#he’s so happy he can’t contain it he just starts bouncing and hopping a little

[sejarcus-archive]

Sejanus unconsciously doing little hops of excitement whenever Marcus goes over to his house to visit him

[mayullla]

Title: Soft Comfort

Character(s): Zhongli, Qiqi, Baizhu (Genshin Impact)

Summary: Part 3, cult au, gold blood au; You finally woke up, tired and your voice raw. The slimes are delighted that you were finally awake and so were Baizhu and Qiqi.

Note: I by mistake deleted the original post ;-; so this is a repost.

Warnings/tags: Fem!reader, child!reader, cult themes, yandere / obsessions themes

The Child with Gold Blood masterlist

You woke up tired and confused, looking around you didn’t recognize this place.

The room was simple… a few beds, a table in the middle of the room, a few chairs and minimal decoration nothing fancy. You were soon hit with the smell of medicine and herbs with the smell of flowers too, looking to the side you saw a bedside table and on top was a vase filled with violet grass.

You looked around curious if you were alone and if there was anybody here when something blocked your vision, two very round eyes stared at you surprising you. “Ahh.” You said in surprise, your voice small and husky as if you didn’t use it for a long time.

It was the small anemo slime, which was jumping all over the place on your bed almost as if excited just to see you. It jumped off the bed, hopping to the other slimes who were sleeping in a pile on the carpet only to hit them and scatter them like bowling pins.

The other slimes jumped in surprised from being suddenly hit and the pyro smile grew hot as if it was angry that it was rudely awakened like that till all of them paused and saw you….

awake…

You smiled unable to laugh as your voice was dry and itchy even tho you want to. The small little guys just all rushed to you as if nothing could come in their way.

More jumping and tumbling occurred as if they were all in a panic. In the middle of the chaos, the cryo slime and hydro smile bump into each other midjump causing the hydro slime to turn into ice, while a dedro slime was visibly squashed by the geo slime as it used its friend as a jumping platform by mistake.

The geo slimes was first by your side, they bounced and jiggled as if to show you how happy they were that you finally woke up and clung to your side.

“What happened…?” You whined as your voice hurt from talking. You tried to remember what happened, but it was fuzzy.

It probably must be because of the noises that the slimes were making that Baizhu walked into the room to quiet them down so that the patients who were looking for their medicine and customers would not notice the ruckus and then find out that the pharmacy was housing slimes-

“Would you please quiet d-” He looked at you wide awake sitting up on the bed. It was as if time froze for a few seconds when he closed the door so that others can’t peek into the room and walked up to you taking a chair with him. “How are you feeling?” Baizhu asked worriedly, as he took a seat on the chair that he dragged to your side of the bed. It made you giggle a little that he suddenly swapped his attitude from annoyance to worry.

You shook your head, still too tired to really properly answer. Baizhu chuckled, taking the water container he poured water on a cup giving it to you. “Here it has been a few days since you fainted. You must be really thirsty.” Taking the cup the moment water hit your lips you started to try chugging the whole thing as quick as possible.

Baizhu had a hard time trying to stop you from doing that, scared that you might choke yourself. “Mister, what happened?” You asked after drink, curiously tilting your head at the man.

“Ahh, yes… a week ago you have fainted from using too much of your... powers.” Baizhu tried to explain. “A week? Powers?” You tilted your head at him confused about what he was talking about.

Baizhu sighed, the let a small smile spread on his lips as he patted your head, soothing himself as you who continued to look at him yet still let him pat your head.

You liked head pats, it has a nice feeling but you were curious about what he meant by power.

How did you sleep for more than a week?

“Well ___, you have extraordinary powers.” Baizhu continued, as he started to clean up your messy hair from your long sleep. “You can control the weather, make it rain, keep the weather sunny or if you want to, make it snow. You can grow plants with your powers, from a seed to a big tree in a few seconds... Nature follows you and does whatever you want. If you want to water and fire will part for you to give you a path to the destination that you wish to go.”

it was something that visions could do so technically it wasn't that special, not really Baizhu thought. But it was the fact that you could control all the elements when vision holders usually could only hold one...

but there is also another thing...

Your eyes sparkled as you look at your hands “That is so cool!” You wondered if you could grow your favorite flower right now but Baizhu was not finished yet, “You... could also do the same to people, you can make people happy, sad… you can also give them pain.”

That is something a vision couldn’t do… manipulate people's feelings and memories, give them physical pain like the last time but also unending sorrow.

“Then I want to make everybody happy all the time!” You immediately said to him, looking at him in the eyes with a bright smile on your face.

You really didn’t understand the implications, you didn’t understand that you held so much power in your small hands and that if you were not careful you could hurt someone… Baizhu shivered at the memory a week ago having yet to recover from it.

