon tries to Navigate through the flocks of younger kids and parents while teenagers around your age were already packing up to head down to the lake a few blocks closer to the west side but still managed to have landed on the east side.

Eventually you and Sunghoon come to a halt in front of a bench in front of Sunghoon's mother and two unfamiliar faces. "We haven't seen you in a few hours where have you been?" Mrs. Park asks failing to look in your direction. "I was at Jay's with everyone else and then when I went home everybody was gone. So I got ready and I picked up Y/n" Sunghoon says lifting your interlinked hands.

"Y/n? You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend Hoon" his dad says with a grin almost too proud of his son as his eyes meets yours you couldn't help but smile back. "She's not my girlfriend...um we're really good friends. She gives me swimming lessons" He says almost shyly. Your eyes flicker towards his mother seeing an almost relieved expression wash over her face.

"Really? That great. Thank you for helping my son" Mr.Park says as he grins at you. "Y/n lives on the west side and she works for the community pool honey" Mrs.Park days and you don't have a clue why but you felt a bit ashamed. "She sounds very hard working" Mr. Park says not even relishing much on what side of town you reside on which made you smile.

"Thank you, i can only work harder with the right motivation" you say nodding firmly. You could feel his moms eyes burn holes through you. "Sorry, i completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm Seojun, Sunghoon's father and this is Sooyun his sister" he says wrapping an arm around his daughter who seemed to have no interest in the conversation.

"Its nice to finally meet you both Sunghoon has mentioned you both lots" you smile even though in Sunghoon's eyes he could tell they it was very empty. Sunghoon had never formed a bond with his dad and it was already too much to unpack as it is, but he knew you were too polite to direct any sense of anger toward his father for his own sake.

"Good things I hope" Mr.Park chuckles back as you open your mouth Sunghoon doesn't let whatever slither of attitude you were ready to slip as he interrupts "I just wanted to check in before we head over to the lake" Sunghoon says making you look at him almost flabbergasted at how honest he is with his parents. "The lake so soon? I thought you'd stay for a while longer to treat your sister to a few games" Mrs. Park says a sickeningly sweet voice with an undertone of bitterness.

"Sooyun will be fine she's old enough to walk around with her friends and play games" Sunghoon tries to reason, though if it weren't for the fact that you and him were on an unofficial date or the fact that his sister was an utter nightmare when their parents weren't around he would agree to be at least 30 minutes late to a kick back. But just not this time.

"I'll be fine alone. Plus all of my friends don't come to these things" Sooyun says with flat tone speaking for the first time since you've arrived. "It's not like they could afford to be here" Mrs.Park snaps under her breath making Sooyun roll her eyes at the implication that her friends were poor.

Biting back the snarky remarks running through your mind your eyes trail over Mrs.Park as you see a glimmering necklace around her neck that looked too expensive for you to even touch. "Your necklace is beautiful Mrs.Park how much did it cost?" You ask with a faux sweet tone that just feeds the older woman's ego. "It was a gift from my mother in law and it was about 3,000? Dollars" she says as her hands clutch the necklace as she eyes you up.

"Right....well we don't wanna keep Jake and everyone waiting on us so we'll get going" Sunghoon says as he rests his hand on your waist tugging you close. "Well we probably won't be home until pretty late since we're watching the fireworks so use the house key" Me.Park says as the both of you slowly step away. Sunghoon only nods his head as the both of you disappear through the crowd.

————————

Sunghoon wasn't really in the mood for the lake, the loud music, the drunk people and offers for drugs that made you think about shifting to an entirely different universe. The both of you sit in his car the parking lot was practically filled to the brim. And although Sunghoon would love for you to meet his friends maybe the lake wasn't the best place for that.

"How about we skip the party and go home?" Sunghoon asks as you readjusted yourself in your seat. "Home?" You ask looking at him with curious eyes. "My home, we could go late night swimming or we could just watch a movie in my room. Doesn't matter" he shrugs putting the keys into the ignition and hearing it roar to life.

The warm air blowing through the AC calms down the goosebumps on your skin. "I don't have a swimming suit though" you say the cluelessness in your tone makes Sunghoon smile at you "we don't need them" he says leaning over the middle console his large hand finding the juncture of your neck.

"It's up to you what we do, I don't mind anything" he mumbled as he rubs soothing circles into your skin with his thumb. "I'll let you know when I made up my mind" you whisper with a small nod. Sunghoon leans in for a soft kiss to your lips that you didn't hesitate to reciprocate. Feeling as the kiss gets more heated Sunghoon's hands trail into your hair making a mess of it that you didn't mind in the least.

Moaning into the kiss softly your hand wraps around his wrist as you pull away from the kiss slowly watch Sunghoon chase your lips. "We better leave now before I decide that we fuck in this parking lot" you huff with a smitten smile written all over your face. Sunghoon laughs pressing his forehead to yours "okay" he huffs nearly out of breath from the intense kiss he longed to share with you again.

Both of you sit in your seats tucked away in your seatbelts you clutched the plushie you had won in your hand as the radio plays. The drive back to Sunghoon's was significantly quiet yet soothing, without you even noticing how his hand settled on your thigh as he drives father into the east side where all the houses seem the same but you knew by heart exactly which house Sunghoon lived in, it was almost like a second home to you, walking in when no one was home but Sunghoon and immediately walking through his home to the back yard was second nature at this point.

As Sunghoon pulls into the driveway you feel a shift in the weather from slightly cold and windy to warm. Turning his car off the both of you get out. The rattling of Sunghoon's keys and your shoes making friction with his gravel driveway was all that could be heard. Unlocking the front door the houses is dark yet the only light peaking out was the large fish tank situated in the living room. The soft flow of water ringing loud enough for both of you to hear.

"I wanna swim" you say simply almost whispering as though you had to be quiet when you didn't. Nodding Sunghoon reaches for you hand in the dark, his fingers interlock with yours the dim light of the fish tank guiding the both of you through the living room and into the even darker kitchen where Sunghoon slides open the door you always struggle to.

The air nips at your skin sending a slight chill up your body but that doesn't keep you from removing your shoes and socks, Sunghoon was so enraptured with the way the reflection of the pool graces your pretty skin. Not daring to look away from you Sunghoon watches as you unzip the back of your dress letting it slip down your figure on to the concrete. The sound of rustling fabric was like utter back ground sounds as he continues to watch you.

This felt like something straight of Sunghoon's wet dreams as you unclip your bra letting fall down beside your dress. And what Sunghoon would do just to touch your body right now, trying extensively to not get hard from just watching you strip in front of him. Getting completely lost in his mind he misses the way you kick your panties onto of your discarded dress and slowly trail towards the stairs that descends straight into the warm water of the pool.

Your eyes finally meet Sunghoon's piercing gaze with the most innocent look on your face. "Are you not coming?" You ask as you let yourself soak into the water the deeper you step in. The water sloshing around your naked body brings Sunghoon back down to earth as he opens his mouth to say something yet not trusting his own voice he nods dreamily just barely blinking warning a soft smile from you.

Kicking off his shoes he eagerly strips off his shirt unbuckles the belt looped in his pants letting it clank to the ground without a second thought he strips of his pants. Coming to an internal conflict of if he could fully strip down to nothing like you or would that have made you uncomfortable.

From the corner of his eye Sunghoon sees you peaking over the edge of the pool leaning your arms against the concrete tucking your head against them. "What are you doing?" You ask looking up at him with lust hungry eyes. "I don't know if I should take these off or not- I don't want to make you uncomfortable" he says awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck.

"You wouldn't make me uncomfortable, we've already seen each other naked, remember?" You say as you let out a breathy giggle that almost makes Sunghoon visibly shutter. "Yeah- right" he says shyly as you shift away from the edge, drifting off into the middle of the pool kicking your feet as you watch Sunghoon strip out of his last piece of clothing before he flushed a deep shade of red as he fidgets his way towards the pool.

Stepping slowly into the warm water until he's waist deep Sunghoon watches as you were farther from him than he'd like you to be. But Sunghoon knew you weren't too far away a few inches from being in the deep end and yet your presence alone made him press his luck. Shifting closer with slow steps Sunghoon was now shoulder length deep into the pool the both of you an arms length away.

Not shying away in the slightest you decided to close the gap, your arms wrap around his neck as your naked chest presses against his. "Hi" you whisper with a small grin. Sunghoon can't help but to smirk at you "hi, did you have fun?" His pupils burning over your figure as he questions you. He pined for your answer to be positive, he'd hate for what felt like a first date to end up being terrible on your end when all night you had made him felt fuzzy, shy, and giggly all over.

"Yeah I did, you?" You ask, Sunghoon couldn't explain the feeling he had in his chest looking down at your bare wet figure pressed against his with those pretty doe eyes flickering to search his face for a hint of hesitation. But that's just when he knew, he felt it, it's exactly how it was described in books, like how your mom told him. It all just fell into place, he felt like the world came crashing in on him in seconds.

Nodding his head in a daze his lips parting as his eyes flutter down towards your lips, his long eyelashes tickling his skin every time he blinks hoping not to miss a single feature of your face. As many times as Sunghoon has seen you; at your job, at school, in your bed, during sex, nodding off into a sleepy daze, bored, pouting, upset, he could never get over just how beautiful you looked.

No relapse in judgement could take away just how much even the slightest flutter in your eyelashes could make his heart shutter a breath of relief and his stomach twist with what felt like butterflies going crazy in his stomach. It just couldn't be helped, because Sunghoon bared feelings deep in his chest that it almost hurt to know that you weren't official nor have you talked about labels. But he wanted you beyond just as a sexual partner. He wanted you as his girlfriend, his lover, his best friend, his rock. His.

"You okay? Your going blank on me hoon" you mumbled feeling his warm breath Sunghoon doesn't answer as he closes the gap between your faces, pressing his soft lips against yours, almost immediately reacting your fingers card through his hair tugging softly at the roots. Groaning against your lips Sunghoon slowly guides your back towards the tiled walls hearing the water trickle around you both at the sudden movements you make.

Lifting your leg against his hip makes you gasp. Finally catching your breath you meet his gaze "you sure we should be doing this out here?" You ask just above a whisper. "It only matters if you want to, I don't mind. I could do you in the kitchen, the living room, in the hallways, the bathroom. You pick" his voice rumbles making your quiver at the sudden surge of confidence in his voice.

You don't know where the sudden domineering Sunghoon came from but you liked it. "Here. I wanna do it here" you say breathily as you press your lips to his so eager to kiss him once more. The trickling sound of water and your lips messily smacking against each others filled your ears as you grow needy for friction regardless of being waist deep in water you could feel slick begin to build in between your folds.

The warmth becoming a sticky mess that began to make you rut your hips against him. The feeling of his cock making friction with your clit makes you moan softly into the kiss as your teeth and tongues thrash. The passion was overwhelming yet an understatement, the both of you so eager to feel each other you had no idea how much longer kissing and grinding into each other would get you off.

"Fuck, I wanna feel you so bad" Sunghoon groans as his tongue swipes against yours utterly in love with the way you taste sweet and minty. "Please" you whisper you couldn't even put into words what you wanted to do to him yet he found out exactly what he wanted to do with you.

His fingers slide between your thighs as the pads rub between your folds making you shiver at the pleasure. Biting your lip you couldn't decide wether to look up at him or where his hands had been. His middle finger rubbing against your entrance makes you let out a low groan as he slowly pushes inside of you.

Sunghoon moans at the feeling of you; warm and wet wrapped around his finger. Though you were wet he couldn't deny how easy it was to slip inside you. "So fucking messy" he grumbled "please make me cum" you whimpered completely disregarding how desperate you sound your hands settle on his shoulder as your nails dig into his soft skin.

Biting his bottom lip Sunghoon begins to thrust his digits into you with a pattern that has you grinding your hips into his hand. Adding another finger as the intensity of pleasure builds your moans become less breathy and more louder. The sound of the water rippling around Sunghoon's arm between your thighs and the motions building up pace makes you grip the hair on the base of his neck.

you breathily moaned his name and that made him piston his fingers in and out of you faster and curling them to hit your g-spot. the beginning of your orgasm beginning to build deep in your stomach. "your fingers feel so good, fuck," you moan. He smiles at you, beginning to curl his fingers instead. "fuck" you gasp. "keep doing that, oh god," you moan, gripping his arm as you try rolling your hips. He smirks at you, moving them slightly faster in a curling motion.

Barely keeping your eyes open at the point as they roll back the familiar feeling you get every time you have sex with Sunghoon begin building in the pit of your stomach "your gonna make me cum" you whine your jaw slacks as you feel fuzzy, your hips as uncomfortable at this point. "Do it, all over my fingers" he moans almost as breathless as you are driven by your moans as the water around you splashes rapidly the both of you too wrapped up in the pleasure to even care.

Your head dropping to his shoulder the coil in your stomach snapping as you release, a hoarse moan rips through your throat as you feel almost high on the pleasure his hands never stop their pace until your thighs shake and you hiss at the pain of overstimulation. Your hand grips his wrist begging for him to give you a break; complying Sunghoon slowly pulls out and let's you catch your breath watching you relax against him as your body slowly becomes relaxed.

Kissing his shoulder and neck Sunghoon smiles faintly pulling at the back of your neck for the both of you to become face to face your eyes clash with a look you had never seen before. All too unfamiliar needy but for sex it was a completely unexplored feeling and you aren't too sure if it's the way his hair sexily falls fast it's once slick back style or the way his pupils are blown out but either way you couldn't get enough of it.

His lips catch yours roughly, his tongue now licking a stripe on your bottom lip begging for access, parting your lips, his tongue immediately brushing against yours, mixing your saliva. As you suck on his tongue the remnants of mint on his tongue. His hand pulling at your thigh for you to now be carried like a fucking feather.

Your legs wrapped around his waist you feel his dick poking at your thigh. With utterly no space between the both of you it felt like your own personal wet dream with your lips latched onto each other as your tangled in each others limbs with no intention to break apart any time soon. Hiking you up high against his waist you moan at the feeling of him pressing his tip against your folds groaning at the warm and wet feeling.

Your back pressing against the harsh tile on your skin leaving a slippery texture on your back you would almost be sick at the feeling but pay no mind as your too caught up in wanting to return the favor to even care. Kissing the corner of his lips you trail to his neck sucking harshly on soft skin pushing in past your entrance the pressure of him filling you up begins as you both let out soft moans not caring how late or even where you're located for another fact.

His hands move to either side of your thighs as he looks down on you with complete adoration in his eyes. Pushing deeper inside you he lets out a moan "fuck you feel so good" he says as he catches his bottom lip in between his teeth.

"You're so big" you slur seeing how good he filled you up to the brim your arms wrap around his neck your foreheads pressed together as you watch him begin to slowly move. Sunghoon couldn't get enough of the sight as his cock disappeared inside your Pussy.

His cock buried deep inside you that you moan and dig crescent shaped dents into his skin. set a pace for bouncing in his lap. The feeling of your velvety walls tightening around making him choke back a moan.

"Oh- god" you whisper shakily. His hands holding onto your hips guiding a pace, the soft sound of skin slapping with your small moans could be heard throughout the room.

You looked so good with your chest bouncing and your hair all messy. You looked good with a small sheen of sweat on your skin and your makeup smeared, he was addicted to the sight. The droplets of water that splash your skin and race back down onto his looks almost addictive under the moonlight.

Sunghoon; eager to let his load off inside you, holds your thighs stopping you from bouncing any longer and begins to thrust his hips into you. The feeling of his tip pushing at your cervix.

His hips piston into you as your thighs and ass jiggle at the repetitive thrusts "right there!" You moan as you feel him pounding in a certain part of your walls. You tighten around him as your essence forms a white ring around the base of his dick.

"Just like that! I just want you to come inside me" you babble mindlessly as his stomach churns at the words spewing out. Letting one of your thighs drop back to the floor carrying half your weight Sunghoon piston's his hips harder into you at your dirty words.

"Yeah? Want me to fill you up with my cum?" he groans as the knot in your stomach begins to tighten and Sunghoon's death grip on the fat of your thigh almost sends you over the edge if it wasn't for how hard he was pounding you.

You nod eagerly as you begin to alternate between grinding and sitting still, your nails drag against his back leaving behind a red and irritated trail- yet he didn't mind it as it pushed him closer to his orgasm.

Leaning into him , your moans against each other's lips push you closer and closer. Your back is arching as you move faster wanting to cum so badly "keep going. Don't stop" he groaned, letting his head fall back. The splashing of the water and the sound of your wet skin smacking mf was making Sunghoon dizzy, he had no idea he could have this type of effect.

His hair messily pushed against his forehead as it was covered in sweat and water as his eyes rolled back "god I'm gonna cum" he said breathily "I want you to look at me when you cum" He says opening his eyes looking up at you.

You nod as you let your moans fall past your lips, the sensation building more and more until it became to overwhelming you gasp "I'm gonna cum" you whine as your hips pound more hastily into him, his moans mixed with yours as he drowned in the feeling of your walls spasming around him pushing him completely over the edge.

"Fuck" he groaned as warm spurts of cum filled you, grinding down and letting the cum spill past your walls and down the base of his cock you hum as your content with your orgasm. Humming at the warm feeling you now realize you've basically contaminated the entire pool with sweat and cum and slick making you visibly shutter.

"You okay?" Sunghoon asks groggily making you shake your head "we got the pool dirty" you mumble against his skin feeling bad now for having sex in his families pool. "It's okay, I'll clean it in the morning and nobody will know alright?" He says hoping to clear your guilty conscience. "Okay. Can we...get out now this actually starts to feel gross now" you groan as the smell of sex and chlorine comes in waves. Only nodding his head you and Sunghoon untangle from each other deciding to get out of the pool and collect your clothing.

Making it back in the house and into the bathroom to share a bath almost so intimate washing each others bodies with lingering touches and small kisses. The intimate atmosphere drags on until the both of you lay in bed the darkness engulfing Sunghoon's bedroom as you both slipped under the sheets giggling at the conversation you two couldn't directly keep a solid topic for. Mumbling into each others skin you both fall asleep not even waiting for anyone to come home.

Later in the night Sunghoon's shuffling wakes you up out of your sleep as his elbow digs into your rib cage awkwardly making you cringe. Pulling away you look at the big red numbers on the digital clock burning your eyes as you see it was now well past midnight making you panic.

Shaking Sunghoon's arm "hoon... get up I have work in the morning" you mumbled in a panicked voice. He was like dead weight his hands tightening against the fabric of his shirt on your body. "Hoon get up I have to go home" you wriggle becoming more frustrated with the sleeping boy. Managing to escape from his heavy grasp slipping back into the bathroom just down the hall of his bed room deciding to be quiet in case someone decided to wake up.

Making it back into his room you see the lamp in his bedroom on as he waits for you on the edge of his bed fighting sleep. "What are you doing?" He asks grumbling almost pouty that you were gone for so long "I went to the bathroom, but hoon I have to go home I have work early" you whisper making Sunghoon shake his head. "Why can't I just drop you off in the morning? It's so late" he says grumpily.

"You're forgetting the part where my parents think I'm home right now" you say as of it's the most obvious fact in the world. Sunghoon only groans as he drags himself out of the sheets to find his sweat pants that had been tossed to the floor and his t-Shirt that had been hanging over his one shoulder.

You could only smile softly at how messy Sunghoon slept yet he some how still manages to wake up looking as perfect as he does. He ensures that you make it home and go through the backyard door that's always unlocked before going home and falling back into a comforting silence until sunlight seeps through the curtains.

——————

The hard knocking on Sunghoon's bedroom door wakes him slightly until the hoarse voice of his mother has his brows pinching together. "Sunghoon! Have you seen my necklace? I've been looking for it all morning" Mrs.Parks Voice is worried and it feels like Sunghoon's head had been splashed in cold water. "No. Have you checked between the slot of your dresser and the metal the holds your jewelry?" He asks his voice still deep and scratchy.

"Of course it would've been the first place I looked, I even checked behind the dressed. I remember putting it back last night Sunghoon I'm not crazy" Mrs.Park sounds stressed and it makes Sunghoon altogether get out of bed to finally face the look on his mothers face.

He rubs at the corner of his eyes. "Mom, I'm gonna help you look in the places you have and haven't" before closing the door and changing into more suitable clothes.

The longer it take Sunghoon to find the necklace the more fussy he becomes trying to find any alternatives as to why and how his mom could misplace such a pretty necklace that was so expensive and dead to her. "Hoon, did you have anyone over last night?" Mrs Park asks as she eyes the boy who leans face down against the carpeted walk in closet trying to see if it called under Meath her dresser of jewelry.

"Y/n for a couple of hours why?" He asks who h makes Mrs.Park scoff. Of course it was you, it's always you. Mrs.Park knows about girls like you from the west side. Asking for money, smoking and drinking, sinking your claws into poor boys like Sunghoon to ruin themselves beyond repair.

"Before she left did you leave her alone?"

Sunghoon's throat ran dry, he felt like he could throw up any second. "What time did you come home?" Sunghoon asks coldly remembering waking up around 2AM just to get you home safely "midnight" she says as she watched Sunghoon sit up on his knees with a blank expression. "We fell asleep and I woke up and she was gone for a few minutes. After she came back I took her home" Sunghoon says his memory still foggy from the events after sex.

Mrs.Park bitterly laughs "fucking thief" her tongue pokes her cheek as she presumes right once again that you were no good along. "Call her and get my necklace back. I don't need her selling it to some shop on the west side for some quick change" She snarks and Sunghoon felt his blood boil.

His skin was prickling with anger his neck and and ears were red he couldn't help the immediate reaction he felt so sick. His heart wrenched. He couldn't explain it but it felt like he was going to cry. Sunghoon wobbledonot his feet and looks at his mom hoping the tight feeling in his throat and the stinging in his eyes wouldn't fester any further around his mom he only complies with the request with a nod before walking to his bedroom.

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And so he waited, he waited until your shift was over. He cleaned his room, the pool, the bathroom. He tried to rid himself of the thought of you as the only question running through his mind was 'how could you?' How could you steal from his mom? How could you pretend like you didn't in front of his face? How could you use him like that?

It was wearing him down like a ton of bricks but he anticipated your arrival when his house was empty and you had just got off your shift. Hitching a ride from Mark who had spent the day at the pool with you as it was a slow day for you at the pool. When you get out of the car you have a smile on your face watching as the blue worn out BMW pulls off with the base vibrating the entire exterior.

