#he truly had no clue what was happening in class

[theborzoiarebackintown]

Krampus earned his very first title yesterday, proving even empty headed dumb cute boys can learn up to ten simple tricks!

[butterfly-lies-chase-them-away]

Bunny (Part 3) - Health Ledger!Joker x Fem!Reader

Pairing: Joker x Fem!Reader Joker x Reader with Anxiety

Word Count: 12,588

Warnings: murder, Joker, minor age gap, police (ew)

Summary: Imma cut to the case, girly loses her car

(Part One) (Part Two)

A/N: Hey...how yall doing... Sorry I kind of disappeared off the face of the earth for a little while...my bad, I have made a few posts explaining how my life's been a mess recently, so had to take a step back from all this for a while. I don't know how often I'll be able to update things/post, but I'll do my best with the time I had, it might just be a bit slow, sorry And thank you to everyone that reached out to me, it's so sweet to have you guys looking out for me and all that, thank you so much, it means the world and thanks for reading most importantly, it's good to see people enjoying my fics 💚 SO! it's been a while, but I hope I didn't disappoint :) Enjoy~

-

It had been over a week since Y/n had last seen Joker. A week since the night he brutally beat the shit out of Max, the image still lingered in her mind, as did his words. How he made it clear she wasn’t allowed to have anyone else in her life. After everything that happened, Y/n couldn't bring herself to attend classes. The risk felt too great, she didn’t want to anger Joker any more than she already had. She had been isolating herself in her dorm ever since, barely leaving except for quick trips to the bathroom or to grab food from the dining hall. It was as though the walls of her small room were closing in on her, and the world outside felt too dangerous to face.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if Joker had been around to break the monotony, to bring some kind of human interaction into her lonely routine. His presence, unpredictable as it was, might have been better than the suffocating silence. But then again, he was the one who had forced her into this isolation. Did she really want comfort from the same man who had made her feel trapped in the first place?

Well...yes. Yes, she did. 

As much as she hated to admit it, Y/n missed him. Missed J. What if he was right? What if she truly didn’t need anyone else? After all, people had always made her feel uncomfortable, anxious. Except for Joker. Despite his chaos and unpredictability, he had a way of making her laugh, of making her feel seen and special. Strangely enough, there were moments when he even made her feel safe. And when she really thought about it, she only doubted him when he wasn’t around. It was in his absence that the questions and fears crept in. But when J was by her side, everything seemed brighter, more manageable. It was like her doubts evaporated in his presence, leaving behind only the spark he ignited in her.

She had no idea why he hadn’t called or shown up in the past week. Maybe he was busy with fuck knows what. Y/n had been avoiding the news along with people, deliberately shutting herself off from anything that might clue her in to Joker’s latest chaos. She hated hearing about his “exploits”, it made everything feel too real, too overwhelming, as if by hearing about his crimes, she became more entangled in his dark world. And she wanted to keep that part of her life as far away as possible.

But then a chilling thought crossed her mind. What if he was dead? Her heart skipped a beat, her chest tightening as her breathing grew ragged. Could that be it? Joker, her Joker, dead? No, it wasn’t possible. He was the Joker, larger than life, untouchable. But if that were true, then where was he? Where was her J?

Panic crept up her spine. The more she thought about it, the more her mind spiraled. If something had happened to him... no, she couldn’t let herself think like that. But still, the gnawing question lingered. Why hadn't he shown up? Why hadn't he called?

Y/n sighed deeply, closing her eyes as she curled up on her side. The bed, usually a place of solace, felt cold and unwelcoming tonight. Or, to be fair, every night. She just wanted—

“Leaving your window ajar? Bit dangerous in this society,” a familiar voice drawled, smooth yet taunting.

Y/n's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes flew open. She whipped around in her bed, gasping in disbelief. “J!” she cried out, her voice full of relief and joy.

Crouching in her window, Joker looked as mischievous as ever, his signature grin stretching across his face. His sharp eyes glittered as he swung one leg inside, then the other, landing silently on her floor. He stood there, his frame casting a shadow across the room, but there was an undeniable magnetism in his presence. He radiated danger and yet, to her, there was comfort in seeing him, as twisted as that comfort was.

"You missed me, Bunny?" he smirked, straightening up as he sauntered over to her bed. 

Y/n didn’t hesitate. She shot up from her bed, her feet barely touching the floor before she rushed across the room and threw herself into Joker's arms. The moment she felt his grip tighten around her, it was as if the weight she'd been carrying all week lifted. She buried her face in his chest, breathing in the familiar scent of him, a strange mix of cologne, smoke, and something undeniably Joker.

“Miss me that much, huh?” he teased, his voice low and amused as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her firmly against him.

Y/n sighed deeply against his chest, a sense of relief flooding through her as she melted into his embrace. The loneliness and emptiness that had weighed her down for days seemed to evaporate the moment he returned. With Joker there, her once dull, lifeless room suddenly felt vibrant and alive again, his mere presence filling the space with an intensity only he could bring.

"Where have you been?" Y/n asked softly, her voice muffled as she kept her face pressed into his chest.

"You know...around," Joker replied casually, his voice as nonchalant as ever.

Despite the vague and careless answer, Y/n found that she didn’t really care. Not right now. All that mattered was that he was here, in her arms again, filling the emptiness she had felt all week.

"And I come bearing gifts," Joker's voice took on a playful edge. He reached behind his back, pulling something out from beneath his coat with a dramatic flourish. In his hand, a bouquet of flowers appeared. Slightly wilted, the petals crushed from being stuffed behind his back, but flowers nonetheless. "Flowers," he declared with a crooked grin.

Y/n couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her as she accepted the bouquet. "A little beaten up, but still lovely. Thank you."

Joker leaned in closer, his smirk deepening. "Had to put them somewhere while I climbed up here. Couldn't exactly carry them in my teeth." He said, baring his stained teeth.

Y/n blinked at him in disbelief, her heart doing a small flip at the thought. "Why in the fuck would you climb up here? I live on the fourth floor!"

Joker shrugged, clearly unfazed. "Keeps me sharp. Plus, I like to keep things...interesting." 

Y/n shook her head, a mixture of amusement and disbelief running through her. Of course, Joker would think scaling a building was a fun way to make an entrance. It was reckless, just like him, but that same unpredictability was what made him so captivating to her.

Y/n carefully placed the flowers on her bedside table, their slightly crumpled petals a reminder of Joker's unconventional affection. She turned back to him, her fingers curling around his wrist as she gently tugged him toward the bed.

Without missing a beat, Joker kicked off his shoes, the movement fluid and practiced, as if he’d done it countless times before. He climbed onto the bed, settling down with a casual ease. Sitting up for a moment, Joker shrugged off his coat, tossing it to the floor, then stretched out his arms, inviting Y/n into his embrace.

Without hesitation, she slipped into his arms, pressing her cheek against his chest. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat was a strange comfort to her, a grounding presence in the chaos he always seemed to carry with him. Joker sighed, letting his head fall back against the pillow, his fingers lazily tracing the curve of her back.

"You uhh...haven’t left your dorm in a while, have you, Bunny?" Joker’s voice was casual, but the question was laced with an undertone of curiosity.

Y/n froze for a second, the truth settling heavily in the space between them. She shook her head slowly, not wanting to delve into the reasons why.

Joker tilted his head slightly, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at her. "Wanna tell J why?" he asked, his tone almost coaxing.

Instead of answering, Y/n only shrugged, burrowing deeper into his chest, as though she could make herself disappear within his arms. The weight of everything she had bottled up, the isolation, the fear, the confusion, it was too much to put into words. All she wanted in that moment was to feel small, safe, and sheltered from the overwhelming reality pressing down on her.

Joker let his fingers gently stroke Y/n’s head, his touch both soothing and reassuring. The room was quiet except for the rhythmic sound of their breathing and the occasional creak of the bed as Joker shifted slightly.

“Come on,” Joker began after a moment, his voice a soft murmur against the silence, “tell J.”

Y/n remained nestled against him, her voice barely a whisper. “I just...I didn’t feel like leaving. Things got complicated, and I didn’t want to risk…I don’t know, making things worse.”

Joker’s expression softened slightly, though his playful smirk remained. “Complicated, huh?”

Y/n nodded against his chest, her fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt as if it were a lifeline. “Yeah. It’s been hard, trying to make sense of everything. And...I guess I’ve been scared.”

Joker’s hand slid up to cup her cheek, tilting her face up slightly so he could meet her eyes. “Scared of what, Bunny?”

Y/n swallowed hard, feeling the lump in her throat. “Scared of...disappointing you...And of you being angry.”

Joker’s gaze softened further, and he pulled her even closer. “Hey, you don’t need to be scared. Not with me, Doll. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m certainly not gonna hurt you. Not a chance.”

Y/n looked up at him, her eyes filled with a mix of gratitude and lingering worry. “But sometimes, you make me feel like I’m walking a tightrope…Like I can’t breathe.”

Joker’s fingers traced gently along her jawline, his touch tender despite the intensity of his gaze. “I get it. I do. Sometimes I…push too hard, and…” he sighed, rolling his eyes, not wanting to admit it. “It’s not always about what’s best for you. But remember, Bunny, you’re mine. And I don’t just mean that in some possessive sense. I mean it in a way that means I care about you…Even if I don’t always show it the right way.”

She managed a small, appreciative smile. “I know. It’s just hard to balance everything.”

Joker’s eyes softened, and he leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “We’ll find that balance together, yeah? Just you and me on that little tightrope of yours. And maybe, if you’re willing…We can…talk more about what’s been going on. Mhmm?”

Y/n nodded, feeling the warmth of his words and his presence. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to fully relax into his embrace. For now, the world outside seemed far away, and in this moment, it was enough to simply be held by him.

“Will you stay the night? Please?” Y/n asked, her voice soft and pleading as she snuggled closer to him, her fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt.

Joker’s eyes dropped to her, his expression shifting from his usual playful mask to something softer, yet still tinged with mischief. He raised an eyebrow and gave a theatrical sigh. “What, in this tiny little bed?” he teased, casting an exaggerated glance around the small space.

Y/n’s heart sank slightly, but she maintained her hopeful gaze, her eyes glistening with a mixture of hope and anxiety. “Yes, please. Just tonight.”

Joker’s smirk widened, and he gave a dramatic shrug as if considering the request. “Oh, alright,” he said, with a hint of reluctance. “But only because I’ve missed you too.”

He shifted, making himself more comfortable on the small bed, adjusting his position so that he could hold her more securely. His playful demeanour didn’t fully mask the warmth in his eyes, which softened as he looked at her.

As Y/n settled into the crook of Joker’s arm, her breathing began to even out, the steady rhythm of her chest rising and falling in a peaceful cadence. Joker watched her with a mix of tenderness and fascination, his usual chaotic energy replaced by a rare, serene calm. Her face, softened by sleep, was framed by stray strands of hair that had fallen across her forehead.

He carefully adjusted his position, making sure not to disturb her slumber. With a gentle touch, he reached over to pull the covers up over both of them, tucking it snugly around their bodies. The soft rustling of the fabric was the only sound that filled the quiet room, a stark contrast to the loud chaos of their usual lives.

Joker’s eyes remained fixed on her for a moment longer, taking in the sight of her so serene and vulnerable. The soft glow of the bedside lamp cast a warm light over her face, highlighting the delicate features that had become so familiar to him. He couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh, a rare moment of contentment washing over him as he admired her.

Once he was satisfied that they were comfortably covered, Joker finally allowed himself to relax. He shifted slightly, arranging himself so that he could hold her close, feeling the comforting weight of her against him. With one last glance at her peaceful face, he closed his eyes, letting himself drift off into sleep. 

It was a rare and almost mythical sight. Joker sleeping. Sleep was a luxury he seldom afforded himself, a mere afterthought in the whirlwind of his life. His existence was a constant rush of adrenaline and chaos, where sleep was more of an inconvenience than a necessity. Yet, tonight was different. Tonight, the demands of his chaotic world seemed to dissolve, if only for a brief moment.

As he lay beside Y/n, the darkness of the room enveloped them in a cocoon of calm. The usual sharpness in his features softened in sleep, his furrowed brow easing into an uncharacteristic serenity. The once restless energy that drove him now lay dormant, replaced by a quietude that felt both foreign and oddly comforting.

He allowed himself this rare indulgence, surrendering to the soothing rhythm of Y/n's breathing and the gentle warmth of her presence. For tonight, he set aside the complexities of his world and the incessant ticking of his internal clock. This rare pause from his relentless pursuits, was all for her. 

For his Bunny, he was willing to grant himself this brief escape, allowing the world outside to fade into the background, leaving only the serenity of their shared night.

-

Y/n stirred awake slowly, feeling an unfamiliar warmth around her. Blinking against the soft light shining through the window, she realised she was still tucked in Joker's arms. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm beneath her cheek, the sound of his heartbeat oddly soothing. For a brief moment, everything felt surreal. Joker, the Joker, lay sleeping peacefully beside her. 

She tilted her head slightly to look at him, taking in the sight of his face softened by sleep. The sharp edges of his usual expression were gone, replaced by something almost...human. His arm was wrapped securely around her waist, holding her close as if even in sleep, he wasn’t ready to let her go.

Y/n’s heart swelled with a mix of emotions. Relief, tenderness, and a quiet sense of disbelief. She never expected to wake up like this, cradled in the arms of a man so dangerous and unpredictable, yet, in this moment, he felt like a safe harbour in the storm.

As she shifted slightly to get more comfortable, his grip tightened instinctively, pulling her closer as if he could sense she was awake. A small smile tugged at her lips, and for the first time in a while, she felt a flicker of peace. Being with him might have been turbulent, but in moments like this, when it was just the two of them, the world seemed to pause.

"You're still here," she whispered softly, half to herself.

Joker didn’t stir, still lost in the rare tranquillity of sleep. Y/n snuggled back into his embrace, her body relaxing against him once more, savouring the fleeting moment of calm before reality inevitably caught up with them again.

Y/n gazed up at Joker’s sleeping face, her heart swelling with a strange mix of emotions. There was something captivating about him like this. Vulnerable, peaceful. It was a rare sight, one she had never quite imagined she'd be lucky enough to witness. He looked so different without the tension he carried when he was awake. His sharp features, which usually wore a wicked grin, now seemed softer, almost innocent in the quiet of the morning. Well, they would be, if not for his makeup. 

For a moment, she couldn’t help but think back to a week ago when she had almost seen him without his makeup for the first time. That day, everything had been different. He had been furious. She didn’t wanted the first time seeing his bare face to be like that, so she simply did not look.

But now, in this stillness, Y/n found herself longing to truly see him. His makeup had always been a mask, a barrier between the world and the man underneath. What did he look like when he wasn’t the Joker, when he wasn’t playing the part of Gotham’s most dangerous criminal? She had seen glimpses, but it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t right. She wanted to see him in a way that felt personal, intimate, something shared between just the two of them.

Her hand twitched, tempted to reach up and trace the lines of his face, to wipe away the remnants of his painted mask. She wondered what it would be like to see him with nothing to hide behind, no makeup, no games. Would he let her? Could she ask him? The thought made her pulse quicken, a mixture of curiosity and nervousness rising in her chest.

“Staring at me while I sleep, huh?” he rasped, his voice husky from sleep.

Y/n’s breath hitched as his eyes opened, their familiar intensity returning as they focused on her. His lips curled into a lazy smirk, amusement flickering in his gaze. Y/n blushed, caught in the act. She quickly glanced away but didn’t pull back from his embrace. 

“I just…I’ve never really seen you like this before,” she whispered, her fingers lightly resting on his chest, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breathing.

“Well, don’t get used to this,” Joker said, a teasing edge to his voice as he noticed Y/n’s pout.

Y/n’s eyes remained fixed on his face, captivated despite the conversation. Joker’s brow raised as he caught her intense gaze. “Got a staring problem?” he asked, amusement lacing his tone.

Y/n hesitated, her words tangled in her throat. “I just…” she started, struggling to find the right way to express her feelings.

Joker’s eyes softened slightly, and he leaned in closer, his breath warm against her cheek. “It’s the face paint, isn’t it?” he guessed, his tone almost affectionate as he read her with an unsettling accuracy.

Y/n’s heart fluttered, and she nodded, not hesitating. “Yeah,” she admitted softly.

Joker’s smirk widened, his hand coming up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “You had your chance, remember? But you wouldn’t look at me,” he teased, fake pouting.

Y/n bit her lip, her gaze returning to his. “I didn’t want to…not when you were angry with me,” she admitted. “I didn’t want that to be the first time I saw you. But now…I want to see you.”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Joker said with a smirk, his eyes glinting with mischief.

“But satisfaction brought it back?” Y/n ventured, her voice tinged with uncertainty as she searched his face for clues.

Joker leaned in closer, the proximity causing Y/n’s breath to catch in her throat. His gaze lingered on her lips, and she let out a soft gasp, feeling the heat of his presence. “Have I satisfied you yet, Bunny?” he asked, his voice dropping to a seductive murmur.

The air between them crackled with an almost tangible tension, thick with an electric charge that seemed to pulse with every breath. Y/n felt a rush of warmth spreading beneath her skin, a heat that was both exciting and unsettling. Her heart raced in response to the intimacy of their closeness, each beat echoing in her ears. Every subtle shift in Joker's gaze and every brush of his breath against her skin amplified the sensation, making it feel like a live wire against her nerves. The intensity of his presence was overwhelming, stirring a mixture of longing and apprehension that made the moment feel almost unbearable in its potency.

Despite the charged atmosphere, she had to be honest. “Well, no…I want to see your face,” she admitted, breaking the spell of the moment.

Joker’s dramatic eye roll and the click of his tongue were almost theatrical. He pulled back, the playful irritation clear in his expression. 

For a moment, Joker said nothing, just watching her with that unnerving intensity of his. Then, he let out a low chuckle, his thumb brushing along her jawline. “You’re full of surprises, Bunny.” He leaned in closer, his breath warm against her skin, this time, it wasn’t lustful, but gentle. “But if you want to see me…you’re gonna have to be ready for what comes with it. Think you can handle that?”

Y/n paused, mulling over Joker's words. What did he mean by that? What was the consequence of seeing him without makeup? Doubts began to creep into her mind. Did she really want this? Was it worth the uncertainty?

Joker noticed the turmoil written all over her face. With a heavy sigh, he reached out and gently patted her head, breaking the spell of her thoughts. “Not today, Bunny,” he said softly.

Y/n nodded, a resigned understanding settling over her. She could wait a little longer.

Joker then slid off the bed, retrieving his coat from the floor and slipping it on. He shoved his feet into his shoes with little care. “Gotta go, Bunny.”

“You just woke up,” Y/n said, confused.

“Well, crime isn’t going to commit itself,” Joker replied, holding his arms up like it was obvious.

Y/n frowned, but Joker just rolled his eyes. “I ain’t never been a saint. Don’t act like that.”

She sighed and sank back into her bed, feeling the emptiness left by his soon to be departure. Joker leaned over her, his face close, but his expression softened.

“I’ll stop by tomorrow, hmm?” he said, pulling his lips back, waiting for her answer.

Y/n managed a small smile and nodded in agreement. Joker responded with his trademark grin, placing a quick, playful peck on her lips before pulling away with a pop.

“Until then, Bunny,” Joker said, his tone light as he strutted to the window.

“You’re not seriously leaving through my window in broad daylight!” Y/n exclaimed, disbelief in her voice.

“Bye bye!” Joker said with a playful wave, completely ignoring her protests as he made his exit.

Y/n scoffed, reflecting on how it was a miracle Joker had never been caught. Hell, it was a surprise she hadn’t been caught up in his world herself. But dwelling on that was pointless.

As she lay in bed, she realized how much Joker’s presence had lifted her spirits. She hadn't felt this good in ages. In fact, she felt an unexpected surge of motivation. Not enough to drag her to her classes, but certainly enough to get out of her room.

Determined to make the most of her newfound energy, Y/n pushed herself off the bed and began getting ready for the day.

-

Sitting in her car, Y/n surprised at how far she’d come. She hadn’t expected her motivation to last her this long, but a sense of satisfaction and excitement bubbled up within her. The day ahead was a blank canvas, she wasn’t sure what she’d do, but with the wads of cash Joker had given her, she was confident she’d find something worthwhile in the city of Gotham.

Turning the key in the ignition, the engine roared to life with a reassuring hum. As she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the streets, the city’s pulse seemed to sync with the beat of her heart. Gotham’s towering buildings and neon lights flashed past her as she drove, a blend of curiosity and anticipation guiding her through the city maze. She was ready to explore, ready to embrace whatever the day had in store.

Or, you know…just take it easy.

Y/n decided to park her car in a quieter part of the city, if that even existed. She wandered towards the waterfront, drawn by the promise of calm against the backdrop of the city’s frenetic pace. The unfamiliar sun cast a warm glow over the water, and the gentle breeze carried the scent of the polluted sea. She found a little ice cream stand nestled on the waterfront, its colourful display tempting her with a variety of flavours. After scanning the options, she chose simple chocolate. Ordering was easy enough, she barely even hesitated with her words. 

With her ice cream in hand, Y/n strolled along the waterfront, savouring each lick of her treat. The rhythmic sound of waves lapping against the shore was soothing, even if the sound was momentarily interrupted by rubbish washing up along with it. 

She watched families and couples enjoying their day, feeling a sense of normalcy and contentment she hadn’t experienced in a while. For a few moments, she let herself be immersed in the simple pleasure of the afternoon, enjoying the sweet taste of freedom and the soothing ambiance of the waterfront.

As Y/n continued to stroll along the waterfront, the initial thrill of her outing began to wane. The gentle breeze and the pleasant scenery no longer held her attention as they had at the start. Instead, a sense of weariness started to creep in. The excitement of walking around Gotham’s and the novelty of her day out were giving way to a quiet longing for the comfort of her own space.

She finished her ice cream, the last few drops of chocolate lingering on her fingers. The sun was beginning its early descent, casting long shadows across the boardwalk and signalling the end of a day well spent. Yet, Y/n found herself feeling more tired than refreshed. The energy that had once drove her spirits was fading, replaced by a growing desire to return to the familiarity and solace of her dorm room.

With a sigh, she turned away from the waterfront and started making her way back to her car. Her steps were slower now, her earlier enthusiasm replaced by a comfortable, if slightly melancholic, fatigue. The dull cityscape blurred into the background as her mind shifted to the thought of sinking into her bed and enjoying the peace of her own space.

As Y/n reached her parked car and began to pull her keys from her pocket, she suddenly felt a heavy pressure on her back. A chilling presence loomed behind her, sending a jolt of fear and anxiety through her entire body.

"Give me the keys," a gravelly voice demanded.

Her breath caught in her throat as she glanced over her shoulder. The dim glow of the streetlights revealed the glint of a handgun, hidden in the man's jacket but now pressed against her back. Trembling, she nodded and, with a shaky hand, retrieved the keys from her pocket. Her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly extended her arm, letting the keys drop into his outstretched hand.

With a rough, demanding grip, the man seized her shoulder and shoved her aside. Y/n stumbled and fell to the ground, her palms scraping against the pavement. The world seemed to blur as panic surged through her veins, her mind racing with shock and fear.

Y/n watched in stunned silence as the man sped away in her car, its engine roaring defiantly as it disappeared down the street. The reality of the situation sank in with a harsh, bitter sting. Her heart pounded as she pushed herself off the ground, her hands shaking as she brushed dirt from her clothes.

“...Fuck,” she said, with a shaky breath.

She stood up and began walking, her steps heavy and sluggish. The streets seemed endless, stretching out before her as she trudged along. With each step, her mind was a whirlpool of thoughts and worries. How was she going to explain this to Joker? The thought of confronting him, of admitting she’d lost his gift, filled her with dread. 

She imagined Joker’s reaction. His anger, his disappointment, the sharp, biting words he might hurl at her. The fear of what he might do to her for failing to keep his gift safe weighed heavily on her shoulders. She’d already been through so much, and the thought of facing his potential wrath was almost too much to bear.

Y/n’s footsteps echoed through the quiet streets as she trudged on, the cold night air biting at her skin. The glow of the streetlights offered little comfort, casting long, eerie shadows that seemed to mock her misfortune. She glanced down, wishing for a miracle or some kind of way to fix the situation before it reached Joker’s ears.

The sense of dread continued to gnaw at her, each step furthering her anxiety. How could she face Joker and tell him that his precious gift was now gone? The thought of his reaction, the potential fallout, was overwhelming. All she wanted was to get home, to crawl into bed, and to forget about the chaos of the night.

-

So much for feeling good. Y/n was restless throughout the night, her nerves frayed and her mind a whirlwind of anxiety. Despite the fleeting sense of fear she had of Joker showing up, sleep eluded her. She had half-expected Joker to storm through her door at any moment, demanding answers about her missing car, but the anticipated confrontation never happened.

As the hours ticked by, the night passed in a blur of fitful tossing and turning. The following day dawned with a heavy weight of dread. Y/n managed to get through the day without a single sign of Joker. Yet, the silence only heightened her apprehension. She knew deep down that he would come eventually, and she would have to face him. The thought of revealing the truth and dealing with the consequences loomed over her like a dark cloud, but she knew she’d have to deal with it.

Right on cue, the dorm door creaked open, and Joker’s voice boomed through the small room. "Honey, I'm home!" His tone was playful, but Y/n couldn't muster a smile.

Sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, she stared down at her hands, sniffling softly. Joker frowned, the door slamming shut with a careless kick as he stepped further inside. 

"Bunny?" he called, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Another sniffle escaped her, and without hesitation, Joker crossed the room, crouching in front of her. Gently, he tilted her chin up with a light touch, forcing her to meet his gaze. Her face was red and blotchy, eyes puffy, and lips swollen from crying. His brows furrowed, and he sat on the edge of the bed, leaning in closer.

"Hey, Bunny...what's with the tears?" His words were casual, but the concern in his voice was unmistakable.

Y/n swallowed, tears still threatening to spill over. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Joker’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What’d you do?" His voice was softer now, but his curiosity was piqued.

"I...I lost my car." The words came out between sobs, her shoulders trembling with the weight of them.

Joker blinked, processing. He leaned back a little, brow arching. "Lost it? What? In a bet or something? Just tell me who, and I’ll get it back. Hell, I can get you a new one if you want." He grinned, trying to brush it off, thinking it couldn’t be that serious.

But Y/n shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "No...some guy stole it. He had a gun, J. He made me give him the keys..." Her voice cracked, and she buried her face in her hands, overwhelmed with guilt and fear.

Joker froze for a second, the lightheartedness vanishing from his expression. He studied her, the anger building beneath the surface, though his tone remained calm. "He had a gun?"

“I’m sorry, J. I didn’t mean to…” Y/n's voice was muffled by her hands as she cried, her body trembling.

Joker's jaw clenched, a dangerous fire flickering in his eyes. Someone threatened his Bunny. Someone had dared to put a gun to her, to take something from her, which ultimately meant taking from him. 

His hands balled into fists at his sides, the knuckles whitening from the sheer force of his anger. It wasn’t the car that mattered, it was the audacity of it all. Someone had made her feel vulnerable, scared, and Joker couldn’t stomach that. His rage simmered, barely contained, but he knew he had to keep it together for her.

Leaning forward, he gently peeled her hands away from her face, forcing her to look up at him. His grip, though firm, was tender in a way that was reserved only for her. “Look at me,” he said, his voice low and dangerous but laced with an unusual gentleness. "This wasn’t your fault. You hear me?"

Y/n nodded weakly, her tear-streaked face still full of guilt.

Joker's thumb brushed away a stray tear from her cheek, his gaze softening for a brief moment. “No one touches what’s mine,” he muttered under his breath, more to himself than to her. The intensity in his eyes darkened, a promise of vengeance. “I’ll make sure whoever did this regrets ever breathing near you.”

Her lip quivered. "But…"

"No 'but's, Bunny. You did what you had to. They had a gun, you did the smart thing." His words were laced with conviction, his eyes burning with a wild resolve. 

Joker tilted her chin again, this time with a smirk creeping back onto his face. “And when I find this guy, well…” He chuckled darkly. “He’ll be wishing he never woke up this morning.”

Y/n swallowed hard, feeling a mix of comfort and fear at his words. She knew Joker well enough to know that he wasn't bluffing. Whoever had taken her car wouldn’t just lose the car; they'd lose much more.

He leaned closer, his lips grazing her temple, whispering against her skin, “You’re mine, Bunny. And I protect what's mine.”

She nodded again, feeling her pulse quicken under his possessive words. As dangerous as he was, she couldn't deny the sense of safety that came from his presence. The world outside might have been chaos, but in Joker's arms, she felt like nothing could touch her.

"Now," Joker continued, pulling back slightly, his eyes glinting with mischief. “Tell J however much you remember, mhmm?” His smirk widened, and for the first time since the carjacking, Y/n managed a small, shaky smile.

Y/n took a shaky breath, wiping the remnants of tears from her cheeks as she tried to gather her thoughts. “It all happened so fast,” she began, her voice still trembling. “I had just finished walking around and was heading back to my car. It was parked by the waterfront, you know? And...and then this guy came out of nowhere.”

Joker’s eyes narrowed as he listened, already piecing together what little information he could. His patience wasn’t exactly legendary, but when it came to her, he could wait. He needed the details.

“He…he had a gun,” Y/n continued, her voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t even notice him at first until he was behind me…and he put the gun to my back. He told me to give him the keys, and I-” She stopped, her voice breaking. “I just handed them over. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Joker’s jaw clenched, but he remained silent, letting her continue.

“He was tall, I think? I didn’t get a good look at his face…he had a hoodie on, dark clothes…But that’s all I remember.” Y/n shook her head, clearly frustrated with herself. “I’m sorry, J. I didn’t see more.”

Joker stroked his chin, eyes narrowing in thought. Tall. Hoodie. Waterfront. It wasn’t much to work with, not nearly as much as he liked. He hated operating blind. But he wasn’t about to let that stop him. He’d figured out worse with less, and for his Bunny, he’d make it work. 

