#had to make sure himself his boy's shoes were properly cleaned and dried

[rt3nenbaum]

fernando getting the princess treatment from matt like he deserves 🥰

[slowpoke-fics]

Hidden Hunter

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Crowley x Reader

Summary: Crowley is your best friend, has been for years and taught you a lot of what you know. However, you aren't associated with the boys.

Warnings: mention of injury and stitches, slow burn, hint at death, I could be missing some, I am not perfect please read at your own risk

A/N: I loved this fic, I hope you guys do too! Oh! And a favor I ask of you. The more I write the more I worry about warnings. If you ever see anything I write not have a warning it should, please tell me.

You pulled into your motel, harshly parking your car and storming into your room. Muttering to yourself as you slid your shirt off, door barely slamming shut, "Stupid motherfuckers couldn't just listen. Couldn't just-" you let out a guttural scream, "I tried. I tried." You shook your head, unbuttoning your pants as you heard Crowley behind you, "Hello, Mouse." You slipped your pants off, turning to look at Crowley, not missing the way his eyes studied the curves of your body. "Hey, Crowley."

Crowley took in your ragged and bloody appearance. Dried blood scattered throughout your hair, on your arms, tiny nicks and cuts over your body with a nasty gash on your torso. Crowley's eyebrows raised and he spoke as you went into the bathroom turning on the shower, "I guess they didn't take the deal?" You poked your head out of the bathroom, glaring at him, "No, they didn't captain obvious." Crowley laughed, sitting on the bed as you took a quick shower.

You ran your fingers through your hair, trying to get the blood out without stretching too far so you didn't irritate the gash on your stomach. You stepped out of the shower, washing all of the grime off of you made you feel a little better. "I hate hunting," you muttered to Crowley as you walked out of the bathroom, hair draped over your neck and a towel wrapped tightly around you. "Would you please get me a pair of shorts, a tank top and a pair of underwear out of my bag?" Crowley smiled at you, already on his way to your bag, "Of course, love."

You stood there looking at Crowley as he ruffled through your bag. His suit clinging to all the right spots, curling around his biceps, tight around his thighs, unfortunately his ass covered by the length of his jacket, shoes nicely completing his look.

You'd met Crowley a few years back, when he was a lowly cross roads demon. You went to make a deal, planning to exchange your soul for the ability to track supernatural creatures so you could save them. Crowley took an interest in why you wanted to do such things. Realizing that you were a hunter that wanted to stop the deaths before they happen was important to you. Stop the needless death of humans and monsters alike.

You'd become close to him, allowing him to teach you the ways of the natural witch. After about a year you had learned enough that Crowley needed to come up with some other reason to stick around. So he started to offer his help with no strings attached as he took a liking to his little mouse. The hunter who only hunted those who hunt.

Crowley handed you the clothing, politely turning around before you dropped your towel. You slid your underwear on, groaning as you did so, causing Crowley too start to turn around. He stopped himself, asking permission first, "Let me help, yeah mouse?" You giggled, covering your boobs and huffing, "Yeah okay."

Crowley turned around, helping you step into the shorts and pulling them up, he handed you the towel to properly cover yourself on his way up. What a gentleman, you thought as he went over to your bag, digging out the emergency kit. "Lay, you need stitches," Crowley pointed to bed. You grumbled, he knew you didn't like stitches, "It's not even that bad, it's fine." Crowley glared at you, "Love, if you don't stitch that it's gonna take months to heal and likely get infected."

You laughed, laying down, "I could always just use a spell." Crowley shook his head, his playfulness with his best friend suddenly gone, "We've discussed that Y/n, it's not the kind of magic you want too mess around with." You put his hand on his arm, as he wet the rag he had with alcohol, in an attempt to comfort him, "I was just kidding, I know."

Crowley started cleaning the gash, making sure that you had gotten all the debris out. You hissed at him, you could see how curious he was, but you'd made a rule that he doesn't press hard unless it's bad. "So," you croaked out as he started stitching you, "what'd you do today?" Crowley smiled at you, secretly bashing you because if you'd just listen to him and find partners it wouldn't be like this.

"Well, I saw moose and squirrel-" You lifted your head, excited, "Sam and Dean?" He nodded, "Yes the royal pains in my ass. They were having trouble tracking some witch-" You giggled, "I could've helped them instead." Crowley tries to hide his genuine concern by joking, "Oh no doll, I don't think we'll be doing that." You furrowed your brows, "I still think we'd make a good team."

"Mouse, I don't ask for much," Crowley sighed, "if you want partners, I can find plenty of hunters that are not Winchesters." Crowley put gauze over your stitches, carefully pressing tape to hold them in place. You sat up, Crowley turning around to let you slip your tank top on, "Decent," he turned back around, "what is your problem? I never like other people enough to let them join me, but when I hear about someone you say no?"

Crowley sighed, "They're dangerous people, Y/n. I've told you I don't want you near them." You stared at him, "I just don't understand, you always tell me they're dangerous and I can't go near them but nothing else!" You stood up, starting to pace. "They're-huff-" Crowley looked away from you, closing his eyes tightly as they flashed with anger, "they'll do nothing but destroy you." With that Crowley was gone. You were used to your arguments ending like that, even your conversations. He would get called away and come back when he wasn't busy and that was fine, but you were going to look into the Winchesters while you had the chance.

You pulled out a map of the United States, channeling through your pendulum Crowley had hand made for you. You smiled, looking at the chain on one end a sharp pointed crystal rested, on the there a tiny little metal mouse, identifying it as yours, the only one on the planet like it. You took a deep breath, circling the crystal over the map focusing your energy on the image of the Winchester brothers. After a few minutes of scrying and finding nothing you decided to leave it for now, starting to pack up your things you began thinking about what was so bad about the Winchester brothers. Why did Crowley want you to stay away?

You didn't really know much about them aside from the little Crowley'd told you because you didn't really associate with other hunters. At the end of the day, you hated most of them. Hunters in general were crass, and you hated that. You are a ray of sunshine trying to preserve life and most hunters see something not human and kill it. That didn't sit right with you.

You thought about the things you did know about the brothers. They had been in this life their whole life. Had lost both parents, almost ended the world a couples times, saved it just as much if not more. Only really had each other, but Crowley had mentioned an angel on their shoulder-Castiel I believe? What did you even know about him?

"I don't believe I know you?" Your entire body went cold, turning as fast as you can to aim a gun in between his eyes. "That will do little damage to me," he spoke flatly. "I beg to differ, these here special made bullets to put your ass in back in hell, so tell me? What're you doing here?" The man is staring at you, confusion in his brows, arms by the edges of his trench coat, pants and shirt tidy, but not perfect, "I am Castiel, an angel of the lord. You called to me." Before you could even think of a response, Crowley was standing next to you. Eyes holding fear, not ager, he speaks lowly, a whisper under his breath.

"What have you done little mouse?"

You lowered your gun, not sure if it was because it wouldn't do damage or because you felt safe with Crowley there. "I didn't call to anybody," you stare at Castiel, eyes boring into his as he speaks. "I beg to differ, I felt you, heard you, you seem to also need dealings with the Winchesters?" He looked to Crowley who he'd just seen not hours ago, "I am slightly concerned with Crowley being here." Crowley scoffed, "I haven't tried anything on the musketeers in years, I've been nothing but a friend and Y/n here was too curious for her own good." He growled out the end looking directly towards you, causing a rush guilt for going behind Crowleys back.

"I didn't mean to take you away from the Winchesters-" "You did not. I am a man of many abilities, helping people is one of them. At least allow me to heal you." You backed away as he stepped forward, "I am not going to hurt you." Crowley put his hand on your arm, trying to reassure you, "Well do it then Feathers, but uh-" Castiel healed you, you felt warmth, pain dissolving from your body, "can we keep her to ourselves?" Your eyes raised at Crowley, appalled by his gumption to hide you.

"Excuse me?" You jerked away from Crowley, Castiel raising his eyebrows at you. "Is that what you would like Y/n?" You looked at Crowley, his face a mix of anger and concern. "Can we? I promise I won't bother you." Castiel smiles at you, secretly reading you, "You wouldn't be a bother but I understand. I am happy to have healed you." Castiel was gone, Crowley already starting to pick your bags up. "We're gone now mouse."

He grabbed you, whisking you away. You looked around, taking in the room you were standing in. It was clearly an apartment, a nicer than you'd ever known anyone to have. You looked around, a sleek kitchen area, the bathroom door opened from the living room, the couch took up most of the living room, a nice coffee table in front of it but pressed to the wall.

"Crowley where are we?" He was glaring at you, a sour look on his face, "A safe house, I hoped we'd never have to use it." You shook your head, "Okay, but where? What about my car?" He shuffled on his feet, "In a few days when I know Castiel didn't spill the beans about you I will take you back to it." Crowley chuckled a little, but not answering as he reached out your bags for you to take. You huffed, taking your bags from him, and then he disappeared.

You walked over to the refrigerator, to your surprise it was stocked. Demons don't need to eat, you thought to yourself, a little confused and trying to figure out where you were, you moved to the window. You looked out and you couldn't have been but three stories up, but no markers as to your city or state. The bathroom was also stocked shampoo, conditioner, soap, toilet paper, toothbrush and toothpaste?

Crowley reappeared, holding the rest of your things and your gun. You took it from him, anger over your features. "Crowley, are we in someone's apartment right now? You know how I feel about how you taking over peoples lives!" Crowley scoffed at you, "You know I respect you too much to violate your beliefs like that!" You rolled your eyes, tucking your gun behind your waistband, "Then who's apartment is this?"

Crowley made his was over to the cabinet, pulling out a bottle of liquor he conveniently knew where to find, "Technically yours. Like I said it's a safe house." You tapped the counter, letting him know you wanted a glass as you sat down, "Gonna have to do better than that." He poured your glass first, shrugging he started, "I pay for it, it's under a fake name, it's warded so you can't be found, do we need to get into logistics?" You downed your glass, picking up the bottle and filling up again, "You brought me here after I met Castiel, that's not exactly safe house worthy." Crowley shook his head, sipping on his own glass, "Yes it is cricket, yet it is." Your blood started to boil, you stood from your chair, seething with anger, you spit, "Crowley, if you don't stop acting like-"

"Like what? Like someone who wants to keep you alive?" You flinched at Crowleys words, waiting for him to continue, "Everyone that they're around dies, Y/n, dies. Hunter funeral, pile of ash, dies. Everyone but them; they will destroy you." You scoffed, "I'm pretty good at keeping myself alive thank you." He raises his eyebrows, smirking a bit, "Do you forget how we met mouse?" Your eyes connected with his, glaring, still seething with anger, "I was desperate not dead, there's a difference. Crowley, they can't be doing more damage than me hunting on my own. Maybe I could be a voice of reason-" Crowley slammed his glass down, grabbing the counter with both hands, "No! I don't know why you even want to know them!"

You studied Crowley, jealousy now seeping from him. Then it clicked. It clicked that you two were a bunch of shy kids. Bouncing around each other like you were fifteen for years now. Each thinking the other was uninterested, each thinking that you didn't deserve one another. Crowley rightfully so for a while, the things he did outside of you could be classified as horrendous, but your ray of sunshine had spread to him. Bringing out all of the good parts that once was Fergus Roderick MacLeod, reminding him of who he could be. You reminded him how to love, how to hold someone higher than yourself. Reminded him of what it's like to protect someone other than yourself, to need to.

"Crowley," you walked around the table and placed your hand on his, "please just tell me what's going on." Crowley didn't hesitate, he turned to you pressing his lips into yours. It took you a second to realize what was happening, and then you melted. You moved your arms around his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss, his stubble tickling you. Crowley tangled his fingers in your hair, taking a deep breath as he readjusted to meet your lips, tongue skirting your bottom lip before nibbling on it. You gasped at the action, the sound taking Crowley by surprise as he continued to glide across your lips, not missing the warm blush on your face.

Crowley was first to pull away, sliding his hand out of your hair and tucking it behind your ear, resting his hand there, he whispered, "I can't lose you." You planted a chaste kiss on his lips, smiling at him reassuringly, "You won't." He softened a little bit, sighing heavily before returning his lips to yours. Soft and gentle, savoring the moment as he tugged you closer to him with his arm around your waist. You pulled just an inch away, Crowleys eyes opening and making contact with yours, "Does this mean I get to meet the Winchesters?" Crowley growled at you, quickly lifting you by your thighs causing your to wrap your legs around him, "Absolutely not."

[kuroo-shitsurou]

Bestfriend (College!Childe x College!Reader) PART 1

note: hello! i'm going to be making an entire college au series for the genshin characters ehe. this is a pretty lengthy one so i had to cut it into two parts. i hope you enjoy!

word count: 4.4k

"Why can't I get this shit to work?!"

You checked the clock.

3:28 AM.

Great. You had a half-seven morning class with professor Cyrus, and yet, here you were. Baking cookies at 3:28 AM. Although, baking wasn't really the appropriate term for it. Maybe... burning was a better fit.

You weren't a culinary arts major; Far from it, actually. You were in a college course that needed immense analytical and critical thinking skills: Accounting. You loved your course. You were always amazed by how numbers can always add up properly if you analyzed all the transactions properly beforehand. It also gave you more patience to thoroughly understand each problem presented to you so that you'd end up with the right answer in the end.

Which is why you were so dumbfounded when your cookies looked like pieces of charcoal the moment you took them out of the oven.

You followed the recipe, didn't you? Why don't your baked goodies look like those gorgeous gooey chocolate chip cookies on the website?

That was the... fourth batch of cookies you made that night. Frustrated, you carelessly threw the still-hot baking sheet in the sink. You didn't even mind that there were crumbs and burnt cookie residue in your damp sink. Like, there were burnt cookies on your counter, on your dining table, and even on your stovetop. Why be bothered about the sink, right? You could clean it up in the morning, anyway.

"Why am I even doing this?" You sighed, eyeing how there was a bit of black smoke coming out of your oven. You opened a window and fanned it out to prevent the smoke detector from going off. You didn't need more nuances adding to your already dwindling patience.

Taking in the sight of the flour, sugar, and egg-coated workstation you had, you realized that baking just wasn't your forte. If only your boyfriend was interested in receiving his complete financial statements for the year, then maybe you'd have an easier time in thinking of a present for his birthday.

You looked at the calendar.

July 20th.

It was the day of Childe's birthday.

He informed you yesterday that his friends had invited him to go to a party the night of the 20th to celebrate his birthday, and you politely declined his offer for you to be his plus one. Of course, he was disappointed. You could notice by how his cerulean eyes drooped to the floor and how his thin, pink lips pushed themselves into a pout.

"But... You have to be there, _____." He whined, taking your hands in his.

"I know, Childe. But you know that I have to review my presentation for professor An's class. It's going to make or break my term grade." You were disappointed. You wanted to spend the entire day with Childe, maybe cuddled up in bed, eating hot pizza and watching Netflix. However, you knew how much he loved partying and hanging out with his friends- Kaeya, was it? and the other boys in their fraternity. You disapproved of his frat-boy party-going lifestyle, but you didn't want to impose, so you just kept it to yourself.

"But it's my birthday," He reasoned, voice laced with sadness.

"I know, darling. I know. We can still spend the entire afternoon together before you head out to party with your friends... If you want. You're free for the entire day, right?" Your voice faltered a bit, unsure of whether he'd accept your proposal or not.

"Mhm! I'd be more than happy to spend the whole afternoon tomorrow with you, babe. We can hit the amusement park, or maybe watch a movie, or maybe have a picnic, or..."

As Childe continued to ramble on about all the possible plans you could do tomorrow, you couldn't help but smile at him. How his demeanor changed, and how he could never seem to hold a grudge against you even if he was upset. He spoiled you so much and you wanted to let him know that you appreciate him as much as he loves you.

And... Here you were.

You didn't expect baking to be so hard. You thought that following a simple recipe would lead to a great outcome the first time around.

Look how that turned out for you. Your tokens of appreciation for Childe were there. In the sink, on the counter, on the dining table, and on the stovetop. All burnt and inedible.

"Fuck this baking thing, I'll just get Zhongli to help me before lunch." You muttered, taking off your apron and retreating to your couch. You didn't want to sleep in your bed because your clothes were still messy, but you were too tired to clean up (too pissed to even care, to be honest).

And so, you flopped on the couch and set an alarm for 6:00 AM before you drifted off to sleep, dreaming of burnt baking pans and noisy smoke detectors.

-

The annoying sound of your alarm rang in your ears like a never-ending mockery of how your life is going. Why do morning classes exist? Why do alarms exist?

You groggily rubbed your eyes and rolled off the couch, landing on the carpet with a soft "thud". You blindly felt around the coffee table to look for your phone. Upon feeling the silicone texture of your case, you pulled it towards your chest and squinted your eyes as the bright display of the lock screen glared against your eyeballs.

You opened your phone by using the passcode (0720, go ahead and guess what that means) and tapped on the green message icon to open your texts. You then quickly typed out a message for a certain history major.

[ Hey, Zhongli, mind if you help me out before lunch later so I could bake some cookies for Childe? ]

Sent 6:04 AM.

You looked up at the ceiling and waited for a while, already planning out your itinerary for the day. The ding! of your phone was heard, waking you more than you already were.

[ I don't see why not. I have a vacant period right before lunch. I'm off at 9:00 and I'm vacant until noon. Are you free then? ]

Received 6:06 AM.

You couldn't help but grin. Zhongli was so kind. He was Childe's friend since high school, and although you found him somehow... creepy because of the knowledge he possesses (Seriously, was his brain implanted with a computer chip or something?), you still considered him a good friend.

[ Thank you so much! Yeah, I only have one class today anyway. I'll meet you in front of the main building by 9:00. ]

Sent 6:08 AM.

You got up from the carpet and stretched for a bit, wincing when the small burn on your arm stung. You had a few cuts and burns on your hands, fingers, and arms because of how clumsy you were in the kitchen, but it was fine. Who doesn't fuck up from time-to-time

You headed to the kitchen to clean up. You dumped all the burnt biscuits into a large garbage bag, wiped the counters, and put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Most of the mess was already gone and disposed of, and you whispered to yourself that you could probably deep-clean later that evening after reviewing your presentation.

The ding! of your phone brought your attention back, and you smiled at Zhongli's response.

[ I'll see you then, _____. I appreciate you doing all this for Childe. ]

Received 6:15 AM.

You quickly made your way to your bedroom and grabbed different pieces to throw together a decent outfit. You assumed that Childe wouldn't let you go by the time that your little date would begin, so it's best to be prepared.

You hopped in the shower and did your morning routine, making sure to use your favorite body wash, which happened to be Childe's favorite scent. You dried your hair afterwards and threw on the outfit you prepared earlier. You checked your phone.

6:45 AM.

There weren't any new messages from Childe, so you assumed that he was still asleep. After all, it's his day-off from uni. The lucky bastard got to get one whole day without lectures, and the freest day you had still required you to attend one morning lecture.

"I have to rush to McDonald's if I want to make it in time," You whispered, grabbing your bag and slipping your shoes on before rushing out the door.

You wanted to buy Childe a nice breakfast before heading to your own class. So, you sprinted to the McDonald's just a corner away from your dorm and stood in line. You ordered his favorite breakfast meal: A big breakfast deluxe set with hot chocolate, five-piece nuggets, and a side of apple pie. You also ordered a McGriddle for yourself that you could sneakily bite out of in class.

Childe's apartment was right beside the McDonald's you went to, so it wasn't any trouble reaching where he was. You checked your phone again.

7:10 AM.

Crap. Twenty minutes until your lecture with professor Cyrus. Childe still seemed to be asleep, so you decided to leave his breakfast with the receptionist, Verr Goldet. She already knew who you were because of how often Childe invites you to his apartment.

"I'm really sorry to leave this with you, Verr. But I have to get to class in twenty minutes and I think that Childe is still asleep." You said sheepishly, placing the paper bag on her counter and fiddling with the strap of your bag.

"Oh, _____, you act as if I'm a stranger!" She laughed, taking the paper bag and placing it behind her. "Don't worry, I'll keep it warm for him. Would you like to leave a note?"

"Ah, yes please!" You took a piece of paper and a pen from your bag and scribbled a short message for the ginger.

Happy birthday, Childe! Have a hearty breakfast, I got your favorites. I'll see you later for lunch, okay? I love you! ♡

You tried to make your handwriting as neat as possible, and even added a messy doodle of the man himself. Although, it did look more like a potato than the man you were trying to draw.

"How cute you are." Verr sighed, "It must be nice to feel the wonders of youth."

"Thank you so much, Verr! I really have to get going if I want to get to uni in time."

"You're welcome, _____!"

You bid your farewells and headed out of the apartment's lobby, walking towards the shuttle stop nearest to you. You had at least fifteen minutes before professor Cyrus' class. The shuttle was about ten minutes away from uni, and it would take you a little over five minutes to get to his lecture hall. While waiting for the shuttle, you quickly tapped out a message for your boyfriend.

[ I left something with Verr for you downstairs. You better get it as soon as you wake up ♡ ]

Sent 7:15 AM.

The shuttle arrived as soon as you hit send. You showed your ID to the driver and scrambled for a seat, shoving earbuds in your ears to drown out the rest of the world with a bit of music. Fortunately, the shuttle ride was quicker than usual since there were lesser stops for that day. You gave a light bow to the driver before you rushed out of the shuttle doors and bolted to get to your lecture hall.

It was on the third floor of the left wing of the main building. You were desperately trying to catch your breath as you felt a burn rising in your lungs. You wanted to puke because of how hungry and tired you felt so early in the morning, but you brushed it off.

You sprinted down the hallway to professor Cyrus' lecture hall, seeing that nearly all the seats were occupied. There were still a few vacant seats at the back, but you were glad to see your friend, Xingqiu, waving you over from the middle row.

"Thanks for saving me a seat," You thanked your blue-haired friend, fixing your hair and disheveled clothes. You sat down just in time as professor Cyrus walked into the lecture hall and began setting up his laptop to present.

"No worries. I knew you'd be late. It's Childe's birthday today, no? You've been talking about it all week. I already expected that you'd do something for him this morning." He said, not even batting an eyelash as he carefully opened his laptop in front of him.

"That predictable, huh?" You chuckled, placing your own laptop on the table and taking out the McGriddle you shoved in your bag earlier. Professor Cyrus seemed to be tweaking a few things on his presentation, so you decided to use the spare minutes to eat the sandwich you purchased.

You scarfed it down in a few bites, leaving Xingqiu confused and a bit scared. He thought you were going to choke.

"Didn't you have breakfast before you left your dorm?" He asked, marveling at how you managed to eat the McGriddle in- four, maybe five? bites.

"I mean, I bought this," You said, motioning to the crumpled up wrapper in your hand. "It was getting late since I dropped by Childe's apartment to leave him his breakfast."

"How charming of you, _____." Xingqiu chuckled, slipping on his glasses.

"I wonder if he's awake now," You mumbled, loud enough for Xingqiu to hear, but he didn't react to it.

You opened your phone and saw seven messages from your dorky boyfriend.

[ _____ you're gonna make me cry ]

Sent 7:28 AM.

[ Where are you now? Are you already at uni? ]

Sent 7:29 AM.

[ God, I love you so much, _____! You even got me nuggets!! ]

Sent 7:30 AM.

[ I love you sooo much!! You're so cute it's unreal!! Btw, is this supposed to be me?? Do I really look like that??!! ]

Sent 7:31 AM.

[ I'm so lucky to have you, _____. You really are the sweetest!! ]

Sent 7:31 AM.

[ I'll see you later at noon. I'll pick you up at your dorm, okay? ]

Sent 7:32 AM.

[ You must be in class now. Good luck!! I'm already eating. Thank you so much, darling! I love you!! ♡ ]

Sent 7:34 AM.

You couldn't help but smile at how his aura radiated even through the screen of your phone. You clicked on the notification from Instagram and it opened to a video on Childe's story. It was a boomerang of him making a winky face and then showing his meal neatly placed on his table.

There was a caption beside a heart sticker which read:

What a great way to start my birthday. Thanks to my lovely @_____. I love you so much! ♡

A familiar warmth spread throughout your chest and you couldn't help but smile at how sweet he was. It was amazing, really. Childe's words and actions always had such an effect on you, and it didn't even matter how you were the one who did a romantic gesture for him because you were here all blushy and gushy over his sickeningly sweet messages of affection.

You put your phone away as soon as professor Cyrus soon started his lecture on the different trading policies limited by oversea regulations- or something like that.

The lesson itself was interesting, but you couldn't help to nod off and daydream about your wonderfully dorky boyfriend and his beautiful eyes, his cute button nose, his slim cheeks, his pink lips.

Childe sneezed.

-

As soon as the last bell rang, you quickly gathered your things and shoved them in your bag. You nodded a swift goodbye to Xingqiu before running off to the entrance of the main building.

Zhongli messaged you that his lecture ended earlier than expected, and that he was waiting for you by the entrance already.

You saw the brunette sitting on one of the benches, a thick history book in hand and reading glasses firmly sitting on top of his nose. You noticed a few girls just a couple of feet away from him. They were eyeing him up, probably drinking in the sight of this beautifully constructed creature.

You chuckled. It was common for you to be more aware of people fawning over Childe and Zhongli. They were a couple of incredibly hot males, you knew that. You got used to the sight of other people gawking and eye-fucking your boyfriend and his bestfriend that it was just hilarious and amusing at this point.

"Zhong!" You called, earning the attention of both Zhongli and the group of girls.

"Ah, _____. Glad you're finally here." He closed his book and tucked it away in his satchel (This man owned a satchel) before he stood up to greet you.

"Were you waiting long? Sorry." You said sheepishly.

"No, not at all. I was enthralled by this one chapter on the Ming Dynasty and their more underrated feats. History never fails to amuse me." Zhongli replied, a glint sparkling in his amber eyes.

"Hey, um," You inched yourself closer to him, "Mind if we go on ahead? Some of your fangirls are scaring the hell out of me." From the corner of your eye, you could see how they were drilling holes at your head from staring too hard. You could've sworn one girl was even holding her phone up, as if taking a photo.

"What?" The taller man whipped around to look at the girls and they scurried off upon seeing the intimidating glare in his eyes.

"You and Childe really attract attention everywhere you go, don't you?" You chuckled, walking towards the shuttle station.

"Childe, certainly. He, along with his... fraternity brothers do attract quite the crowd whenever they are together. As for myself, I doubt it. I'm more of the silent-type compared to him, anyway."

"Are you kidding me?" You bit your tongue to hold back the thought.

"I see."

"Those girls look familiar, though." He mentioned.

"Oh? Maybe history majors as well?"

"_____, if they were history majors, I would've at least recognized their faces more clearly. I feel like I've seen them somewhere."

"Ah, my bad. You and your eerily accurate memory." You teased, climbing onto the shuttle and sitting on one of the empty seats.

"It is not eerie, thank you very much." He retorted with a snarky tone, joining you on the seat.

"Of course it isn't. You remember what I said to Childe when we were watching that one movie Rex Lapis: Revenge of the Fallen?"

"Indeed I do. You said, "Rex Lapis would be hot if he was a human, don't you think?" and Childe replied, "Yeah, but I could probably beat him up. I'd be way hotter than him." It was comedy, really. Rex Lapis, although a fictional figure, has far more capabilities than Childe could even dream of."

"Do you... not see the eerie part of that?"

"What? That Childe thinks he can beat up an actual Archon?"

"No... Zhongli, we watched that movie three years ago."

"Your point is?"

"...I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday."

"Childe bought you some sushi."

"See what I mean?!"

"That means you have a poor memory, _____." Zhongli laughed at your face curling into a frown. "Anyway, while you were entertaining me with your banter, I recalled why those girls are so familiar."

"Do tell."

"They're part of Childe's posse."

You could've sworn your heart leapt to your throat. You knew that your boyfriend was pretty much sculpted by the Archons themselves, but, really? a fucking posse?

Zhongli noticed how the lump in your throat bobbed, and he decided that it was better to calmly explain how and why he knew about it.

"See, it was during the first year of university. Childe started hanging around Kaeya and his other fraternity brothers. There was this one occasion where Childe was nearly black-out drunk in a bar. If I didn't see on Kaeya's Instagram story, I wouldn't have known," You noticed how Zhongli's face visibly darkened, "These girls were hanging off him like koalas to a strong tree branch. It was unsightly."

"I... see."

"Although he was about to pass out, he pushed them away. Charming, really. He was already crazy about you even during the first year of uni. Even though you weren't together yet, he didn't want to "cheat" on you by entertaining other females." A soft smile made its way to your face upon hearing Zhongli's confession about how your boyfriend felt about you.

"I'm determined to make these cookies a success," You said determinedly.

"Glad to hear it. It seems we're already at your dormitory. You still have enough ingredients for the cookies, right? I assume you failed quite a few times yesterday."

"How did you even know?"

Zhongli once again laughed as you stepped off the shuttle, "Lucky guess."

Unbeknownst to the two of you, three figures were following you the moment you left the campus.

-

"_____ is so sweet! They got my favorite breakfast this morning." Childe mindlessly gushed over his significant other.

Diluc wasn't really one to listen to other people ramble on and on about feelings and love and romance, but it was his friend's birthday. He'd let it slide.

"Bro, that's just gross," Kaeya spat, taking a chug of his beer.

"Oh, shut up, Kaeya. Just because you don't plan on committing to anyone doesn't mean the people around you are obligated to do so as well." Diluc rebutted, without even looking up from his journal.

"You're in college. It's the time when you're supposed to have a shit ton of flings, no commitment. And yet you're here being loyal to _____?" Kaeya glared at Diluc, but the redhead only flipped him off.

"I don't see the problem with that." Childe spoke up, toying with the bracelet on his wrist. It was a gift from you during your first anniversary. You said you made it yourself, and although Childe could purchase all the expensive jewelry and accessories he wanted, this particular bracelet meant more to him than anything.