Surprised to see Sunghoon on the front porch waiting for you the look on his face makes yours shift nervously. Regardless you step onto the front porch leaning in you attempt to press a kiss to his lips only landing on his cheek as he moves away his expression still stone cold. "Hey...what's the matter?" You whisper your mood dampening at the bitter look on his face.

"You stole from me" he says plainly almost giving you whiplash. "Excuse me?" You ask backing away from standing on the gravel pathway that leads to his house from the front gate and sidewalk. "My moms necklace. Last night you complimented it, and came back here with me. You slept with me and did all of these things with me knowing that at the end of the night you were just going to fucking steal from me" he says harshly.

You feel your face heat up with confusion written all over your expression "What the fuck are you talking about? What necklace? Sunghoon I didn't steal shit from you I already told you I don't steal" you feel your voice becoming harsher at the accusations he tossed at you. "So you disappear while I'm sleep and then all of sudden you come back demanding to go home. I'm not fucking stupid it all just points to you Y/n" he says finally standing to his feet.

"Are you fucking joking?! Please tell me you are Sunghoon and that necklace is in your moms bedroom because if it's not and your being serious right now then we're done" you say feeling emotions begin to surface as you point shakily at his front door. Sunghoon felt like he was back at the community pool where you first met like he wanted to cry, annoyed, scared his eyes began to sting once more.

"I'm not. You even complimented her on it. The least you could now that your caught is give it back unless your living up to your west side reputation. Surrounded by thief's so you live like one? I knew you didn't have a lot of money but- fuck if you were that desperate you could've said something" he snaps and just like that he was back in the deep end.

Clawing his way back to the surface to feel the warm sun on skin again to breath the fresh air. Right now he was almost at rock bottom and the look on your face read with disbelief and anger. "I didn't steal your moms necklace. I don't need it nor do I want it. Every dollar I've ever made I worked for and you couldn't say the same but since we're bringing up lying let's not forget when you said all rich people aren't douche bags but I see you just say anything to feel like less of a spoiled fucking brat" you spat the feeling of a sob ready to wrack through your chest.

You refused to let him see you cry, not when he had thrown how much money you earn in your face. "You don't get to act like the victim! You stole from my house!" Sunghoon says his voice cracks with pure anger and it sends you over the edge. "You know what?we're done. But once you find that necklace I hope it rusts and turns your moms skin green because I never fucking wanted it in the first place. Trust me Sunghoon you won't have to worry about anything else going missing in your big fancy fucking house ever again because I will never step near it again" your voice is hoarse as you step backwards and turn on your heel now regretting letting Mark leave without you.

"There was no we" he spats realizing he was not wining the argument "sleeping with you was a fucking mistake but I guess west side girls will do anything for money. My mom never lied"he scoffs. He doesn't mean it, not a single word yet he does it to get under you skin when knows later that's it's truly over he sounds so pretentious and privileged.

Then remember the heavy bag on your shoulder filled with his clothes you cleaned. Stopping in your tracks you feel Sunghoon's eyes burn through your figure. Pulling it off your shoulder you snatch open the zipper tugging out the pile of fabric in the bag and toss them at the tall boy. "Don't worry about the clothes you gave me because at least I'm returning the things I did take" You mutter hearing the fabric fall to the concrete.

You waste no time turning back around not sparing a second glance at him before storming out of his yard no longer trying to fight the silent tears or anger that slip down your face as you walk the way that you knew would usually get you out of the east side and the nearest route back home.

Everything around you felt like a stuffy blur as tears streak your face, rubbing your eyes raw with the back of your hands each time you felt tears streak at the corner of your eyes until it became sore. The woke home was filled with soft cries, you felt like you had just broken up with Sunghoon when the two of you weren't even dating. Your chest hurt and you just felt the need to shatter something into the same amount of prices your heart had shattered.

The second you came home to an empty house you stomp up the steps to your bedroom slamming the door shut behind you letting it echo. You could feel the heat of your body go beyond any level you've felt before as your tears become harder to control. Your eyes landing on the large book case of music CD's and albums without a second thought you let a scream ripple through your throat as you rip each and every last one of the cases from the shelf dropping the floor you can hear some of them cracking and shattering at the unbraced impact with the hard floor.

You were angry and annoyed but most of all you were heart broken. You wanted to punch Sunghoon in his face for not believing you, you wanted to tell at him for making you feel this way and yet all you can do is curl into a ball on your floor not even making it to your bed. Surrounded by broken plastic you can't even feeling the pain in your fingers at the cuts you've gotten from breaking apart plastic so hardly and tossing them at your walls.

You breathe heavily as tears drip down the side of your face into a depressing puddle. Huffing away until your sleep the floor ultimately was not too uncomfortable to sleep in your own mess as the warm sticky blood on your fingers dry into scabs and your tears dry away. You couldn't bare to stay awake the entire day and relive your anger and heart break.

——————

"Let me get this straight... you accused her of stealing your moms necklace and the next day your sister came home with it" Jay says with a deep look of concentration on his face Sunghoon was distraught he had made what seems like the worlds dumbest fucking mistake in his eyes "yes" he says tiredly rubbing his eyes of the tears he had been letting slip past his eyelashes all day.

He knew if anybody would have good advice it would be Jay, he was his rock and anytime Sunghoon needed help without a doubt he'd turn to Jay for the right direction he should go in. "What made you doubt her?" He asks and the question almost stuns Sunghoon.

"I don't know... for a while I just had a feeling it was too good to be true and I didn't want to think she did but then I couldn't help but think she did. My mom just- she had a solid argument" he says but Jay wasn't content with his answer.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you right now. I think you were just searching for a reason to end it, you like her and you've never gone beyond hook ups and the first time you did you were happy but you don't know if the feelings are returned so you're scared" Jay says his voice is stern and it doesn't come as a complete shock. "I never said I had feelings for her Jay" Sunghoon says under his breath making Jay scoff.

"You don't have to say it, it's fucking obvious and in everyone's face. The last few times we've hung out you couldn't shut up about her; you were like a puppy who lost it's owner and would do anything to get back to them once again it's fucking sick." Jay says not toning down the attitude. "And from the sounds of it your mom just doesn't like her. She's a control freak she doesn't want anyone or anything like a girl who doesn't live up to her standards to be who your slumming it with her son and ruining the image she took so long to build of your family" he points out.

"She saw an opportunity to tear her from your grip and she did. You were just dumb enough to let your mom of all people cloud your judgement on someone you've been spending 2 months with" Jay pats Sunghoon's leg as they both sit on the edge of the pool at country club Sunghoon couldn't bare to go to the community pool when he knew you'd be there.

"I just don't want to let her down. All these years I've been following whatever my mom and dad want. My moms never been wrong with her choices so I just thought how could she be wrong about this one?" He questions himself. Sunghoon thinks back to when the both of you talked at the pool and you had called him a mama's boy, and now he heard it in his own thoughts and feelings.

"Sooner or later Sunghoon you're going to have to stop depending on your parents to make choices for you. Right now, is one of those times. Your mom doesn't get to pick and choose who you do and don't date especially when I'd damn near say you're in love with y/n" Jay says and it makes Sunghoon's stomach flutter. Groaning he lets his hands rake through his hair as he thinks deeply.

"Talk to her, apologize and make sure she knows how sorry you are" Jay says patting Hoon's shoulder giving him minimum comfort. Sunghoon knew this was tough love and that Jay couldn't do anything for Sunghoon even if he really wished he could. The silence was overbearing. "I meant right now Sunghoon. Get up and go apologize the fucking sun is gonna go down soon and who knows if she'll be at work by the time you realize it" Jay snaps making Sunghoon let out a mantra of complaints.

—————

The pool was empty yet the cleaning supplies had still been set out. Sunghoon could see a trail of wet foot prints lead into the staff building making his eyes narrow. The sound of rumbling and hushed talking makes Sunghoon walk slowly yet quietly towards the blue painted building.

The door was shut and from what Sunghoon could make out past the old rusted door what sounded to be grunts and muffled moans, the sticky sound of skin slapping makes Sunghoon sick to his stomach. You cleaned up after hours every week, was this what you were doing the entire time lessons took place at his house?

Taking guys just like him and fucking them in the staff building. Just the thought makes his skin crawl, Sunghoon didn't even know if he could even be angry with you after he broke off whatever the two of you were. But he thought you felt the same, the longing touches, the kisses, the flirting, meeting each others parents. You took his virginity and left with his heart, now your were back to fucking other people after 2 days?

Sunghoon feels it again he's drowning in his feelings once more, his tears fester and build until they blur his line of sight he couldn't even put into words how devastated he was. It hurt when the two of you were arguing face to face, but moving past the anger and finally knowing the truth Sunghoon was ready to throw his pride away completely and beg for forgiveness.

But it seemed like you had already moved on with life and would be just fine. Sunghoon's feet drag across the concrete not paying attention to anything, everything seemed so blurred and his body felt heavy. Sunghoon barely manages to drag himself back to the parking lot and open his door before tossing himself into the seat letting his tears finally release down onto his warm cheeks.

He felt more angry than anything, his hand slams against the middle console, then another hit to the steering wheel before his hits have less aim and more power. "Fuck!" He shouts the empty parking lot with no one to witness his meltdown. Sunghoon let's his head fall into his lap as curls up letting his tears deep through the Jean material of his pants.

Silently letting himself cry before pulling himself together. Wiping his face he looks in the rear view hoping his eyes weren't to red or puffy nor his nose. He knew it wouldn't just take Jay for him figure out what to do he had to go Sunoo the boy with a soft smile and a kind heart was all he needed in his moment of disparity.

When he's met face to face with the boys soft features and worried eyes he can't help but choke out a sob past the fake smile he tried to front for the younger boy. Barreling him into a tight hug Sunoo doesn't ask him anything he just guides him to his room and waits for him to talk. When Sunghoon finally calms himself into a tired and stuffy mood he opens up to Sunoo from the very beginning up until he had left the pool.

And when Sunghoon decides it best to go Sunoo dials Jay's number and decides to let him take the next step in action because Sunoo is the last to be confrontational especially about his friends. But when he spills his guts to Jay the displeased tone coming from the other line makes Sunoo realize that this entire conversation would end with a pissed of Jay, a heart broken Sunghoon, and a clueless y/n.

—————

The next morning when 12PM hits Jay steps out his car with a deadpanned expression and a mission. He was beyond seething with you, moving on from Sunghoon so easily after making him fall hard. Jay wasn't going for it in the least, something had to give. And when he approaches the lifeguard tower to see you sitting atop looking like death but you in the ass he doesn't know how to react.

When he sees your finally looking at him you roll your eyes hoping that since he approached he'd speak first but you guessed wrong. "Can I help you?" You ask, your voice sounded utterly scratchy. "Did he call you? Show up to your house or anything?" Jay asks flatly. "What are you talking about?" You ask confused "Sunghoon, because he showed up here after your shift and he didn't say anything to me after" Jay explains making you shake your head.

"I wasn't here yesterday I had someone else fill my shift while i was out sick. He didn't come to my house and he didn't call me. But I don't really think he needs a reason anymore since he thinks I'm west side trash who steals shit" he spat the familiar scenario leaving a bitter taste in your mouth. "So he never apologized like I told him to?" Jay asks becoming almost fed up with Sunghoon himself.

"Apologize for? Calling me a thief? Or bringing up how much money I have?" You ask still biting back a few tantalizing and anger driven questions yourself. You didn't entirely blame Sunghoon for being angry about the necklace missing, but you'd never even come close to knowing why exactly he had thought you had stolen it. "All of it. Listen yesterday Sunghoon told me why he thought it was you and I don't know if it's my business to tell. But I just really think you should call him and let him know your willing to hear his side of the story and his apology" Jay explains calmly which makes your eyebrow twitch.

"When did I say I was willing to listen? I know you want what's best for your friend and you may only know me through him but I already told Sunghoon it was done, he drew that line himself and I'm not stepping over it for the sake of his guilty conscience" you say flatly making Jay sigh. "He's really fucking stupid and he realized he was wrong, but if you'd just listen to him I promise you're not going to regret it" he says his voice is eager.

You poke your tongue in your cheek, the past few days you've convinced yourself to wipe your memory of Sunghoon changing your bed sheets, putting all your tapes, CD's and records in a large box taped under Meath your bed inside a box along with any other thing you've conveniently kept as a memory latching on to the name park Sunghoon like a leach to your brain cells.

But now that you could see how desperate Jay was to get the two of you to talk; Park Jeongsong the calm and mature friend who had a plan, solution, and action for everything was eager for you talk to his friend. "It better be good, because if he gives me some half-ass apology you owe me" you sigh.

"Okay- that's fair. When can you see him?" Jay says all too happy for his best friends sake. "Tell him to meet me here after my shift, he knows where I'll be at" you say your tone showing no sign of emotions, you'd feel anxiety creep on you by the time you're face to face with the brunette.

————-

You were more than nervous, your hands were shaky and your breathing is slightly heavier. All emotions that had hit you the way that they did came suddenly with no warning. Your entire shift you had dreaded each time you checked a clock and counted down the minutes, hours and seconds in your head. As time blurred past you were finally alone, sitting near the edge of the pool your feet dipped into the slightly cold water.

The smell of chlorine and the orange hues kissing your skin. It all felt like the first day of lessons with Sunghoon and it made you sad. The sudden rattling of the worn out gate screeching open against the concrete you didn't have to look to know. Your eyes trained on water as it pumps out of the filter the soft sound of it trickling brought faux comfort.

The soft pattern of she's making friction with wet concrete comes closer and closer making your heart speed up. The smell of cherry popsicles and weed becomes more apparent as Sunghoon sits besides you crossing his legs and tucking them away from the water.

Silence has never been more overbearing and loud enough to fill the air with tension. Your mouth opens to speak but your voice dies in your throat not knowing how to even remotely start the conversation. You felt like a new born watching their parents make you speak your first words, anything; a sound, a word or letter...something. But apparently Sunghoon beat you to it.

"I'm sorry for not believing you, and talking about the way you live. My parents made choices for me and they rubbed off me in ways I didn't even realize. The day after we got into that fight- my sister came home with necklace in her hand. She had taken it while my mom was drunk so she could show off to her friends. And I felt like shit the minute I saw her with it" he says shakily Sunghoon couldn't trust his voice but if he wanted to right his wrongs he'd have to put a small pitch of bass in it.

"Did you think I stole or did somebody else tell you that?" You ask feeling your face heat up with an emotion you couldn't name. "My mom, I don't know why I never saw it but I could just tell the moment your name came out of my mouth she finally had a real reason to hate you. Did you know my mom disliked you?" Sunghoon asks with narrow eyes finally letting them look at you for the first time in what feels like forever.

"I knew she didn't like me. All the sneaky shit and comments she makes when you're not around, I just brushed it off" you say shrugging not being able to meet the boys eyes that are now softened. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asks under his breath "Because I know you Sunghoon. Well enough to say that you're a mama's boy, you would do anything to please her, even if that means breaking somebody's heart because she is the one who's always behind you watching you make those mistakes and waiting to point them out, ready for her family to look like perfection and you want to be that" you say finally categorizing your current state.

"I broke you heart? I thought you were over me, when I came to the pool yesterday I heard you closing up shift in the staff building having sex" Sunghoon says his hands tightening into fists hating the feeling that was in his chest just thinking about you with someone else. "I wasn't here yesterday, I felt like shit so I just stayed home the entire day" you whispered looking down at your nails picking at the nail polish as a way to keep yourself from looking at him with that frown on your face.

"I panicked" Sunghoon whispers feeling his eyes sting with tears. "I'm so used to be setting up on dates, and my parents trying to get me a nice rich girl. I've never felt this ever. Not with any girl I've just went down on, or hung out with at the pool, not even those girls at the country clubs who stare. It all just felt so real like how your mom described it. And every time you came around the feeling just got so much bigger than me- I just didn't know what to do. So when you told it was done I felt lonely" he said letting his tears flow freely.

You remembered the conversation you had with Sunghoon in his car and it made your heart ache. "I never really realized how much I depended on you to fill my schedule that in just these 2 days alone I've done nothing but cry and pout to my friends about you" he sniffled making your throat feel like it was growing a lump and your cheeks heated up.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, and I should've believed you when you told me. It just felt too..." he trailed off making you huff a laugh as your own tears streak down your cheeks and stain your shorts. "Too good to be true. That's what I told my friends the day before the fest, some rich guy catching feelings for west side trash. It was funny in the moment but after a while I started to believe it you know? But the way I felt about you just wouldn't let me give you up" you shake your head, rubbing the creases building up between your eyebrows.

"You're not- You're not trash. Your the girl who saved my life, who gave me swimming lessons and risked her job for me, your the girl who took my virginity, your the girl that I want to be with and I'm done letting other people pick who I'm with because I know I want to be with you" he says his breath getting caught in his throat his statement coming out like word vomit.

"I don't forgive you" you shake your head. "Not yet, if you really mean all that then you'll stick it out and prove that your sorry. Sunghoon you brought my living situation into this and that's when you decided to fuck up. Who am I to say the next argument we get in you won't bring it up again or say worse?" You finally look up at him with genuine distress. "I want to invest in my feelings for you but I just need you to prove that you're serious" you can see the eagerness in his eyes.

Nodding his head Sunghoon wipes the palm of his hand on his shorts before softly brushing away the small tears on his cheek "I swear I'll prove it" he mumbled making you smile softly feeling content with his response. Letting his hand drop back into his lap Sunghoon moves closer to your side to the point your thighs are touching, the both of you watching how the orange hues of the sun are slowly disappearing behind the peak of trees, laying your head against his shoulder and feeling the weight of his head on top of yours "I love you" Sunghoon puffs out.

He knew he loved you, the girl who taught him so much during just one summer. Took his virginity, taught him to swim, showed him heart break, Sunghoon loved you and he'd wait until you were ready and he proved he would be with you he was all in. He just knew this time falling into the deep end he had someone to save him again and again.

[justabigassnerd]

Summer of Love pt. 2

Pairing - Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x reader

Word count - 3,275

Warnings - mentions of medication, injuries

Summary - while in the final stages of recovery after a mission gone wrong, Bradley signs himself up to work at a summer camp just for something to do since Maverick has barred him from Navy work for the time being. meanwhile, you're in between jobs and figure working at a summer camp is some good experience. you meet Bradley and experience a romance you could've never expected (along with some very nosy kids)

Summer of Love masterlist

A/N - ya girl is back from the dead people! (did anyone cheer?) anyways I'm so sorry for the long break and I'm sorry this isn't the most exciting fic to return with like I'm fully aware it's mostly filler but I hope it can tide y'all over. if you guys have any ideas of what you'd like to see in the series you're more than welcome to let me know. as per y'all, please send in requests, feedback, and enjoy!!!

With counsellor orientation now in full swing, you were spending a lot of your time getting used to the schedule of working at a summer camp. Early starts were no problem to you and neither was making lesson plans but getting used to the camp and the people you worked with was something you had to settle into. Thankfully, working alongside Bradley meant you already knew one person you’d be around a lot and he helped you feel a lot more confident when you met the other counsellors who’d be teaching field sports. You and Bradley had also been briefed on hikes that you’d be leading and you were able to map out appropriate trails for the hikes.

After a long day of going through lesson plans, running potential drills you could do during activities, and taking your swim test in case you wanted to go in the lake at any point, you were just about ready to collapse. You entered the staff lounge and flopped face down on the sofa with a dramatic groan, hearing the laughs of your friends you entered the room with after dinner.

“Tired?” Ella jokes, easing herself down on the other sofa as you turn your head to look at her.

“Just a little.” You reply with a laugh, flipping yourself onto your side as you greet other staff members who enter, moving to sit upright so people can sit on the sofa with you.

Bradley is among the last people to enter the room and by that point, both sofas are almost packed but upon spotting him, Freddy moves over on the sofa, leaving just enough space for Bradley to squeeze in between you and him.

“Hey, Bradley. There’s a space right here.” He points out, hand patting the free space with a grin as you fight the urge to roll your eyes. You knew Ella had already caught on to your schoolyard crush on Bradley, and you were sure she’d told Bradley’s friends too and that’s why they spent so much time trying to force you two to sit near each other when they could. You knew the chances of Bradley feeling the same towards you were slim so you were more than content to sit within the comforts of your friendship knowing after camp ends you’d go your separate ways and never talk to each other again. You just wanted to enjoy the time you had getting to be his friend without your friends forcing you close and potentially making Bradley uncomfortable.

“Is this okay?” Bradley’s voice shakes you from your thoughts as he eases into the gap between you and Freddy. You nod with a small smile, fighting back the flame you felt building behind your cheeks as Bradley’s leg brushed up against yours. The group of you continued to chat until the sun started to set and one by one people began to retire to their cabins for the night and you and Bradley were among the last to leave the staff lodge and took a moment between the two of you as you stepped out onto the grass and took in the night sky.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of the sky at night.” You mumble, more so to yourself than to Bradley but seeing him look at you out of the corner of your eye gave away the fact that he had heard you.

“I wish I could show you how beautiful a night at the beach is where I live.” Bradley murmurs in response, his soft voice unknowingly fanning the flames that lit beneath your cheeks. You were sure he was just saying that to make conversation.

“I’ll just have to trust you on that one.” You say with a slight chuckle, glancing over at Bradley and locking eyes with him, bringing a small smile to your face as you do.

“That you will. Maybe I’ll send you a picture or something once I’m back home.” Bradley says, his smile mirroring yours. A silence falls over the two of you and you glance over your shoulder, breaking the eye contact for but a brief second to consider your next move.

“I should probably head back to my cabin to get some sleep.” You say, silently hating how awkward you sounded.

“I should probably do the same. We can’t exhaust ourselves before the kids have even arrived.” Bradley then says, watching as you bid him goodnight quietly before turning around and heading in the direction of your cabin.

“y/n, wait!” You stop in your tracks at Bradley’s voice. Loud enough to get you to stop but not loud enough to disturb anyone nearby. You turned around and waited as Bradley approached you.

“I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to run a couple of soccer drills with me tomorrow. I have some ideas for some warmups but I’m going to need a partner to make sure they work before the kids arrive.” Bradley says, hoping and praying you agreed to help him out. He could’ve asked anyone on the field sports team for help but he wanted you to help him.

“Okay, but you know I’m not the best at soccer so if I mess up, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” You say, a smile breaking out across yours and Bradley’s faces as he lets out the smallest of relieved sighs at your agreement.