His mind raced, already formulating a plan. He knew the city like the back of his hand, knew the gangs, the small-time crooks, the desperate ones who operated in the shadows. He could already think of a few places to start looking.

Joker exhaled through his nose, a humourless grin forming on his lips as he looked down at Y/n. “Not much, huh? You’d think these idiots would be more creative.” He rubbed her arm, the action strangely soothing despite the edge in his tone. “But don’t worry, Bunny. I’ll figure it out.”

She looked up at him, her eyes full of uncertainty, but there was something else there too. Relief. Relief that he was taking control of the situation. That, in his own chaotic way, he was there for her.

Joker chuckled, his expression dark and predatory. “Oh, I’ll find this guy. And when I do, he’s gonna wish he never crossed paths with us.” His thumb brushed across her cheek, the intensity in his eyes growing. “No one messes with you and gets away with it.”

Y/n nodded, trusting him. Joker always found a way to get what he wanted, and she knew, without a doubt, that whoever had taken her car wasn’t going to have a good day when Joker finally caught up to him.

Joker hopped up off the bed with a sudden burst of energy. “Imma make a quick call, okay, Doll?” He shot her a grin before heading to the window. Just as he reached it, he turned back to her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “And uh…block your ears,” he added.

Y/n didn’t need any convincing. She pressed her fingers firmly into her ears, muffling the sounds of the room, watching as Joker leaned halfway out the window to make his call. The sight of him there, trying to be all business while hanging out of her dorm window, was almost comical. It was clear he was doing it to keep her from overhearing the conversation, though she wasn’t sure if it was more for her safety or his secrets.

Whatever he was saying, the call didn’t last long. After a minute or two, he pulled the phone from his ear, a satisfied smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He slipped the phone back into his coat pocket and made his way back over to Y/n.

“And now,” he declared dramatically, “I’m all yours.” Without warning, he flopped onto the bed, half-crushing her under his weight, his arms draped lazily around her.

Y/n couldn’t help but giggle at the suddenness of it all, her chest filling with warmth as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him close. It felt nice, almost normal in a way that contradicted everything about them. But that was what she loved. 

Joker rested his head against her, and for a moment, they simply lay there, the world outside her dorm fading away. In this small, stolen moment, it was just them, and Y/n let herself get lost in that, even if she knew it wouldn’t last forever.

Joker sprawled out across Y/n’s bed, one arm lazily draped around her waist while his other hand absentmindedly twirled a strand of her hair between his fingers. Y/n leaned into his touch, letting herself sink into the moment, but a thought nagged at the back of her mind.

After a few minutes of silence, she spoke up, her voice quiet but insistent. "You know, J...maybe you should give me some way to contact you."

Joker raised an eyebrow but didn’t turn to look at her. Instead, he continued playing with her hair, his body still relaxed. “Oh, yeah? Why’s that, Bunny?” His voice was playful.

Y/n sighed, shifting a little in his arms so she could look up at him. "I can’t keep sitting around wondering when you’re going to show up next. What if I need you? Or...just want to see you?"

Joker’s fingers paused for a second, and his eyes flicked down to meet hers. “Hmm...that’s cute. Really, it is.” He pulled himself up a bit, propping himself on one elbow, his face closer to hers now. “But here’s the thing, Doll...You can’t have my number. Or anything like that.”

Y/n frowned, confused. “Why not?” She felt like a desperate fling, constantly begging for something more, but never quite getting it. 

Joker’s smirk grew, but his eyes darkened with a touch of seriousness. He leaned in closer, brushing his lips against her ear as he whispered, “Because, Bunny, I can’t risk someone finding out that you’re in contact with me.”

She pulled back slightly, trying to meet his gaze face on. “You think someone would track me down? Just because I can reach you?”

Joker let out a low chuckle, but his expression remained cold. “Not just someone. Everyone. The moment they sniff out a little…connection between us, you’ll be in the spotlight, and trust me...” He paused, trailing his finger lightly down her cheek. “You don’t want that kind of attention. You’d be in a lot more danger than losing a car, sweetheart.”

Y/n’s stomach flipped at his words, her mind racing. He was right, of course. She didn’t want to be linked to the Joker. Not publicly, anyway. But the frustration lingered. 

"I just...hate waiting. Not knowing when I'll see you again."

Joker tilted her chin up gently. "I know, Bunny. But this is how it’s gotta be. You trust me, don’t cha?" His voice was a mix of teasing and sincerity, but she could hear the edge of caution beneath it.

Y/n nodded, letting out a quiet sigh. She did trust him, but it didn’t make the situation any less frustrating. "I trust you...It's just hard."

Joker’s grin returned, a flash of teeth as he pulled her closer. "I’ll pop in when you least expect it, like always. Keep things interesting."

Y/n managed a small smile at that, though part of her still wished she could have some control over when they’d see each other. But deep down, she knew he was right. If anyone found out about her connection to him, her life would spiral into danger even more than it already had.

For now, she had to accept that this was how it would always be unpredictable, chaotic, and entirely on his terms. But somehow, being wrapped up in his arms made it feel a little more bearable.

-

A couple of hours passed, with Joker and Y/n sprawled out on her bed in a comfortable silence. Joker had been unusually calm, his arms wrapped loosely around her, while she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She assumed he was thinking, but she liked the think he was relaxing, just a time of peace between them. But this peace couldn’t last forever.

Eventually, Joker stirred, shifting beneath her. “Alright, Bunny,” he muttered, slipping out from her hold. “Time for me to bounce.” 

Y/n propped herself up on her elbows, watching him. She didn’t want him to leave, but she knew better than to say it out loud. “Already?” she asked quietly, though the answer was obvious.

“Got things to do, cars to find,” he replied, tugging on his gloves and smoothing his hair back. “You know how it is.”

She nodded, biting her lip to keep from asking him to stay longer. Joker turned to her with a smirk, leaning down to place a soft kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be back soon, Bunny. Don’t worry your pretty little head.”

With that, he made his way to her door, throwing it open like he always did. Y/n watched him as he walked, feeling the familiar pit in her stomach as he disappeared into the night, leaving her alone once again.

-

It had been three days since Y/n had last seen Joker, and the absence weighed heavily on her. The first day, she had convinced herself he was just busy, caught up in whatever mischief Gotham demanded of him. But by the second day, she started to feel the creeping sadness and unease. By the third, she couldn't shake the emptiness that lingered in the pit of her stomach. 

Every knock or creak had her hoping it was him, but no such luck. She spent the days moping in her dorm room, feeling the weight of his absence more with each hour that passed.

By the time evening rolled around, her hunger forced her to make a rare trip down to the dining hall. As she lined up for dinner, grabbing a plate and serving herself some food, she felt strangely disconnected. The clatter of cutlery, the murmur of students talking around her, it all seemed distant, as though she was walking through a fog.

That’s when she heard it.

From the TV mounted in the corner of the dining hall, the news anchor’s voice echoed through the room. “In other breaking news, Gotham has been in fear the past few days as a series of crimes linked to the Joker continue to escalate. Authorities are urging citizens to remain vigilant—"

Y/n’s grip on her plate tightened as she froze mid-motion, her heart skipping a beat. Joker. They were talking about him. She glanced over her shoulder at the TV, feeling her chest tighten as the images of destruction flashed across the screen. As Y/n sat in the dining hall, her focus was still on the TV.

"—Police have been interviewing several local gang members who have turned up beaten and bruised over the past few days. The victims, all of whom belong to various underground organisations, have been questioned about an odd line of inquiry from what appears to be the Joker, or those associated with him. Reports indicate that he’s been asking them about a purple Ford Cortina."

Y/n’s fork paused halfway to her mouth, her stomach flipping as she heard the words. A purple Ford Cortina. Her car. She knew he would search for it, but she didn’t really think about what that would entail. 

"Authorities and gang members speculate that the vehicle in question may be linked to illicit activities, possibly connected to the drug trade. Given the Joker's relentless pursuit of this particular car, investigators believe there may be a significant reason behind his interest."

Y/n's breath caught in her throat. So Joker had been trying to track down her car. The realization sent a chill down her spine. He was tearing through Gotham’s underworld, using any means necessary to find it. And if the news was anything to go by, he was leaving a trail of battered bodies in his wake. She could only imagine what Joker might do when he found the guy who actually took it.

Y/n couldn’t help but find it a bit amusing how everyone speculated that Joker’s relentless hunt for the car had to do with drugs, money, or something valuable hidden inside. The authorities and gang members alike were convinced there was a darker motive behind his obsession. But the truth? The Joker was tearing through Gotham's underworld simply because Y/n was upset about losing her car. 

All this fear and bloodshed, and it wasn’t over money or a drug deal gone wrong, it was just because Joker wanted to track down the guy who took her car and make him pay.

-

Y/n was deep in sleep when she felt a shift in the room, a faint sound of the window creaking open, followed by the softest thud against the floor. She stirred, half-aware, when a familiar presence loomed over her bed. Suddenly, she felt fingers gently brushing her cheek, a cold touch that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Bunny," Joker's voice whispered into the darkness.

Her eyes fluttered open, heart racing as she saw his pale face inches from hers, illuminated by the faint light from the street. "J?" she mumbled groggily, rubbing her eyes. 

"Wake up, sweetheart. I’m taking you somewhere." His voice was soft, but there was an edge to it, as always. He crouched next to her, his hand now resting on her shoulder. 

Groggy and disoriented, Y/n sat up in bed, her eyes barely open as she pouted. “J, it’s too late to go out,” she groaned, her voice heavy with sleep.

Joker, unfazed, strode over to the pile of clothes strewn across the floor. He sifted through them with purposeful movements until he pulled out a pair of pants, which he tossed onto the bed. “Get dressed before I have to do it for you,” he said, his tone commanding.

With a reluctant sigh, Y/n tossed off her covers and struggled out of her pajama shorts, wriggling into the track pants Joker had given her. She shuffled over to him, her movements sluggish. Joker crouched down beside her, helping her into socks and shoes with a quick, messy touch.

“I’m taking you to my hideout,” Joker announced, his voice carrying a note of excitement as he tightened her shoelaces.

Y/n’s eyes flew open in surprise. “Huh?!” she exclaimed, her confusion evident.

Ignoring her reaction, Joker finished with her shoes and guided her toward the window. “Let’s go!” he urged, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

“I’m not climbing out of the fucking window!” Y/n protested, her voice loud with alarm.

With a chuckle, Joker removed her large purple coat from the chair and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Trust me, Bunny,” he said softly but firmly, “it’ll be worth it. Now, come on.”

Joker's grin widened as he gently but firmly urged Y/n to climb onto his back. “Come on, Bunny, up up!” he said, settling her comfortably. He held her legs around his waist securely, making sure she was steady.

Y/n, her heart pounding with a mix of anxiety and excitement, wrapped her arms around Joker’s neck and closed her eyes tightly. She tried to ignore the dizzying sensation of the height and the rush of cold air as she felt him step out the window.

Joker's movements were smooth and deliberate as he expertly climbed out of the window, his strong grip keeping them both secure. He maneuvered carefully down the side of the building, his confidence evident in every step. The city below looked distant and blurry to Y/n as she held on, her breaths coming in shallow, controlled gasps.

With each passing moment, the steady rhythm of Joker’s descent, combined with his soothing presence, helped to calm Y/n’s nerves. She felt a strange sense of safety despite the precarious situation. 

When they finally reached the ground, Joker gently lowered Y/n to her feet, turning to face her with a triumphant smile. “There we go. Safe and sound,” he said.

Y/n took a deep breath, slowly opening her eyes to the dimly lit streets of Gotham. The adrenaline was still coursing through her veins, but she couldn’t help but smile at the exhilarating escapade.

Joker’s hand found Y/n’s with a firm yet reassuring grip, his gloved fingers wrapping around hers with a sense of purpose. “Come on, Bunny,” he said, leading her through the dimly lit alleyways of Gotham. The city’s nighttime sounds buzzed around them, but Joker's presence made the chaos feel distant and controlled.

They approached a familiar van parked inconspicuously against the shadowy backdrop of Gotham. The van’s dark windows and battered exterior made it blend seamlessly into the night, a stark contrast to the vibrant city lights.

Joker guided Y/n to the sliding door on the side of the van, giving her a gentle nudge to help her step up. “In you go,” he said with a playful wink. Y/n climbed in, her heart still racing from the excitement and the earlier climb.

Inside, the back of the van was surprisingly well-organised. A few cushions and blankets were strewn about, creating a makeshift yet cosy space. Y/n settled onto the soft surface, glancing around with a mix of curiosity and apprehension.

“You’ve made it nice in here,” Y/n remarked.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way for my Doll,” Joker replied.

Joker followed her in, sliding the door shut behind him with a quiet click. He turned to face her, his expression a blend of satisfaction and mischief. “Comfortable?” he asked, his tone light and teasing as he took a seat next to her.

Y/n nodded, still processing the unexpected turn of events. “Yeah,” she said, her voice tinged with both awe and amusement.

Joker grinned, leaning back against the wall of the van. “Good.”

“J?” Y/n asked softly.

Joker hummed in response, his gaze fixed on her.

“Why are you taking me to your hideout?” she asked, curiosity laced in her voice.

“Need a little help with some...inquiries,” Joker said vaguely

Y/n sighed, knowing that was all the answer she'd get from him. There was no point in pressing for more. Still, a part of her wasn’t concerned, she trusted him in her own way. She knew Joker would never deliberately put her in danger. At least, not anything she couldn’t handle.

The van ride was shorter than Y/n expected, probably because Joker’s henchman refused to slow the fuck down. The vehicle sped through Gotham's dark streets, swerving around corners with reckless abandon, zooming through redlights. Y/n gripped the seat, her knuckles turning white, while Joker sat unbothered, clearly used to shit driving.

Before she knew it, the van screeched to a halt. The back doors creaked open, and Y/n stepped out, barely keeping balance. 

“Why couldn’t Rocco drive instead,” Y/n muttered to herself.

Her eyes tried to adjust to the dimly lit scene. Large shipping containers loomed in front of them, stacked high and scattered across the docks. Joker’s hideout was tucked between them, barely noticeable among the industrial sprawl.

“Home sweet home,” Joker grinned, helping her stand still.

Joker strode confidently ahead of the group, his long coat billowing behind him as he led Y/n through the maze of shipping containers. She trailed behind, her eyes scanning the dimly lit scene, while his henchmen fell into place around her like silent shadows. There was a tension in the air, but none of it was directed at her.

The people inside Joker's hideout were all armed, weapons strapped to their sides or held casually in their hands. Some wore clown masks, others bare, but their attire was surprisingly basic, unlike their leader. Yet, as Y/n passed through the hall, not a single pair of eyes met hers. No one dared to glance her way, as if her presence was something they had been strictly instructed to ignore.

Joker must’ve said something to them beforehand. The thought made her feel both relieved and a little unnerved. Even in his world of anarchy, he had ensured that she was untouchable here. She quickened her pace to catch up to him as they neared a large, rusted metal door.

Joker pushed open the heavy, rusted metal door with a dramatic flourish, stepping inside and gesturing grandly with both arms. "Ta-da!" he announced with an exaggerated smile, his voice echoing off the steel walls.

Y/n stepped in behind him, her eyes widening at the sight before her. The room was dimly lit, the smell of sweat and blood hanging thick in the air. In the center of the room were three men, each strapped to a chair, their faces swollen and bruised beyond recognition. Blood dripped from their mouths, their clothes torn and stained. They looked barely conscious, heads slumped forward, held up only by the restraints binding them.

"Look at ‘em, Bunny! Didn’t they clean up nice?" Joker said with a maniacal grin, walking up to the men and giving one of them a light tap on the cheek, though the man barely reacted. He turned back to Y/n, watching her carefully, as if expecting a reaction, something between shock and awe.

Y/n, though startled, knew this wasn’t out of the ordinary for Joker. She exhaled quietly, her eyes flicking from Joker to the beaten men and back again.

"These guys," Joker continued, pacing in front of them like he was showing off trophies, "have been asking all the wrong questions... But lucky for them, we’ve got the right answers. Ain't that right, fellas?" His laugh echoed in the room, chillingly casual in contrast to the gruesome display in front of them.

Y/n stood frozen at the entrance of the room, her heart pounding in her chest as she took in the scene before her. Her hands trembled uncontrollably, fingers digging into the fabric of Joker’s coat as her eyes darted between the bloodied men. Her knees felt weak, and a wave of fear and nausea surged through her. She had never been this close to Joker's brutality before, seeing it from afar was one thing, but being here, in the midst of it, was another entirely.

She felt herself shaking, her breath catching in her throat as her mind raced. What was she supposed to do? 

Joker, noticing her reaction, moved over to her, his sharp grin softening into something more comforting. He placed a hand on her shoulder, fingers curling gently as he pulled her closer. 

“Hey, hey... it’s alright, Bunny,” he murmured, his voice unexpectedly soothing despite the horror around them. He tilted her chin up, making her look at him rather than the beaten men. “You’re safe. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

Y/n swallowed hard, trying to calm the tremors in her body, but her fear was overwhelming. She couldn’t stop shaking. Joker’s grip tightened, firm but not harsh. His eyes, though gleaming with mischief, held a strange sort of reassurance. He wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her. Not while he was there.

“You recognize any of ‘em?” Joker asked, his voice smooth, but laced with a hint of danger. He gestured lazily to the men in the chairs. “One of these guys…is the prick who took your car, Doll. Which one? Huh? Take your time.”

Y/n’s eyes flicked nervously toward the men, her pulse quickening as she tried to focus, to remember the face of the man who had shoved a gun into her back. Her stomach churned as she scanned each bloodied face, her fear growing by the second. She clenched her hands into fists, trying to still the shaking.

"I-I’m not sure," she whispered, her voice barely audible, but Joker’s fingers on her chin turned her face to meet his gaze again.

"You’ll figure it out, Bunny," Joker said, his grin widening as he stepped back. "I believe in you."

Y/n felt her heart racing as she desperately tried to recall the face of the man who had stolen her car. She scanned the bloodied faces of the three men strapped to the chairs, her mind racing yet blank. The fear gripped her, tightening around her chest like a vice. She hadn’t turned to face her attacker that day, all she had was a fleeting impression. Now, the bruises and welts made it impossible to recognize anyone.

Biting her lip, she fidgeted with her nails, a nervous habit that had developed over the years. Each of her movements was a mixture of anxiety and frustration. She glanced back at Joker, who was now leaning against the wall with an expectant look. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she shook her head, silently pleading for an escape.

“You don’t know, Bunny?” he asked, his voice teasing yet tinged with a hint of disappointment. She nodded again, a sinking feeling settling in her stomach.

Joker straightened up. He turned back to the men, clapping his gloved hands together. The sound echoed through the dimly lit room, causing Y/n to jump, startled by the sudden noise. 

“Looks like you’re all gonna face the punishment!” he declared, his tone gleefully ominous.

Y/n’s breath caught in her throat as she watched him approach the trembling figures. Her heart thudded louder in her ears, each beat amplifying the rising tension. “Might wanna turn around, Bunny…” he advised in a low, gravelly voice that sent shivers down her spine.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Y/n spun on her heels, not wanting to witness whatever Joker had planned. But the chilling sounds that erupted behind her were unmistakable. The first scream pierced through the air, raw and filled with terror, and she instinctively shoved her fingers into her ears, desperate to block out the horror unfolding just a few feet away.

The echos of pain reverberated through her body, and she fought against the rising panic within her. Each scream seemed to etch itself into her mind, a haunting reminder of the world Joker inhabited, a world she was still trying to comprehend.

Y/n stood frozen in place, her body trembling uncontrollably as the terrifying screams filled the air. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, blurring her vision and stinging her cheeks. The sounds behind her were a cruel reminder of the darkness that lurked in Joker’s world, a reality she had only glimpsed at before now.

She bit her lip, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to escape. The warmth of fear flooded through her, wrapping around her like a suffocating blanket. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to disappear from the situation, to escape the horrifying reality unfolding behind her. 

“J…please,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound. But the words felt hollo she knew he was lost in his own excitement, reveling in the chaos that he thrived on. 

Y/n’s heart raced, each beat echoing the dread that filled her. She wanted to turn around, to stop him, but she felt paralyzed by fear. The tears began to fall, trailing down her cheeks as she desperately tried to quell the rising tide of panic.

“Please, just stop,” she murmured to herself, hoping that the power of her words would somehow reach Joker, that he would sense her distress and reconsider. But deep down, she feared that he was too far gone, too enveloped in his sadistic joy to listen to her cries for mercy. 

The room seemed to close in on her, the weight of the situation pressing down harder with every agonizing second. She felt so small, so helpless, trapped in a world she didn’t belong to, as tears continued to fall.

As the unsettling sounds of distress echoed through the room, the heavy metal door creaked open, interrupting the violent scene. A figure stepped inside, a tall, muscular man dressed in a dark jacket and jeans, his face marked with the grime of the streets. He hesitated for a moment, eyes darting to the trembling form of Y/n before focusing on Joker, who was still reveling in the fear he had instigated.

“Boss!” the man called out, his voice cutting through the noise. “We got a hit on the car!”

Joker paused mid-motion, turning his head slightly, though the glint in his eyes hadn’t faded. The man who had entered looked nervously at Y/n, noting her shaking form before turning back to Joker, eyes darting between the gruesome scene and his unsettling leader.

Joker’s grip on the nearest man loosened, and he slowly straightened up, a wicked grin spreading across his painted face. He wiped the blood from his gloves, flicking it off to the side as if it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

“Well, well, Bunny,” Joker drawled, turning his attention away from the bloodied men and back to Y/n, who was still shaking, her eyes filled with tears. He strode over to her, ignoring the mess he’d left behind. “Looks like we found your ride.”

Y/n’s breath hitched as he gently cupped her chin, lifting her tear-streaked face to meet his. “No more tears now, hmm? You’ll get what’s yours.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek before glancing at the man who had brought the news. “Show me.”

Joker reached for her side and gently placed a hand on the small of her back, guiding her toward the exit. Y/n's legs felt shaky beneath her, still trembling from the horrors she'd just witnessed, but she followed his lead, her mind clouded with fear and confusion.

"Come on, Bunny. We’re done here," he said softly, though his tone carried an edge that left no room for hesitation.

Y/n felt his hand tighten slightly as they approached the door, his presence offering a strange sense of security in the midst of her unease. The henchmen in the room stepped aside without a word, avoiding eye contact as they always did, heads bowed in silent deference. 

As they walked out, Joker kept his arm steady around her, pulling her closer as they passed through the rusted doors and into the dimly lit hallway. Y/n’s breath felt heavy in her chest, but with Joker leading her, she didn’t dare look back at the screams and chaos they left behind.

Once outside the room, the night air hit her face like a cold slap, grounding her slightly as the noise from the other side of the door faded away. Joker leaned down, whispering into her ear with a teasing smirk, "Told you I’d take care of it, Bunny."

Y/n nodded, still too shaken to speak. Joker helped Y/n into the back of the van with a firm but reassuring grip, and then climbed in after her. Rocco was already behind the wheel, adjusting his mirrors and starting the engine with a smooth, deliberate motion. Y/n could already tell that this ride would be different from the wild, reckless journey that brought them to the docks. Rocco wasn’t the crazy, pedal-to-the-floor type, and the knowledge that he’d drive with some level of sanity brought Y/n an odd sense of comfort after the mess she’d just been through.

Joker settled beside her, stretching out casually like they were heading to a late-night diner rather than retrieving a stolen car. His calmness, while unsettling, made her feel a little more anchored in the moment. The van pulled away from the warehouse slowly, the rhythmic hum of the engine cutting through the tension that lingered in the air.

Y/n glanced over at Joker, who was staring out the window with a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. As they wound through the quiet streets of Gotham, her nerves gradually settled, though a sense of dread still lurked beneath the surface. She knew they were heading toward the location of her stolen car, but what would happen when they got there? She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to find out.

Y/n leaned back against her seat, trying to shake the images of the beaten men from her mind. Joker, however, looked relaxed, his hands drumming lightly against his knee, as if this was just another night for him.

Rocco pulled the van into a slow crawl as they approached the location. Y/n's eyes darted out the window, scanning the area nervously. It was an abandoned lot, scattered with debris and lined with broken streetlights that flickered weakly in the darkness. In the middle of the lot sat her car, the familiar purple Ford Cortina gleaming under a dim light. Too pristine, too untouched, too perfect.

The van came to a gentle stop, and Rocco shifted into park. Y/n’s heart raced. Something wasn’t right. Everything about the scene felt too neat. The car was just sitting there, almost like it had been gift-wrapped and left for them.

Joker sat up, his usual smirk fading as he surveyed the area, eyes narrowing. Y/n swallowed hard. Even she could feel it. It was a setup. A trap, perhaps. The whole thing felt staged, like someone was waiting for them to make the first move. The silence around them was heavy, too heavy for Gotham's rough streets. 

Joker’s fingers drummed against the side of his leg, faster this time, his mind clearly working through possibilities. Without turning his head, he spoke, his voice low. 

“Stay here, Bunny.”

Y/n’s gut twisted as she glanced nervously at him, unsure of what would happen next. Something in her told her this wasn’t just about retrieving a stolen car anymore. 

Joker slipped out of the van with a calmness that contradicted the tension crackling in the air. Rocco stayed in the driver's seat, his eyes shifting to the rearview mirror, making sure Y/n was still there. She felt a strange sense of comfort in his presence.

From her spot in the van, Y/n could see Joker approach the car with slow, deliberate steps. His silhouette was sharp against the dim light that cast long shadows over the lot. He circled the Cortina, eyes scanning every inch of it like he was expecting something to jump out at him. His movements were careful, precise, like he was reading the scene for any sign of a trap.

Y/n held her breath, her fingers gripping the edge of the seat tightly. She had a bad feeling about this, everything was too still. Her heart pounded in her chest as Joker stopped in front of the car. He turned his head slightly, just enough to catch Rocco’s eye, a silent signal passing between them.

Rocco tensed, gripping the steering wheel. Y/n could feel the shift in the air, the anticipation building as if the whole scene was waiting for someone to spring the trap.

Suddenly, Joker’s hand shot out to open the door of the Cortina, and as if on cue, the sound of tires screeching against asphalt filled the night air. Several black cars surged into the lot from all sides, headlights blinding as they formed a rough circle around the Cortina, and Joker.

Y/n gasped, her fear confirmed. It was a trap.

“Boss!” Rocco yelled, his hand already reaching for a gun stashed under the dashboard. Joker didn’t flinch. Instead, he straightened up, his head tilting with that familiar, unsettling smile curling his lips. The chaos was brewing, but Joker looked like he was about to enjoy the show.

The screeching tires belonged not to gang members or rival thugs, but to police cars. Dozens of them, their lights flashing violently against the dark backdrop. Y/n's breath hitched in her throat as she recognized the unmistakable sirens piercing the tense silence. These weren’t just any vehicles. It was Gotham's Police Force, and they had Joker surrounded.

Joker’s eyes gleamed with twisted delight as the police vehicles formed a barricade around him. He didn’t flinch, didn’t retreat. Instead, he straightened up and flicked a glance toward the flashing lights, his smile widening like this was all part of the plan.

Rocco cursed under his breath, his hands gripping the wheel tighter. "Boss, it's the Gotham MCU," he growled, already reaching for the gun stashed under his seat.

Y/n’s heart was pounding so loudly she thought it might burst out of her chest. She stared at the police cars, her hands trembling as fear overtook her. This was bad, really bad. 

From the distance, officers began spilling out of the vehicles, guns drawn and aimed directly at Joker. They moved like a well-oiled machine, creating a blockade that left no gaps. The realization hit Y/n hard. They had set up a trap, and Joker had walked right into it.

"Step away from the vehicle with your hands up!" one officer shouted through a megaphone, his voice distorted but authoritative.

But Joker? He only laughed. That spine-chilling laugh echoed through the lot, a sound so unsettling that even some of the cops shifted uneasily. Joker turned his head slightly, as if to make sure Y/n was still watching. Then, without a hint of fear, he raised his arms slowly in the air, playing along.

Rocco looked back at Y/n, his face a mixture of worry and anticipation. "Stay low, and don’t move. Got it?" he barked, his voice low and urgent.

Y/n nodded, but inside she was spiraling. Her stomach churned, her pulse raced. How were they going to get out of this?

Joker must have made a subtle hand gesture, quick, nearly imperceptible. But Rocco saw it. He cursed under his breath and reluctantly tucked his gun back under the seat. Y/n glanced between them, confusion swirling in her chest. 

“What…what’s going on?” she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Rocco’s jaw clenched as he turned the key in the ignition. Without another word, the van roared to life. Y/n's confusion deepened, but before she could even process it, Rocco slammed his foot on the gas, and the van jerked forward. 

“Wait!” Y/n gasped, her hands bracing against the seat as the van sped away from the scene.

Her head whipped back, heart hammering in her chest as the distance between them and Joker grew. She could see the police closing in on him, all their focus trained on capturing Gotham’s most notorious criminal. None of them even glanced at the van speeding away. 

Y/n’s breath caught in her throat, eyes widening as she watched Joker stand there, calm and collected. The flashing lights, the shouting officers, none of it seemed to faze him. In fact, he was smiling.

Through the haze of panic, Y/n’s vision locked on him as the police neared. And there he was, standing completely still, his gaze never leaving hers. That familiar, wicked grin spread across his face as if he’d orchestrated the whole thing. Like this was just another one of his games.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as the reality of the moment crashed over her. He was letting her go. Letting her escape. But at what cost? 

Her fingers gripped the seat, knuckles turning white as they sped away, the van tearing through the streets of Gotham, leaving Joker to the police.

-

A/N: OoOoOoOooo, J's been caught~ and poor Y/n still don't got her car back :C Thank you for reading this part, and thank you for being patient, I really appreciate everyone 💚 Not too sure when I'll have time to write the next chapter, but we'll see thank you again 🫶

[papercorgiworld]

I don't want you to be my girlfriend

Blaise, Mattheo, Enzo, Tom, Theodore and Draco

There’s a big misunderstanding concerning your future together. 