Gently taking your hands he looked at you in the eyes “___, you are still young and still have yet to understand how to control your powers. It is because... of those powers did you and others get hurt.” He told you.

You were surprised at what he said and looked at your palms again, enveloped by a bigger hand. Your memory was foggy and you barely remember what happened but the sad and concerned look that Baizhu gave you, made you scared of yourself, you didn’t know what was going on but you knew that you made a mistake.

“What happened?” You asked again.

Baizhu’s face morphed into guilt, guilt that he was to tell you this. “When you cried last time, you used your powers and made a lot of people faint.” Baizhu wasn’t sure if he could say faint, or if you would understand the word. It was difficult to explain… But when he saw your realization he knew you understand him a bit as your eyes watered.

Tears started to form in your eyes again as you sniffled, “I-… I- I didn’t mean to…” You didn’t know what you were really sorry for but you were sorry. You hurt people, even if you didn't mean to you did.

Baizhu wasn't that surprised by your tears and quickly took you in his arms as he hugged you. “It is fine. It is fine, dear. Don’t cry…” He told you as he patted your back.

You tried to hold your tears but it was hard as tears fell from your eyes, the slimes looked at you worriedly as the pyro slime nudge you in worry as if trying to comfort you, the warmth that it made, gave you a little peace.

It was around this time did the door open again for a small little girl with magenta eyes to walk in, “Baizhu, the guest took their leave and Qiqi closed the door. Are the slimes causing trouble for ___?” Qiqi asked when both of your eyes meet.

“___ Is awake,” Qiqi said, you wondered if it was a show of excitement or not as you watched her almost run towards you. “Ohh…? Why is ___ crying?”

Qiqi grabbed your hand that was on your side doing nothing, her hand was cold almost icy compared to Baizhu’s hug and the pyro slime’s warmth but you could feel concerned from your friend’s hands alone as it made you cry even more.

“___, don’t cry. It is not your fault.” Qiqi said not really knowing what happened but said it anyway, Baizhu combed your hair as he adjust his hug a little so that you would feel comfortable, “What Qiqi is right dear. You are not at fault for what had happened… We know that you didn’t mean it.”

Qiqi hopped onto your bed as the slimes gave her space to go near you, she placed both her hands on your tear-stained cheeks and gently rub the tears away from your cheeks “Don’t cry, ___.” She told you again. “You and I are friends. So Qiqi will be with you whenever you are lonely.”

Baizhu smiled as he watched your nodded slowly still sniffling as you tried to stop your tears. The girl seemed to have grabbed a few tissues before arriving at your side as she placed the tissue on your nose telling you to blow.

Baizhu wished he brought his Kamera he would have taken many pictures back right now. It is a shame really that he couldn’t, but there is always next time.

Baizhu’s smile loosen from his lips, as he wondered if you still remember what had happened last time. While you did cry and all, you never really mentioned anything but before he could contemplate if you really remember what happened last time you answered his silent question.

“Mister Zhongli, told me that I cant go back home. He told me that I cant meet mom and dad anymore.” Wobbly voice as you tried to contain your tear again as Qiqi continued to wipe your tears away.

So you remembered…

It took a while but as you continued to tell them that you want to go back home and see your parents and uncles and aunties and grandpa and grandma and friends.

Qiqi and Baizhu continued to listen to you. It was hard to say it was okay, when in reality it was not okay at all to be separated from your parents like this it is hard to process and Baizhu was worried this would affect you as you grow up. To suddenly be apart from the people you once knew and your guardians, it could do so much to negatively impact a child.

But again it wasn’t like he could do bring you back to your home, so instead, he gave you a home in the Bubu pharmacy. “You are always welcomed to the Bubu pharmacy dear. If you wanna talk to us we are always here for you.” Baizhu told you softly as you nodded mutely.

It was hard to make you smile right now, Baizhu brought you food that you ate with the help of Qiqi who stayed right beside you the whole time. “When you are well, let's go explore Liyue together…” Qiqi told you with a small smile “We can talk to flinches and slimes... and... we can get flowers together.” She told you.

It made you a little less sad as you stayed and chatted with your friend.

But as hours passed by you started wondering where Mister Zhongli was, you asked Qiqi where he was but she said that she didn’t know either and then you asked Baizhu who looked outside, dark and night. “He had something to do, but he should arrive around this time.”

You heard the door open, as Baizhu smiled. “Speaking of which, he is here.”

The suddenness surprised you as you almost jumped from your bed. Suddenly you have become scared as you clung to your friend Qiqi’s arm hiding behind her. Suddenly all you want to do is hide somewhere.

When Zhongli finally reached your room, knocking on the door and opening it as he was about to ask Baizhu if you woke up only to see you wide awake and up. He froze, “___?”