“You’ll be great, I just know it. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Bradley says, smiling as you nod and wish him a good night before you both retire to your cabins for the night. When you reach your cabin you enter quietly, aware of the people sleeping and quietly get ready for bed before crawling under the covers and falling asleep.

Meanwhile, Bradley entered his cabin and immediately got jumped by his cabin mates who were demanding to know what he said to you.

“You know, I’m going to be so grateful tomorrow when I no longer have to share a cabin with you guys. I swear you give the Daggers a run for their money.” Bradley jokes as he sits down on his bed, rubbing at his eyes.

“We’re just invested now come on! Did you ask her out?” Nathan asks, placing his book down on the bedside table by his bed and giving Bradley his full attention.

“What? No! We’ve only known each other a week. Besides, once we leave camp we’ll probably never speak again. That’s just what happens.” Bradley says with a shrug, leaning back and lying across his bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

“Dude, you can just get her number or something.” Cameron shrugs, confident he has solved all the problems singlehandedly. Bradley couldn’t help but let out a gentle sigh at his words.

“I thought some friends I made in the naval academy were going to be people I kept in contact with but the moment we got our deployments that was it. None of us spoke again.” Bradley says, thinking back to the recruits Bradley had befriended during training and then again at flight school and Top Gun. Outside of the Daggers, Bradley had made no solid connections with any other Navy personnel. He of course appreciated the efforts of his cabin mates, but he was sure their efforts were in vain.

“That doesn’t mean y/n would do that to you. I can tell she likes you.” John then says, a quiet falling over the group as all focus ends up on Bradley.

“Okay, well if you didn’t ask her out. What did you ask her then?” Nathan asks when Bradley doesn’t respond to John’s words.

“I just asked if she wanted to run some soccer drills with me tomorrow to potentially add to lesson plans.” Bradley replies, propping himself up on his elbows and glancing around at the group as they all exchange looks.

“And she said yes?” Cameron prompts, the three breaking out into smiles when Bradley nods. They all exchanged a look when Bradley returned his attention to the cabin ceiling. They knew they couldn’t force you or Bradley to admit anything but they could at least nudge you both in the right direction.

“We should probably get some sleep, huh?” John says after a couple of minutes of silence, followed by the agreement of everyone else who quickly get themselves ready for bed and switch off their cabin light to get some sleep.

The next morning, you awoke to your alarm and slowly dragged yourself out of bed to get yourself changed and ready for the day. Once you were dressed, you made your way to the dining hall to grab breakfast, located your cabin mates sat at a table and joined them once you had your food. As you ate, Kerry stood at the front of the room and addressed everyone, letting you know that the first port of call for the day was to find out your cabins for the summer and to move your stuff into your new cabin before creating a poster to hang up on the outside of the cabin to make the kids feel a bit more welcomed and to give their cabin a sense of community straight out of the gate before you’d spend the rest of the afternoon after lunch finishing up your last few chances to prepare lessons for when the kids arrive. After you all finished breakfast, you were dismissed and each grabbed an envelope with your name on it to find out which cabin you’d be in for the duration of camp and once you got out of the dining hall you opened your envelope and flipped the postcard over, studying the writing on it.

“Hey, y/n, what cabin did you get?” Ella asks, sidling up alongside you with her own postcard in hand.

“Cabin eleven. What about you?” You reply, tearing your eyes away from your postcard to look at Ella.

“I’m in cabin five with Alex as my co-counsellor. I’m so excited!” Ella says happily, embracing you excitedly before rushing off to find her co-counsellor. You watched her leave before focusing your attention back on your own postcard. You knew cabin eleven would be a cabin of four girls so you wouldn’t have a co-counsellor but you were okay with that. You were just excited for camp to start properly. When you notice some of the other female counsellors beginning to make their way back to their cabins to move their belongings to their new cabins you begin to follow the crowd, chatting with some of them as you go.

Meanwhile, Bradley had just finished telling his friends about what cabin he was going to be in and turned around in search of you. His smile faltered when he couldn’t find you and instead saw the back of you as you disappeared down the girl's cabin line. He wanted to go and talk to you about your new cabin placement but he also knew he needed to worry about moving all his stuff to the new cabin. He spared you one last glance before turning around and heading in the direction of the boy's line of cabins.

After moving all of your belongings from cabin six to cabin eleven, making your bed and tidying your bags away after putting some of your belongings on the bedside table such as your alarm clock, hairbrush, a book to read, and your notebook filled with lesson plans. After sorting yourself out, you headed over to the arts and crafts room to join everyone in making posters and chore wheels for the cabins. There weren’t many people present when you first arrived but as you began to work on your poster more people slowly trickled in. Kerry had gone around and given everyone a list of names of the kids in your cabins so you could learn their names before they arrived and put them on the chore wheel and poster. You got to work, creating a poster and chore wheel for your cabin. As you finished the poster and moved on to the chore wheel, carefully writing out each chore, a sheet of paper appeared in your peripheral vision and you glanced over to see Bradley easing himself down next to you, and you didn’t miss the way he winced a little as he sat down.

“Are you okay?” You ask quietly, not wanting to draw attention to Bradley potentially being in any pain if he didn’t want you to.

“I’m good, must’ve pulled something in my back moving all my gear. I had a feeling I packed too much.” Bradley says with a chuckle, trying to ease your mind so you didn’t worry about him and trying his best to ignore the way the lie tugged at his heart.

“Maybe take some painkillers later if it’s still sore.” You say sympathetically, briefly averting your gaze back to the task at hand as you write a name on the wheel before returning your attention to Bradley who nods minutely.

“I’ll see how I feel later.” Bradley says with a slight shrug, not wanting to dwell on the subject any longer than he needs to. You nod silently and the two of you remain in the comfortable silence between you as you work on your posters and chore wheels.

“You know… I’m not sure how much a cabin of four thirteen-year-old boys will appreciate a poster on the outside of the cabin, let alone a chore wheel.” Bradley mutters, glancing at you out of the corner of his eye as you let out a small giggle at his words.

“I don’t think my cabin of twelve-year-old girls will appreciate it much either but you gotta do what you gotta do. Besides you might win cool points with your naval aviator career. I’m sure they’d love hearing some of your stories.” You say, shrugging lightly as you put your pen down, satisfied with both your poster and your chore wheel. You stay put for a few more minutes, continuing to chat with Bradley until his friends come over and you excuse yourself so you can go and put the poster and chore wheel where they needed to be.

“I’ll see you at lunch.” You say as you grab your things and address the group, but mostly aiming your words at Bradley as you smile softly.

“See you at lunch.” Bradley echoes, his smile matching yours as you then turn to head to your cabin to put the items in their respective places before heading to the dining room where they are just beginning to serve lunch. You grab yourself a plate and dish up the food in front of you before grabbing a seat at one of the nearby tables, and slowly but surely your friends arrive and sit with you. Ella arrived first with Alex, having had the ability to split the task between two people, and then Bradley and Freddy came up next and spotted the three of you, quickly grabbing their food and joining you at the table with smiles.

“All done with setting up your cabins?” Alex asks after finishing a mouthful of food.

“Just about. It’s starting to feel like a real summer camp now.” Freddy says with a laugh.

“Was the fact that we’re in the middle of the woods with a lake nearby not enough of a hint?” Bradley jokes, making everyone laugh. When you all finish lunch, you clean up and then head outside to enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

“Hey, y/n, let’s grab a soccer ball so I can run that drill with you.” Bradley says and you nod, following him to the equipment cupboard and waiting for him to grab a ball before heading to the field to practice it. Bradley talks you through what he wants to try, making sure his instructions are clear and taking any advice you have to offer to make it clearer for when he teaches it to the children. Once you have been briefed on what the drill would entail you start the activity. After gaining some confidence, you’re able to tackle the ball off of Bradley a couple of times but when you decided to attempt a shot on goal just for a bit of fun you somehow missed the ball entirely and ended up sprawled on your back on the floor staring up at the sky.

“y/n! Are you okay?” Bradley’s face suddenly appears above you, his worried expression soon becoming a look of amusement when he realises that you’re laughing at the whole thing.

“Trust me to fall over literally nothing.” You laugh as you begin to sit up, stopping when Bradley offers a hand to you which you accept with a smile, allowing him to haul you to your feet but your smile faltered when he winced once more.

“Bradley, are you okay?” You ask, now even more concerned at him being in pain.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My shoulder’s acting up again.” Bradley says, making you fight the urge to speak up. He’d claimed his back had a pulled muscle earlier and now it was his shoulder? You were confused at his contradiction but you weren’t going to call him out on it. The most you could do is keep an eye on him.

“Just… take some painkillers. It’ll really help.” You say softly, picking up the soccer ball and walking with Bradley over to the equipment shed to return the ball.

“I will.” Bradley replies. Hating himself even more for lying but the lingering pain from his accident was manageable, he had just wrongly assumed that missing one day of his prescribed medicine would be okay since the pain hadn’t been bad recently, even with the activities he was partaking in.

“Maybe we should spend the rest of the afternoon going over our hike plans, just to make sure we have them sorted.” You offer, wanting Bradley to relax a little and not overexert himself. You may not know the cause of his pain or even where it lies but you did know you wanted to help your friend however you could.

“That sounds like a plan. Let’s grab our notebooks and meet on that bench just by the dining hall.” Bradley says and you nod before parting ways to return to your cabins to grab your notebook before heading to the bench and meeting Bradley. The two of you spend time comparing notes and revising anything that needs a second look at before it comes time for dinner and the two of you make your way up into the dining hall and have dinner, still discussing ideas before your friends join you.

When you all finish dinner you exit the dining hall and instead of heading to the staff lounge like you usually did in your evenings, you decide to head back to your cabin to prepare yourself for when the children arrive tomorrow afternoon. You bid your friend's goodnight and head back along the path that leads you to your cabin and enter the small building, flipping the light on as you do so. You decide to get a headstart on getting ready for bed and so go for a shower and change into your pyjamas before returning to your cabin, lying on your bed and reading your book as the sun finally sets. When a wave of tiredness overcomes you, you decide to close your book, set your alarm, and hit the hay, closing your eyes and allowing yourself to fall asleep both excited and nervous for the chaos that is to come tomorrow.

taglist (comment or ask to be added):

@noz4a2 @kim-stark @jessicab1991 @myxticmoon @burningwitchprincess @casuallyeating @adoringanakin @iamabeautifulperson18

[goldenkiwistyles]

Just keep swimming. HS

Warnings: talk of body insecurities, SMUT ( slight exhibitionism, fingering (f receiving), oral (f receiving), protected sex) birth control.

Ellie's pov:

Being 24 and not able to swim is pretty embarrassing. That's why for the majority of my life when ever I have been invited to anything that's involved swimming I have either straight up declined or came up with an excuse so I didn't have to get in the water. But in a few months my best friend is getting married in the Caribbean and she insisted that we [the bridal party] spend the majority of the time swimming in a pool or the sea. Not wanting to be left out of my best friend's wedding I decided it was time to bite the bullet and learn how to swim. That's what brought me to where I am now. Stood outside of a leisure centre debating whether or not I should run away. Just as I'm about to turn around a handsome man, who looks to be in his twenties, walks towards me. My eyes drift down along his toned torso trying to subtly check him out. Guessing by the smirk on his face I failed. "Somethin I can help you with darlin?" His voice, a perfect mix of British and a tiny bit of American, makes my knees weak and my panties dampen slightly. "Er I have a swimming lesson with a Debbie at 15:00." The mysterious British man smirks again. "You Ellie?" "Yeah. Why?" "Debbie called in sick. You've got me instead." | begin to silently panic. It was embarrassing enough having to be taught by a 40 something year old women but being taught by this man who can't be older than 30 and looks like a sex God. I'm going to perish. "It's alright darlin. I don't bite. Unless you want me to." I almost groan at the thought. He silently walks into leisure centre me trailing behind like a lost puppy. Once I'm registered with the reception, Harry (I had to read his lanyard to find out his name) led me through another set of doors that opened into a room full of changing cubicles. "Get changed and I'll wait for you by the pool darlin. Unless you need any help stripping." | blush at his comment muttering a small no. Quickly I changed into my green bikini. Walking out to the pool I felt really self conscious, the bikini not hiding much of my stomach or thighs. As soon as I saw Harry lent up against the wall I put on a fake smile so he wouldn't know how I was really feeling. "Ready?" - We have been going at the lesson for about 1 hour and I'm starting to get the hang of it. Harry's kept one hand on my stomach, dangerously near the waistband of my bikini bottoms making me hot. We were doing another length, almost at the end when Harry slightly leans forward and whispers in my ear "tell me if you want me to stop." Before I can contemplate his words I feel his hand on my stomach slide down over to my clothed pussy before he gently starts rubbing my cilt over my bottoms making me whimper. Eventually his hand slips into the front of my bikini, fingers collecting up my juices. "Your soaked darlin. This all for me?" | let out a whimper in response which doesn't satisfy him so he slaps my cilt. "I asked you a question darlin. Is this all for me?" "Yes Harry. Fuck." His thumb finds my cilt as two of his fingers enter my dripping hole with ease. My pace starts to falter as Harry's fingers reach deeper inside of me. "Just keep swimmin darlin. That's it's I've got you." Just as I'm about to cum he pulls his finger out, brings them to his mouth and sucks eliciting a groan from me. "Come on darlin, follow me." Harry climbs out the pool, pulling me with him until we reach one of the group changing rooms. Swiftly he unlocks the door, pulls me in and locks it behind me. His lips instantly attack mine as he shoves me against the door. Harry's lips are so soft. Soft like clouds. Eventually we separate, desperately trying to catch are breath as Harry shoves me down on the little bench and crouches in front of me. Wet, warm open-mouthed kisses travel the expanse of my inner thigh. The way he mouths at the edge of my bikini bottoms making me drip. I've never wanted anyone as much as I do Harry.

before long, his kisses turn into Harry sucking love bites along my skin. Marking me as his. "Please. Harry I need y-you." He licks into me as soon as I stop pleading the sudden cilt stimulation making me moan as my hands tug on his locks. Harry's eyes widen as he focusses on licking at my cilt just at the right angle to send me spiralling. "Oh" I gasp. My hands pull him as close as he can possibly go making his nose rub against my swollen cilt as his tongue ventures south until its circling my hole.  My body rocks backwards and forwards, riding his face as his tongue devours my juices. "Come on darlin. Cum for me. I know you're close. When those words leave Harry's mouth my body tenses up as my impending climax takes over numbing my mind. Harry doesn't stop until I physically pull him away, the overwhelming sensation of his tongue too much for my sensitive cilt.

In the time it takes me to get my bearings back, Harry's stripped out of his tight swim trunks, his hard prick leaking all over his stomach. Carefully he unclasps my bikini top, fondling my tits before lining himself up. "Condom?" I shake my head at him. "I'm on birth control and clean so am happy to forgo one." He lets out a grunt before thrusting in.

His pace is relentless as he continually hits my g-spot. "Holy shit darlin you're so tight. I don't know if I can last that long.

"Me neither H."

His fingers find my cilt drawing rapid circles as he despairingly tries to bring me closer to my second orgasm.  A few more thrusts and he's filling me up which triggers my release.

When the fog from my high has cleared from my brain I frantically try and cover myself up, suddenly felling extremely self conscious, making Harry frown from his spot on the floor. "Ellie darlin, you don't need to hide from me. Your bodies absolutely gorgeous."

You don't need to lie Harry."

"Baby you're perfect."

[unluckyhoneybee]

Like Mother. (Daniel Ricciardo)

Daniel and you weren't the best friends. Your daughter changes things pretty quickly. Fluff.

Note: this was supposed to be enemies to lovers, but I got engaged writing all the fluff and forgot about the enemies stuff, you just have to believe me.

Warnings: none? Just tell me if you find something.

"Hey cunt"

"Hey bitch"

You let yourself fall on the chair.

"When will you stop?" Blake groaned.

"When she grows up" Daniel said.

Blake sighed.

"When is Sunny coming?" Michael asked.

"Her dad is dropping her soon. Then we can leave"

"Cool, can't wait to see her"

You smiled at Michael.

"She is excited about the trip too"

Daniel was observing. You were nice to everyone. You liked everyone. But you didn't like him and he didn't like you. So, having the same group of friends could be fun sometimes. Plus you had a daughter. A little girl that looked just like you and hated him as much as you. She was like a little cat that would hiss to him anytime he was near.

You received a message and disappeared from the studio. Sunny was here.

"Well"

Daniel looked at his friends when they looked at him expecting something.

"Well?"

"Are you dropping that stupid facade for the weekend?"

"What?"

"You like her" Scotty said.

"I don't"

"You do" Blake added.

"No, mate. I don't. We hate eachother."

"She hates you but you love her"

Daniel groaned and got up, showing them a finger and walking to the kitchen. He filled a cup of water and suddenly he heard the door and the usual happiness that Sunny brought.

He observed the image from the kitchen. Your girl hugged his friends, she laughed when Scotty tickled her and kissed Blake's cheek. She laughed like a maniac when Michael easily lift her from the floor. He felt something on his chest. His friends weren't so wrong after all.

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

"I have never been there" Sunny said. She had been talking nonstop

"Haven't you?" Michael asked.

"No, but mum says it's really nice"

"It is. We already went there in summer"

"I was with Dad"

"Yes you were" You told your daughter. They all knew that your relationship with your ex was really bad. The only moments you see eachother was when you had to pick Sunny or something related to her. That trip had helped you to not feel so lonely without your daughter.

"And can we swim on the river?"

"The water is really cold" Scotty said.

Daniel was sitting at the back of the van, all of you thought he was asleep with his headphones on. But he was currently listening.

"Well, I'm a big girl. I take swim lessons" Sunny said with a smile.

Daniel smiled too, but tried to hide it.

"But it's winter, princess" You told her.

She frowned.

"So... We don't swim in winter"

"You will get your feet frozen" Michael tickled her and she laughed.

"I'm excited"

You arrived soon and Sunny jumped from the van as soon as she could.

You all spent the day walking around and doing anything Sunny wanted. She had a bunch of grown men eating from her palm and couldn't be more spoiled.

"Look at the house" She exclaimed "It's amazing"

"Pretty big, huh" Daniel said. It was innocent, but the little girl turned and frowned. "Ok, like Mother, like daughter"

Daniel scoffed and walked away.

"Sunny, don't be rude" You said because that's not how you wanted your girl to be.

Things were Danny stayed, as usual, you two keeping the distance and occasionally having a little fight or argument about things that in the other's eyes couldn't be more stupid. It was obvious that Sunny copied a lot for you. As you and Daniel hadn't been the greatest friends during her life, she hadn't grown close to him. He was just someone in her life that she knew and sometimes spend a day or two with. But she wasn't as friends with him as she was with the other. She didn't run to him when she was excited or sat on his lap to have a snack.

You barely noticed it because it was you who had done that. But Daniel did. He played and participated in the games, but he was never the little girl's option and barely talked to her.

But the day went on and no one seemed to noticed.

You were coming back for a hike, an easy one although Sunny had got some piggybacks from her Uncles when she got tired. You were thinking about how it had been a couple of minutes since you had heard her for the last time. So you turned around. "Scotty, where is Sunny?"

"She was with Blake"

We both looked at him.

"I thought she was with you, YN. She ran to you"

You felt dizzy and your heart beating like mad. The panic mode settled because any of you could see her.

"Sunny" You called her name in panic. She wasn't anywhere. Not back in path, not ahead, not looking your insects on the sides.

Michael was quickly steadying you when your knees became shaky.

"Okay, okay. We will fin her, YN. She can't be far"

"M-my daughter is lost... In the forest! It's getting dark" You were brushing the panic attack with your fingers.

Daniel had a knot on his chest.

"Let's go in different ways. She is too little, can't be far" He said before entering on the forest on his own.

He jumped over bushes and got scratches on his legs while looking for another path he knew was close. Meanwhile, Michael was taking you to the house.

"Sunny!" Daniel ran through the path. He felt like throwing up. He had never felt so nervous. "Sunny! Where are you?"

The sun was going down and it was getting too cold.

Michael was trying to help you breathing in the living room. You were having a really bad panic attack. You little princess was lost in the forest.

"Sunny!"

And suddenly, close to the river in a rock, he saw the yellow coat. He stopped on his tracks and panted out of breath.

There she was. She was sitting on the shore, with a stick moving a leaf in the water. Daniel had never felt such a relief.

"Sunny!" He called her and she turned around. He felt his heart shuttering. She was sobbing, she had a pout on her lips and her eyes were full of tears.

"Danny!" She said terrified.

Hearing her calling his name like that was even worst. She was so scared. Daniel ran to her and Sunny got up from the floor.

Daniel picked her from the floor and hugged her tight. Sunny grabbed into him with arms and legs, hanging like a koala and crying on his neck.

"Okay, okay. You are fine. You are fine, Sunny" He said while caressing her hair. "You are with me"

"I couldn't find Mommy" She whimpered. "I was picking flowers and I couldn't find Mommy."

"Mommy is at the house. She is waiting for you"

"It's getting dark. I don't like the dark"

Daniel carefully picked her coat and covered her with it. She grabbed his clothes tighter and sniffed.

"I want to go"

"Yes, sweetie. We are going back. Don't worry, okay?" He said.

His heart was beating so fast. He was hugging her so tight. He wanted to feel Sunny close. He had never felt so terrified.

"I'm scared, Danny"

"It's fine. Nothing will happen. I'm with you. I will take care of you"

Daniel kissed her head softly.

"Close your eyes and think about pretty things"

Sunny did, she hid on Daniel's hoodie.

"My mum is really pretty" She said.

Daniel smiled a bit. "She is"

"I want to be as pretty as her when I'm older"

"I'm sure you will. Plus, you are really pretty now, you know?"

"Thank you"

Daniel was blushing.

He stepped on a branch and Sunny squeaked.

"Hey, it's fine. I won't let anything happen, remember?"

She nodded and hugged his neck. She was cold.

"The house"

He smiled.

"Yes. I think Mum will be pretty nervous once we get there."

"Why"

"Because she got really scared when we couldn't find you"

"How can I help her?"

Daniel stopped walking.

"Let's do something. Let's fix your clothes and your hair so she finds you all cute and nice dressed."