Warning: no warning, just a very fluffy fluff thingy

This was brought to you thanks to this request, but I must apologize I changed some details, but I guess the essential plot is stil there. If you spot an error that hurts your brain, let me know and save another reader. And as per usual, my darling readers happy readings! I love you all, big time!

“When we graduate things are going to change. I have big plans.” You hear your boyfriend’s voice and feel yourself get all giddy, convinced that you are part of these big plans, but suddenly you stop in your tracks. “I mean (y/n) isn’t going to be my girlfriend forever.” Next, there's silence. “Are you sure?” You hear Pansy ask and with a pounding heart you listen to your boyfriend’s answer. “Yeah. Never been so sure of anything in my life. She won’t be my girlfriend for long anymore. Things change.” 

Without making a single sound you turn down the stairs of the astronomy tower. Tears streaming down your face. You were so in love with him. All the two of you did lately was talk about your future together. When did he stop loving me? Did he ever love me at all?

The next morning you looked like crap. You looked like someone who had been crying all night, which is exactly what had happened. So you skipped breakfast and just went to class where you spent your time staring in front of you and avoiding your boyfriend’s gaze at all costs. He watched you from a few seats away. When he grew inpatient waiting for you to look at him he enchanted a little note and sent it to you, but to his horror you just looked at the folded paper laying on your desk without opening it, before returning to look at the professor. 

He truly doesn’t know how you managed to, but after class you just disappeared. He had immediately gotten up and walked towards you and yet you had somehow snuck past him through the other students. He picked up the unopened note he had sent you and felt his heart ache. First you didn’t show up at the astronomy tower last night, then you skipped breakfast and now you were obviously avoiding him. What did I do? I hate it when I don’t know what I did? Bad joke? Forgot about a date? Salazar, what if I did something so bad that she’s breaking up with me? 

He had searched every nook and cranny of the castle to find you, which was quite a lot of work, but to no avail. I don’t even know where she’s hiding? Have we somehow grown apart without me even noticing? I’m such a shit boyfriend, I’m gonna lose the love of my life.

Defeated, he walked back to the slytherin common room when one last possible hiding spot came to mind. How did I not check there earlier?

Blaise

There you sat curled up doodling in your journal, back resting against the whomping willow. “Really not the safest spot to be. The tree gets mad from time to time.” He startles you and for a moment you stare at him with wide eyes, before relaxing. As soon as you process that it’s Blaise you roll your eyes. “Oh, really? After seven years at this school I really had no clue.” Your sarcasm is almost like venom and makes Blaise’s smile disappear. In silence he joins you, sitting too close to your liking so you move an inch away and he lets his head fall back in annoyance with your childish behavior. “I have no idea what I did, but I’m sorry, I always am when I hurt you.�� His voice is soft and his hand reaches for yours, keeping you from scribbling in your notebook. 

You shake your head in disbelief. How could he be sorry, when he was planning on breaking up with you. You feel tears welling up and grit your teeth in an attempt to hold them back. “When we talked about our garden together, which plants and trees we would prefer and that there needed to be a little bench… I thought you meant it. I thought you really wanted that with me.” At your words he moves a bit away from the tree to face you properly. “I do. I do want all of those things. You know that. We were just talking about our future together yesterday morning. What makes you think I wouldn’t want that with you?”

Your eyes are angry. How dare he lie like this. “I heard you last night at the astronomy tower. You want to break up with me. You had big plans and I wasn’t going to be your girlfriend anymore.” Blaise stares for a moment, before chuckling and looking away. “Unbelievable, you seriously had me worried for a moment.” All your anger subsides and confusion takes over, eyebrows knitting together. “You won’t be my girlfriend forever, (y/n), because I have other plans for you.” Blaise explains, but you still don’t catch on to what he’s hinting at. “Darling, I bought a ring.” Your eyes widen and your heart feels like it’s going to explode. “That’s what I was talking about. I showed it to everyone last night.” With shaky hands you put your notebook aside and move a little closer to your boyfriend. “An engagement ring?” Blaise nods and smiles as he adores your utterly confused face. “After we graduate, on a random date, when you don’t see it coming I’m gonna pop the question.”

Even though you were sitting in front of him he’s still surprised when you suddenly wrap your arms around his neck. “Spoiler alert, I'm gonna say yes.” You whisper all giddy and he responds by hugging you tighter than ever. Gods, I hope so, because I really love you.

Mattheo

Mattheo sighs, relieved that he’s finally found you. Sitting against the whomping willow with your knees pressed against your chest and headphones on, probably listening to the same four sad songs on repeat. He watches you from afar for a moment as he worries about what’s gotten you so upset and worse why you haven’t come to find him for consolidation yet. Even when you were angry with him you came to him to figure it out. You rarely closed yourself off for so long as you had done today and it frightened Mattheo. 

Quietly he walks over to you and as soon as you spot him you turn to look away from him, making Mattheo almost reach for his chest. He decides to lean against the tree next to you, giving you some space as you’re still sitting curled up on the ground. The silence between you two is excruciating. Soundless tears run down your cheeks as you realize that this might be the last moment between you two. As painful as the silence is, Mattheo wants to give you time to start talking, it’s only when he hears you sob that he loses his patience and immediately gets down on his knees next to you. He takes off your headphones and looks at you with soft eyes. “I beg you, please, talk to me.” His fingers brush your cheeks and you savor the moment of his touch, before speaking up.

“It’s cruel Matt, making someone believe in a future together, while you’re planning a break up. I mean who does that. Yesterday morning we were arguing about marriage or kids first and in the evening you’re telling everyone that you don’t want me to be your girlfriend.” A pathetic sob escapes you and Mattheo opens his mouth, but you cut in before he can say anything. “I still love you, you know. I still want that future with you. Did I scare you away or something?” Mattheo’s heart squeezes at your painful sobs. Scare me away? How can you think of something like that? “No, no, you could never scare me away.” Mattheo wants to hold you, but you softly push his hand away. “Then tell me, what did I do wrong? Why are we breaking up?” Mattheo stares at you in disbelief, not following at all. “We aren’t. We’re never-” 

“I heard you, Matt, last night at the astronomy tower. I heard you say that I wasn’t going to be your girlfriend for long.” Something changes in the way Mattheo looks at you, but you can’t quite capture it, he looks almost disappointed. “Wow. Definitely not how I planned it, but okay.” Mattheo says dryly, but also amused. There’s this sweet mischievous glimmer in his eyes that calms you, but also has you frowning. He searches in his pocket, obviously being enchanted, it takes him a while to find what he’s looking for and you stare at him in confusion as he makes a funny face. “Matt-” He shushes you and you study him carefully as he moves from sitting on both knees to resting on one knee, before pulling out a tiny box. 

“If it’s up to me, (y/n), you will no longer be my girlfriend, because I want you to marry me.” You quickly shake your head and sit up a bit straighter to check if you’re really seeing what you’re seeing. Slowly, his free hand reaches to open the flannel ring box. “So (y/n) (y/l/n), will you marry me?” Your mouth opens as you stare at the ring, before looking at Mattheo whose smile is filled with love. You nod, ignoring the elegant and shiny ring, you lunge towards him and he wraps his arms around you. He quickly closes the box to keep the ring safe, before kissing you passionately. When you break apart, your foreheads rest against each other. “The answer’s yes by the way.” You whisper with flustered eyes. Mattheo licks his lip, smirking at the beautiful fiance in his arms. “I assumed that much.” He said, eyes shining with happiness. “But, dear future wife, don’t you ever assume silly things again, like maybe me dumping you. Never going to happen, understand?” Sheepishly you chew your lip, embarrassed with your own dramatics. When you nod, his smile grows brighter and leans in for another passionate kiss. 

Enzo

As soon as Lorenzo spotted you, he came running towards the whomping willow, though carefully watching the tree so as not to get attacked by it. You were just laying on the ground staring up at the sky and the tree, but you knew Enzo was coming your way. You had been together for so long you could hear it was him just by his footsteps. You took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the weight on your chest, knowing that your relationship would all be over soon. With a happy smile Enzo’s face comes into your view as he stands next to you looking down at you. “Found you.” He quips rather proud of himself and you snort. Joking before breaking up that’s just rude. Did our relationship really mean nothing?

When Lorenzo notices your displeasure with his presence he kneels down next to you. “Everything alright?” He asks with a soft, worried voice as he scans your face for any hints. You chew your lip for a moment before sitting up, eyes wandering around, avoiding Enzo. “I really looked forward to it.” Enzo frowns and sits down next to you, his arm brushing yours. Before he can ask for an explanation, you continue. “Cooking together every evening. Going to bed together. Waking up and arguing in the bathroom, but making up at the breakfast table. You were going to make that boring adult everyday routine fun, you would make everyday worth it.” Lorenzo drops his head, looking down. She’s breaking up with. He heard you struggle to keep yourself from sobbing and looked back up.

He wasn’t just gonna let you break up with him. He grabbed both of your hands and pulled you towards him, now your teary eyes were forced to meet his. “Darling, whatever dumb thing I did, I love you too much to have done it on purpose, so please just talk to me.” You narrow your eyes at him, confused by what he was saying. You sniffle and he wraps an arm around your head pulling towards him, forcing you to rest on his shoulder for a moment. “Please, don’t break up with me.” Your boyfriend whispers, before placing a soft kiss on your temple. You pull away and look at him. “I don’t want to break up with you, you’re the one that’s done with our relationship.” Enzo’s eyes widen and his mouth drops a bit. “Wha- why? Why would you say something so ridiculous!” He sounds almost angry with you for suggesting something so outrageous. 

You frown and bite back. “Don’t play dumb, Berkshire! I heard you last night at the astronomy tower talking to all your friends and Pansy, who’s my friend by the way, about how I wasn’t going to be your girlfriend for long anymore. Hah!” You point at him, thinking you’ve cornered him, figured out all his lies, but he doesn’t look impressed at all. “Oh right, right… but tell me, darling, if I’m planning on breaking up with you then… uhm, why did I spend a ridiculous amount of money on an engagement ring?” With one swift move he presents you a small velvet ring box and judges you, before quickly tucking it back into his pocket. Your mouth just hangs agape as you watch him put the ring box away. “Miss I-have-it-all-figured-out, do you have any other crazy assumptions? Maybe you think I bought that for one of my other girlfriends-” You give him a soft push and he smiles at your flustered face.

“Break up with you? Have you lost it? Gods, I’m marrying an idiot.” Lorenzo laughs and pulls you onto his lap. You’re still trying to wrap your head around the fact that Enzo bought an engagement ring. “Marrying an idiot? Enz, I haven’t said yes.” You say, attempting to sound composed and he grins at you. “That’s because you haven’t seen the ring, yet.” You snake an arm around his neck. “So show me.” You brush your nose against his and he smirks, happy that you're eager to see the ring and say yes. Enzo steals a tender kiss from you before moving his lips to your ear. “I don’t think so.” You look at him with curious eyes and he explains himself. “I have this whole thing planned and it’s already bad enough that you know I’m going to propose. I don’t need you knowing about anything else I have in store for you.” Merlin, I love him. Desperately your lips crash into his, passionately kissing your future husband as he holds you tight.

Tom

He studies you from afar as you focus on your journal. He adores your elegant figure, small against the great whomping willow. He approaches you with a featherlight step and you don’t notice him until he speaks up with a serious tone. “You had me worried. Disappearing for a whole day.” Your heart jumps as his sudden presence startles you and you quickly close your journal. When you look up he notices your exhausted eyes and crouches down to your level. His fingers brushing your jawline before grabbing a hold of your chin as you try to turn away from him. With a firm grip he forces you to meet his eyes. “Have you been crying, dear?” Your eyes go dead at his question. “Don’t pretend to care. I know you’re breaking up with me.”

Your voice is cold and your words catch him off guard, dropping his hand and studying your face. “When we talked about traveling the world, I thought it was going to be you and me. Searching for the boundaries of magic, you and me… always.” His face goes cold as tears visually well up in your eyes. “I can’t believe you’re breaking up with me. I don’t understand. I thought we were happy.” Now you can no longer hold your tears back, instantly your hands cover your face and Tom grits his teeth at the sound of your sobbing. “Enough.” He says sternly, grabbing your hands and making you look at him. “I don’t know what’s gotten into your silly little head, but I’m not breaking up with you, not now, not ever!” 

He can spot a glimmer of hope in your eyes at his words and he sighs. “Quite to the contrary, actually. I’m planning on spending the rest of my life with you and I want to make it official.” You swallow and shake your head a little as you remember last night's words. “But- but I heard you talk yesterday evening… you said I wasn’t going to be your girlfriend forever.” Tom’s lips form a line and he cups your face, thumbs brushing over the stains of your tears. “You should know better than to eavesdrop. You missed out on a bit of context.” Your eyebrows knit together. “You’re not breaking up with me?” With a soft smile he shakes no. “I missed out on the context?” Tom nods and you feel yourself relax. “Okay.” You whisper and you lean towards Tom so he can embrace you. With your head pressed against his chest you wonder. “I don’t get it, what context?” Tom smiles to himself. “You’ll find out soon enough.” He pulls away a little so he can place a tender kiss on your soft lips. I can’t believe she almost found out about the proposal. If she had seen the ring last night the surprise would’ve been ruined. 

Theodore

You were trying to focus on the book in your hands, but you had to reread every sentence twice, because your mind kept going to Theodore’s words. Frustrated with your incapacity to read, you sigh and look around taking in your surroundings, it’s then that you spot Theo slowly walking in your direction. “Here it goes.” You mutter to yourself as you mentally prepare yourself for a painful break up. “Where have you been all day?” Theo asks, noticing you looking at him. You shrug, not in the mood for small talk. “Here.” You say dryly and Theodore’s tongue darts around in his mouth as he tries to figure out what’s going on. “Why did you ignore my note?” You look away from him. Can’t he just cut to the chase. 

Again you shrug, eyes still staring into the distance. Theodore raises his eyebrows, a little annoyed by your attitude. “Okay, princess. I’ll play.” He goes to sit opposite of you, giving you all his attention, but you snap your head towards him at his words. “You are unbelievable, Theodore Nott!” Your loud voice makes Theo clench his jaw. “Right back at ya, sweetie.” He’s annoyed, but he tries to stay calm, seeing how upset you are. “Don’t ‘sweetie’ me, Nott.” You snare. “I know you’re here to break up with me. I heard you talking at the astronomy tower last night. I know about your big plans that don’t involve a girlfriend. So you can scurry off now. I’ll be fine.” Theo opens his mouth before closing it again and chuckling softly. You frown. “This isn’t funny.” You say, clearly hurt by his lack of emotion. You reach for your book to hit it against his arm, but your boyfriend ceases the opportunity to grab your wrist and pull you closer to him, much to your dislike. 

“It’s funny, trust me.” He whispers, chuckling as he closes the space between you two. “I’m not gonna scurry off, princess, and I’m not breaking up with your dumb ass.” You try to pull your wrist free. “I heard you say-” Theo snakes an arm around your waist to keep you close, before interrupting you. “You heard what exactly?” You fall silent and look up at him with watery eyes. “Because I’m not breaking up with you, I love you a little too much and I’ve invested a bit too much money in an engagement ring. So you and I, we’re not breaking up any time soon.” The sadness in your eyes is replaced by surprise. “Engagement ring?” You whisper barely audible and Theo nods softly, eyes focused on yours. “So did you maybe hear me say something like : she’s not going to be my girlfriend for long?” He leans closer to you, eyes moving between your lips and your eyes. “Because you’re not going to be my girlfriend for long, since you’ll be my fiance soon and then-” Your lips crash on his and his hand moves to your head as he kisses you back passionately. “I’m an idiot.” You whisper between kisses, only making him kiss you harder. “Yeah, you are. You’re lucky you’re cute.” You frown and he chuckles. “I love you.” 

Draco

With closed eyes you enjoy the sounds of nature around you. “Hey!” You recognize your boyfriend’s voice and turn to see him walk up to you with his usual flair, though carefully watching the whomping willow afraid of what it might do. You turn away from him, not ready to face him after hearing him talk about breaking up with you last night. “What’s got you hiding out here?” He watches you with crossed arms and you chew your lip, fingers playing with the grass by your side. You were rarely this distance and he gets more worried. He decides to sit down next to you. “If something’s wrong you can tell me.” You’re surprised by the softness of his voice and turn to him. His heart breaks a little when he notices your puffy eyes, but he stays quiet, waiting for you to tell him what’s going on.

“I feel stupid, Draco.” You confess and he frowns at you, before you continue. “I- I just thought that when we lay in bed discussing the interior of our mansion that- I guess I believed that you really wanted that. You really had me believing you wanted that future with me.” Your boyfriend’s face goes paler than it usually is, but you don’t notice the horror in his eyes. “I respect your choice and I won’t make any drama, but I want you to know that I really wanted that… a future for just the two of us.” With those words you get up, feeling tears well up. “What?” Draco almost yells as he instantly gets up after you. “You can’t break up with me.” He grabs your hand and you look at him, confused at his words. “I’m not breaking up with you, you are breaking up with me.” Your explanation almost hurts Draco’s brain as he tries to make sense of what you’re saying. “No. No. Why would I break up with you?”

You press your lips into a line as you now notice how utterly confused he is. Your eyes rest on his hand holding onto yours, he didn’t want you to go anywhere. You look up at him, frowning. “But I heard you… last night… you said that- that I wasn’t going to be your girlfriend forever. Pansy asked if you were sure and you said yes. I clearly heard you say that.” Draco seems to relax at your words and a soft smile creeps up his lips. “Oh, love.” He lets go of your hand, before taking a step closer so there’s only an inch between you two and slings his arms around you, hugging you as he softly chuckles. “I’m not breaking up with you.” The calmness in his voice convinces you of his sincerity and you feel all the pain and tension leave your heart, making you blink away soft tears of joy.

You enjoy his warmth and hug him back, but after a moment your mind goes back to last night. “But then, what were you talking about?” You move away from him as you feel a bit of doubt make its way back to your heart. Draco tucks a strand of hair behind your ear and adores you with the sweetest smile on his lips. “You won’t be my girlfriend for long because I intend on marrying you.” Your eyes widen and you feel the purest form of happiness rush through you. “Marry me?” You whisper in surprise, not really believing what you had just heard. “Yes and I’m sure of it.” An intense blush forms on your cheeks and your eyes get sparkly as a soft laugh of joy leaves your lips. “I love you, Draco Malfoy.” He kisses tenderly, before locking his eyes with your and wiggling his eyebrows. “I love you too, future Mrs Malfoy.” You laugh and bite your lip. “I like that.” Draco pulls you closer, happy to hear your approval. You break a passionate kiss when your mind starts wondering again. “When are you asking?” You ask with a cheeky smile and Draco scoffs at your question. “I’m not telling. It’s already bad enough you know that I’m gonna ask.” 

[miistersunshin3]

HIHI no clue if your requests r open but OMG I LOVED UR SAL X MEANGIRL!READER SMM 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️ IS THERE A CHANCE WE CLD GET MOREE? 🫶🫶 🍰

Star struck pt. 2 ☆

Sal Fisher x meangirl!reader

a/n : part two yippeeee!! And yes my request are open so feel free to send more *\(^o^)/*

Enjoy!

-...he just couldn't keep staring as you slowly walked away, your hair swaying perfectly with each and every step, did you really just say that to him? it couldn't be, right? he must be dreaming

"sal, dude.. Sal! cmon bro we're gonna be late again, lets go" Larry said slightly annoyed, not having quite witnessed what just happened a few seconds ago.

Sal, having finally just snapped out of the trance you put him in, turned back around to face him and then coming at him with a little sarcastic

"pfft as if you care, weren't you the one that skipped first period today?"

"yeah yeah, lets just go now"

-needless to say you had that boy Star Struck (hihi see what I did there ^_−☆)

-even in the afternoon when the group hung out together, he just couldn't get his mind off of you and that stupid thing you said. Yet he was too nervous to tell his friends, knowing they were opposed to the idea of him liking.

-his friends, of course noticed his behavior, but decided to not comment on it thinking it was probably just him getting into his own head again.

.............................................................………………………

-at night, when everyone was fast asleep, he still caught himself thinking about you. you. you. you. and bless his poor soul, he just couldn't stop.

-with his mask off and his face in his pillow curling up in his bed, the duvet softly covering his body and hair falling freely, he couldn't help but wonder about your reaction to him without the mask. his face, his scarred broken then patched together again face, as he not so much liked to think about it.

-and god you were right, he's just so pathetic: laying in his bed thinking of you while a tear slowly makes its way down the less scarred side of his face. you and your friends make fun of him every day and yet he still feels so deeply connected to you, wanting you to hold him, to love him.

-once he does fall asleep, you even manage to follow him in his dreams: laying side by side together on his bed, with your arms around him and his head on your chest, he didn't have that uncomfortable border between the two of you, just his bare face touching the soft fabric of your shirt. your soft voice in his ears "you know Sal, for me you are truly the prettiest thing" it was like heaven...

-friday, the ninth of august, 06:45. is what the alarm clock read as he softly stirred awake despite not wanting to wake up from his dream. finally after so many nights of restless sleep, he had an actually dream, not one of those nightmares people would also only describe as dreams.

...................................................................…………………

-between periods, as Sal and Ash were making their way to art class, one of the few classes they share, they hear slight laughter and rambling behind them, knowing who it is by the obvious smell of perfume you always use. god it made him crazy.

-his thoughts were quickly disrupted by an obnoxious voice

"hey, you. yeah I'm talking to you blue hair and pigtails, you enjoy being a walking joke?" one of your friends snared.

"no wonder you only hang out with other weirdos, how about you all go back to the freak show your supposed to run?" another one joked making you laugh harder than you should have.

"oh yeah, you'd be the main attraction" you cockily say as you walk past him still smiling.

"fuckin' weirdos" the first one say as she purposefully bumps into Ashley while walking by.

-gosh why did you have to be so mean... and beautiful at the same time

....................................................................…………………

-its not that you hated Sal.. you didn't even dislike him. its just that... he's just so fun to mess with, I mean cmon he's the perfect target, mask and everything. you still weren't quite fond of his friends tho, but they were also okay.

-you did feel bad sometimes after saying something to him, even if he wouldn't react, your first thought with him was always 'did I take it to far now?' which was weird since you've never thought that when you'd do the same things with other people.

-but the sight you were going to witness in a few minutes was unbelievable to you..

..................................................................……………………

-this was truly the worst thing that could happen to him, he was defenseless. so vulnerable, so miserable, so pathetic.

-two of your male 'friends' had caught him alone in one of the storage rooms of the art classroom and decided they wanted to find out what lies under that mask of his.

-with one of them trying to take his prosthetic off and the other holding his hands so he couldn't defend himself even if he tried, he was done for... or so he thought.

-the creek of the door halted their movement only to reveal you, looking as beautiful as ever yet you had a bewildered looking on your face from seeing the scene in front of you.

"what the fuck do you think you're doing?" you say as you look the one wanting to take his mask in the eyes.

"oh cmon, we were just having some fun here, no need to ruin it" the other one spits.

"this is what you call fun? that's pretty sad if you ask me, I mean I get the verbal stuff but don't you think this is a bit too much?" you snap back.

"why the fuck are you defending him right now? he's fucking pathetic look at him" "and...? you know what I think, I think you're being just as if not more pathetic than he is right now, you are nothing (friends names), without me most people in this school probably wouldn't know you so shut it. and don't you dare tell anyone what happened here" you snarl.

"oh and what if we do tell, what are you gonna do, huh? tell your mommy? or the principal?" your other friend says in a fake whiny tone.

"I know what you did to that girl, you know she really did love you so much (friend name 1) it would be a shame if everyone knew that you're a lying cheating skank and not that you guys just broke up normally and oh (friend name 2) I didn't know you had room to talk when literally all you do is hook up with Mrs. Miller every Friday, do you wanna get kicked out of school, I don't think so. and trust me, once I confirm the rumors its over for you"

“You’re no fun” one of them says as they leave.

- silence. pure silence and you decide to break it.

“You okay?” You ask in a genuine tone. He takes a moment to reply speaking with a stutter “yeah, all good”

“Don’t worry I didn’t see anything” referring to his face, you cross your arms and lean against the door frame, he looks down at the ground in shame, his hands slightly shaking.

"do I make you nervous Sal?" you ask teasingly and after that you chuckle slightly as he's frozen in place "its okay, I get it"

a few moments pass when he finally has the courage to look at you again, god why was he like this when he was around you. "you owe me, big time" "yeah" he finally answers "what do you need?" he asks in a slightly nervous voice, he cannot talk to girls for the life of him (look at his first encounter with Ash in the game (=´∀｀))

you start to think, what do you need..? he then speaks again "I'll get you anything you want" nervousness still ringing in his voice "woah, don't get to ahead of yourself weirdo" you tease.

as you slowly leave the room you say "I'll think of something, sweetheart" you send him a quick smile while leaving and not to forget that wink you shot him once before.

-meanwhile he thinks he’s died because of that nickname, but don’t worry your smile brought him back to life, you just really know how to make his heart flutter. ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

..................................................................……………………

a/n : I hope you guys enjoyed(≧∀≦) if you have any wishes feel free to send me requests!! (P.s I love bullying Sal hihi)

[blitzwhore]

Stolitz, and their fear of rejection and sense of worthlessness turning into a self-fulfilled prophecy.

Blitz—

Does anybody love you, Blitzo? / No.

Eventually everyone goes...

Stolas only cares about having a rugged peasant raw-dog him into his mattress. It's nothing... You know. It's nothing else.

I'm going to die alone, aren't I? Just a wrinkly, old, withered waste.

Royal demons don't give a shit about guys like us. They're all the fucking same.

Stolas, don't act like what we have is anything but you wanting me to fuck you. You make that really clear all the time.

But you don't want to do things alone, Blitzo.

I mean, Stolas is just a loud, thirsty bitch who loves feeling the thrill of being dicked by the lower class. It's a novelty to him.

And then he'll call me and try to see how my day was, and he'll pretend to care about me, and comment on my photos, and laugh at my jokes... /Oh well that's definitely your clue right there that it's all bullshit / I know, right?!

It's all my fault. I'd hate me too. I mean, I do hate—

You're going to die alone. You're gonna die alone, Blitzo.

[My worst fear has come true. He couldn't possibly want me. This has to be a joke. He's selfish and an asshole, just like the rest of them. He's trying to get rid of me; that's the only explanation. I'm just a broken toy he's finally gotten bored of, just like I knew would happen. He won't even fight for me, and why would he? I could never be good enough for him. It's happening again. I'm being abandoned by someone I care about. I really am going to die alone.]

Stolas—

Would he want me if he was free? And if he's only here as a prisoner, what kind of monster does that make me?

I mite b bsuy / I wouldn't want to bother you!

You see... I seem to have found myself with, um. Feelings for him. And I'm not sure if it's a mutual thing.

Dearest, I know better now, I must give you this choice.

I'll save us both before we grow cold.

What's between you and I? Just a comfortable lie.

I'm sorry it's a bad time yet again, Blitzy...

He deserves the choice to stay or go.

So I'll grant you this mercy, this bind on our souls needs to end...

Next time you come over, maybe we can talk about what happened at Ozzie's? / Y? / I'm sorry! Nevermind, it's not a big deal.

What's left for me and my broken heart if I cannot have you? Unless it's me, and no matter what in this world I could give, it's not enough to get through the walls you've conjured up to live...

I'll believe him, and not the voice that says I'm not enough.

I'll fucking die alone if this goes bad!

[My worst fear has come true. I truly am not worthy of being loved. He's rejecting me— no, mocking me for even thinking he could ever want to be with me if he didn't need my book. I've been taking advantage of him all this time, all the while believing we had something real and being naive enough to think he could love me back. I am a monster. And now that he can, he has chosen to leave me. So now the least I can do is quietly let him—the only person I have ever wanted and felt alive with—go. I really am going to die alone.]

[aritsukemo]

Chihiro and Kokichi with a crush on someone who acts like Kyoko Kirigiri

Warnings: Major spoilers to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony! You have been warned!

A/N: Been rewatching playthroughs of the games while I was sick and got the itch to write something! There was so much more I wanted to do with Chihiro's part, but kind of backed myself into a corner when I decided to write this taking place during the killing game. No worries though, I plan to write a bunch more Chihiro x reader content in the future! ( Can you tell I love Chihiro? Lmao- )

↪ Off rip, Chihiro was very intimidated by you. Your stone cold exterior and the general vibe you gave off was kinda scary to him.

↪ He didn't talk to you at all during the first couple of days, simply watching and observing you whenever you made your presence known/whenever you spoke.

↪ During the first class trial, you absolutely owned it. You constantly kept everyone on track and gave them clues to help them figure out the mystery themselves and diverted them from anything that led them to the incorrect truth. You helped everyone crack the case without flat out giving them the answers and he found that really cool of you.

↪ When Leon's execution came, Chihiro felt a swarm of negative emotions to the point he couldn't contain his tears. It was terrible, all of it was. Even if Leon killed Sayaka and even though Sayaka attempted to muder Leon, he couldn't help but feel bad for the both of them..

↪ That following day or two, he was in a rather gloomy mood. Everyone was. After the events of what happened, he couldn't really stomach much food. It was a small thing and Chihiro thought no one had cared to notice his lack of appetite, but he was surprised that someone did; you did. One morning, he was presented with a large portion of a simple meal by none other than the stone cold mystery themselves.

↪ "Eat it if you'd like. If you don't trust it, that's fine too," Was all you said to him, but it made his heart do a backflip regardless. He didn't understand it, but the scene kept playing in his mind the rest of the morning which kept him red in the face the entire time..

↪ After that, Chihiro started observing you even more and he started picking up on the small things about you. How, although most of the others misinterpret your intentions, you truly don't mean harm to anyone and just want to find the way out like everyone else. You're actually really sweet but your tight-lipped and mysterious nature just throws everyone in the wrong direction, he thinks.