"The problem is _____'s going to hold you back!" Childe knew that Kaeya was half-drunk and it was still before noon, so he didn't really take his words seriously. "They aren't going to the party later, right?"

"No, unfortunately. They have to review a presentation for professor An's class."

"Hah! Review my ass. If I knew any better, that little toy of yours is just messing around with some other dude."

"Watch yourself." Childe stood up from his seat. He knew that Kaeya disapproved of their relationship because it wasn't really a "frat-boy" thing, but he didn't care about that. He cared about you more than a stupid reputation, and definitely more than a stupid lifestyle of partying, getting high, and getting drunk.

"Back up, softie. _____'s pussyness rubbing of on 'ya?" Kaeya's words were slurred, but Childe knew that there was malicious intent behind them.

"Look, I don't care about what you say about me. Call me a softie? Call me a pussy? I don't really give a shit. But the moment you start shitting on my _____? Don't even consider that I'd just stand around and let them be slandered, you piece of fuck." Childe was a few centimeters taller than Kaeya, and he always used that to his advantage when he wanted Kaeya to understand his point.

"Whatever you fucking say. It's your birthday, I'm not gonna fight with you on your birthday." Kaeya lightly pushed Childe away from him before downing the rest of the beer can in his hand.

"Don't mind him," Diluc spoke, staring into Childe's eyes. "He never thinks straight, whether drunk or sober."

"Yeah, I kinda got the message." The ginger chuckled, watching as Kaeya nearly tripped over his own feet while walking towards the case of beer supposedly for the party tonight.

"I'm glad that you and _____ are still getting along. It's refreshing to see normal people once in a while."

"Well, when you put it that way." Childe could only laugh.

"Where's the tall brunette at? Isn't he always with you?"

"Ah, you mean Zhongli? I don't know, actually. He has a lecture this morning and I wanted to meet him for a light meal before lunch, but he isn't answering my texts."

"I see."

As if on cue, Childe's phone emitted a soft ding!

He typed in his password and the screen faded into a photo of you. You were wearing one of his hoodies (it was way too big on you) and he could've fainted because of how absolutely adorable you looked.

He received a few Instagram DMs from Ellin. Ellin was a member of their posse. Childe would rather refer to them as "fraternity friends", but she insisted otherwise.

[ You're seriously praising _____ for being a good partner? Poor you, dear. ]

Received 9:41 AM.

He frowned.

[ What are you talking about? Mind your business. ]

Sent 9:42 AM.

[ Oh? It's not my business, sure. But you might wanna see this. ]

Received 9:44 AM.

[ 3 Images Attached ]

Received 9:44 AM.

Childe's eyes widened. Ellin sent three photos.

The first one was a photo of you and Zhongli standing awfully close to each other in front of the university's main building.

The second one was of you and Zhongli sitting beside each other in the shuttle.

The last one was... you and Zhongli entering your dormitory building.

"What the..."

He checked his messages to see if either you or Zhongli texted him about the ordeal. However, he was only greeted by messages wishing him a happy birthday from some of his family and friends back in their hometown. No messages from Zhongli, and no new ones from you.

"What the hell?"

He quickly typed out a message for his bestfriend. He didn't jump to conclusions; He trusted both of you, but what was this feeling in his gut? It felt icky, gross, and disgusting.

[ Where are you rn? Answer me. ]

Sent 9:46 AM.

His foot tapped against the floor at a rapid pace. Diluc wanted to question him, but the worried look on the ginger's face made him bite his tongue.

Childe wasn't the type of person to jump to conclusions, nor was he the type of person to get upset immediately over trivial things. But upon receiving an irksome reply from the amber-eyed bestfriend he knew and love, his blood began to boil.

[ None of your business. ]

Received 10:05 AM.

[kosmosguk]

Bloody Artistry (M) ~🥀

pairing: celeb! kim taehyung x journalist! reader; minor pairings: jungkook x reader, coworker jimin x reader (platonic)

Word Count: 8K

Summary: when the scrutiny of fame becomes too much, perfect kim taehyung finds his peace within a lavish bathroom located two blocks away from the nearest club, a corpse in the bed with him. the fans have never questioned his behavior, not when his company is much too good at cleaning up his mess to not have done it before, but when a reporter with too many questions threatens to break the peace he’s established, he finds himself in a tango with the devil that he can’t bring himself to want to break.

[Warnings: MURDER, death, literally Taehyung being a sick bastard 25/8 (but only in fiction), company corruption, violence, yandere themes, mentions of noncon smut (intoxication, mentions of being drugged, fingering), blackmail, obsession, stalking. EVERYTHING that happens in this fic is FICTION; plz don’t go busting nuts for serial killers]

A/N: Thank you to yoongissugarmommy for requesting this! Part 1 of a short series starring Taehyung. Was going to do smth similar to Lineage with him, but this has been staying in my drafts for too long (like i wrote most of this before I even wrote Lineage, which is why my writing for part of this is a bit different from my current one), and I feel like going a bit modern now to take a break from Lineage (taking a bit to write pt. 4 just because it’s the end of the main story). Thank you for 2.9k followers! We’re only less than 50 away from 3K which is so wild to think about; kisses and hugs to everyone who’s supported my work! 

“Today, in the studio, we have our nation’s golden boy, the first love of all of our viewers: Kim Taehyung. Everyone, please clap your hands for him!’’

The MC turned to grin at the audience as the audience cheered loudly; her glossy black hair swept down and framed her face delicately in perfect shiny strands. The lipstick that coated her unnaturally wide smile was a deep shade of red, stark against her pale white skin. Dressed in her primly pressed suit, she looked lovely, like a blooming rose, but as she turned to face the guest star, his presence seemed to easily outshine her own.

“Thank you for having me. It’s an honor to have an interview here and have an opportunity to see all of my lovely fans,’’ Taehyung’s deep voice rang out as he smiled in his heart-swooning way, flashing pure-white teeth handsomely in a carefully maintained and practiced way that made all the fans, both in the studio and watching from beyond a screen, unable to resist letting out shrieks and screams.

“Now, Taehyung-ssi, with a record-breaking album that topped the charts as soon as it came out and a modelling gig that sells out magazines faster than before, how does it feel to have really made it? It must stress you out. Any tips on how to relax?’’

Taehyung leaned back slightly in his seat, his smile flashing coy for a brief second before settling into a rehearsed contemplative expression. He shrugged his shoulders, letting them drop out, as he made a soft hmm noise.

“How I relax? It’s not that big of a deal, really, but that’s an interesting question to ask, noona,’’ Taehyung widened his eyes slightly, looking ever so much like the golden boy persona he had stickered upon his reputation,’’ When I’m really, really stressed, I like to play with Tannie, my dog, and eats lots of yummy food that my mom sends to me when I get stressed. Also, my manager Namjoon is a good person to talk to when I’m really stressed; he always knows what to do and say.’’ Taehyung tapped the tip of his nose lightly, scrunching his face in an expression that made fans coo in adoration. “I also like to think of my fans and read all the letters they’ve sent me. I saved all of my letters from my beloved fans since my debut, and I like looking through them.’’

“Hey, Kim Namjoon, fucking hurry up,” Taehyung hissed into the cellphone pressed against his flawless cheek,” My shoes are going to get stained at this point. You know blood is a pain to properly get out of letter.’’

“Were you at least careful this time? We don’t want rumors getting out,” Namjoon’s voice crackled over the receiver, barely a hint of emotion in his voice. The beeping and honking of cars on his side of the phone call signaled the rush his manager was making towards his location.

Taehyung huffed in agitation, clicking his tongue sharply in annoyance as he skimmed his nails for any trace of dried blood. “Oh, come on, you think I really even care at this point? With the way the company takes care of everything, you’d think perfect ol’ me was…well perfect. But still, aren’t you guys way too good at this job? 7 girls and not even a peek from the public. Who else do you do this for, huh? Suga-sunbae? J-hope-sunbae?”

There was no reply. Taehyung threw his gaze over to the practically mangled body. Too bad, he thought to himself, she was really pretty this time. Red lipstick, silky black hair, wanted to become better acquainted with such a famous celebrity after her little interview, the whole fanatic spiel tied with a pretty bow of the title of an mc. She would’ve never thought that she’d go from being a bed-warmer to being so cold.

“I must be right then, huh? Suga-sunbae I can see, but J-Hope-sunbae…’’ Taehyung whistled lowly under his breath. “I thought you’d at least deny that. It’s the bright ones you gotta watch out for.’’

A dial noise was the only response. Did…Did this bastard hang up on him? Taehyung grimaced before three knocks rang on the door of the hotel suite, a signal from his asshole manager that Namjoon had finally arrived. Taehyung rolled back his shoulders, his joints crackling a little, and made sure all of his jewelry was perfectly back in place before he opened the door.

As Namjoon shuffled in with some of the staff members, Taehyung clasped his silver watch around his wrist with a soft click. He rolled his neck, trying to get the stiffness out of it, and exposed purple marks and bruises from the bites the now dead girl had given him when they had been fucking earlier.

Finally, his headache was gone.

You chugged down a cup of stale coffee and wiped the dribble of liquid that escaped the corner of your mouth as you clicked off some article about a newbie mc receiving slander after rumors of her making moves on a popular idol was exposed and disappearing to avoid the backlash. Squinting at your screen with dry eyes, you pursed your lips and snapped the laptop shut, pushing the device away from you in an agitated huff.

“Wbat’s got you in the gutters, huh? Let me guess…,’’ Park Jimin, your desk mate, rolled his chair over to your side, his glasses askew on his nose,” Ah, your favorite celebrity go into a dating scandal? Let me think, who was it that recently go into a scandal… Oh, is it that pretty boy from a new idol group?’’

You gave him the stink-eye, and your sigh this time was even louder.

“You’d think there’d be something more…interesting going with these celebrities that we could get our hands on. Too much money, lots of stress, yet no story that’ll really seize the audience by surprise, and don’t you dare say a dating scandal would do it. Boss’s been on my case for the whole week on writing an article to shock the audience and wants me to release a major headliner story in two weeks, or that asshole’ll fire me. Damn it, Kim Seokjin!” you hissed out before slamming your forehead onto the desk.

“Man, be careful with your volume; if he hears your tone, he’ll chew you out for another hour that you could be using to research. Boss Kim is picky like that with everyone because our company’s a small piece of seaweed in a system dominated by crustaceous predators.” Jimin poked you in the side jokingly, his plush lips spread in a wide smile that lit up his exhausted face. “Just think really hard; use that big brain of yours and focus on a celebrity. Come on, no one’s perfect, even that one super famous idol Kim Taehyung must have some flaws, so don’t sweat it.”

“That golden boy? Man, the whole nation’s pussy-whipped for him. He couldn’t possibly be anything bu—,’’ you sharply inhaled before pushing your seat back and rapidly swiveling to face Jimin,’’ Park. Fucking. Jimin. Oh my God, you’re a fucking genius! A whole career with not even a speck of dirt… Come on, even pure-faced idol Soyeon was caught with a scandal last month. There must be something on the nation’s golden boy!’’

Jimin’s eyes widened in surprise with your sudden outburst, and he opened his mouth to speak. “Be careful about the way you go when you try to fish out info on him. His company’s security isn’t something easy to get through, and not a single celeb from that company has gotten into a single scandal. No reporters been able to get any dirt from them…”

“Which means that…there’s something sketchy happening. Jimin, Jimin, have I told you I’m in love with you?’’

You turned around quickly in your chair, spinning in glee. Jimin dropped his mouth open to sputter something, and his cheeks were tinging red, but you weren’t looking at or even listening to Jimin at hat point, having already cracked open your laptop to furiously type Kim Taehyung into Naver. This was it! Your big break! Your motivation sky-rocketed, and you felt the first rush of energy that wasn’t fueled by some caffeinated drink in a long while.

Two hours later, you were ready to throw up.

All of the results were sickeningly the same bullshit, as what was expected for someone as beloved by the nation as Kim Taehyung was. You couldn’t fathom the amount of fancams and magazine spreads of him posing on some brown leather sofa and fact pieces—hell, you even knew what kind of socks the man liked—that you had spent the past hours scrolling through.

Realizing that the office was nearly empty, and that the sky was dimming into a dark hue, you were about to shut down your laptop and call it a long fucking day when a tweet on someone’s SNS caught your eye.

@truth-teller: kim taehyung? nation’s golden boy? are you all really sure about that nonsense?

The tweet was spammed with angered replies, so many that the thread seemed to stretch on for at least a mile, but your interest was piqued. This was the first word of slander you had ever witnessed against Taehyung. You quickly pounded out a message to the account.

@name_01: hey, I saw your tweet about taehyung! Do you perhaps have any more information on him? I find him suspicious too.

You tapped send and waited with bated breath for a reply. Minutes crept by, and you were about to turn off your phone and head out of work when you noticed three dots pop up, dancing before disappearing.

@truth-teller: you fr? I had to suspend my acc because of all the spam I got. No one’s believed me on it, but I have proof

You chewed on your lip. What if this was a joke, and you were just wasting your time on some internet troll with too much time on their hands. It seemed like you were taking too long to reply because another message popped up.

@truth-teller: if you don’t believe me then that’s fine. I don’t have to waste my time

@name_01: WAIT! Sorry, it took me a second to comprehend this information… Please tell me more.

You were worried that the account wouldn’t reply anymore, and that you had ruined your opportunity before the three dots popped up again and another message was sent.

@truth-teller: ok, if you want to find out more let’s move to a better messaging platform, just in case my acc gets suspended by more fans. here’s my number: xxx-xxx-xxxx

It was a gamble to send some stranger on the internet your number, but at this point, you were too desperate to really give a damn. There was a story just out of the reach of your fingertips; you would be a fool to deny the carrot on a stick you were being provided.

@name-01: okay, I’ll message you.

Name: hey! Truth-teller right? This is me from the messages

JK: yeah that’s me. I prefer JK when I’m not on sns tho

Name: I’m (y/n). I don’t mean to sound like I’m hurrying you, but I want to hear what you have to say about Taehyung.

JK: lol r u a reporter or smth? Real bossy of you keke

You sucked in a breath. Should you reveal that?

Name: haha would it be bad if I said I was?

There was no response for the next 15 minutes. Exhaling a long sigh, you decided that you should at least maneuver your way home; the office had been cleared out completely during your conversation with this JK, and you couldn’t help the creeps that the emptiness gave you. If anything, the walk back to your place would give you some outlet for the nervous energy radiating throughout you. You were nearly at the door of your apartment when your phone vibrated in your pocket, signaling a message.

JK: just checking. Makes sense that you’re one though. It’d be nice if you could break this story out, but I hope you trust me enough after I tell you what I know

You clicked the door shut behind you, your eyebrows creased as you stared at your phone screen.

Name: don’t worry. I trust you!

You dropped your bag down onto the sofa before throwing your body onto the seat. The three dots under JK’s name popped up for several minutes before disappearing. In the place of the three dots, a long message had been typed out.

JK: I didn’t really think much of taehyung when I first heard about him since he’s the nation’s golden boy or whatever bs title they call him nowadays, but my sister’s friend was a big fan of him. she went out with my sister and they met him in some shady club in gangnam. my sister’s friend got to talk to him exclusively and my sister got separated from her and got a text from her friend saying that she had smth come up and she already went home. she tried to contact her friend the day after, but she got a text back saying that her friend wasn’t feeling well. my sister’s friend was “best friends’’ with her but she didn’t contact my sister again until a week later saying she got a job opportunity overseas and already was about to board on the plane because it was important she got there fast. my sister’s friend didn’t contact her again like she dropped off the face of the earth

You pursed your lips in contemplation as you tapped out a message back, your nails clicking against the screen.

Name: ?? Are you sure that isn’t a coincidence?

JK: yeah, I thought so too but it was rly sus that my sister’s friend who had known my sister for 12 years to suddenly go overseas for a job opportunity without telling her at all. and when my sister tried to get new contact info from her friend there was no reply. but I got curious and since I do some computer work for my job i wanted to see if I could track the ip address of her phone but there was nothing. her last previous ip was all the way back in gangnam and my sister’s friend lived in incheon. that was a red flag so I decided to go talk to the landlord at my sister’s friend’s old apartment and the landlord said he didn’t see her come back since before that night but woke up to a fully paid lease and the apartment cleared out 

You squinted your eyes at the screen, unable to properly process the information that this so-called JK had just given you. Chewing on your lip, you closed your eyes briefly before opening them back up and typing back a message.

Name: anything else? Sorry…just seems a bit far-fetched.

JK: think whatever then. I have to go to work now

Right when JK’s message popped up, another message pinged on your cell. You refused to let yourself ponder more on JK’s last message as you clicked on your friend’s text notification.

Platonic LOML <3: BAE, R U FREE TONIGHT? I’m lonely n want someone to come with me to this club— ik you’re not into clubs but pretty please

You were about to reply with a refusal when JK’s words came up to your mind again. You didn’t know why, but there was a sharp feeling in your gut that told you that you couldn’t miss this opportunity Call it silly intuition or some coincidental fabrication spurned by your mind, but that feeling persisted until you typed out a reply to your friend.

Name: okay fine. Come over in 30.

Taehyung swirled the liquid in his glass, watching the deep burgundy of the wine stain the glass a soft pink. His head was hurting again, and the new medication he had been taking for them on advice of the company didn’t work.

He scanned the dim, musty club, watching the pulsating lights cloak the dancing bodies in sallow shades of pale yellow. This club was a downgrade from his previous celebrity-exclusive club that he had gone to the previous week, but his manager had told him that if he really wanted peace, he should choose an area where no one would really know him.

Taehyung knew the real reason why his manager had insisted on this. Deaths of other celebrities were much harder to cover up after all.

Pity he actually followed his manager’s advice for once. The wine in here, despite the bougie price tag, was complete shit and provided him a slight buzz at best. And there was no one who really caught his eye out of the crowd of people. As he was about to get up from his seat and leave the club for somewhere with better—he contemplated going back to that celebrity club just to fuck with his company—pickings, he caught sight of someone entering the club.

You looked absolutely gorgeous, swathed in a black shift that you kept fighting to keep over your ass—and god, was it a plump ass too, the kind that made Taehyung’s cock hard in his tight black pants—with hair framing your face in a breathtaking way that showed glimpses of sparkling jewelry. Your friend, some chick with dyed green hair that Taehyung didn’t bother paying attention to, was clinging onto your arm, dragging you near the dance floor.

Taehyung knew.

He couldn’t take his eyes off you.

His head seemed to clear from the mind-numbing throb it always had when he spent too much time without another victim to take his aggression out of. Feeling the cool metal of the blade he always had tucked near his body, Taehyung sat back down in his seat, a playful smile perking at the edges of his lips. Funny enough, the blood thirst that never seemed to properly leave him was gone from his mind, an occurrence that was as rare as the pills the company liked shoving down his throat actually working for once.

You maneuvered your way over to the bar, to him, your friend pouting as she noticed you leaving before melting away into the crowd of grinding bodies. Taehyung swore then and there that the attraction between you and him was absolutely magnetic, with the way you seemed to pull the other towards one another.

He watched as you ordered some pretty-colored martini, adorably scrunching your face as the burn of alcohol coated your tongue and hit the back of your throat with a singe.

Maybe, Taehyung though to himself as he propped his chin lazily on his palm, he should really start listening to his manager more often.

Your mind was in a haze, and you didn’t even notice the man next to you until he was nearly pressed to your side, barely leaving a gap of space between the two of you.

You glanced at him, your tipsy mind suddenly sobering up as you realized who the man sitting next to you was. Kim Taehyung? What the fuck was he doing here?

“Another drink for a pretty lady?” Taehyung’s teeth showed as he charmingly flashed an award-winning coquettish smile at you, his already extremely handsome features seeming to increase in beauty from the grin.

You remembered JK’s words and a chill ran up your spine. God, his messages didn’t seem so implausible now, did they? Goosebumps rose up on your skin, freezing you to the bar table. Were…Were you his next victim?

You swallowed dryly as you tried to calm your racing heartbeat. The side of you that was a reckless journalist wanted to take a nosedive at the headliner just out of reach, but the rational side of you knew that leap of faith had a much bigger chance of you ending up disappearing off for a new job opportunity overseas, as Taehyung’s company would have it. You couldn’t write a good story if you were dead, after all.

“Thank you, but I can pay for my own drinks,’’ your lips twitched slightly as you forced them into a hopefully convincing gentle smile, refusing his offer softly before moving your body casually a few inches away from him,” Having drinks bought by strangers isn’t really my thing.”

Your smile must’ve looked a hell of a lot less nervous than you actually felt and a lot more convincing too because Taehyung’s shoulders, which had previously been winded like he was a predator getting ready to pounce on prey, seemed to relax at your words.

There was a dark gleam in his eyes when he again invaded your personal space and pushed his body near yours. He leaned in and whispered softly into your ears, his voice clear despite the early 2010s hits blaring from the speakers by the dance floor.

“If you’re scared of strangers, why don’t we get to know each other a bit?’’

Your fake smile grew stiff on your face. You felt like you were going to hurl the convenience store meal of ramen that you had scarfed before coming to the club all over the bar and Taehyung’s expensive luxury bran clothes. You could feel a sense of dread in your bones, the kind a prey animal would feel as a predator focused its carnivorous attention on them.

You forced a fake laugh, trying to drive the message that you were just not interested to Taehyung as loud and clear as you could manage.

“No thanks; I have enough people I’m close to. If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ve left my friend alone for far too long on the dance floor.”

You pushed yourself off the bar table, flashing a strained polite smile before you headed over the dance floor, trying to keep your pace slow and steady instead of breaking out into the outright run you wanted to do.

Taehyung inhaled the linger scent of your perfume, a natural smell that sweetly layered itself over the damp musky air of the club. His eyes, even as you tried to focus on the pounding music and forget the fear embedded deeply in your gut, never seemed to leave your form. Even when you burrowed yourself deeply into the crowd away from his view, you could still feel it.

You found yourself painfully sober after that encounter, trying to look normal in front of your friend for the rest of the night that seemed to painstakingly drag on for eternity. Even when you had the short 2-minute walk from the cab you took to your front door, you didn’t stop looking over your shoulder, still feeling the chill that came with the thought of Taehyung’s gaze. When you got inside your home, the bubbling nausea in your stomach took control over you, and you ended up heaving your dinner down the toilet.

When you managed to somewhat pull yourself together, you typed out a quick message with practically shaking fingers to the only one you could think of in that moment would understand what you were feeling, You stared at your unsent message before hastily pressing send.Name: I didn’t know who to talk to, but I saw Taehyung at the club today. I think you’re right about what you said about Taehyung.

Name: I didn’t know who to talk to, but I saw Taehyung at the club today. I think you’re right about what you said about Taehyung.

Ping!

You barely managed to fall asleep that night, and your eyes painfully ached when you peeled your eyelids open, hurriedly grabbing your phone and turning it on to check your messages.

JK: what happened? Sry for late response. Job keeps me busy all night

Your fingers flew over the keyboard as you typed out your message, furrowing your eyebrows in concentration as you tried to relay the events of your night in hopefully comprehensible words.

Name: I went with my friend to some sketchy club idk what area at this point but I went to the bar and I felt someone come up to me ?? I turned and realized it was Taehyung, and he offered to buy me a drink but I declined. Makes me sick how I could’ve been his next victim, so I tried to leave and go back to where there was more ppl in the club, But I can’t stop thinking about the look in his eyes. There was something sickening in them, I couldn’t put my finger on it.

JK didn’t respond for a bit, and you exhaled a trembling breath when his message popped up.

JK: be careful. Im glad you managed to get away

Name: I’m scared. I didn’t know what to do, but hopefully I’ll never see him again once I get this scoop out.

JK: stay safe. Thx for telling me. Text me if anything else happens.

You let out a shaky breath before clicking your phone off, your nerves still rattled but slightly more calmed down after talking with JK. You had to get ready for work, but at this rate, you weren’t even sure how you would be able to get through the day. Maybe you should take a sick day? No, you couldn’t.

The elevator dinged closed behind you as you stepped out of it into the office. As you were about to take a seat at your desk, your boss rushed out of his office, relief, something he never showed to you, evident on his expression once he caught sight of you.

“(Y/n)! Come into my office; I have an important job for you,’’ your boss ushered you into his office without another word, practically pushing a baffled you into the room frantically,” You know the company that manages Kim Taehyung? They reached out and agreed to an exclusive one-on-one interview with Kim Taehyung only, and only, if you agreed to the interview.”

You stiffened, your body frozen as you tried to process the words your boss had just spoken. Your brain seemed to be running a marathon as you computed the words your boss said, and you could only meekly respond with a limp,” Why me? Can’t somebody…Can’t someone else take over? Boss…you know I’m not that experienced.”

Boss Kim barely paid any attention to your words as he rested a hand on your shoulder with a confident look on his face.

“Then, use this opportunity to get more experience. You want to show the world that you’re a journalist by getting a scoop? Then take this interview! You know the company never agrees to exclusive one-on-one interviews unless they’re all staged, but there wasn’t even talk of this being staged at all. If you can use this opportunity and get something big, won’t this be your biggest step towards a great journalist career?’’ your boss exclaimed,’’ If you back out, another chance like this won’t come again!”

As much of an asshole Boss Kim was sometimes, you could find the logic in his words. Besides, it must be a coincidence that Kim Taehyung wanted you specifically to give him an interview; maybe he wanted a newbie, so they wouldn’t have much experience trying to fish out personal details and twist his words.

That’s right. There was no way he even remembered what you looked like. You guys interacted for, what, a solid 2 minutes last night. And if you did this interview right, you could use it as a building block as evidence for the headliner you intended to release with what JK had told you.

You exhaled, nodding your head firmly.

“I will. I’ll take this interview.”

Boss Kim’s face brightened, making him look much more like the stereotypical handsome CEO character found in dramas. Since he always looked exhausted and stressed out, he always seemed more intimidating, an aura that seemed to scare off any thoughts about how gorgeous he actually was. You had to admit: your heart did flutter a bit at his face.

“Excellent! He’s waiting in the meeting room right now! You only need, what, six hours to prepare, right?”

Fuck, you take back that heart flutter. Boss Kim was an asshole.

“S-Sir,’’ you sputtered,” I can’t…’’

Before you even finished your words, Boss Kim was already ushering you back out of the office.

“I believe in you! You got this!”

He closed the door behind you. You swallowed back the mouthful of swears you wanted to spew before scrambling towards your desk.

You weren’t prepared, but you knew you would do anything for a scoop.

Exactly 6 hours and seventeen seconds later, you were primly seated in front of Kim Taehyung.

The seats were annoyingly too close, and you cursed Boss Kim in your heart, knowing that the reason why the chairs were placed in such an unprofessional manner was because Boss Kim wanted to create the perfect intimate setting for no cost. If you tried to extend your legs, you’d end up smacking them straight into Taehyung’s legs.  

You, although disgruntled, had to admit that there was a reason why so many major brands wanted him as their model. He was handsome under the shitty lighting of the musty club last night, but here, with his hair and makeup carefully done despite the fluorescent lighting of the room, he was every synonym of the word beautiful combined into one person.

Blond strands of his hair brushed his chiseled features, and his eyes, curved attractively and framed with delicate long wisps of eyelashes, was intensely focused on your face. He looked ever like a marble statue, carved with attention and detail to be the most perfect specimen artistry could ever create. But he wasn’t perfect; that was what you knew. And that would also be what would you get just one step ahead of him.

You swept a piece of hair and tucked it behind an ear as you scanned your hastily scribbled notes. His eyes clung to that movement, as if he was mesmerized by your every action, and you peeked a look through your lashes. Your eyes met, and you forced a stiff smile.

“Kim Taehyung-ssi,’’ you rolled your shoulders back into a proper posture, gingerly extending a hand out for him to take,” Good morning. It’s an honor to be able to do an interview with you.”

The edges of his lips tilted upward, and there was a playful glint in his eyes as his previous fiercely predatory state melted into the façade he put up in front of the public. He reached out and took your hand, throwing you off guard as he leaned in and pressed a tender kiss on the back of your hand.

“Likewise, it’s an honor to have an interview with you, (Y/n).’’

Yuck, you were going to have to wash your hands later. Anyways, what kind of person even kissed the back of people’s hands nowadays? This was the 21st century for fuck’s sake. You somehow kept your grimace to yourself.

You nervously laughed as you practically yanked your hand back out of his grasp. You casually wiped the back of your hand on the fabric of your skirt, disguising the movement as simply brushing off dust. Taehyung’s eyes didn’t leave any of your movements, and he laughed a little as he realized just what you were doing.

Oh, you were so interesting. You weren’t like the rest of them, the fans that threw themselves at him adoringly; hell, he was sure you weren’t even a fan. He was entranced. When he was close to you, the headaches seemed to fade; he didn’t want to drown himself in another body when he was with you. He didn’t want to kill when he was with you.

You ignored his burning gaze, breezing through the beginning parts of the interview. Finally, you reached the part that you had been anxiously preparing for.

“So, I heard that you’re trying out a new actor role. As a model and an artist and now an actor, we have to admit that your talents are incredibly versatile, Kim Taehyung-ssi.’’ You continued speaking. “Could you tell us a little more about this role?’’

“You flatter me too much, (Y/n).’’ He purposefully had left any formalities to the wind in this interview, a move that made you want to grind your teeth. “Yes, I was offered one of the leading roles in a new thriller movie. I’ll be acting as one of the charismatic but complex characters. I hope to show you and all of my fans a new side to Kim Taehyung.”

“Ah, a new side,’’ you nodded lightly,” Your new role as a charismatic serial killer who targets his admirers is certainly what many would call…complex. How do you go about preparing for such a twisted role?”

“Hmm…,’’ Taehyung’s lips curled up menacingly for a brief moment before fading away into a breezy smile,’’ It’s quite difficult to immerse myself into a role in which I have limited experience in, so I like to read through the script and make a map of what the character is like. What motivates him; what makes him so…complex, as you called it. I pretend to be like the character. How do I make myself think like him? That’s the question I like to try to find an answer to.”