You flinched as you tried to hide your small frame with Qiqi’s, as if to hide and disappear from his view. You saw the relief but soon after distraught on Zhongli’s face the hurt in his eyes.

“Are you okay, ___?” He asked, his voice soft as if not to scare you.

You nodded “umm.” as if to tell him that you were okay. You refused to look at his face and instead looked at Qiqi’s braided hair. Qiqi looked behind, towards you wondering who you were hiding from while Baizhu only sighed.

“I am glad that you are okay now,” Zhongli told you, as he walked closer “I was worried.”

“Uhn.” You grunted in response still shy around him, you didn’t see Baizhu motioning Qiqi to come to him, Qiqi looked at you then at Baizhu as she slowly jumped off your bed alarming you, and headed to Baizhu who took her and went out of the room.

Being left with you yourself and Zhongli you looked at the floor, your heart ridden in guilt after Baizhu told you what had happened last time and how hurt Zhongli was after the whole ordeal.

“…”

“Do you dislike me here?” Zhongli finally asked, but you quickly shook your head in denial. Maybe you would have disliked him for the fact that he was the one who told you that you cant go back home.

After all, you were still too young to understand.

But maybe it was because Baizhu told you that Zhongli was hurt because of you that guilt was much stronger than your hate towards him for telling you something that he didn’t do.

“I don’t hate Mister Zhongli…” You told him in a small voice.

It was silent as he approached you taking the chair that Baizhu used to push it closer to your bed, “Can I seat beside you?” He asked, you thought for a bit if you want to say yes or no but in the end just nodded still looking at the floor.

“I am glad that you are okay, ___. I was worried about you.” you heard his voice as he talked to you not commenting that you were avoiding his eyes. You peeked at his face but quickly looked down when your eyes meet.

You just nodded again, you saw the face he was making when the two of your eye meet. The sadness was so obvious as he looked almost worried that maybe you would push him away. You didn’t know what was going through his mind but he looked so sad to you.

“Is… Is Mister Zhongli okay?” You finally had the courage to ask still looking down.

There was no answer, but you didn’t realize how the atmosphere became a little lighter after that.

Baizhu sighed as he listen to your and Zhongli’s conversation, you were rather closed off and a little warry. But the more and more Zhongli tried to talk to you after he realized that you didn’t hate him…. it was slow but you were slowly opening up to him again.

“How unfortunate,” Baizhu whispered to himself as he left you and Zhongli to talk. Baizhu hoped that you would still be a little wary of him, that you would stay away from the consultant of Wangshen funeral parlor even for a little bit longer so that he could be the one who took care of you.

Zhongli had made it clear that he would be the one to take care of you and be a guardian of sorts for you as he was the one who found you or so he said while you were asleep.

Much to Baizhu’s dislike.

Baizhu hoped that he could be your guardian, he loves kids already taking Qiqi under his wing and taking care of her when she has nowhere else to go. The heavy and almost twisted feeling that you gave when you cried in his arms made him feel nauseous he wondered how much worst it was when Zhongli had to calm you down.

It is weird really and normal people would be rather cautious but rather than pushing you away in fear, Baizhu has become rather attached to you at that moment.

Because of how clear your emotions were to him that he understood your confusion, sorrow, wants and fears.

“It seems that everything went well.” A white snake appeared as they rest on the shelves. “It seems so, Changsheng.” He said, raising his hand so that the snake could slither to his neck.

“Hmph! I was hoping to see the child with gold blood but the slimes always block me whenever I tried to sneak into that room. I should have rested that time in the other room when the child first visited the pharmacy.”

Baizhu laughed, “Well they are just worried for their little friend so you should just forgive them.”

“Hmph!”

[jobean12-blog]

ok so idk if you’re like taking requests but i was just thinking about how bucky might react to this:

so i’m on my period right now and i’m super grumpy to literally everyone in my life and i don’t mean to it just happens and then i get all emotional because i feel bad that i just couldn’t really control it. so like how would bucky react to the reader being unintentionally grumpy towards him (sorry for the rant and also all you’re writing makes my heart happy i love it)

RAWR!!!

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Word Count: 768

Summary: You're having a day, your period sucks and your boyfriend is a pain in the ass...but there is so much love always! :)

Author's Note: Hi my sweet! I so get this. I get so emotional and grumpy myself and it can really be so frustrating when you feel that way and can't seem to control it! I hope this makes you laugh and smile, thank you for the fun request and your patience! I got a little silly with it but it just kinda happened! :D Sending love and hugs! Thank you all so much for reading! Much love always! ❤❤❤ Divider by the lovely @imerdwarf

Warnings: fun teasing, playfulness grumpy feelings, giggles and laughs and lots love :)

Gif not mine: Credit goes to @rainbowkisses31 Thank you so much 🥰

“Hey doll face, you want something to eat?”