↪ The more he watched you and the more he interacted with you, ( although interactions with you didn't happen often ) the more his heart fluttered until it eventually evolved into something bigger. At first, he thought what he was feeling for you was simply admiration until one of the others pointed it out to him one day. The way he speaks about you with such passion, the way he sometimes stares at you like a puppy wanting attention, the amount of times he's caught staring at you.. To them, it was painfully obvious that he was crushing on you!

↪ Even with the knowledge of his crush on you, Chihiro made no attempt to act on it. For one, you two are in a killing game and you're probably way more worried about figuring out the mastermind and getting out of here than getting a partner and two, he was too embarrassed to. The last thing he wanted was for you to laugh or berate or be disgusted by him for pretending to be a girl because of how weak and sensitive he was.. ( The last thing he wants is to confess under the rouse of a girl anyway. )

↪ This ( along with the embarrassing secret motive ) ultimately boosted his motivation to achieve his goal; to get stronger. Once he's strong enough to protect you and his friends from any danger, then he'll tell you how he feels!

↪ He was determined, and unfortunately, that determination ultimately led to his untimely demise. It was ironic, especially with that conversation you had with him that afternoon prior..

↪ "I've decided! I have no other choice but to get stronger. I'll try my hardest and..! And when I do, I would like to talk to you about something very important, okay?" He had told you, eyes burning with uncharacteristic fire. It was..certainly a look for him. ( One that may or may not have made your heart do a few tricks without your permission.. ) And you remembered briefly mutter something to him about staying safe and not overdoing it..

↪ If only you had offered to join him. Maybe things would've went differently..

↪ Huh, how odd. It's not like you to be sentimental like this. Actually, as of late, a lot of things you've been doing have been out of character for you.. Honestly, what has gotten into you lately?

↪ Well, there's no time to dawdle on it right now. You have to seek justice for Chihiro. With the clues you've gathered, you already have a sneaking suspicion of who the culprit is..

↪ You immediately spiked Kokichi's interest. The fact that you didn't give him any information about yourself intrigued him. It was as if you had something to hide..

↪ When it came out that everyone would be participating in a killing game, Kokichi was surprised by how well you kept it together. Unlike everyone else who were in denial, you wholeheartedly believed the kubs and kept a levelhead about the whole ordeal. It was as if it didn't affect you at all..

↪ "You seem oddly calm about this. Don't tell me you're actually some psycho and was waiting on something like this." He said to you only to get silence in return as you outright ignored him.

↪ For the first day or two he observed you, but he quickly decided to take a more upfront approach and was all in your face. He was always trying to poke and prod and tease information out of you, but you never caved. He couldn't get under your skin at all.

↪ But he did, at least, get your name.

↪ When the first murder finally happened, you again, didn't panic. While everyone else were screaming their heads off, you talked to Monokuma, verifying things about the upcoming class trial before immediately starting your investigation.

↪ When the trial came about, you kept calm. As if you had done this a million times, you helped guide everyone. You gave hints and helped paint a clear picture of what happened. When everyone began to deny the truth, you, along with Kaede, helped everyone come to grips with reality.

↪ And then, when the killer was executed, you didn't freak out. He also noticed you saying something to Shuichi before swiftly leaving to go god knows where.

↪ And just like that his interest in you hit it's peak.

↪ He began speculating. What could you possibly be hiding? Why are you the way you are? How many times has something like this happened to you? Do you hold the key of getting out of here?

↪ Could you be the mastermind behind this? It's definitely a possibility..

↪ After the trial, Kokichi officially set his sights on you. He began to bug you even more.

↪ He would drag you around places and rope you into his shenanigans. To everyone else, it may have just looked like Kokichi was just doing it for the fun of it or to annoy you, but in actuality, he was doing it in an attempt to get a feel for your personality. He wanted to know what made you tick and what didn't. But alas, you were harder to crack than he expected.

↪ So, he began stalking you.

↪ Everytime you distanced yourself from the others and disappeared for long periods of time, he would try to follow after you, however..

↪ "Kokichi. I know you're there."

↪ ..he never got far before he was found out.

↪ Then the second murder rolled around and the cycle repeated. The body discovery announcement played, you gave no reaction to it, disappeared to start your own investigation, and carried the class trial.

↪ After the trial and execution, ( and after you saved his butt from Maki's wrath after he exposed a certain secret of hers ) he approached you with the supposed intention of wanting to be your friend. ( Although he worded it more as him wanting you to be his sidekick ) He didn't give you ang room to deny his friendship and before you knew it, he was shamelessly latched to you like some annoying pest.

↪ Almost everywhere you went, he attempted to tag along. Of course, if you were going on one of your little side investigations, you gave him the slip and he wouldn't be able to find you for a while.

↪ Other than that, you humored him. He talks your ear off and the conversations between you two are more or less one sided but he can tell you're listening to every little word he said and didn't mind his presence. Although he doesn't know much about you, he's gotten to know you enough to know that when you don't want to talk to someone, you'll make it very clear to them that you don't want to talk to them.

↪ And then something most bewildering happened. Shuichi gave you a gift.

↪ "How did you know I liked this?" Kokichi heard you say before you accepted the gift, "Uh..lucky guess? I honestly had no idea. It just seemed like something you'd like." He heard him say..

↪ "I see.. Well, thank you."

↪ Like the stalker he is, he watched the whole interaction and to Kokichi's surprise, he felt..odd watching you two interact. Although it wasn't the most intense feeling, it certainly wasn't a pleasant one..

↪ Anyways, the third murder rolls around and shortly after it happened, he stepped on a faulty floor board and..yeah y'all know what happened to him.

↪ When you and Shuichi found him, he was laid out on the floor and bleeding profusely from the head. Shuichi was startled at first, thinking he was dead, but upon him sitting up, the detective slowly stopped caring.

↪ Chuckling to himself, ( and feeling the very, very strong urge to vomit ) Kokichi stumbled to his feet. However, as soon as he did, you grabbed him by the arm..

↪ "You shouldn't move around so much. You likely have a concussion."

↪ "What..are you talking about? I'm..fine! Just..eheh.. Just peachy.." Another obvious lie. Honestly, what does he expect to gain from acting like this?

↪ After he let that ridiculous statement tumble from his lips, you forced him onto your back with ease. ( As expected, he's very light ) After telling Shuichi to continue his investigation, you left with Kokichi riding on your back.

↪ "Heyyyy, where are we going.. Do you plan to..to take me out while I'm like this..how..cruel, nishi..hi..heh.."

↪ You ended up taking him all the way back to your dorm because you remembered that you had some medical supplies lying around that you found while out on one of your side investigations. They weren't the best, but it was enough to make sure Kokichi wouldn't bleed out and die.

↪ With quick and kinda rough movements, you bandages up his head and the entire time you were supposed to spend investigating ended being spent in your room. After you finished bandaging his head, you dimmed the lights and applied a makeshift cold compress ( which you made by stuffing some ice in a bag and wrapping the bag in a thin towel ) to his head.

↪ Your eyes were completely on him the entire time and something about that made the displeasing feeling he felt before swell into something lighter and fluffier in his chest and around his heart. He didn't know what it was, but he's certain that he loved hated the feeling with a passion and hoped to never feel it again. Oh the lies he tells even himself

↪ The trial rolls around, and although you were kind of in the backseat for some time, you still managed to crack the case wide open. Well, with some help from Shuichi that is.

↪ Speaking of which, after the trial and execution, Kokichi began to notice the most bewildering thing; little Shuichi was getting oddly close to you.

↪ Like, a day or two after the trial, he saw you outside with Shuichi, Maki, and Kaito. You seemed to be working out with them but he took note of how you seemed the most responsive with Shuichi.

↪ An uncomfortable feeling bubbled in his chest, but even so, Kokichi, who had begun to slowly come to grips and realize his attraction towards you, pretended like he was fine. So what if you're hanging out with Shuichi? Lately, the detective has started to peak his interest and he plans to befriend him just like he did with you. Once he achieves that, he'll have you back and he'll have Shuichi to himself too!

↪ But alas, things didn't go as planned. Shuichi, untrusting of him, didn't want to be his friend. How sad..

↪ But he's not one to give up so easily. He'll find a way to rope him into this little game of his..one way or another.

↪ Fourth trial comes and the truth is revealed that Kokichi had a part in Miu's murder. Upon revealing the truth to everyone and completely ruining all the fun of the mystery, you seemed to be the one person to initially believe him. ( Although he noticed you seemed uncharacteristically bothered about the whole ordeal )

↪ Then Shuichi helped you further reveal what happened, forcing everyone to believe what really happened was the truth and that Gonta was the blackened. ( Gosh, it was agitating how in sync you two were )

↪ After the trial ended, things escalated. Kaito and Kokichi got into it and Kaito ended up lunging at Kokichi. However, it seemed the ultimate supreme leader was stronger than he let on ( or maybe something else is at play here.. ) and he ended up throwing his own punch which sent Kaito flying to the ground.

↪ That's when the others finally intervened.

↪ Shuichi, angered by everything that had happened, screamed at Kokichi. He yelled and fussed about how he was horrible and had no friends and how he had no one to turn to because he was horrible and blah blah blah.

↪ Kokichi didn't care much for his speech, ( it was nothing he hasn't been told already ) but his eyes seemed to drift to you. Unlike everyone else, you hadn't jumped to Kaito's defense nor were you screaming at him. In fact, you just stood in the back, watching with that iron expression of yours. How..like you..it was to do that, he thought.

↪ When he left, you followed after him.

↪ "That was quite the show you put on back there. Tell me, Kokichi. What are you planning?" You had asked him.

↪ "Heh, wellll since it's you I feel the sudden urge to spill everything, nishi~! ..Hm, fine then. I'll tell you for a kiss right here on the cheek, nishishishi~!" And then he saw it. For only a split second, he saw the surprise flash across your face. He saw your brows twitch and your eyes widen. He saw your cheeks flush.

↪ He finally saw you truly caught off guard and it was the cutest thing he's ever been able to witness. It's disgusting how much he's grown to like you, he thought. Not really.

↪ You didn't see him for a few days after the trial. You had no idea where he went, but you didn't bother wasting your time searching for him. Not that you could, with Kaito breathing down your neck wanting you to hang out with him, Shuichi, and Maki, you never found the reason or necessary time to go and look for him. ( But for some odd reason, you couldn't stop thinking about him. )

↪ And then he showed his face at last and when he did, he had weapons in tow.

↪ He claimed that he wanted to help end the killing game but of course no one believed him. Maki, who was at her wits end with the male, jumped to attack him and you, of course, jumped to his rescue.

↪ "Why do you always protect him? Are you two working together?" She questioned, her fiery crimson hues staring into you like sharpened blades.

↪ "..." Your silence gave nothing away as you stared back at her with your own icy gaze, gripping her by the arm as you awaited for her to release Kokichi.

↪ She let him go eventually.

↪ Kokichi then went on to explain what the weapons he persuaded Miu to make did ( the "electrohammers" as he put it ) before saying he'll no longer intervene with the others and their plans and leaving.

↪ And without a second thought, you followed after him which automatically labeled you a traitor in certain peoples' eyes. ( Cough cough Maki and Himiko cough cough )

↪ Alas, you quickly lost sight of him despite your tailing. But you couldn't give up now. He knows something and you're determined to find out what that something was.

↪ But all your efforts got you nowhere. You looked everywhere but couldn't find him, however when you finally reconvened with the others they all seemed oddly..depressed about something.

↪ You questioned each of them but only Shuichi would explain what happened while you were gone. Apparently, they used the electrohammers to cross that Death Road and found a large hatch that led outside. They got it opened but what they saw was simply despair-inducing..

↪ Everything was destroyed, there wasn't even air to breath out there. To put it simply, it was the end of the world.

↪ And the supposed mastermind behind the killing game had finally shown themselves and it was none other than the Ultimate Supreme Leader himself; Kokichi Ouma.

↪ But the whole story seemed..odd to you. Something about it simply didn't sit right ( especially with the evidence you had gathered while secretly investigating this place ) and in the end you incurred that at least some part of what went down was a lie. ( And you had a sneaking suspicion of which part it was )

↪ You ended up disappearing after that to do some more investigating. You spent the entire evening, night, and following morning digging up what you could. It was a shame it was cut short in one of the worst ways possible..

↪ "A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time that you can spend however you'd like, the class trial will begin!" You certainly wasn't expecting that. And at a time like this..

↪ You make it to the crime scene soon after that and waste no time investigating. Everyone is certain that Kaito was the one who was murdered, but until you gather the clues and come to a collective verdict at the class trial, nothing is certain. ( Although, there's this sense of dread that's beginning to bubble at the pit of your stomach. You're hoping—praying—that it's not because of what you think it is.. )

↪ And then the class trial comes and for the first time, you were uncertain. You had a possibility or two, but with the clues presented, you weren't sure of anything..

↪ And after a long time of going back forth and around in circles, Kokichi's plan was finally revealed. His true goal was to end the killing game by making an unsolvable case where you aren't able to figure out who was murdered and who was the culprit.

↪ But then new evidence came about. Maki's confession and the video tape along with Shuichi's deductions helped you make a vital connection and that connection helped crack the entire case wide open. ( Because of you, Kokichi's final efforts were in vain.. )

↪ After the trial, no one was happy. I mean, how could they be? The blackened was Kaito. Aside from that, for some reason, you just seemed a little too upset. Something about the entire situation, about Kokichi's entire plan to kill himself for the chance to end this killing game, to stop the suffering, it made your heart sting. It effected you more than you would've liked and Kaito seemed to notice that.

↪ "I know you really liked him, Y/n," He told you, "He really liked you too. He never outright admitted it, but I could tell.. He wouldn't stop talking about ya'! Even..even in his final moments.."

↪ Was that supposed to make you feel better? Because it didn't. All it did was make things worse. You wish he would've just kept that to himself. Kokichi was thinking of you until the very end? What was the point of putting that painful thought into your head? It was unnecessary.

↪ And so, as soon as Kaito's execution was over. You fled the scene, silently but hurriedly. You knew why, but you didn't want to accept it. To accept that you left in such a rush because you couldn't keep your emotions in check..

↪ Ugh, that damn Kokichi! Could he have been anymore selfish? Forcing his way into your life, making you feel such wonderful inconvenient emotions, only to snatch all of it away and leaving you with the miserable feeling of anguish..

↪ He was truly the worst, you thought.

Dividers were made by me, pictures used are from Pinterest, post formatting is inspired by @xxsabitoxx

[bunnycvnts]

Request for John b: reader finds out she is pregnant and is scared to tell John b because they are still teenagers.

pairing: john b x reader

warnings: teen pregnancy. one mention of throwing up. i think that’s it.

tears filled your eyes and your hands shook, the positive pregnancy test trembling in your tight grip. you couldn’t believe it, you’d done everything imaginable to practice safe sex. from condoms, birth control, and even a few plan b’s. the bathroom felt colder than it had three minutes ago, and goosebumps rose on your smooth skin.

standing in the mirror, you pushed your belly out, trying to imagine what it’d look like when it was swollen—you and john b’s child growing inside you. you loved him, truly, but you guys weren’t ready for a child. hell, you were still children yourselves. both sixteen and living life carefree, only focused on getting the gold, careers and education be damned.

you wiped at your eyes and cheeks, trying to clean them from the spilled tears, and called the only person you could think of. pope.

pope was your best friend, having grown up next door to each other and being in various classes together throughout your educational lives. his family was yours, and vice versa. he even introduced you to john b. the rest was kind of history.

when pope arrived, slightly panicked from your cryptic call, he found you still sitting on the bathroom floor, your back leaning onto the cold tub. his eyes shot around the room, trying to make sense of your watery eyes and distressed breathing. it didn’t take long for him to narrow in on the small test lying on the sink. you watched as he surveyed the situation, and knew when his eyes practically popped out of his skull that he had noticed it.

“pope, what do i do?” your tone was meek, like a small child who was scared to get yelled at.

pope’s mouth opened and shut, searching for the right words.

“you have to tell him.”

this only made you sob harder. you were horrified of telling john b. he was so close to finding the gold, and you didn’t want to ruin that for him. he was more and more hopeful every day, and you just knew that he’d be disappointed in what was now forming inside your womb.

pope sank against the tub, wrapping his arm around your shoulders to pull you into his side.

“hey, it’s gonna be fine, we’ll figure this out. we always do. i mean, a baby isn’t ideal but statistically, it was probably bound to happen. teen pregnancy is far more common than you think.” pope rambling off statistics made you let out a small chuckle, which prompted a smile from the boy.

“i promise, we got this. the first step is telling him.”

you nodded at your best friend, his figure bleary from your watery eyes, but you knew his gaze held nothing but kindness. you talked for the next hour, going over possible scenarios of telling john b, both of you still lying against the uncomfortable bend of the tub.

by the next day, you were ready to tell john b. you’d driven to the chateau, making sure he’d be home beforehand, and that jj or any other pogues were long gone. when you raised your fist to knock on the wooden door, he surprised you by swinging it open before your knuckles made contact.

“are you like … breaking up with me?” a frown sat on your boyfriends lips, hesitation clear in his eyes. a small gasp left your mouth, and you shook your head ‘no’. you pushed past him, dragging him inside the home, and sat on the couch while he sat next to you, a larger distance than normal placed between you.

“i have to tell you something, and you have to promise you won’t freak out or end things or whatever. okay?” your hands shook nervously as you picked at your cuticles, which were now torn apart from the anxiety consuming you the night before.

“i promise. just tell me.” john b was on the edge of his seat, and worry laced his tone. he had no clue what his girlfriend was about to tell him, but her words scared him slightly.

“so, i don’t know what happened, or why it happened. i don’t know, john b. but i started getting sick like a week ago, and im so tired lately. then, i missed my period. and, well, i got worried and took a test and im pregnant.” tears filled your eyes, and you chewed on your lower lip harshly, scared to meet his eyes as he let the information sink in. after lingering silence, you looked up at him and were surprised to find him grinning at the floor. you sat in the quiet for a bit longer before he decided to speak.

“so, i’m gonna be a dad?” you could hear the excitement in his voice, furrowing your eyebrows at him. you nodded lightly, overall confused by his reaction. you’d thought he’d cry, vomit or even throw something, but grinning? that was never on your list.

your thoughts were cut off by john b picking you up and swinging you around, laughing excitedly.

“baby, we’re gonna be parents! little pogues running around ‘n shit! jayj is gonna fuckin’ flip!” his laughter echoed in your eyes and you cried harder, laughing softly as he spun you around. he stopped abruptly and grabbed your cheeks to hold them in both of his large hands, the size of which encompassed the entire sides of your face.

“no, what? what’s wrong, love? why are you crying?” his thumbs reached out to wipe away your fallen tears. your bottom lip trembled when you went to speak.

“i just..i was so scared of how you’d react. i never imagined you’d be happy about it.”

john b’s face softened at your words, and he pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“how could i be anything but excited when finding out the love of my life is literally walking around with a piece of us forming inside her.”

taglist: @sunkissedrafe @mousie101 @cxsmiclore @mirellef2001

[strniohoeee]

Hidden In The Shadows

Part 2 Here

Pairing: Matt Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: Following a lesson about this town that seemed to suddenly vanish, Y/N is intrigued to figure out what truly happened. However she might’ve bitten off more than she can chew….

Warnings⚠️: Nothing crazy, talks of/explanations of a cult, creepy rural town. This was from a Drabble about matt based on a type of horror movie he’d be done by @gamermattsgf she’s wifey and I had to adapt this into an imagine😫 @st7rnioiossblog

Song for imagine: Oblivion- Grimes

I never walk about after dark

It’s my point of view

Cause someone could break your neck

Coming up behind you

Always coming and you’d never have a clue

Moving out of my hometown wasn’t on my bingo cards for this year and moving out of my hometown for a research project was 1000 percent not on my bingo cards. Yet somehow I was packed up and on the road within three months of starting my project.

I’ve always had a weird niche for all things history, but especially history that just seems to vanish into thin air. I began to become extremely interested in towns that are no longer on the map due to poverty, weather change or even these people becoming hunters and gathers. Packing up and moving out in an instant. It all started in my senior year of college. I was studying geography at my local four year college in my hometown of Nevada.

Honestly I hated college all the long hours, all the homework and also having a full time job on top of that, but I had a full ride so I decided to suck it up. My very last year I had some space for a filler class that got me extra credits so I landed on the study of United States Lands focusing on increase and decrease of population throughout the recent centuries.

Personally I thought the class was going to suck, but to my surprise my professor was amazing. Towards the end of my final semester we began to learn about Pleasant Town Oklahoma. A once booming town immediately vanished off the face of the earth.

“Now class you may be asking yourself why was this town so rich? And I’m here to tell you it’s because the mayor at the time in the year 1915 had connections with our president. They hid money, fabrics, food and all types of expensive items within this small town” Mr Wayne stated

“I mean with hiding all this stuff how did they become so wealthy?” One guy had asked, my eyes darting to him

“They were being paid off for hiding these things, however the money was dirty money, so they created many businesses to get the cash flow moving. From one store to one man’s pocket to the next and then next thing you know that dirty money is in George's hand who lives in Virginia! It was all an amazing scheme, very smart. But as you can see it didn’t last long nor did it end well” He had stated as he clicked the laptop to show the next slide shown on the board

“Within three years of this operation this small town alone was bringing in about $100,000 a month which is over $2 million dollars in today's money. So then you ask yourself how does such a rich state with so much money just disappear? And all the money too?” He states scratching his chin

“So Professor Wayne….what exactly happened to them?” I asked after raising my hand

“No one really knows” he states uncrossing his arms and leaning off the desk

“I mean there has to be a reason right? That’s a lot of money to just disappear” I state as I jot down notes

“Well here’s the other thing, there are many rumors dating back to the creation of Oklahoma which was 1907. Sources have stated that Pleasant Town is evil and I’m talking demonic evil. People have said the reason the cash flow never stopped was because they were all a cult and seemingly used one another as sacrifice.” He stated clearing his throat

“Sacrifice?” I questioned raising my eyebrow

“Well yes! In many cultures it is stated if you do a blood sacrifice for the devil and/or sell your soul then your wishes shall come true. Their wishes were to stay wealthy. This came with problems however” he says as he sits down at his desk

The whole class was on the edge of their seats waiting for him to go on.

“Many of these men had short arms and deep pockets. Making it very easy for one man to kill the next out of greed” Wayne goes on

“And didn’t they get caught? I mean the president wouldn’t allow that” one classmate states

“Very true! The town was very small, only about 80 people now if 10 people suddenly die many eyebrows are raised. For a while they covered up the stories claiming a sickness like smallpox. The mayor decided to bring animals claiming this would make them richer since they produce meat, eggs and milk. Now he wasn’t wrong, but the animals were used in these blood sacrifices to hide their tracks” he says nodding his head

“God these people were ahead of their time” I blurt out and crossed my arms over their chest

“Oh they were, but that might’ve costed them their fortunes and their town” Professor Wayne states

“So that’s it? They just left? And what now?” I asked him

“It’s stated that they just separated, leaving most of the money to the whole state of Oklahoma. Afraid the president was after them or maybe they danced with the devil for too long and ended up paying the price” he states bluntly

“And the price is?” I asked him

“Death” he says frowning a bit which caused a chill to run up my spine

“But this is all speculation. About 30 years later Pleasant Town was rebuilt and supposedly none of that cult stuff was brought to that town. And till this day it’s still up and running. I believe the population is only about 200-250 people max?” He says rubbing his chin in thought

“I mean that’s just sad… we’ll never know the truth” I said to him shutting my notebook

“I mean you could always go and visit, spend the summer there. See what it’s like……anybody up for a challenge” he says laughing as the class shudders in fear and averts their eyes to the floor

I mean I was super interested in this lost town with such a dark history that suddenly reappeared 30 years after weird cult shit was happening. I could always take the summer off from work since I graduate in May….. take a road trip to Pleasant Town Oklahoma. Find the real history and report back to Professor Wayne.

My thoughts were interrupted when the bell rang and he bid his goodbyes to the class. Everyone was quick on their feet out of the door, but I stood back very interested in talking to him.

I trotted over to his desk as he shut his laptop, stuffing it into his book bag. His eyes darting up once he felt my presence

“Ahh Ms. Y/L/N…. You seemed very intrigued with today's lesson, planning a weekend getaway?” He asked me playfully

“Funny that you mention it because I was thinking more of a whole summer get away” I stated

“A whole summer?” He says brows lifting immediately

“I’m really interested in this town. I mean a mayor in on cult rituals to bring tons of cash in and the president not having a clue? And then they just vanished? This is like a movie sir” I state as I ramble on

“I mean it’s all just speculations Y/N” he says smiling at me

“I know sir, but is there any way I can get your research on this town so I can study it a bit more? I plan on building a whole case for this and figuring it out” I pleaded

“You’re really interested in this aren’t you?” He asks opening his bag up

“I really am Professor Wayne” I say back

“Here, but listen this is a tight knit community. Don’t go digging your nose where it doesn’t belong. Tread lightly this isn’t your turf, okay? In a town like that with such a small population and a dark history, you don’t want any enemies” he says handing me the folder titled “Pleasant Town”

“Yes, and thank you sir” I stated nodding my head

After that I finished my final semester two months later in May. Between work and classes I built up more of a file on this town jumping from a folder to two binders stacked with information.

Two days after my graduation I did some research on the town. This place had no hotels, no motels and for sure no air bnbs. That’s where I ran into my first problem, attempting to find a place to stay.

Searching on Zillow I had found a house for rent. In the middle of nowhere. One gravel road and corn fields. From the pictures it did seem there were few houses across and next to it, so I figured that was perfect. I'd make friends with neighbors.

I mean the house was decent for the area. Seemed to be a two bedroom two bathroom house. The bedrooms upstairs, one bathroom down stairs and one upstairs. Had a pretty average sized kitchen in the back of the house, a dining room to the right of the front door, a living room to the left of the front door, the stairs faced the front door, and then there were small hallways that lead to the kitchen. And there was a basement that seemed small, well kept and empty. It sucks to say I actually liked the place

My second problem began when I called the realtor a very old southern man by the name of Beaufort Smithson. I dialed him that morning and from the moment he heard my accent he seemed to turn a cold shoulder.

“Please sir” I pleaded with him

“Listen ma’am you sound young and not from these parts. What bring someone like you around this small town” he states deeply

“Well I’m from Nevada and it’s just so crazy here and I’ve been looking to stay somewhere a few states away that’s quiet and small” I state

“But you’re looking to rent from June 1st to August 31st…. We do 7 month rentals” he says bluntly

“Well I want to see it I like it first” I say lying through my teeth

“Can’t you see from the pictures if you like it or not” he says sucking on his tobacco tucked in his lip

“I can have the full rent for those three months ready for you in cash” I state desperately

“In cash you say” he says as I hear his chair squeak from underneath him

God these people really were money hungry till this day…

“Yes sir $800 a month for 3 months I can get you that $2,400 in cash June 1st” I state

“Well little lady you have yourself a deal. Now get yourself a pen and paper and jot this down. June 1st 12 in the afternoon we’re going to meet at the gas station in Pleasant Town” he states spitting his tobacco into a styrofoam cup

“Uhhh what gas station is that sir?” I ask as the pen dangled in my hand

“Sweetie we only got one gas station down yonder….you can’t miss it” he says chuckling

“Right…. Well thank you Mr. Smithson, my names Y/N Y/L/N, and I’ll be seeing you on June 1st” I state

“Well alright darling see you then” he says chuckling

“Oh by the way I look like-“ but I was cut off

“Oh trust me I’ll know what you look like…..safe travels” he whispers before hanging the phone up on me

That phone call made me slightly regret my choices of spending my summer with some shit kickers than on the Las Vegas strip…..

I spent the last two and a half weeks packing, purchasing what I know I won’t find in Oklahoma and doing more research.

I think I was on page 4,000 on google before I found a new article with information I hadn’t seen before. I placed my plate of pizza down as my eyes scanned the laptop screen quickly.

It was a newspaper clipping dating back to the year 1953. Only 70 years ago…. Interesting. The title stated “Farm owner questioned in the massive slaying of all his animals” my brows furrowed.

There’s no possible way that 70 years ago these cult killings continued? But my fingers scrolled down further as I began to whisper

“Confused and angry farm owner, Thomas Sturniolo was seen today yelling at cops as he was taken out of his small Pleasant Town home. After all his farm animals died and weird things happened around town he was suspected of killing his animals in a weird cult-like way. Demanding he be let loose, and that the town was crazy and out to get him because he is the wealthiest farmer. Insisting his competition killed his livestock and not him.”

My eyes couldn’t believe what I was reading…this was pretty recent honestly. This was happening around the time my grandparents were young children… I printed those news clippings out along with many other clippings of his arrest, his release and his disappearance…..

Adding them to my binder as I finished my pizza. This was so insane to me, and this would make a great conversation with professor Wayne after my studies.

I opened up my email and decided to email my professor.

Hello Professor Wayne! I hope your summer treats you well. In about three days I am off to study the lost town of Pleasant Town Oklahoma. That folder of information you gave me has grown into two large binders, and I found more information today. Down below you’ll find links to news articles dating back to the 50’s about weird cult animal killings! I think you’d find it fascinating! I’d like to update you here and there through my three month stay, and then maybe when I get back we can discuss all my findings over lunch! Thank you for your time! Hope to talk to you soon. -Sincerely, Y/N Y/L/N

Two days later I was all packed up into my car. About four large luggage and two duffel bags…. I was well prepared to say the least. Saying bye to my family and friends I began my venture to Pleasant Town.

My venture was a full day, and I made sure I counted for gas breaks, nap breaks and food breaks to make sure I got to Mr. Smithson at 12 on the dot.