Sunny nodded with a smile. Daniel put her on the ground and helped her with the leaves on her hair and her messy clothes. They cleaned the dirt and Daniel helped her with her ponytail.

"How do you know how to tie my hair?"

"I have a niece."

"Can I meet her?"

Daniel looked at her

"She lives in Australia"

Sunny shrugged.

"I have never been there"

Daniel crouched down in front of her and helped her with the coat.

"Maybe one day you can go"

"I will tell mum"

Daniel swallowed. You would never go to Australia. Maybe to Melbourne with Scotty. But not home with him.

"Okay, there you are. So pretty"

"Like Mommy?"

Daniel nodded.

"Like Mommy" It was true. She looked so much like you. And you were a beautiful woman.

"Let's go"

But Sunny made grabby hands.

"Please"

"Okay, come here"

Daniel picked her and carried her on his waist. He knocked the door and Blake was the one opening. They were all there and everyone sighed in relief. They had given up and come back to the house to have a new plan.

When all your friends sighed after the door was opened, you lift your head from Michael's chest.

It was as if a wave of energy ran over you. You jumped from the sofa and ran to Daniel and Sunny. Catching everyone by surprise, you hugged both of them. Not only Sunny like everyone expected. You snaked your amrs around both of them and tucked you face between theirs.

"Mommy! I'm back" Sunny hugged your neck and you cried harder.

Daniel was frozen, he couldn't move. He had never felt like this. He felt overwhelmed.

"Mommy! Danny helped me. I was scared but he said he would protect me" Sunny was excited. She couldn't understand how terrifying it had been. She had just spent some time alone in the forest and had gotten scared.

You pulled back and looked at Daniel. He felt his legs shaking. Then you cupped his check with one hand and said in the most sincere voice:

"Thank you"

He nodded. He couldn't speak.

After looking at him, into his eyes, you turned to Sunny because it felt too much. You couldn't explain how you were feeling. How Daniel bringing back your daughter had affected you.

"Are you okay, Sunny? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "I was a bit scared. And cried. But Danny found me"

"She was so brave" Daniel whispered.

You looked at him and he made a gesture. You picked Sunny from his arms and you daughter gave you a big hug. You kissed her cheek and touched her hair.

Daniel dried his hands on his trousers and looked around. His friends were looking at him. They all seemed speachless.

"Um... I'm... I need some water" And he went to the kitchen.

You followed him with your eyes and swallowed the lump in your throat.

"I'm tired" Sunny said.

You looked down at her. The coat was closed, her ponytail was done but had some strands of hair falling on the sides of her face and there was some dirt on her cheek. It looked as if someone had brushed it off. Just like her trousers.

You bit you lip and touched her chin.

"Let's have a bath and then we can have dinner"

She nodded and ran to the stairs.

"Be careful!"

You got up and dried your tears.

"YN..." Michael started. "How are you?"

"Fine. Better. I'm... I'm glad"

He nodded.

Daniel was outside. He had quietly opened the back door and gone outside to breath fresh air. It was consuming him. He needed to do something soon.

You got Sunny in the bath and while you were washing her hair, you asked.

"Sunny, baby. Did Daniel fix your hair?" It was styled differently to what you usually did with her hair.

"Yes. We fixed my clothes too so you wouldn't get more scared."

You bit back the tears.

"Oh, well... Um... You have to thank him for finding you, okay?"

She nodded. You were unsure of what to say and if you really need to approach him.

When Daniel went back inside, Blake was in the kitchen.

"They are upstairs having a bath. We are having dinner soon"

He nodded.

"How are you, mate?"

Daniel shrugged.

"It's weird."

Blake nodded. "I'm sure she doesn't hate you. You two just got used to be like this"

Daniel sighed.

"Plus, Sunny was pretty comfortable with you. That's a lot for her"

Daniel leaned on the counter and opened a beer.

"She even kissed you. Was it the first time?"

Daniel nodded. "I don't think we've ever hugged"

"Well, that's a lot"

"I just found her daughter. She was having a panic attack."

"Mate..."

Daniel left the safety of the kitchen and went to the living room. Sunny was sitting with a book by herself and close to the fireplace. Daniel doubted about if he should go and talk to her without you around. He did at the end.

"Hey, Sunny" He sat close to her but not too close. He wanted to be respectful.

"Hi, Daniel" Sunny smiled sweetly.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. I'm clean now. My mum found leaves in my hair" She giggled and Daniel smiled. "And I'm a bit tired. We played a lot today"

"A lot yeah" Daniel had barely played with her. It was all the boys. He simply watched.

"My Mommy told me that I have to say thank you to you"

Daniel left a shaky breath out.

"Thank you, Danny" Sunny got up and hugged his neck.

Any of them knew you were watching, hidden in the darkness of the upper stairs and covering your mouth. You observed how Daniel was doubting, how he frowned a bit when Sunny hugged his neck but after a while he found the courage to hug her. His hands were big in your daughter. Just how you had seen him hugging his friends, Daniel tucked himself on Sunny's shoulder. And Sunny giggled and told him his beard was tickling her. You felt unwell. You heart was beating fast. It wasn't supposed to be happening.

Then Sunny pulled back and turned around, sitting between his legs and still with the warmth of his arms around her and reaching her book. "Let's read together".

You bit your lip and dried a tear.

Daniel's hands were shaking. He adored Sunny. He felt so happy when he started reading for her.

"Ow well" Scotty smiled when he came inside and found them. "At least one of the girls can stand you" He said not knowing you were listening.

It hurt. When you all sat to have dinner, everyone thought you were quiet. Michael whispered to Scotty that you were probably exhausted.

Sunny was sitting between you and Blake. Daniel was in front of Blake and had a fond smile while hearing your daughter talk.

"I thought you were tired" He said when Sunny said she wanted to watch a film.

"I am. But a film will help me sleeping better and have cool dreams." She said and looked at you. 'Please?"

You smiled and touched her cheek.

"Okay. But only one."

She nodded.

"Cool"

You leaned and kissed her head before getting up.

"I'll bring the dessert."

Sunny gave you her best puppy eyes.

"Yes honey, chocolate pudding for you"

Everyone laughed. You were in the kitchen lost in your thoughts when you heard steps behind you. Somehow you knew who it was.

You turned slowly.

"Hey" Daniel said. "Need help?"

You smiled a bit.

"With the fruit"

"OK"

He took the big bowl of fruit and looked at you. You took a deep breath. You were a grown woman. Your daughter had done it. You could do it.

"Thank you"

"It's just fruit" He shrugged it.

"You know I'm not talking about the fruit" You said. You didn't want to get angry now.

He sighed.

"It's nothing."

"It's something. I treat you like shit and you jump to the forest the second my daughter gets lost."

"How could I not?" He said and took a step closer.

You had to lower your head to not look at him.

"You would have done the same. We may argue like little kids, but... I know that you... Fuck. I care about you, okay? Maybe you care about me too."

You notice how he hadn't said the word hate. You smiled a bit. You didn't hate him. He just irritated you.

"I do"

Daniel smiled. He knew that it wasn't appropriate but he wanted to kiss you.

"I never told you" He said. You swallowed, what was this about? "But you have an amazing kid"

You smiled a bit and your eyes got watery.

"I do. She is the best"

"Like Mother, like daughter" Hearing him said that again in such a different context almost knocks you to the floor. You smiled and gently touched his arm.

"Thank you again. For bringing her back and fixing her clothes and hair"

He blushed.

"She told you"

"Never tell Sunny your secrets" You said smiling.

He chuckled.

"It's nice to know that"

You chuckled.

"She likes to have all her hair back, though. No loose strands."

"I did my best"

"Your best is crap, Ricciardo" Falling back to the bickering routine felt so comforting now.

"Fuck off" He answered with a smile.

When you two went back to the living room, Scotty chuckled.

"Wow, how is it that you two are smiling?"

"Fuck off, Scotty."

You turned and slapped Danny's arm.

"No bad words in front of my kid"

Sunny giggled and covered her mouth.

"Sorry, Sunny. Don't say that. At least in front of your mother."

"Promised!" She said and reached for her pudding.

You rolled your eyes.

Sunny obviously was too tired for the film and halfway through The Grinch, her eyes started closing. She was sitting on the floor with Michael sharing a bowl of grapes when she yawned the first time.

"Someone's tired" Blake said and got up. "Tea?"

As a waiter, he noted the teas and went to the kitchen.

"Sunny, baby" She turned to you. "Come here with me"

"I'm good here"

"I know, but you are tired. Come here with Mommy"

"But..."

Michael smiled at the girls stubbornness. Daniel was quietly observing.

"No buts. Come here"

She dramatically sighed and complained. Scotty laughed but you shot him a cold glare and he covered his mouth. Daniel thought you were a great mother.

Sunny climbed in the sofa next to you and laid her head on chest, you hugged her close to your side.

"Here" Daniel, who had been sitting on the other side of the sofa, passed you a blanket.

"Thanks".

You covered Sunny with it and she smiled.

"Thanks, Danny"

"You welcome, Sunny"

Nobody payed attention to the interaction, but it warmed your heart and cheeks.

Blake had to find another place to sit because the princess, as he said, had taken his whole seat.

Sunny was giggling and you thought it was bacuse of the film because she loved the Grinch. But at some point you felt her moving and looked down. Danny's hand was hidden under the blanket and Sunny was shaking her feet. You observed quietly until the blanket moved a bit and revealed Danny's tattooed hand. You looked at his hand and saw how he was smiling and biting his lip, watching the film and trying to not laugh. He was tickling her feet and everytime she giggled he had to stop himself from laughing to.

You heart beated so fast. Then he catched you watching and blushed deeply. You smiled. Why were you suddenly so fond of him?

"You will put her to sleep" You told him.

He simply said okay with a smile and pulled a bit from Sunny's sock.

"Danny! You are so annoying!" She complained.

"Yes. I say that all the time, Sunny" Blake agreed.

You all laughed. You liked how Sunny was around Danny. They kind of matched their energies and she looked so comfortable with him now. You felt kind of bad because maybe your own attitude around Daniel had affected her.

"Danny!" Sunny kicked him when he pinched her toe and Danny gasped.

"Hey! Sunny no."

Sunny looked at you with big eyes.

"Sunny, what did I said about hitting people?"

Daniel felt so bad when Sunny pouted. He didn't want to give her problems.

"But he..."

"I don't care. Hitting someone it's not a solution."

"He was annoying" She crossed her arms.

"YN..." Daniel whispered. He was scared of talking louder

"Apologize to Daniel" You said.

Sunny frowned and turned to Daniel. His heart broke when he saw a tear down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, Danny"

She reached his hand and dried the tear.

"No problem, sweetheart. I'm sorry too." He said.

You looked at him.

"Dan..."

You had never called him that.

The others had forgotten about the film and were watching you instead.

"It's fine. It was a little misunderstanding. Right, Sunny? I won't bother you again"

"Okay. I won't have to kick you again then"

Everyone laughed.

"Yeah, what I said. Like Mother, like daughter"

"What does it mean?"

"That you are so much like your mum" He said and looked at you. You smiled at him.

"Had my mum kicked you?"

The look you gave him could have killed kittens.

"No" He quickly said.

"Then?"

"You are sassy like her. But cuter"

"Yeah. And as pretty as her. Like you said in the forest"

Michael gasped, Blake covered his mouth and Scotty almost laughs out loud. You were looking at Daniel. You were shocked and so was he. But Sunny seemed pretty happy.

"Yeah. No secrets with you" Daniel whispered and tickled her a bit. He was blushing so hard he even felt hot on his clothes.

You couldn't speak.

"I love kids. I want some of my own" Scotty said.

Daniel and you turned uncomfortably. Sunny yawned and laid back on you. "Tickle me, please. But slowly. Like Mommy does it"

Daniel thought that he had no idea of how you did it. And you saw it. You took his hand and put it on her ankle. Softly you caressed her skin and he took the hint. It felt good. It felt so good to touch him like this. You felt comfortable around him now. You suddenly wanted him around.

Daniel smiled softly when Sunny nuzzled into the blanket and closed her eyes. He had barely interacted with the girl before the trip and now he couldn't stop thinking of how much he would miss her. It was more than clear now that he was in love with you.

Your hands were shaking. You were so confused. So much.

The film ended and Sunny was tight asleep. So you picked her and got up.

"Good night, guys" You said softly and with a smile.

"Good night" The four of them answered.

Once you were out of side, his friends looked at him.

"Step Dad on the making?" Blake asked.

"What? No" Daniel sat straight on the sofa. "Don't be stupid."

"Oh, c'mon" Michael threw him a grape. "You are head over heels for her. And her cute little daughter has you eating from her palm"

Daniel threw the grape back and Michael trapped it.

"I just..."

You stopped when you heard him. Sunny was already on the bed and you were on your way to the toilet.

"I was always jealous of your friendship. With both of them actually. Fighting her is fun and everything. But... I love kids."

You felt like shit. You needed to fix this. You needed to apologize.

The next morning was really cold. You turned in bed and looked for Sunny with your hand. She wasn't there. You sat on the bed and looked around. She wasn't in the bedroom so you ran out. You ran downstairs after checking the rooms. You saw Scotty's butt by accident, but no one needed to know about that.

You grabbed a coat and ran outside while throwing it over yourself. You jumped down the porch stairs. How the fuck did you loose your daughter twice in the same weekend?

But you didn't ran far. There, in front of you and right next to the creek, Sunny watched something in the water with Daniel by her side. She was wearing a big Ric Rodeo hoodie and one of Scotty's beanies. She looked so cute and small on it and once again you were feeling all of those things. She was wearing Danny's clothes, she was curiously asking things and he was there with her answer with a smile. And all your fear dissipated.

You walked slowly to them.

"Good morning" You said with a smile.

They both turned around and Sunny smiled so big.

"Good morning, Mommy. I woke up super soon and was bored. And I found Danny on the living room. We played the questions game and then I was super bored again. So we came here to look for fishes. Look, there are tiny fishes in there"

You chuckled.

"You did a lot of things" You leaned and kissed her head.

"Yes. Danny is super cool and funny"

Daniel laughed a bit.

"I'm not that cool"

"You are. And your clothes are cool. He said he will make kids clothes the next time for me, his niece and nephew"

You looked at Daniel. He was blushing. Did he usually blush this much?

"And he will do one purple"

"You really like purple." You told her.

She nodded.

"What do you say?"

"Thank you, Danny"

"No problem, sweetheart"

Sunny smiled and turned back to the river. Daniel looked at you.

"Morning" He said softly.

"Morning"

Feeling brave, you reached for his forearm. "Can we talk later?"

He was surprised, but nodded.

"Look!"

Sunny pointed at the water and you both turned to look. She was so excited.

"That's a huge fish!" Daniel said completely matching her energy.

She giggled and surprisingly, leaned into him. Daniel opened his arms and fixed the big hoodie.

"I want to come back on Summer and swim with the fish." She told you.

"Oh, we will." You pinched her cheek and she smiled.

"Danny is from Australia"

"I know"

"We haven't been there"

"Do you want to?"

Daniel couldn't contain the happiness.

"Yes. We can go and visit Scotty's house, Mike's house, Danny's house, Blake's house..."

"Wow. That's a lot of houses to visit"

She nodded.

"And the beach. Danny said there is a beach in Perth. I really love the beach, Danny."

"I'm sure you do" He answer.

"We can plan a trip to Australia." You said.

Daniel felt his heart beating fast.

"My home is your home so... Whenever you want"

You looked at him. How had you gone from fighting to this?

"That's so nice of Daniel, right Sunny?"

She nodded and opened her arms.

"Thank you!"

Daniel hugged Sunny and she giggled.

"Hey! Breakfast is ready!"

"Yay!"

Sunny ran to the house.

"Be careful! The hoodie is too big!"

"I couldn't find her coat"

"Yeah, it's on the bedroom" You awkwardly said. "Thank you."

"For?"

He crossed his arms on his chest and walked closer to you. You found yourself dreaminly watching his brown eyes.

"For last night, for this morning... She can be too much" You said.

"She is not"

"Well, I think you are too much too. You match energies pretty well"

He smiled.

"That's true"

You bit your lip. He smiled.

"She is a really nice kid. So intelligent. I'm having fun with her"

You swallowed and touched his forearm. You couldn't get yourself to grab his hand.

"I'm sorry" You whispered.

He frowned. "For what?"

"I-I shouldn't have let our bickering affect her"

"Has it?"

"Yes. It has and I feel horrible for it because she adores you now and before she wouldn't even talk to you. Only because she saw I didn't like you"

Daniel grabbed you by your shoulders.

"Hey, she doesn't even know it. She is fine. I will stop if you ask me to."

"I don't want you to" You cut him. "You are good for her. She likes you a lot. And... I'm really so thankful for you help."

"Maybe we should have some truce."

You nodded slowly and Daniel smiled. He was so pretty.

"And... You are always welcome to Australia."

"Thank you"

"Peace?"

You nodded again

"Peace"

"Now, let's go and have breakfast"

.............................

"But I don't want to go" Sunny was crying on your arms. There was nothing you could tell her. "I don't want to go home. I want to stay here."

"But sweetheart. We have to leave. There is school and your dad..."

"No!"

"Hey" Daniel walked closer.

"You know what? We are all celebrating Christmas together"

Sunny looked at him and pouted.

"Yes?"

You nodded and kissed her cheek.

"You will come? And Blake and..."

"All of us"

Sunny reached her arms to Daniel and he took her on his arms.

"I'm going to miss you, Danny"

You caressed her head and he kissed her cheek.

"Me too, Sunny"

Sunny gave a big hug to everyone.

"Dan" You pulled him away from the group.

"Sunny likes to call the guys often"

Daniel felt a sting of jealousy. He didn't know about that.

"I'm sure she will want to call you now"

He smiled.

"That's fine. Just text before, okay?"

You nodded.

"Of course."

You didn't know that that innocent action would be the beginning.

The text became usual. He would ask about Sunny at first but soon he also started asking about you. Also the video calls in which Sunny insisted you had to say hi even when you were on your worst clothes.

"So... Danny and you? Are you sworn enemies anymore?" Michael asked.

You blushed and shook your head.

"See. It wasn't that bad"

You looked at him.

"It's Sunny's fault"

"It's your fault. You two are too stupid to see that you could be great together"

You walked pass him.

"Don't run. He is coming in a bit. It's the perfect day, YN"

You sighed dramatically.

"Michael I..."

"What? He is really excited about tonight, YN"

"I know. Sunny keeps telling me"

"See? Your daughter is already his bestie. He is the perfect stepdad. He is what you two are missing"

"We are perfectly fine like this"

Michael sighed.

"That's not what I meant"

The door opened and Blake came in with a very pleased Sunny. "Look, Mommy"

"Oh" You laughed and Blake shrugged.

"The girl has those eyes..."

"Uncle Blake said that I behaved so well at the store so he bought me a lollipop."

It wasn't long until Danny came back with Scotty and Chloe.

"Hey" He hugged you tight. It was the first time you two were together since the trip and now Mike's words were so loud in your head. "How are you?"

"Fine, I'm fine"

"Danny!"

Sunny appeared next to you, pulling your clothes and some distance between Daniel and you.

"Oh shit, you've grown a lot! Look at you. I almost didn't recognise you"

Daniel scooped her up in his arms and Sunny hugged his neck.

"Missed you a lot" She said. Daniel kissed her head and smiled.

"I missed you a lot too, Sunny"

You did well during the dinner, Chloe sitting on one side of you and Mike on the other was helping a lot to distract you from the fact that Sunny had chosen to sit between Blake and Danny and the driver was the one helping her with her dinner.

Then the gifts came and you all exchanged packages. Obviously, Sunny was the one with the most gifts. She was so happy. She got toys, a little skateboard and shoes just like the ones she had seen Scotty wearing once. But it was the last package the one she loved the most.

Sunny tore the paper and gasped. Her eyes moved to Daniel and she jumped up before running to him, who was sitting on the floor.

"oof" He groaned when she hit him on the belly. But he pulled close and laughed when she screamed thank you. "Do you like it?!"

She nodded and took the gift, showing it to me and jumping happily.

"What is that honey?" I asked knowing well what it was.

"The hoodie Danny promised me!" She turned to the driver again. "It's purple! And it has a sun! Like me!"

Daniel laughed nodding.

Your heart was beating so fast. Just as he had told her, Daniel had made a kid's merch line. Inside the sun, there was a Ric3.

"Mommy! Do you like it?"

"I love it" You pulled her closer and helped her putting the hoodie on. "Beautiful"

Daniel looked at you and let a shaky breath out. He had a plan. A plan for today. It would be the day.

Everything was smoothly working, you guys watching a film with Sunny, the girl wanting to sit between Dan and you, the others leaving earlier because they had parties in clubs or other's friends' houses... Daniel was finally left alone with you two.

You were in the kitchen getting Sunny a cup of milk when you heard the girl talk.

"Don't you have to go to a party, Danny?"

"Nop"

"But you have a lot of friends"

"I know. But I don't have plans for tonight"

"You do. You are here with Mommy and me. We can watch films all night and have a sleepover. And tomorrow you can come to Grandma's to see what Santa has left there for me and..."

Daniel bit his lip and looked at you. You were in the doorframe looking at him.

"Danny!"

Daniel looked down.

"Were you listening? Mommy and I always go and have breakfast outside when I don't have school. You should definitely come with us"

You walked to them and sat behind Sunny.

"You need to ask nicely. Maybe Danny has plans for tomorrow. Or wants to go home to sleep."

Daniel couldn't believe it.

"Would you like to say for a sleepover with Mommy and I and go to have breakfast down the street with us too?" She said in a hurry and then took a breath to recover.

Daniel's hands were shaky. He would love to. But you?

Again, he checked on you and it was surprising how easily you cached what he meant. You nodded slowly.

"I would love that"

"Nice! Let's go and get our pijamas" Then she gasped. "Oh, but you don't have pijamas! Mommy, do we have something for Danny?"

At the end you end up giving Daniel some of your biggest clothes, that looked funny and short on his ankles. But you felt soft. You couldn't stop smiling and giggling. And Sunny was happy too.

She got everything ready in the living room for the sleepover and nestled between your bodies. One film became two and she was still so energetic, way to excited because Daniel was there. And you didn't know well how bit had ended up laying against his side with your arms around your daughter.

"Can you play with my hair Mommy?"

"Are you tired, honey?"