“Ah, this is simply my personal opinion, but to truly play the character requires some true life experience…Is it possible that you’ve ever done anything similar to what the character has done in real life?”

A pin seemed to drop in that very moment from the silence that crowded the room. Everyone in the room froze and stared at you, their glances less than pleasant. You bore it all as you stared intently into his eyes. Slip up, you prayed, do something that will make you slip up. There was not even a brief soft sound in the 10 seconds that it took for Taehyung to respond.

He was rigid, the smile plastered on his face barely fading. Come on, you begged, expose yourself just a bit.

“Your response is lagging for just a bit, Kim Taehyung-ssi. It makes you seem guilty just a bit, doesn’t it?’’

He snapped out of it right then and there.

“I was simply contemplating my response. Your impatience is something not so befitting of a formal interview. To answer your question, isn’t a role just a role at the end of the day? If you think about it, I’m not the only person to have played a role like this. Many actors and actresses have done so without any thought of relating it to their real life. After all, a role is simply an imaginary self.”

You both stared into each other’s eyes, and you felt the gazes of other people around you burn into you.

You settled on a retreat. It was fine; this interview was just the first building block. You laughed lightly, throwing off the previous tense silence easily.

“Of course! We wouldn’t expect nothing but, right? We hope to see your talent truly shine through in this new role!’’

The tenseness in the room seemed to slip away right then, and the deathly gazes on you flitted away, like they were never there in the first place.

You let out a sigh as you left the interview room. God, that was terrifying, but you knew that you had to do what you had just previously done. What you had just done asserted the theory that you had. His company was hiding something about him, and that something was nothing less than downright horrific.

JK, you thought to yourself, I’m going to expose this story, just you wait.

“You weren’t just going to leave, huh?’’

You heard a familiar voice speak behind you, and you quickly spun around.

“Kim Taehyung-ssi,’’ you forced out of your throat,’’ I believed you had already left.”

“I was going to, but I wanted to speak to you about the interview. The company rarely lets me do interviews, so it was really refreshing to have one done with you. We worked so well together, and I would like to thank you for the pleasant experience you had given me with dinner. You must be starving, right?’’

You had been starving earlier, but one word from Taehyung left your stomach churning in nausea.

“No!’’ your voice was a bit too loud, so you hastily softened it,’’ No, that’s not necessary. You don’t need to thank me.”

Taehyung took steps closer to you, and you unconsciously took a step back. Noticing your movements, he looked at you and flashed a grin that might’ve looked harmless to others but outright menacing to you.

“Are you scared of me?’’ his voice was almost like a purr. You fought back a shiver, straightening your back and looking him straight in the eyes.

“No,’’ you stabilized your voice, keeping a waver out of it,” Why would I be scared of you? You’re not some higher being than me just because you’re a celebrity. You’re human, after all. But, as you can see, I have work to do, so I will have to politely decline your offer.”

“You can have the rest of the day off.”

You spun around on your heels, your gaze colliding with Boss Kim’s. When did he arrive?

“Sir! Boss! No, if I skipped out on work, I’d be a burden to everyone. Besides, I—,’’ your voice was cut off by another voice.

“It’d be good to establish a positive relationship between your company and ours. Your boss would usually be the one to go to a dinner, but I believe he already has plans. Any work you were unable to fulfill today will be taken care of.”

The voice seemed to chill you to the bone. You turned to make eyes with a man. Was he…Taehyung’s manager? Although he was handsome, the kind of handsome that was comparable with Taehyung’s, something about him churned your stomach. While Taehyung was like a predator waiting to pounce on his prey, the man behind this voice was already sinking his teeth into the neck, wringing out the… You snapped out of your thoughts.

Snap out of it, you mentally scolded yourself.  

“How about it?’’ Taehyung’s manager coldly smiled, his tone like glaciers.

You opened your mouth to try to refute, but with the burning gaze from your boss, you could only dip your head in a bow, your voice low.

“Thank you for the offer. I accept.”

They couldn’t kill you, right? It’d be too obvious.

You followed them out, and when you passed by Boss Kim, you made a panicked glance at him. What greeted you made you halt briefly in your pace.

When Boss Kim made eye contact with you, he patted your shoulder in what should’ve been reassurance. His lips spread out in a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Don’t disappoint me, hmm?’’

His words, spoken low and steady, left a chill in your veins as you kept walking, and the sliding doors of the elevator dinged close behind you, effectively trapping you with Taehyung and his manager.

You somehow made it out of the elevator and through the tense car ride alive. Now, you were seated next to Taehyung himself in the private room of a restaurant. Smoke rose from the grill, briefly obscuring your view of his manager from across you.

You tried to think positively of the situation. If Taehyung was drunk, maybe he’d slip up, but…you made a furtive glance at his manager from across the grill, slightly jolting when your eyes collided with his own. The fear that nearly overcame you made you nauseous.

“A drink?”

Taehyung’s voice broke the tense silence, and you turned to see him already raising his glass. You stiffly smiled, barely managing to keep the nervous twitch out of the curves of your lips.

“I don’t drink.”

“It’s impolite to decline a friendly offer. Come on, a toast to a wonderful…partnership.” Taehyung chuckled, raising his glass, as he leaned his chin onto the propped palm of his hand,” And we wouldn’t want a bad start to it.”

You were panicking by now, but you could imagine what Boss Kim would say if Taehyung’s company pulled out because of something so miniscule. You couldn’t afford to lose your job, not with the way you had fought tooth and nail to get your position; you wouldn’t last a month without your job or the meager protection it gave you.

You made your decision, a decision you would’ve done anything else but avoid, and tilted the glass up, clinking it against Taehyung’s glass. Turning away, you made it look like you were lightly sipping the drink, but you only allowed the liquid to slightly wet your lips. You set down the still-full glass and smiled pleasantly.

“I can only drink this much. Anymore, and I would experience terrible side effects.”

Taehyung didn’t seem even irked by your feeble attempt at pretending; instead, his eyes filled with amusement. He didn’t stop staring at you, and the threatening vibe of it caused you to unconsciously delve into your habit of gripping your glass of water and drinking it in an attempt to calm your nerves.

You placed the empty glass back down before resuming anxiously picking at your food. A pair of chopsticks—specifically Taehyung’s chopsticks—placed a piece of barbecued meat on your bowl of rice.

“Not feeling hungry? You need to eat. Skipping meals is bad for your health,’’ Taehyung beamed as he watched you carefully pick up the piece of meat and eat it. It would’ve been delicious any other time, but the churning in your gut made it taste like sand in your mouth. You dryly swallowed it.

“I’m heading to the restroom.”

You heard Taehyung’s manager speak in his flat tone, and you threw a skittish glance at him as he stood up and walked out of the private room, closing the door with a soft click behind him.

“Ah, now that that nuisance is out of the way, why don’t we talk more?’’ Taehyung’s tone was playful, and you flinched as he leaned closer to you, his breath brushing against the outer shell of your ear.

“Kim Taehyung-ssi,’’ you gritted the name through your teeth,” Please respect my personal space.”

He laughed lowly before he dropped a hand on your thigh. You were about to make a move to push him away, but your body suddenly felt tired, like you weren’t quite in control anymore.

“Come on, do what I say, and your little news company will do so much better. Your boss didn’t tell you this, but your company’s going bankrupt. One peep from me, and your company will rise in ranking, but I can only do that if I’m in a…happy mood.”

Taehyung pressed even closer to you, his nose against the curve of your neck as he inhaled your scent deeply in. His hands moved from his side and he ripped open the buttons of your shirt, groping your bra-covered tits. You let out an incoherent mumble in response, trying to flimsily kick at him.

Where was the waiter? Why was his manager taking so long? They planned this!

Disgust and heat coiled in your gut, but you were too dizzy to move. Something…that bastard…Did he spike your water? You were too careless, fuck. Taehyung moved one hand to tilt your chin up before his lips met yours. Despite how sloppy of a kiss it was, you could tell he was experienced, practically tasting every inner crevice of your soft mouth with his tongue, and you should’ve continued to be revolted, but whatever pill in your system had you melting into his mouth.

Taehyung seemed to sense the turmoil and conflict in you and the soft give of your will, and that seemed to make him even braver. He slid a hand up your skirt, his touch hot even through the fabric of your stockings, and you let out a startled moan against his lips, drool dribbling down the corners of your mouth. He pulled back, and you could barely see through the teary haze of your eyes. It had been too long since the last time you had a good fuck. You just wanted to be touched…wanted to be fucked so hard his cock would press against your womb.  

“I just want to see you let go a bit, baby,’’ there was the triumph of domination in his voice. The sober part of you wanted to rebel, wanted to push and scream and kick him away, but you weren’t sober, weren’t clear-minded. Your legs spread as if begging for more of his touch.

He ripped his fingers through your stocking, and the material easily gave way underneath his strength. You could feel the damp spot on your panties, growing as he rubbed his fingertips against your drooling pussy. You shivered slightly in delirious pleasure as his finger rolled over your throbbing clit.  

“Mmph!’’ you let out a sound as he pushed your soaked panties to the side and pushed his fingers deep into your pussy. You couldn’t object, not when your pussy was stretching with a spine-tingling ache around his fingers, and especially not when he begin to set a teasing pace. He pushed his fingers in, and you shut your eyes in shame as your moans grew louder.

Your toes curled as his movements grew faster, reaching deep into you, and you were so, so close. Oh my god you could feel…and you were cumming hard. Your walls shivered and twitched around his still moving fingers, and you murmured a dazed plea as he finally stilled and pulled his fingers out. You, still twitching from how hard you came earlier, were ashamed to see the way his fingers glistened with the remnants of your arousal and orgasm.

The sound of his pants being unclasped drew you out of your drugged state. No, he wasn’t going to…Come on, snap out of it, snap out of it.

He drew back closer again, and you sucked in a breath, trying to push through your daze. He leaned in. You managed to bring your arms up to the table, grabbing the nearest object that you could reach. Your trembling fingers closed around your nearly empty water glass, and you took it, raising it and smashing it as hard as you could over his head. Water, ice cubes, and glass shards struck as the glass broke. Taehyung, not expecting the blow, had a temporary moment of weakness, and you managed to push him off you.

You shoved yourself up onto shaky legs, wrapping the ripped blouse around your weakened body, and forced yourself into a run outside of the room. The hallway of the restaurant around the private rooms was empty, devoid of any person. You frantically looked over your shoulder, relieved that you didn’t see him coming after you. This was a public place, though it was late at night, and you knew Taehyung wouldn’t risk his perfect reputation. But still, you remembered his manager was still out there.

You couldn’t let them kill you…You had to survive! You broke into a blind run, ignoring the strange looks and the calls you got from the restaurant’s staff as you pushed out of the restaurant into the street. You kept running despite the dizziness of your mind, and you could barely see what was in front of you before…You crashed into someone, slamming into their body so hard that you were sent sprawling to the ground.

“Please…,’’ you choked out, your voice strangled, crying out a desperate plea as you grabbed onto their clothes,’’ Please help me.”

Your mind was dizzy, splotches of colors splattering your blurry vision. Your body had overexerted yourself, and you prayed that you wouldn’t end up a dead body on the news as your grip around the clothes went lip, and you collapsed into the road. Through the buzzing of your ears, you could hear a startled voice call out, feel a firm touch grab your shoulders and try to shake you awake. Some strange hope rose in you; maybe…maybe…?

You murmured desperately one last mumble, your words barely making sense, as you spiraled into unconsciousness.  

“JK…please help me.”

A/N: if you want to be added to the taglist for the next part, reply with a  ❤️. If you enjoyed the story, please leave a comment or a detailed review below <3

Next work will be a fic for Jungkook’s upcoming birthday. Poll will be released soon for what kind of plot it should have! 

[tomtenadia]

A Little Braver  - 16

So, here we are with part 16. Be prepared for the olympics of fussing. Our bird boy goes all out to fuss and take care of his girl. And Aelin fusses about him too because Rowan is not well either.

CW: light mention of alcoholism, death, hurt/comfort and some light smut.

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

Rowan’s phone had pinged with a message and like a desperate man he had grabbed it from his pocket and stopped in his tracks and his heart raced.

It was a text from Aelin.

I am sorry.

That’s all she had said. What did she mean by that? Was she okay? Was she sorry because she had left? Or worse done something insane?

His brain was in overload on his way back to his office, all sorts of thoughts rushing all together, including some very dark ones. She could never… she would never do that.

He looked at the time on the message and saw it had just been sent so he tried his luck and phoned her. His heart loosened a notch when the phone rang.

Please… please answer me.

“Hi.”

Gods, she sounded terrible. He could tell just by one word.

“Aelin… are you okay?”

Silence.

“Please, where are you? We are all worried sick.”

She told him an address.

“I will be there soon. I am coming.”

“Ok,” was all she managed and as soon as he closed the call she felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe, maybe with him at her side she would get better.

Rowan called Aedion straight away “I am going to her. I will keep you posted.”

“Wait, I want to come as well.”

“No,” said Rowan quite sternly “It’s best if I go alone. I am not sure she is okay and two people might be too much.”

The man on the other side of the phone sighed “I understand. Just… just look after her, please.”

“Always.” Said Rowan, realising the weight of his words.

On his way out of the office he met Gavriel and explained him what happened and that he had to go and had no idea when he was coming back. He was glad he had met Gavriel instead of Lorcan. The man would have given him so much grief for putting her again in front of his career, but he could not care less. Aelin was not okay and finding her was all he cared about. His job was, again, at the bottom of his priorities in that moment.

“Go, look after her and don’t worry about work.” The man patted Rowan on the shoulder.

“Thank you.”

He walked quickly out of the base, fearing someone else might stop him. Got to his car and drove home. He got changed out of his uniform, packed some clothes, he had no idea how long he would be there, she might not be ready yet to go back home and he was not leaving her alone again. 

Once he was done he got back to the car, entered the location in the sat nav and started driving. She had gone deep in the Staghorms mountains. She had hidden away properly. No one would have thought of that.

The drive had been nerve-racking and the trip seemed endless. The mountains were getting closer but not fast enough and he was already one the verge of the speed limit. He needed to be with her quickly. The voice over the phone was still haunting him. It was lifeless and flat and it had terrified him. 

Please be safe, he kept repeating in his head, please be safe, please.

It was finally two hours later when he spotted the signs for the holiday park she had mentioned. She had told him cottage 21. He followed the signs on the path and eventually spotted it and her car outside. He took a deep breath, parked the car and grabbed his stuff. The few steps to the door felt endless, then he gathered his resolve and knocked at the door. 

A minute passed and finally the door opened and he almost gasped at the image in front of him. She looked like a wreck, dark shadows under her eyes, now devoid of their usual light. She had a blanket wrapped around her and it looked as if she could barely stand. 

How could have he missed how bad she was? He should have pushed to stay at home a little longer and go and see someone as soon as he noticed the first signs of ptsd. He was an idiot.

Aelin looked up at him, then her face broke and burst into tears and leaned against his chest. Rowan’s arms went quickly around her body and held her tight “I am here,” he whispered to her while kissing her head “I got you.” He stepped inside, without ever letting go of her, dumped his bag on the floor and closed the door. Then he lifted her in his arms and walked to the bed and deposited her down.

He toed off his shoes and joined her. Aelin nested in his arms, letting him envelope her fiercely. She grabbed his t-shirt and cried.

“Let it go. Let it all out.”

And she did and he let her, whispering only I love you from time to time.

Eventually she fell asleep in his arms but never said a word. She would talk when she felt like. He was definitely not going to push her. Slowly and carefully he disentangled himself from her and went to his next mission. The cottage had a kitchen and he doubted she had used it. There were a few dishes in the sink that he washed and stowed away. Then he opened the fridge and noticed a couple of ready meals and nothing else. He knew she could not cook. 

Rowan sighed. He really had to teach her. He grabbed his phone and searched for a place where to buy groceries in the area. Once he found it he scribbled down a note to her just in case she woke up and found him gone.

Rowan came back thirty minutes later and found Aelin still asleep. Good.

He went to the kitchen and unpacked all the food he had bought. She needed some sustenance and he was planning to bring her back to her former self and food was the way to start. He knew she had not cooked for herself and probably survived on junk food. 

A sound came from the bedroom and he went to have a look and found her awake and sitting in bed.

She was staring at him in disbelief “You are really here?” Her voice still haunted.

He took a step to her “Yes, I am here,” and sat down beside her, caressing her face gently. She leaned into the gesture “I thought it was a dream.”

A gentle kiss on her lips “I am really here.”

Aelin bowed her head “I am sorry I—” he stopped her.

“Shhhh. It’s okay.” Another caress “I am making lunch. We eat first, then if you feel like, we can talk.”

He stood again and walked to the kitchen and Aelin, still wrapped in her blanket, padded behind him. 

Seeing her that broken hurt him deeply. She walked to his side and hugged him at his waist, leaning her face on his arm. He let her and went back to cooking without moving her. It felt as if she was craving contact with him and he was not going to deny that to her, no matter how awkward it made cooking.

“It smells lovely.”

“Better than those ready made meals.” He gave her a smile and her head went back to his arm.

With his free hand he grabbed a piece of the carrots he was slicing and passed it her.

“It’s a vegetable.” She complained.

“Yes, and you need it. Your body needs it.” He pushed and Aelin finally took it.

“So bossy.”

He stooped down and kissed her and gave her a slice of chicken and she took that as well and more eagerly “Thank you for cooking for me.”

“It’s fine. If I don’t do it you will just keep eating those horrible meals.”

She snuggled closer “but they are easy to make.”

“I know, but now you have me and cooking for you makes me happy.” And he looked down in her blue eyes and sadness hit him again. He could not stand seeing her so broken. 

“Do I?”

“What?”

“Have you?” She asked him, staring in his pine green eyes.

“Yes,” he said softly kissing her lips “To whatever end, remember?”

Aelin nodded and dried her eyes with the back of her hand “Come on grampa, this lady here is starving.” And she gave him a very faint smile. It was a start. She was trying and for now it was enough. It would take time and he’d at her side during her recovery.

Once he was done they sat at the table and ate in silence.

“Is Aedion mad at me?” She asked timidly while eating his amazing meal. She had not realised how hungry she was until she had Rowan’s food in front of her.

“Worried, mostly.”

“I didn’t mean—” but he stopped her again.

“Eat, relax, then we can talk all you want.”

Once they were done, Rowan washed all the dishes and Aelin helped him to dry them and put them away, making small talk.

Dishes all clean and tucked away, Aelin took his hand and guided him to the bed. He sat down with his back against the board and she snuggled against him. She finally abandoned the blanket and let his arms do the job.

“I am sorry I left,” she started “I was…” she took a deep breath. Where to begin? How could she even begin explain to him how she had felt? “I was happy to go to back to work. It felt good, I was ready, but there was, deep down in me, a lingering fear and I ignored it.” He let her talk and she tried to gather her thoughts “Once I was at the station it became too much. The interactions but worst of all, the memories. I had a panic attack before getting to the station. Then I had one in my office and freaked out after the guys left. The look on their faces, the sadness reminded me that I almost died. The bells almost rang for me this time.” His arms tightened “every time I wake up from a nightmare all I can feel are my lungs and skin burning and the feeling of suffocating. And I burn. Every time I burn.” She gently touched her injured arm “when they left for the call the sirens brought me back to that night and in a moment I was in that hangar again. Stuck. Lost. Burning.” Aelin paused but Rowan never interrupted her. “I was not okay. I knew it. You told me over and over again to go and speak to someone but I didn’t want to admit that I needed help.” He felt her shaking “I put up walls as I did when Sam died and I left. I thought that being alone was going to help but it got worse. I felt lonely and lost like the night of the fire when I got trapped.” She felt his lips on her head “I wanted to call you but after the way I left I could not face you. I was terrified you’d be mad at me and leave me because you had realised I was too much bother and I was not worth the trouble.”

“Never.” He finally whispered “I went insane because I had no way to be with you and help you.”

“I hurt everyone.”

His finger lifted her chin “you did not. We all care about you. We were just worried.”

“I can’t go back yet. I just can’t.” Her face again hiding in the crook of his neck.

“It’s okay,” he told her and kissed her nose “we’ll go back when you feel ready.”

“You don’t have to stay.”

“No chance I am leaving here on your own while you are like this. No. My job, everything else can wait and if Lorcan suspends me again, who cares.”

“You are risking to ruin your career to look after me. Lorcan made that quite clear.” She looked up in his eyes and they were full of sadness.

He loosened a breath and leaned his head against the back of the bed “I already neglected one woman because of my job. I didn’t realise how much until I found out the divorce papers. It’s not happening a second time.”

“But—” he shut her up with a kiss.

“I am struggling at work at the moment with Fuzzy’s death and all that is going on I…” he paused “I have my own ghosts and I know how you feel just now.”

Aelin’s mind travelled back to the day she had watched him fly and Lorcan had mentioned about the fact that Rowan needed that day because the student’s death had reminded him of his dark moment “Tell me,” she whispered to him, caressing his face. He had listened to her, now it was her turn. 

“It was my first year as instructor. I had this amazing group of students. They were all very eager to impress. There was one of them “Carrot” who was a bit on the shy side. He was skilled. He was good, but always felt less skilled than the rest of the class. He would never give himself enough credit of how good he was. So I had a chat with him. I told him I believed in him and that I wanted him to believe in his skills a bit more.” He caressed her head in an absent minded motion “I pushed him to dare a bit more. Not much, as long as he was comfortable, but I told him I knew he had skills and I wanted him to be a bit less other people’s shadow for once.” Rowan’s hand tightened on her back “One day during practice I put him in charge of his group. I wanted him to have more confidence. And boy was he good. He was one of those pilots who had a knack for flying. I was proud of him. Then it all happened in front of me in a matter of seconds. He was busy giving orders to his team that he flew through someone else’s wake and lost control of the plane. I tried to help him recover as much as I could but the plane started spinning and soon got into a graveyard spiral. He probably lost consciousness and he crashed on the runaway in a ball of fire.” He finished his tale and was silent for a moment “he reminded me so much of Fuzzy. They were both similar and shy boys with great talent. Carrot’s death destroyed me. I went into my own personal graveyard spiral. I was put on leave and I started drinking heavily. It was a bit before I met Lyria. I was alone and I just hid at home denying my pain and staying away from my squadron mates. I pushed everyone away. Gavriel in the end was the one who helped me to find my way back, after he found me on the floor of my own house verging on alcoholic coma. I know how you feel right now. It took me a while to find the courage to go back, to fly again. I knew it was not my fault but I kept thinking that I was the one who pushed him.”

She turned to him and kissed him “we have in common more than I thought.”

“We can both hide away for a while. I know it’s the coward way but I don’t care just now.”

Rowan nodded “let’s take a week to ourselves.”

Her hand sneaked under his t-shirt and touched skin “I like your plan, captain.”

Rowan shuffled away and got off the bed “let me make a couple of phone calls,” he leaned forward for a kiss.

Rowan returned ten minutes later and found Aelin reading a book. She still looked haunted but the decision of staying at the cottage for another week had removed a bit of the harsh lines in her face. He realised that probably they both needed that break. Lorcan had been strangely quite okay with him taking time off and for a second he thought he heard misheard him. But no, apparently he had his CO’s blessing.

He had also phoned Aedion and given him an update on Aelin. Told him that she was having a hard time but that he was going to help her and that they would stay away for a week. The man had eventually relaxed.

“All okay?” She asked him when he got back from his phone calls.

“All fine. I also called Aedion and told him I got you. He was very relieved.”

She cuddled back into him once he sat back on the bed “he was trying to help so much, but I didn’t want to worry him. He fusses about me just as bad as you do.”

“He cares about you, madly.”

“I know. We grew up together and he always protected me. He has always been at my side and I owe him so much.”

“I can take you out hiking, if you want. I think fresh air and nature will do you good.”

She looked at him in surprise “really?”

He nodded tenderly “I know a few paths around here. Easy stuff since we don’t have the proper gear.”

“Yes,” she said happily and for a brief instant her smile was back and Rowan realised he’d do anything to see that. He’d move the world to see her smiling and happy. He didn’t want to see ever again the shell of a woman he had seen that morning.

“Good, but today you rest. You’ll have another decent meal tonight and hopefully an easy night.”

“As long as we cuddle….”

Rowan snorted “as if I could stop you. You always end up asleep on top of me and I have all your hair in my mouth. Hurricane.” And he flipped her nose and she loved when he did that. It was such a silly gesture but it was the affection behind it.

“What?” He asked her at her curious expression.

“I just…. I just can’t believe sometimes that you are the same guy that could barely laugh at my jokes when we met all these months ago. I mean my bra joke was epic and you ignored it.”

Rowan pulled her closer in for a deep kiss “I did not. They day I went to get you clothes I opened your underwear drawer by mistake and saw a bra. You have no idea of the thoughts that crossed my mind.” He squeezed tenderly “and I had no idea I was capable of falling so quickly and so hard for someone. It was the way you stood up to me the day of the fire. You left me speechless and no woman before managed to do that.”

“Not even Lyria?”

He shook his head “some friends introduced us and played a bit of matchmaking. I liked her, she was nice, but it was a slow burn. She was very quiet and to be honest she was the complete opposite of you. She loved gardening, cooking, baking and absolutely no love for adventure.”

“Sam and I met on a call. When Dorian became chief, Sam got promoted. I saw him other times we had worked on calls together, but there was so much to do that we never interacted. Then one evening we had this horrendous fire, once he made captain, and we worked together with the two squads. Next time we had both a day off he invited me for coffee. We hit it off straight away. He was the sweetest man ever. He was kind and funny. Sometimes when we were on the job he used to make dirty jokes to make me laugh.”

“He sounded like a great guy.”

“I miss him so much.” She confessed quietly “and I think all my problems right now are also bringing back memories of his death.”

Rowan brushed a rebel strand of hair from her face “how did it happen?”

“An explosion in a warehouse. He was near it. He just…” a sob escaped her and she quickly placed a hand on her mouth “he was near it. He burned. His burns were too severe and he did not survive. I didn’t get to see him one last time. When we arrived, Thomas stopped me before I could see his him. But when I saw the body covered by the white sheet I knew it was him. His right hand had come free and I spotted the ring I gave him and that he wore on his thumb.”

Rowan’s arms brushed her back. That could have been her, a part of him kept telling him. But he pushed the anguish away.

Aelin took a deep breath and brushed her tears away “I think it’s enough dark stories for one day.”

He smiled at her “I agree.”

“Fancy watching stupid tv shows and make fun of them?”

He raised an eyebrow in question.

“It’s fun.” She grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels “look,” she pointed to the tv “it looks like it’s pilots. Wanna see if it’s correct? I like watching shows with firefighters and spot the mistakes.”

“Your idea of fun is weird.”

Rowan sat comfortably against the head of the bed and Aelin took her place between his legs. She pulled her blanket to her and his arms wrapped around her waist.

“The whole point of the game is to be loud when you see mistakes.” She explained him.

“Oh well, what he just did? It breaks so many rules I can’t even start.”

Aelin’s hands went on his on her tummy.

“What an idiot. He just let himself and his wingman completely exposed. If we did that during training we would get sent back to flight school.”

She felt like laughing.

“Go on, buzzard. That’s the spirit.”

“Ok, if you do that in real life you are an idiot. They are clearly flying at high altitudes and you do not remove the mask. No matter how much you want to celebrate winning the dogfight. If for any reason the cockpit loses pressure you don’t have much left.”

“Ro, we are only half an hour in. This movie sucks.”

He shrugged “the planes are quite awesome though. I think they are a mix of different real ones.”

“Ok, the actor is definitely not my type but I must admit that those jump suit of yours make you all so much sexier.”

Rowan roared with laughter then went back watching the movie but not following the plot. His hands had started tracing lines up and down Aelin’s arms, she pushed her back deeper against his chest and his chin went on her shoulder.

He was enjoying this. It felt natural to have her in his arms and cuddle and make fun of stupid movies. She looked a bit better and he also noticed a very faint smile and he called it progress compared to what he saw in the morning. 

“Ok, the love interest has appeared. I bet they are having sex within twenty minutes.”

Rowan pointed at one character “he is going to die. I have a feeling. His callsign is flapjack.”

Aelin patted his hand “what about storm trooper?”

“Oh no, he is the villain. The antagonist. He will be humiliated at the end of the movie but he will not die.”

“It’s because they are the best pilots?”

“Actually they are terrible. Both of them. In real life they would not last five minutes.”

They watched the movie in silence for a while until Aelin felt Rowan tense all of a sudden. Then in the movie the afterburners of one of the pilots stopped working and he lost control.

Rowan stood quickly and left the house.

“Shit.” Apparently she was not the only one suffering. How could she have missed how bad it was for him as well? She had been so centred on herself that she had forgotten about him. Gods she was the worst girlfriend ever. He had been thoughtful and caring all while he was struggling as well.

She ran outside and found him sitting on the grass in front of the cottage, his head on his knees and his arms at its side. 

“Ro,” she kneeled at his side and brushed his hair “I am sorry. I am so, so, so sorry.” She felt tears sting her eyes.

He pulled her to him “why are you apologising?”

“I was so selfish. I was so wrapped up in my own mess that I forgot that you were going through some tough shit as well. I am the worst girlfriend ever.”

He leaned forward and kissed her “I love that.”

“What?”

“You calling yourself my girlfriend. I really love the sound of it.”

“Ro, are you okay?”

“I will be fine.” He brushed her off and then grabbed her and pulled her on the grass with him pulling her body on top of his.

Aelin stared in his eyes and still saw pain in them. He was not fine. Not even remotely, but he was being tough for her. He was pushing his pain away to be strong for her. They had to be strong for each other. 

She caressed his face and then kissed his nose “you can talk to me too, you know? It’s not just my walls that are bad. Yours too. I am here for you. We can take care of each other. Be a little braver day by day, together.”