June 1st 11:25 am- 35 min ETA Pleasant Town Gas Station

I was coming across the entrance to the town. I was jamming out to SZA, bobbing my head I looked over to my right smiling as I read the sign

“Welcome to Helltown….once you get in you’ll never get out!” It read

My smiled dropped, I snatched my sunglasses off my face and turned the radio down….. a cold sweat began to form on my back as I looked in the rear view mirror

What the fuck was that? I was becoming increasingly anxious and wondered if I just made the worst mistake of my life. I rubbed my lips together in anxiety as I gripped onto the steering wheel harder.

I chose to shake it off, there has to be a logical explanation for this I thought to myself. Putting my sunglasses back on, I turned my music up a little bit and continued down the silent road.

My map told me 1 minute, and slowly I pulled up to a very old and very dusty gas station. Coming to a stop as the gravel left a smoke trail ahead of my car.

I put the car in park and hopped out, stretching my back and cracking my neck. Suddenly an old man hopped out of his large red truck. Spitting tobacco on the ground as he waddled over

“You, young lady must be Y/N?” He asks as he sucks the tobacco

“Yes sir I am” I state as I smile and place my hand out to shake his

Looking down as he smacks his lips, he firmly shakes my hands.

“Good to met ya, welcome to Pleasant Town” he states coughing

“Thank you Mr. Smithson” I state smiling once again

“Well uhh” he states smiling at me

“Oh right” I say, eyes going wide as I walk over to the passenger side. Grabbing the envelope with all the money in it.

“Here you go, $2,400 cash” I state handing the envelope over to him

He grabs the envelope and takes the money out, beginning to count it

“300,400,500-“ he says flying through the money

“Uhh what’s with the welcome sign saying welcome to Helltown? Once you get in you’ll never get out?” I ask pointing over my shoulder

He immediately stops counting, sucks his teeth and looks up at me through his lashes

“Idiot teenagers who have nothing better to do than destroy property that isn’t theirs” he states as he goes back to counting

“Oh…” I state rocking back and forth on my heels

“Alright it’s all here! Thank you sweetheart. I’ll drive you to your house just follow behind me” he states stuffing the money back in the envelope

“Thank you sir” I state as he turns and walks back to his truck

I hop in mine and wait for him to go, following closely behind him I take in the surroundings. Trees, dirty roads, corn fields, farm houses, large stacks of hay and pretty decent sized homes. They were just super outdated.

It was only about a 15 minute drive, but man it felt like forever. I’d hate to get stuck with no gas on a road like this.

Pulling up to the house he pulls onto the gravel driveway as I do too. We both hop out and we walk towards the house. We walk up the steps and wait on the front porch as he digs around for the keys.

Looking around I take in the surroundings, there’s quite a bit of farms around here…. My thoughts are interrupted when he finds the keys and opens the door. Allowing me to walk in first

“I had my crew clean up the place for you” he states shutting the door

“Oh, do you own a cleaning company?” I ask looking at him

“No.. I get these young boys out here to do what needs to be done around these parts” he states bluntly

“Oh the young teenagers who mess around” I say laughing

“No, I send those boys to work the corn fields…. The older men do the hard work round here. The cleaning, the lifting, the shootin” he says sucking the tobacco

“Shooting?” I ask as I turn to face him

“Yup they shoot the ones for my man down under” he states looking me dead in my eyes

“What?” I ask as I began to get nervous

“Oh I’m sorry sweetheart I must be confusing you, you see my dad loved to hunt but he’s too old now and lives in my basement. He has me send out the young men to shoot for him and bring him back some animals” he states chuckling

“Ohhhh yeah” I say laughing awkwardly

“Well young lady this is your home now” he says handing me the keys.

“Thank you” I say meekly

“You got your dining room, living room, and kitchen all down here fully furnished as you can see. Bathroom down here one upstairs and both bedrooms upstairs. Oh uhh I’d suggest food shopping early in the day, you don’t want to be out late at night around here….that is due to the wild animals of course like bears and coyotes” he states looking at me

“Of course” I say nodding politely

“Make sure you lock your doors at night. Especially the back door….. animals in the kitchen are never a good thing” he says turning around to head to the front door

“Got it” I state

“And uhhh we’re a family here….youre house is my home….or whatever the saying is….my house is your house….ah you know what I mean” he says shaking his head

We bid our goodbye and I watched him drive off. My hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. This whole conversation was making me nervous and uneasy. One other thing I realized was I’d be having no WiFi here. However my phone had 5G and the service wasn’t awful here shockingly….. I immediately sent an email back to Professor Wayne

“Just got here! The house is actually super nice. It's very historical and artsy. The realtor is a total creep though. His name is Beaufort so that explains a lot! He said some weird things and made weird analogies. Making it seem like beyond the naked eye there’s more to this town…. I’ll keep you posted”

I hit send and slid my phone back into my pocket. I placed the keys in my front pocket and walked outside. The warm sun kissed my skin as I squinted. Walking over to my car I popped the trunk and began to take my luggage’s out.

Suddenly I felt like there were eyes on me. The way the area got super quiet. So quiet you could hear a pin drop. I looked over my shoulder in the least scared way possible. There was nobody there. I rubbed my forehead and let out a breath.

“Y/N relax” I whispered to myself as I took my last luggage out

However unbeknownst to Y/N, she was in fact being watched. A young man on the second floor of his parents house. He stood in his room peering at the young woman through his sheer curtains.

His gaze was dull as he stared out the window, sweat trickled down his forehead, his mouth hung open slightly and his breathing became deep. His fingers swirled and tugged at his red flannel.

She was like out of a movie. He had never seen a woman like that down here. Those are the ones his mom warned him about. The type who didn’t like boys like him, the type he should….hate. However when he looked at her he couldn’t hate her….she seemed precious….precious just like his horse Bertha.

“Young Man! What did I tell you about standing at that window” he heard from behind him, he jilted and turned around

“I’m sorry mama…I wasn’t doin nuffin” he states as he looks at her

“It is not polite to stare at people you aren’t a child anymore. You don’t do that” she says to him

“I wasn’t looking I swear” he says with pleading eyes

“Well you go on now. Your father and I are leaving for the afternoon” she says to the boy

After his mom leaves he pears out his window again. The young woman had stopped to talk on the phone. He was so fascinated by her he simply couldn’t look away.

I hung up the phone after saying bye to my mom and pulled out my second luggage. Rolling it into my house and coming back out to get my third luggage. I huffed out a breath of air and wiped the sweat off my forehead

I leaned over to get the third luggage but it was stuck on something. I sucked my teeth and began to tug on the handle harder.

“Need a hand ma’am?” I heard from behind me

“OH SHIT” I yelled turning around and grabbing my heart

“Oh im sorry darling I didn’t mean to scare you” the young man states backing up a bit

“No it’s okay, I’m new to town so I’m a bit jumpy” I state shaking my head

“My apologies for sneaking up behind you, may I help you?” He asks looking at my trunk

“Yeah please that would be great” I say smiling as I tried to control my breathing

The young man grabs both of my luggages for me and I grab my duffel bags. We walk to the house and he leads the way to my other two luggage’s.

“Thank you so much” I say placing my bags on the couch

“My pleasure sweetheart” he says nodding his head

“I’m Y/N” I say sticking my hand out

“I’m Matthew, but I go by Matt” he says wiping his forehead with the inside of his shirt. The shirt lifted just enough for me to get a perfect view of his lower stomach.

Damn…why were the shit kickers in a creepy town always so hot…. I guess the movies aren’t wrong..

“Well Matt thank you once again, can I offer you some water?” I ask him

“Water would be nice” he says smiling a bright smile

We walked to the kitchen and I found some old glasses left behind. I rinsed it with water and then gave him some water from the sink.

He drank the full cup, allowing the water to dribble down his chin and to his neck. My gaze ever so slightly following the head of water.

“So, what brings you to this part of town darling?” He asks, his accent so thick I couldn’t even focus

“I come from a busy town and I’ve always wanted to move to a small rural area. Pleasant Town seemed just right” I state licking my lips

“Once you see what this towns like you’ll go running for the hills” he says smirking darkly

“What do you mean by that?” I asked clearing my throat

“Well we hunt, we drink beer til we’re piss drunk and race in old cars for fun, we sneak into farms at night and tip over the sleeping cows…. Amongst many other things” he states handing the glass back over to me

“Oh that’s nothing compared to where I’m from” I say placing the glass in the sink

“And that is?” He asks crossing his legs as he leaned against the wall

“Las Vegas Nevada” I state nodding

“Never been” he states

“You should visit one day” I say

“If I ever leave this town” he states swallowing thickly

“If you ever leave?” I question once again

“Well you know this place is home I don’t know how I’d do in a big place like that” he says smiling at me

“I suppose you guys are pretty far behind on a lot” I say giggling

“Oh trust me aren’t we all” he says kicking himself off the wall

“Well uh thank you so much Matt I don’t mean to keep you” I say to him as I begin to walk out the kitchen

“Oh no worries darlin” he says as he follows behind me his thick cowboy boots hitting the wood in all the right places

He opened my front door and began to head out

“I’ll see you around neighbor” I state to him

“See you around, oh and if you ever feel like there’s eyes on you….that's because there is….you know small town haha we can’t escape each other” he says coldly before adding a laugh at the end

“Right…right” I state smiling at him and blinking quickly

I watch him walk across the street and head into the home. I lock my car doors and shut my front door. Locking the door before walking to the kitchen back door, locking that one as well.

I spent the rest of the day sweeping up, cleaning and setting up my room. I hadn’t realized how late it gotten or how hungry I was till my stomach growling woke me up from a small Power Nap.

I got up and realized it was 8pm, I wasn’t sure what food stores would be open, but it was worth the try. Ignoring the warning not to go out at night I grabbed my house keys and car keys.

Locking the front door, I got into my car. Turning it on I put it in reverse. I looked over my right shoulder and when I went to look over my left Matt was there and had banged on my window.

I jumped out of my skin and hit the breaks. Rolling my window down I was breathing heavy

“Sorry sweetie” he says as he looks down at me

“Is there something I can do for you?” I asked him genuinely curious

“Oh me? No no, but you, you shouldn’t be out at this hour” he states

“It’s 8pm though?” I say furrowing my brows

“Yeah well the bears and coyotes come out this time” he says tapping the hood of my car

“I’m just running to the local store” I say

“You shouldn’t be out at this hour” he says again a bit firmer

“Umm okay” I say to him, remember what Professor Wayne said “no enemies this isn’t my turf”

I placed the car back in park and got out. Shutting the door and locking it I looked at Matt, a shot gun in his right hand as my eyes darted up.

“Don’t worry darling this ain’t nothing special. I use this to hunt” he says to me as he moves the gun back a bit

“For uhh Mr. Smithson’s dad?” I ask as my eyes slowly track up to his

“Oh no I do a different type of hunting for him” he says clearing his throat

“Do you now” I say rocking on my heels

“I get the animals causing issues for us here, the ones eating up all our crops. We can’t have those round these parts” he states chuckling

“Yeah…yeah bad for business. I’m going to head in for the night then” I say pointing behind myself

“Well alright now! You have a great night” he says in a whisper while offering me a smile

I smile back before turning in my heels and heading back into the house. Locking the door immediately as I run up the stairs.

I decided to shower and eat some leftover snacks. By this point it was midnight and I decided to brush my teeth so I could lay down for the night.

Shutting the bathroom light off I walk into my dark room using the brightness of my screen to lead me to my bed. Shutting my bedroom door behind me I trot over to my bed. However something in my peripheral view catches my eye.

Through the little dent in the Venetian blinds I see a light on in the house across the street from me. Slowly walking over to the window I peak out the small dent and look across the street.

All I can see is the silhouette of a skinny man with a shotgun in hand standing at the window. Almost like he’s staring out the window….

Suddenly he slides out of view and the light goes out, but I stay looking and I get an uneasy feeling. It’s like he’s still by the window…hiding in the shadows…watching….waiting….

I scared myself by doing this, so I backed away from the window and decided to lay down. Listening to my heart thump in my ears as I focused on controlling my breathing. My mind was racing because I was so nervous about this town and whether or not I made the right decision…..

I attempted to clear my mind and doze off to sleep. I knew I had a full day of adventures the following day especially since I needed to find a supermarket of some sort here!

The End…. For now

Alright guys I know I’ve been GONE, but it feels good to be back! I hope you enjoyed this part. Can’t wait to start working on part 2 shortly 🤭🖤 we’re at 2,009 followers! I love yall soooo much 🥺

-J💅🏽

[1d1195]

Zipper

Hi hi, sorry for the short break there. I've been working on this the last three days and it flowed out quite quickly to 9.5K words.

Warnings: Harry doesn't like her (or does he), there's a damsel in distress scene implying SA nothing happens nor described but could be triggering, "enemies" trope, Harry wears a lot of suits and is angry a lot.

Disclaimer: Everything I know about lawyers comes from TV shows.

Harry was a smart guy, but he truly hadn’t a clue as to why he was so mad at the prospect of liking her.

So, he pretended he didn’t. “You and Harry are together an awful lot,” his friend Niall said to her with a smirk once. They were in clear earshot of Harry, and nothing made Harry crankier than knowing his friends saw how mean he was toward her. It was the topic of many conversations over video games and while working out at the gym.

“Enough, Niall,” he muttered. “It’s not by choice.”

“Don’t know why he’s all grumpy about you all the time, princess,” Niall said quietly to her when his back was turned. “He talks about you more than any girl I’ve ever seen him with.”

“He just doesn’t like me much,” she explained.

“Oh, princess. I think it’s quite the opposite.”

Harry hated her. She could never figure out why. She and Gemma were on the same soccer team growing up, so she’s known Harry for forever. Because she and Harry were of the same caliber in school (and the same age), they were always in each other’s classes. Always in group projects together.

It made her wildly popular in school to know the one and only Harry Styles so closely—and she did. She knew he wouldn’t drink tea past four in the afternoon. He liked chocolate candy better than fruity candy. Any time he saw a dog while they were on their way to study together, he would dig a bag of little treats out of his backpack to give away. When his left eye got droopy it meant they had to take a break and she would always recommend some hot chocolate or lemonade (depending on the season) at the coffee shop near the town library.

However, their conversations never delved too deeply. She knew his birthday but not his favorite color—she suspected it was blue or maybe orange because most of his pens were blue and his highlighters were almost always orange. Of course, she knew Gemma and Anne, but she didn’t know what their relationship with Harry was like. Because of school, she knew most of his political opinions—and big shocker, they were roughly the same as hers—but she didn’t know his favorite music or if he liked to sleep with a fan on or not. When he was sick, she didn’t know if he liked sleep or soup. If it was his last day on earth, she doesn’t know how he would spend it. They weren’t things that she necessarily needed to know to define their friendship, but somehow, in her eyes, they were.

Other than school mandated projects, she was convinced Harry wouldn’t give her the time of day. “Can we jus’ get this over with?” Was Harry’s mantra around her during their school days.

She wished they could be friends.

She didn’t want to be that girl, but it was impossible not to be. Harry was beautiful and he was nice—just not very nice to her. She didn’t fault him for it, she wasn’t his cup of tea and that was fine. The way other girls sighed and ahh-ed over him made her jealous. She couldn’t do that. Harry was Gemma’s brother and her peer and that was it.

Needless to say, their lives were clearly going to be attached for the rest of their lives. They were like a coat zipper. They met when they were young and as they slid the zipper to the top more pieces of their life meshed. At first it was soccer with Gemma, then it was school in general, projects and friend groups, and now it was university.

Of course, they were going to get degrees in history and law.

Of course, they would have classes together.

Of course, Harry would be at every party she was invited to.

She knocked on the door to the party her friends were invited to, and she waited as the door opened. “God you’re everywhere,” he muttered taking a swig of the drink in his hand. He opened the door wider to allow her and her friends in and walked away without mingling a moment longer. She sighed and stepped through the threshold while her friends filed in behind her.

“You know Harry?” One of her friends gasped.

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “Grew up together,” she said heading for the kitchen to get a drink. There was a barrage of questioning. The interrogation of how well she knew him, if he was single—he was, as far as she knew—and so on. “He doesn’t like me much,” she shrugged.

“Shut up,” her friend said. “He likes everyone.”

“I’m not sure what to tell you. I’m not everyone.”

They were kind enough to let the conversation drop. But their eyes darted back forth between the two of them whenever they were remotely in the same realm as one another. Harry was never outrightly mean to her. He never made fun of her and never talked ill of her. They talked about school projects and assignments and classes and that was it.

Harry’s friends all really liked her. Of course, they liked her. There wasn’t anything to dislike about her. She was brilliant, incredibly kind, and naturally nurturing. It made Harry nauseous most of the time. He hated she could be so kind all the time—even when he was a dick to her. It made it all the harder for him to not like her.

*

It was halfway through the semester when her phone vibrated with a message from Harry. She could feel the confusion wrinkling her face as she brought the phone closer to her face as if it was a trick. Harry never texted her. If there was a school project that needed doing, he was highly professional and would only email her. The only reason she had his number was because Gemma gave it to her when her phone was broken, and she was her ride to their soccer tournaments.

Could you read my essay?

Surely this was a trick. She couldn’t help but ask. Really?

Yeah. The response was immediate. Obviously, nothing special. She could practically feel his annoyance through his text bubble.

Sure.

Thanks. Conclusion needs work, I know.

The conclusion may have needed work, but it was a pretty good essay otherwise. A few grammatical errors and a rewording of a paragraph or two and his essay was finished. She didn’t question why Harry asked her. Surely, he had plenty of friends that would be willing to read it over.

His seeking her out was quite the surprise to her, but to Harry it made the most sense. At some point in time, maybe in year ten, he realized that he was probably stuck with her for a good long while. There was no denying she was smart—in fact, Harry thought she was brilliant. Probably smarter than him on any given day. And again, that agonizing kindness made him sick. He knew she would read his essay because she was so nice. If Harry acted the way he did to anyone else but her, they wouldn’t give him the time of day.

But he also didn’t trust anyone else in the world to read his work and know what it needed like she did.

She took all the essay reading to mean it was okay to ask him for school favors as well.

Do you have notes from the history lecture yesterday? I wasn’t feeling well.

I’ll email them to you.

Thank you.

Harry took good notes. She wouldn’t have asked anyone but Harry because she knew they took notes the same way. Of course, they did. If anything, his notes were neater because he typed just as fast as their professor spoke while she preferred to handwrite so she would remember better.

Do you know what our professor meant by this?

She sent him back a picture of her own notes with a marking around the part that Harry was referring to. This was my interpretation, but I emailed him to double check, I’ll let you know what he says.

Thanks.

Harry looked at her notes on his phone again and admired her handwriting. He doesn’t know how she was able to write so much so quickly during their lectures. He saw her shake her hand out every time their professor paused to answer a question or catch a breath. She had pretty handwriting.

*

The parties they attended together (not on purpose, just by happenstance) were when Harry was at his meanest. He would roll his eyes at her if she was part of a drinking game. Harry’s eyes shot daggers whenever any guy tried speaking with her, always there to remind her of some project they had to do, and he didn’t want to be stuck doing it himself. None of it clicked to her that he was jealous.

Of course, he was. She was the prettiest and nicest girl he knew, and he was mad.

Harry was a smart guy, but he truly hadn’t a clue as to why he was so mad at the prospect of liking her.

So, he pretended he didn’t. “You and Harry are together an awful lot,” his friend Niall said to her with a smirk once. They were in clear earshot of Harry, and nothing made Harry crankier than knowing his friends saw how mean he was toward her. It was the topic of many conversations over video games and while working out at the gym.

“Enough, Niall,” he muttered. “It’s not by choice.”

That stung, made her face warm in embarrassment, but it was partly true. They were practically stuck together. Zipped together by some life force. “Don’t know why he’s all grumpy about you all the time, princess,” Niall said quietly to her when his back was turned. “He talks about you more than any girl I’ve ever seen him with.”

She shrugged it off. It would make sense, he talked about her so much. Other than her roommate she probably saw Harry more than her own family. “He just doesn’t like me much,” she explained.

“Oh, princess. I think it’s quite the opposite.”

*

Gem suggested I ask if we could carpool home. Save her a trip.

Yeah, of course.

Thanks.

“Do you like her?” Niall asked Harry. “Like, she’s really nice and pretty. Obviously, she’s very smart so—"

He cleared his throat to hide the gasp that nearly left his lips. “What?” He asked, slipping his phone back into his pocket. They were at the library whispering to each other while studying for finals. He could see her in the back corner, headphones in her ears and answering his message almost as soon as he sent it. He was certain she would ace all her exams, no problem at all.

“Your friend from home,” he tilted his head to the girl in the corner. “Do you like her?” He repeated.

Harry shook his head. “No.”

Niall quirked an eyebrow at him. “S’weird...you’re kind of perfect for each other.”

“Shut up,” he grumbled. He wanted no part of it. Sure, she was nice and sweet, and in the right light Harry couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by how pretty she was. But he didn’t want to be with someone he’d known his whole life. He wanted someone he didn’t know—someone that didn’t know his every thought. He wanted to discover a new relationship where he would find someone that didn’t know everything there was to know about him.

Regardless, if he knew all too well that she would be perfect for him.

*A few years later*

“This will be your office,” the sweet secretary informed her. She wasn’t a young secretary, but she wasn’t old either. Somewhere in the middle—she reminded her of her mom and that eased her worry of her new job fresh out of school. “I heard you know your office neighbor here. He gave you a glowing recommendation saying “the bosses would be fools to not hire you” I believe was how he phrased it. They’re all very excited to have you on board.”

She blinked, setting her box down of trinkets she collected ready to have her first big job. A list of clients sat on her desk. She was ready to get started—eager even. Excited and nervous all at once. The box of trinkets would make her office homier and she started setting out the calendar and picture frames as she shook her head at the woman helping her get the lay of the land. “That can’t be right, my professors did my recommendations...I can’t imagine my professors saying that about me,” she chuckled nervously. “I think they liked me and all but—”

“No, no!” She interrupted with a giggle. “Pardon me, one of your references, Harry; Harry Styles,” she smirked.

Blinking in surprise, she felt her lips part in a breathless gasp. She had asked Harry as a parting gift of sorts if he’d be willing to be a reference for her on her job applications. “I don’t think anyone really knows my work ethic the way you do,” she admitted. “I understand if you don’t want to, I’d be willing to be a reference for you as well either—”

“Sure,” he shrugged. “No problem. That’s probably a good idea. Thank you.”

“Harry works here?” She asked, completely dumbfounded. She shouldn’t have been. She should have known of all the gin joints. Her heart pounded and the air in the room felt thin. When she had sent her applications and resumes out to every firm in the area, she didn’t dream that she would still be side by side with Harry. There were easily fifty or so firms in the city. There was no way the length of their lives on this zipper extended to work post-graduation.

“I thought that was why you applied here. Harry made it seem like you both—”

“Hi,” speak of the devil. She wanted to know the end of that sentence. The idea that Harry made it seem like anything was between them—friendship, collegiate respect, anything—seemed paradoxical.

But here he was in all his brilliant and handsome glory.

Harry looked effortlessly beautiful and nearly seductive standing in her office doorway. He was wearing a suit, but it looked like it was nearly painted on him—hugging each of his defined arms and seemed to stretch perfectly over his long legs. Throughout their schooling and university, she wondered when he had time to hit the gym because he didn’t go while she walked on the treadmill and read her textbooks—the one time the zipper of life skipped over their meeting. But it was obvious he had found time. Again, she wasn’t immune to his good looks and persona. She had seen him be nice and lovely to everyone he knew time and time again.

Just not her.

His hair was styled just so, and she could practically see the sweet secretary swooning at the sight of him. “Welcome,” he said. He looked like a kid to her. As if his mom told him to say hi and wish her a happy birthday or something even though he didn’t want to. He smiled weakly at her. It felt forced.

“Hi,” she answered, still in shock.

He nodded at her and left without another word. “He’s dreamy,” she said with an all too familiar sigh. “I don’t know how anyone gets any work done around here.”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe he works here.”

“I completely assumed he told you about the position...His friend is one of the senior partners,” she shrugged. “Louis?” She said. “I think Louis’ younger sister knows of you both or something.” She tilted her head at the woman. “I know everything,” she shrugged.

“You sure do,” she smirked. “Uh...no, I didn’t know Harry worked here.”

“I think it was Harry’s plan along with Louis or whatever—since they were young. They hang out a lot here.”

“Hmm,” she hummed. “I didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t mean to say Harry’s the reason you got the job—your qualifications are outstanding and—”

“No, no, you’re fine,” she promised. “I know what you meant.”

Poor Harry.

For the most part though, the two rarely interacted. They would run into each other in the break room or near the copier in the storage room. On one occasion Harry asked her to read over his outline for a case to make sure he hit all the major components of what he needed to do. Every so often Harry would bring her tea and not say anything at all to her. She found it odd and thanked him even though he never spoke to her.

She was oddly comforted by the fact he was just one room over.

*

There was a gentle knock on her door before it opened. “Some of us are getting Chinese food and I noticed you’ve been holed up all day—are you okay?” Harry appeared speaking the longest sentence that wasn’t about schoolwork or a case in their entire life. And he even asked about her well-being.

She wasn’t okay. She had a headache, something fierce. It started at the bridge of her nose, gripped the back of her eyes, and was reaching for the back of her head. “Yeah,” she murmured not looking up from her papers on her desk. Her voice sounded weak and scratchy. How long had it been since she looked up? Her neck felt cramped as she raised her head slowly to look at Harry. She wished she had a glass of water.

“Kitten...y’don’t look so good,” he said quietly.

“M’okay...M’jus not feeling so well,” she shrugged. “But I have to get this done,” she told him. “I think I skipped lunch,” if she could fathom the idea of using any part of her brain for something other than this case, she would have noted how Harry so sweetly called her kitten.

He sighed, almost annoyed and she briefly wondered what she did wrong now. He disappeared for a moment. Within an instant he came back with water, pills, and a protein bar. “I’ll get some Chinese for you too.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled glancing briefly at how pretty he looked in his suit and how kind it was of him to bring her medicine. “I’ll Venmo—”

“Shh,” he said and turned off the overhead light of her office as he left. Leaving her in darkness except for the desk lamp to her left. “Try a nap on the couch,” he said. “I’ll wake you when the food is here.”

*

“Kitten,” he said softly. He gently shook her, and she tried to remember if Harry had ever touched her in their entire lives. The smell of greasy, salty food woke her up the rest of the way. Harry seemed to know her Chinese food order. She searched her memories if they ever ordered Chinese together and how he remembered.

“How’d you know what to get?” She asked stupidly. She could blame the headache or the lack of sleep if he said something mean about it.

He didn’t. “Your friends ordered at a party junior year,” he shrugged. “Remembered what you liked.”

“Oh.” He waited until she was upright and eating—staring at her like one of their science experiments from school. “Do you want some—”

“No, just making sure you actually eat.”

She felt her face warm, and she shook her head. “Uh. Thanks, that’s not necessary.”

“Well clearly it is if y’forget t’eat lunch and make yourself sick.” Again, her face heated up, but she said nothing because he was right. “What are you working on, anyway?” He asked. “That you’re skipping lunch and everything.”

“Uh...I just want to make a good impression and make sure I’m doing everything I can.”

“I’ve never known you to not give a hundred and twenty percent, love. If anyone has a question about your qualifications, you can send them to me.”

“How come you get to act like a partner?” She asked. “M’not jealous or anything—I’m just wondering why—”

“Louis always said I was brilliant or whatever,” he said casually with a shrug. He wasn’t bragging. He was just stating a fact. It was true too. Harry was brilliant. “I always told him it was because I worked with you, but he didn’t believe me. So, when he saw m’name as a reference on your application, I told him he would understand it was your brilliance that helped me be so successful and if he didn’t hire you, it would be a terrible mistake in his career because you would go be perfect and wonderful somewhere else. He’s seen your work, trust me, kitten. He knows how hard you’re working and you’re making an unbelievable impression. You don’t need to skip lunch t’prove your worth.”

This by far was the kindest thing Harry ever said of her—maybe anyone had ever said of her. She was speechless. Maybe it was the sleep still on her brain. Or the pain in her head that caused Harry to turn off the lights, so it was dark and quiet in her office. Or maybe it was because Harry finally said something sweet about her. But she finally worked up the courage to ask a question that had bothered her for their entire lives. “How come you don’t like me?” Her voice was so quiet it pained Harry.

He shook his head. “I like you,” he said with an eye roll. She wondered if it was no longer hard for him to lie like that. Countless people must have asked him over the years. Certainly, by now he perfected the tone and emotion needed to get people off the subject.

“Not really,” she said with sigh. When they were younger it definitely upset her more that Harry disliked her so much. When people asked she would feel a sting come behind her eyes because it would have made all the sense in the world for Harry to be her best friend. Now, it was just a matter of fact. NaCl was salt, flowers bloomed in spring, and Harry didn’t like her. “It’s fine...” but her voice cracked just a hair like it used to when she was asked about why Harry didn’t like her at all. “I just...I don’t know. We would have been really good friends if you did...that’s all,” she gave a small shrug eating another bite of her food.

“You want to be friends?” He questioned, surprised. Even though he was a dick to her she wanted to be friends. She seemed to be a glutton for punishment.

“Well,” she cleared her throat pushing her orange chicken through her fried rice as a distraction. “I guess we’re kind of old to be asking that,” she said quietly. “We just spent a lot of time together growing up. I think it would have made sense,” she explained. It felt like she was arguing another case, it was far more awkward though and while she would have liked to win, she didn’t know if it was worth it. “It’s fine...you don’t have to be my friend. Thank you for the food.”

“Kitten, I,” he sighed and ran his hand over his face pinching his lower lip between his fingers. She could tell from the tone in his voice he was exasperated by her. She should have just eaten faster and let him leave without the third degree. “We can be friends.”

She blinked at her food and then turned to look at him. “We can?”

He tilted his head at her and rolled his eyes. “Would it make you happy?” He asked.

She was lucky her brain wasn’t fully functioning due to the lack of food. That was a weird question for him to ask. Harry never once cared if she was happy or not the entire time that she knew him. “Yes.”

“Then we can be friends.”