"No"

Daniel and you chuckled at the same time. He was feeling great. He couldn't believe you were tucked under his arm and your daughter had her hand on his thigh. It was so organic to take her little hand on his and draw circles on the palm. Between yours on her hair and his on her hand, Sunny drifted to sleep quickly and you wondered if Mike was right. You two were perfectly fine together, but maybe Daniel was the missing piece.

Daniel thought you both were asleep, he couldn't, he was shaking. He hadn't felt this nervous around someone in ages. He was the cool guy.

The girl moved a bit and Daniel carefully grabbed her by the shoulders. You stayed still for a moment wondering what he was doing. And then he grabbed her and put her on his chest.

"Danny?"

"It's okay. I'm going to lay you down"

"Okay"

You lifted your hand to touch his back when he sat forward in the sofa and he squeaked.

"I-I though you were asleep" He whispered.

Sunny groaned.

"I thought she was uncomfortable"

"Don't worry, we do this a lot"

"Yeah?"

"Lay back"

Daniel laid back and you curled yourself next to him.

Any of you said much more than soft good nights. And in the morning, you were the first who woke up. During the nights, you had sifted positions. The sofa wasn't big enough, but you had managed to cuddle with Danny and keep Sunny sleeping on you.

The girl was deep asleep with her face hidden on Danny's neck and her hand keeping yours on his chest.

"Morning" You heard him.

"Morning"

You kissed Sunny's cheek before moving up. Then saw Danny's honey eyes looking at you and leaned to kiss his forehead too.

You went to the kitchen and Daniel stayed there for a little while. He was so comfortable with Sunny. But at the end he wanted to talk to you. So with all the care in the world, he put her on the sofa and made sure she wouldn't fall. Then followed you to the kitchen.

"Hey, did you sleep well?"

You left the milk on the counter and took a deep breath. Now, let's do it now.

"Mhm"You were blushing.

He walked closer and cupped you breath. Now. He leaned and kissed your lips. It was so slow and soft. It was warm and it made you smile.

"I need to tell you something" He whispered when he pulled back.

"I know"

He looked into your eyes.

"Do you?"

You nodded. It was obvious and Mike was right. He had been all this time.

"I love you too" You whispered and kissed him again.

But...

A gasp made you two pull back, your hand pressed on Danny's chest feeling his heart beating hard.

"You are my Mommy's boyfriend! Yes! I knew it!"

You both gasped and Daniel broke down in laughs.

"How is it? Huh!"

Daniel picked her from the floor and she hugged his neck.

"Because my Mommy talks a lot about you and she likes when you call."

"Sunny..."

"No secrets, babe" Daniel said. It was the first name he gave you and you felt like a teen girl in love.

"Yeah, no secrets. But Danny is not my boyfriend yet and these are adults things, okay?"

Sunny nodded and hugged Danny's neck harder, pressing her cheek against his.

"I'm so happy" She said.

Daniel looked at you and smiled and you knew that things would be alright. Maybe you hadn't had the best start. But now? Now he had your girl on his arms and you couldn't wish for something better.

I just love step dad Dan so much.

[letswritebangtan]

It's Just Water | Jeon Jungkook Pt. 2

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader

Synopsis: y/n can't get over her fear of the water, but maybe former swim team captain and current swim coach Jeon Jungkook can help her.

A/N: Part 2 is finally here! Make sure you read Part 1 of It's Just Water to enjoy the rest.

Surely, it couldn't be that bad. Facing the guy who just broke your heart into a million pieces in front of the entire class? No biggie.

Ever since you called off your swim sessions with Jungkook, your swim coach was very quick - scarily quick - to catch on that since the deal was off, swim lessons weren't the exception any longer. Funnily enough, being forced to face your biggest fear was nowhere near as bad as having to face Jungkook one-on-one for an hour a day, every day. Of course it would be. He used you. Preyed on your biggest weakness. Then he kissed you in the pool. Almost as if he had been resisting for years. And then you realise what it had really been about. A promotion.

"What a fool." you grumbled unhappily. A blue and white striped towel draped across your back even though you didn't need it. You weren't getting in that damned pool anyway.

"Hey, you chose to be friends with me." Taehyung said frowning.

You were pulled back into reality. Students were jumping into the pool one after the other going about their laps. You flinched with each splash.

"Not you, idiot." you sighed, chin resting on your palm while you lingered in your sour mood.

"Oh...", Taehyung nodded in understanding, "Him."

"Yeah," you huffed. "Him."

"What a dick move, honestly. I thought he was one of the good ones." said Dahyun.

"You can never trust men," she added as she patted your shoulder sympathetically.

"God, it's just so frustrating. I can't even move past it because there he is all shirtless in his stupid hot speedos and water dripping down his skin with his hair wet and slicked back-"

"Okay, y/n, calm down. I really think you need to hook up with someone. It stinks of desperation from your end," Taehyung said.

"Taehyung! Don't be mean. But he's right, y/n, I know a nice guy and I'm telling you he'd love to go out on a date with you." Dahyun suggested.

You stared pointedly at the two of them. "Okay mr and mrs 'couple of the year', just because the two of you are in a relationship doesn't mean everyone around you has to be."

"I never mentioned a relationship, I just think you need someone to fuck you silly," Taehyung said.

You slapped a hand over his mouth making him flinch. "Shut up!"

"Group 5! Up next, let's go!" you heard coach shout.

"Well as if this day couldn't get any worse," you grumbled.

"It's okay, y/n. Just do as much as you can and I'll help you out okay? I'll pull you out as soon as you want me to," Dahyun said getting up and setting her towel aside.

You sighed, "Taehyung doesn't deserve you. You can do so much better, Hyun."

She pulled you up by the hand grinning while Taehyung complained in the corner. The two of you approached the pool. There was no way you were doing a lap, and you knew that. The coach knew that. So the fact that he would insist only means he's out to make your life a living hell. You looked across to the end. Jungkook stood there with his whistle, blowing orders at the more advanced group. He looked up for a second and his gaze froze when he saw you at the pool's edge. You could tell he stopped to think for a moment, and then in a second he was walking over to your side. Your eyes widened and you frantically turned to the coach who was getting impatient by the second.

"Coach, you know I can't," you pleaded.

"Just get in, y/n. You don't have to swim. Come on, you'll be in and out in a second."

"Motherfu-"

"Coach!" you heard him yell. Jungkook was by your side in no time.

"I think you should let her off, she can't really..." Jungkook trailed off trying to find the words.

You were growing angrier the more you thought of all the ways he could have ended his sentence.

She can't do it? She can't swim? She'll fail. Asshole, who does he think he is speaking up for you like that like some kind of hero?

"I can't what, Jungkook?" you snapped.

His eyes widened as he looked down at you, his hand instinctively moving to caress your upper arm.

"I mean, she doesn't have to-" he said worriedly, but you were quick to move away from him.

"I can do it," you said confidently, turning to your coach.

"That's right, she doesn't need a man to tell her what she can and can't do," Dahyun said backing you up, rolling her eyes at the man who know realises, he fucked up.

"No, y/n, I didn't mean- this pool it's much deeper I just don't want you to-"

"To what? To drown? I don't need your help, just leave me alone," you managed to choke out before gripping the hell out of Dahyun's hand and dipping your toes in the water.

She squeaked a little bit but held it in for your sake. With deep breaths, you kept lowering your foot, until the water was up till your ankle. Slowly, you bent your other leg and sat down, letting both legs dangle freely in the pool. Your hands were pressed to the tiled floor so hard they left marks on your palms. The bottom was right there. You could see it. You felt that you could reach it.

"y/n be careful," Jungkook tried to warn you.

"I said leave me alone," you snapped. You lifted yourself with your hands, and dropped your body in.

The cold water pierced your skin all the way up to your chest. Your breath hitched and your toes slowly pressed up against the tiles. That's it. You were standing in the water. And you did it all by yourself. The only problem now, was that you were too afraid to move.

"I did it," you whispered.

Dahyun yelled and cheered from behind you. "Taehyung get your ass over here!"

Your best friend didn't waste a second. He joined in with his girlfriend's cheering. They were a really loud couple.

"That's great, y/n. I think that's enough for today," your coach said pleased with your surprising performance.

"Okay, out you get!" Taehyung said reaching his hands out towards you.

You slowly turned your body around, hands still gripping the side of the pool. Taehyung slowly but firmly gripped your arms and practically lifted your body out like you were a rubber duck and stood you on your feet. Dahyun wrapped a towel around you and urged you back to the benches. You felt a pair of eyes bore into the side of your head but you couldn't bring yourself to look.

"That'll show him," Dahyun whispered to you cheekily, making you smile wider.

_________________

There was a buzz that filled you for the rest of the week. Sure, you stood in the pool before. But you had Jungkook there to help you. His strong arms holding you in place. You still remember his eyes, the way he couldn't stop looking at you. Yet this time, there was no overwhelming fear. Somehow the water felt calmer. Safer.

Jungkook lurked in the hallways once in a while, making sure to stay clear from your path. He knew you weren't too happy with him, and he didn't want to make things worse. It took every fibre in his body not to run up and talk to you. To tell you how amazing you did. To tell you that he was proud of you. To tell you that he was sorry. It hurt to see you look away from him so quickly whenever the two of you crossed paths.

Jungkook sighed at the thought of it as he shuffled through the piles of student reports on his desk. The semester was coming to an end, and he only had so much time to manually enter each grade into the system. It drove him nuts.

"You'd think by we'd have computers to do this for me," he muttered in frustration.

He chucked the report aside as soon as he was done with it, and swiftly picked up the next.

y/n l/n

Jungkook paused for a second. He ran a hand over his face in frustration. It was like he couldn't escape you, and he couldn't escape his guilt. He hated that you thought of him so lowly.

"I've liked you for years..."

"Years, huh?", Jungkook whispered to himself. "If only she knew."

A loud scream pulled Jungkook out of his thoughts. What the hell was that? It was late, school ended just about three hours ago. Who'd be around at this time?

He stepped out of his office trying to follow the noise. Jungkook checked every room in a hurry, but just as he ran past the entrance to the pool, he heard muffled cries.

"Help! Oh god...", someone sobbed.

Jungkook wasted no time. He ran towards the voice echoing throughout the room until he saw you. Jungkook stopped abruptly. There you were- drowning.

"y/n!" he yelled and jumped into the water immediately.

You were flailing, struggling to keep your head above the water. Soon enough, a pair of arms were lifting you by the waist and hoisting you up onto the pool's edge. Jungkook jumped out in a second and held you by your side, taking off his shirt in a flash to wipe the water from your eyes and sweeping the hair out of your face. You coughed and sputtered, trying to breathe normally.

"Here, it's okay. Just try and catch your breath, alright?" he said soothingly as he firmly pat your back, helping you cough the water out.

Your head hung low as you wheezed, one hand on your chest and the other instinctively placed on Jungkook's forearm. Slowly the atmosphere became quiet, with your softening breathing and Jungkook's gentle words of affirmation.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

You finally had the courage to look up. When you saw the concern in his eyes, you couldn't help the tears starting to flow out of yours.

"I-" you sniffled, "I'm so stupid."

"What? No-"

"You were right. I can't do it. I can't get over my fear. I can't swim and I never will. What was I thinking?" you cried angrily wiping the tears from your face.

"y/n, stop that. That's not true, okay? Did you or did you not get into the pool all by yourself the other day?"

"Oh screw that, Jungkook. I just got lucky, probably from some adrenaline rush. I nearly," you took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "I nearly drowned just now. And if you weren't here I would have- I could have-", your voice cracked, too scared to finish your sentence.

"Don't say that." Jungkook snapped, wrapping his arms around you and pulling your head to his chest.

"That would never happen. Not as long as I'm here." he mumbled softly.

"How did you hear me?" you asked softly.

"Well, you may not be a swimmer but you've got some lungs on you." he cracked a joke, trying to lighten the mood.

You smiled and hit his chest, sitting up again. Jungkook chuckled softly and brushed the hair from your eyes.

"What were you doing in the pool, y/n?" he asked, his tone soft and concerned.

You groaned and faced the stupid pool again. "I told you, I was stupid."

Jungkook paused, then asked, "Did you try to swim?"

"Yeah," you mumbled.

"Why would that be stupid?"

"Well it's not a good idea for someone terrified of the water to jump in headfirst with no one around," you said trying to explain the obvious.

"That's not true, I was around."

"Jungkook," you huffed. "You know what I mean."

"It's still not stupid, y/n," he said firmly, gently turning your chin to face him. "It's called being brave. And every day, I see you getting braver ad braver."

You resigned, shaking your head.

"It's true," Jungkook emphasised. "Just weeks ago you couldn't even dip your toes in the water. And when I did manage to get you in, you nearly beat me up while you panicked. You jumped in there not knowing that I- well, that anyone was around to help you."

You stayed silent, thinking about it.

"You jumped in because you were brave enough to do it alone. I don't call that fear and I sure as hell don't call that stupidity," he added.

It felt good hearing him say that, because a part of you knew it was true.

"Thank you, for saving me," you said looking at him. "Again."

The corner of his lips lifted slightly at that remark, and all you wanted to do was kiss it.

"No thanks needed, it wasn't even a question. Besides if you had drowned, I would have never gotten to tell you the truth and it would have killed me," Jungkook said.

"About that, Jungkook I-"

"No listen, please. Any other time, I'd let you speak first, I'd let you talk over me, I'd let you do absolutely anything y/n, but right now I have to tell you this before you remember that you hate me again," he rushed.

"I don't hate you," you said sympathetically.

"Well you should, considering what you thought I did. But I didn't do whatever it is you think I did, y/n."

"Okay, tell me. I'm listening."

Jungkook exhaled slowly. "It's true I'm being considered for a promotion. And it's true that it was my idea to help you get over your fear," he explained. "But what isn't true was that I did one to achieve the other. I would never use you, y/n. I would never use anyone like that."

"So why did she say it, Jungkook?" your voice sounding hurt.

He shook his head. "That was her own ridiculous assumption. Miss Jiyoung has no idea what she's talking about and she had no right saying that, especially when she knew you were standing right there."

You sighed. It was true. She said it, not Jungkook.

"I still don't get why you offered to teach me," you said sounding unsure.

Jungkook laughed softly, "Isn't it obvious, y/n?"

You stared at him clueless. "Jungkook, if I knew, I wouldn't be asking-" you said annoyed.

"Because I like you. Because I'm head over heels for you. Because I think I might actually be falling in love with you."

"Wh-Really?" you squeaked out embarrassed.

Jungkook looked almost offended. "Um yes, really. For years now. I wouldn't have kissed you otherwise. I wouldn't have offered to take extra hours out of my day to be with you. Just you, if I may add. And I wouldn't have been in such turmoil knowing how mad you were with me."

You blushed at the mention of the first kiss you had with Jungkook.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry..." you laughed softly. "I just, don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything right now-"

"No, I mean. I like you too, Jungkook. I more than like you, I-"

"You've had a crush on me for years too, I know," he replied smugly, a smirk adorning his face. If only he hadn't looked so hot while he smirked you would have slapped it off his face by now.

"Oh shut up! I just blurted that out because I was mad."

"So it's not true?"

"It's...not untrue."

Jungkook rolled his eyes. "Okay, so it's true?"

"Can we move on?" you groaned, feeling embarrassed.

Jungkook laughed, "Alright." He paused for a moment. "I forgot to mention, I actually gave up the promotion."

"What?" you said quickly.

"Yeah I, well it didn't seem like a good idea anymore. And I would have felt terrible if I took it, so-"

"No! Jungkook, what are you stupid?"

"Hey-"

"You walk into that office right now and you ask for your promotion back."

"y/n, I'm not-"

"That's what I wanted to tell you before your 'I'm not supposed to interrupt you' apology."

"It was a fair request," he mumbled in defense.

"Well what's not fair is giving up everything you've worked so hard for just because of me. I thought about it a lot Jungkook, and you deserve that job with our without coaching me because the truth is you're a fucking fantastic swimmer and an excellent teacher and you've represented this school more times than I have fingers and toes, so if there's going to be anyone for our swim students, it's you, because there is no way in hell they are going to make it without you," you said poking a finger to his chest.

Jungkook looked stunned for a minute. His hand slowly reached up to circle your wrist pointed at his chest and pulled it down.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" you asked confused.

"Because there's nothing to say, only something I need to do."

You smiled. He was right. All he had to do was walk back into that office and get that promotion.

"Then do it."

Jungkook's hand threaded in your hair and pulled your head towards him, capturing your lips and kissing them hard. Your breath got knocked out of your lungs as your hands reached forward to steady yourself against his chest. You responded just as eagerly, feeling his tongue brush against yours. He pulled away, trying to catch his breath as he looked into your eyes. He planted a brief kiss on your nose making you smile, before he leaned back again.

"That wasn't what I meant when I said go do it," you teased.

He shrugged, smirking slightly, "Well, it was for me."

"Wipe that smirk off your face and go get your promotion back!"

"Or what?" he prodded.

"Or this." You leaned forward and kissed that stupid smirk off his face. Finally.

You quickly stood up after, chucking his t-shirt in his face and running to take a shower and get changed.

"You better be all promotion-ed up before I'm done!" you yelled laughing as you ran.

Jungkook grinned, quick to catch up after you. "No running near the pool!"

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

Your report card must be fooling you. Otherwise, you had no words to explain the A minus next to physical education.

"Of course, the one who fucks the PE teacher gets the best grades, why am I even surprised?" Taehyung said sarcastically.

You cringed, "You're just jealous because you couldn't pull the PE teacher, idiot," you said snatching the thing back from him.

"She's right, you couldn't," Jungkook shrugged as he approached your table at the cafe.

You beamed proudly at Taehyung eliciting an eye-roll from your best friend.

"Hi, baby," Jungkook mumbled as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head and pulled his chair out to sit down next to you.

"Hi-" you started but stopped mid sentence when you saw the package in his hand. "What's that?"

Jungkook lifted the neatly wrapped brown package with your name written on in his cute, squiggly handwriting.

"Oh, nothing. Just an early birthday present for someone," he teased.

"W- her birthday's not for another month," Taehyung complained.

"Nothing wrong in being prepared. Maybe you could learn a thing or two," Dahyun muttered the last bit under her breath from next to her boyfriend.

"Okay, I'm sorry, when did this become an 'all hail Jungkook' and 'let's roast the hell out of Taehyung' party? I am actually the cohesion in this group, okay?" he complained.

"Aw, settle down, Tae. You know we love you," you cooed to get on his nerves.

"Yeah babe, don't be upset. You want me to buy you a cookie?" Dahyun reassured stroking his arm.

Jungkook laughed, "Let's give him some credit. Taehyung actually gave me the idea to get you this." He handed the present over to you, chuckling at the excitement in your eyes.

As you carefully opened the gift, afraid to rip through the wrapping paper, you heard Jungkook say, "I'll be away next month for the annual swim meet. I won't be able to see her for her birthday so, I thought I'd try and make up for it however I can."

"Nice try, but you can't buy my best friend over wit-"

"Oh my god, oh my GOD. Are you for real?" you exclaimed laughing.

Dahyung peered excitedly over the opposite side of the table. "What?! Show me, show us!"

Jungkook smiled sheepishly, "It's really nothing fancy."

You pulled out from the pretty pink box - the colour of rose petals to be exact - a framed certificate of your beginner swimming course that you took over the summer with Jungkook's help.

You laughed, unable to wipe the grin off your face as you looked at Jungkook with the utmost adoration.

"I can't believe this. This is so amazing, Jungkook, I never in a million years thought I'd be holding this in my hands," you laughed, warmth filling your chest.

You looked up from the frame to see him smiling down at you.

"I love you," you said softly.

Jungkook looked a little taken aback. He smiled softly, the blush on his cheeks unable to hide his embarrassment from your sudden confession.

"I love you. I'm so proud of you," he whispered before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to your lips.

"Okay, not gonna lie that was kinda cute," Taehyung whispered to his girlfriend.

"It's adorable," Dahyun said fanning the tears out of her eyes.

You giggled and looked at your name printed on the official-looking piece of paper.

"Boy is my mother going to think I spent hours forging this," you whistled.

Jungkook laughed as he draped his arm over your shoulder, "I'll make sure to tell her that it is, in fact, real and very much deserved."

"Wait, y/n, there's something on the back," Dahyun pointed out excitedly.

You frowned and flipped over the frame to see an envelope. You looked up at Jungkook again in curiosity and he only smirked, urging you to open it. You pressed the corners of the envelope open and dumped the contents out into your hand. It was a folded piece of paper. You stretched it out and turned it around to find a printed plane ticket.

"Japan?" you looked at your boyfriend shocked.

He grinned, "For two weeks. I'll be yours all day, every day except on the day of the actual swim meet of course. I love you, but I can't-"

You cut him off with a kiss to his lips. "Shut up. Just shut the hell up and kiss me."

"Gladly," he grinned.

_________________________

A/N: Well that took me forever to write. It's not as long as the first part but I wanted to give it an ending! I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I would love to hear what you think. I'd appreciate your hearts and reblogs. My ask box is still open so, any ideas and suggestions, I am happy to listen to. Love xx

[clarchive]

there's that snag, the sudden cutoff silence that means persephone's struggling to verbalize something sensitive. ❝ it left one hell of a mark on you. geto walking out. i can see it in every interaction you have. there's this weight on your shoulders. ❞ a pause; they worry at their bottom lip, think on the words before making the decision to speak them aloud. ❝ tell me about him. ❞ no qualifying, no backpedaling or softening the blow. she trusts satoru to tell her to fuck off if he doesn't want to talk about it.