As Bucky waits for your response he walks over to the couch and smiles, untucking the blanket from over your head. You stick out your bottom lip and give him a sad face.

“Aw baby girl,” he coos, lifting you into his arms and curling you up in his lap. “You’re not hungry?”

You rest your head against his chest and snuggle closer.

“I AM!” you huff. “Starving! But the worst part is… I CAN’T DECIDE WHAT TO EAT!”

Bucky chuckles softly and smooths his hand down your back soothingly.

“Hmm, Pizza?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” you sigh. “I mean I always want pizza. But do I really want pizza now? Or do I want lasagna?”

“What about pancakes?” he tries again.

“OH!” you say almost excitedly, but then your shoulders drop and you whine. “But I think I want waffles or French toast or an omelet or maybe all of it!!!”

Bucky watches as you get more and more frustrated, his laughter becoming harder to contain. When you look his way and see the smirk forming on his lips a horrified expression takes over your facial features.

“I can’t believe you think this is funny! I’m having a crisis BUCKY!” you screech, pushing off his lap and in the process becoming tangled in the blanket and tripping.

You land on the floor in a heap of huffs and blanket, elbowing Bucky when he tries to help you.

“Someone is extra grumpy today!” he sings.

With an even more horrified look you start to wiggle and try to get out of the twisted blanket.

“Grumpy! I’m not grumpy! And you should talk,” you grunt as you continue to struggle, “you’re like, like…the grumpiest grump that ever grumped!”

His eyes crinkle at the sides in a wide and proud smile before he starts pointing and laughing at you.

“You’re still laughing! I cannot believe you!” you scoff, now kicking him with your feet from your prone position on the floor.

He grabs hold of them at your ankles and starts dragging you across the rug while you scream at him, his laughter only intensifying.

“You’re going to give me rug burn you asshole!”

He laughs harder but doesn’t let go. Instead, he hoists you up like a blanket burrito and throws you over his shoulder before running into the bedroom. He sets you down with a plop and you bounce an inch off the bed.

“Let me out!” you whine while squirming in the twisted blanket.

You get your arms free up to your elbows and manage to scoot yourself off the bed and into a standing position. With determination you start to waddle toward him, trying to grab at him with your hands.

“You look like a really grumpy T-Rex. RAWR!!!” he mocks as he makes little T-Rex movements with his body.

Stopping short you gape at him.

“James Bucky Barnes, I am going to kick your ass!!!” you yell and take a big hop toward him.

Thanks to the blanket still wrapped around your body you start to fall forward but this time Bucky catches you in his arms. You deflate against him and hide your face in his shirt.

“I’m sorry baby doll. You know I’m just playing with you. I was hoping the laughs would make you feel better,” he admits sheepishly. “I’ll get you whatever food you want or cook you something or we can just curl up in bed and cuddle.”

You smile at his sweet offers and manage to get your arms fully free so you can circle them around his waist.

“How about all of it?” you ask.

“Of course, doll, but weren’t you going to kick my ass first?” he teases.

“I’ll kick your ass later, for now just feed me,” you tell him. “And PS��you are the worst T. Rex e v e r!”

His head snaps back in shock and he stares at you a moment before letting you slide down his body. He crouches down and makes T. Rex arms, wiggling his fingers threateningly as he bares his teeth.

“Oh yea? We’ll just see about that! RAWR!” he yells before taking off after your already retreating form.

You squeal when he tries to grab for you and you manage to find a safe spot behind the couch as he dances back and forth on the other side of it.

“T. Rex is going to tickle you and eat all your food!!!” he taunts then leaps up and over the cushions until he has you in his arms again.

[itsallyscorner]

Just saw your little mix!reader au (LOVED IT) and I was thinking, what if y/n is kinda like Perrie aka the queen of leaking things and she's dating Tom and everyone makes fun of them bc they are THE couple that keeps spoiling/leaking stuff

Hello lovey!! Thank you for requesting and reading my other work, it’s very much appreciated!🥰 I love this request sm, omg. Happy reading, I hope you like it!💖

💌.

The King and Queen of Leaking

I had WAY too much fun with this request...enjoy!🥰

It had been a regular day in your household. You were in the kitchen starting up on breakfast while Tom was in his makeshift gym doing his morning workout. You were just finishing up on the eggs when your phone pinged. Glancing at your phone you saw that it was a text from Jade.

Jade💜: Babes! Check you email ASAP!!!