*

Despite their newly found friendship, she tried not to overwhelm Harry. They made small talk when they ran into each other at the office. About once a week Harry would text her asking if she would like to carpool to work and she politely declined because again, she didn’t want to bother him.

“Hey, I’m going to meet a client at Starbucks, do you want any coffee when I get—oh,” she said softly. For the entire time she’d known Harry, she had never seen one hair out of place. Not one shirt collar unpressed. A shoelace never untied.

Right now, Harry’s hair was clearly the result of running his hand through it several times over, his eyes rimmed red, and his papers on his desk distributed haphazardly on the floor. “Go away,” he grumbled looking at the ground.

“Harry, are you alright?” She asked quickly closing the door behind her.

“Fine,” he spit. “Just leave.”

“Uh, no,” she swallowed the nervousness down. She thought about how nice he was when she wasn’t feeling well. She wanted to return the favor if she could. Whatever his outburst was about, she wanted to help. “You don’t look okay. What’s wrong? Can I help—”

“No,” he said firmly.

“Harry, seriously.”

“M’mum was in a car accident, Gem called,” he snapped. He had his head hung low as he pressed his hands to the back of his head. “I have a disposition in an hour and Mum’s in surgery. Okay. Are you happy?”

She blinked. No, she wasn’t happy. But she knew why he snapped. That answered her question about what his relationship with his mom was like. “Harry, I’m so sorry.”

“Whatever,” he sniffed.

“Harry...you...you should go to the hospital.”

God she was infuriating; this friendship thing was a stupid idea. She was too nice and sweet. “Did you not—”

“Harry, it’s your mom,” she reminded him. He looked up at her, again the startling contrast of his usual put together self and this...broken man made her weak. She wanted to pluck every piece of pain from his body and put it somewhere that would never find him again.

“I know!” he nearly shouted. “I can’t leave though,” he said softer than his shout. It was agonizing, she knew it was breaking him.

“I can do your disposition Harry. You have to go to the hospital.”

“You don’t know the case.”

“Give me the highlights.”

He looked up finally, right in her eyes and stared at her. “You would really do this?” He asked. She nodded. “What about your client?”

“I’ll reschedule. This is more important.”

“I can’t lose this one.”

“I’ll do my level best,” she promised. “Trust me.” He did. Implicitly. All the school projects, every presentation, any time Harry forgot something he knew she wouldn’t. She was always there to make everything they did better. “Just go and don’t worry about this.”

Harry sucked his lip into his mouth as she put the phone to her ear and quickly told the other end of the line she had to reschedule because of a family emergency—but she left out that it wasn’t her family. They could do dinner this evening if she’d like on short notice or coffee tomorrow. It was done with ease and grace. The client at the other end didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. “I don’t think I can do this,” Harry admitted; he wasn’t sure he would tell anyone else that except the girl he had known for his whole life. In Harry’s eyes, no one knew him better—even if she didn’t know it. “This client is very particular, and he’s mean and—”

“I can handle mean,” she said firmly. Harry wasn’t in the headspace to realize she could handle mean because of him. “Harry, you’re going to the hospital. You won’t do a good job if your mind is on your mom and you’re worrying the whole time. Then you’ll be worried you’re ruining the disposition so just let me help.”

He nodded solemnly. She was right, of course. She waited for him to make his decision. His knee bouncing the whole time as she picked the papers off his floor, and she organized them into neat little piles on his desk. “Okay.”

“Okay,” she said and pulled her phone from her purse. “Hit me,” she said holding the phone out to him ready to record.

*

Harry arrived at the hospital. Gemma was in tears but in such shock as she gazed at her arriving brother. “Are you really here?” She asked hugging him tight. He nodded, squeezing her hard.

“How’s Mum?” He asked ignoring her obvious question that he would never willingly leave work—especially if he had an important meeting.

“She’s okay,” she said, eyes red and teary. She nodded firmly. “It was really scary because they wouldn’t say until I got here. Surgery is needed but not life or death,” she explained. “She’ll be ready to see us in a few moments.”

Harry sighed with relief and sat in the waiting room chair. “Christ,” he muttered.

“I thought you had a disposition?” Harry quickly explained the situation and that the sweet girl was taking care of it. “You work with her?” Gemma asked. Harry nodded.

“Yeah, why?”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re...paired again. It’s just fate, y’know?” She mumbled. “S’nice you have her to look after you. To have someone you know and trust nearby,” she told her younger brother. “I love her,” she said with a shrug. “Even if you don’t.”

Harry ignored her. He was focused on his mom. He was relieved she was okay. But he wanted to see her.

His phone vibrated with a text from her. She promised an update as soon as the disposition was finished.

All done. Went well. I left notes on your desk. Let me know if you need anything. Wish your mom and Gem well. Don’t worry about anything else here.

Thank you, kitten.

:)

“Kitten, hmm?”

“Yeah.”

Harry locked his phone. When they went to the room where his mother lay looking banged up but alive, he nearly cried. “Hi Mum,” he sniffed.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she smirked easily. Nearly unaffected by the wires and tubes. “How’d you get out of work?” Gemma was delighted to tell the tale of the sweet girl. “Oh, I love her,” Anne grinned tiredly. “Why didn’t you ever bring her home, Harry?” She wondered. Harry started to answer but the arrival of a get-well basket on behalf of that sweet girl made its way through the threshold halting all of Harry’s thoughts of an excuse.

Because he really didn’t know why he never brought her home.

*

At the company party Harry eyed her from across the way. They were definitely friendlier, but Harry was hedging his bets. First and foremost, he was still hesitant to be in love with her. She was perfect and if he thought for two seconds longer, he would realize his stupid idea that he shouldn’t be in love with someone he’s known his whole life wasn’t his issue. Perhaps his issue was that she was perfect, and Harry was not. It seemed cruel for fate to tempt him like that. But maybe there was a reason she was so heavily involved in every aspect of his life.

Harry also wasn’t blind to the implications of dating a coworker.

But most importantly to him, she was so good at everything he couldn’t imagine being a subpar boyfriend when she deserved the very best. Harry didn’t even know how to be a boyfriend. Because of all the schoolwork he focused on he rarely dated anyone longer than a few dates or the occasional hookup.

And he had seen her in action as a girlfriend. Their junior year of university she dated a guy that she obviously adored for nearly a year and a half. She was naturally perfect. Went to every basketball game he was in, brought him soup when he wasn’t feeling well, and looked over his work for him before he turned it in. He was exactly what Harry imagined her boyfriend would be like. Attractive, hardworking, and very sweet to her. They met at the gym while she was studying for her ethics class on the treadmill (he only knew this because he told the story at a party, they both attended and Harry was intently listening).

The only problem Harry had with him—besides the fact he was dating the girl he spent so much time with—was he was not ambitious, and he never planned any of their dates. Harry hated him. She deserved flowers and coffee dates. Ice skating and movies. Once while she was on the phone with her sister when Harry was arriving at one of their study sessions, he knew she wanted a carriage ride around the park at Christmas. It wasn’t hard to figure out, so he was glad when he found out she broke up with him. Even if Harry didn’t like her, he knew she deserved more than that.

“Harry!” It was the client he had to skip out on for his mum the other day. “How’s your mum?” He asked.

“She’s fine, thank you. I’m sorry for the short notice of me not being there,” he said seriously.

“I was mad as hell when she told me you left. I think I screamed at her,” he admitted. Harry didn’t like that at all. The way his blood boiled at the idea of anyone yelling at her made him want to punch his client. Harry never thought himself a violent person, but here he was angry on behalf of a girl he only barely liked. It made him even madder that she didn’t mention anything at all about getting yelled at either. “But she was incredible! You can leave me with her anytime—she was brilliant and poised. I don’t think anyone suspected anything she had to say.”

“Yes, she’s very good,” Harry murmured around a sip of his drink. He was right, too. No one ever suspected the sweet girl to know anything. She was all eyes and beauty. She was softspoken, but her words carried weight. It would be entirely unfair for her to be exceedingly intelligent too. But she was. Harry hated the way people underestimated her, especially when they were paired together. It was like they thought he was only paired with her because she was pretty.

“She’s easy on the eyes too,” he winked at Harry. Harry gripped his drink tighter as he envisioned shattering the glass over top of his head.

“Ha, yeah.”

“Well thank you. I’m glad your mum is okay. I’ll keep you posted about the next meetings,” he said.

Harry nodded. “Have a drink on my tab, please,” he said gratefully.

Harry was suddenly at her side. “You didn’t tell me he yelled at you,” he said interrupting whatever conversation she was in currently.

“Uh, sorry,” she said softly clearing her throat to the gathering that eyed Harry like they’d never seen a man before. It was clear the interruption didn’t bother them solely because Harry was the one interrupting and it gave them an excuse to ogle him up close. She was lucky she spent so much time with him growing up. She could ogle at her own leisure. “Excuse me,” she grabbed Harry by the forearm, and he swore it felt like fire where she touched him. He wracked his brain for a memory if she ever touched him before this moment. “Come again?”

“My client. He told me he yelled at you. You didn’t tell me that.”

“Uh...you were kind of busy Harry. I’m used to getting yelled at, it wasn’t a big deal to—”

“Who yells at you?” He asked quickly. “Why would they yell at you?” Harry felt his blood boiling and he didn’t really know why. He wanted to put her in his office and monitor every interaction she had with anyone else in the world. She should never be yelled at—he would be sure of it going forward.

“Well clients mostly, my sister, you, this woman yelled at me one time at the grocery store—”

“I’ve never yelled at you.”

“Yes, you have,” she shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. We work in a business of yelling, Harry.”

He wanted to throw his glass across the room now. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“Seriously?” She asked.

“Seriously, what?”

“It’s really okay, Harry. I’ve been yelled at before.”

“But you shouldn’t be,” he was exasperated again. It was a quick switch to get to this breaking point of her complete non-understanding of why he was mad. But she didn’t really know why he was mad, and it was unfair of Harry to be so agitated by her when he didn’t even know why he was mad.

“Harry,” she said gently and put a hand on his forearm and gave him a squeeze. She gazed at him with those beautiful, lovely eyes and Harry could feel himself melting at the sweet expression on her face. “It’s okay,” she promised. He tore his arm from her and stalked off angrily sipping his drink before he did something like tell her she loved him.

So much for friends. She thought to herself.

*

Harry never really avoided her at firm parties. But he seemed like he was at this one. She hadn’t seen him in a while, and it oddly made her uncomfortable to not knowing where he was. She supposed since she had been with him for nearly 20 years of her life, when he wasn’t around, she knew. It didn’t make the party any less fun nor did it deter her from chatting with potential and current clients.

“Hello there,” a man said while she waited for her drink at the bar. She could tell he had too much to drink. It was another member of their team. Someone she saw on a very rare occasion. His client load was substantial and kept him busy and away from the office most days.

“Hi,” she said politely. He was a tall man. And with the alcohol coursing his bloodstream he knew very little of personal space.

“You’re very pretty,” he slurred. Her face felt hot at his assessment, and she wished she wasn’t by herself.

“Thank you,” she said gently and walked toward a group of the women she was chatting with before she headed to the bar to get another drink.

“I’ve seen you around,” he said following her another step. “You’re very smart.”

“Try to be—I have to get back to my friends,” she said gesturing to the women nearby. He frowned but she could feel his gaze on her back as she hurried back over. Fortunately, he was gone when she glanced back.

*

At the end of the party, she told her friends she was going to use the restroom before she left and not to worry. She would see them on Monday. What she hadn’t accounted for was the stupid drunk man to be in the darkly lit hallway leading to the bathrooms when she exited. “Hello, again.”

Shit.

“Hi,” she said gently. She sounded a lot braver than she was. There was no one in sight at all.

“I wanted to tell you how pretty you were earlier.”

“You did.”

“Well, I wanted to tell you again.”

“Thank you,” she said and stepped forward to brush past him. He grabbed her arm. She felt her fight or flight kick in and she desperately wanted to fly. “Excuse me, I’m leaving. I’m expected home soon—”

“Can’t you come home with me?” He asked with a sick smirk on his face.

She shook her head. “Let go of me,” she said firmly.

“Come on, I can make it worth your while,” he pulled her arm hard making the space between them almost disappear. She didn’t like how small she felt. She hated that about her job. She was constantly made to feel small because she was a woman. His height didn’t help. Neither did the alcohol.

But right now, it was a hundred times worse, and it made her stomach churn. She wanted to throw up and for a moment she thought maybe that would help her escape. “No thank you,” she said pulling harder on her arm that would surely have a bruise when she looked later.

“Well how about right here?” His smile was evil and vile. She really wanted to throw up now. Why didn’t she just go home with her friends?

With as much force as she could muster, she stomped on his inner foot, and he gasped and released her arm in shock. “Fuck!” He shouted. She hurried down the hall, tears filling her vision but somehow, he was right behind her, grabbing her arm again and pushing her against the wall causing her to yelp. “You’re going to regret that,” he snarled in her ear.

Before she had time to cry or vomit (or both) his presence was gone, and she fell to the floor at the lack of pressure against her body. She scrambled to her feet and turned to see Harry towering over the man he had clearly thrown to the ground. The panic flooding her body subsided immensely. Her heart rate was still elevated on behalf of Harry but seeing him made her feel so much safer.

 “She said no,” Harry said with so much anger in his voice she was terrified. He dared one glance back at her to see her back on her feet. His eyes were furious. She had seen him argue in mock trials and even been to some of his real court dates. Harry may have disliked her for a long part of their lives, but she had never seen hatred like this.

She would have hated to be the man on the receiving end of his look. “She’s a taunting little bitch. I’ve heard the way you talk about her,” he snapped at Harry. “Leave us alone.”

“I’ve known her my whole life. She knows I don’t talk about her,” Harry said knowingly. His voice was so deep, and the intensity of his words left her woozy; she couldn’t imagine someone protecting her—least of all Harry. And his words were true of course. As much as he disliked her, no one ever had a bad thing to say about her at the hands of Harry. “I will not be leaving her alone.”

She nearly sighed with relief at his statement. He turned quickly, grabbed her hand, and pushed her in front of him as he guided them out of the hallway and out of the restaurant. There were people milling about, but it was late, and it wasn’t crowded by any means. If Harry wasn’t there, she doesn’t want to think about what would have happened. He ushered them a few paces away from the restaurant up the sidewalk.

“Are you alright?” He asked suddenly, he turned her to face him as they stood under the streetlight outside. She was shaking like she was cold, and Harry wanted to reach out and warm her. The last five minutes were catching up to her violently. “Kitten?” He almost snapped, desperate for some indication that she was okay. “Are you okay?”

She nodded then shook her head. “I-I’m fine,” she said and sniffled wiping her sleeve across her nose. “I just want to go home,” she said with an awkward laugh and then the tears started to blur her vision.

“Kitten, I’m not going to leave you alone until I see you lock your door and you’re home safely. So it’s okay to not be okay, just tell me,” again, he sounded exasperated with her.

“Yeah, no I’m okay...” she whimpered biting her lip trying to erase the thoughts from her head of the last few moments. Harry was there and she was okay. “No...no...” she shook her head as the tears steadily fell. She gasped out a strangled cry and Harry pulled her to him immediately. She was overwhelmed by a lot of things but also that he felt so safe and sturdy as he held her. His arms around her protectively, he cupped his hand on the back of her head and one arm around her waist. The sobs left her freely then.

“S’okay,” he said so gently it hurt more than anything that happened to her. Harry being so nice to her nearly wounded her. The safety of his embrace left her breathless. His thumb rubbing over her hair made her weak. “You’re safe, kitten,” he promised. “I got you.”

*

Harry held her hand the entire cab ride home. She sniffled and each time she did, Harry squeezed her hand reassuringly. The cab stopped outside her apartment building, and she reached for her purse for money. “Stop,” Harry said putting her hand to her side and paying the driver. Harry followed behind her while they made it up the stairs to her second-floor place. Every so often she glanced back to see if Harry was still there. “M’not going anywhere, kitten,” he promised.

She nodded, unlocked her door and pushed inside. “Can I get—”

“Just go sit down, love,” he shook his head at her. “I’ll be right in,” he said making his way for the kitchen. His voice was gentle. Like when she wasn’t feeling well, and he made her nap and eat.

She followed his direction. She felt a little out of place in her own apartment and she twiddled her fingers together as she waited in silence for Harry to come to her living room. He was there shortly, a glass of water for her. She reached out for it, but Harry noticed how her hand was still shaking. “Here,” he said bringing the cup to her lips. He gently cradled the back of her head with his other hand. She felt like a child as Harry helped her drink, but he didn’t pay any mind to the situation at all—he just didn’t want her to spill and make a mess that she would have to worry about right now. “Can I get you anything else?” He wondered. His voice was so deep and gentle in comparison to the hatred he spewed before in every word he spoke.

She shook her head, more tears filling her eyes. “Thank you,” she said gratefully.

He shook his head back at her. “Don’t,” he sighed. “I would never let anything happen to you, kitten,” he promised. Her heart fluttered, despite everything. It was by far one of the sweetest things Harry ever said to her. “I’m glad you’re home safe now. I can leave if you want—"

She was quick to protest. Too quick. “No! Please don’t,” the words rushed out of her mouth before she could stop them. She turned to look at the empty dark apartment as a distraction from her cheeks turning into two red tomatoes. She cleared her throat regaining her composure as she looked back at Harry. She was lucky the tears filled her vision again at the frustration and sadness of her evening overwhelming her again.

“I won’t go until you want me to, kitten,” Harry answered pressing his hand to her face. He brushed his thumb gently over her cheek bone and caught the stray tear that spilled over. His voice was so quiet and soft. It was so different than every interaction he ever had with her.

“Really?” She whispered breathlessly.

“No, baby,” he promised. “I won’t.”

She didn’t think and wrapped herself up in his embrace. It worked so naturally of course. His arms wrapped around her, and he tugged her carefully, so he was snuggled into the corner of her sofa with her cuddled into him. She sighed with relief as tears flowed onto his shirt and coat. She sniveled miserably. “I’ll have to get this dry cleaned for you,” she managed to mumble between her tears.

“Would you please just shut up?” The exasperation was thick in his tone. It kind of made her smile.

“Okay,” she whispered sniveling still.

After a few moments her cries subsided, and Harry let his fingers dance up and down her arm as he held her close to him. He tried not to think about how perfectly she fit in the empty spaces of his body. “Harry?” She asked quietly.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you,” she said again.

He sighed, a bit irritated that she was thanking him for being a decent human being and protecting her. But he knew she was uncomfortable and upset. “You’re welcome, kitten,” he said softly. “Go to sleep.”

*

“I can’t do that, Harry. His client base is too substantial.”

“Let him leave with them, then,” Harry snapped. He was pacing Louis’ office. Adamant something be done.

“Harry, stop,” Louis rubbed his hand over his face. “We can get her a restraining order if she wants, and we can put him on a different floor so he never—”

“You need to fire him,” Harry said. “Or she and I will take all our clients and leave instead,” he promised.

He stared at his friend. “Harry.”

“Louis, you fire him, or you’ll have to represent me when I kill him.”

There was a knock outside Louis’ door before the pretty girl entered, making the anger in Harry’s heart dissipate immensely. “Oh, hi Harry,” she murmured and looked at her feet nervously. “You wanted to see me, Mr. Tomlinson?” She asked softly.

Harry gazed at her so adoringly, he couldn’t stop himself. His blood was on fire the moment he saw her struggling. He never thought about murdering someone seriously in his whole life. Yet there he was—ready to kill someone on behalf of the sweet girl. “Call me Louis, love. Please.”

She nodded. “Louis, then. Am...I in trouble?” She asked curiously.

Harry sighed in exasperation and ran his hand over his face in disbelief. She stared at Harry curiously as he made his assessment. “You’re an idiot,” he said to her.

She looked at her feet, feeling her face warm at his insult. “Harold,” Louis snapped. “No love, you’re not in trouble. I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Oh.”

There was a bit of silence. “Well, are you alright?” He repeated. Harry wanted to shake her a bit. She was beyond infuriatingly annoying sometimes.

“I’m okay,” she said softly. “Uh...Harry protected me.”

“Yes, he’s decent every once in a while.”

She smirked. “He is.”

“Can I do anything for you to ensure you feel safe while you’re working?”

“Oh, um...no—”

“You can fire him,” Harry repeated.

“Harry, that’s not necessary,” she shook her head, her face feeling flushed.

His right eye twitched and he looked out Louis’ window; stuffed his hands in his pockets as he muttered to himself. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re not safe while you’re here,” Louis said knowingly.

Harry wasn’t watching her, but she looked right at him as she answered Louis. “I feel safe,” she said softly.

Louis smirked and shook his head at Harry who still wasn’t paying any attention. Talk about an idiot in this scenario. “I’m very sorry that happened to you. He will be reprimanded beyond belief, you have my word. We’ll be moving his office to a different floor as well,” he promised.

“Louis, you weren’t there,” Harry reminded him. “You didn’t watch her cry while she fell asleep—”

“Harry!” She gasped at the admission and her face felt warm. That was not something she wanted her boss to know. It painted the wrong picture—even if she slept so well in the comfort of Harry’s arms. Louis didn’t pay any attention to their night spent together, though. He was keeping his eyes on Harry.

“I wanted to kill him,” Harry repeated. She gulped at the idea of Harry doing something so violent for her. Something that would get him thrown in jail for a long while.

“I understand that,” Louis said simply. “Love, I’m very sorry,” he returned his attention to the poor girl who looked wildly uncomfortable. “If there is something I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask. I know you have Harry in the office next to you, but if he’s not around, I’d be happy to assist you with anything,” he said kindly.

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” she said courteously.

“Harold,” Louis said narrowing his eyes at him.

“Whatever,” he grumbled and stalked out of the office.

“I’m...sorry about him,” she said nervously.

“Don’t worry love, I’ve known Harry for a long while. He means well. He’s just thick headed sometimes,” he shrugged. “I’m serious though, if you need something or want something, let me know.”

“I will, thank you.”

Shaking her head, she exited his office and headed back to her own. She grabbed a cup of coffee from the breakroom as she passed it and tried to think about the to-do list she had for the day. Mentally, she added a dry-cleaner stop for Harry’s suit she cried all over as well. It wasn’t much, but it was the least she could do as a thank you for all he did. As she paced the last few steps toward her office, she tried to convince herself the last few moments in Louis’ office were real. Harry was angry at Louis (and maybe her, what else was new?) for something beyond his control. She wondered why he was so adamant but found it sweet in Harry’s own way.

She closed her office door behind her and tilted her head at Harry sitting on the couch. As she entered, he stood up and gazed at her without speaking. It looked like he was looking through her. She bit the inside of her lip as she held the coffee with both of her hands to keep her tingling fingers warm at the idea that Harry was waiting for her. “Can I help you?” She asked.

“I’m going to be a shitty boyfriend.”

She blinked in complete confusion. It was by far the last thing she ever expected Harry to say. “I’m sorry?”

“I get all wrapped up in m’own stuff and I forget dates even though they’re in m’calendar and reminders and everything. It’ll infuriate you. I’ll make up for it with grand sweeping gestures that will maybe make it better, but they might just make y’madder that I can’t remember the little things.”

“Harry, what—”

“M’so in love with you and I’ve been ignoring it since we were kids. The six months I worked here without you were the longest months ’ve gone without seeing you and I didn’t even want t’see you, but I don’t want to go that long without seeing you ever again. I barely want t’go an hour without seeing you and even when I do I think about you the whole time,” he started to pace across her office back and forth as if was retracing his steps to remember all the things he was saying. Like they were written on the carpet.

“Can you just—”

“I’ll be better than that tool y’dated in third year,” she wondered where that came from because she didn’t even know he knew she was dating someone. “I’ll give you everything y’want or need whenever you ask. I’ll plan dates, I’ll take y’anywhere you want t’go, I’ll walk on hot coals for you, if you ask. I love you so goddamn much, love. I want to murder someone for you, and I wouldn’t bat an eyelash; ’ve never felt this way ‘bout anyone before. You’re infuriatingly sweet and y’never know when t’shut up or what’s good for you. It’s probably going t’get y’killed one day and I don’t know how someone s’sweet could be a corporate lawyer. You’re unbelievably challenging in so many ways and y’always remind me that I don’t know everything even though I think I do. Mum and Gemma want me t’bring you t'Sunday dinners.”

She shook her head trying to process all of this it didn’t help that he was jumping from topic to topic. Harry had given speeches in college before. She listened to many of his own closing arguments and of course read countless persuasive essays. This wasn’t anything like any of that. This was wild and out of sorts. She wondered what was flowing in his head and why it was spewing out like this, why it was happening now. “Harry, what are you—”

“You asked me t’be friends because you thought we’d be good friends since we spent all that time together. Quite frankly you’re m’best friend. Even though I was miserable towards you all the time. I don’t know why I did that t’you and s’jus’ another reason you should tell me t’take a hike. No one knows me as well as you do. Sleeping with you on your couch made m’neck so sore I can’t turn it to the left, but it was the best sleep of m’life and I want t’do it over and over again if I can hold you.”

That made her face flood with heat so quickly she was sure she looked bright red. “Harry, honestly, I’m—”

“I will never hurt you and I will never let anyone hurt you while m’around.” This time she didn’t interrupt him she could feel her face soften at his words and she felt like she was going to cry if he talked any longer. “I don’t think I know anyone half s’beautiful as you, kitten, inside or out,” he said softly. Everything else he said felt like a sprint. A rush of words he had been dying to get out for who knows how long. “Please, be my girlfriend,” he said finally, slowly at last.

They stared at each other silently for several moments.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Thank you.”

[eddywoww]

Eddie Munson is the defacto leader of a coed theater fraternity at his Uni. They’re a close knit bunch who have each others back at all times, even if the rest of their school might see them as a joke.

The only problem is that their meetings are historically usurped by the Alpha Phi frat house who happen to be placed right next to the classroom that they are forced to squeeze their meetings into. Do they get a frat house? No, of course not. It doesn’t help that Eddie has actual beef with the frats vice president, some floppy haired idiot he refuses to learn the name of (Steve Harrington) because he’s stolen Eddie’s parking space like five times since the semester began and he keeps stopping by their class, seemingly looking for Eddie (who definitely doesn’t dip out to hide every time, he’s not about to fight some sports scholarship kid)

It doesn’t help that the animosity between the two groups isn’t new. It doesn’t help that they’ve been fucking with each other years before Eddie even arrived at the Uni. It’s kind of a time honored tradition to try and get under each others skin.

So when Benny the Octopus goes missing one day, naturally, Eddie freaks the fuck out. That’s their octopus made of welded together scrap metal, thank you very much and he’s been in the theater for over a decade. They protect Benny, they love Benny. How did the frat even get their hands on him? And if you, like Robin, are bothering to ask “Why would you assume it was them, Eddie?” Then you can actually just shut the fuck up because it was definitely 100% them.

This entire ordeal leads to Eddie taking one for the team, obviously. Which further leads to Eddie sacrificing himself in the name of Benny to climb the short distance up the back of Alpha Sigmas stupid little frat house and into their second floor bathroom because it’s the only point of entry that Eddie can truly find that won’t get him automatically tackled to the ground. Could he go to a higher up and solve this problem without breaking and entering? Maybe. But that’s boring.

So he goes on his espionage recovery mission, realizing too late that maybe he isn’t the sneakiest person imaginable as he grapples with vines and barely manages to get solid footing on the ledged roof below him. And then he’s in the bathroom, pulling himself through the window and- right. It doesn’t matter that it’s 2 am. This is a frat house, Eddie. These are frat guys, why would they be asleep?

It’s with a big whopping holy fuck oh no what have I done, that Eddie falls through the window and onto the floor of a steamy, recently used bathroom. Because someone had been showering. Because said someone is standing there with a towel held firmly over his crotch, a deer in headlights expression marking his face as brunette hair drips onto his chest.

And Eddie has no clue what to do because being faced with a naked, let alone wet Steve Harrington is doing things to his brain (and his dick) that he can’t really handle.

And then Steve opens his mouth to blurt out “Whyareyouinmybathroom pleasedonthurtme!” And okay, that’s maybe a little dramatic. Which Eddie tells him, before realizing that he is in fact wearing a ski mask. So like, fair. But then it clicks on Steve’s face and he relaxes fast into a bitchy frown. “You’re that fucking theater kid, aren’t you?”

Which, okay. Eddie wasn’t aware Steve even knew him.

He makes his way off the floor and “I’d offer to shake your hand but uh-“ Steve turns bright red and winds the towel around his waist as quickly as possible. Right. Down to business. “I want Benny back.” Which, as it turns out, Steve feigns like he has no clue who Benny even is. Rude. “Big, metal, kind of looks like shit.”

Steve could not get any redder as Eddie tries to explain himself in a roundabout way, not at all going into a tangent about his distaste for the frat while Steve drips onto the floor. And then-

“I have no clue what you’re talking about and it sounds like you have weird one sided beef because I have never intentionally done anything to upset you.”

And that’s just- that is not true. That’s not true. At all.

“You steal my parking space!”

“They’re not assigned!”

“It’s a respect thing and you keep coming to my meetings, looking for me by name! Which is weird by the way!”

“I wanted your number!”

As soon as Steve blurts it out, he clams right up and Eddie just- he just- “You wanted my number?” Because that’s inconceivable. That doesn’t make sense. “Why didn’t you just ask for it?”

“Because you hide every time I try to find you!” Steve blurted out again, eyes squeezed shut like he was genuinely embarrassed and right. He was naked and maybe had a crush on Eddie? Which was- yeah, Eddie wanted to touch him now. But he wanted to be cautious too. So he made his way closer slowly, trying to give Steve an out. He really was so pretty close up, a fact that Eddie had been trying desperately to deny for so long now.

Eddie reached up and pulled his stupid mask off, staring at Steve as his eyes opened back up, tentative and stressed.

“You could ask me for it now,” Eddie said with a small grin, lips upturned as Steve chewed on his bottom lip. “I might say yes.”

Steve rolled his eyes, reaching up to smack Eddie across the back of his head. Eddie caught his hand and pulled him into an unmasked kiss.