PERSEPHONE DOES NOT ASK MUCH OF HIM.    she allows him his space and she has hers in return;  he trusts her to ask if she needs help, if she wants help.    she trusts him to not get involved unless directly asked, but he does agree to train her, and train her hard.   train her in the way that he's slowly learning he needs to train people if he wants to teach.    it's frustrating  ––  eighteen, and he barely knows how to interact with people without the words of his mentors drilled into his mind, without pointing out the harsh weaknesses and the spaces where they leave themselves open.   she is fury incarnate, but there are still the holes in her form, the way that her technique is wild and unpredictable, and there's the tempting to try and tame it while not relying on his own technique.   blue, red, and hollow purple are all too expansive.   they'll destroy.    that isn't what he wants for them.    so he sticks to combat and throwing up his infinity, forcing her to find her way around it if she wants to land a blow. 

it's after one of these harsh sessions that they sit beneath a tree on the gojo clan grounds, near one of the ponds that house his prized koi.   when he was a child he would sneak out here when he was supposed to be at lessons, watching the way they happily swam and opened their mouths for food.   he had longed for that type of freedom;  the ability to swim and feel the water and never have to worry about fighting.   he had longed for a form of normalcy.    there had been a time when he would run off and not even care if it meant that there was a target on his head   ––    he was the strongest, so why should he be afraid?    traditional robes had been traded for modern dress, some part of him itching for the freedom while also desperate to run back into the arms that have coddled and trained.

he sees his parents around once or twice a year.   they keep their status and their distance  ––  he is prodigy, deity, and as much as they want to, they cannot touch his atmosphere.   he doesn't talk about it;  he throws himself back into the depths of jujutsu tech and now persephone and their requests.   it's easier that way.   it's better that way.

but their question takes him by surprise   ––   long legs are sprawled in front of him and he pulls in a long sip from his water bottle, forcing his hand not to grip around it until it gives underneath the weight.   there's a painful throb in his chest and lungs  ––   swallowing down suguru's name is like swallowing down a curse.    a curse, because it haunts him:   he should've stopped him.    that's what the society asks of him, is it not?   but he couldn't.   there was no way he could raise his technique to him and kill him and live with that.    it's more than just the friendship, the kinship that they have built   ––   it hurts more because it was more, and there's no true way to move on when it thrives and thrums, a living thing racing through the magnetic poles of the earth.

satoru hasn't spoken about it.   he keeps himself reserved and quiet when it comes to the subject of suguru  ––  pouts and claims it's because his friend group basically broke up, that's why he's sullen.   or maybe it's because he's so strong and everyone else is so weak.   but that was never the case.   that will never be the case.

persephone never asks anything of him, nor does she press boundaries.  getting personal information from him isn't something they do;  this has taken courage and thought.   they've been training hard and have the bruises the prove for it.   he doesn't owe it to her.   he doesn't owe it to anyone.

but….but.

❝ he was the first person to treat me like i was a human.   like i wasn't just satoru gojo, and was instead something less.   like i was strong but needed to learn that the world was different.  that it needed protecting.  but he didn't care, not that much.   we eased into a friendship without any doubts, with the recognition that we would get on each other's nerves and that it would always be part of it. ❞     tongue feels clumsy in his mouth  ––  this is more than he's spoken in ages about suguru geto.   it's reopening wounds that he has sutured crudely together;  he prevents his technique from healing these, from shoko touching them.   no, these are his to hold on to.

satoru pulls in a careful breath through his nose and taps his fingers along his thighs.   feels the way that they tremble ever so slightly, works through his signals because they are second nature, almost a grounding technique by now.   he trusts persephone with this because they will not judge him;  they will hold the secrets that him and suguru had never spoken.    ❝ the problem with being really good friends though is that sometimes you fall in love with your best friend.   and then one day they get tired of society and pretending and leave, and they expect you to kill him.   and he's willing to let you do it.   but you can't, because your heart still beats for them. ❞    

tongue runs along the inside of his cheek and he leans his head back against the trunk of the tree.   he feels the bark dig in a little and closes his eyes for a long moment, thankful for the sunglasses that are pressed against his eyes.    for once, it's not because of his six eyes.    ❝ and sometimes, no matter how long they've been gone, you're still in love with them.   and you see them every once in a blue moon, pretend you never did so that the uppers won't know and they'll be safe.   but it's never…the same.   because they're not coming back. ❞    a moment of composure;  he tries to settle the waves that crash into his sternum.    ❝ suguru is never coming back.   maybe one day i'll realize that and it'll stop hurting. ❞

their paths are different now.   but still,  ❝ some days i regret not following him.  even if i don't agree on his methods,  things have to change.   i could've kept him safe, you know? ❞    

[stargazer-sims]

The Art of Redemption

(part 2)

previous // next // story index

__________

Despite blatantly violating the posted speed limit, Beth-Anne feels as if the drive between her house and Nikolai’s is taking far too long. She’s terrified of what she might find when she gets there, and her mind is flooded with worst-case scenarios like an unending reel of nightmares playing in her anxious brain. She questions everything; her decision not to stay on the phone with him, the extra minute she’d taken to text Stan, each tiny action or choice she’d made since hearing his voice tonight.

Anything could have happened in the last several minutes. Anything.

You have to calm down, she orders herself. You aren’t going to be of any use to him like this.

The problem is, she isn’t confident that she knows how to calm herself. She’s faced a lot of loss in her life and she’s never coped particularly well with it. Losing someone she loved had nearly sent her over the edge before, and the recollection of that makes the thought of losing Nikolai even more unbearable.

What would Stan tell her to do in these circumstances?

Think of something positive. A good memory. A time when you were hopeful and happy.

Yes, that’s it. She's had many happy, hopeful times over the past ten years. Being able to come back to the figure skating world after believing that part of her life was over, working side-by-side with her friend and former coach, getting to know Nikolai and watching him grow as a person and flourish as an athlete; all of that camaraderie, love and support has sustained her and taught her how to find hope and happiness within herself.

Everything will be okay. It has to be.

She remembers the day she first met Nikolai Pavlenko. It was on a Thursday in late July. School was out for the summer and most skating lessons and group classes were on a pause as well. Only the serious athletes were still at the rink when everybody else was at the park or the beach.

Beth-Anne herself had been spending as much time as possible at the beach. As a physical education teacher at an all-girls private school, she was largely free during July and August, and she preferred to spend the time outdoors, hiking, swimming, puttering around in her garden or working on her tan. Although she still skated at her local community centre for fun and exercise, going to the rink in July wasn't anywhere near the top of her to-do list.

So, when she'd received a call from Stan, asking if she'd come and join him at a practice session for a couple of his students, she was intrigued. Slightly suspicious, naturally, but certainly intrigued.

"Why would you want me to do that?" she asked.

"I have a very unique problem," Stan told her. "I have two potential champions on my hands. Absolutely top-tier talent."

"And?"

"I can't manage them both, can I? I thought you might like to meet them. Maybe pick one."

"Pick one? For what?"

"To coach," Stan said, his tone implying he shouldn't have had to point that out.

"I have a job, Stan."

"This Thursday at ten o'clock. Be there," he said. "Or not. It's up to you. I personally feel like it's a golden opportunity for you, but—"

She hung up on him.

But, she went to the rink that Thursday anyway.

If anyone asked her, she wouldn't have been able to describe her feelings when she stepped through the doors of the arena where she used to train. It was strange, coming back to a place she hadn't been to in over four years. It felt familiar, like coming home, yet at the same time she got the sense things had changed enough that she really couldn't call this her place any more.

She made her way to the rink area, where she found Stan out on the ice with two of his students. Stan was fifty, with a lot more salt in his salt-and-pepper hair than he'd had when Beth-Anne was first introduced to him.

How long ago had that been? Beth-Anne had been seventeen when Stan took her on as a student. Had they really known each other for fourteen years at that point?

That'd make it... twenty-four years to the present day. Nearly a quarter-century. God damn.

She recalls observing Stan and his students for a few minutes before announcing her presence. Stan looked healthy and fit, and she was glad to see he still put his skates on and went out there with the kids instead of coaching from behind the boards.

Both students were teenagers. The girl was clad in a form-fitting turquoise top and black athletic pants, and had a long rust-coloured braid secured on the end with a wide turquoise elastic. She was tall and lanky and moved as if she couldn't wait to unleash her power. The boy had a smudge of a moustache, and out of control hair that Beth-Anne guessed he'd allowed to grow a bit too much to compensate for his lack of success in growing facial hair. He was wearing the ubiquitous close-fitting black athletic pants and a baggy forest green sweatshirt with the tongue-in-cheek slogan 'I heart this shirt' emblazoned on it in bold white lettering.

Beth-Anne almost lost it when the boy called out, "Hey, Uncle Stan! Check out what I learned from a video!"

"Don't you dare—" Stan began.

But it was too late. He was already skating backwards, and with the momentum he'd built up, he leapt off the ice and into a heart-stopping back flip. He landed on his feet, arms spread wide and face alight with a rascal's grin.

The girl let out a whoop. "I knew you could do it, Nik!"

"Nikolai Pavlenko, don't you ever do that again!" Stan yelled.

Both Nikolai and the girl were laughing so hard that they fell to the ice in their mirth. They grabbed each other's hands and did a little cheer.

Beth-Anne didn't need to see Stan's face to tell that he was torn between being exasperated and being entertained. She could see it in his body language. These two were most certainly a handful, but she knew he loved them nevertheless.

Seeing her opportunity, Beth-Anne said, "I guess I'm not interrupting anything important."

Stan turned at the sound of her voice. He gave her a little wave and started skating in her direction. "Beth-Anne, you made it. Great!"

"I wanted to see what all the fuss was about," she said.

"Well, I guess you're getting an eyeful." He glanced over his shoulder quickly as he stepped off the ice to join her. "You two, get up. Practice what we were working on yesterday, and no more dumb shit, please."

"That means you, Nik," said the girl, and her companion rolled on the ice, taken over by another laughing fit.

"Nikolai!" Stan shouted.

"Sorry, coach," said the teenager. He rubbed briskly at his face with his palms and took an audible breath before scrambling to his feet. "Practice what we worked on yesterday. Got it."

Stan sighed. "I'm telling you, Beth. These two are going to be the goddamned end of me."

"I can tell you really care for them," Beth-Anne said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they're not a massive pain in my ass," he said. "Especially that one." He jabbed a thumb into the air, pointing behind himself at Nikolai.

"That one," Beth-Anne echoed, gesturing at the young man in the green sweater. "Tell me about him."

"Nikolai Pavlenko," Stan said, pronouncing the name in a way she was certain no non-Slavic language speaker could do. "Seventeen years old. Had his debut in the senior division two years ago, and was honestly pretty unremarkable. But, I think that had more to do with inexperience and poor coaching than lack of talent. He came here from Ontario last year, and placed fourth at Skate Canada with me."

"You saw something his last coach didn't?"

"Obviously," Stan said.

"And the girl? She's the one who came from the UK specifically to train with you, right?"

"Vivienne Holmes. Yeah, she's my girl," he said. "We call her Ginger."

"Because of her hair?"

"No, because she's full of it. Full of ginger, I mean. That kid is like the Energizer Bunny and she's cheeky as hell, especially when she's with Nikolai."

"Sounds like the perfect match to me."

"Only if you think two troublemakers are better than one," Stan scoffed. "Anyway, Ginger's going to be sixteen in a couple of months, and she's having her senior debut this season. I need to separate those two so she can focus. I'll be damned if she flops in her first year at senior level just because she was too busy joking around with her buddy to concentrate on skating."

"So, you didn't actually ask me here to pick one of them, did you?" Beth-Anne said. "You want me to coach Nikolai."

Stan smiled at her. "You saw right through me."

"Wily bastard. How did you know I'd even come?"

"Because you can never say no to me." Stan held up a hand. "Now, shh... just watch. There goes your new boy. He's about to fly."

Beth-Anne found she couldn't take her eyes off Nikolai, momentarily stunned into silence as she watched him perform a flawless quadruple toe loop. His form was excellent and he made the difficult jump look almost effortless.

"Well done, Nikolai! Very nice!" Stan called to him. "Way to impress your new coach!"

Beth-Anne let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "Holy shit, Stan."

"I taught him that," Stan told her, clearly pleased. "It's his first quad, and he just started doing it around the end of May, beginning of June. You should've seen the disaster it was when he first tried it this spring."

"He's only seventeen?"

"Hmm," Stan hummed in affirmation. "He'll be eighteen in December. He's got amazing potential and I can see him going all the way to the top some day, but I really don't think I'm the right coach to get him there."

"Why not?" she asked. "You coached me to gold once."

Stan looked amused. "You practically coached yourself. I was just along for the ride."

"That's not true. You were always—"

"Look," Stan said. "Nikolai is special. He and Ginger both are. They could be world champions, but you know working toward that takes a big commitment of time and effort. With all my other students, I can commit to one or the other of them, not both, and Nikolai is... Well, he's a charmer and he knows how to get what he wants, whether it's good for him or not."

"You mean, he walks all over you."

"With his skates on," Stan said. "Got the metaphorical blade marks on my back to prove it."

Beth-Anne laughed. "So, it's like that. You want to foist your problem child onto me."

"Foist? Is that even a word?"

"Learn fuckin’ English, Stan."

He snorted in his effort not to laugh, but soon turned serious again. "Nikolai needs a firm hand. A coach who's going to love him and let him have fun, but also who's gonna keep him focused and isn't going to put up with his usual shit."

"And you think that person is me?"

"I do."

"Are you forgetting that I've never coached before? You say this kid's got enough potential to possibly be a world champion, and you'd let him risk all that on a green coach?"

"You're not green. You teach P.E. for fuck's sake, and don't you coach volleyball and run the dance club at your school?"

"That's not figure skating. It doesn't count."

"Like hell it doesn't," Stan insisted. "You've got experience working with teenagers, and you sure as hell know about figure skating. Just put the two together, and you'll kick ass as a skating coach. Plus, I saw that article in the paper. The kids love you, and clearly the board of directors of your school does, too. I mean, they don't give out Teacher of the Year awards to just anybody, do they?"

"No, but... I don't know about the whole coaching thing," she said. "I never thought about doing that."

"Tell me something. Do you like being a teacher?"

"Yeah. I like working with the kids, but..."

"I knew there was gonna be a 'but'. Go on."

She sighed. "How the fuck can you possibly know me so well?"

"I'm waiting for the part that comes after the 'but', Beth-Anne," Stan prompted.

"Fine," she said. "I guess you know I still skate."

"Yeah," he said. "I know."

"I wasn't ready to give up competing. I still dream about it."

"Do you?"

"I really do love teaching. I'm proud of the girls when they win a volleyball game too, but it doesn't actually mean anything, you know? Some of those girls might go on to play volleyball at university, but none of them are going to make it their career. It's just something to distract them from math and English and history."

"Right," said Stan. "What I'm hearing is that you're feeling unfulfilled."

"I wouldn't say unfulfilled," she countered. "Just... maybe not as fulfilled as I wish I was."

Stan gazed at her for a second or two. "You want to know what watching your kid win a medal feels like? A kid you've trained with day in and day out, who you literally think of as yours because you see them more than their parents do?" He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You talk about fulfillment and doing something that means something. That's it, right there."

"I don't know..."

"At least meet Nikolai, yeah? Maybe skate with him for a little bit? If he likes you and he agrees to it, then come and join us at practice for the rest of the summer. Call it a trial run to see if it's gonna work for you."

"Okay," she said. "But no promises."

"You don't have to commit to anything right this second," Stan assured her. "Just try it out, and if you do decide it's what you want, I'll be here to help you. I promised you a long time ago that I'd always be there for you, didn't I? You're not gonna be in this alone."

And she hadn't been. Stan had been there every step of the way to help her and give her advice when she needed it, to keep her on track when she got discouraged, and to remind her that she and Nikolai were doing amazing things together. "Your Nikolai is going all the way," he'd say. "I can see it."

My Nikolai, she thinks now. When did that happen?

She'd liked Nikolai from the moment she met him, and it'd only taken her a week to make up her mind to resign from her teaching job and become his coach. She adored his personality and was enchanted by his big blue eyes and devil-may-care grin, but most of all she was inspired by his passion for skating.

Stan hadn't been wrong. Nikolai was a charmer and a troublemaker, and yes he did require an application of verbal discipline from time to time, but he was bright and genuine and had the greatest capacity for love that she'd ever seen in a person of his age, His obvious joy on the ice filled Beth-Anne's heart with a kind of reflected happiness that she hadn't felt in a very long time, and she knew she wanted to keep that sentiment alive, for herself as well as for him.

There must've been a definitive point at which she'd started thinking of him as hers, when she'd ceased to be just his coach and somehow became more like a bonus mother to him. His real mother, Elena, is a good woman and Beth-Anne doesn't doubt that she loves Nikolai and his sister Natalya very much, but as long as Beth-Anne has known Elena and Mikhail Pavlenko, she's always had the impression that they were emotionally unavailable for their kids.

From the start, she knew sweet, sensitive Nikolai required someone who’d try to understand all his feelings without judging him for them. For him, skating was more than just a technical sport. The rink was a canvas on which he painted his innermost thoughts. He poured out his soul onto the ice, and she stood by his side, cherishing him and the artistry of his emotions, hearing the things he couldn’t say with words alone.

In his own way, he'd done the same for her, offering his faith in her and his love for her as priceless gifts. God knows, she'd been desperate for someone to believe in her back then. Without doubt or judgment, Nikolai became that someone. He never saw her as a failure or a has-been. He'd opened up his heart and mind to her and let her guide him toward what would become their shared dream. Together, they found a connection beyond words, where the rink became an almost sacred place.

The first time he won gold in a competition with her as his coach and they placed that medal around his neck, Beth-Anne felt as if they were giving her an award too. She'd never been so proud of another person's accomplishments in her whole life. Even her own lone gold medal from long ago hadn't felt as good as that, and she could hardly wait to thank Stan and tell him he was right.

After the medal ceremony, Nikolai came down from the podium to find her at the edge of the crowd. He was practically bouncing, and the smile on his face could've lit up an entire room. He threw himself into her arms with a jubilant exclamation of, "Beth-Anne, we did it!"

She hugged him tight. "You did it, sweetheart. It was all you."

"No." He shook his head, causing his floppy brown hair to brush against her chin and cheek. "We did it. I couldn't have got here alone. I couldn't do any of it without you, and I'd never want to."

"I'll be with you as long as you want me to be," she said.

He leaned close and whispered. "Forever, okay?"

"Okay," she said, and deep inside she knew she meant it. She never wanted to leave him, not ever. Even when his competing days were over and they'd both moved on to other things, she hoped she could still be his friend, his confidante or mentor. The truth was, he'd saved her. He'd given meaning and purpose to her life when she felt it had none. He brought her back to the sport she loves, and she’ll always be grateful for that. She doesn’t consider it a sacrifice to do whatever she can to repay him for offering her that precious second chance.

After a moment, they let go of each other, and Nikolai took a step back. Then, he did the most extraordinary thing. He lifted the ribbon of his medal from around his own neck and placed it around hers instead.

"For you," he said. "Keep it."

She touched the cool metal disc. "Nik, I can't keep your medal. You earned it."

"You helped me earn it." He offered her that mischievous grin of his. "Besides, I'm going to win lots of them in the future, so I'll have plenty. You should have this one. You know, to keep yours company, because two together are always happier than just one alone."

To this day, she doesn't know if he realized the allusion he'd created. She is happier with him, with Stan, with her two up-and-coming junior skaters Brett and Mariah, and all her non-competitive students from her group classes.

Almost no one is better off alone. That was a lesson she had to learn, and she's thankful the ones who taught it to her were Stanislav Kovac and Nikolai Pavlenko.

She took Nikolai's medal home from that competition, and she hung it on the wall of her den, next to her own gold medal. Over the years, the display has grown with coaching awards, as well as photographs, newspaper clippings and framed magazine articles all featuring the successes of her students. The collection always expands outward, with the two gold medals eternally at the centre.

Wait... this is Nikolai's street!

Her truck's tires shriek as she takes the corner way too fast. Fortunately, the pavement isn't wet and nothing goes awry. She can't believe she’d distracted herself so successfully that she had nearly missed turning in the right place. She swears aloud, exhaling a string of foul language that'd doubtless make a dockyard worker blush.

Nikolai's house is the only one on the street with a light on inside. She parks her truck at the curb and sprints across the yard and up the front steps. Her heart hammers against the inside of her chest.

When she tries the door, she discovers it's unlocked. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she eases it open and steps inside. The air in the house is damp and cold as if there's a window open somewhere, allowing the chill February night to impose itself like an unwanted houseguest.

She doesn't have to look far to find Nikolai. He's sitting on the floor no more than two meters from the doorway, head down, staring at some undiscernible spot on the polished hardwood floor. It seems he'd done exactly as she instructed. He unlocked the door for her, and then did nothing else until she arrived.

She experiences a little pang of heartache as she takes in the situation. Nikolai is wearing the same red gym shorts and loose grey t-shirt he'd been wearing when she'd last seen him in person three days ago, and his overabundance of chocolate brown hair is dishevelled and stringy. His right knee — the injured one — is badly swollen, and she doesn't see his crutches anywhere. She knows his leg hadn't looked that bad the last time she was here, and she wonders what might've happened.

She says his name softly, and he looks up. His face is tear-streaked, and the edges of his eyes are red as if he's been rubbing at them.

"I'm cold," he says.

She shuts the door quickly. A thousand questions tumble through her head, but she rejects them all as either inane or inappropriate. At last, she settles on, "Where's Anya?" Somehow, she stops just short of adding 'What the hell did she do to you?' or 'Why the fuck would she leave you like this?'

Nikolai shakes his head. "I don't know. I... I'm alone."

"Sweetheart, no," Beth-Anne closes the distance between them in two long strides and then drops to the floor beside him. She takes him in her arms, and he instantly collapses against her, weeping. He's shivering. She thinks she should try to get him into warmer clothes, but first she has to make sure he's going to be okay. She strokes his back, just as she'd done a few weeks ago in Taiwan, like she's probably done a hundred other times. "I'm here. It's all right. You're safe, and you're not alone. I said I'd always be here for you, remember? I promise, you never have to be alone."

[johndpg]

MEMORIES OF SCHOOLDAYS #2

PANTS OFF FOR PE

During my first week at grammar school, our form master Mr J told us not to bring in any kit for our first Games lesson and said instead we were to go to the New Sports Hall (that’s what everybody called it, even though it was built at least 20 years ago).

PE was indoors in the gym or the New Sports Hall (lol) and my form had one lesson a week. The whole first form had Games on Wednesday afternoons and, because each form was assigned to one of four Houses, they wanted to mix us up, so the Houses could compete. Lower School boys also got one swimming lesson a week (good times) and I think my form joined with another one for that.

So, that first Wednesday, I lined up with 150 or so other excitable 11-year-olds outside the New Sports Hall. A boy near me in the queue (no idea who he was now) announced conspiratorially that “you’re not allowed to wear pants under your shorts” and that it must be true because he had an older brother at the school. We just laughed at him. Who’d ever heard of such nonsense!