The texts in the band’s group chat began to flood in making you curious. Have you all done something to get in trouble with management? Maybe it was an awards nomination? Turning off the stove, you place the last pile of scrambled eggs onto Tom’s plate. After you set the plates on the table, you pull out one of the dining chairs and sit on it, pulling out your phone to see more texts from the girls.

Perrie🦋: Oh.My.God. I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!

Leigh-Anne😻: AHHHHHH THIS IS BIG!!! FIRST NUMBER ONE OF THE YEAR!!!

Jesy💖: I’m so so so SO proud of us!!! And our fans omg, they’re amazing!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Jesy💖: Where the hell is (y/n)???

Jade💜: Probs busy with Tom👀🍆💦

Perrie🦋: Has she not seen the news yet??

Leigh-Anne😻: Based on her lack of response, I’m guessing she’s busy😉

Jesy💖: (Y/N) I SWEAR HOP OFF TOM’S BLOODY DICK, SWEET MELODY IS NUMBER 1 ON THE CHARTS!!!!!

You gasp once you read Jesy’s last message. Your fingers move rapidly across your screen, exiting the messaging app to open up your email. The anticipation builds up in your body as you refreshed your inbox. Your leg bouncing as the little circle that went around and around popped up on your screen. For the last couple of days and weeks, your fans have been streaming Sweet Melody to top the charts and get it to Number 1. It has only been 10 weeks since “Confetti” has been released and the album has been getting an amazing response. Seeing your fans’ determination to get the song up the charts made your adore them even more and you just wanted to hug and thank every single one of them. You guys had the most amazing fans in the world, though many celebrities claimed that theirs were the best, Mixers were the crème de la crème in your eyes.

Your inbox refreshes and the first email you see is from the Official Charts Company, a company that celebrated singles that reached number one on the charts. You click on the email and carefully skim through the paragraph. When you read that Sweet Melody had officially charted at number one you let out an excited squeal. Tessa, who has been sitting beside your seat, jumped up to her feet the same time you did. Your crouched down as she happily bounced around you.

“Number one Tess! We made it to number one!” You squealed as you gently squished her face. She let out a bark before licking your face.

“Let’s go tell daddy the news, huh? Let’s go!” You couldn’t contain your excitement, the feeling rushing through your veins. You felt like your heart could burst from all the happiness you were currently feeling.

You practically ran to where Tom was, your feet moving as quick as your heartbeat. Tessa’s nails clicked against the wooden floors echoing in the hallway.

Tom, who had just finished his workout, heard the commotion outside. Your excited squeals and the sounds of both your and Tessa’s feet getting closer to him. The stomps came to a halt once you stopped at the doorway of his “gym”. He looks up from his phone and looks at you expectantly. You were beaming, like the sun that brought light into the room. His expression mirrors yours, but his smile was a bit more confused.

“Hi darling, what’s up?” He asks, removing his AirPods and placing them back into their case. You squeal excitedly once again as you run across the room and stand in front of him. Though, it was as if your feet had springs in them because you couldn’t stop jumping. Tom looks at you amused but was still confused.

“(Y/n), what did you do, love?” He asks. Maybe you were up to something?

You stop jumping for a bit and unlock your phone, shoving it into his face. He moves his face back so his eyes can focus but ends up taking the phone from you because you were moving too much. As you dance around the room, Tessa joining in on your little fiesta, Tom reads the email to himself. Once he reads the news his jaw drops looking up at you with wide eyes.

“NUMBER ONE BABY!” You scream before running into his arms. A look of shock is on his face before he screams “YES!” at the top of his lungs. Your legs wrap around his torso as his arms support your back and your bum. He starts shaking his hips and jumping around just like you were as you both celebrated your band’s huge success.

Your cheeks began to hurt from smiling too much, but you just couldn’t keep it off your face. You were too happy to keep a neutral face so you continued to smile. Tom looks up at you with the most proudest expression. He knew how hard you and the girls worked on every song on your albums, so to see that hard work being rewarded made him feel immense amounts of joy for you all.

You began to giggle as you hid your face behind you hands, Tom still carrying you. “I can’t believe this actually happened, oh my god.” Your voice came out muffled but Tom could still understand you. He chuckled while he placed your feet back to the ground. You leaned your head against his chest while his hands rubbed circles onto your back.

“Of course it happened love, you guys deserve it.” He places a kiss on your temple while he swayed you guys back and forth. His cheek resting against you hair as he held you. Your excitement boiling down to disbelief at the news.

He moved his head and gently removed your hands from your face. “Look at me.” Turns out you were silently crying, your tear stained cheeks making his heart drop, but then he noticed they were tears of joy.

You sniffled, smiling when Tom wiped some of your tears away. His hands cupped your cheeks while his eyes gazed at you lovingly, “You have no idea how proud I am of you— and the girls. You guys have worked day and night for this album to exist. I’ve seen you guys write each song and saw how much thought goes into each one, you guys are fucking incredible. Look at how much success it’s getting, you guys did that.”