[mooniania]

Hardly Ever Smile (Without you) PT2

SYNOPSIS - You are typically the quiet girl that no one talks to and who has a hard time showcasing any emotion, so what happens when a very good-looking guy starts to pay attention to you?

PAIRING - soobin x fem!reader

GENRE - angst, fluff, friends to strangers? to lovers!

WARNINGS - mentions of cheating, cussing, mentions of kissing (if i missed any more let me know!)

WORD COUNT - 6,428

part 1 if you haven’t read it yet! -> Hardly Ever Smile (Without You)

a/n - i’m so sorry this took forever to get out it’s been months i apologize and i hope the word count makes up for it! If you enjoyed please like and reblog it’s appreciated.

You were such a fool to think Soobin would like someone like you.

But whatever, that was over now, and that was past you. You didn’t want to stay upset about Soobin; he wasn’t yours to begin with. But you couldn’t be friends with him anymore. It wouldn’t be fair to his girlfriend if he had a friend who was a girl who had a crush on him. You didn’t have any clue what to do. Ignoring him at school would be awfully impossible, so truly, your only option was to just stay friends with him, distance yourself from him, and then you would be able to say that you guys had fallen out naturally.

After the plan was over and you weren’t friends with Soobin, you weren’t quite sure what you would do with yourself. Would you just go back to being regular old you, or, most importantly, would you ever be able to find someone who made you as happy as him?

That was a question for after the plan.

You entered your first class of the day and took a seat in your spot. This class happened to be history, the only class you had with Soobin. Since you and Soobin only had one class together, he usually walked you to your other classes, and then during lunch, y’all would part ways, he had lunch with his group of friends.

and you, well, you had no one.

It was sad, but it was the truth. It was your fault, though; you never let yourself get close to anyone, and Soobin was now a reminder of why you never got close to anyone.

As you were patiently waiting for class to start, you put music in your headphones and listened to it until you felt a tap on your shoulder. You instantly knew who it was. You looked to your side to find Soobin with a huge smile on his face. "Y/N, guess what?" he said excitedly while bouncing his leg really fast. What?" Your cold response seemed to make his excitement go down, and you can see the shift as he frowned. "Are you okay?" he asked, and before you could respond, he started to talk again. "Actually, this reminds me, why didn’t you show up for our study session?" You wished he would’ve just not brought it up, and as you remembered what you had witnessed that night, you felt your eyes watering. "Oh, um, I caught a cold," you responded, looking down to fidget with your fingers. "Then why didn’t you respond to my message?"

Why does he have to ask so many fucking questions? "I fell asleep, sorry, just continue with what you were going to tell me," you say, looking back up at him and giving him a small smile while continuing, "you seemed very excited to tell me.” “Oh right, well, I've been meaning to tell you this because it’s been about 2 months, but we decided to keep it a secret until now," he says, shyly blush, covering his cheeks, and you feel your heart drop. You knew exactly where this was going. "I have a girlfriend; you know Moon Haeun, right?" How could you not know? She was the most beautiful girl in the school, and what makes it even worse is that she is the sweetest girl ever; she's a sunshine, she’s outgoing, she's popular, and she is also the complete opposite of you.

"Oh, congrats, you say in an unenthusiastic tone, your voice slightly trembling. You quickly face the front of the class, hoping that class will start soon while trying to hold back your tears. "Y/N, I thought you would be happier for me." You look back at Soobin, and you can see how disappointed he was, and you can’t help but feel like a monster. "I am, but you know I can’t express my emotions well." You felt anxious. You were bouncing your leg up and down. Your tears were extremely obvious by this point, and all you wanted was for the teacher to finally show up and start class. "I’ve seen you be happy before when we were at the amusement park. You were smiling and having fun. So why can’t you showcase happiness for me right now?"

because I'm so in love with you that it physically hurts.

That's what you wanted to say, but you didn't, and to your luck, your teacher had finally arrived. Every student stood up and bowed to the teacher before taking a seat again. You looked over at Soobin, and he quickly looked away from you, shaking his head in disappointment. You could tell he was upset at the fact that you never gave him a response.

Your plan was never to end things on bad terms with Soobin, so during class you were planning on talking to him while he walked you to your class and just telling him that you still felt off from the cold.

That's what you wanted to tell him, but you didn't have the chance. When class ended, he walked out almost immediately; he usually waited for you. When you finally walked out of the classroom, you saw him with Haeun, who was leaning on the lockers. Both were giggling and having fun while you felt your world crashing down. You weren’t the one for him, and you never were. Seeing how cheerful she made him after you made him gloomy proved exactly that.

School today was so different than usual. You were so used to Soobin walking you to your classes, and now you had no one. The only thing that would be normal today was lunch. During lunch, you went and sat on a very old bench outside of school. It was comforting for you. You got fresh air, and you didn’t have to worry about anything. Today would be exactly the same, or so you thought until you saw a girl you had never seen before sitting on one side of the bench. Normally no one ever sits there because of how the bench looks, but she did. You decided to take a seat next to her and mind your own business.

"Oh hi," she said, bowing her head at you. She was extremely beautiful. She had plum lips and beautiful wavy brown hair. You bowed your head back at her and continued to unwrap a sandwich you had made for lunch. As you were about to take a bite of your sandwich, you heard her speak again. "I'm sorry if I’m bothering you, but I’m new and I was wondering if you could help me get to my classes," she says, leaning a piece of paper towards you that has her schedule on it.

You put down your sandwich and wiped your hands with a napkin before touching the edge of the paper and tugging, indicating to her that you wanted to grab it to look closer at her schedule. She lets go of her schedule, and you both fall into silence while you look at her schedule.

You finally speak again and break the extremely awkward silence by saying, "I can help you. We have most classes together," you say while handing her schedule back. "Thank you so much. My name is Yunjin. Huh Yunjin." She bows her head at you again. "No problem," you reply, grabbing your sandwich so you can take a bite. "May I get your name?" she asks. "My name? Why do you want to know my name?" You didn’t intend for it to come out sounding impolite, but it did. “Sorry, I was just hoping you would like to become friends with me." She looks down at her fingers, embarrassed at her attempt to make friends. “Y/n," you say. "My name is Y/n. We can be friends if you want, but just so you know, I don't have any other friends. I- I’m not very good at being friends with people." She looks back up at you with a smile on her face.

“I can teach you how to be friends with people. We can be the best of friends if you let me. I pinky promise." She said she was raising her pinky and waiting for you to raise yours as well. You said you wouldn’t let anyone into your life again, but maybe this could be different. She was different. “Alright," you said, raising your pinky next to hers, and you felt Yunjin tighten both of your pinkies together. You couldn’t help but let out a small giggle, and she couldn’t help but also let out a giggle while letting go of your pinky. You look down at the sandwich that is in your lunchbox and then notice Yunjin has nothing to eat.

“Yunjin, do you? Would you like half of my sandwich?" you ask, splitting your sandwich in half and signaling for her to take one half with your hand. "But wouldn’t you be hungry?" she asks before hesitantly grabbing one half of the sandwich out of your hand. "Oh no, it’s okay; I usually never finish my sandwich either way." Complete lie, but you couldn’t help but feel a soft spot for Yunjin; she was probably one of the only people besides Soobin who was not afraid to approach you and talk to you.

You and Yunjin ate in comfortable silence; lunch was about to end, and you both didn’t want to have to throw away your sandwiches. You then wondered why you hadn’t seen Yunjin during History class since that was the first class of the day. You wanted to ask, but you felt too shy to bring up conversational stuff like this. "Are you done with your sandwich? I can throw our napkins away in the trash bin nearby," Yunjin asks, standing up and reaching her hand out so you could give her your dirty napkin. “Oh, thank you," you say, handing her your napkin.

She walked back to the bench, about to take a seat again, when the bell rang. “Oh, that’s the bell. We should get to our art class." You said you were standing up and dusting off your uniform, which was filled with breadcrumbs. “Alrighty, show me the way," she said enthusiastically, taking you by surprise when she linked her arm with yours. You weren’t quite used to physical affection, but Yunjin seemed to love it, so you didn’t mind.

You and Yunjin walked into the cramped halls arm in arm. You could feel the stares of students when you both arrived at art class. "Never knew she had friends," you heard a student say out loud, and the others laughed at this remark. As you were about to walk Yunjin to your desk, you heard the teacher speak. "What’s so funny?" the teacher said while entering class, immediately going silent. “Oh, you must be Huh Yunjin, right?" the teacher said while signaling her to come forward. You let go of Yunjin’s arm and took a seat. "Please introduce yourself." "My name is Huh Yunjin, and I come from a performance school in New York." She bows towards the class and waits for the teacher to give her further instructions. "Thank you, Yunjin. I hope we have a good year together. You may take a seat wherever you’d like, "the teacher said, signaling empty seats. Yunjin took a seat next to you; she turned to you and gave you a smile before facing forward to hear further instructions from the teacher.

The rest of your school day was spent getting to know Yunjin more. You both laughed in class telling each other silly stories about your childhood, and sure, you got looks here and there, but she didn’t pay attention to them, so you didn’t either. At the end of the day, you and Yunjin exchanged numbers. You had expected today to be horrible, but thanks to her, it wasn’t.

Tuesday was going to be a good day, and you knew that. You had Yunjin and Soobin for history class. You wanted to clear things up with Soobin so you could end on good terms. But unfortunately, things never go your way. When you entered, you saw Soobin sitting with his friend, who had called you a weirdo, and when you passed him, his face had a sour expression. You sat down in your regular spot soon after Yunjin entered the classroom looking for you. When she spotted you, she gave you a huge smile and walked towards you to sit on Soobin's old chair. Soobin noticed how excited Yunjin looked to see you, and when he looked back, he was shocked to see you return a smile at her. From what Soobin knew, you had never had any friends, so how come it was so easy to replace him, or were you just lying to him to catch his attention?

“Hey, why doesn’t anyone ever sit by you?" Yunjin said she found it weird how in every class she had with you, you never seemed to have a tablemate. "Oh well, someone did sit there, but he changed his seat," you replied, looking at Soobin. "Why?" she asked. She noticed how everyone found you weird, but she didn’t understand why. Well, we used to be close, and then something happened. I wanted to end things on a good note, but he hasn’t talked to me since," you explained quietly so Soobin wouldn’t hear you. "What an ass," Yunjin replied, "sounds like he needs to know how to have a conversation." No, it was my fault; I was the one who pushed him away, if anything," you said, looking down at your lap. "Oh well, that’s what I’m here for, right? I'm going to teach you how to be friends, remember?" She says this, grabbing your hand and giving it a squeeze.

Soobin noticed this interaction and was not happy at all. He hated how Yunjin was probably falling for your stupid sob story. He hated how you didn’t care about his feelings. He hated how you didn’t even try to talk to him, but you could quickly open up to a new girl. but he doesn’t know why he hated it. He had his group of friends, not to mention his girlfriend, so why did he care so much if you had other friends who weren't him?

During lunch, you and Yunjin decided to share both of your lunches together on the same bench where you both met. You were having fun, and occasionally Yunjin would make an extremely bad dad joke and would get jokingly upset at you when you wouldn’t laugh at it. The first time she got upset at you jokingly, you really thought she was upset, and you were almost in tears, but she had to clarify that she wasn’t upset, and she gave you a hug to cheer you up. You felt comfortable with Yunjin; she was an easy person to talk to about anything. You even told her about You and Soobin instead of judging you. She was understanding and didn’t try to solve the issue; she just comforted you, and you really liked that.

You really did still want to talk to Soobin to clear things up, but he was busy with his girlfriend anywhere you and Yunjin went. Soobin and his girlfriend were also there. It's like you couldn’t escape them, so over the week you gave up and stopped trying to fix your friendship with Soobin.

After a few weeks turned into months, you stopped caring what Soobin was up to. You had Yunjin, and as bad as that sounded, it was true that she was there to uplift you when you were down. You and Yunjin were stuck by the glue; y’all had started doing everything together, going shopping for clothes and makeup. You normally didn’t really care for your looks, not that you hated makeup or were against it. You just didn’t know how to use it, but Yunjin was kind enough to teach you. You and Yunjin went to lots of bookstores, music stores, and arcades. She truly was your best friend. She even taught you how to express your emotions more, and by the end of the school year, you were more talkative than you were before meeting her.

During the summer, you both decided to get a job at a local bakery for some extra money. You enjoyed spending your time with Yunjin. You were surprised that you guys hadn’t run out of anything to talk about yet. Y’all spent almost every second of every day together when it was time for University to begin. Both of you decided to get a dorm together. You girls were truly inseparable.

University was like a fresh start. There were more people in a University than in a high school. You hadn’t been trying to find love ever since Soobin, and to be honest, you hadn’t been curious about Soobin for a long time, but you did know that he was still with his girlfriend. He had shown up on your Instagram feed a week ago, and you couldn’t help but look through his account. Although you weren’t happy with the way things ended with you and Soobin, and you knew that the chances of you ever reconciling your friendship with him were slim, you were just happy he was happy.

On your first day of university, you were excited and nervous because you and Yunjin weren’t majoring in the same thing; you were majoring in photography while Yunjin was majoring in business. So you didn’t have any classes together.

You decided to take a seat not too close to the teacher but not too far; you couldn’t see that far. Your first University class had begun, and it was the most boring thing you had to sit through, so the relief your body felt when you were able to leave was unimaginable. As you were leaving, you spotted a familiar person in front of you, but you couldn’t make out who he was. That was until he turned back, suddenly bumping into you. “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t looking," he said without looking directly at your face and bowing down. but you instantly knew it was Soobin from his voice. “Oh, it’s okay," you replied, bowing down and getting out of his way so you could continue to walk out. "Y/n?" Just like you recognized his voice, he recognized yours as well. You stopped and turned around. "Oh hi," you said. You didn’t know what else to say. He stopped talking to you, and suddenly he wanted to finally talk to you. "How’ve you been?" He asked Soobin realized how much of an ass he was back in high school; he never fully let you explain why you weren’t great at showing your emotions, and he felt bad about it. He was such an asshole, assuming that you had bad intentions. "I’ve been good." You wanted to keep it short and simple. You knew he had a girlfriend, and this was probably wrong in some ways.

Oh, that’s good," he said with a small smile on his face. "How have you been?" You decided to ask back because you didn’t want to seem self-centered. Oh, I've been good as well; thanks for asking." Soobin said, and then you both fell into an awkward silence before you decided to dismiss yourself. Alright, I have to go goodbye," you said quickly, turning away from him as fast as possible. "Can we possibly catch up later or whenever it works for you?" he said as you were about to leave. "Oh sure, just text me." You are the stupidest person alive; why would you accept his offer? You didn’t know if you could stop yourself from falling in love with him again.

When you arrived at the dorms, you immediately told Yunjin everything. Well, just make sure that he has the right intentions." Yunjin said, and that was truly not helping you. How the hell were you supposed to know what his intentions were? Alright, we’ll go shower; I need to relax," you said, entering your bathroom. As you put your phone down on the counter, you saw your phone light up with a text notification on the lock screen.

Soobin 6:17

"Do you want to meet up tomorrow at Sugar Rush Cafe in the morning before class at 8 a.m.?"

You didn’t want to make yourself look desperate, so you decided to take your shower before responding. During your hour-long shower, you were wondering how you would reply and what both of you would talk about. There wasn’t much to say, and you weren’t even sure if you wanted to be his friend again. You weren’t sure if you could handle it yet. After your shower, you finally decided to reply.

Y/n 7:40

Yeah, sure, that sounds good!"

Soobin 7:41

Alright, see you there!"

The next morning, you woke up early so you could do some light makeup and catch the bus in time. You were anxious; you’d been overthinking anything that he might ask you and how you would respond. You even decided to get to the cafe 20 minutes earlier than planned. “Hey, Chaewon, I’m going to wait for someone, so I’m going to take a seat before ordering." Sugar Rush Cafe was the bakery you and Yunjin worked at, and you both met Chaewon, who was the daughter of the people who owned the bakery, and you all got pretty close, even hanging out multiple times with her during the summer. “Ooooo, are you waiting for a special someone?" She teased, wiggling her eyebrows up and down while you stood near the counter talking to her. “No, Chae, he was my old friend, and we fell out of friendship, and now he wants to chat, I guess." He definitely wants more than just a friendship," she said, continuing to tease. "Chae!" you exclaimed. "He has a girlfriend. I would never date someone who is taken. That’s shitty." You replied defensively. "Sorry! I had no idea." Chaewon said, “Okay, well, since it’s not busy yet, we can chat until he arrives." Alrighty," you said with a smile on your face.

It didn’t take long for Soobin to arrive, as he arrived 10 minutes before you both had planned, and he was shocked to see you sitting on a stool near the counter laughing with the worker. Both of you seemed to be deep into conversation. He finally decided to enter the bakery, the doorbell ringing as he walked in. "Oh hi, Soobin," you said with a huge smile plastered on your face, which wasn’t super normal for him to see. "Hi, have you ordered yet?" he asked. “Nope, I was waiting for you, but now that you're here, we can order!" You said since you had been talking with Chaewon, you felt your energy level go up, and instead of feeling nervous, you felt more calm. Before he could speak, you had already started ordering with Chaewon. “Okay, Chae, I’ll take an iced caramel macchiato. What would you like, Soobin?" you say, looking at him. Oh, an Iced Americano will do, thank you." He said he had never seen you order for yourself when you both were friends, and he would be the one to do it despite being shy. It was like seeing a new person. “Okay, that will be 6.82," Chaewon said, reaching for Y/N’s card before Soobin put his card in front of yours. "I’ll pay; I invited you after all," he said with a smile on his face. “No, it’s okay, I'll pay-" you tried saying before he interrupted you. “Chaewon, please run my card," he said, handing Chaewon his card. Okay, both of your drinks will be ready in a few minutes. You may take a seat until I call y’all’s names."

"Thank you," Soobin said while bowing his head to Chaewon. "Where do you want to sit?" Soobin asked. “Oooo, let’s sit in that corner," you said instinctively, grabbing his arm but quickly letting go. Sorry, I'm just so used to linking arms with my friend." You said you were embarrassed, but he had just found it cute. When you both were friends, you had never let him grab your arm or hand. He liked how your friends brought out the happiness in you. "It’s alright, let’s just take a seat," he said, chuckling. He didn’t want you to feel awkward with him as well.

"Thank you for buying the coffee; you really didn’t have to." You said you felt bad that he paid for the drink, and you were practically death-staring Chaewon when she took his card. "It’s alright, it was nothing," he said. Anyways, how have you been? You know in depth this time, not the basic "I’m good" answer," he said, slightly mocking you with a smile that showcased his beautifully dimpled cheeks. “Well, it really has been good. My friend and I went to a lot of places during the summer, and she really has taught me a lot." You said you couldn’t help but talk about Yunjin. She was a huge part of your life. “Oh, Yunjin, right? I’m glad that you had someone like her." He said he felt bad that he hadn’t stayed friends with you. He was so quick to assume, and he wanted to clear things up, which is why he wanted to meet with you. He had also just hoped that maybe the two of you could be friends.

"Me too; she's great." You were happy just thinking of Yunjin; she was a really big part of your life. "Y/N, I’m sorry that I was such an ass in high school." Soobin suddenly comes up, and you are confused. He was never mean to you at all. What was he talking about? "I’m sorry, Soobin, I don't know what you mean; you weren’t an ass."

"You know, I just stopped talking to you randomly, and I could see that you were hurt when I did," he explained nervously. "It’s okay, Soobin; I never tried to reach out, so it was also my fault as well.

"But enough about that, Soob; how have you been?" you asked. Yunjin told you that whatever happens, continue the conversation and don’t let it go dry. "Oh, I've been great. I also hung out with my friends during the summer; I'm not sure how I feel about University yet," he said. "Me neither, I mean Yeah, I know it’s only been a day, but I’m still adjusting," you replied. "Same I-," Soobin began before getting interrupted by Chaewon yelling out both of your names. "I’ll go get the coffee," you say, standing up from your chair. "So how’s it going with Soobin?" she says teasingly. Chaewon, you know he has a girlfriend," you replied. You didn’t want to ruin his relationship; that was not your intention. "Right, sorry, I forgot. Well, well good luck," she said, handing you the coffees. "Thank you; have a good day, Chaewon," you said. "No problem, and you too," she said before you walked towards Soobin. "Hey, would you rather us walk and drink our coffees? You know, get some fresh air while chatting." You suggested the cafe was starting to get busier because of all the people waking up to start their days. "Alright," Soobin replied.

On this walk, you got to know a bit more about him again, and vice versa; it felt like both of you had never stopped talking to each other. “So, Soob, how’s your girlfriend?" you asked. You both stopped at a park nearby a couple of minutes before class started. You two didn’t want to be that early; you got on a swing and signaled Soobin to get on the other one. You wanted to know how his relationship was going on Instagram; they looked like the happiest couple, but his sudden quietness when you asked made you think otherwise. "Oh well, I don’t know." "What do you mean you don’t know?" you replied, confused. What could possibly be wrong with his relationship?

"I caught her cheating on me during the summer with one of my friends." He looked like he was trying to hold back tears from falling down, and then he spoke again. "And then again more recently." You felt your heart drop for him. You knew how it felt to be heartbroken. Oh, I'm sorry, Soobin. I didn’t know," you said, rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him.

"Why haven’t you ended things?" You spoke again. Why would he just let her continuously cheat on him? " I did, but she told me I wouldn't ever be able to find someone who loves me as much as her, and I know that it’s true. Who would ever like someone like me?" You felt terrible for him; he truly believed this, and you could tell. Soobin never had much confidence, and this was a well-known thing. You wished you could’ve told him how you felt about him at that moment, but you couldn’t. "That’s not true, Soob; I’m sure lots of girls would like you." You said you were trying to comfort him, but you could tell that didn’t help.

"May you please get up?" You asked what you were about to do, which required you to be standing; otherwise, it would be awkward. "Hm?" Soobin said, but complied. You opened your arms, moved them under Soobin's, and leaned in for a hug. It was indeed extremely awkward, and he couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. "Thank you," he said as he let go, a smile on his face, so you knew you had indeed cheered him up. "Yunjin said it would cheer people up," you said, now slightly embarrassed. "I see Yunjin has taught you a lot. Maybe one day I’ll be able to meet her properly." He had a smile so big that the tears that were previously forming started to fall. You watched as he wiped them off with his knuckles. "Let’s go to class; it's getting late, cmon!" You mentioned fleeing from him. "Wait for me!" he said, running behind you.

“God, I’m out of breath," you said, entering your University class. "We wouldn’t be out of breath if you didn’t decide to run." Soobin exclaimed. "Did you want us to be late?" you said while walking up the steps towards your seat. "You're right," he said, accepting defeat. "When am I not?" you said jokingly. He takes a seat next to you; you weren’t quite expecting that, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have a friend in class.

Your mornings continued like this for the past 2 months; it was a daily routine. You both would go to the cafe, take a walk to the park, and then go to class. And university was so much better with a friend who you had classes with. Although sometimes you would have to deal with Soobin being sad because he suspected his girlfriend had been cheating on him again, You felt horrible for him, but you could never tell him how you felt. Never. You both hang out in and out of school. When he met Yunjin, it was quite awkward, but with time, they warmed up to each other. And same with his friends; you met his best friends, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Kai. They had become very important people in your lives as well.

Currently, you are on Soobin and Yeonjun's dorm couch, working on a project that you have to finish with Soobin. "Hey y/n, let’s do something else. I want to take you somewhere." Soobin said out of nowhere, and that had taken you aback. "Where are we going?" you said, looking up from your laptop to look at him, your face filled with confusion. "It’s a secret; just trust me," he said with a light smirk on his face, and now you are curious as to what the hell he was up to. “Fine, let’s go," you said, closing your laptop and getting up from the couch. "Wait, you need a blindfold." Soobin says to run to his room to grab something to close your eyes with. "Alright, put this sleep mask on," he said, handing you a black sleeping mask. "Is this necessary?" you asked. “Where on earth could you be going that you needed an eye mask? "Very c'mon, you can put it on when you are in the car so you don’t have trouble walking to the car," he said, grabbing your hand. You felt your cheeks heat up.

A long car ride later, without being able to see where you were arriving, you finally felt the car jolt to a stop. Alright, we are here. “I’ll help you get out, don't worry," he says, and you hear the car door shut and feel your side of the door swing open. Here, grab my hand and make sure you don’t hit your head on the car." Soobin was very attentive when talking to you. He didn’t want you to get hurt. You feel Soobin's hand and move your leg out of the car as you were about to move the other one and take a step outside. You felt yourself starting to lose balance until you felt Soobin's hand lay on your waist. "Don’t worry, I've got you," he said, chuckling. You were completely clueless and had no idea when you had both gone, but he knew you would love it. "Just hold onto my arm and I���ll let you go," he said, latching his arm with yours. "Okayyy," you say. You just wanted to take off your mask and see why you were so impatient.

After a few minutes of walking on a trail, Soobin stops. Okay, you can take off your mask now." Soobin says, and so you do, and once you do, you are greeted with a field of flowers of all different kinds. “Wow, Soobin, this is amazing! I haven’t seen anything like this before!" you said with a huge smile on your face. “C'mon, let’s continue walking the trail; there’s more," he said, chuckling down at you. Seeing your excitement and happiness was one of his favorite things by far. You both continued walking, and you continued talking about how pretty all the flowers were while Soobin was admiring your own beauty.

At the end of the trail, you saw a red and white plaid blanket with a picnic basket and a bunch of cut-up fruits surrounding it. “Wow, Soobin, this is awesome," you said, looking up at him. Both of your arms were still linked together. “Let’s take a seat." And so both of you walked towards the picnic blanket and took a seat. "Why did you bring me here, Soob?" you asked curiously while eating a strawberry. “Well, you know how me and Haeun have been on and off," he started, and you now felt nervous as to what he was going to say. "I broke it off with her a month ago. I haven’t told anyone." Soobin said nothing and stayed quiet before continuing. "I realized I deserve someone better," he said with a small smile on his face. "That’s good, Soobin; I'm glad you learned that you are worth more than how she treated you," you replied, rubbing your hand against his shoulder. You were happy that he realized that she was never going to change.

"But what am I doing here?" you asked him, now confused. “Well, in that one month, I realized that I really liked someone, so I prepared something special for them, and if it goes according to plan, then I hope I will be able to date her." The smile was so big that his eyes turned into crescents. Whoever this girl was, you just hoped he made her happy. “Well, I hope she treats you better," you said with a smile on your face. “Yeah, well, I hope so too," he said, putting his hand on your thigh and looking around. "When are you planning to confess?" you asked, making him look back at you and chuckle at your cluelessness. He grabbed your hands and caressed them with his thumbs. You felt yourself blushing.

"Y/n.. I really, really like you. You’ve been there for me when no one else has and I was so stupid that I hid my feelings away in high school .Will you be my girlfriend?" He said he was looking deeply into your eyes. With his face close to yours, you could feel his breathing. "Yes," you replied with tears in you eyes and that was all you had to say before Soobin captured your lips. One of his hands was grabbing your waist while the other was caressing your cheek. Your arms were thrown around his neck. The kiss was nice and gentle; there were lots of feelings that were built up, finally letting go. For the longest time, this was the thing you had been wanting, and now it was finally yours. When you both let go for a breather, you both laughed while holding each other. You looked into his eyes filled with joy and happiness and knew that everything you had ever dreamed of him at night was finally becoming reality.

© mooniania 2023

do not copy, translate, rewrite or repost any of my works on any other social media platform.

taglist: @pinkisthenewangst, @alexs-mardy-bum, @sato-chan-2709, @sheeshhhhfelixsworld

[chaoscriess]

hi, i've getting into euphoria recently and i was wondering if you could write some poly!maddie and cassie with a fem!reader? it could be some time after season 2 with them liking the same girl, because y'know we love a trainwreck. reader is pretty normal, sort of like a background character but she's pretty charming and playful and just has no idea about any drama at school. she only knows these 2 as those girls who fought each other in lexi's play, poor girl has no idea what's going on. in truth, i just wanna see a trainwreck with maddie and cassie with a completely oblivious reader. sorry if it's a little long ;-;

I absolutely love this idea it literally temporarily got rid of my writers block tysm.

poly!maddie and cassie x reader

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒! none

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒! swearing, might not be exactly what was requested, I was feeling a bit too fluffy.. oops..

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒! on mobile, format might be weird. lowercase intended, unedited, double periods intended

two months ago, you didn't have a clue what was going on between maddy perez and cassie howard. as far as you were concerned, they were just two ex best friends who both happened to like you. however, it was much more than that. you knew about nate jacobs, and the fact that he has been on-and-off with maddy, but you had no clue that cassie had been with him too.

you had your own little circle, consisting of stoners who never payed any attention to anything, and people who genuinely didn't care about their education, who hardly ever went to class. so when you asked your friends what had happened, they were clueless as well.

you'd never truly tried to find out what had happened between the girls though, or why they fought, even though you were friends with lexi. in all honesty, you thought it would be better if you stayed oblivious. why? because you knew that finding out could change the way you viewed them, and you weren't ready for that.

lexi had told you about a week ago that they liked you, and you had been thinking about what to do ever since. neither of the girls had ever been in a poly relationship, and you were certain that they never would be. you hadn't been in one either, the closest you had gotten was being in a open relationship.

however, when you got word from lexi that she had talked to cassie for you, your view on the situation changed.

"wait.. so, you like y/n, right?" cassie looked over at lexi, panicking and trying to figure out how she knew. "um, what? no, why would you even think that? that's like, so gross.. like who even is she?!" lexi laughed at her sisters behavior and rolled her eyes. "yeah, okay. you know maddy likes her too, right?" cassie sighed and looked away, now upset. "yes obviously I know, lexi." lexi muttered an 'ookay..' and thought about what to say next. she wanted to get cassie to be open to at least the idea of being in a relationship with y/n and maddy, she thought that maybe it would help it actually happen. of course, she didn't think this was the greatest idea, but she would do anything for y/n, even if it meant getting her sister into a potentially toxic relationship.