“Kiss me.” Was all he said and she did. Avidly and deeply and he opened for her and she teased his lower lip with her teeth and his hands sneaked along her sides. Aelin straddled him properly and felt the bulge under his shorts. She kept kissing him and their tongues met. Her hands fisted in his hair and the moan that left her was a clear direction of where her thoughts had wandered. He rolled her over and pushed her off him. Aelin was about to protest but Rowan lifted her in his arms and ran back into the cottage.

She pulled him on top of her all the while grabbing his t-shirt to get it off him. They undressed each other in a frenzy of need and when Rowan was finally naked as well, Aelin grabbed him and pulled him on top of her. She needed him badly and had no time for foreplay. Not the first time around. 

From the way he positioned himself on top of her she knew he was feeling the same. 

“I need you…” she whispered in his ear and those words were Rowan’s undoing.

It had started to get dark when Aelin and Rowan finally lay exhausted in each other’s arms. The first time had been intense and mostly a way for both of them to forget in each other arms. The second one had lasted a bit longer and it was less a way of escaping and more one to find each other again. The third time had been the complete opposite. It had been long and sweet. Whispering sweet nothings to one another, taking their time to explore their bodies and drag the sweet apex from the other.

Rowan was staring at the ceiling while Aelin was sprawled on his naked chest.

“At least we know that in bed we are pretty epic. I am wiped. I mean, happy, very satisfied but wiped.”

She heard him chuckle gently, his hand travelled down and his fingers twinned with hers. The hand went to his mouth and he kissed it “I am exhausted too, but very, very satisfied.”

Her stomach grumbled and Rowan laughed “and that’s my clue.” He moved from underneath her and got off the bed and walked to the kitchen stark naked.

Aelin turned on her side and pillowed her head on her arm, staring at him wearing the apron but leaving his backside exposed. The scene was ridiculous.

“Sexy.”

He wiggled his backside and Aelin giggled. The man was perfect. His body was muscular and thanks to his strict diet and exercise regime he didn’t have a gram of fat on him.

“How hungry are you? Back to your normal levels?”

“Almost.”

He smiled, that was a great sign. Her appetite was coming back “I’ll make a bit more just in case you are still hungry after the first portion.”

While he cooked she stared at him in her cozy spot in bed under the blankets. She had spent four full days in bed and she had come to hate it, but now that he was with her it was perfect. Also, his scent of pine and snow was everywhere and she felt at home.

“Don’t fall asleep or you will miss dinner.”

“I can’t. If I sleep I will miss the beautiful view in front of me.”

He clenched his butt in response and Aelin laughed. It was a silly thing but it made her feel light hearted.

Once he was done cooking he walked to the bed with two bed trays and gave one to Aelin, then went back to get the food.

“Here we go, milady,” he gave her the food and got back to get his, then got rid of the apron and joined her in bed.

She turned her head to him “thank you for dinner,”

He just kissed her “eat.”

Once finished eating, Aelin stood and cleared all the dishes and loaded the dishwasher, then got back to him. He had the tv back on and was watching a cartoon.

She laughed. She really did not paint him like the type of guy to watch cartoons.

“What?”

“You are watching cartoons.”

He patted her side of the bed inviting her to join him again “they are fun.”

She curled against him and eventually they both fell asleep.

***

As usual Rowan was the first one up.

Aelin was curled at his chest and he was glad she had managed to sleep all through the night without any nightmares. He gently kissed her head and got off the bed. He went to his bag and grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and got dressed to go out for a run. 

Although it was full on spring, the air in the mountains was much cooler so he wore a hoodie as well. He got out of the cottage and took a moment to breath in the fresh air. The location was super peaceful and he realised he hadn’t done that in a very long time. He hadn’t slow down in what felt like forever. 

Another full breath and he left. He knew Aelin would be asleep still for a while if she had gone back to her standards. He had left her a note just in case. Behind their house there was a path leading into the woods and he took that setting himself up for a challenge. Off track running was far more challenging than on the pavement. But he welcomed it. Welcomed the opportunity to switch off his brain for a while. The path started to rise slightly as he got deeper in the woods. He could hear a river so he followed it. He spotted berries along the path and thought about coming back and pick them and make Aelin a nice cake with them. He continued along the river for a couple of kilometres until the roaring sound of the water increased and he noticed a gigantic waterfall, opening up in a pool at the bottom of it. The water was crystal clear and he was positive Aelin would love that. He could take her along that path. It was easy enough and she should manage it. 

Rowan sat along the path and stared at the scene for a while, then decided to climb down to water level. 

Once down he crouched and took a sip of the water and it was refreshing. He wetted his hair and face and climbed back up and slowly made his way back to the cottage. 

Half an hour later he was back at the cottage. Tired but he felt recharged at the same time. The run had been good.

Back in the house, Aelin was still asleep and he laughed but did not wake her up. She needed it pretty badly. So sneakily he padded to the bathroom and went for a much needed shower letting the warm water soothe the ache in his muscles. He chuckled when he realised that without Aelin to keep him company, his showers reverted back to the military efficiency of a run against time to finish before the hot water ran out. He grabbed a towel from the rack, patted his hair dry and then donned it around his waist. 

Still in a towel he walked to the kitchen and made breakfast and at the smell of food he heard Aelin wake up. 

“I smell food,” she said from the bedroom. A moment later she was behind him, wearing only the t-shirt she used as pyjama. Her arms around his waist “you were not in bed.”

“I went for a run.” He replied while concentrating on cooking “French toast is fine?”

“Aye, aye captain.”

“I found a nice easy path that we can walk along today.”

“Good, but I am mad at you.” She told him while caressing his naked back.

“Why?”

“You took a shower without me.”

Rowan chuckled “you were sleeping.”

“So, so rude.”

“Menace, sit down and grab some coffee.” He ordered her. 

Aelin gave him a mocking salute and filled two cups with coffee and took her place at the table.

“Did you had a nice sleep?” He asked worried. She had been quiet all night and that had been a good sign but she still didn’t look okay.

“I did, actually. I had no bad dreams or anything. I think it was you presence at my side. I felt safe in your arms.”

He gave her a big smile “do you feel up for a walk?”

Aelin nodded eagerly while taking a bite of her food “I need fresh air. I have been cooped up in here for too long.”

“Good, then finish your food.”

An hour later they were outside in front of the cottage.

Aelin had a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and a hoodie. Rowan had convinced to wear something warm. He loved to fuss.

He had the same attire and also a backpack filled with water bottles, lunch he had prepared and packed for both and for some reason unbeknownst to Aelin two towels as well. 

“Do you need all that stuff in you backpack? We are just going for a walk, not a mission on top of the Staghorns.”

“Always,” he said, walking in front of her “you do not go out on a walk in the woods without food, water and basic first aid supplies.”

He slowed down and got to her side and grabbed her hand “we have to do survival training while we are at flight school,” he told her “we had to learn to survive in the wilderness in different types on environments and also in a very cold climate. Also how to survive in an enemy zone and what to do if we get captured.”

She looked at him stunned and a part of her ignored the last words. Captured meant to be in enemy hands and possibly torture. For a brief second she felt sick at the image of him in an enemy cell being beaten up. Quickly she brushed the bad thoughts away. 

“It’s in case we suffer a malfunction and we are forced to land. We need to be prepared for anything and to know how to make it out alive.” He had continued while she zoned out.

“So if we get lost in the woods you would know how to keep us alive?”

He nodded. 

“Damn, you are more useful than I thought.”

Rowan roared with laughter.

Then they reached the area with all the berries and stopped Aelin and he walked to one of the bushes. He grabbed a plastic container from his backpack and started picking berries.

“What are you doing?”

“They are berries, I saw them during my run. I will make a cake.”

Aelin walked to him and he offered her a blueberry “Are you sure they are edible?”

He rolled his eyes “yes, Fireheart.”

He opened his palm to her and offered her a few more. They tasted delicious.

Rowan went deeper into the bushes but Aelin did not follow. She sat on the side of the path and waited for him to come back.

He did so twenty minutes later with an air of satisfaction on his face. In his hands she noticed the container full of different berries and in his other hand a smaller one “this one is for snacking.” And he passed her the smaller container.

Aelin then noticed his legs covered in cuts “your legs.”

“Ah it’s nothing, the bushes have thorns. There’s a river appearing quite soon I’ll wash there.”

The path wound among the trees and they slowly walked enjoying the fresh air and the peace “it smells like you.”

Rowan looked at her with curiosity.

“You smell of pine and snow and right now we are surrounded by pine trees and it just smells like you.”

He gave her a gentle kiss and they kept walking until he heard the sound of the river and he knew the surprise would come soon enough.

“It’s so beautiful out here.” Rowan turned to her and saw her serene face and he relaxed. The walk had been a good idea.

“Come on. We are not there yet.”

She skipped a few steps in front of him and his heart melted. She looked as carefree as when he met her but a part of him was wondering if that was a mask she was putting on for him.

She peeked beyond the trees and saw the river flow down in the valley “can we go down?”

He took her hand again “be patient.”

She huffed a puff and kept walking at his side and Rowan could tell she was getting restless.

“Fine,” he yielded. “There is a majestic waterfall down the road. Race me to it?”

She gave him the most amazing grin “you betcha. See you there, grampa.” And she sprinted, leaving him behind. 

Rowan raced after her and not long after he had caught up to her, most likely thanks to his long legs. He had also a backpack but that did not stop him from taking over and eventually reaching the waterfall before her.

She arrived a couple of seconds later and bent over, hands on her knees “you…” she was breathless “have long legs. Not…” another breath “fair.”

He chuckled and helped her up “look,” he said pointing at the waterfall.

Aelin followed his finger and gasped amazed. The waterfall was tall and fierce. The spray created a beautiful rainbow and at the bottom there was a pool of the most crystal clear water she had ever seen.

“Let’s go down.” She grabbed his hand and pulled.

Carefully they made their way down and as soon as they were at water level, Aelin ran to the pool and went on her knees to play with the water. It was chilli but so gorgeous. She tasted a palmful and it was super refreshing. Rowan joined a minute later and sat beside her “what do you think?”

Aelin stared at the gigantic waterfall “so stunning.” Then she stood and started peeling off her clothes.

“What are you doing?”

“There is no way I am not taking a swim in this paradise. We did it in Doranelle and this is so much better.”

“It was also much warmer.”

“Up to the challenge, captain?” Aelin was now towering over him completely naked, her long blond hair unbound.

Rowan stood in silence and undressed in front of her, meeting her wanton smile.

“Come,” she said to him offering him her hand.

Step by step they entered the water which was not as cold as Rowan expected. The pool was exposed to the sun and quite shallow, allowing the water to warm up a bit.

They walked to the centre and then he sat down on the bed and wiggled a finger to Aelin. She joined him and straddled him “you brought the towels. You knew this would happen.” Her hands brushed his hair and angled his neck so he was looking up at her.

“I saw the pool this morning and I thought at how naughty we could be in it.”

“I like the way your mind works.” She kissed him and pushed her naked body closer to his. She stood on her knees and she felt his hands grab her buttocks. One of his fingers traced lazy circles around her core teasing her. Aelin lowered herself down to him, grinding against his finger.

His free hand went around her neck and pulled her mouth close to his “I need you… to touch you, to kiss you… to be inside you…” his voice rough with desire.

“Then go ahead, captain. Fuck me senseless.”

Rowan stood in a swift motion and lifted her in his arms, her legs wrapped around him. He moved toward the waterfall to one side with less water and walked under the water and behind it and Aelin noticed a small cave.

“Privacy,” he told her once through and moved against the rock wall, pinning her body against it.

“Now, where were we?” His breath tickled her neck and she felt his tongue tracing the length of it. With one arm he held her up whilst the other slithered down along her thigh, between her legs were the proof of her desire was there for him to feel. The tip of a finger found its way inside her and Aelin closed her eyes and once the whole finger eased into her a moan left her lips. His head tipped down and took one of her hardened peaks in his mouth. Aelin’s back arched and her lower abdomen felt the proof of his growing desire. Aelin moved against his hand and he responded by adding a second finger and curling them inside her reaching that hidden spot.

“Fuck.” His thumb brushed her clit and Aelin was glad she was in his arms because she doubted she’d be able to stand. His free hand grabbed her leg “both of them around my waist,” he told her against her mouth.

“Please…” she told him her hands on his back, pulling his body closer.

His fingers left her and for a moment she missed their presence inside her. His hands went to her hips and angled her and she felt his tip nudge at her entrance. A moment later he eased fully into her and stilled for a few seconds letting her enjoy the feeling of him filling her. Gently he pulled out and slammed into her straight away, Aelin’s nails leaving half-moon marks on his back.

“You feel sooo…” another thrust “perfect. So bloody perfect.” She angled her hips sightly and at the next thrust she screamed in pleasure. They kept the rhythm steady until she felt her body ready to tip over the edge. Her muscles tightening around him. He groaned and his lips kissed her hard.

“Aelin—” her orgasm swept over her like a river that had broke its banks, powerful and strong. She felt him pick up his speed prolonging her high until he joined her as well in blissful oblivion and eventually relaxed spent against her.

Aelin turned her head and kissed the corner of his mouth “I scratched your back,” she added apologetically, hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

“For this?” He kissed her, never putting her down “totally worth it.” 

He moved away from the wall and started walking back to the pool and both sat back in the water.

Aelin pulled away from him and swam in the crystal waters while he sat with his back against the edge of the pool and looked at her.

She stood in provocation “seen anything you like, captain?”

“Go back swimming, menace.”

Aelin laughed and splashed him playfully then went back to enjoying the water.

Rowan on the other hand, left and went to the bank and started drying himself up and getting dressed again.

“Spoilsport.” She shouted at him when she saw him leave the pool.

“You should get out too, you don’t want to get too cold. The sun is moving and the pool is going into the shadows, it will get cold soon.” He pulled out her towel and opened up for her “come on,”

She stood and went to him. Rowan enveloped her in the big towel and then used his one to brush her hair dry as much as he could. Once she had clothes on as well he moved them to a patch in the sun and they sat back down “Sit here, it’s sunny and it will help you dry your hair.”

She obeyed him and then saw Rowan open his backpack and pulling out all of his stuff. He had water bottles, a thermos with coffee, the tub with the berries and two tubs with their lunches inside.

She always felt spoiled by the care he showed to her. She had to find a way to repay him.

“Eat.”

It was much later in the afternoon when they finally got back to the cottage. After the pool and the waterfall they had continued along the path and deeper into the woods and they did a super long circular walk that in the end brought them at the entrance of the holiday park.

“I am exhausted,” she complained sitting on the bed. Rowan stopped in front of her and kissed her nose “you have freckles and your face is nice and red, you have some colour on you.”

Not like the shell of a woman he had seen the day before with pale lips and dead eyes.

She extended her arms to him “kiss,” she begged but he walked away grinning without her seeing him.

“Whitethorn,” she barked.

He turned and gave her a chaste peck on the lips but her hands grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer.

“Thank you.”

“For the kiss?”

She shook her head “for being here. For not giving up on me. For finding me.”

He kissed her softly “I will always find you.”

TAGS:

@rowaelinismyotp​

@jlinez​

@swankii-art-teacher​

@courtofjurdan​

@whimsicallyreading​

@tillyrubes10​

[badb1tchbokuto]

Ch. 2 Alone, Together - Miya Atsumu x You

chapter 1: here 

(crossposted on ao3)

warnings: mild smut, alcohol, mentions of time skip

wc: 3.7k

As if you had sensed his worries, your eyes flutter open. “You okay?” You groggily whisper. Knowing he’s on borrowed time, he scoots down to level his face with yours and kisses you deeply. “Yeah baby, no worries.” He breathily responds as your hands begin to wander from his chiseled abdomen to his navel and down to the tufts of hair trailing to his boxer briefs.

At this point Atsumu knows he’s completely, utterly, royally fucked.

⳾⑅❀⑅❀⑅❀⑅❀⑅❀⑅⳾

Atsumu tried. He really, really did.

Standing on the tiny kitchenette of his shared hotel suite with Bokkun(who was off spending time with Akaashi), he hangs up the phone after a long Facetime session with Samu guiding him on how to make the best onigiri and miso soup.

It really shouldn’t have taken that long. All he had to do was wash the rice, pop it into the mini rice cooker stowed in the counter, cut some fresh tuna, sear the rest, then assemble it all into balls along with the seasoning, condiments and nori.

He’d know how to make miso soup even if he was blindfolded. All he had to do was mix in the ingredients he bought on a small pot of water. Dashi, miso paste, diced silken tofu, sliced green onions, some more nori, all dropped in at different times and simmered to get the perfect taste. Plus, this was one of the first dishes their ma taught them how to make before he and Samu moved away.

Really, it should have been a breeze. He’d made onigiris for himself countless of times before, admittedly nowhere near as tasty as the ones Osamu makes, but they were still edible.

This time, however, it had to delicious. Mouthwatering, perfect.

For the umpteenth time, Atsumu is picking off the nori on the last rice ball, wrapping and rewrapping, then wrapping again because the nori just wasn’t hugging the rice in a fashion uniform to the seven others arranged in front of him.

“Why does it look so weird??” He frustrates.

Atsumu’s mind replays, yet again, to your shared conversation at the club. Specifically to the part where he realizes he didn’t really know how to talk about himself outside of volleyball. He surmises at this; a gnawing, alarming thought of wondering whether he really knew himself at all.

Three hours ago...

“How do I usually describe myself?” He repeatedly thinks as he wanders down the seemingly endless aisles of Isetan’s Depa-Chika, scouring for the exact brands of ingredients Samu instructed him to buy.

Lost somewhere in the frozen food section, Atsumu pushes a half filled cart in reverie. He resolves then and there to get to know himself, whatever that means or entails. Not just so he can talk to you or anyone new for that matter, but honestly more so to know how to articulate to himself who he really is in private. Without the cameras flashing, without the people buzzing, without having to watch himself through others’ incredibly varied perceptions of him, without using his brother or his friends and teammates as a crutch, however difficult or impossible that seems.

He takes his time at the store, tediously combing the shelves for a special kind of mirin Osamu swears by, then proceeds to have an internal debate whether he should choose chutoro or otoro (he chooses otoro, the fattiest and therefore the tastiest in his opinion), his supposedly quick trip to the grocery store devouring more than an hour of his time.

It is now 7:15pm.

You’re supposed to arrive in fifteen minutes, but Atsumu still hadn’t even showered, hadn’t even cleaned up the kitchen, hadn’t even finished wrapping that last stubborn rice ball.

The hotel phone rings and Atsumu panics.

It’s the concierge alerting him of your arrival. Sending you up, Atsumu races around the small space in a haste, swiping the counter and dining table with disinfectant, racing to throw empty packages into the bin.

The doorbell rings and Atsumu is sweating.

He’s an athlete for fuck’s sake, why did running around for less than a minute knock his breath out like that?

“I’m coming!” He yells, or tries to. What comes out is a cracked, high pitched attempt, sounding much like a prepubescent boy going through rapid hormonal changes. He cringes, mortified.

Atsumu hears you trying to stifle a giggle.

He clears his throat, repeats in his signature silky voice, then runs to open the door.

You’re smiling sheepishly, the tip of your nose frosty from the autumn chill, all bundled up in a casual outfit that somehow knocks Atsumu’s breath out.

“My share of dinner!” You announce, arms stretched out with a box of wagashi and a bottle of nigori sake.

“Yer’ so frickin cute,” he dotes. He can’t help himself, he snakes an arm on your waist and pulls you in for a gentle kiss.

“Yer’ early, missed me that much already?” He whispers teasingly on your lips.

You laugh as you kiss him back, gently patting his cheek as a response before pulling away.  Funny how it seems like he’s the one who missed you that much...

Atsumu sneakily sniffs his shirt as you take off your shoes at the genkan.

“Oh no...” Not musty, but he reeks of kitchen smoke, aburi tuna and dried sweat.

“Need ta’ shower real quick.”

“Oh sorry, want me to come back in a bit?”

He digresses. “No no. Gimme a minute, come in and get comfy.”

He excuses himself, leaving you in the kitchen as he rushes to the bathroom.

You look around the hotel suite, kitchenette roughly cleaned, flecks of nori and furikake smattering the floor but otherwise spotless. The cramped countertop had a steaming pot laid next to a row of neatly arranged onigiri on two plates, decorated with vegetables jaggedly cut in what you assume are attempts at flower patterns.

It’s a simple dinner, you know. But you still can’t help but be impressed that Atsumu put in that much effort, that much care in making you a homemade dinner. On your first date no less.

You smile, butterflies fluttering in your belly at the thought that this callous, reckless, stupidly tall and handsome man is being domestic just for you.

Pulling out your phone, you send a quick text to Kaori and Yukie, gushing over how cute Atsumu is and even sending them a quick snapshot of the onigiri he plated with special care. “Get it!!!” Kaori enthusiastically replies. “Send a ‘1’ by midnight if it’s good and give us a play by play tomorrow. ‘2’ if we need to fake an emergency asap!” Yukie responds, ever the more calculating but motherly one.

As Atsumu massages purple shampoo on his tresses, he elucidates a fact about him he already knows is true on court that he supposes could be said the same of him off it.

1. Miya Atsumu is a perfectionist.

He practices for hours daily to hone his craft, has been doing so since the fourth grade really. At first just to spite Samu, but then he just suddenly fell in love with volleyball.

To Atsumu, nothing short of absolute perfection qualifies when it comes to dedicating himself to the things he cares about. It is through this philosophy that he is now one of Asia’s top setters, that he’s certain anyone who can’t receive his set is a scrub; a roaring confidence gained from knowing he puts his all to whatever he chooses to set his mind to, whether that’s volleyball or cooking dinner for a very cute girl he finds himself wanting to impress and spend more time with.

He frowns upon remembering that one of the onigiris he made is lopsided, that he didn’t even have time to shower and properly clean up before you arrived, that the atmosphere you walked in on your first official date with Miya Atsumu the perfectionist, wasn’t, well...perfect.

He thinks about this as he readies himself, spraying on the woodsy, smoky vanilla perfume he swore you wore when you first met. He usually reserves the scent for special occasions, but he believes that this counts as one.

Atsumu finds you in the kitchen, fixated on trying to salvage the onigiri he was having trouble wrapping earlier.

He leans over your shoulder, and though your nerves are in haywire and the butterflies in your stomach seem to keep multiplying, you instinctually lean back into him. Atsumu smiles as he drapes his arms around you from behind, thumbs brushing up and down the bare sliver of skin on your hip.

Your mind is a blur, every thought suddenly jumbled and incoherent. All that’s left is you anticipating, thrilling where Atsumu will move his fingers next on your heating body. Dropping his head on your shoulder and finally getting a closer whiff of your sexy scent, he whispers teasingly close to your ear.

“Sorry for the wait, ya’ ready to fall in love with me?”

You swiftly turn around and pull him into a deep kiss as an answer.

——

By the time you’ve moved to sit at small table by the kitchen, your lips are sweetly swollen and your clothes are wrinkled. Atsumu is panting, hair even more tousled and a small love bite is beginning to bloom on his right collarbone.

You stare at him, mesmerized at how he seems to look even more gorgeous unkempt.

“Why don’t cha take a picture babe, it’ll last longer.” He smirks then sticks his tongue out to pose, ego inflating at catching you ogling him.

You quip. “Sure, can I take naked ones after?”

“Aww, you’re so polite. Whatta’ good girl. You don’t need to ask. I’ll gladly give them to you for free, even throw in a lil show if ya want.” He leans closer, resting his head on his flexed, chiseled propped arm, smirking a little more mischievously as he gazes at you in challenge.

You can almost see his ego rapidly inflating like a balloon, and naturally, you kind of want to pop it.

In your best faux posh British accent, you offer. “A most forthcoming and lucrative offer mister Miya. What do you say I start and manage an OnlyFans account for you?”

You giggle uncontrollably as the look on his face changes instantly from confidence to confusion.

Brows furrowed and lips formed into a tiny pout, he concludes. “It’s a good thing yer so cute, yer a weirdo.”

You laugh, snorting a little. Atsumu chuckles at this, finding your little quirk amusing and rather irresistible.

“Keep the accent though, it’s kinda hot.” You kick him under the table and continue to banter as you both set up the table.

Atsumu watches expectantly as you take the first sip of the miso broth. The soup is delicious, and as soon as you tell him this he visibly relaxes.

The onigiris’ fillings however, are inconsistent. On the first one, the filling oozes out whenever you take a bite. On another, there’s barely any tuna and a ton of furikake. You decide to spare him your criticisms and just enjoy the meal he so graciously prepared.

Still, your heart just feels so damn full.

You make sure to repeatedly compliment Atsumu on his cooking to show appreciation for his efforts, the first time anyone has ever cooked for you on a date and the first time he(and not his pro-chef brother! Ha!) has ever been acknowledged for his culinary efforts.

Dinner is pleasant, both of you exchanging stories of varied life experiences.

You talk about the places you’ve lived in, your childhood, life in university. Atsumu actively listens, enchanted with how different your upbringing was in comparison to his, especially since he’d forgone college and went pro immediately after being scouted in high school. Despite the stark differences, he asks a ton of questions; some in confusion as he asks you to clarify or talk about certain details you purposely leave out.

You notice that he’s very observant, so you casually comment it.

Atsumu decides then that yes, it’s true. He makes a mental note to add this to the little list he’s crafting in his head about who he is.

2. Miya Atsumu is observant.

He thinks that you literally could have told him he was a seaweed and he would have agreed just because he is so transfixed by your mere presence and voice, but he knows this to be true on court for him as well. How else would he sync up with his spikers? How else would he know which serve to use and how to to angle his sets best? Through thorough studying and keen awareness of his teammates’ likes, dislikes, mannerisms and ticks, he is able to turn a seemingly mismatched chaotic group like the Black Jackals into synchronized raging monsters, dancing to a tune in which he is the lone orchestrator.

Atsumu is earnest in asking you questions about your life; his genuine interest coaxing you to share seemingly inconsequential details you intentionally initially skip over, snippets of your upbringing you thought were too boring to even mention, some too painful to share. Hesitantly at first, then comfortably as Atsumu intently listens. You don’t know why he takes a keen interest in you to that degree, but you come to learn that Atsumu is transparent and rather straightforward. He asks because he wants to know. 

You relax, feeling touched and appreciated as you realize that he seems to just want to know every little thing about you, even the parts of you that you think are boring, unimportant or unworthy.

The conversation shifts to more light hearted topics as you both begin to indulge on the dessert and sake you brought.

Feeding you half of a red bean wagashi he swears is the best one, Atsumu continues to tell you about shenanigans from his volleyball team, particularly the initiation ritual of being ambushed to sing a full song at one’s first team dinner with a hot pink wireless karaoke mic on full blast.

“Bokkun, Omi, and Shoyou weren’t even there yet and I didn’t know anyone my age since they were all older than me.. I was only eighteen! They told me I couldn’t eat dinner and had to sit in a different table if I didn’t do it.. and I had 10 seconds to pick a song! A western one at that because Adriah and Oliver had to understand too and they didn’t speak Japanese then..”

Imagining a younger Atsumu with a bad dye job nervously trying to think of a song to sing out loud in public, you laugh as he describes in detail how awkward the whole ordeal was. You wonder if any of the older members have a video of this, making sure to ask Meian if you ever have the opportunity to see the team again.

He recounts how shameless Bokuto and Hinata were when they had to do it, with Bokuto even doing an encore with a dance routine that resulted in them being banned from a restaurant in Kyoto. You’re both dying of laughter as he wheezes out how Sakusa almost gave up his career upon realizing he had to do it as well. Thankfully his team sort of pitied him and let him sing to a small izakaya in Sendai instead of the mega hotel restaurants they usually celebrate in.

As the night progresses, you and Atsumu end up sitting side by side, legs touching due to the close proximity of your chairs, holding hands, and sharing sweet sake flavored kisses in between laughs.

After some time, the kisses start to linger, becoming more heated. It’s when you subtly lick Atsumu’s tongue then slowly bite and suck on his full lower lip that he loses control and pulls you into his lap. Straddling him, you keep one hand on his chest to steady yourself as you move your other hand to brush his soft hair out of his face. “You’re so beautiful.” You whisper as you stare into his half lidded hazel eyes before leaning in to kiss him.

Atsumu flushes at this. It’s the first time he’s been called beautiful. Handsome? Sure. Sexy? Even more often. But beautiful? It feels intimate, leaving him vulnerable and exposed in a way that seems to transcend the physical. He revels in this as he lavishes you with open mouthed kisses, starting from just below your ear and moving down your neck, his wet lips ghosting over the hollow of your throat to just above your cleavage. You mewl, aching to feel more of him, subconsciously grinding your hips on his lap where you can feel him bulging out of his sweatpants.

Atsumu moves one of his hands from your waist, brushing his large knuckles up your torso until it reaches the underside of your breasts. You notice that despite his kisses growing more desperate and him feeling fully erect under you, he hasn’t made a move to further the heavy petting. Respecting his boundaries, you ask. “Everything okay? We don’t have to go all the way if you’re uncomfortable.”

“Oh fuck.. sorry, yea, I’m good.”  He kisses your lips again as his hands rub up and down your bare sides, your sweater having ridden up a while ago. “Trust me, I want you. So bad. I’m just tryin' to hold myself back for once.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I wanted to take my time.” He gently pecks your forehead, then your nose, and then back to your lips. He does this while looking at you eye to eye, a stark contrast to the steamy make out session you were just having. Atsumu’s gaze becomes smoldering as his eyes move to your lips again. “I don’t know why, but I just know I’ll get addicted to ya’.”

You grab the wrist that’s placed on your waist, unfurling his long, elegant fingers. Atsumu is watching you in intense curiosity as you take his pointer and middle digits, pulling them up slowly to your mouth and sucking, all while looking up at him. Instantly, Atsumu groans and you’re positive you can feel his member twitch against your crotch.

You release his fingers with a pop, then lick the length slowly, gaze never leaving his as his focus struggles in anticipation of what you'll do next.