You laughed as more tears ran down your cheeks. You groaned throwing your head back and wiping them away, “Well, I couldn’t have done it without you. You’ve been so understanding with everything and you managed to be one of my biggest inspirations for writing. Thank you. I love you so much.” You beamed at him before crashing your lips against his soft ones. You felt his lips curve up to a smile as his hands held your face. You suddenly pulled away, Tom chasing your lips, still stuck in your little moment.

“Oh my God! We need to tell the fans! They’ve been streaming for weeks!” You pecked his lips once more before rushing out the room. The excitement entering your body once again. Tom looks down at your phone in his hands smirking. He turned to Tessa, “Give her a few seconds.”

“MY PHONE!” He heard you exclaim in the hallway. Your head popped from behind the entrance. You skipped into the room and took the phone from Tom.

“I love you!” You sang, kissing his lips again, then skipping out to the hallway.

Before you can post anything of the band’s new achievement, you opened the group chat.

(Y/n)🌻: First off, I was far from Tom’s dick, I was actually cooking😌

(Y/n)🌻: Second, I love you all so much!!!!!! I can’t believe we did it, the amount of pride I feel to be part of this band is astronomical right now! Nine years together and we’re still making it, I love you guys!❤️❤️❤️

After you messaged the girls, you opened up Instagram. Meanwhile, Tom had joined you, dressed in new clothes and fresh out the shower. He hummed at the food on the table and pressed a kiss to your forehead, his way of silently thanking you. He sat in the chair beside yours and began to dig into his breakfast.

“Do you mind if I film a video real quick?” You ask him, looking into the camera as you fixed your hair. Tom wipes his mouth and swallows his food.

“Go ahead, tell the world you’re number one.” He teased you. You rolled your eyes though your lips were curved into a smile. You prepared yourself before pressing down on the circle.

Video:

“Hi guys! So I’ve just found out some amazing news and I thought you guys might want to hear it too—“ Tom began to drum on the table, making you look at him in amusement.

“Oh, that’s a good idea.” You nod, approving of his actions. When he stops drumming and points at you, you look back to the camera with a giant smile.

“Guys...WE MADE IT TO NUMBER ONE! SWEET MELODY IS AT NUMBER ONE ON THE CHARTS!” You announced, voice bouncing off the walls of your house. Behind you was Tom, also cheering equally as loud while he pumped his fists into the air.

“Thank you guys so much! The girls and I love each and every single one of you, you guys are the best fans in the world and we are forever grateful for you. Thank you!” You blew a kiss into the camera before ending the video.

You watched the video over then tagged the girls and the group’s Instagram. You quietly hummed Sweet Melody to yourself as you clicked around and added some stickers to your video. When you were content, you clicked on share and turned your phone off.

“Alright, celebratory breakfast.” You sang as you grabbed your fork and stabbed it into a strawberry.

Tom chuckled beside you and nudged your shoulder, “Then celebratory sex after?” You hummed at his suggestion, eyes teasingly squinting at him.

“Give me time to digest first. Then celebratory sex.” When Tom agreed you laughed and dug into your food. Everything was going great at the moment. Your song is number one on the charts, your career is flourishing, you had four amazing sisters, and you had the world’s best boyfriend. It was as if nothing could go wrong.

~half an hour later~

Tom had you pinned to the bed, light kisses scattering along your skin while his hands rubbed your thighs. With clothes still on, he was snuggled in between your legs, finding comfort in the tight space. He managed to get your top off leaving you in that red lacy bra he adored on you. His lips ghosted between the valley of your breast and down to your belly button. His lips stopping right above your sweatpants. He tilted his head back a bit to drink in your appearance. Hooded dark eyes, laid out before him, that red bra making your breasts look irresistible, you were perfect.

“Look at my pretty girl. Aren’t you stunning?” His voice was deeper than his usual chipper tone. The tone brought butterflies in your belly, the vibrations of his voice going straight to your core.

“I’m all yours, Tommy.” Your hand finds its way to the brown curls that rested on his head. You gently guide his head back up and pull his lips towards you. Your lips connect, first gently and almost innocent, but full of passion. The passion burns more when he presses his hard on against you, roughening up the passionate kiss, your teeths clashing and tongues wrestling. You were lost in his trance until your phone tinged.

Tom curses under his breath as you both jump from the sudden sound. You quietly apologize and mute your phone, not bothering to look at the notification. When you lay back on the bed, Tom’s palms press against you cheeks as he crashes you lips together. His hands move below you, tugging off your sweatpants. He was about to remove the last layer of clothing separating you two when your phone continuously began to vibrate. On the other night stand, Tom’s phone began to vibrate as well.