Once the PE teachers had got us inside and settled down, they went through the sports we’d be doing. In the Autumn/Spring terms there was football (excellent), hockey (hmm, okay), rugby (do I have to?) and cross country (fuck off). In Summer there was athletics (great), cricket (excellent) and badminton (sounds fun). They put us in groups of 30 to 40, which included boys from all four Houses.

Mr P took us for PE in the gym. As we were getting changed for our first lesson into our kit of white vest and shorts, he delivered the surprising instruction not to put on our vests. So, of course we didn’t and, in fact, never did. Like every other boy, I had to do PE topless until the sixth form.

He was a middle-aged, taciturn man who used to glower and pull faces at what he called our “pathetic effort” at physical education. But he could be fun too. He’d let us play Pirates if we begged hard enough, where you had to get round the gym without touching the floor. One day, though, he was away and Mr M, the head of PE, took the lesson. He was a stocky, blond man who had played semi-professional football back in the day. As he exited the changing room I can recall his exact words because of the consternation it created then, but more because of what happened later—“Remember, gentlemen, nothing under your shorts.”

There was concerned chatter throughout the changing room, some voices disbelieving, others mutinous. One boy next to me said, “I’m not.” to which I replied, “Well I’m not going to risk it.” Being so young, I’m not sure I can recall any difference wearing my shorts without pants, although maybe things were a bit breezier!

Mr M’s approach to teaching PE was very different to Mr P. He was much more engaged and enthusiastic, and his loud voice was frequently heard booming “Well done!” and “Good!” Over half of us couldn’t climb the ropes, so he showed us his technique; later, he climbed up behind one boy who couldn’t get further than a few feet off the floor and kept pushing him up higher with the top of his head! The boy was probably terrified, but it was very funny to watch, and we cheered and clapped. The other big difference was the large plimsoll he had tucked under his arm when he let us into the gym. I knew boys got the slipper in senior school and eyed it nervously when he slapped it down on a windowsill with some other things he was carrying.

Mr P was back as normal for our next lesson and I guess most of us kept our pants on as before (you know, like we’d been doing for all of our lives).

Flash forward a few months, to maybe after Christmas? It was definitely still winter, as the big gym was fucking freezing. I’m not sure a vest would have added much insulation, but every little helps. We were doing exercises in different spots around the room—running, skipping, jumping, push-ups, that kind of thing. Mr M suddenly appeared and beckoned Mr P over. The latter blew his whistle, so we stopped and waited. There was a muttered conversation and Mr P left and Mr M announced that he was taking over the class.

Five/ten minutes later there was another whistle blast, so we stuttered to a stop again. I remember I was at the back of the gym doing a thing where you had to work your way down a bench by putting your hands flat on it and jumping from one side to the other. I looked over to Mr M who was pointing at a boy. “Are you wearing underpants?” The boy mumbled, “Yes, Sir,” and looked at his feet. The class was frozen in place like an Edwardian tableau—because he wasn’t the only culprit. I remember thinking the 11-year-old equivalent of oh shit. Mr M must have read the room. “Are there any other boys wearing underpants?” he enquired. A couple of hands went up. There was silence as he scanned our faces. “Anyone else?” After some nervous foot shuffling a few more hands were raised. His veiled threat that, “It will be the worst for you if you don’t own up now” was met with a flurry of the remaining hands, mine included. I’m pretty sure he was taken aback but he just said, “All of you go and get changed and get back here. You’ve got two minutes—go!”

My whole form fled the gym, there were no mutineers this time! I had to run the length of the room and then down two flights of stairs to the changing room. The boys who’d been nearest the gym doors were already on their way back up! I was running out of time. Where was my peg? There! Shorts down, pants off, shit they’re caught on my foot, hop, hop, shorts back on, go, go, go! I raced up the two flights of stairs, getting out of breath now, and burst through the gym doors. Was I back in time? At least I wasn’t last.

The boys who had reached the gym ahead of me were in a line facing the doors, so that was a surprise. Many were still red-faced and panting because of our sudden burst of exertion. Well, it was a PE lesson, I suppose! I didn’t need to be told to take the next place in the line, and the boys who came running in after me likewise fell in, huffing and puffing.

Mr M regarded us sternly. I don’t recall what he said exactly, it was so long ago, but he started along the lines of, “You were all told underpants must not be worn during PE or Games lessons” because I remember thinking no, we bloody weren’t (well, certainly not officially lol). Then it was hygiene this blah, blah, having to wear wet or muddy underpants in class that blah, blah. He emphasised his points with the plimsoll that seemed to have magically appeared in his hand. It was white once but now grubby with ingrained dirt, and the laces were missing. Then he told all of us to touch our toes.

I’d never been ordered to bend over before, so at a loss to know exactly what to do, I literally touched the top of my plimsolls, which left me in a wobbly, half-crouching position. My legs were shaking, which didn’t help, and my mouth was dry, because I remember trying to swallow as I stared at the wooden parquet floor between my feet. I can still recall the boy who was bending over to my left, let’s call him Nixon, because of something that happened afterwards. I saw he was grasping his legs above his ankles, so I did the same. That was much better. We exchanged a glance, telepathically communicating our fear, and then both went back to staring at the floor.

I daren’t look up or around to see what was happening, so my ears were working overtime. Suddenly, there was a resounding whack as Mr M slippered the first boy in line to my left, followed by a youthful “Ahh!” “Go to the wallbars.” “Yes, Sir!” Less than five seconds later came the second whack and another boy’s exclamation of pain. “Go to the wallbars.” Five seconds… Another whack. “Go to the wallbars.” By the fifth boy or so it was just “Wallbars” and shortly afterwards the even more direct “Go!”

I was about two-thirds of the way along the line, so it probably took Mr M ninety seconds or so to work his way towards my small backside, protected only by a pair of white, nylon shorts. It seemed to take much longer as I waited, gripping my ankles. Whack, whack, whack!… Unhurried, remorseless… Getting nearer! I was keenly aware of his presence when he finally arrived behind Nixon. I strained my eyeballs to the left to see what was happening. Nixon’s eyes were screwed shut. I could see the bottom of Mr M’s legs and his feet. There was a pause, then the now-familiar whack of the slipper in action, much louder now it was happening right next to me. Nixon jolted and yelped. “Go!” said Mr M and with a “Yes, Sir!” the boy was up and away in a flash. And then Mr M WAS STANDING DIRECTLY BEHIND ME.

I had an upside down view of his feet between my trembling legs. I wanted a piss so badly. I felt him grip my waistband and hitch up my shorts, and then a second later his plimsoll made contact with the middle of my buttocks and there was a bright flash of heat. Now it was my turn to jerk forward with an audible “Ahh!” “Go!” he ordered, “Yes, Sir!” I squeaked and scampered over to the wallbars, rubbing my backside as I went. It wasn’t so much hurting as tingling, and I could feel the spreading warmth from that one whack.

I exchanged a relieved grin with Nixon. We had to stand the other side of the wallbars because of the number of boys waiting there now, and we casually leant back against the wall. We didn’t realise it would be icy cold in the unheated gym in winter and both jumped when it touched our bare skin, but then, oh my God, it felt amazing against our hot bottoms, especially through nylon shorts with no pants! I remember we looked at each other in surprise and delight. Nixon put his hands on his knees and pushed back, so I did likewise, and we pulled silent, laughing faces.

Meanwhile, Mr M was finishing-off the last ten boys or so with the same, measured pace. Whack! “Go!”… Whack! “Go!” It probably took him less than three minutes to slipper every boy in the form. I was 11 (my birthday is at Easter) but some of them would been 12 already. When all of us were assembled at the wallbars he told us, “If I catch another boy in this form wearing underpants, it won’t be the slipper, it’ll be the cane!”, again waving his plimsoll at us for emphasis. During my entire time at the school, I never heard of a PE teacher caning anybody, so I’m sure he only said that to impress upon us the gravity of such a heinous crime. He checked his watch; there was only ten minutes of the lesson left, so he dismissed us early.

For the rest of that year and the whole of the next, winter or summer, indoors or out, rain or shine (or even snow on a few occasions!), I was a committed freeballer. I’m pretty sure the rest of my form was as well. We started to get more cavalier about the no-pants rule in the third form because we were teenagers then and knew everything, and didn’t bother with it at all in the Upper School… Unless you knew for sure you’d got Mr M for a lesson, and then even at 16 it was definitely pants off, just in case.

That was far from the last time my backside got acquainted with Mr M’s slipper. Stay tuned!

[hurtcomfortficstilltheend]

A little post-river pick-me-up.

Lucy Carlyle x gn! Reader

Summary: R makes panqueques con dulce de leche (argentinian crepes filled with a milk based caramel) for the team after the shiver-inducing Thames fiasco.

Warnings: Falling into the Thames (chapter 7 follow-up), me sugarcoating the end because I'm weak for this fandom and this fandom only, and fluff.

A/N: The uncover DEPRAC agent didn't die, Joplin (just noticed in the book she's a man btw) doesn't exist, and Penelope Fittes is a good person, because I say so. Also, reader is Lockwood's cousin.

Word Count: 1.9k

Thank God. 

Thank God you were born in a town surrounded by water, thank God your father had insisted on swimming lessons since you were five, thank God you actually learned.

You’d probably drowned otherwise. Jumping from that rooftop, at least fifteen meters high, was already too much of a physical trauma, to add struggling to keep afloat on top of it. Now that you think about it, thank God you’d done all those scouts survival courses too. 

The moment the three of you hit the water, and after the initial sinking -followed by the thermic shock and panic- you instinctively swam up to the surface.The night breeze was somehow even colder than the Thames now.

“Lucy!” You yelled with the first gulp of air you got into your lungs. “Anthony!” You weren’t sure how far they could be, if you had drifted away during the fall, if they were still underwater. It was pitch black, and you didn’t even know if you were safe from the golden blade yet.

You kicked your shoes off into the river to lessen the weight, and considered doing the same with your dressing pants. “LUCY!” You heard some rustling in the water near you, and begun a clumsy front crawl towards it. It was your cousin, Anthony, who seemed to have just had his first breath. You held onto his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Peachy." He was having no problem with keeping his head above the water, so you let go.

You rolled your eyes, a dry but sincere "Great." Left your mouth, then you got serious. “I can’t find Lucy.” 

He nodded dutifully, but before either of you started calling out for the girl, she popped up a few meters away from you. You thanked God again, but noticed that she was coughing and struggling to stay afloat.

Lockwood got to her first and helped stabilize her, but you noticed that he was just as shaken, so it was kind of up to you to wear the trousers in the situation. Which right now meant to take them off. You had a pair of biking shorts under anyway, no biggie. So you did, discarding your coat into the river as well.

You got closer to Lucy and took Lockwood’s place holding her up. You weren’t sure Lucy knew how to swim at all. 

“We need to get to shore ASAP.” Anthony nodded again. You wondered if today’s events were too much for him, he seemed so quiet, unlike his usual self. You already missed his overconfident attitude.

At some point of the trip to the nearby beach, Lucy had actually started swimming by herself. Still, you kept an eye on her, just in case.

-

Getting out of the river was not as satisfying as you had imagined. You were grateful and relieved to be on solid ground, of course, as the whole group’s muscles were quite fatigued, and you were all agitated after swimming; but the cold that came with it was almost unbearable. The three were shivering violently when you threw yourselves to the gravel to catch your breaths.

Lockwood was the first to sit up. He felt horribly guilty for how the events had unfolded and how all of you had ended up in this situation. He knew it was his fault, his pride started the whole bone glass thing anyway.

Your teeth were chattering, and you knew you all were going to die of hypothermia if you didn’t get home as soon as possible. Besides, sooner or later you were bound to cross paths with a Visitor, and you were in no condition to fight. 

You turned to your side, and saw Lucy looking up at the dark cloudy sky with glassy eyes. Her lips were turning purple.

You jumped up into action, and reached an arm towards your girlfriend to help her up too. She struggled a little bit to gain balance, and so did Lockwood, and so did you, but in no time you were walking towards the nearest ghostlight to hail a night cab. 

Your appearance wasn’t decent at all. You were all dressed in night attire, but wet to the bone and filthy. Lucy’s mascara was running down her cheeks, and you were barefoot and in gym shorts. For a second you thought you probably looked like wet, sad, kicked puppies. Still, a taxi driver took pity on you and parked.

-

You didn’t even have the energy to fight Lockwood on this one, or tell him how reckless he had been, or how you could have all died tonight. You were exhausted. Still, as his family, you had the inherent responsibility to make him take account for his actions. “You can take the shower first, Luce.” You told her the moment you stepped into 35 Portland Row. 

“Are you sure..?” She turned around to look at you, hesitant to climb up the stairs to your shared room. 

You nodded and tried your best to smile for her. “Of course, just don’t use all the hot water again, please.” The joke went right over her head, but she still nodded and made her way to the attic.

You crossed your arms to try and hide your shivering. When you were both alone, you turned to face your cousin. “Dude..” 

“I know. I’m sorry” You didn’t mean to make him feel worse about it, but this wasn’t going to just be forgotten and forgiven like almost everything always was.

“You fucked up big time.” He just gulped and stared at his now water damaged dress shoes. You sighed. It was not the time anyways. “Go shower so I can patch up your forehead.” He was about to complain, but you cut him off with a gesture of your hand, “Don’t lie to yourself, we all know you’re an awful nurse. Now go.”

“You sound like aunt Lauren.” He grumbled. That’s how genetics work, you thought, but before you could react, he had already gone upstairs.

You sat on the second bottom stair step, and leaned your body to rest on the wall. You were facing the door, waiting for George to barge in, and tell you all that the mirror had been safely handed to DEPRAC. You truly couldn’t take any other scenario for an answer. 

-

The dissonant shriek the hinges emitted when the entrance door was opened disturbed your sleep. You hadn’t even realized you dozed off. You clothes were still wet and cold, so it couldn’t have been too long.

“George.” You said standing up slowly. Your knees popped and the general soreness hit you like a tidal wave. “Is it over?”

He turned the key and locked the house. “What happened to you-”

“Long story, jumping into the Thames does this sometimes, is it over?” You repeated. It sounded desperate.

He seemed to understand. “Yes, it is. The furnaces are not on during the night, but I made sure they took the mirror to the lowest level to be incinerated first thing in the morning.”

“Good.” Everyone was inside, everything was okay. You were all safe and alive. You tried to hold on to that thought. You breathed out slowly. “I need a shower.”

Halfway up the stairs you looked over your shoulder. “The entirety of today was a clusterfuck. How does argentinian milk caramel crepes tomorrow afternoon sound? If we go to Arif’s before that I can prepare some. This team really needs a pick-me-up.”

George took in your tired eyes and miserable appearance altogether. He formed a half-smile and nodded softly. You did the same and headed to the small bathroom in the attic, making a quick detour to apply a few steri-strips to Anthony's forhead and calling it a day.

-

You got out of the shower and dried your hair. Your piyamma was already on when you got out of the bathroom and into the room, a cloud of steam following you. The lights were off, but the street’s ghost lamp illuminated enough for you to get to your side of the bed without stumbling over something.

Lucy had been so tired she had fallen asleep over the covers. You picked her up softly, undid the bed and did your best to settle her in, following suit onto your side. She stirred.

“What took you s’long?” she slurred out. You could tell she wasn’t really awake. You answered anyway.

“I was just waiting for George to get home. It's over.” You were lying on your back, and in her drowsy state she got closer and curled onto your side, an arm around your waist. You caressed her hand softly with your fingertips.

“Yeah?” She asked. You hummed in confirmation. Her body relaxed and her breathing evened out. Soon enough, so did yours.

-

The feeling of freezing water engulfing you and getting into your lungs woke you up. You opened your eyes, the adrenalin already in your bloodstream, muscles itching to get into action. But you didn’t. You were safe, in your room with your girlfriend sleeping soundly by your side. It was just a nightmare.

You didn’t want to go back to sleep though; you knew if you did, your mind would come up with more terrors to torment you with. From your position you checked the clock on the wall. 10.52 a.m. Too early for your liking, but it would have to do.

You got up slowly, making sure Lucy's sleep didn’t get disturbed in the slightest. 

Every single fiber of your body was sore, it felt worse than the night before, but it made sense, so you decided to ignore it.

You brushed your teeth and picked up some clothes to change downstairs.

-

After getting the supplies and getting the pancake pan going, little by little the house started waking up. 

“Would you please put the kettle on the stove?” You asked George. He was the first to wake up and the most alive looking, at least compared to the shapeless form slumped over the table, AKA your cousin Anthony. Lucy hadn’t gotten up yet.

It was one p.m. when the last crepe left the pan. They were all stacked up on a plate, ready to be filled with dulce de leche and enjoyed. The tea was already in the teapot, Ariff's swiss rolls on display, and other add ons made by George scattered around.

Still, Lucy wasn’t there.

“Don’t you dare start without us.” you said in an over dramatic manner, pointing at them and making a threatening gesture as you headed upstairs. You knew they were going to be halfway down the stack by the time you came back anyway, but you didn’t actually care that much. 

“Lucy…” You sing-songed when you got to the attic. At first glance you noticed she hadn’t changed position from when you left her a few hours before. 

You sat on the edge of the mattress and ran your fingers through her hair. Slowly but surely, she started stirring, her eyelashes fluttering open.

“Hi.” She croaked out.

“Hi, babe. There are fresh crepes in the kitchen, and I was wondering if you wanted some… you know, before they get eaten by George and Anthony… who were left unsupervised just about now in front of the plate-”

She jolted up at that. You knew it would do the trick, since it was her favorite dish. She smiled broadly, gave you a little peck on the cheek and got into the bathroom.

In no time you were both heading towards the kitchen, holding hands.

-

-

-

Bonus:

You were surprised to see the guys hadn’t gotten to inhaling the food yet. Then realized as they handed you a butterknife, they were just too lazy to actually spread the caramel into the crepes. You rolled your eyes, but prepared one for each, and then another one. You ate last, but you didn’t mind, you were happy you could bring a smile into their faces, even if it was just with something as simple as food.

-

After finishing the breakfast feast, the whole agency, one by one disappeared into your bedrooms to take a well deserved nap.

[scarfacemarston]

hey so I saw your reblog about people memeing about John being rabid af but I thought of something else. I think some of the jokes about John not swimming are kinda effed up? like some people take it too far. its different when Arthur jokes about it but some guys talking about it like in a drowning way??? how is that funny??

TW Drowning mention: So, out of universe example - it's Rockstar doing a wink wink nudge nudge that John couldn't swim in RDR 1 because developers didn't want the player to reach certain areas. In-universe - Arthur only jokes about it if you antagonize/ or are low honor. The more low honor you are, the more likely Arthur will automatically say low honor things. There is a difference between a family member/friend saying something and someone outside of that group saying something. Fandom wise? I think one thing that annoys me is when it's tied to John's legit phobia rather than anything else. It's totally fine to be like, "Yeah, I can't go here in certain places because I'm playing John. That's so annoying. Ugh, wish he could swim," or maybe some teasing in general, but I have seen a bit of what you're talking about. The actual drowning aspect? I haven't seen it often, but I have seen it before. People don't realize that historically, not as many people knew how to swim. It really depended on your background and circumstances. Hosea and Dutch could have taught him since I would imagine they taught Arthur, but there is a chance Lyle taught him to swim. IDK. However, John has a legit phobia. He has a panic attack when you put him too near the water. (hyperventilating) It was probably too late /too much work/too traumatizing to do more than a few lessons with John. It sounds like he might have had something traumatic happen to him as a kid? Logically, it would make sense. Otherwise, Do people really think that his drunkard father would teach him? The abusive orphanage he ran from? Like I said, when people make fun of the phobia aspect, then that's just mean. Would people make fun of someone else like Sean or Mary-Beth if it was their phobia? I don't know. It's possible that people are just rather tone-deaf and take it too far.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Space Oddity

Fandom: DC Comics, Titans (Fab Five)

Summary: Garth grew up in a carnival freakshow, and he never thought about the world outside the glass walls of the Aquarium until a group of kids befriended him. Their love and interest in finding his people might be the key to escaping the silent horrors of his home life at the carnival.

Chapters: 5/?

Characters: Garth of Shayeris, Donna Troy, Wally West, Dick Grayson, Roy Harper, Original Character(s)

Relationships: TBA

Additional Tags: Carnival AU, Developing Friendships, Rescue, 60’s AU, 70’s AU, No Capes AU, Hurt/Comfort, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Lies, Escape, Childhood Memories, Team Bonding, Fish out of Water, Tiny Garth, Beaches, Angst with a Happy Ending, Found Family, Road Trip, First Person POV, POV Garth of Shayeris

Chapter Five: Emergence

The first time I climbed out of my tank past bedtime to read and play happened a few months afterward. That was the first time I realized how frightening Fisher was. I sat on the bench, wrapped in a towel, while I read silently. Walter brought me books to read most of the time, and I rarely had time to read between dinner and bedtime, so I wanted to stay up late to finish them. Mostly poem collections, but now they were short stories about the ocean. I dreamt about the ocean’s vastness constantly. It awakened a loneliness that seemed to swallow everything I once enjoyed. That night was no different. I sat awake reading one of Walter’s books, and as soon as I finished it, I was hit with a strong curiosity. I crept toward the exit door, and I shut my eyes. I imagined cool ocean air and a cliff’s edge. Or maybe a beach. I thought about letting my body drift away from shore and sink into the ocean’s murky depths. I imagined people like me who breathed water and talked to one another in languages only we knew. I imagined myself with a mother and father… Maybe even a brother.

Then reality struck me across the face in the form of Fisher’s closed fist. I cried out and held my hands over a busted lip. He’d never hit me that hard before. He’d never hit me in the face before. “What do you think you’re doing? You think there’s something out there for you?” Fisher asked as he grabbed me by the back of my collar and dragged me across the floor. It choked me and cut into my gills.

“Fisher! Please stop!” I cried as I kicked to try and regain my footing. Fisher gave my swim shirt a final yank, and I hit my head against the floor.

“You don’t have anyone! You don’t have parents! There’s no one out there like you or for you! I take care of you!” Fisher hollered as he beat me with his fists.

“Fisher! Fisher! Stop!” I cried. I screamed as loud as I could until Luis came in, half-dressed, his robe still untied.

“Hey! Hey, Fisher, you’re gonna kill him!” Luis hollered as he grabbed Fisher’s arm. Fisher reached into the back of his waistband and pulled out a gun. I’d only ever seen guns in books. “Fisher, what are you doing? He’s just a kid!”