You guide his digits by dragging them from your exposed torso and up to the curves of your breasts to your hardening buds straining your lace bralette, his wet fingers leaving a slight translucent trail of saliva on the expanse of your stomach. Before Atsumu can twist his fingers to pay attention to your nipples, you hold his wrist and move the fingers down your torso, pushing past the elastic waistband of your pants. With your hand over his, you splay his saliva coated fingers against your dampening underwear, stroking your mound before resting the two fingers over your labia, coaxing your slick slit to open. Atsumu’s pupils are dilated, his breathing heavy and his other hand gripping your hips so tightly you can feel bruises starting to form as he tries his best to control himself.

“I’m afraid time is the one thing we both can’t afford Atsumu. But please, have me. Fuck me. Take your fill.”

It’s all the confirmation he needs as he moves your panties aside, circling his fingers on your throbbing clit before sliding them seamlessly inside your tight, soft walls.

It’s not until much, much later, after you’ve had sex in the kitchen, then on his bed, then in the bathroom as you both intended to clean up, then finally cuddling back in his bed before falling asleep that Atsumu remembers the rest of what you said right before he lost all coherent thought.

Why can’t we afford time? Why don’t we have the time? Surely you’re both busy with your careers, but you’re someone  he finds himself liking more and more. And now that you’re here, with your head on his chest, one arm wrapped around his bare torso and one leg intertwined with his, he thinks that this feels too good, too perfect, to not keep chasing, and he’ll be damned if he didn’t make time for more moments like tonight.

As his thoughts lull him to sleep, he remembers why time is beyond both of your control.

He's only in Tokyo for volleyball - for the league match they just won and now to train with the Olympic team for an upcoming friendly match in Shanghai. You’re here temporarily too, on a project with a definitive deadline that will not only mark the end of your stay in the country, but signal the end of you seeing him. Possibly forever.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

As if you had sensed his worries, your eyes flutter open. “You okay?” You groggily whisper. Knowing he’s on borrowed time, he scoots down to level his face with yours and kisses you deeply. “Yeah baby, no worries.” He breathily responds as your hands begin to wander from his chiseled abdomen to his navel and down to the tufts of hair trailing to his boxer briefs.

At this point, Atsumu knows he’s completely, utterly, royally fucked.

You’re both on borrowed time, but now that he’s had a taste of what it’s like to spend time with you, to be inside you, to just be with you, he knows that this growing hunger for you is insatiable. He thinks then that he finally understands Samu when he rambles about gradually getting hungrier and hungrier when watching others eat. His appetite for volleyball had always been there, like second skin and breathing. But for the longest time he didn't realize that seeing lovers around him display genuine affection towards each other(from his ma and pa, Bokuto and Akaashi, Meian and his wife, Aran and his high school sweetheart), all build bonds that can only truly be forged by sharing and accepting each other's hopes, dreams, and vulnerabilities, is something that he was growing hungrier and hungrier for without even noticing. Up until he met you that is. As you pull away from his lips and begin to slowly kiss down his body, following the trail of where your hands have just wandered, he thinks, “fuck it.”

Just as he became a setter even though he initially intended to be a spiker, just as he chose to be a professional athlete instead of following a safe path to success in university, just as he contorts and bends over his body in random, sometimes painful ways to make sure his spikers have the best sets, and just as he adjusts and twists routined plays in order to beat opponents, he knows then.

3. Miya Atsumu is a risk taker.  

He’d been luckily winning his gambles so far, it’s about time he try his luck in love.

[thetomorrowshow]

i will make the sky collapse

Next - Read on AO3!

A/N: Hi, and welcome to my first ever fic for the Newsies fandom! This fic focuses on Crutchie’s time in the Refuge and will be six chapters long. Eac chapter will be cross-posted on my AO3. Content warnings will be posted at the beginning of each chapter, but this whole fic will be full of violence and angst.

CW: blood, intense scenes of violence, non-descriptive (but for sure uncomfortable) references to past deaths of children, a rat is eaten

~

There were only two boys who were by the entrance when they hauled in the new kid. Bart and Twig, eleven and thirteen respectively, were meant to be scrubbing the floor in the hall at that time, on punishment and missing whatever scraps had been scrounged up and thrown to the other kids.

News traveled uncommonly slow in the Refuge, but it was barely an hour before everyone knew. It was even less when Harley heard of it. By that time, there were already rumors spreading--some said the newcomer was barely three feet tall and no more than a sack of bones, others claimed they’d seen him walk in at a proud six feet and show himself to Snyder’s office. One thing that everyone could agree on, though, was that the kid was a newsie. Harley was sure that this kid was just like any other poor nobody who got thrown in here, but he’d have to wait until after his orientation was properly over to assess the boy.

The Refuge needed leadership, and that job had been Harley’s since Spud was freed a month before. Without a kid to keep them in line and hand out hope, the boys turned on each other, snarling and biting like they were no better than Snyder himself. The first month they hadn’t had any fight-related deaths was under Spud’s rule, and the kids were generally happier for it. With someone in charge, they had a person who would listen, a person they could blame, a person who would stop them from killing each other. Right now, that was Harley.

The kids got something else out of it too--ranks. It was amazing how much someone’s morale could be lifted just by telling them they were the treasurer, or the secretary, or the first mate. Every boy in the Refuge had a position, and each one played at pretend business like their lives depended on it--which they did. It was nice to have them cooperative, instead of nasty like they’d been before. 

Working together was better than working for oneself, but it had made it harder in some ways. Just last week, they’d lost six-year-old Mark to pneumonia. If Mark hadn’t been assistant to the war general, nobody would have cared or noticed. Now they cared too much, held a service in the middle of the night with a nicked candle, and averted their eyes from his bunk that was too big to be empty at a time when they were already squished three to a bed.

Now, though, whispers were traveling through the hundred-some kids that were scrubbing at the endless grime around the building. “Newsie,” Harley heard, and “Jack Kelly.” That one came filled with wonder, excitement even. Jack Kelly was the only one of them to get out and come back with help. Jack Kelly was the kindest guy anyone had ever known. What did he get out of stealing clothes and food, then risking his own skin just to bring it to them? Nothing, but he did it anyway. And he was from before the camaraderie of hierarchy, so he really didn’t have any reason.

It was possible that the new kid knew him, but Harley wasn’t about to be caught pinning all his hope on some random boy. It wasn’t like Jack Kelly was going to break everyone out of the Refuge for one kid.

Most everyone was outside today, digging endlessly with calloused hands as the sun beat down on them. There was no purpose to the holes, other than graves. Mostly they just dug them up and then filled them back in, though it had been only last month when a guard had pushed in Justin and made them fill it up over him. Justin had been sick, though. He was going to die anyhow.

Harley tried to wipe over his eyes, only succeeding in mixing more dirt with his sweat. He hated the hours spent with the splintering shovels--they all did--but it was better than the chemical water used to clean inside. He’d had to give up a couple of meals to save Stink, who had been forced to swallow a mouthful of it by a guard.

Speaking of guards, one left the building, quite literally dragging the new kid behind him. Harley made a pretense of shoving his dirt into a neater pile, watching carefully. The boy was average-sized, maybe blonde, face too covered in blood to really tell anything else. Harley felt a slight sense of relief. A broken nose was a rite of passage here that most got from Snyder or a guard, but some (like Harley himself) had dodged it only to wake up his first night to a circle of preteens ready to sock him.

There was no real way of discerning that this kid was a newsie, other than the fact that his clothes looked a bit nicer than most of those here. Still, that didn’t mean anything. Without a newsboy cap, Harley wondered where the rumor had come from.

The guard dropped him by the two spare shovels and growled something at him, likely a command to get to work. Some of the other boys had stopped to look around at him, so Harley made a show of dropping into his hole and digging vigorously.

After an hour or so, he risked a couple of glances around. Three guards were watching them lazily, occasionally smacking a boy for working too slow. The new kid was far too slow, though, and as a result, was targeted by the guards. Harley looked away when he heard a stifled cry from his dig spot, not too far from his own. There was nothing he could do to help right now.

Eventually, though, the new boy had been beat to the ground and wasn’t getting up. Most everyone had paused in their work, glancing at him, then away, then back as two of the three thugs kicked at the boy. Dry, rasping breaths came from him, and once again, Harley turned away, back to his own backbreaking work. He’d learn soon enough that he couldn’t stay down.

But he didn’t, and less than ten minutes later, Harley was watching again. He saw as a guard stomped on the kid’s leg, earning a muffled whine, and wondered--oh. There was something wrong with his leg, he realized, as he saw how twisted the foot was. He couldn’t stand, no matter how badly the guards threatened him.

And now that Harley had noticed, he could understand the words the boy was choking out.

“My crutch, please,” he whimpered. “I ain’t gonna be able ta work without it, please, I can work, I just needs my crutch. . . .”

“Jump,” one of the guards taunted. “Jump, and we’ll let ya have it!”

The kid struggled to get up, wiping at the tears that were making the dried blood on his face run again. He couldn’t even stand, though, let alone jump. The guards kept kicking him back down, pushing him into the shallow dent he’d managed to dig so far, mocking him with the same words. It turned into a threat--”Jump, you’ll jump if ya know what’s good for you!”--then to a compromise--”Just one little jump, and we’s leavin’ you alone for the rest o’ the day.”--to a dream--”Jump, crip, and we’ll let ya go tonight!”

But the boy couldn’t jump. He couldn’t stand. Harley watched, sick, as the boy’s eyes slid closed and his grimace hardened as the guards kept whaling on him. Then he turned away again. He couldn’t worry about some new boy with no name. He had to keep his clan strong.

Eventually, the thugs got bored of beating up a kid who wasn’t responding. One of them wandered inside, the other two left to taunt Billy, and Harley let himself steal one last look at the motionless pile of rags. As he watched, the kid’s eyes flashed open and met his. Slowly, one eyelid flickered down in an unbelievable wink, accompanied by a strained grin.

That was a newsie, for sure. The rest of the kids on the street had learned to never smile years ago. Harley looked away for the last time and got back to his work. He couldn’t waste time if he didn’t want the same fate.

-

The guards hated this kid, dragged him to the cellar instead of to the bunks for the half loaf of bread that had to be divided up between them all. One less mouth to feed, he rationalized. They didn’t have enough to feed themselves, let alone to spare for a new boy.

Stink managed to catch a rat, crushed with the heel of his thin shoes, and was attempting to roast it over a candle when the boy got thrown into the room. All the boys went silent at a hand from Harley, then watched the new kid as he lay, breathing heavily. Eventually, his head raised, looking around the room with watery eyes.

“What’s a guy gotta do ta get a welcome ‘round here?” he rasped. No one answered. A few of the younger ones looked to Harley, including Red, who had arrived just two days prior. After a moment, Harley nodded at Twig. Twig motioned for some other boys, all members of the welcoming committee. They were proud of their jobs, and would treat him well. They wouldn’t do anything to help him proper, but they would get him a bunk and a sip of water, and what more could a man ask for?

They boy’s name was Crutchie, they found out when Twig announced it, and he was indeed a newsie, as well as crippled. He did know Jack Kelly, and said something about a newsboy strike. He said that Snyder had taken his crutch after beating him with it, and now he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to get around at all.

The welcoming committee carried him to a bunk, which, from the gravelly protests, was apparently not much appreciated. The boys all returned to their own business, which was mostly whispering among each other or trying to get a bit of the dirt off before sleeping. Harley watched the new kid, now sitting on Mark’s old bunk, from across the stuffy room, before stepping around the huddled masses to get to him.

“Name’s Harley,” he introduced himself, holding out his hand before seeing how swollen Crutchie’s fingers were. Probably stomped on; he withdrew quickly.

“Crutchie,” the kid said with another painful smile. “You was lookin’ at me outside, huh? My face that good?”

His face was terrible, to be perfectly honest. Caked in blood and dirt, Harley could just barely see the purpling lumps on his forehead and the shallow gash along his cheek.

“Nah, I’m in charge ‘round here,” Harley answered seriously. “I’s got the job of checkin’ out the new meat.”

Crutchie frowned. “Jack says there ain’t a ‘in charge’, just kids.”

“Jack Kelly?”

Crutchie nodded, and Harley chewed on that piece of information for a moment. This kid clearly knew the guy well enough that they had spoken before. Maybe he would be worth something. He wondered how much Kelly would be willing to trade for one of his own.

“Yeah, well, things is changed since Jack Kelly was here last,” Harley answered, then left for his own bunk. He’d always wondered if he was meant to say more than that, but Spud hadn’t exactly left him with a book of instructions.

He had no place for a cripple in his ranks, but he couldn’t exclude anyone or else the guys would start doing the same to each other. Spud had always said that for unity, everyone had to feel important. He’d have to think on it.

“Stink! Gimme some o’ that,” he whispered across the room. Stink sighed and tore off a pinch of the greasy, undercooked rat and dropped it into Harley’s waiting hand. The others were clamoring for some too, but not the new kid. No, Crutchie was still laid up in the bunk, gingerly checking over himself and tearing off bits of his own shirt to wrap some of his worst wounds. There was a scarily deep cut across his ribs, surrounded with swollen bruises that were barely visible in the candlelight. Harley winced. That was ugly, especially for a kid’s first day.

Something sank in his stomach, and Harley knew. That kid wasn’t going to make it out of here. He’d be lucky to survive the week. Sure, he must’ve been a survivor to make it as a newsie, but this wasn’t the streets. This was the Refuge, and that kid was just another fly caught in the Spider’s web, about to be devoured.

[thetriggeredhappy]

I thank you so much for doing the father son bonding AU its the best ever. How about tiny Jeremy fighting another kid at the playground because the other kid made fun of Spy somehow? Jeremy feeling the need to kick the shit out the kid and defending his papa's honor.

something something clever line something something joke, idk man its real late here

(warnings for mention of blood and allusion to the kid getting real rude)

-

“Can I ask whether this was worth it?” he hummed, gently swiping dried blood away from where it was congregating around the bottom of his chin.

Jeremy just sniffled, eyes cast down and to one side stubbornly.

He knew this was bound to happen eventually—kids got in skirmishes sometimes, especially kids who spent the majority of their time holed up in hotel rooms or on the road and didn’t get very many outlets for their frustration. At least he was present, just across a short stretch of grass from the monkey bars that Jeremy had been playing on, and had been able to run over to push apart the two boys that were fighting like wildcats in the mulch to the horror of a couple of onlooking children.

The ride to the motel was short, and cleaning up his bloody nose proved to be easy enough—he’d done it to himself enough times. The difficult part, as was becoming increasingly common, was getting Jeremy to talk.

“I don’t know if you could see the other boy very well,” he continued conversationally, “but it’s worth noting that if nothing else, you did get him far worse than he got you. I’m sure his parents must be very upset with you. It’s a good thing we were able to leave so quickly, mon lapin.”

Jeremy mumbled something.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked lightly.

“He deserved it,” Jeremy said, now loud enough to hear properly.

“Well, whatever he did, it must have been quite bad, then,” he shrugged, and tilted to look over Jeremy’s face, patted him gently on the cheek and rose to his feet. “You’ll be bruised for sure, but maybe less so if we can get ice on that.”

“He made fun of you,” Jeremy murmured under his breath.

Jacques raised an eyebrow over his shoulder as he started in on a makeshift cold pack. “Did he, now?” he asked. “Not often that I have my name sullied by an eight-year-old, but I suppose a playground would be the place that it would happen.”

“He called you a bunch of names,” Jeremy said quietly. “Really bad ones.”

“Such as?” Jacques asked.

Jeremy said a string of syllables vile enough to make Jacques fumble the ice in his hands, looking back again with wide eyes. His mouth moved uselessly for a moment. Jeremy beat him to talking again. “I dunno what most of it means, and I dunno if he did either, but I know it’s really bad because he said it really quietly so his sister didn’t hear and tell on him,” he shrugged.

Jacques had to clear his throat. “Well. You’re right, that’s... very bad. It’s alright this time, but try not to ever use that sort of language again, alright?” he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

“Okay.” Jeremy was swinging his legs. “What’s it mean?”

Jacques chose his words carefully as he wrung out a towel. “In essence, he... was making a very derogatory joke about my not being from this country, and some swear words, and a jab at me potentially not following more common American social practices. All in an extremely rude and excessive way.”

“Oh... okay,” Jeremy said.

“If I had to guess, I’d say he most likely heard the phrase on the radio or from his parents,” Jacques said, brows furrowed now. “I’m sure he didn’t understand all the implications. Nonetheless, you’re correct, it was in fact... quite a lot. I’m sure I would also have been very upset had I heard him say such things.”

“Yeah. It’s okay though, I taught him,” Jeremy said much too casually, and he couldn’t help but worry at where exactly Jeremy was picking up that sort of mentality from.

“For now, at least,” he hesitantly agreed, moving back over and guiding Jeremy into holding the pack to his nose and eye. “Until a week from now when some other little boy with a different accent than him tries to use the playground. But maybe one day he’ll learn for himself why he shouldn’t speak that way about people.”

“Hope so,” Jeremy said. He was quiet for a few seconds, still looking off to one side. “Did I do good?”

He considered his answer for a few moments, wrestled between paternal pride and paternal concern. Chewed on his words. “I appreciate that you decided to look out for me when you heard that boy say rude things, mon lapin,” he decided on. “But if you would like to, next time you can simply tell me there’s a boy being rude and I can come over and give him a stern talking-to rather than you getting into a scuffle.”

“Maybe,” Jeremy surrendered, eyes firmly on the toes of his own shoes.

“Hold that there, if you don’t mind, and I’ll...” He hesitated, unsure if he had the energy to properly make them both food. “...Ugh. Phone for something to eat?”

A fist-pump from his son, and he rolled his eyes fondly, ruffling his hair as he moved past him to the phone.

[mimssides]

Never Met You

Chapter 4: Moving Forward

Moving on is not always a choice. If it is, they shall not feel bad because it does not mean forgetting what was. If it is not, they shall not feel bad for regretting it later on. It is okay to mourn over lost choices and times.

Green was sitting outside the stables. He had helped cleaning them and was now observing the few soldiers, guards and servants walking through the inner courtyard.

The king hadn’t left the castle in the last four days. He went from one meeting into the other and he had told Green to take a break today. Green wasn’t complaining but he was getting worried. He had heard what they were planning for. He had seen what Logan was trying to prevent and it got more and more clear that Logan was the last one who really tried to stop a war from breaking out.

With a huff Green eventually got up and back into his little quarter and cleaned for a bit. Some of the other guards found it weird how much Green seemed to enjoy moping the floor or cleaning his cabinets or even the toilet. They were even more weirded out by the fact that he had Patton explain every little step to him when he got started in his quarters. Sure, the kid was cute but reacting surprised when he told Green that he couldn’t use the steel wool to clean certain pans had been a little too much in their opinion. Green didn’t care about their opinion though and he was happy that the little boy had come to visit him in the mornings and evenings more often than not. His life was less lonely like this.

Whistling he finished scrubbing his counter and dried the wet surface. When that was done, he began to prepare four sandwiches and cut them into quarters as he had noticed that Patton tended to eat more if the food was cut into smaller pieces.

“Green!”

Green turned his head towards the door and watched Patton storm inside the room with a big smile. He had told him last evening that he would be home the whole day and had been rather sure that Patton would show up as soon as Ms Anouilh would let him leave.

“Hello, big guy!” Green said gently and caught Patton with one arm as he smash hugged his side. “You’re getting stronger each day! Have you grown again? Soon I will have to look up to you!”

Patton giggled, as Green picked him up and sat him down on the table, and told him: “No! That’s silly! People don’t grow so fast that you can see a different over night!”

“They don’t?” Green parroted with a grin and put the sandwiches onto a little wooden tray. “But I am sure that I once grew seven whole inches over night! All the grownups were very impressed and very polite to me, because they thought I had already grown up.”

“No that’s a lie!” Patton said loudly and jumped from the table to follow Green outside.

Green chuckled a little, waited for Patton to catch up and sat down on his bench close to the stables and watched the kid climb up next to him. Patton puffed his cheeks and frowned adorably and Green had a hard time to not laugh at his anger.

“Well, maybe a little,” Green admitted and put the sandwiches between them and motioned Patton to grab one. “But I did have a pretty big growth spurt once and the grownups treated me like a grownup after that. That is the absolute truth.”

“Buf why? You wewe jus’ a kid!” Patton asked with a full mouth.

A shrug. Green looked over the courtyard and took a sandwich. He had never asked himself that question. Maybe he should have.

“I don’t know,” Green admitted and looked down to Patton. “Maybe because I felt like I needed to be a grownup and the grownups needed me to be one.”

For a moment there was just Patton’s chewing and the busy noises of the courtyard. Green didn’t hear either properly. Images were taking up all his senses and he could hear the colour red take up all of his mind. It was gruesome and cruel. The nightmares were worse. Especially when he was alone.

Gulp.

Green blinked and was back in reality. Patton wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stood up on the bench. Gently, oh so gently he pressed himself against Green’s side and patted his back with one hand.

“I don’t need you to be a grownup. You can be a kid with me!” Patton said warmly.

It wasn’t that easy. But for the morning Green would play with Patton and let the child distract him from his worries.

“Careful!” Green laughed as he caught the ball Patton threw into his direction.

He managed to catch it despite the rather bad throw from the boy and showed him again how he could throw a little safer, before he threw the ball back to Patton. This time Patton managed to catch it and immediately threw it back to Green just as badly as before.

A few weavers were laughing at the two playing together. Patton’s joy had been known all around but combined with the silly stranger the child was beyond recognition. He was running and shouting around, his arms always moving and his little legs bouncing with energy. It had nothing in common with the smiling but quiet boy who was sitting between them and holding their wool or rearranging their spools. This child was alive and happy and it was nice to see at least something good in times like these.

Green threw the ball once more, this time it flew a little too far and Patton turned around to go and get it.

***

“Careful with the street, kid! Look out for carriages!” Green shouted and watched Patton stop and look to both sides of the street before he crossed it.

Green sighed an walked a few steps back from the road. It was possibly smarter to change the game for now, he mused thinking about how Patton squinted his eyes together when he was looking for the ball. It was something – people did when they couldn’t see it properly and Green suspected that Patton was rather short-sighted.

“The boy seems to have found a liking to you.”

Green spun around and saw the Royal Advisor standing in front of him. Hastily, he bowed his head and straightened his posture. Janus raised an eyebrow at the gesture and motioned for him to stop.

“How may I be of service?” Green asked.

Janus shook his head and looked over the street to Patton.

“You are off duty. The king would not like for me to go against his orders.”

Visibly relaxing Green’s shoulders dropped and he followed Janus’s eyes and watched Patton picking up the ball. A little sloppily he brushed over it and then shouted to Green: “It’s dirty! I’m gonna wash it!”

“That’s good Patton! Just be careful!”

A “yes” followed and the boy was already running over the courtyard to the fountain. Green sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Gingerly, he looked back to Janus who motioned towards the bench, where he and Patton had eaten before.

With Green’s nod they walked back and sat down. Green could feel Janus’s eyes on him and tried not to get too tense around him. He had felt the shift in attitude towards him after Roman and Virgil had arrived and he had yet to figure out if that was a good thing or not.

“Is Patton often with you?”

Green pressed his lips together before it turned into a treacherous smile. Fondly, he watched the dirt on his shoes and said to Janus: “He comes over as much as he can. He likes the food I give him and how I love his stories.”

“The boy is around five,” Janus countered rather unimpressed. “None of his stories can possibly make any sense.”

Green chuckled and smirked at Janus.

“True. But that doesn’t mean they are not important to him. And I like him being around. Gives me something to do. Sense of purpose and all.”

“You have already a purpose. You are the king’s guard.”

For a moment Green mused over Janus’s stern words.

“That’s a job. A good one. An important one. One I like to do. But how long are you planning to keep me here? How long will you accept a man you know nothing about and can’t learn anything about? The Prince and his chaperon don’t approve of me. It’s a question of time until I will be gone. I don’t blame you for it, I just wish I knew what game you are playing.”

If you move your hand, you can see the muscles just work beneath the skin of the back of your hand. It was quite beautiful Green thought and licked his lips.

“But the kid is our future,” Green continued and met Janus’s eyes again. “He will outlive us all if we are doing our jobs right. He should outlive us all. He’s a good kid. He’s kind and funny. In both ways of the word. I cannot help myself but care about him and that’s going to last no matter where I end up being. So, yeah.”

There was a long pause. Janus stared and Green held his look quite effortlessly.

“You sound just like the king,” Janus said blankly.

Green shrugged and looked over the street where Patton was coming from.

“Our king,” Green said and stood up, “has the right idea to try and do anything to stop a war from happening. The kids, the adolescents, the adults and the elders should not have to suffer through a war. And I think that the king’s court would do good to support him in that endeavour.”

And finally, he looked at the Royal Advisor one last time before he went back to Patton: “Nor the court should have to suffer through another tragedy. No child on earth should ever have to suffer through what you and the Prince must have seen.”

***

 Royal Advisor Jove Celer was up early on his round through the palace. He had taken Janus with him and they had just reached the east wing when he heard something move behind him.

 “You broke your oath.”

 Jove turned around and found █████ ██████ █████ stand in front of them. He was still wearing a sleep gown and his face was devoid of emotion. Jove frowned and Janus beside him began to shiver. Something was wrong, very wrong.

 “Follow me,” █████ said and began walking toward the south wing; the quarters of the royal couple.

 Jove and Janus followed the fast pace █████ set and entered the quarters of the king and queen. And as they came Jove noticed how the guards weren’t here anymore and he began to think of why that would be.

 “I sent them to search all the exits from the castle, the town and town walls. Maybe we can still find who did this,” █████ said without looking back to Jove.

 Did what? Jove wanted to ask but remained silent as the boy halted in front of his Roman’s parent’s bedchamber. █████ looked over his shoulder up to Jove and then down to Janus. Gently he motioned for Janus to come and stand to his right and Janus followed hesitantly.

 With his left hand █████ reached for the door knob and with his right hand he shielded Janus’s eyes.

 “You shall not have to see this.”

 Then █████ opened the door.

 The first thing Jove registered, was that the furniture visible from his point of view was wrecked. The second thing was the blood on the wall. The third thing was whimpering. Roman’s whimpering.

 He stormed inside. He instinctively looked towards the noise and found the young Crown Prince kneeling in front of his parent’s bed next to the – next to the mutilated corpses of King Aneas and Queen Rhea. It was a picture Jove would never forget. His oldest friend lifeless, bloodied on the floor his younger only son crying tears on his chest and grappling his wife’s hand like a lifeline.

 “What is it? What happened? Roman is crying, isn’t he? Why won’t you let me see?” Janus asked from behind while Jove tried to comprehend what he was looking at.

 It kept him too distracted from noticing how his son fought himself free of █████’s grip and went after him.

 And then Janus saw and screamed. Screamed and ran to Roman. Took him in his arms and wrestled him away from the corpses. He told him to breathe, to look at him, turned his face away from the scene whenever he wanted to look back. Ever so slowly Janus led him away to █████’s side and exchanged a look with █████. For the first time this morning █████’s expression changed and he gave Janus a weak smile.

 “Thank you, Royal Advisor Janus.”

 Roman’s sob grew louder and Janus and Jove stared at █████ with horror in their eyes.

 █████ took a deep breath and turned towards Jove. He folded his hands behind his back and held his chin high. Despite only being a child of twelve years old and wearing a white nightgown, Jove had never seen someone looking as regal and determined as him in that very moment.

 “Royal Advisor Jove of the late King Aneas,” █████ said firmly despite his voice jumping at the “late”, “you will aid me form a royal council to help me rule until I will be of legal age to rule and decide on my own. And you will aid me uncover who was responsible for the late King and Queen’s assassination. And Royal Advisor Janus, you will aid me by getting my ███████ some water and get him to our Court Physician. Am I understood?”

 “Yes, ████ ███████,” father and son said in unison.

***

Janus had not been thinking about Logan. He had been reminded of a man long gone who had had a fight just like this with Janus’s father a few days before his and the queen’s lives had been so abruptly taken.

___

Link for AO3, Taglist, Masterlist, and next Chapters are in my first reblog!

[asteroidimagines]

first date jitters

[ 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 ] pg

[ 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔 ] they/them

[ 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒆𝒊𝒘 ] third person

[ 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 ] none

[ 𝑰𝒅𝒆𝒂 ] but it's their first date! 

kevin had finally gotten up the nerve to ask y/n for a date, he was excited and nervous all at the same time, he felt this was the only chance he had to show them he was serious about wanting an actual relationship. not that y/n actually demanded he prove that at all, it was just something he felt he had to prove so y/n knew he wasn't just another guy that was going to pick them up and drop them as soon as they got what they wanted. he messed with his hair as he fixed his hair again and again, he sighed eventually opting to leave it alone so he didn't drive himself insane with trying to get the messy locks to cooperate with him. 

        y/n sent 8:39 p.m.                  might be a tad late :/ they kept me at work longer then i thought

        kevin sent 8:45 p.m.                 that's okay! hopefully then the food will be ready before you get                 here :)

        y/n sent 8:50 p.m.                  i promise its not always like this <3 my boss just decided to be a                  a bigger dick then usual today.

        kevin sent 8:52 p.m.                   we can post pone so you can just rest tonight.

        y/n sent 8:54 p.m.                  never! i need you're company after a day like today, i'll be there                  probably around 9:30 :)

kevin smiled down at his phone and sent a quick thumbs up emoji before looking at the pot of boiling water on his stove. he wasn't the most amazing cook in the world, but he had a few 'go-to recipes' for when he had guest over and had to feed them - tonight had was make something simple enough, spaghetti and meatballs, he hoped that y/n liked it. he dropped the hot top of the pot into the sink cursing at himself for forgetting how hot the top usually got. "feck sake..." he mumbled under his breath, looking at the quickly fading red mark on his hand. kevin shook his head to himself before checking on the noddles. he went about his work in the kitchen hearing a small knock on the door, as the sauce was just finishing.