Your boyfriend groans plopping his head against your stomach. You sigh apologetically, hands now stroking his bare back.

“We should get that, seems important.” He kisses your stomach, hesitantly dragging himself off you. You roll over to your stomach and grab your phone.

Notifications

Jesy💖: We love you too my darling!! We miss you so much here in London:(

Perrie🦋: I would say let’s have a sleepover as soon as you come back from Atlanta, but the pandemic:( I miss you tons!!!🥺

Jade💜: I love youuuuuuuu❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Leigh-Anne😻: You absolute gem, I love you❤️

Jesy💖: (Y/n) what did you tag me in?

Jade💜: Wait, I’m tagged too.

Perrie🦋: I didn’t get tagged :(

Oh wait, I see it :D

Leigh-Anne😻: Why do I have a bad feeling about what she tagged us in?

Jesy💖: (y/n)?

(Y/N)!?

WHY IS SHE NOT REPLYING WHEN I NEED HER TO REPLY!

Perrie🦋: OIIII!!! AT LEAST IT WASNT ME THIS TIME🤪

Jade💜: Jesus, she’s turning into Tom, smh.

Leigh-Anne😻: She’s always been like this lmao

Tom’s only made her worse🙄

Jesy💖: (Y/N) DELETE YOUR FUCKING STORY ON INSTAGRAM THEY ARENT SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT SM IS NUMBER ONE YET!!!!!!!!!!

Jade💜: I bet you NOW she’s busy with Tom

hehehe🍆💦👀

Leigh-Anne😻: Babes!!! Now’s not the time to be doing the deed with Tom!!

Jesy💖: Hold on let me text Tom too.

Your eyes widen as you read the messages from the girls. A string of “shits” with a mix of “fucks” fall continuously out your mouth. You struggle to turn around, getting tangled in the sheets. When you finally sit up properly you go to your Instagram and rush to your stories.

“Uh, (y/n)—“

“Yeah, I know, I know.” You frustratedly mumble as your thumbs fumble on the screen. You go to your story and don’t even hesitate to delete the video you posted just half an hour ago. Tom’s phone rings and you swear you hear him gulp. He answers it, putting it on speaker mode and holds it away from his ears.

“Tom Holland I blame you!” You hear Jesy’s voice through the phone. You double check if you deleted the story before turning your phone off and shoving your face into your pillow.

“I didn’t even do anything!” Tom defended himself, almost laughing. Honestly, as bad as the situation was, it was ironic how it was his girlfriend that leaked the news. You guys are really meant to be.

“The hell you weren’t! Literally drumming on the table, you div! I can’t with you two!” Jesy exclaimed. You knew she was joking by the tone of her voice. “Where is your girlfriend anyway?”

Tom giggle shoving the phone next to your ear, “My lovely girlfriend is right beside me.”

You hear Jesy gag, “Babe, did you even read the email properly?”

You lift your head from the pillow and take Tom’s phone. “No, I got too excited about getting number one.” You admitted pouting. Tom chuckles at you, moving to lay beside you. His arms wrapping around your almost bare figure and shoving his head in between your breasts. Nothing sexual but because they felt like soft pillows against his cheeks.

“They said they’re announcing it on Monday.” She informed you chuckling. You whined and facepalmed yourself. “It’s okay, hun. You were just in the moment, I know how you can get. Although, the fans absolutely love it.” She mentioned.

“Do they?” You asked stifling a laugh.

“Having an absolute field day, they’ve deemed you the Queen of Leaks. Apparently Tom’s been crowned as your king.” She teases. You feel Tom laugh against your chest, his shoulders shaking.

“Alright, I’ll go now, let you two get back to what you were doing. I suggest lurking through Twitter and Instagram, the fans’ reactions are hilarious.” You bid your goodbyes and hang up. Tom’s head pops up from your chest, “Can we please go through the reactions?”

“I was thinking the same thing.” You tell him already opening up Instagram. You go through your tags to see a bunch of memes. Tom shifts to sit beside you, throwing his arm around your shoulder.

Some fan reactions:

🖤 1,944 likes

Tom watching (y/n) make her video and being the supportive boyfriend he is🥺 They’re made for each other I swear

🖤 1,393 likes

The girls watching (y/n)’s story and finding out she just leaked the news. We stan our Queen of Leaks😌🙌🏼👑

🖤 1,838 likes

Tom realizing that (y/n)’s really the one because they both can’t keep secrets without spoiling them. This is why they don’t have good things smh.

🖤 1,878 likes

Jesy calling the police, not for Tom, but for her because she’s ready to shred that boy’s ass for turning (y/n) into him💀

You and Tom spend the rest of the day stuck in bed going through the different reactions from your fans. They were entertaining, making you and your boyfriend laugh at your fans’ humor.