"so... would you ever like, be in a relationship with her and maddy? like if you were both dating y/n... separately? I don't know if that makes sense so.." cassie cut her off by yelling 'no!' and she turned to face the wall. "well.. I guess maybe, but I'm tired of sharing everyone with maddy. I guess if y/n really wanted it then yeah.." lexi smiled and got up, mumbling a quick thanks before leaving cassies room, leaving her to yell after her in a panicked voice. "wait you're not going to tell her, are you?... lexi?!"

yeah, she told you. you were really happy, you pretty much just got cassie to agree to a poly relationship with you and maddy. both of the girls would be dating you but not eachother, you didn't see a problem. you didn't know about their past with nate, so you didn't worry about them getting jealous of one another. all you had to do now was get someone to ask maddy if she would, and then ask them both yourself.

it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

you spent days asking around, trying to get someone who talked to maddy to talk to you. finally, you had settled on rue. even though you and rue didn't know eachother very much, she found your situation amusing, and wanted to help. so, she did the same thing lexi did, and asked her if she would ever date you while cassie did as well.

maddy was more adamant about not wanting to do it, but a few days later, you had got a message from her in the middle of the night, asking to meet up at a local 24-hour diner.

when you arrived, you found maddy sitting at a booth in the back. she stood up when she saw you walking towards her, and motioned for you to follow her back outside, behind the diner, where you found cassie waiting. it was cold and raining, but the three of you stood far apart from eachother in silence until cassie spoke up. "maddy, why the fuck are we here?" maddy sighed and stomped lightly, mud splashing onto her legs. she tried to speak a few times, but only ended up blubbering like a fish. she felt pathetic. "I just.. well I wanted to.. um.. well.. y/n can I talk to you alone?" you nodded and walked around the side of the building, until you were just out of earshot of cassie. or so you thought. cassie heard everything the two of you said.

"okay, fuck. I like you. kind of, like a lot.. and I want to be with you. and I know that cassie likes you too so I just want you to pick one of us and move on. please." you stared at her for a moment, but in your head you were bouncing off the walls and running in circles. maddy just told you that she likes you. holy shit on a stick. that was not something you were expecting to hear.

you opened your mouth to speak, but stopped when cassie came around the corner with her arms crossed and a baffled look on her face. "are you fucking kidding me? you brought her here to make her choose between us?" maddy sighed as cassie walked towards the two of you. "listen, its not going to work out if we do it any other way, I just figured we could get it over with." you stood there in silence as the two went back and forth, praying to god they wouldn't break out into a fight.

you backed up a few feet as the girls started to get closer to each other, and they noticed immediately. the two of them turned to you and stopped with their argument, before stepping away from eachother. cassie licked her lips and took a deep breath before gathering her courage to speak. "can't we just.. both date her?" maddy looked at her with wide eyes and her mind immediately went to rue. "wait, did rue talk to you too?!" cassie looked at her with a confused frown on her face. "..what? no, lexi di- nevermind."

you tried to hide the smile that was forming on your face. cassie actually just suggested that you be in a poly relationship. maddy sighed and looked around for a minute, before crossing her arms and speaking. "well.. I guess we could.."

and so, after a few weeks, you all got comfortable. it took maddy and cassie a bit more time than you, but you eventually made it work, even if you still have your ups and downs. now, you couldn't be happier.

[forevermore-quoth-the-kitten]

MC has ADHD (Part 2)

MC has ADHD, and medicated or not, there's no adderal in the Devildom, so they have to deal with it on their own. Sometimes that doesn't go over too well since the denizens of the Devildom have no clue how to handle you sometimes.

Diavolo

Diavolo is always happy when he sees you, even more so that you two have a bit of time to chat since his next meeting isn't for half an hour and your next class isn't for 15 minutes.

but as soon as he sees you he can sense your emotions are chaos and it upsets and confuses the prince.

is something wrong? are you ok? he asks, surprising you. Diavolo is quick to apologize for surprising you.

Diavolo only grows more concerned though when you wipe baby tears from your eyes and tell him you're fine, and he can very clearly tell its a straight up lie.

Diavolo completely disregards both of your schedules, deciding that even Barbatos can't yell at him for prioritizing his exchange student. so he drags you to his office and sits you down, asking you again what was wrong.

and you try to lie again, but as soon as he reminds you he can tell when you lie, you just break down and cry against him for a few minutes.

after a bit when you stopped crying, Diavolo's heart had broken already, and he lets you pull yourself together before asking if you can tell him yet.

yeah, yeah you can tell him. you just- its hard sometimes. it was just a rough day and-

you cut yourself off, as if you're trying to protect someone. it brushes him the wrong way, but Diavolo hides it. he just waits and you eventually sighs.

your history teacher had chewed you out for a few incorrect facts on an essay you'd turned in the day before and he just wouldn't listen when you said you'd done your best but the things he pointed out weren't common knowledge for you.

you'd been learning their entire history that they grow up with in a few months and it was a lot and your progress was impressive. even Lucifer and himself recognized that, Satan himself had said that your progress is incredible.

but your teacher did not care, you should have known those things and he even said why. the reasons, Diavolo hates to admit it are good reasons. but that's for someone who'd been in the Devildom for a longer period of time. and you have other things besides that one class to do so, is he is truly pissed.

but that's not the current priority, he can deal with that teacher later.

right now you are in his office telling him that the lecture had just been too much and you hit your limit.

You quiet curse yourself out, saying something about emotional regulation and adhd, the first is easy for him to figure out, the second confuses him. Regardless he stops you, hating you talk about yourself like that.

You end up having to explain you didn't mean it like that, and tell diavolo about adhd and what it is and how it can affect you.

One of those things being hyper sensitive to certain things. It's not a big deal, you're over reacting and you know it.

Diavolo entirely disagrees but gives you a pass from you next class and let's you sit in his office for a while telling him some more.

He needs to fix a few things so this doesn't happen again to you.

Barbatos

you haven't moved in probably an hour

hes not even sure if you've blinked

getting your attention to ask if you're alright, you snap back to reality quickly and smile.

you're fine, just kinda thinking.

about what, he asks, curious as to what could take your attention like that.

um, nothing really? several things. its a bit weird to explain.

Barbatos shrugs it off and gets back to work, but just watches as you space out and your eyes unfocus just like that.

10 minutes later he's coming back to ask you, a bit concerned.

you have to laugh a bit. you're just feeling a little bored so you're getting lost in your head. its generally called disassociation, it just kinda happens sometimes, inside or outside of your control.

ah, this must be related to the adhd you have that he keeps hearing about.

he's . . . a bit worried about you but it seems you are not worried about it.

he accepts your explanation and moves on. but he does take the time to learn about your adhd a bit more.

he's less concerned the next time he sees that look in your eyes, although he's not entirely pleased to see it happening during class.

Solomon

Solomon is the only one who figures out you have adhd without you having to spell it out, lol

thus the shady sorcerer starts drug dealing to you

aka, he offers to get you [insert your adhd medication here]

you almost accept without thinking before you ask what he wants in return because you fucking miss being able to function properly

he asks you to help him as his assistant sometimes

you tell him you'll tell lucifer on him

so now you say him for his services normally with like, actual grim.

and the occasional experiment that usually gets you two in trouble

he's probably adhd too, or maybe he's just that nuts. who knows who cares

you got your bullshit and a chaos partner

devildom look out if he starts withholding your shit everyone's gonna suffer for it

Simeon

he's visiting the house of lamentation for the day to watch you because the brothers are all gone and it's not quite safe for you to to be alone.

you're cleaning, which is fine, he's letting you be productive. but over the course of a few hours, he's- getting concerned. you started in your room and you took some dishes to the kitchen, where he them found you doing the dishes. lovely!

but then you took the dirty rags to the laundry and he found you not long after in there reorganizing the detergents and the like and you separate the nearly empty ones out.

you throw those out and collect the trash, but it only makes it to the front door because now you're in the coat closet and now he had to intervene.

you've started so many tasks and finished none fo them. would you like some help?

you blink at him, then your eye go wide.

"i was cleaning my room!" you burst, and he has to pause. did- did you forget?

kinda? you're task jumping without meaning to because as you do something, you realize something else needs to be done so your brain switches tracks and most of the time, you kind of forget the previous tasks, or how the jumping started.

how- does that even happen? are you ok? Simeon doesn't want to be rude, but he's confused and concerned.

naw, it's just your adhd, it happens. you just need to get back on track. thanks!

. . . wait what's that?

you chat as he helps you stay on track and also finds out what aitism is.

and that . . . sounds a lot like Micheal and Raphael

he might have to look into this more

Luke

Luke does not like studying in your room. it's messy and disorganized and he doesn't like it!

besides its dark

its not that hes scared of the dark! its just hard to see! thats all!

but he is confused because whenever they stop by your room you have to look all over for whatever it is but you never clean it!

just organize it!

but no, luke's dumbfounded when Leviathan pops in asking for some pencils and you reach into your closet and open a shoe box with a hat in it and pull out 2 pencils a pen and a plastic straw.

what the actual heck?!

you say of course you know where that was, you put it there like 3 months ago.

how do you know where that is but not your Devildom History textbook from 2 days ago?!

you sigh and explain your brain works very weird. hyper organized things like his room are not your forte. your try to reorganize sometimes but it always devolves into your personal brand of organized chaos.

Luke still doesn't get it and you're a bit annoyed and snap at him that you cant help it, its just how your brain works

now you both are kind of upset. you apologize for snapping at him and luke apologizes for-

you cut him off because he didn't do anything wrong. you sit him own and explain that your brain and body work different than a lot of people because of this thing you have called adhd.

he panics for a second thinking you're dying.

then he thinks its the demons fault.

once he lets you actually explain, luke thinks about it for a few minutes, then takes a look again around your room. like he's trying to see it differently.

then he asks if you have those bags next to the bookshelf for a reason

yes theyre some things you've collected for your bookshelf at home after your year here that you don't want to take out but it's at least in the right place

what's in your desk?

you explain the organization of each drawer to him.

why didn't you give levi a pencil from that?

he wanted a specific one i borrowed from him once that we both forgot about.

Luke doesn't mind coming over to your room as much after that, it comes in handy when he started remembering where you keep your things or where certain items end up being thrown.

Part 1

[perpetualexistence]

Alley Cats AU: What Noah Did

Here's the queer coming of age story that I didn't expect to write until suddenly I was going all out with it!

Noah started off as just that one nerd that's in the library all the time. He would mostly hang by himself, though occasionally he'd hang out with Harold and Cody. Or more accurately, let himself get dragged into a hang out. Nerd solidarity against bullying or whatever. He didn't start attempting to put himself out there until the possibility of class representative came into play. He didn't truly care about it per se. It was something nice for college applications, though. He knew he'd be fighting Courntey for it, but they were already fighting for valedictorian anyways. He was fairly confident he could handle her. He actually started looking a bit forward to their rivalry and started putting effort into his campaign.

Noah's fall from potential class president to complete exile began with Justin. Everyone at school knows they hate each other, though no one quite knows why it started. There are rumors that Noah asked Justin out and got rejected. Others think Noah simply has no heart and Justin was just the poor guy who found himself in his crosshairs first. Others that Noah's simply jealous of anyone with pretty privilege. The only thing everyone can agree on is that Noah started it seemingly on a whim while Justin did nothing to deserve this.

Justin made sure that was the only story that circulated.

The real story begins with Noah and his budding sexuality. Or rather, asexuality. During middle school he never really got why other people were bothering with sloppy make out sessions or school crushes. He'd heard about and knew the rush of endorphins that happened when you saw someone hot, but he never felt it himself. He found out about asexuality and suddenly things made sense.

Noah's a logical person who likes it best when there's certainty in his life. He hated it when he didn't know what was going on with not wanting a girlfriend or even sex at all. It made sense that he was above emotional things like that. Aromanticism and asexuality clicked for him, and he was perfectly content with those labels.

Then Justin happened.

His personality was horrendous and vapid. But when Noah looked at Justin, he felt his heart flutter, his breathing quicken, his mouth go dry. Noah doesn't feel strong emotions often, so when they do they hit him like a truck with cut brakes plowing through a barrier into oncoming traffic. He suddenly understood what everyone meant when they arbitrarily declared what 'hot' meant. To want to hold and be held, even kiss. He hated the thought usually but something about Justin made him crave to twist their tongues together. Part of him is thinking 'I'd tap that' when he barely even knows what 'tapping that' means.

This throws everything for a loop, because how can he be asexual if he suddenly does want to have sex with someone? Did Justin flip some kind of Gay switch in Noah? Is Justin an exception? What exactly is it about him that makes him feel this way? He has a lot of questions he didn't ask for. The answer relies on someone he hates. Joy.

Made even worse is the fact that Justin starts flirting with him. Noah's got no clue where this is coming from. It's making his heart do things and he doesn't like it. Eventually he decided 'screw it', dragged Justin somewhere private, and started making out with him.

Noah liked the kiss. At least, he thinks he does? If he was enjoying this his mind shouldn't be able to wander like this. Unless that was normal? For once he in his life he barely knows what he's doing but he sure isn't going to let Justin know that. He lets Justin take over. Just closes his eyes, tries his best to have his brain just stop thinking and-

Click.

Noah's an idiot.

His eyes immediately shot open to the camera Justin had hidden on him this entire time. Noah Mudaliar doesn't feel strong emotions often, but he can certainly recognize what rage feels like.

Justin tries to play this off as just a simple bet. It's not like he's going to show everyone the photo. He just needs to show the proof he bagged the most stubborn boy around. Besides, Noah dragged him away, so he can't pretend he didn't want this. And he's got a reputation, right? Trying to be class rep? Justin can help get a few votes on his side in return for Noah keeping their little secret. And if he doesn't want that offer? Well. Nobody wants a fool for a class rep, will they?

Justin's lucky that he's athletic and Noah isn't.

Noah despises Justin now. And he knows no one will believe him over whatever story Justin makes up. The worst part, though? Noah didn't even get any answers about what he wanted. He's just as lost and confused. Combine that with angry and prideful, and you get someone on a warpath.

Noah may not be able to make Justin's social life a living hell, but there's something else he cares about deeply. His upcoming modeling career. So, in retaliation for Justin ruining everything, Noah makes a virus that automatically deletes any email that comes from a modeling agency. Justin will have no idea he's getting offers, and when it gets out he's snubbing everybody, his career will be shot.

Unfortunately for Noah, Justin happens to catch one of the emails automatically deleting itself one day. He goes to Harold to find out what's happening, and eventually it all leads back to Noah.

Justin in his fury calls Noah a jealous troll trying to ruin him for no good reason and paints himself as an innocent victim. Noah can't share the real reason why he did it because he doesn't want his reputation to become all about how Justin tricked him. It might also mean admitting he was only willing to go into it because he was confused about his sexuality, which is DEFINITELY not something he wants circulating.

He's upset that now he's questioning everything because part of him wants to do it again, another doesn't, and the kiss didn't even resolve his question on whether he's gay or asexual or who the fuck knows. And now everyone is bullying him for bullying Justin and messing with his future.

He's the first to find the alley as he runs to breakdown with this mess of emotions he has no idea how to deal with. He starts to use it when he wants to hide/read in peace. The library's not an option because people know to look for him there. It's like this for a while, and Noah's fine with it. It's just high school. He can manage. He can do alone.

He can do alone until the day he finds a girl screaming and beating up a trash can in his alley.

Alone becomes alone together.

<- What Alejandro Did | AU Masterpost | What Eva Did ->

[shslquestionmark]

I saw some people do this on YouTube, and it looked really fun, so here is my randomized Role swap AU for Trigger Happy Havoc! I'll be retelling the story chapter by chapter with each character playing a different, randomly assigned role using a random number generator.

The cast:

1. Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky Student

2. Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective

3. Byukuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny

4. Sayaka Maizono, The Ultimate Pop Sensation

5. Leon Kuwata, The Ultimate Baseball Star

6. Chihiro Fujisaki, The Ultimate Programmer

7. Mondo Owada, The Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

8. Hifumi Yamada, The Ultimate Fanfic Creator

9. Kiyotaka Ishimaru, The Ultimate Moral Compass

10. Celestia Ludenberg, The Ultimate Gambler

11. Sakura Ogami, The Ultimate Martial Artist

12. Aoi Asahina, The Ultimate Swimming Pro

13. Mukuro Ikusaba, The Ultimate Soldier

14. Toko Fukawa, The Ultimate Writing Prodigy

15. Yasuhiro Hagakure, The Ultimate Clairvoyant

16. Junko Enoshima, The Ultimate Fashionista

Prologue

The Protagonist: Junko Enoshima

The world sees Junko as just a pretty face. They don't know that her true talent isn't modeling, it's analyzing trends. She's simultaneously patronized as an airhead AND totally bored by a world that's too predictable for her brilliant mind. But maybe at Hope's Peak Academy, surrounded by other great talents, she'll finally find people who truly understand her...

Alas, Monokuma has other plans when he seizes control of the school and declares the start of The Killing Game.

Chapter 1: The Cruelty of a Kind Face

Lethal Example: Sayaka Maizono

Antagonist: Aoi Asahina

Partner: Sakura Ogami

Victim: Makoto Naegi

Killer: Toko Fukawa

Junko gravitates towards the bubbly swimming pro Hina. Hina seems to genuinely be what Junko pretends to be: perky, adorable, and simple. Playing along makes Junko feel good about herself.

Beloved pop idol Sayaka Maizono immediately establishes herself as a leader. She declares that they will never kill one another or obey Monokuma, inspiring the class to reb. That is, until Monokuma uses a giant industrial press trap to literally squash their hope--and demonstrate what happens to those who disobey the school rules.

It's not long after that that the first body is discovered: poor, innocent, average Makoto Naegi, only here by chance. His body is found dead by knife wound.

During the trial, a number of factors just don't add up: testimonies contradict one another, clues are out of place, etc. it only starts to make sense once Junko realizes that Hina is intentionally misleading the class. Hina's cutesy, innocent act was so perfect that even Junko was fooled. Like a dark mirror, Hina, too, only pretends to play the innocent, but unlike Junko, she uses people's misconceptions to her benefit, amusing herself by toying with people and creating chaos. Upon realizing she's been tricked, Celeste swears she'll kill Hina for this.

All seems lost until a surprising figure rises to the occasion: Sakura Ogami. At first, Junko was suspicious of the mean-looking martial artist. But now that lives are on the line, Sakura proves an observant and insightful ally, whose patience and kind words help Junko to believe in herself and guide her towards the truth.

The culprit is revealed to be Toko Fukawa. Makoto naively approached her, seeing a kindred spirit in Toko's shy, vulnerable facade and wanting to make a connection. But Toko's paranoia and self-loathing led her to misinterpret Makoto's kindness. Surely this must be a trick. Surely he'd never like an ugly, horrible girl like her. It must be an attempt to murder her. She had to murder him first, don't you see? It is only when it is too late that Toko realizes how wrong she was, and how she murdered the first person who was genuinely kind to her...

In her execution, Toko is surrounded by shadowy puppets who are furiously scribbling mean rumors and insults at her. The "pens" are revealed as blades that tear her to shreds.

Chapter 2: The Double-edged Blade of Justice

Victim: Mukuro Ikusaba

Red Herring: Chihiro Fujisaki

Killer: Hifumi Yamada

This whole time, Junko has been avoiding her sister. She fears that their bond is too broken by past betrayal, and with their different looks, personalities, and names, no one else in class even knows they're related (except for Celeste, who puts it together and taunts Junko for being a liar)

Then Monokuma releases a motive: everyone's deepest, darkest secrets, to be revealed if a murder does not occur within the next day. Junko winces to see that her secret is how she abandoned her sister when they were young, putting her own survival in a tough family over Mukuro's and leaving her to fend for herself. As for Mukuro's secret, well, whatever it is, it shakes her to her core, and she starts behaving erratically, isolating herself and gathering weapons, and everyone suspects that she will be the next killer. Instead she turns up dead, seemingly killed by her own knife.

Meanwhile, Hifumi seems to have turned over a new leaf! Where before he was off-putting and obstructive, he's become charming, helpful, and something of a leader. He forms a particular bond with Chihiro, and many jokes are made about them being a couple.

In the trial, Junko puts the clues together that someone hacked into Monokuma's files and used their findings to blackmail Mukuro into taking her own life. It seems that after Junko left her to become a superstar, Mukuro committed horrible war crimes as part of the Fenrir Mercenary Group, and feared that if anyone learned of the blood on her hands, they would never accept her. Since only the Ultimate Programmer could accomplish such a feat, that makes Chihiro suspect #1.

Indeed, Chihiro admits to hacking the secrets but not to blackmailing Mukuro. Junko pressures Hifumi until he cracks, admitting that he took advantage of Chihiro, using the secrets himself. The pressure of the Killing Game drove Hifumi to disconnect from reality and he began viewing everything through the lens of his favorite manga: a pastiche of Death Note in which he cast himself as Light, roleplaying as a charming and competent sociopath.

As he goes to his execution, Hifumi awakens to the reality of his misdeeds and begs for forgiveness. Chihiro reaches down in sympathy, but when he goes to take Chihiro's hand, it turns out to be nothing but a flimsy cardboard cutout--only 2d-- that he breaks through, falling to his death in the chasm below.

Chapter 3: Dynamic Detectives on the case of the Occult!

Victim #1 Kyoko Kirigiri

Victim #2 Byukuya Togami

Killer: Yasuhiro Hagakure

Monokuma's motive this time is cold, hard cash. Byukuya and Kyoko laugh off this paltry motive. As the two (apparently) smartest students, they begin working together in earnest to investigate who the mastermind behind Monokuma really is.

Celeste and Junko end up in a fight as they each accuse the other of not appreciating money as a motive, since they both assume that the other has never endured real hardship. When they open up about the difficulties of their pasts, they actually start to make amends.

Byukuya and Kyoko gather everyone together to share their findings, but when the class arrives they find them both dead, strangled, with a message in blood warning of the school's curse.

The investigation and trial prove to be a comedy of errors as everyone gets paranoid about the supernatural and Hina does her best to make the ghosts and demons seem real. Sakura's cool head helps Junko see past the distractions and tension to the rational truth: that Yasuhiro used charlatan's tricks to trap and suffocate the two victims and make it look like the work of a ghost.

It seems Yasuhiro is deeply in debt and not only wanted the money, but saw the killing game as an opportunity to become a massive star: the heroic Occult Detective who faced down Death Itself. A story like that would be worth millions, but not if he gets upstaged by a couple of smart detectives in suits.

Yasuhiro's execution is an obstacle course themed after a haunted house, with whirling blades help by ghosts, fire-breathing demon heads, etc. He stumbles at the first hurdle and impales himself on a plastic skeleton.

Chapter 4: The Traitor's Note

Traitor: Mondo Owada

Monokuma reveals that he has planted a traitor among them. Accusations and paranoia tear the class apart. Then Mondo's body is discovered, torn to shreds, identifiable only by his clothes and pompadour. It appears that the traitor left a threatening message at the scene of the crime.

Junko's investigation reveals that Mondo himself was the traitor. Before the Killing Game started, Mondo was insecure in his position, afraid he would never live up to his brother's legacy, and surrounded by rivals vying for head of their gang. The Mastermind offered to make his rivals disappear if he agreed to lure his classmates into the Killing Game and assure everything went according to their plan. Seeing the pain he'd caused, Mondo killed himself out of guilt, and Hina staged the body and the note.

Everyone's getting real tired of her shit about now.

Chapter 5: Liars Prosper

Victim: Aoi Asahina

Fall Guy: Celestia Ludenberg

No one is buying Hina's peppy, innocent schtick anymore. They decide to hold her prisoner in the pool's locker room so she can't cause any more trouble--only to shortly thereafter find her drowned in the pool.

Junko finds herself torn between her analytical talent and her heart. All the evidence points to Celeste being the culprit: she had the opportunity, she left physical evidence at the scene of the crime, and she publically fought with and threatened Hina on multiple occasions. But you see...

Celeste and Junko hated each other on sight. They were like oil and water. But what they discovered over the course of the game was that they understood one another in a way that no one else did. Although their personas could not be more different, at their cores they were both girls who became what they needed to in order to survive. And beneath that, they craved genuine connection: a person who accepted the real them. And they found that in one another.

Celestia swears that she did not kill Hina, but of course no one believes her, because she is the Queen of Liars. Junko's word alone is not enough to save her. Her execution is, fittingly, being burned at the stake in a witch-hunt.

Chapter 6: Final Match of the Killing Game Tournament

Mastermind: Sakura Ogami

Survivors: Junko, Taka, Leon, Chihiro

Junko believes so sincerely that the last trial was falsely concluded that she challenges Monokuma to relitigate it. If she can prove that Celeste was innocent, was executed in error, then the Mastermind must reveal themselves and end the game.

Junko investigates, but what she finds is deeply troubling. The only person who could have killed Hina was the one they all trusted without question: Sakura Ogami, who had been set to watch over her, and who claimed to have been tricked by Celeste into leaving her post.

Sakura admits that Hina had tearfully confessed to her before she died. Hina felt remorse for having manipulated and hurt her friends. As much as she hated being underestimated and talked down to, she realized that she couldn't hold these people personally responsible for all her past pain and disappointment. She said that she admired Sakura's straightforwardness, her insight, her calm acceptance of reality and wanted to be like her. She swore she's so everything in her power from now on to bring down the Mastermind. So Sakura killed her.

And why had she done all this? Why did Sakura Ogami orchestrate the Killing Game? Simple: she believes in the purpose of Hope's Peak Academy but believes that they do not live up to their ideal. They coddle their students' idiosyncrasies, letting their potential languish. The Killing Game is a whetstone on which to hone one's talent. Whoever wins must surely be The Ultimate Hope.

And isn't Junko the proof of that? After all, Sakura guided her all along, helped her bring her Ultimate Analyst Talent to new heights, breaking through every barrier, solving every case. And by exposing her, Junko had at last bested Sakura, too.

Sakura went honorably to her execution after being exposed as Hina's true killed, enduring each of the previous executions in turn.

The survivors--Junko, Leon, Chihiro, and Taka--leave the school, free but forever changed by Sakura's parting words, no longer believing in the ideal of Hope's Peak, but finally trusting and understanding one another.

This was really fun! Curious if anyone else would want to give something like this a try or if I should do the other games in the future.

[oysters-aint-for-me]

last night i saw kesha in concert and it was amazing obviously. but this post is not about how much i love kesha.

behind me and my friend stood three beings. they appeared to be three teenage girls, probably somewhere between 15 and 18. all three were wearing black crop tops and black skinny jeans. all fine and normal. this post is not about their outfits.

they were talking to each other the entire concert - which is fine, it's a concert, the music is loud, people are with their friends, they talk to each other. this post is not about how annoying The Youths are.

what this post is about:

i am like 99% convinced that these three "teenage" "girls" were extraterrestrials who, in order to blend in with humans during their visit here, had taken a 101 intro language class about the slang used by the current generation of english-speaking teenaged earthlings.

every single line out of their mouths was gen z slang, to the point that it was literally uncanny. they were using the slang...well, not incorrectly, at least from what i could tell as a 35-year-old, but there was something indefinably off about it. "is this giving senior year?" "oh my god it's TOTALLY giving senior year" "YAAAS KESHA" "YAAS QUEEN" "kesha's got rizz!" "SLAY" "she's giving taylor " "she's giving nicki minaj" "YAAAS KESHA!" "SLAY KESHA!" "YAS QUEEN!" "these vibes slay!" "kesha is SO based" and that was basically the extent of their vocabulary.

except it also truly seemed like they had never been to any kind of concert or performance before - except they also talked about having gone to a taylor swift concert. at first i honestly thought they were doing a bit, like, "oooh we're so dumb we don't get how concerts work hahaha," and sure, it might have been.

but in my opinion, their befuddlement happened way too often and way too sincerely to be a joke. like. near the beginning of the concert, people started dancing, like you do; these three creatures' reaction was: "We can dance here?!" if kesha left stage for a bit for a costume change or a water break or whatever, these three creatures would go, "WAIT WHERE DID KESHA GO IS SHE COMING BACK?" they were absolutely stunned and thrilled when everyone took their phones out with the lights on and held them up during a slower song - you know, like people used to do with lighters, like people do at concerts. and the encore situation utterly baffled them.

they also seemed fully convinced that another popstar was going to show up. and this led to them simply naming popstars. "nicki minaj." "macklemore." "beyonce." "britney spears." "taylor."

(yes, only "taylor" - their vocabulary class must have taught them that while "taylor swift" is her full name, human gen z girls are on a first name basis with her.)

now. if they were only confused but didn't go so hard with the gen z slang, my reaction would be, "aw, these kids are experiencing a concert for the first time (or second, i guess, if they had seen "taylor")--how sweet to see young people discover something new!"

and if the reverse was true, if they used all that slang but didn't seem so baffled by the concept of a live performance, i would simply be amused by their conversation and i wouldn't think much of it.

but the mixture of both, plus the moment when they started listing popstars, and they were all wearing the exact same outfit? you do the math.

so i put those clues together, came to the obvious rational conclusion, and now all i can imagine is those three (very enthusiastic, to their credit) extraterrestrials in their true alien forms practicing their gen z vocab:

"i have a question for you, my dear besties! macklemore: based or cringe?"

"YAS, macklemore. i have heard of this one. i believe he is based."

"me too. i am also aware of this macklemore. i too believe he is based."

"this is correct, he serves slay."

"YAAAAS, your highness."

"we are being very normal teenaged girls in this year on Earth two thousand and twenty three."

"YAS HUNTY, we are very normal, because Earth is where we are from."

"and two thousand and twenty three is indeed how we refer to this year due to one of the numbering systems that has been established by humans, which is what we are."

"YAAS KWEEN!"

"now, tell me, besties mine, would you say that ed sheeran is giving cunt?"

"yass, i believe that is based as well."

[all three nodding at each other, satisfied with their progress]