"doors unlocked" he shouted.

he heard the door open and close no one spoke though, kevin turned at the sound of footsteps, y/n stood there with a cocked eyebrow as they leaned against one of the walls in the kitchen with their arms crossed.

"i could of been a killer you know" they said a playful smirk forming on their lips.

"its the risk i take" kevin chuckled "you're just in time"

kevin turned around to look at the food turning down the stove and taking the apron off of him before walking closer to y/n to properly greet them, wrapping his arms around them. when he pulled away he allowed himself to actually look at how they were dressed, despite the stressful day they said they had, y/n seemed to clean up rather quickly, though still a hint of tiredness behind their eyes.

"you look amazing, as always" kevin smiled moving back to stove to plate there stuff.

"not so bad you're self o'reilly" y/n walked closer to them "need help?"

"no, you can just relax"

"what is this 'relaxing' you speak of?" they pulled a confused look a small laugh escaping them as they did so.

"a thing us mortals do, it do you don't burn out - dumbass" despite the difference in settings for them, both seem to naturally slip into being comfortable, first and foremost they were friends after all.

"i'm pretty sure you shouldn't be talking, you never take breaks" 

"we aren't talking about me right now" kevin said sending a playful glare y/n's way

y/n rolled their eyes and took the plate from kevin silently to take it to the dinning room table, luckily kevin had a chance before to make that look nice. he basically sped cleaned his whole house, leaving no room left untouched just in case they happened to go into it. there was yankee candle he managed to find lit on the table, one that smelled like a river, if you were to believe what the label said - he had two glasses of wine on the table as well with the bottle sitting near the candle. kevin followed y/n into the dinning room.

"i'm not that special kevin... you didn't have to break out the expensive candles mr.youtube" behind the teasing comment somewhere was an undertone of gratefulness.

"you are special though" was all kevin could say in response, he didn't like when y/n talked down to themselves, even as a joke he couldn't stand it, because there was always that look afterward that flashed over their face that showed they really believed the stuff they said, and kevin loved them to much to let them get away with it to often. 

y/n opened their mouth, to argue or thank kevin would never be known cause they simply closed their mouth again. they sat across from one another, eating silently for a few minutes, comfort and awkwardness mixing together in the air as they sat. kevin took a deep breath, transitions from friendship to even possible relationship were always hard, but it would be worth it, he liked y/n for so long and the fact that they even gave him a chance was enough.

"you seem tired maybe i should of force you to reschedule this" kevin said.

"i'm always tired, whats rescheduling gonna do to help that?" y/n said "i wanted to come, i've been looking forward to seeing you all week"

kevin perked up at that - y/n was looking forward to this date? did he get so lucky for that to be true? - "really?" he couldn't help but make them confirm what they just told him.

"mmhmm" y/n hummed around their fork nodding a bit.

he couldn't help but smile, before taking a sip of the wine he got. he wasn't a heavy wine drinker, but it seemed fitting for tonight. y/n looked over at kevin laughing softly at the dorky smile plastered on the irish idiots face and shook their head slowly before looking down at the plate. kevin knew he probably looked like a giddy school boy, but he didn't care at this point, he felt like one. after they ate y/n fought with him a bit before he allowed them to help him clean up before they put on a movie - y/n washed up the dishes and passed them to kevin to rinse off and dry. 

"this isn't what people normally do on dates" kevin pointed out as he placed the dish on the drying rack.

"who wants a normal date anyway?" y/n smirked glancing at kevin out of the corner of their eye.

"would of taken you hiking if i knew you thought that"

"how would that not be normal?"

"well, you'd have to carry me back to car on the way back" he laughed placing the last pot into the drying rack and putting his sleeves back down as y/n let out the water.

y/n laughed and looked at him "good thing you don't weigh to much, or we'd just be stuck wherever we hiked to for awhile"

kevin dried his hand and lead y/n to the living room where he let y/n put a movie on, this was a bit easier, just watching a movie... at least that what he had hoped - now he didn't know where to put his hands, or how close to sit, was it fine that their shoulders pressed together? that they could feel each others small movements? kevin didn't feel like moving away, it would seem weird now. he rested his hands on his thighs unable to really concentrated on the movie y/n had put on - he was pretty sure he had seen it before anyway. kevin was pretty sure he would be stuck in a loop of anxious thoughts, that was until y/n gently nudged their hand under his, seamlessly intertwining their hands together. 

kevin looked down at their hands, simply tangled together perfectly, the anxious thoughts in his mind dying down as they held hands. he smiled and quickly looked back at the tv before y/n could notice him looking starry-eyed at their hands. the rest of the night seemed to melt easily, y/n had at some point leaned their body into kevin a little more, making the taller maneuver his arm around them, it all made him dizzy with excitement. all to soon though the movie ended, y/n stayed in kevin's arms as netflix showed them what to play next. y/n let out a small sigh.

"i have work tomorrow, i should probably go before it gets to late" they said looking at their phone for the time.

        11:32 p.m.

had it really been that long? it felt like mere minutes had passed, time always seemed not to exist around y/n, a cheesy yet accurate statement. he always found himself being able to ignore the ticking clock when around this person. 

"but i'm comfortable" okay that was a small fib, his arm was starting to tingle finally, but he would allow it to fully go numb if it meant y/n stayed in his arms for just a few more moments.

y/n rolled their eyes and got themselves off the couch, scratching their body. kevin reluctantly followed their lead, before walking them to the door. they stood their for a moment as y/n got their shoes and coat on.

"is it bold of me to assume we can do this again?" kevin asked.

"very..." y/n chuckled "but not a wrong assumption" they smiled.

kevin smiled, y/n leaned up pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, making a smile grow a bit wider.

"text me when you get home safe" he said.

"will do" they nodded.

kevin closed the door once y/n was in their car and pulling out of the drive way, the back of his head thudding against the door, at least he didn't have any cleaning up to do. he waited up in bed until y/n messaged him that they were home and safe.

        y/n 12:10 a.m.                 goodnight kevin <3

        kevin 12:13 a.m.                 goodnight y/n <3

[finch-writes]

morning routine

✧ bokuto koutarou x gn!reader x kuroo tetsurou / fluff ✧ warnings: small amount of swearing and haikyuu timeskip spoilers! 

✧ five thirty in the morning is too early. you know this. one of your boyfriends knows this. unfortunately, your other boyfriend has training today.

beep. beep. beep.

wait, what?

you don't bother opening your eyes - it's five thirty a.m. in the middle of winter and you know there won't be any light in the room aside from what was cast by the phone on the nightstand. the last remnants of your pleasant dream fade, replaced by unfortunate awareness of the blaring alarm as it tries to get the attention of the room's occupants.

a rumbling groan to your left, at least, tells you that one of your boyfriends is awake to echo your thoughts. in a twist that might be ironic, bokuto is the one who set the damn alarm in the first place - so really the entire situation is actually his fault. pro volleyball players and their dumb schedules. for a moment, you consider sticking your cold feet on him as punishment but given that you've been cuddled up to him during the night means you're toasty and comfortable (including your toes) so it would be a fruitless effort.

“sorry.” first word of the morning is an apology and you whine as the resident space heater sits up in order to reach over your other boyfriend and shut off the offending device. 

speaking of kuroo, the lucky bastard doesn't seem to stir. you can feel the brush of his knuckles against your thigh from where his arm is draped across bokuto's lap. you hadn't believed kenma at first when he had explained how kuroo's hair got its distinctive style, but after sleeping in the same bed as him for six months you were kind of used to witnessing the rooster's comb form in realtime.

wait, you realise suddenly, wasn't tetsu in the middle when we all fell asleep last night? it was always weird when the boys rolled over each other in their sleep. by now you'd lost count of the times you'd passed out curled up against one of them only to wake up with the other one half draped over you like a blanket.

you also know full well that if bokuto lays back down, he'll be back asleep within about half a minute. which you could understand, really, if you'd been in his shoes. but if he was late to practise then all three of you had to deal with his teammates at the end of the day … it just wasn't worth the teasing (even if you had gone to school with one of them, the others from the monster generation were just as bad).

maybe being stuck between his two partners and having to leave the warm bed at this ridiculous hour in the dead of winter was probably punishment enough for setting such an awful alarm.

eyes still closed, you sit up and immediately earn an arm around your waist for your efforts (somewhere between affection and support; you can pretty much picture the look of panic that flashed across bokuto's features when you sat up and the thought makes your lips twitch). apparently you're not the only one who finds this funny - your owl seems to be smiling against your scalp as he presses a few quick kisses to your messy hair. you hum and lean into the contact, resting your head on his shoulder.

“go back to sleep, babe. 'pparently we only have a morning session today so i'll be home by lunch.” his voice is still rough with sleep but there's an earnest happiness to it that warms your heart.

“tell 'em i said hi.” you mumble. the slur in your voice is almost impressive, you'll give yourself that.

“i sure can!” he responds, enthusiasm appreciated but much too loud for the hour. from his left, kuroo makes a sleepy noise of protest that might have been a warning to shut up so he can go back to sleep. bokuto chuckles, putting his phone down in order to run an affectionate hand through his boyfriend's hair. “mornin', tetsu. go back to sleep, i'll be quiet.”

“'n pigs can fly.” he mumbles.

“dunno, miya can jump pre' high when he wants.” you yawn, sleepy mind lingering on the setter without much conviction.

you aren't sure how much time passes while you dwell on the concept, content and at peace and very, very sleepy. kuroo passes back out at some point, evident in the soft snores you can hear. the moment is cut short when bokuto sighs and gently detaches you from his side to set you down in bed with all the love and care he can muster.

“shouldn't have slept in the middle.” he mumbles to himself. he then proceeds to nearly knock you sideways trying to crawl over you out of bed, and takes half of the blankets with him.

“hey,” tetsurou complains quietly, rolling towards the middle of the bed and reaching out in search of the blankets. you take pity on him as soon as koutarou is free from the tangle and readjust the covers, but his arm settles loosely around your waist anyway.

“mornin.” you mumble and shift so that you can press a kiss to his forehead.

“still nighttime. kou just gets up at stupid hours.” despite his grumbling he presses a kiss to your cheek and tucks his face into your neck. his hair tickles your cheek and your nose twitches.

“i'm still in the room, you ass.” from the sound of bokuto's voice he's somewhere near the chest of drawers where he stashes his clean training gear. the faint scrapes of wood against wood a second later agrees with your guess. nice. “besides, i have three nights home next week before we have to head off again!”

“not so loud, kou. neighbours are still asleep.” you chastise, soft and affectionate. a yawn punctuates your words.

“right.” 

there's more shuffling, and a quiet mutter or two about the weather. from what you can gather, it's probably going to rain again. just when you're starting to drift off again you hear a quiet call of your name.

“mm?” you hum.

“you said the bento was in the fridge, right?”

“mhm.”

“okay. thanks for making it last night!”

“make sure you take the right one today.” you mumble, pleased by the quiet thanks. three weeks ago you'd opened your lunch meal between classes to discover fruit, nuts and carefully prepared protein. the healthy stuff that a pro volleyball player should be eating, rather than the poor university student who had used the wrong wrap because you had fixed food for the household far too late in the evening. koutarou had thought it was hilarious.

again, relative silence falls in the room. an odd static kicks up that's muffled by the walls - for a moment you're confused, but then you remember bokuto's earlier comment about the rain. now that you know what it is, it's a comforting white noise and just what you need to send you back to sleep.

---

some time later, you stir at the sensation of movement in your arms. adjusting your sleepy hold around your boyfriend yields the discovery that tetsurou has rolled over in his sleep, your face pressed against the nape of his neck. you take a deep breath in, the familiar scent adding to the peace set deep in your heart. you feel the vibration of his chuckle a heartbeat before he rolls over to face you, cupping your cheek gently in his hand.

you crack your eyes open, squinting and blinking against the light just in time to register the kiss he’s pressed against your forehead.

“mornin’.” you mumble for the second time since midnight, but this time you’re rewarded with a sleepy smile rather than a groggy correction. kuroo’s thumb smooths gently across your cheekbone and you sigh, content. 

for someone who claims not to like mornings very much, he’s certainly fast to wake up - his golden eyes are as sharp as ever, moving back and forth minutely as he takes in your sleepy expression. he’s really pretty. you think fondly. it’s true, at least in your mind (and you know for a fact that kou feels the same, given how eager he is to drop compliments at any moment).

“sure is.” he whispers, and draws himself into a comfortable recline. he sighs a deep breath and tips his head back, and not for the first time in your relationship you’re struck by the uncanny resemblance he bears to a cat sometimes. it’s something about the lithe flexibility, or maybe it’s the front of arrogance and indifference which hides something a lot softer. it could also possibly be the cheshire grin that he flashes when he knows he’s doing something he isn’t meant to.

you roll over onto your stomach and hide your face in the nearest pillow. bokuto's, apparently, or at least the one he'd slept on last night.

“still raining?” you ask the fabric, but receive a thoughtful hum of reply from your boyfriend instead.

“i don’t think so. still cloudy, though.”

“yuck.” you'd planned to get some washing done and on the small clothes horse on the balcony, and nothing dried properly in winter unless it was sunny. you had a drier in the bathroom, sure, but you hadn't quite puzzled out its intricacies yet and might be just a little too stubborn to admit defeat to your partners.

a familiar hand placed on the small of your back interrupts your lamenting. it pats the fabric of your shirt twice in an attempt to wake you up a little more, and you think you might have grumbled something in response because it earns a laugh and another pat.

“c'mon. let's get breakfast and get going.”

[softest-cinnamon-roll]

High school popular kid/ nerd au with reddie?

21. High School popular kid/ nerd au 

* * * * * 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Richie asked, running a hand through his hair as they walked up the path towards Eddie’s front porch. It had taken a lot of convincing, but Eddie had finally managed to get Richie to agree to meet, and have dinner with his dad so he could introduce him as his boyfriend officially. “He’s a cop Eds…”

Eddie sighed and stopped them, turning around to face Richie as he bit down on his bottom lip, “If you’re still unsure we don’t need to do this, but I promise, my dad is not going to pull a gun out on you or anything. You’d have more chances of that happening if you met my mother.”

As the words left his lips, Eddie winced. He didn’t talk about his mother much, even though he was still in contact with her. When he was seven, his parents divorced and his dad was granted full custody after a tough court case. Eddie still spoke to his mother on occasion, like her birthday and christmas, but they weren’t very close.

Richie must have noticed the sad look on Eddie’s face, as he stepped into his personal space and took his face into his much larger hands, “Hey, baby, look at me,” he tilted Eddie’s head up so their eyes locked. “I’m sorry, I know how much this means to you. I know you’ve wanted me to meet your dad for a while, so I’m going to go into that house and prove to him that I’m the best person for his son to date.”

Eddie’s face broke out into a smile and he pushed up on his toes to press a kiss to Richie’s lips, soft and sweet, before he pulled away to lace their hands together. “Shall we?”

It was a bit of an odd pairing, Eddie and Richie. Richie was quite a popular guy amongst his peers thanks to his charisma and ability to crack a joke at anything. He also seemed to grow into his looks, making him one of the most attractive guys in his school year. Eddie on the other hand, liked to keep to himself, was very quiet and studied way too much. According to the social school hierarchy, the two of them should never have even mixed with one another, never mind date.

Yet it happened. Richie was having a little trouble with his algebra course and Eddie was passing the class with flying colours. This was in sophomore year and it became a routine of theirs to meet up in the library to study as well as pair up for projects whenever they could. It was in the middle of junior year, after being friends for a year, that Richie asked Eddie out on a date and Eddie had agreed with a flush on his cheeks. They had never looked back.

God, was Eddie in love with Richie. He was the best thing to ever happen to him, always right there by his side no matter what. They were a team, and even Richie’s closest friends seemed to warm up to Eddie pretty quickly. They were almost ready to graduate, the end of senior year just around the corner and Richie still hadn’t met Frank officially.

Slowly, Richie nodded his head at Eddie’s question and they made their way up the porch and into the house. The place was quiet, save from the noise coming from the television in the living room. Eddie kicked off his shoes and Richie followed suit, never letting go of his hand. Eddie had to stop himself from smiling at how clammy Richie’s hands were, his boyfriend was always the confident one so it was strange for the roles to be reversed.

“Dad, we’re home!” Eddie called, tugging Richie towards the living room. They stepped inside just as his dad stood up from the chair, a smile on his face. “Hey dad, good day?”

Frank nodded his head, pulling Eddie into a short hug, “Of course, most days are good days.” He grinned and then turned to Richie. “Richie, right? Eddie’s told me a lot about you. Glad to have you for dinner.” He held out a hand for Richie and he took it, entering a firm, yet welcoming handshake. “Take a seat, I’ve made lasagne so it should be ready any minute now.”

As his dad disappeared, Eddie turned to Richie with big eyes, “What did I tell you? That wasn’t so scary was it?” He asked and grinned as Richie shook his head.

“Looks like I need to listen to you a little more huh?” Richie asked, bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. “Nice place, makes a change from us always being at my house, doesn’t it?”

Eddie raised an eyebrow, “Richie you’ve been in my room before.”

“Well yeah, but I’ve never seen the rest of your house! Richie scrambled, just as Frank walked back in with a smile to announce that dinner was ready.

They all made their way to the dinner table, where Frank had plated up the food and they took a seat. For the first few minutes there was nothing but silence as they ate, until Frank spoke up, smiling, “So Richie, do you have any plans for after school? College or anything?”

Eddie watched as Richie stared at his plate for a moment before looking up to address his dad, “I’m not sure to be honest, Mr Kaspbrak. As you probably know, my mother is a nurse and my dad is a dentist so my family are hoping I’ll go down that route, but I don’t really know, I think I might go into drama or something? Comedy maybe?”

Frank sat his fork and knife down and looked at Richie seriously, making Eddie a little nervous for the first time that evening. “Listen to me, no matter what jobs your parents do or what your family wants you to do, the only person that gets to make that decision is you.” He smiled then, “If you want to go into comedy or drama? Go into Comedy or drama. This is a choice that will set up your whole life, you might as well do something that makes you happy.”

“I-” Richie cleared his throat and for the first time that night, he smiled genuinely, “Thank you...you’re the first person, other than Eddie of course, that’s actually put my feelings into consideration. I love my parents, they are amazing, but I know that they sometimes don’t get me. It’s not their fault, of course, I am strange. Sometimes I wonder why everyone at school wants to be my friend.”

At that, Eddie turned his attention to Richie, placing a hand on his thigh, “Because you’re amazing and friendly, that’s why. You’re not fake, and everyone appreciates that.”

All three of them fell into a comfortable silence, and dinner was finished a few moments later. As Frank went to relax in the living room, Eddie and Richie focused on washing up and cleaning the kitchen. “Hey, Eds?” Richie whispered as he dried the plates, sitting them to the side. “I love you.”

Eddie looked up at Richie, a watery smile on his lips and he leaned over, pressing a light kiss to Richie’s mouth. “I love you too, so much.”

Richie went quiet and Eddie tilted his head to the side as he watched him, clearly in thought. Before he could ask if everything was okay, Richie turned back to him, eyes wide and hopeful. “I know that this might be kind of obvious, and I promise that I will ask you properly but...will you go to prom with me?”

“Richie…” Eddie breathed, drying his hands off on the towel before stepping closer to Richie, wrapping his arms around RIchie’s shoulder’s, pushing up on his toes. “You never even had to ask, but if it makes you happy, then yes. I will go to prom with you.”

With a grin, Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist, lifting him off the ground as he spun him around, extracting a giggle from Eddie’s lips. As he was set back on his feet, Richie ducked his head, bringing their lips together into a much deeper kiss, but not too deep as his dad was still in the next room. “Love you, Eds.”

Eddie beamed, “Love you too, Richie.”

* * * * *

@3tothe1 @anellope @annxmatron @appojoos @are-you-reddie-for-it @beepbeeprichiellc @bi-bi-richie @billdenbrough @bitchbrak @callmechee @dadbodrichie @derrylosers @disneyfan567 @eds-trashmouth @eduardoandale @feldmancorey @girasol-eddie @gloire-celeste @halfway-happy353 @hawkinsbabe @inthebreadbinwrites @itfandomprompts @its-stranger-than-you-think @jem-carstairs-is-perfection @kaspzier @lifesucksheres20bucks @loserslibrary @losers-gotta-stick-together @madidraw @mars-14 @marsisaplanetyall @moonlightrichie @nancynwheeler @no-she-wasnt-reddie @oldguybones @pink-psychic @purplepoisonedgem @queen-sock @ransonelovebot @rebecca-the-queen @reddie-for-anything @reddie-to-cryy @reddieforlove @reddiesetandgo @richietoaster  @roobarrtrashmouth @rreddies @s-onora @s-s-georgie @sashadrowned @sedanleystanley @sloppybitchreddie @sparklingrainbowdragon @spirited-marvel @stellarbisexual @studpuffin @takeourpure @that-weird-girls-blog @thegoshdiddlydangdoor @thejadeazalea @thorn-harvester-ven @tinyarmedtrex @tozier-boy @tozierking @toziesque @trashmouthtozierr @twoidiotsinl0ve @violetreddie @virgo-luthie @wilding-throught-thehallways @xandertheundead @xcottoncandykatx 

[langdxn]

dance macabre part ii: recognition | sojourn!michael x reader

SUMMARY: Michael meets another Cortez resident... someone familiar.

WARNINGS: Nothing but angst and tension here, chief.

WORDS: 1400 - I’m getting better!

A/N: I’m so sorry this took so long! I had to make sure I did this interaction properly and make all my usual cross-references, I really hope it’s okay! (again I’ve lost the gif credit, sorry!)

read part i here

Michael’s feet dragged wearily across the burgundy honeycomb carpet of the Hotel Cortez, his legs limp and his knees trembling beneath him. He’d walked so far to reach this 1920s sanctuary, he could barely put one foot in front of the other.

Every corridor looked identical to the last, but the monotony didn’t cross the mind of the aimless wanderer. Michael slumped along each hallway unfazed, swinging recklessly from the walls around every corner as if the merry-go-round were a source of entertainment.

It wasn’t that he was drunk, in fact he hadn’t had chance to touch a drop of whiskey in the Blue Parrot thanks to the intrusion of one James Patrick March, but the dehydration and sheer exhaustion left him in a state of quasi-hallucinogenic stupor, dizzying himself as each doorframe buzzed out of his periphery.  

“You need help finding your room?”

The low female voice calling from behind him suddenly startled Michael out of his daze, but not because of her intrusion on his quiet meandering — her tone sounded familiar.

“I’m fi—I’m fine,” he dismissed with a wave, weakly spinning on his heels to face her. As her stout form came into his kaleidoscopic, exhausted view, Michael’s breath hitched sharply.

“You don’t look fine, kid.”

Iris trudged toward him, her arms swinging dutifully by her side and her dowdy white blouse floating with her.

“Ms… Ms Mead?” Michael squinted harshly, propping himself up against the nearest wall and leaning in to get a closer look at his company.

Could it be? Surely not. He’d seen her body, touched her scorched flesh, watched her death in a vision — every last agonising breath snuffed out before him. Cordelia swore he could never find her again.

“Not quite, young man, the name’s Iris,” she corrected, sauntering toward him with a reassuring grin. “Let me help—”

“No—no,” Michael hissed sharply, firing his palms in the space between them, eyes darting frantically around him. “D—don’t come any closer.”

“Look kid, I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m the least of your worries in this place.”

“You’re... you’re not real!” His fragile voice broke as his jaw trembled, processing the sight before him as a repetition of his earlier traumas. “You’re lying, I’ve seen you before... out in the woods!”

“Believe me, I haven’t been in any woods for a long time, sir,” Iris chuckled to herself, stepping tentatively toward him as he shrunk into a doorframe and slumped against the wood beyond. “This hotel really takes all the tree-hugging and bird-spotting right out of you.”

Michael swooped a despairing hand through his hair, congealed with patches of dried mud and dust from his sojourn.

“You’re trying to distract… distract me from my purpose,” he cried out, searing hot tears welling and clouding his vision of the short woman as she approached his side. “You’re not here to help me.”

Michael slipped down the door and crumbled into a heap on the carpet, his face buried in his knees to avoid looking at Iris, who instinctively dropped to her knees in front of him.

“I’ve been here long enough to recognise a lost soul when I see one.” Her sarcastic tone faded, replaced by one of maternal concern. “What’s a beautiful blonde boy like you doing here, kid?”

“I’m… looking for my father?” His tone raised as he trailed off, questioning himself as the words tumbled from his tongue. “I think I am, anyway. I don’t know anymore.”

Iris let out an understanding sigh, a pout curling her thin lips as she steadied herself on her knees before Michael.

“I lost my son too.”

Michael’s head lifted slightly, straining to see Iris at his level.

“Y—you did?”

Iris nodded softly. “He lost his way in the world, his purpose. I didn’t do the best job of bringing him up, admittedly. So he left, he left this hotel and I won’t ever get to see him again. But I still see him when I’m walking the halls sometimes, or at least I think I do. I hear footsteps and for a split second, my head goes, ‘Is that Donovan?’”

“Donovan?” Michael’s eyes widened, realisation washing over his face. “So you’re not my Ms Mead?”

“I told you, kid, I’m someone else’s devil momma,” Iris joked, hauling herself to her feet and outstretching a hand to Michael. “Now are you gonna get up and let me show you to your room? Or are you gonna sit here all night hoping your room will come to you?”

With a distinct rebellious pout, Michael accepted, pulling himself up and standing straight, before wobbling weakly and stumbling against the wood again.

“Easy there,” Iris lunged forward, looping an arm around his waist. “You look exhausted. Which room are you in?”

“I--I think,” Michael stuttered, falling into her arms and tipping his head onto her shoulder. “I think it’s room 64.”

“Well today’s your lucky day, young man,” Iris smirked, cocking an eyebrow toward the number on the door Michael had fallen against.

64.

“C’mon, l’ll get you cleaned up.” Iris reached into Michael’s top pocket, retrieving the clunky keychain and unlocking the door.

“Iris is a pretty name,” Michael sniffled softly as he slipped through the door on her arm.

“It is? Huh, I’ve never thought about it like that,” Iris scoffed, helping Michael across the room and tumbling his limp body onto the bed. “What’s yours?”

“Mi... Michael,” he murmured, just loud enough for Iris to hear as she skittered off to the bathroom.

“Michael’s a nice name too,” she called out from the en suite, her echo booming through the empty room. “Very Biblical.”

“I don’t think my mom was going for Biblical,” Michael chuckled softly to himself.

“So you said you were looking for your father? I haven’t seen a Mr Mead in the guest book but—“

“My father doesn’t sign guest books,” Michael interjected, the clattering of shaving products in the bathroom suggesting Iris was on a mission.

“So what makes you think you’ll find him here?”

“I...” Michael rattled through his scrambled mind for a sensible explanation, trying not to scare Iris with the truth but at the same time comforted that she was trying her best to help him. “I felt something bad when I walked past this place.”

“Yeah, this place does that to a lot of people. You go looking for trouble all the time or...”

Michael rinsed his face in his hands, prizing his exhausted eyes open to stare at the dingy wallpaper beyond the bed. Aged, worn, decaying; synonymous with his own life — once splendid and perhaps even celebrated, now torn recklessly at the edges, splaying into paths it never should have taken in the first place.

The silence between the curt clanking of toiletries ripped apart with the sound of carpet-muffled footsteps in the corridor, accompanied by a harsh female voice closing in on the room.

“Iris, which room is the new gir—“ the cackling voice halted mid-sentence, footsteps halted as they reached the room. “Jackpot!”

Michael swung around to find a woman leaning in the doorway, her predatory eyes boring into him as she consumed his figure slumped on the bed. Her jagged blonde hair sparked from her head like a bolt of electricity, a leopard print coat draped over her lithe figure as she leaned against the frame, a cigarette idly burning away in her fingers.

“Shit,” Iris cursed from the bathroom, rushing out amidst a crash of shampoo bottles. “Sally, don’t—“

Michael jolted back as the woman sauntered towards him, a devilish grin plastered beneath her lipstick, a deep red smudge smeared over her lips as she licked them hungrily.

“If you’d told me you’d found something far more tasty in here, I wouldn’t be looking for that new girl that arrived yesterday!”

“What did—what did you do to her?” Michael stammered nervously, almost curling into a protective foetal position as the woman neared his side. Her heels nudging his scuffed shoes as she stopped to tower over him.

“Oh nothing, yet,” Sally sneered, a predatory smirk distorting her words as she leaned down to observe Michael.

“Sally, please, leave him alone—“

“Shut it, Iris,” Sally barked, waving a dismissive hand behind her. “Go and find someone to check in or... dust your pigeonholes. You’ve meddled in my affairs for far too long.”

She lifted a curious finger to press under Michael’s quivering chin, lifting him up to face her as she hovered her lips over his.

“This one is mine.”

[lailannajacobs]

War of Hearts

Pairing: Loki x fem!Reader

Request: Hiya! Could you do a Loki X Reader body swap fic? AND Hey! Can you do a fix where Loki is doing some spell or magic and accidentally ends up switching his body with the reader. Sexual innuendos maybe? ;)

Warnings: Mostly fluff, maybe a tinsy, weensy pinch of angst?

Word Count: 2.9k

A/N: I’ve never written a body swap fic before, so to the two wonderful anons who requested this, I hope it’s at least a little bit close to what you had in mind! It was a fun challenge for me and I hope you guys enjoy! What love to know what you think! <3

Loki was bored. Absolutely, no doubt about it, going-out-of-his-mind bored. And everyone else - well, everyone he could tolerate to be more specific - had other, more important things to do. And Loki…well he was on house arrest. According to Captain Goody Two Shoes, disguising himself as a falcon and pecking the Bird Man with his dagger-sharp beak violated the terms of his agreement with the Avengers. Good behaviour meant he wasn’t their prisoner. Apparently bad behaviour meant house arrest. But really, it had all been in good fun. No one had gotten seriously hurt.