Murray rushed in, and Fisher waved the gun back and forth. I curled up and covered my head. I had blood in my gills, mouth, and nose. I wept in the near-silent room as the others poured in and held their hands above their heads. Walter was the only one brave enough to help me. Walter filled the small kiddie pool with saltwater from the gallon bottles that Fisher kept around. The saltwater burned my wounds. I lost consciousness and woke up to Doc shining a light in my eyes. It hurt to breathe, even while submerged in the water. Everyone had gone away except for Fisher. “Who in the world would beat a twelve-year-old kid like this? Fisher, you’ve got to control your temper,” Doc muttered, “You could’ve killed him.”

I started crying softly as the pain flooded back to the surface. “He was trying to run away after all I’ve done for that spoiled brat. I had to teach him a lesson. This is where he belongs, and he needs to know that,” Fisher snapped.

“Fishy, can you hear us?” Doc asked. I started crying. I couldn’t move. My whole body hurt.

After that, Fisher started locking me in my tank at night. I wasn’t allowed to do shows until my face healed, and I ate my meals alone. My home became a prison. Fisher took away everything that would’ve made me want to leave my tank. It was nearly two weeks before I saw people other than Fisher again. He woke me up, fishing me out of the tank, and I screamed underwater as my heart raced, and something happened that I never experienced before. The water flowed out of the tank and knocked Fisher off the ladder. I swam to the water’s surface and tried apologizing, but Fisher was completely unconscious. I climbed down the ladder and shook Fisher. “I’m sorry,” I whispered as I shook him. “Fisher, wake up… I promise if you wake up, I’ll be good. Honest! I’ll stay here. I’ll never leave the Aquarium. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He coughed up water, and I embraced him. “Fish—.”

“It was an accident. I didn’t know I could do that. I’ve never done anything like that before. I would’ve told you if I could. I-. You scared me,” I cried. Fisher sat up and nodded.

“Get ready for your show… There’s a big crowd waiting for you,” Fisher mumbled, “I’ll have Walter bring you breakfast.”

He pushed me off of him and left me alone in the Aquarium. I sat on the floor alone until Walter came to eat with me.

"Fish, how're you doing? And what happened to Fisher? He's soaking wet," Walter whispered. I ate in silence. "Fishy?"

"You've known me since I was little… Am I the only one?" I asked.

"I've had a lot of years to think about you… You had—. I still have your kelp shorts. I think—. You must have somebody out there in that ocean. Someone must've fed and clothed you. I'm not even the only Wolf Man I know. We might be rarities or oddities, but we are not the only ones of our kind. I sincerely believe that Fishy," Walter replied.

"I wasn't trying to run away… I only wanted to see what it looked like outside… And I can feel—. Something inside of me is different, Walter. Not just my thoughts… My powers don't work the same. I almost accidentally killed Fisher this morning," I confessed, "I dream about the ocean. I can't see the ocean, but I can feel it. I can hear it. It calls to me."

"What do you mean? How are your powers changing?" Walter asked.

"Fisher scared me, and I screamed, and I—. I felt the water like—. It felt like an extension of myself. It pushed him off his ladder," I replied. Walter’s face changed from concern to something indiscernible before he started laughing. “Walter?”

“Oh, I would’ve loved to see that,” Walter chuckled, “Fisher doesn’t deserve your sympathy. If something happened, we wouldn’t have let you get in trouble. We love you, Fishy… We do.”

After breakfast, I changed into my performing clothes, and the first batch of people poured in. Roy came by himself and stayed all day, waiting for things to quiet down so he could speak to me. He sat on the alcove bench, and he frowned at me. “What happened? Donna’s been worried sick about you,” Roy wrote.

“Sick,” I wrote.

“Garth. That’s your new name,” Roy wrote. I would’ve smiled, but everything seemed so grim. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing,” I wrote. A lie. Roy scowled and stormed off. I thought he’d never return. I swam in circles until I created a small cyclone in the water. I let it whoosh me around. I wanted to make a mess. I wanted to cry, but I held it all in until the end of the day. Walter was the only one allowed to feed me, so I sat at a table across from him, eating chicken and roasted carrots.

“The boy, he’s been asking about you,” Walter stated. I didn’t want to talk.

“Roy… I know. He called me Garth today,” I mumbled. The corners of my mouth involuntarily twitched upward.

“It fits you… Garth,” Walter grinned.

[jade-efflorescence]

finally getting to some tag games i was included in by some lovely mutuals! annnd starting a new post for both of them so it's easier to scroll through XD

the first is a q and a round which @sometimesiship tagged me for! Thank you so much for thinking of me, really meant the world <33

1. Named after anyone?

nope!

2. Last time you cried?

ooooh i'm a pretty emotional person so this should be easy, but for some reason it's hard for me to remember? Probably a month or so ago when I had some really bad stomach cramps.

3. Any kids?

Nope!

4. Sports played/playing?

I got into ballet as a kid (thank you, endless Nutcracker performances and Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses) and I've never looked back since! I've tried a ton of studios and different styles like jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and modern. (Jazz and Hip Hop are my favorite!) I also briefly took up swimming lessons a few years back.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

I've tried some sarcastic quips, I don't think I'm very good at it though XD. The only way I excel in that is writing them into dialogue hehe.

6. First thing you notice about people?

Physically speaking, their face :) If not, then their outfit for the day!

7. Eye color?

Dark brown!

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings! Always down for some fluff.

9. Talents?

I always like to mention writing haha: I've written a lot in multiple genres/settings and I'm pretty proud of that. I'd consider myself pretty crafty as well: I recently got into scrapbooking and bracelet making and have completed a number of those projects. I can memorize just about anything. I have a strangely good ability to pick up/create harmony despite not knowing how to read music.

10. Where were you born?

China! never lived there though

11. Hobbies?

listening to music, reading, writing, tumblr, spending time with family.

12. Pets?

a lot, since I live in the country! at the moment we have two cats, three dogs, many many chickens (roosters and hens) and several groups of bees that live out near our woods :D

13. Height?

4'11/abt 150 cm (😭)

14. Favorite subject at school?

English! Or Creative Writing if that's an option.

15. Dream job?

Traditionally published author.

thanks again for the tag, it was so fun! no pressure tagging @lassify, @mollyhale, @rachellelizabethhdare, and @wondrousmay.

[honey-deku]

Hii ^^ (I just realised I have never before sent you an ask xD)

How about 8. and 17. from the 70 questions thing? 🤭

All good Mirka! <3

08: yup! i've always been the athlete in my family and was considered the jock in my highschool friend group! got a scholarship and many awards for it during my childhood. ive participated in quite a few sports!

since 5th grade, i loved going on jogs and running in general, pretending i was sonic lol

around middle school, i loved played volleyball during gym class and was considered the ace since people fumbled with my spikes and we'd score points this way (i'm nowhere near good or skilled like Oikawa tho) during highschool the girls got taller except me and my gym teacher for 10th grade ruined it for me

Haikyuu and friends made me love volleyball again! first i was a middle blocker but these days i tend to play as setter or libero (rip shorties)

And i finally got to play volleyball again during junior college but not even a full semester later, the pandemic hit (rip spring 2020)

from 9th grade and 10th i played in the highschool marching band and field shows. upon transferring to my second highschool in 11th grade, where most of my middle school friends stayed, they were all pissed at me (jokingly) that i was placed in varsity cross country immediately. they were more pissed that i didnt join cross country since my first year at the 1st highschool saying i could've been in varsity all 4 years, etc etc. i was much like yuji itadori where i was super athletic but had more interest in marching band than sports at the time

lastly, during the spring of 2015 (junior year) i was on the swim team after taking lessons at my local community rec center. i had little abs at that point but then i ate so much junk food during the summer afterwards kdkskdks

didnt do it for spring of 2016 (senior year) since i was picked to play the lead role for theatre class that semester

17: its gonna be a yes for this one too ^^;

without being tmi, shower sex is more fun in fiction than it is in person. im not a hater of it tho, in fact, if a partner asked i would likely agree, i just prefer literally anywhere else other than the bathroom to make out

[jow99]

Enjoying the long summer days

Wednesday morning started out nicely with a swim and then as we were about to stroll to breakfast I realised I had the wrong time for my Spanish lesson do had to wolf down my breakfast.

After my lesson which I’m really enjoying, it was home for a shower and then we both cycled off to the last Spanish conversation session until after the summer. As it was our last for a while we all had lunch in the bar where we meet.

Quite full and by now also quite hot, we headed off to storage to take somethings back and grab a few more things. Hopefully that’s our last trip there until we head off in Tessi in a few weeks.

Late Wednesday afternoon we headed out to do a couple of errands and then met up with our Dutchie mates at the beach. It was after 8pm by the time we all headed home (and no drinks today, just ice cream).

Thursday morning was cycling and I braved the group again. We didn’t go as far but the pace was certainly up. I was ok when we were sitting around 31-32, but when it sneaked up to 35-36 if I lost a wheel I was gone. So I was getting a few shoves to get me back on and also some assistance on the climbs which came late on in the piece 😩 I wasn’t the only one getting a bit of assistance, but I was definitely getting the lions share.

Finally back in L’Escala I collapsed into the bar. Unfortunately the bar we went to today doesn’t have gluten free beer, so after a Diet Coke 🙄 we went in search of a bar near home that did. Our efforts were rewarded so we had gf shandies and patatas bravas 😋

We had lunch back at home and after mooching for a bit did some admin things we needed to get done. I had planned to clean the balcony but that was a bridge too far after this morning’s ride.

Late afternoon we headed out for a swim. It was quite overcast and looked threatening but was still warm. As we were setting up on the beach our friends Katharine and Stephen came over to say hi, they were just on their way to the anchovy bar near our place. Needless to say it wasn’t long before we were off the beach and joined them at the bar.

In the end we only got a few spots of rain but we enjoyed a couple of drinks before heading home for some food and I’d say an early night but it’s already nearly gone 10pm 🥱

[hummingbird-of-light]

Against All Odds

Part 137

McCoy

McCoy could see many of the other students' parents glancing at his own. While the people he had made friends with treated him like any other student now, there were still a few that he knew just wanted to have that connection for status.

“It’s so nice out,” he finally said, “perhaps we could walk through the gardens?”

“Oh I have missed those,” Eleanor said. “We both attended here,” she said to Mrs. Scott. “I haven’t been back in so long.”

“They are lovely,” Mrs. Scott agreed.

“Shall we then?” David asked.

The Scott’s agreed and McCoy offered his arm to Mrs. Scott, who accepted with just a hint of blush. He saw his parents nod at each other. At least they knew his manners were never an issue.

He and Mrs. Scott led the way. David was talking to Scotty’s grandfather and Scotty was walking next to the queen. McCoy knew where he wanted to go. The largest garden had many private corners and seating areas. His chest was near bursting with the want to inform his parents why Scotty was important to him.

He could hear Scotty’s grandfather chuckling at something the king had said. McCoy smiled. His parents got on with everyone and that knowledge made him more confident of their reaction.

“Have you seen them in bloom?” Mrs. Scott asked him.

“No ma’am, not yet. I came mid year. But I’m looking forward to it. They’re beautiful just how they are now.”

“Is he really learning to swim?” she asked.

McCoy heard a groan behind him and laughed.

“Yes. He’s getting quite good.”

“How did ye get him in the pool?”

McCoy glanced over his shoulder at Scotty. He saw him nod. The queen was listening as well.

“The day I joined the swim team there was an accident and Scotty was knocked into the pool.”

Mrs. Scott let out a gasp.

“Ye never told me Monty!”

They could all hear the worry in the woman’s voice. McCoy patted her arm reassuringly.

“Christine and I were right there and pulled him out. Mr. Archer offered to teach him so it couldn’t happen again. I happened to walk in during his first lesson and Mr. Archer asked me to help.”

“Thank ye Leonard,” Mrs. Scott said quietly.

“Christine is the girl the articles keep trying to pair you off with?” Eleanor asked.

McCoy rolled his eyes, but answered his mother. “Yes. We’re just friends. And every time one of those has been written we’ve been in a group!”

“I’d like to meet her still,” Eleanor said.

“Of course Mother. I want you to meet all my new friends.”

They reached one of the private areas of the garden and began to sit.

“Uh,” McCoy said hesitantly, “I do want you to meet all of my new friends, but I… I wanted you to meet Scotty first… because…”

His parents and the Scott’s were looking at him now. He looked over at Scotty who was smiling nervously back at him.

“Yes?” David prompted him to continue.

McCoy reached out for Scotty’s fingers.

“Because Scotty is my boyfriend.”

Part 138

Scotty

Their walk through the garden was going pretty well. Everyone was chatting, enjoying the time.

However, Scotty wasn’t ready for what happened when they sat down.

“I wanted you to meet Scotty first… because…”

Was it really happening? Scotty was confused for a moment but when Leonard looked at him, he knew what the prince was up to.

He felt his heart racing but still managed a smile. And suddenly they were holding hands. In front of their parents.

“Because Scotty is my boyfriend.”

The truth was out. Leonard had told them what they tried to keep secret from the rest of the school.

The Scotsman looked at the others’ faces.

His grandfather blinked a few times while his mother held a hand in front of her mouth.

Queen Eleanor was staring at them with wide eyes while King David’s face didn’t give anything away.

They all seemed very surprised.

“Oh Leonard, I… I don’t know what to say.”

The queen chuckled insecurely.

“I love Scotty, Mother. And he loves me.”

With that Leonard leaned over and kissed his boyfriend gently.

“And I’m happy for the two of you. It’s just a…”

“Surprise,” Scotty’s mother finished Eleanor’s sentence.

“Yes, that it is.”

Scotty looked over at his grandfather when he said these words. He couldn’t tell what the old man thought about it.

“Does the school know about it?”

The two students exhanged a glance before Leonard answered his father’s question.

“A few friends know. But we had to keep it secret. There… are some people who would not approve of it.”

Scotty knew that Leonard was talking about Archer. Even though he hadn’t said anything about their friendship anymore, Scott doubted that the head of the house would accept the two of them being in love.

“I don’t understand?”

Eleanor seemed confused by her son’s words.

“Some people have tried to keep us apart because Scotty… is a scholarship student.”

Scotty lowered his head.

The word seemed like a curse. It had always been. From the day he had started up until now.

“They think of me as bad influence. Because… I am not wealthy.”

[bisexualbumblebee-writes]

Summer Camping Day 3: Aquaphobia- Regulus Black x OC

Regulus Black x Cecelia Potter

Description: On a particularly hot day, the group decides to go swimming in the lake. That proves to be a problem for the younger Potter as she has a secret only James knows about.

Word Count: 1.6k

It seemed hotter than it had been all trip. If Regulus had to take a guess, it was close to 26° (80° f) and everybody was miserable. Everyone was practically in their underwear just laying around until Sirius perked up. 

“Why don’t we go swimming? The water should at least be somewhat cold,” he suggested hopefully. Instantly the other perked up and agreed. Well, everyone except Cecelia, who plastered a fake smile on her face. The only one who noticed her lack of enthusiasm was Regulus, who had been sitting beside her. He shot her an ‘is everything okay?’ look, but she just nodded, brushing off his worry. No one noticed the interaction though as they ran to their designated tents to change into their bathing suits. Cecelia was the last one out, and was thankful that the others had already gotten into the water and were messing around in it. 

“There she is!” She heard Sirius exclaim from behind her, not giving her the opportunity to turn around before he picked her up from behind. She gasped loudly.

“Sirius put me down!” She exclaimed, trying to wiggle out of his grip. 

“Not going to happen!’ He said in the same tone. The girl’s eyes widened as she realized he was carrying her to the water and she began to struggle more violently. 

“Padfoot please don’t do this,” she begged anxiously. He seemed to take her anxiousness as fear of the water being cold because he laughed. 

“You’ll be fine, it’s just a little water Cece. It’s perfectly fine!” James seemed to sense his sister’s distress because he turned around. Once he processed the sight in front of him, his eyes also widened. 

“Padfoot put her down now!” He shouted severely. Sirius continued to ignore the warnings, even lifting her higher when she became more aggressive. He finally reached the edge of the dock and prepared to throw her in, but was stopped by James practically jumping out of the water to knock him onto his back. 

The boy fell with a grunt, letting go of Cecelia from the force of the impact. She wasted no time in scrambling to get up and sprint back to her tent, ignoring James calling her name and attempting to grab for her hand. The others could only watch the interaction in shock. Regulus’ mouth dropped open when James knocked his brother down and it stayed that way until Cecelia was back in the tent. 

“What was that for Prongs?” Sirius grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. James shook his head and huffed. 

“Cecelia obviously didn’t want to go in the water, you should have set her down,” he admonished rather than answering his friend. 

“What’s the big deal?” Gaia asked, climbing onto the dock to assist her boyfriend. James wasted almost no time in answering. 

“Cecelia has aquaphobia,” he explained, greatly surprising everyone. “When we were younger my parents asked me to help her and Madeline learn how to swim since they couldn’t be there as much. Maddy came along well, but Cecelia was having a bit of trouble. Maddy had always been the more athletic twin anyway. One day we were having a small party over the summer, all of our family was invited to my Uncle Bakkum’s house because he had a pool. When she told Uncle Bakkum about her swimming lessons, he told her the only way to learn was to experience it firsthand and he threw her in the water.” Violetta gasped. “She nearly drowned, if Henry hadn’t been there to save heer who knows what could have happened. She’s fine with showers or baths, but she’s refused to go near pools, lakes or oceans since.” The others sat in a stunned silence, not knowing what to say.

“Oh man,” Sirius mumbled embarrassedly. “I didn’t know Prongs, I wouldn’t have done that if I had.”

“No, it’s okay Padfoot. I know. She won’t blame you, don’t worry,” James responded gently, making the boy sigh in relief and nod. “She just doesn’t tell a lot of people because she’s really embarrassed about it.”

“But that’s nothing to be embarrassed of,” Violetta responded. 

“Yeah, you can’t control how you feel about something,” Gaia added, prompting Ella to nod in agreement. 

“I know, but she has a hard time remembering that,” James sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Regulus turned his head to his tent where Cecelia ran to and he hummed.

“I’ll go check on her,” he informed them, swimming to the shore. Violetta wished him luck while James thanked him. He dried off as quick as he could and walked towards the tent. His heart broke when he heard a sniffle from inside. 

“Cecelia, darling are you okay?” He called softly. Cecelia debated lying, but she knew that’d just prolong the talk. 

“No,” she eventually called back. Regulus was both relieved that she didn’t lie yet still sympathetic about the situation. 

“Can I come in?” He inquired in the same tone. Cecelia called a ‘yes’ to him, so he unzipped the tent and walked in. Cecelia was sitting on their sleeping palette with her knees pulled to her chest. She had apparently changed back into her clothes in the time that James had told them about her dilemma. Regulus said nothing as he zipped the tent back up and shuffled over to her. He sat beside her, but not too close just in case. 

“Jamees told us about your uncle,” he mentioned softly. Cecelia let out a small huff and shook her head. 

“Great, now everyone knows that I’m sixteen and I still can’t swim,” she muttered, her face becoming red at the thought. “They probably think I’m a child, you too.” Regulus didn’t think twice before shaking his head. 

“I don’t think that,” he responded. She let out a noise that said she didn’t believe him.

“None of us do,” he continued, choosing to ignore her. “Padfoot feels terrible, and everyone feels bad about not stopping him. We just didn’t know.” 

“Because it’s embarrassing,” she countered promptly.

“It’s a minor setback,” he corrected. “There’s not a single thing for you to feel embarrassed about. People learn things at different rates and there’s nothing wrong with that. Or sometimes you just don’t learn if you don’t want to and that’s valid.” When Cecelia didn’t respond, he continued. 

“You know, I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until I was thirteen.” Cecelia finally faced him, which made him smile internally. 

“Wait, really?” The surprise in her tone was evident and it made Regulus laugh. 

“Yep,” he responded. “I was too afraid of falling down, so I decided not to chance it. That meant not learning and I was fine with that. I only decided to learn when you asked if I wanted to go biking around the park after third year was over.” The girl remained quiet as she processed the information. The thought of him learning how to ride a bike just for her warmed her heart and put a small smile on her face. 

“Now, I’m not saying that you need to learn right now, but everyone misses you out there. How about you just sit on the dock while we swim?” He compromised. Cecelia pursed her lips and considered his suggestion before nodding. 

“Yeah, okay,” she finally responded. A wide grin appeared on his face and he stood, holding out a hand for her. She gingerly took it then stood with his help. After making sure she was ready, Regulus led his girlfriend back out to the lake. The others were surrounding the dock talking amongst themselves, but stopped when they noticed the couple. 

“Hey Cece,” James greeted with a small smile. She returned the greeting and sat down at the edge of the dock, hanging her feet off it so they were submerged in the water. Regulus smiled at the gesture then paused looking around. 

“Hey where’s Sirius-” he wasn’t allowed to finish his question before Sirius came barreling towards him, tackling him into the lake with a shout. Cecelia immediately began cracking up as the brothers surfaced from the water, the others joining soon after. 

“I have never seen you look so scared in my life,” Sirius exclaimed between laughter. A small smile formed on Regulus’ face and he chuckled. 

“Oh come off it Sirius, you’d be the exact same if the roles were reversed,” he defended quietly. Sirius rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah right, you and your 57 kilo weight and almost 2 meters could take me down,” the elder brother responded teasingly. Regulus’ ears tinged with pink and he splashed some water at him, prompting Sirius to splash him back.

“Shut up,” he grumbled with a small laugh. His eyes wandered over to Cecelia, who was now talking animatedly about something with Gaia and Remus shortly before the three of them burst into laughter. A grin tugged at his lips and he swam over to them. 

“What’re we talking about?” He inquired, resting his arms on the dock beside Cecelia’s legs. The girl grinned and pushed some hair away from his face. 

“Moony was just telling me about the time Prongs and Padfoot both pretended to be his boyfriend when Nina Gullon wouldn’t stop flirting with him,” she explained with a giggle. 

“Wait, seriously?” He questioned the older boy with a laugh. Remus couldn’t help but laugh as well as he began going over the story again. As he talked, Regulus felt another hand grab his, and he didn’t have to look to know it was Cecelia’s. Rather than saying anything, he interlocked their fingers and gave her hand a light squeeze. She copied the gesture, the two of them sharing a loving smile before facing Remus once more.