After an uneventful morning, Loki had thought that maybe he would have been able to convince the Spider Boy to spend the rest of the day sparring with him, but the child had a date. The moment Loki had seen that stupid little grin on his face, he knew there was no convincing the Spider Boy otherwise.

His first and best option, the Scarlet Witch, was mission bound for another day. It was no secret that she distrusted him, but at least she was powerful and had an inkling of common sense - unlike the majority of the other agents in this tower. She had gone off with YN, one of the few other people Loki didn’t mind so much.

Loki wandered down the halls, trying to find something to do. His book was predictable, he had already gone for a run, and he wasn’t tired. He was itching to get out and being cooped up on one floor did nothing to stifle the excess energy he had drumming under his skin. House arrest, without a single intelligent soul around, was proving to be an annoying punishment.

Before he realized where he was going, he found himself in the kitchen, scaring off new Shield recruits with nothing more than his presence. Loki smirked. Some things never failed to satisfy him.

But the feeling didn’t last long. Once again left to his lonesome, Loki began to play around with his magic, finding comfort in the familiar hum resonating through his body. He didn’t pay much attention to where the magic went as he made himself dinner, mindlessly letting it ebb and flow through and out of him, transforming it and drawing it back in. Although his body went through the motions, chopping carrots into tiny pieces, his mind turned inward, falling further into the abyss of himself and the soothing whirlwind of his magic.

Then the kitchen door banged open. Loki lost his grip on the magic, feeling it spiral out uncontrollably as it threw him to the ground and the world immediately went black.

The kitchen blinked back into view, but Loki couldn’t understand how he had landed so far across the room. He tried to move, but immediately knew something was wrong.

He looked down at his body; a body that wasn’t his own.

He was in a woman’s body. But the change in gender wasn’t what had let him know he wasn’t in his own body. After all, it wasn’t everyday he looked in a mirror and saw a man staring back. No, what had tipped him off was that he recognized this body. This body belonged to YN. But if he was in her body then that meant…Loki found his own body crumpled to the floor, the knife he had been using mercifully far from his body. He wasn’t sure how his body would have fared a stabbing with a mortal inside it.

Unfortunately, Loki wasn’t quite aware what the rules were for trading bodies.  The only thing he was certain of was that she’d have to be the one to change them back now that she was in his body. He crawled over to her, not trusting himself to stand in this body that wasn’t his.

Cupping her face - his face - gently, he lifted her head from the awkward position on the floor, “YN. YN? Are you all right?”

She barely stirred and his heart began to race. Had he just killed her? His palms began to sweat, and he had the impression that his heart had lodged itself far up his throat. He wiped his hands on her combat suit. Stupid mortal body.

Shaking her with more force, he refused to admit that anything terrible had happened to her…well anything other than having switched bodies with him. When her eyes finally fluttered open, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding in. Loki smiled when he noted that the colour was not the usual green he saw in the mirror. They said that eyes were the windows to the soul, and the soul in his body wasn’t his, which meant neither were those eyes.

When she registered what she was looking at, she panicked and backed into the kitchen counter, hands reaching for her knife. Little did she realize, it was jammed uncomfortably against his leg at the moment.

“YN, it’s me,” He blurted, then realized she probably had no idea who ‘me’ was. Just because she was one of the few people he tolerated here didn’t mean that she had any particularly good feelings towards him, “Loki.”

The silence seemed to draw on forever, but he knew she believed him when she narrowed her eyes dangerously, “Loki. What the hell have you done to me?”

He paused, not quite sure how to answer. Rather than try to, he backed away from her, figuring he was overcrowding her by being so close. She was alive. He had no reason to be there anymore. But now, he only felt cold and a strange pain in his arm.

“Loki, I swear I’m-” She stumbled as she tried to stand, and looked down at her body, then seemed to realize for the first time that she was in his, “Give me back my body. Now.”

She forced herself to stand, and although it was clumsy at first, she quickly found stability. He would have been disappointed if she hadn’t. Following suit, he stood, immediately hating that she was the one who now towered over him. As if sensing it, she smirked - the kind he used to terrify all the new recruits.

“So, this was an accident.” It wasn’t a question.

He crossed his arms over his chest and briefly noted that she had cut herself - himself? - across her forearm earlier, the dried blood caked across the gash on her sleeve, “You weren’t supposed to be back for another day.”

“What can I say?” She lifted her new fingers to the light, examining them with unimpressed curiosity, “Wanda and I are quite the pair.”

He rolled his eyes, though he had a feeling it didn’t quite convey the same amount of sass as it did in his own body.

“Enjoying what you see?” He crooned when her inspection had travelled from her fingers along her bicep to her new chest and torso.

Her head snapped up before her gaze could get any lower, black hair flicking back from her face, “It’s nothing new. I know what you look like.”

“But do you really?” He approached her, his lips spreading into a grin, “Because I think that’s a lie. I know for a fact that you’ve never gotten this close. I think both of us would have remembered that.”

“Who says I want to?” She countered, though he knew she was flustered.

Her tells were now his own and she had no idea how to hide them the way he did.

He tucked her - his? - hair behind her ear, watching her eyes widen as he did, “I do. You can explore if you’d like,” He purred, “I don’t mind.”

She shook her head, “Why would I want to do that?”

He looked down at himself, at the body that wasn’t his but that he was very much appreciative of, “How can you not be the least bit curious?”

“Are you?”

“Absolutely,” He answered candidly, relishing in the surprise on her face, “I always like to know what makes another person…tick. I wouldn’t be against a little exploration of my own.”

“And what makes you…tick, Loki?” She whispered.

He stepped a little closer, tilting his head back, “Would you like me to show you? Or would you rather discover it on your own? You can take your time, Agent, I’m in no rush.”

He watched his body shiver and satisfaction washed through him, knowing that even in this body he had gotten under her skin. Sucking in a deep breath, she jut out a hip, hand placed furiously on it. He smirked at the sight.

“What I want, is my body back,” She growled, eyes widening in surprise at her own tone.

He shrugged, “Well, that’s on you, mortal. You have my body.”

“And how,” She stared down at the body as if it was a prison, “Do you want me to do that?”

“I can’t explain,” He looked back down at his arm, annoyed with her that she hadn’t healed her own body properly, “It will come to you, I’m sure.”

She let out a long, annoyed sigh, “Any words of advice, Witch?”

“You’re the god now,” He corrected, “Focus on our bodies and our souls, and it will come to you.”

He ignored the deadly look she shot him and moved toward the sink to wash off the blood. When the water touched the scratch, he hissed. He looked back down in surprise. He had experienced scratches like this, and they had never affected his own body. He had seen her come back from missions much worse, and yet, her smile had never faltered. How fragile were these mortal bodies? How had he never realized that she could be in so much pain?

Loki looked back at her, trying to get a good look at the agent for the first time since they had met, but all he saw was his own body, his eyes shut and body tense with concentration. He gingerly cleaned out the wound and wrapped it tightly with the medical supplies from the kitchen drawer. There were a few other minor scratches that didn’t need much care, but that he took care of as well.

When he began to feel a tingle go through his body, Loki knew the transfer was about to happen. He laid down on the floor, waiting to black out. Before he did, he saw his own body crumple painfully to floor and he winced.

There was a ringing in his head when he woke, and Loki knew he was back in his own body. The magic had taken a toll on his body, and the fall hadn’t done him much good either.

YN was standing over him with her hands on her hips when he opened his eyes. She was furious.

“You’re an ass.”

“An Asgardian,” He corrected, unfazed, “At least I left your body in better shape than you left mine.”

“Am I supposed to apologize?” She demanded.

He raised a brow, “It wouldn’t hurt.”

She was about to say something else but seemed to notice her arm. Glancing down at the wound, then back at him, her brows furrowed. He attempted to stand and had to hold onto the counter to stop the swaying, ignoring her outstretched hand.

Something dawned on her, and he didn’t trust the way her face softened. Looking like she was about to say something both of them would regret, Loki shook his head to cut her off.

“Don’t worry about it, mortal. I can handle a little magic backlash and a fall to the ground,” He pushed past her, knowing he had to get out of the kitchen. She had used far more magic than necessary to reverse the switch, but the fatigue wasn’t the only reason he had to leave, “Consider us even now.”

“Loki?”

He didn’t turn around. He had gotten far closer to this mortal than he had wanted to and Loki was going to get away before he made another dangerous mistake.

One Week Later

Loki was finally off house arrest. What surprised him the most was that he had actually accepted his punishment when it would have been so easy to escape. But quite frankly, it would have been more trouble than it was worth.

It had taken a few days, but Loki’s skin no longer felt too tight, like it belonged to a stranger. He hadn’t seen YN since the little incident, but he preferred it that way. On his first official day of freedom, Loki knew exactly where he was headed and was ready to get there.

“You know, for someone so powerful, you’re awfully predictable.”

Loki jolted, not having heard YN approach. He smoothed down his shoulders and twisted to face her, rocking back on his heels. Raising a brow, he motioned for her to explain.

She narrowed her eyes at him, emotions brewing under the surface that he wasn’t privy to. When she said nothing, he figured it wasn’t worth staying in the hallway waiting for nothing.

He shrugged, “If that’s that, then I’m going-”

“To Time Square,” She finished for him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He cocked his head, trying to get a better look at her. It hadn’t been what he had been about to say, but it was exactly where he planned on going. There was something about the chaotic bustle of tourists and locals that he found calming, and after his miserable house arrest, he could use a little calm. But how she knew that was beyond him.

“How-”

“How do I know?” She asked, cutting him off once again. He wasn’t sure if she was doing it to annoy him or for another reason he couldn’t fathom, but she had enough of his attention for him to tolerate it. For now. “I know that most of us will avoid Time Square if we can help it. I also know you’ve learned to thrive in situations that break most people. Do you know how I know this?”

“Because you’ve read my file?” He asked dryly, though he found her words unsettling.

“I know this because, despite your past crimes, Tony has you on our most difficult missions. And the ones that throw our plans out the window have you at the front, adapting faster than the rest of us. There is a reason you’re not imprisoned, and not all of it has to do with your brother’s generosity.”

Unsure of what to say, Loki hardened his face, burying his emotions as far away as possible, “Do you expect me to be flattered?”

She shook her head, “No, because, like I said, you’re predictable. I also know you care about the people you get close to. I’ve seen you with your brother. I’m not blind. But I also know you don’t get close to anyone.”

“YN,” Loki forced a laugh, “I believe you’re reading too far into things. I didn’t think you were this naive.”

She smirked, “And there it is. Proof that I’m right.”

“And how would you know all this, YN?” He countered.

“I,” She paused, obviously not having expected the question, “I know all this because I’ve been watching you, waiting for you to try and escape. It was what I was tasked to do. And what I couldn’t understand before last week, was why you hadn’t tried to leave.”

He grinned dangerously, “And who says I don’t have a plan in the works?”

“I do,” She shrugged when he shot her a look of disbelief, “It turns out that watching someone and getting close to them means that you actually get close to that person. You’re not leaving, Loki.”

“You’re awfully sure.”

“You wouldn’t have patched me up if you were going to leave. It wouldn’t have mattered to you.”

“That’s circumstantial,” He snarled, starting to lose the grip on his emotions.

She took a step toward him, puffing up her chest as she got up in his face, “And then you avoided me like I was a danger to your sanity. I think you care, Loki. I think you realized it the same night I did.”

“I do not,” He punctuated each word, drawing in closer so that he was invading her space.

She looked up at him, a satisfied smirk on her lips, “Really? Then prove it. Walk away right now.”

He stared into her eyes; eyes that never seemed to dim or lose their fight even when they were trapped in another body. Loki knew he should turn away and never come back. That he should push past her and keep walking until he was far, far away.

But he couldn’t.

Annoyed with the victorious smile growing on her lips, he did the only thing he could think of. He smashed his own lips to hers, not caring about being gentle, and pulled her in tight so that their bodies couldn’t get any closer. Her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers curling into his hair and he moaned, his hands travelling down to the small of her back to line up their bodies. He was about to deepen the kiss when she pulled away. He didn’t let her get far.

“Feel better?” She asked, that infuriating smile on her lips.

“Not yet,” He growled, “You cut me short.”

She began to laugh, but the sound was cut off by his lips on hers.

[sombreboy]

Love Maze »15

Previous  » Next Series Masterlist ▎ 18+ ▎ pairing: Taehyung x Jungkook ▎ genre: School AU, crack humor, smut, angst, ETL, slow burn, fluff. ▎ word count: 8.1k ▎ ch.warnings: cursing, homophobic slurs (censored), angst, they have another argument smh these boys never catch a fucking break

Co-writer: @velvetwicebang​​​ ♡♡♡

The early morning’s blinding rays invited themselves in through the curtain cracks in Jungkook’s bedroom, landing on a sleeping Taehyung’s puffy face.

The elder’s distracting snoring bounced off the walls of the room, not bothersome to him as he peacefully slept through the noise. Honestly, it was a surprise how much Jungkook was immune to the sound..

The one noise that always did manage to wake Taehyung up, however, was the familiar ringing of that goddamn alarm clock.

As per usual, Tae went through his daily routine consisting of whining about how he’d been pulled out of his slumber, begging Jungkook for a few more minutes, cursing out early morning practices.. same old.

“I’m gonna skip out on showering this morning..” Taehyung drowsily mumbled into the pillow, desperately seeking for a few extra minutes. His body was sore, and Taehyung was one of those people who needed eight hours of sleep.

“Wake me up when you’re done, will you?” A small pause, followed by a raspy, “I love youu~”

Jungkook drowsily turned off the alarm before groaning, for once he didn't actually want to leave his bed.

''You sure?'' he sat up properly, hand reaching over to stroke the elders back carefully, the sudden verbal affection from his boyfriend still surprising-- yet welcomed. It was something the younger needed a little time to get used to, and it made his chest flutter every single time.

''Love you too~'' He cooed back, giving Tae's ass a soft pat before getting out of bed, completely naked from last night. he rummaged through his closet for some clean clothes, stretching the joints in his body before slowly heading towards the bathroom.

Jungkook winced lightly when the hot water hit the scratches on his back, but quickly got used to it as he stood there for a while, washing up and losing himself in his thoughts, everything from what had happened yesterday to Jisoo. He really owed her an apology for not coming back...

When finished, Kook ruffled his wet hair before patting his body mostly dry and throwing on his boxers and sweatpants-- leaving the shirt off to head back to his bedroom. He walks over to the small mirror hanging on the wall, turning his back towards it to check out his back.

''Wow you've got some claws.'' He chuckled before crawling up on the bed to lay down next to Tae again, nuzzling his nose into the elders hair, ''Wake uuup....~''

Taehyung slothfully stirred in his spot, groaning out in groggy distaste when he felt the bed dip, signaling that his boyfriend was out of the shower.

“Yah..” He turned his head to the side, cheek pressed against the pillow whilst his eyelids hung barely open, “you yourself said I have some claws, don’t make me use them..”

Tae contemplated life for a few more seconds before giving in to his boyfriend’s soft pleads, sitting up on the bed with a loud yawn, hands busy rubbing the fatigue out of his eyes.

God, school hadn’t even started and the elder was already dreading stepping into those halls.

''Maybe I liked it..'' Jungkook wrapped his arms around Taehyung to pull him closer into a hug, pecking kisses against his cheeks to annoy him in his sleepy state.

''We have to get ready, like, right now!'' He pressed one last kiss on his lips before getting off the bed, grabbing a snug, black long sleeve to pull over his torso.

Taehyung slowly made his way out of bed, butt-naked as he searched for last night’s clothes.

Thankfully they’ve dried up quite a bit, but the rain’s aroma still lingered in the fabrics.

The elder wasn’t especially thrilled to waltz into school looking.. like, well, put together.

But he didn’t want to bother Jungkook, so black, tight jeans would have to do.

Tae stared at his reflection in the mirror, quickly running his fingers through the waves. He grimaced, nothing seemed to tame the wild curls.

“Fuck it.. let’s go,” the elder fished for the keys in his pocket, throwing on his shoes— double-knotting the laces like always.

Once he got in his car, Taehyung nearly had a heart attack.

That goddamn stuffed animal. It was smiling at him through the rear view mirror.

Shit, he still didn’t know what to do with it.. did Jungkook still want it? Does he throw it in the dumper?

Maybe he’d give it to Jisoo, something told him that Yuna would love it..

Jungkook quickly followed, ignoring the fact that the bear was mockingly smiling at him as well as he sat down. He clicked the seatbelt on before patting Taehyung's thigh reassuringly.

"Don't worry too much. I'm not angry anymore, okay?" He nudges his chin towards the bear.

"I don't really want it...." he felt kind of bad for saying it, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stand staring at it after what it is associated with.

"But we could give it to noona?" He mused-- he still owed her a fucking apology. Maybe this would serve as an apology...

"Anyway...don't worry about that. Let's go." Jungkook sunk into his heat, eyes focusing back ahead.

Taehyung sighed, but nodded nonetheless. He didn’t blame the younger for not wanting to keep the stuffed animal. Truth be told, Tae himself wouldn’t be fully comfortable with seeing its cheery face every time he visited Jungkook’s apartment.

One, it was creepy as fuck. And secondly, it was a mere reminder of his selfish doings.

Taehyung just... he wanted to move past that. He wanted to do better, for his boyfriend.

“Yeah,” he started the car, “noona’s kid would probably like it.”

~

Practice was over in the flutter of an eye— thankfully. Tae didn’t know how much more physical activity he was able to bear with a noticeably sore ass. It was a blessing that he managed to keep his nonchalant facade intact for so long. Trying to act like his boyfriend didn’t just make sweet love to him last night was hard..

Sweaty from working out, Taehyung briskly stripped out of his practice attire, using his jersey to wipe at the dampness on his glistening neck.

“Tae, should I be concerned?,” Hoseok looked, well, concerned.

“What’s up with the giant teddy bear in the back of your car?”

“Yeah, Chim and I saw that too.” Yoongi casually chimed in, pointing over at a half-naked Jimin who was busy typing away on his phone, deaf to the chatter surrounding him.

Taehyung—who was growing annoyed by the topic of that stupid bear— simply brushed it off. “it’s for a friend. She has a little girl, so..”

As if knowing exactly whom it was for, Namjoon defeatedly shrunk in his spot, too much of a wuss to make eye-contact with Jungkook.

He wondered if the younger was still mad..

Sitting in their usual lunch table, they talked about a plethora of topics. However, the newest conversation specifically aimed at Jimin; everyone wanting to know what was keeping the latter so invested.

“What’s got you so hooked on that phone, Chim?”

“More like who..” Hoseok teasingly nudged at his friend’s side, encouraging him to spill it out. Jimin was extremely defiant at first, but his hyung’s loud presence wasn’t something you could just ignore.

“Nothing.. it’s stupid, but— long story short, I downloaded a dating app.”

A series of “oo’s” traveled around the table.

“Oh yeah? Did you meet a girl or something?”

Jimin turned to look at Namjoon, expression so distraught yet.. confident. With a soft exhale, he corrected the elder.

“Actually.. It's a him. His name’s Mino.”

Taehyung abruptly stopped chewing on his cereal, sharing a curt glance with his boyfriend.

“Mino..” Jin pondered out loud, “like the rapper from WINNER?”

“Obviously not, hyung.” The younger rolled his eyes, a bit frightened by the lack of words.

Seeming to notice his distress, Yoongi softly encouraged Jimin to expand on it further— after asking if every single one of his friends were gay.

“I don’t know, we’ve only talked for a few hours.. but he’s really cool. Sweet, too— oh, and he’s also obsessed with strawberries, just like you Tae!”

The boy’s eyes lit up at the topic, obvious to all he had a massive crush.

“Yeah? What else do you know about the guy.” Taehyung took a bite of his strawberry, interested in knowing more.

Finally growing more comfortable, Jimin’s shy smile resurfaced.

“Uhm.. he’s twenty-three, and he teaches little kids. How cute is that? He’s into video games, if I remember correctly.. Animal Crossing is his favorite. Halsey! He enjoys listening to her music... also, he’s really pretty.”

“Damn, Jimin. Just marry the guy already..” Jin snickered.

“Chim’s whipped.”

The subject of the matter pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Am not.. it’s just— ah, he texted me!”

Taehyung snorted in amusement, shaking his head before looking at Jungkook.

“Wish you’d text me more. You’re a horrible texter, you know.”

Jungkook's eyes had been balling back and forth during the conversations, from half-glaring at Namjoon (even if he'd calmed down, honestly--Namjoon was just a clutz. She seemed fine... he hoped.), to his gaze softening at the way Jimin was swooning over his new crush-- a boy, even!... The way his eyes lit up was heartwarming.

Then, during his entire daydream, Taehyungs words burst his little bubble. The younger breathes out a chuckle through his nose, nudging his boyfriend back.

''Why would I text you when you're with me every day?'' He wrapped an arm around Taes shoulder to pull him closer with his strong arm-- from any outsider it would simply look friendly. ''Or do you miss me that bad during class too?''

 Taehyung kept his eyes trained on the tray in-front of him, mindlessly picking at his cereal as a distraction from Jungkook’s hold.

Now that their friends knew about their relationship, they didn’t miss the opportunity to coo at the couple-y sight.

As a natural response, his cheeks got stained with a rosy pop of color. Tae shrugged out of his boyfriend’s grasp, though, a petty attempt to seem unfazed.

“Duh..” He sassed, aggressively munching on his buttered toast.

“Why else would I send ‘everyone here sucks, kinda wish you were here’ texts? And you know how you repay my affection? By leaving me on read.”

Taehyung childishly huffed, coming across as needy for the younger’s attention.

Jungkook withdrew his arm and flashed a toothy grin towards the elder, shrugging as well in response.

''I will reply next time, promise.''

He glanced at the clock, ignoring the repeated cooes from his hyungs.

''Speaking of class, it's almost time to go,'' He nudges his boyfriend once more.

''I'll make sure to check my phone often then, but don't expect me to be glued onto it like Jimin..'' He jokes, the rest of the group snickering-- however Jimin remained unfazed, too caught up in his own little bubble that is his cellphone.

As they all separated to go to their respective classes, Jungkook sat down by his desk, placing his cellphone by his stack of books, only paying the lecture half of his attention as the other half was constantly glancing over at his device. This time he would reply.

A few minutes into the lecture, Taehyung already had his cellphone in his hands.

His boyfriend’s contact was displayed on the screen, a picture he snuck of Jungkook sleeping set as the younger’s profile.

Biting at the corner of his bottom lip, he began typing away, curious to see how fast it’d take Jungkook to reply.

To: Kook🐰🤟🏼 i’m trying to pay attention in class but my ass is still sore 😒 be glad I love your big dick just as much as I love you 😙

Jungkook picked his phone up much quicker than he'd like to admit, swiping the one sided wall of previously sent texts sent by his boyfriend. The last text received made the younger's cheeks flush in pink along with the small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

He immediately began tapping at his screen, a foreign concept to everybody who caught a glance at jungkook in the classroom.

To: Tae🐯💜 Haha... you took it pretty well. Maybe next time you can give me the same treatment🥴 now I can't pay attention either... love you!

The elder chuckled— a bit too loudly, but he brushed it off as a cough.

To: Kook🐰🤟🏼 maybe.. 😏 if you keep replying I might just have to give you a big surprise

Taehyung sat his phone down, but the emptiness in his hands didn’t last long. Soon enough, he was back to texting Jungkook.

Tae wasn’t fully pleased, the sudden drive to see his boyfriend was too overpowering to ignore.

To: Kook🐰🤟🏼 actually, meet me in the secret spot behind the school?? ‘m needy for a kiss

“Uhm, Mrs. Jung?” Everyone’s head swiveled towards Taehyung, “can I use the restroom?”

The elderly teacher seemed to think about it for a while, the creases in her forehead wrinkling even further as she visibly frowned.

“Sure. But be quick.”

The boy nodded, sliding back on his chair before practically jogging out of the classroom, excited to hold his boyfriend.

Jungkook held his promise of replying once, but didn't even bother sending anything else, his phone shoved back into his pocket as he excused himself. As soon as he left the classroom, he too sprinted towards the hidden spot behind the building. If he had this kind of speed during practice, he surely would have been deemed the golden maknae all over again.

Jungkook rocked on his feet as he waited for his boyfriend, actually fishing up his phone for once to send a quick text.

To: Tae🐯💜 I'm here!! come!!! T3T

“Maybe next time I can give you the same treatment, huh?” Taehyung’s cheeky smirk shifted into a genuine smile when he approached Jungkook, teasingly recalling what the younger had sent him over text.

Unable to take the distance for a second longer, Tae ran into his boyfriend’s arms, not wasting any time peppering his face with loud kisses.

Fuck.. Taehyung was the definition of whipped.

Not worried about anyone catching them, the elder slowly drove Jungkook’s back against the rusty wall, lips attached to the younger’s in a gentle kiss.

When he pulled away, Tae’s hooded eyes were drawn to his boyfriend’s face, raking over every little detail.

“You replied,” he broke out into a silly grin, playfully squeezing at Kook’s hips. “You’ve grown~”

Jungkook hummed into the kiss with content, hands reaching up to run his fingers through Tae's messy hair. He obviously didn't even bother fixing it up since last night,

''I kind of get why Jimin can't unglue his phone from his eyes, anticipating a text is dreadful.. I couldn't focus on anything.'' He sighed in a fake dramatic voice, leaning his head back against the wall. His gaze was in complete tunnel vision for his boyfriend, a grin widening on his lips as he proudly announces his terribly awful joke--.

''If you're gonna keep kissing and praising me like that something else will grow.''

Well, it did have some truth in it.

A raspy laugh emitted from the back of Taehyung’s throat, who shook his head in utter disbelief. By the time the hearty sound gradually quieted down, the elder’s tongue swiped over his still swollen lips; which had yet to simmer down from their previous make out session.

“Oh yeah? What else..?”

Taehyung pressed his thigh against Jungkook’s crotch, playing with his boyfriend’s senses whilst he wore a shameless lopsided grin.

“I dunno what you’re talking about.”

He pressed on it harder, somewhat making out the thick shape of the younger’s cock as he faintly moved his leg, practically kneading the spot in between his boyfriend’s legs.

Acting as if he didn’t just do any of that, Taehyung outstretched his arms over his head, holding back his prickling smile.

“The weather’s lovely today, isn’t it?”

 A not so subtle sigh emitted from Jungkook's lips, morphing into a low whine at the way the elders knee massaged his length.

"Oh, fuck off..." he smiled, the light tone of his voice indicating the affection in his curses. His boyfriend surely knew how to tease back-- it must be a revenge from the countless times the younger had teased him first.

"We're gonna end up skipping the entire day if you keep going--" his voice was cut off by another shameless gasp, kooks fingers curling into fists as they grasp Taehyung's shirt to pull him back into a needier kiss, teeth almost clashing together between the heavier breaths, "making me needy" he murmurs his muffled words between their kisses.

Taehyung’s teeth tugged at Jungkook’s bottom lip, lightly nibbling on the soft skin as if asking permission for his tongue to intrude in the pit of warmth. His hands grasp his boyfriend’s waist, roughly manhandling the boy as he pulled him towards his body, deepening his deprived hunger for their kisses.

“Maybe I wanna make you needy.” The elder's velvety voice purred into his ear, one hand placed on the slope of his boyfriend’s nape, drawing him all the more closer.

"But we shouldn't.."

It was too risky, the lust wasn’t worth the hassle.

With a quick glance downwards, Tae’s chuckle rang once more. Their hard-ons were prominently poking at the fabric of their pants and with the little space between them, they inevitably brushed against one another.

“Later tonight. Get ready,” He leaned in to press an innocent kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek, purposely leaning in closer than needed for additional contact, their hardened, clothed cocks pinning together for a teasing second.

“I don’t wanna leavee..” Taehyung groaned in annoyance, finding their alone time to be more entertaining than class.

Jungkook whined in annoyance, a small pout on his lips as his doe eyes stared at Taehyung, "And you call me a tease...." he sighs with a smile, still keeping a tight grip on Taes shirt, hesitant to let go. Eventually, however, he did; instead letting his hands fix Taehyung's mess of a hair once more. Or at least attempt to.

"Let's head back then before I change my mind, I'll drag you to the ground if you even look at me." He scrunch his nose in a giggle, leaning in to kiss his boyfriend on the nose.

Much to their disclosure, they weren’t alone, someone else had been recording their supposedly secret interaction.

What they planned to do with the footage? No one else knew but them. And whatever the outcome was, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

~

The last class of the day was soon done and over with, making Taehyung ecstatic as he hastily packed his things (packing as in shoving his loose pieces of paper in his backpack), aiming towards the door with hurried steps.

Ever since his last interaction with the younger, Tae’s been awfully.. needy.

His sexual hormones were bouncing off the roof, tauntingly chanting ‘Jungkook, Jungkook,’ again and again until that was all he knew.

As Taehyung made his way to the common common area, he shamelessly wondered if his boyfriend would be up for fucking in his crappy car again.

The elder knew he’d said they would wait until tonight, but ‘tonight’ wasn’t right now.

Damn, Tae would love to try out different positions in such a compact space..

It was thrilling.

Oblivious to him, students’ un-welcomed stares dug holes in his back, watching the boy’s every move with utter shock— utter revelation. It was as if they were the camera lens themselves.

There was no way Taehyung was the other guy in the newly surfaced video, right?

Jeon Jungkook was one of them— for sure. He was unknowingly facing the shot, kissing another boy— who appeared to be Tae— with a bunny grin on his beaming face.

The video started with them making out; Jungkook’s doe eyes fluttered shut as Taehyung held him close, head slightly tilted to the side.

The frame zoomed in on the two boys’ comfortable posture, the elder could be seen rubbing his knee against Kook’s crotch, the latter slyly smiling in response.

Then more kissing, Taehyung whispering little things in his boyfriend’s ear..

To wrap things up, the footage cut off at the soft kiss on the elder’s nose, proceeding to zoom in on their tangled hands whilst they walked out of sight.

It was messy.. to everyone else but Taehyung. He waited for Jungkook in the same area as always, brushing off the ill looks thrown his way.

Jungkook hurried from the lecture room as soon as class was dismissed, backpack thrown over one shoulder as he walked in brisk steps through the hallways-- not as oblivious to the drilling looks coming his way. However, he was rather used to it by now-- so it didn't phase him as much as it probably should..

But then again, why? People haven't looked at him that way since he came out... and he rarely checked his phone, so he was completely unknowing of the circling video.

He shrugged it off, heading towards the common area to find his boyfriend idly waiting for him, the younger opted to jog to close the distance between them & nudged Taehyung on the shoulder.

"Hey! Waited long?" He grinned up at Tae, but it quickly faded as he once again noticed the murmurs and looks of basically everybody around them. Jungkook's eyes roamed the room, but decided to let them land back on Taehyung.

"Lets go?" He started to feel weirdly uncomfortable with all the stares, he wanted to get out of there.

As they headed out, a group of guys-- specifically the jocks that had called Jungkook a f*ggot without him knowing to Tae, had started to whistle and throw slurs towards the boys.

"The fairy put you under his spell huh?" One chanted, the others quickly laughing and motioning taking a dick in their mouth, "Hey, Taehyung! Are you the girl or the guy?!" Another snickered.

The more time they spent displayed in the common area like a plague, Taehyung’s natural obliviousness slowly diminished until all he became was hyper aware of his deafening atmosphere. The murmurs were exceptionally quiet, but they hit his ears like breaking glass.

He mindlessly nodded at his boyfriend whilst he challenged the students’ nosy stares with his own, asserting his dominance over the situation as they aimed for the nearest exit.

Unaware of the next obstacle they were going to have to face, Tae hesitantly parted his sealed lips, about to ask Jungkook the burning question they were both thinking— ‘what the hell was that?’— when Kai and his clique approached them with confident strides.

“W-what..?” Very much disoriented, Tae forced out a strained chuckle, “funny..”

The boy tried to play along with their obvious joke, his awkward laughter blending in with the group’s taunting snickers.

“No, dude..” Haechan amusingly corrected, “who takes a dick up the ass? Who’s the girl in the relationship?”

The elder’s chest shriveled up into an uncomfortable knot, and so did his throat as he was barely able to utter back a word.

What..?

“What— what relationship?” He shakily asked, completely disregarding the other foul comment. Glancing over at Jungkook, the look of fright on Taehyung’s face was evident.

“This relationship,” a phone was shoved into their faces, replaying the invasive video that had been going around all day.

It seemed like it would never end..

Taehyung swore he felt his heart drop.

“Uhm—“

“Fucking disgusting if you ask me.”

“N-no.. it’s just..” His breathing was uneven, eyes blown wide as they stared blankly ahead.

Fuck— this was too much too soon.

By now, a small crowd had gathered around them, only adding salt to Taehyung’s aching panic.

“F*ggot!” One of the guys deliberately spat in the elder’s face— not literally, but it sure felt like it.

Tears rushed to the brim of Tae’s eyes, which had yet to decipher into their normal shape.

He was having trouble breathing, clear in the way his chest vigorously heaved in its place. His face was drained of any color, and the buzzing in his ear was getting hard to bear.

Taehyung hadn’t even noticed their close friends had stepped in on their behalf, Yoongi’s vulgar curses sounding like pure gibberish.

He couldn’t move, it was as if he was glued to his place.

Shit, Tae wanted to disappear.

And so did Jungkook. He was frozen in place as he watched the video, their privacy suddenly open for all to see. Not that he was ashamed of them, but because whether this was a secret or not; it was their moment of privacy, invaded.

Kook quickly glanced over at his boyfriend, mouth parting and closing several times as he struggled to find his words, his worry for the elder growing more important than the worry for what everyone else thinks of him.

He wondered what Taehyung felt... even if it was an invasion of their privacy, he seemed ashamed of them. That didn't go unnoticed.

However he decided to shrug it off, instead focusing on getting them the fuck out of there, tugging at Taes arm.

"Come on." He murmured as he pulled the elder with him, grateful for his hyungs shooing everybody away. He'd have to thank them later; but now all he could focus on was taking his boyfriend out of this situation.

After finally being able to pull Taehyung out of his frozen spot, Kook guided him towards a more secluded area next to the school building to wait until the parking lot would be less crowded.

"Hey," Jungkook softly uttered as he cupped Taes cheeks to try to get in contact with him-- he seemed completely out of it. The younger doe eyes were blown wide with concern.

"Hey, it's okay."

Taehyung didn’t believe that for a second.

It wasn’t okay, their relationship was just outed to the whole goddamn school! What.. what if his father finds out one way or another?

What if he gets ridiculed for the rest of his senior year?

The elder forcefully withdrew from the other’s grainy hands, his cheeks beginning to sting from Jungkook’s touch.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” was the first thing Taehyung muttered, gripping at his hair in agitation. “I-I shouldn’t have.. fuck!”

More fresh tears rushed to his eyes, glazing over the anger that was still present, raven fringe shielding the hurt they obtained.

Jungkook took a step back like he'd been punched in the gut by Taehyung's reaction, his hands falling limp to his sides as he stared at the male in front of him. Tae was almost unrecognizable in Kook's eyes.

''Wha-- Tae, calm down...'' He took a breath of his own, as if trying to take his own advice and remain calm.. But it was fucking hard, it felt like Taehyung was shoving the blame on them, or him for this.

Jungkook curled his hands into fists, unsure what to do when his growing uncomfort hurled over him. He wanted to hold Taehyung, but the elder didn't seem to even want to touch Jungkook, acting like his touch was comparable to fire.

''Taehyung, sit down--''

“Yeah,” Tae scoffed, “calm down..” he boldly mocked the younger, jaw tightly clenched in its place out of anger. Finally, he shifted his anxiety-drunken gaze to his boyfriend’s dimmed eyes, nostrils flared up as his overwhelming emotions once again got the best of him.

“What the fuck is that gonna do, Jungkook?!” He roared in the boy’s face, remaining composure unwinding with every barbarous word.

“The damage is already done! Great, we’re the f*ggots of our school now.”

Taehyung breathed out a soft, saddened laugh, running his hand down his face in boiling regret.

Shit, how much he wished he could go back in time and prevent this bullshit from happening.

“Wha— you were facing the camera anyways, why didn’t you notice?!”

'F*ggots of our school.'

Another verbal punch thrown into the younger's gut, causing him to flinch at the mocking tone. Now it was Jungkook's turn to feel his anger slowly boiling up in his veins that were growing prominent in his arms through the hard, clenched fists to his sides, nostrils flaring as he took deep breaths.

''Why are you blaming me?! I didn't see anybody!'' His voice no longer had any sign of worry, instead laced with frustration. What the fuck was going on with the sudden, undeserved hostility?

Jungkook took a step closer to his boyfriend. ''It's not the end of the world!'

Taehyung stumbled back a couple steps, ensuring there was a noted distance between them.

“I know it’s not the goddamn end of your world!” He angrily retorted back. “but for my fucked up.. trashy, hell of a world it is!”

The elder’s brittle voice wavered, the veins in his neck significantly strained.

“Jungkook.. if— if my father finds out..” The corner of his lip twitched at the mere thought of his worst nightmare, curtly snapping his head to the side when he felt his eyes sting with more tears. Sadly, Taehyung feared for his well being whenever he was around that monster. If he found out that his son was dating another guy...

The elder didn’t want to think about the possible consequences.

“This is—“

“Hey! Guys, we were looking for you..” Jimin and Seokjin ran towards them, gradually stopping midway when they made out the tense aura oozing off of the wanted pair.

Their postures were rigid, and judging from the look in Taehyung’s face, things weren’t looking too good.

“You can get a ride from them, right? I’m leaving.” The elder left Jungkook on his own, unbothered to wait for a clear answer before walking off towards his car, the tightness in his chest having yet to cease.

“Jungkook..” Jimin hesitantly reached out for his friend, resting his smaller hand on the younger’s shoulder.

Jungkook was left speechless at the sudden turn of events, again.

He hadn't even been able to process what the fuck had just happened-- just an hour ago they were excited to go home together, and now Taehyung left the younger alone without even a single look.

Kook flinched when he felt Jimin's hand on his shoulder, not even registering that they were there until Tae was out of sight.

''I'm gonna... uh, walk home.''

God knows he needed it.

''Jungkook, no, let us drive you?'' Jimin tried, but he knew it was useless. Their youngest was obviously upset-- for good reason probably, and his much needed space was understandable.

''Nah, just-- I need to go.'' Jungkook sighed, glancing over at the worried looks of his hyungs, ''Thank you.''

Without another word, Jungkook threw his backpack over his shoulder and headed towards his apartment, mind constantly replaying the words thrown at him just mere minutes before.

He stepped inside of his apartment, letting his bag fall to the floor along with his jacket, mindlessly kicking off his shoes before slumping down into his couch with a thud, fishing his phone out. He knew he shouldn't, but he pulled up the video circling on the snapchat stories, seeing peoples terrible commentary to the event. Anything from the overused slurs to mocking the two. But what kook truly focused on was the two men in the video, the zoom of their intertwined hands walking off at the end. It hurt to watch-- because he missed Tae’s touch, the mere memory of Taehyung flinching away from his touch made his chest ache.

Should he text him? Jungkook rarely did.. Or did he need time alone? Fuck, he needed to relax. It's fine, right? Like every other fucking time they fought, they'd bounce back.

Jungkook decided to simply put his phone down and go to bed instead, hoping things would have cooled off by tomorrow.

~

Taehyung disregarded the sound of the familiar alarm, letting him know that it was time to get ready for practice.

He barely slept last night, feeling alienated in his spacious bed. Taehyung had gotten too comfortable with Jungkook, even his own bed felt.. strange, like it wasn’t the right fit. His room— in which he’d spent most of his time hiding— didn’t feel the same, either.

With an unpleased groan, Tae blindly followed the dreadful ring with his ears, finally taking his phone into his hand before putting it on silence.

He didn’t want to get bombarded with judgemental stares during the day. He didn’t think he’d be able to handle it. So.. Taehyung didn’t bother to find out for himself. The elder had barely any energy left in him, proved by the way his eyelids threatened to close with every passing second.

~

Jungkook drowsily turned his alarm off as soon as it rang, arm automatically reaching over out of habit towards the empty space next to him. He sighed deeply. So it wasn't just a fucking dream, then.

He wondered what today would be like.

Hopefully Taehyung had calmed down and rationed things.

But, to the younger's surprise-- Taehyung was nowhere to be seen as he stepped into practice. His eyes roamed the court, craning his neck to find the face he wished to see.

''Hey Kook!'' Jimin chimed, hopping towards his younger friend, ''How are you feeling? Are you okay?''

Jimin put an arm around Kook, leading him towards the anticipating group, their eyes flickering between Jungkook and each other.

''Hey, uh..'' Namjoon began, but was quickly interrupted by Yoongi.

''Where's Taehyung?''

Yoongi flinched at the kick on his shin from Hoseok.

''I, uh...I don't know? I thought he'd be here.'' Jungkook shrugged, masking his obvious worry and frustration. Maybe he just needed more space than Kook thought.

The entire day was dreadful, from enduring all the stares and whispers from what felt like every single student in the school, to attempting to focus in class. It was useless. All he could think about was Taehyung.

Finally, the bell rang-- the younger able to head home, his phone glued to his face on the way. Still radio silence. It wasn't like his boyfriend to go this long without any contact...

When Kook finally got home, he opted to try to send a text:

To: Tae Hey, are you okay?

Jungkook read his text over and over, even added a 'Miss you', but decided to delete that part before hitting send. It was simple, but the least he could do was reach out.

A deep sigh left his lips before he repeated the same routine of worrying, showering, eating a half-assed meal and heading to bed. Tomorrow he'd surely come.

~

Taehyung spent the majority of the day laying under his covers, safely tucked away from his troubles.

The only excuse for his feet to touch the ground was when he needed to use the restroom, or when his stomach audibly protested for its first bite of food.

He’d seen Jungkook initiate a text, but unlike the previous times, he wasn’t extremely eager to answer.

Even the slightest bit of movement was physically draining.

When his father came home, Taehyung had yet to move from his lying position.

Now he had more of a reason to stay put.

He’d fallen asleep soon after, and by the time Taehyung checked his phone, it was 10:34 in the morning.

Fuck.. well, why bother going to school now, right? His first hour class had already passed.

Taehyung didn’t think about sending one of his friends a text, mind too foggy to act unselfish.

They probably weren’t even worried, and with that incorrect thought in his head, Tae fell back asleep.

~

If that first day wasn't already long and dreadful, the second day was next level for Jungkook.

Once again, Taehyung hadn't shown up to practice, nor did he show up to school at all.

And it didn't help that his hyungs were up his ass about it too.

'Where's Taehyung?'

'Is he sick?'

'Are you guys okay?'

Were they okay? Jungkook didn't fucking know. He couldn't get a hold of the boy. And to think of it-- the elder hadn't even replied to the text. Worried was an understatement at this point.

Jungkook got through the routines of the day, minutes felt like hours without his boyfriend, and as the day had started to melt together, the bell rang once again, the day over.

He headed towards the common area once more, internally cursing himself out for automatically expecting Taehyung to stand in his usual spot-- only feeling his chest tighten when he wasn't.

Kook walked home slowly this time, oddly enough checking his phone more frequently for any sign of Tae, but to no avail. If he wouldn't show up tomorrow, he'd definitely have to do something about this.

~

To everyone’s surprise-- Taehyung’s included-- the boy went back to school after his two-day streak of absence. He figured he couldn’t skip out on his remaining months, no matter how tempting it was to just.. vanish. As a side effect of his profound anxiety, Tae was more reserved than usual. He feared getting flooded with any unwanted questions, and his peers’ shameless murmurs only worsened his internal turmoil.

Maybe toughening up was a shitty idea; the second he stepped in those halls the wall he’d built for himself came crashing down.

With his hood shielding him from the outside world, Taehyung walked into the locker room. His steps were far from confident, and to anyone with a pair of working eyes it was obvious Tae was practically pushing himself to not curl up into a ball and feel bad for himself.

The elder feared hearing that word, it was weird in its own way. Whenever the slur was directed towards Jungkook, Taehyung didn’t think twice before throwing a punch. However, when it was meant for him he felt weak. He hated it.

However, nobody had uttered a single word towards Taehyung as of yet, only murmurs amongst themselves-- not even his friends. Not even Jungkook, who kept at a distance as he watched the elder ignore everybody like he was in his own bubble.

Kook was surprised to see him, and still seemingly in a weird state of mind…

Was Taehyung gonna say something? Should Jungkook say something? He felt weird about it-- and the constant glances from everybody else made him hesitate. He didn't want to make it worse..

Instead, the younger opted for throwing quick glances every now and then, hoping Tae would be looking at him as well for any indication that they'd talk. But he got nothing, and it was almost eerie.

It was frustrating as hell.

Jungkook hoped that as the locker room emptied out, Taehyung would stay around for a private conversation, but that was apparently not part of the plan as Jungkook watched the elder turn to leave without a word once more, kook following behind in silence. This day was gonna be long.

The elder failed to make every basket during practice, his aim was off, and his overall stance was stiff. It worried Namjoon, not only because one of his best players was lacking, but because his friend had his head in the clouds.

He’s never seen Taehyung this out of it..

But then again, when someone’s been forced to come out by a silly video roaming around the school, it was reasonable to be scared.

Namjoon just would’ve never guessed Tae was one of the people who were easily affected by useless chatter. He’s always deemed the younger as strong, fearless.

Joon had yet to be proven wrong.

Taehyung showed up today, and the elder found that to be the epitome of bravery.

If he was in his shoes, Namjoon wouldn’t know what to do. Not show his face in school, that was for sure.

In that moment, it had been established that Tae was far stronger than he was.

“Joon, can I get a drink of water.”

He’d been in the middle of a speech when Taehyung interrupted. Usually Joon would’ve scolded him for it, but with the way the morning’s been going, the elder simply nodded like a bobble head.

All watched the gloomy boy step out of the gymnasium, all the while Joon’s eyes were glued on Kook. There was definitely something going on between the two.

Namjoon waited a couple of seconds, anticipating Taehyung’s return.

Either the latter was extremely thirsty, or he used that as an excuse to leave mid practice.

“Uh.. I need someone to fetch me some extra basketballs. Jungkook? Can you do that?”

Really Namjoon was just giving the younger one a reason to chase after his troubled boyfriend, hoping they figure things out amongst themselves.

Jungkook didn't hesitate for even a second as soon as Namjoon gave him a chance at chasing after his boyfriend. A quick, grateful look given to the captain was all he gave before heading out the door, mind still swirling with his thoughts. Anxiety was a bitch, always amplifying and spurring on his worries-- and the way Taehyung was acting didn't help at all.

Jungkook finally found the familiar male bent over the water fountain. A part of him felt relieved just seeing him in the flesh, he wasn't randomly gone-- and by the looks of it, he hasn't gotten hurt..

Before, Jungkook had been hesitant, even cautious to talk to the elder, but after this amount of time, he'd grown tired of this shit. It wasn't his fault, none of this!

"Taehyung." Jungkook breathed the words out, as if he hadn't said them in so long that it felt.. weird, yet familiar. He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for his boyfriend to tell him anything. Why weren't they talking this through?

Taehyung’s muscles tensed under the intrusive voice, slowly straightening his posture as he made a great effort to meet Jungkook’s hardened gaze.

“Look.. I’m not in the mood to talk, alright?”

Taehyung attempted to walk around the younger, feeling as if there was a vacuum sucking all the air out of his lungs.

For all he knew, someone could be recording them right now, stepping into their personal problems without an invite.

Jungkook swiftly stepped in front of Taehyung, blocking the way with his wider frame. His eyes squinted in frustration, fingers digging his blunt nails into his own biceps to keep himself as calm as possible. Tae really had the nerve to say he doesn't want to talk?

"Are you serious? I've worried for two days and that's the first thing you say?"

Taehyung breathed out in exasperation, wanting nothing more than to push Jungkook out of his way. The latter was visibly stronger so Tae decided to stay put, at least for now..

“You didn’t have to worry about me, I’m fine.” He mirrored the younger’s stance, arms tensely crossed over his chest.

Jungkooks common ritual of frustration appeared in the form of his tongue prodding the inside of his cheek, the annoyed head tilt following as he tried to read the expression in Taehyung's face. Why did he suddenly feel like a stranger? Why did he suddenly feel like the old Taehyung?

"You're kidding me... stop acting like this, just fucking talk to me!" Jungkook untangled himself from his own arms to place his hands on his hips. "I can't stand the silence."

“Maybe I don’t fucking wanna talk to you! Ever thought about that?!”

The elder’s chest heaved, bigger hands balled up into tight fists at his sides. He let out a shaky exhale, lowering his brittle voice after a few seconds of scraping around for his inner serenity.

“Ever thought about what I fucking wanted?” His fragile tone was a distraction from the deafening silence.

As if Jungkook was a contagious disease, Tae cowardly stepped back.

“I— I tried to please you, Jungkook,” the elder continued, “even when I wasn’t comfortable with— with showing public affection, or letting you hug me in front of other people, I still did it.”

Taehyung shook his head, as if not believing he allowed himself to fall so deep.

“Hell, I wanted to make you happy. I couldn’t say how scared I felt.. or my take on the situation. And you know what? I wish I would’ve put me first.”

More silence..

“I wasn’t fucking ready like you were! I-I just... wasn’t.”

Taehyung ran a hand through his hair, breaking down with every truthful word.

“Maybe if I listened to my gut, none of this shit would’ve happened.”

Jungkook took in every word, each one of them building to his whirl of emotions clashing in his chest. He wasn't sure what to say, arguing with the elder is like talking to a wall sometimes...

He exhaled a shaky breath, eyes averting Taes as he stared down at the ground. A short nod followed, his jaw muscles clenching. Jungkook just wanted them to be good again, but the elder continuously pushes that thought away with his words.

"Fine." He murmurs, no longer feeling the need to speak to Taehyung when all he got thrown at him was blame. He took another step back, slowly distancing himself as well before he would lose his temper-- the urge to fucking punch him was burning. And yet... the other part of him wanted to cry. This entire situation was just pure shit...

Taehyung didn’t build on what he had to say, simply walking around Jungkook now that he seemed more inattentive of his surroundings.

The elder saw the millions of thoughts flashing through his boyfriend’s glazed eyes.

He felt guilty; Tae didn’t particularly get off on angering the younger, or leaving him close to tears. But he had to get that off his heavy chest, he was already short of breath. Leaving the uncomfortable mass to linger would’ve been deadly.

Jungkook took a deep, silent breath as he waited for Taehyung to be out of sight until he came back down to reality. He still didn't entirely get the uncomfortable tension between them. It was so sudden...

Jungkook had to take a moment, fighting his fight or flight instincts telling him to get the fuck out of there. He pushed the emotions down, completely forgetting about the instructions from Namjoon to get the basketballs as he headed back to the court. Hopefully practice was over soon anyway. He just wanted to go home.

~

The rest of the long day Taehyung spent avoiding Jungkook, succeeding in doing so considering they didn’t share any common classes. Before, that was something Taehyung wished was different.

He wanted to be in the same class as his boyfriend, anything to be close to him.

Now? He was glad that wasn’t the case, it would hurt too much to make eye contact with him from across the room.

Tae’s blurry mind wasn’t on board, however, the younger was all he thought about.

Jungkook was all he knew, in a sense. It felt weird not being able to talk, to send him pestering messages only for Kook to ignore them, picking out the marshmallows in his cereal to give them to him..

It sucked, but Taehyung knew space was the medication they needed.

The elder was up in his room, shaky thumbs hovering above his phone’s keyboard whilst he stalled on Jungkook’s contact.

He’d been thinking about how unstable their relationship was; how they always fought more often than not— how most of their loud bickering was because of something he’d done.

Taehyung didn’t know how the fuck to act in a relationship, he was a piece of shit.

His boyfriend deserved better.. he deserved a guy who’d proudly show him off, kiss him without any fears, hold his hand without worrying about outsiders’ stares. Someone not nearly as messy.

Tae harshly wiped away a stray tear, inhaling softly to stay grounded.

He’d already made up his mind, but /fuck/ was it hard to actually go through with it..

Exhaling, Taehyung quickly typed out the same phrase that’s been haunting him all day, pushing ‘send’ once he was done.

To: Kook I think we should break up.

Taehyung knew that if he read over it once again, he’d lose all courage to end things.

He was only looking out for Jungkook, after all.

On the other end of things, that was the exact opposite of what Taehyung did.

© sombreboy 2020. Do not edit, repost or translate.

[occasionally-writing]

Patching Up Ming

A/N: Finally done with it omg XD Anyways, this is my semi-first time writing for this pairing and fandom, but I love this drama and I couldn’t help myself. I really hope you guys like it and please enjoy the fic!

Summary: After getting told that Ming received some injuries from a fight, Kit takes it upon himself to teach his dumbass yet loving boyfriend a lesson along with patching him up, of course. 

Word Count: 1433 

When Kit was starting his day, he had no idea how bad it would truly be. His morning was fine and dandy, yet as soon as his class ended, Yo ended up coming up to him and proclaimed that Ming had gotten into a fight and was waiting downstairs with a two tissues stuck up his nose. Thanking the younger boy, Kit darted away from Forth and Pha and almost catapulted himself down the stone steps, trying to get to his dumbass boyfriend. Finally making it to the ground level, Kit panted for breath before he noticed Ming, sat on the stone benches as he leaned against the wall. Hearing someone coming up to him, Ming opened his eyes and perked up slightly when he noticed Kit staring down at him with crossed arms and a glare on his face. Letting his smile dim slightly, Ming swallowed the lump in his throat and laughed nervously.

“Do not speak,” Kit growled threateningly as he grabbed onto his boyfriend and helped him up. Wincing slightly as his wounds were jostled, Ming kept silent as Kit grabbed his bag and helped tug him out of the building, pulling him towards his car. Keeping the sounds of pain inside him closed mouth, Ming took a deep breath in as Kit finally stopped and threw his bag in the open window backseat window of the car. Opening the passenger side door, Kit carefully placed Ming inside and helped him buckle in before he slammed the door, making the younger male flinch at how mad he was. Getting into the driver’s seat, Kit shoved his key in the ignition and turned his gaze to Ming. “Try not to move, the last thing we both need is to have your injuries get worse.”

“Y-yes, P’Kit,” Ming mumbled, keeping his gaze lowered as he obeyed the older boy, keeping as still as he could as Kit pulled out of the parking spot and away from the Medical building. Moving his eyes from his shoes to the passing scenery, Ming made sure not to peer at his boyfriend at the risk of getting screamed at some more. Hell, Kit didn’t even ask what he got into a fight about. Biting his lip hard enough to taste blood, Ming laid his head against the window and closed his eyes, not even realizing that Kit was side-eyeing him in worry. Once they finally reached the dorms, Kit parked his car and got out of his side of the car, moving quickly around so he could open up the passenger side door for Ming. “I’m sorry, P’Kit…”

Not saying a word, Kit helped Ming out of the car and kept his arm around him, walking them into the dorms, going up to his room. Holding onto Ming as he unlocked his door, Kit nudged the door open and pulled Ming in, kicking the door shut before he place Ming on his bed. Staring up at Kit as he was placed down, Ming watched as Kit left towards the bathroom before he came back in carrying a medical kit. Placing it down beside his boyfriend, Kit stood back up and crossed his arms, waiting for Ming to take off his shirt so he could examine his wounds properly. Pulling his shirt up and off slowly, letting it slide to the floor as he too examined his torso, wincing when he noticed the bruises beginning to appear across his ribs. 

“What the hell were you thinking, Ming?!” Kit suddenly raged, stomping his foot angrily as he noticed the bruises and dried blood on Ming’s face. Twitching from the way Kit was kicking the floor, Ming slowly raised his eyes to look at his boyfriend in the eyes. What he saw made him feel even worse as he noticed the barely hidden worry that was mixing with his usual anger. Reaching out, Ming grabbed onto Kit’s hand and held on tight, trying to show how sorry he truly was. Noticing this, Kit sighed and laced their fingers together, rubbing his thumbs gently across Ming’s cracked knuckles.  “Tell me why you decided it was smart to start a fight while I bandage you up.”

“Okay, P’Kit. I wasn’t the one who started it...it was some other guys from my Engineering major. They were making fun of our relationship and were trash talking you...I couldn’t sit still and listen to their lies,” Ming mumbled, biting back a whimper as Kit cleaned the wounds on his hands first before he moved on to check his ribs. Taking in a deep breath, Ming secretly sighed in relief when he heard Kit mutter that his ribs weren’t broken. Moving up to his face, Kit cupped Ming’s cheek and sighed when he noticed the bruise that was just beginning to appear on his flushed cheek. Cleaning some of the scrapes, Kit gestured for Ming to go on, making the younger boy nod softly. “They were the ones that threw the first punches and yeah...I kinda kicked their asses. Even if there were three of them, I would never let them talk shit about you, Kit. I will not allow it ever!”

Letting out a soft sigh as he heard this, Kit finished up patching up Ming before he cleaned up the medical supplies, carrying the medical kit back to the bathroom. Walking back into the room, Kit sighed when he noticed how Ming was beginning to slant from tiredness. It’s no doubt that he had a tough day. Moving towards the kitchen, Kit grabbed some easy painkillers and a bottled water before making his way back to his almost asleep boyfriend. Handing him two pills and the water, Kit watched as Ming drowned them down, also downing half the bottle as well. Taking it from Ming, Kit placed the bottle on the nightstand before he handed Ming a new shirt. Slipping it on, Ming rubbed his eyes carefully as Kit stripped from his old clothing and changed into his own pajamas. 

“I’ve got you,” Kit mumbled softly, helping Ming to remove his jeans, just leaving the younger male in boxers along with the slightly tight shirt. Folding up Ming’s pants, Kit placed them on top of his dresser before he moved back towards him, pulling the blanket back on the bed and helping Ming to climb in without jostling his injuries too much. Once he was comfortable, Kit covered him up and circled around, turning off the lamp as he crawled into the nice warm bed. Cuddling underneath the blankets, Kit peered at his boyfriend in the dark and noticed how he was keeping to himself, which was odd and not wanted at all. “Ming, get over here.”

Blinking at the demanding tone Kit was using on him, Ming obeyed with no hesitation and scooted closer to the smaller male. Tangling their legs together carefully, Kit pulled Ming closer until the boy’s face was buried in his shoulder and Kit could wrap his arms around Ming’s neck, brushing his fingers through the other’s hair. Letting out a soft sigh at the acts of love he was receiving, Ming cuddled closer and pressed a kiss to Kit’s collarbone, making the older boy shiver lightly. Hugging him tighter, Kit pressed his own kiss against Ming’s head before he nuzzled in closer.

“Ming, listen good, okay? I would not change a thing about you. Yes, I was mad that you got into a fight, but that does not mean that I love you less. Whatever those boys had said, like you said, they were just lies. You know I can take care of myself, right?” Kit whispered, scratching at Ming’s scalp softly. Feeling a nod against his neck, Kit hummed and placed another kiss against Ming’s forehead. Noticing how Ming was beginning to fade in and out of sleep, Kit snickered fondly and brought the blanket up further on the both of them. “Get some rest, Ming.”

“Love you,” Ming whispered against Kit’s neck, making Kit roll his eyes and ruffle Ming’s hair. Hearing a soft cackle come from Ming’s mouth, Kit shushed him gently and before long, Kit felt his boyfriend’s breathing even out against his neck, telling him that he had finally succumbed to sleep. Nuzzling his face into Ming’s hair, Kit yawned and let his eyes flutter shut.

It wasn’t long before Kit fell into a peaceful slumber beside his boyfriend, both of them cuddled together so tightly that there was not a single ounce of space between them as similar soft smiles were glued on their faces as they slept.