While you sat in between his legs, your back against his chest, Tom leans down to nuzzle his face into your neck. He breaths in the scent of you mixed with your shampoo, something he would never get tired of. You feel that goofy grin press onto your skin making you look up at him.

“Why’s that look on your face?” You ask hun teasingly.

“Because the fans have a point.”

“That we both can’t keep shit to ourselves?” You laugh. Tom makes a sound of agreement pulling you closer.

“Well yeah—but when they say that we’re meant for each other, they have a point. You really are my soulmate.” The goofy grin on his face was permanently stuck to his lips. You giggled shifting to peck his lips. When he sees you struggle he meets you halfway, finally touching those soft luscious lips of yours.

“I guess I am.” You hummed contently, mirroring that lovestruck look on his face. There was no other person in the world that you’d be willing to spend this moment with. The more you stared into those honey brown eyes of his the more you believed your fans; he truly was your soulmate.

[gojology]

Lovebirds.

𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆 |  omg this is my first request. ilysm anon, im now feelin super cool. also, i just realized i put recc (as in recommended) instead of requests. i’m super stupid LOL. anyways, im touch starved too dw bby, i’m servin u up a long one since i rlly like this request and after all u r my first! 𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 | Gojo x Wife! Reader 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 | 2307 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 | None! 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 | Coming home from a long mission in America, precisely 1 year, you’re excited to catch up on Gojo’s students, Nanami, and just Gojo in general.   Leaning out of the car window, resting your arm against your purse, you sighed. A humid wind brushed against your skin, tickling you. It had been quite a while since you had been in Japan, spending almost a year on a huge mission in America. You had killed a battalion worthy amount of special grades.   You spent most of your time in America in mostly horribly rundown places, equally as infested with curses. Although you found yourself enjoying America’s natural beauty, further away from the city life that many of the Americans found themselves enjoying, you much preferred Japan. after all, it was your home, and where you met Gojo Satoru. It would be another day until you could return, and you had gone through hundreds of scenarios of finally being in his arms again, but nonetheless, you were ecstatic at the thought of your husband’s touch.   Your phone’s notification chimed loudly, you threw your phone onto the other seat, heart jumping up to a high rate. It was a recording of Satoru loudly yelling, “OPEN YOUR FUCKING PHONE!” with a flurry of giggles afterwards.    Ijichi jumped, turning left and right. Whispering under his breath, he let out an exasperated sigh, switching the music channel.    The recording was mostly because of the time you had to ghost him due to work. Gojo had snuck on and recorded it, doing some magical tech stuff and giving you the custom notification sound. You had kept it that way ever since, since secretly, you enjoyed that you were so badly wanted by Gojo, that, and you had no idea how to change it back.    But the custom notification was sweet as well.   You smiled to yourself every time you heard it, a familiar twinge of pain flashing inside of you whenever you realized you wouldn’t be able to see him for a while.   Well, today, and the days after that would be different. You’d be able to finally see Gojo again, and his new students that he always frantically texted you about. Nanami, an old friend of Gojo, and also an old friend of yours, would also be there to welcome you back, you found yourself reminiscing about them.   You had heard so much about them, one of the kids being Sukuna’s vessel, you wondered how Gojo could contain such a fear, being around the kid at all times, he always told you about how the kid was actually energetic and happy and an overall great kid, you had heard about Nanami, finally coming back into the jujutsu sorcerer field of work, even though you always found that he still had a thing for finances.   You shook your head, “Save that shit for later, (Y/N).” muttering to yourself, you didn’t want to think of anything but Gojo, after all, it had been one fucking year of being deprived of the man you loved most. You were practically starving for the guy, in more ways than one.   Ijichi gulped, facing towards you, one hand on his steering wheel, “Forgive me Mrs. Satoru, but um.. Forgive me if I misheard, but I think I heard your phones notification go off.. Due to the ah- incredibly loud profanity.”   Now just realizing that you had completely forgotten about the phone notification, you nodded your thanks to Ijichi, a warmth rushing to your cheeks before opening up your phone.    In the small, rounded box containing Gojo’s message, he wrote in all caps, “SUGAR, MY BELOVED, MY QUEEN, HOW CLOSE ARE YOU? I CAN’T FUCKING WAIT I’M LITERALLY BOUNCING UP AND DOWN IN OUR BED.”   Smiling to yourself, you furiously texted back, “Calm down honeybun, I’ll be there in like, 24 hours, I’m not even fucking close.”   You almost instantly got a DM back, making you jump a bit in your seat. Even with the 5 years of friendship, and the 3 years of relationship, and the 2 years of marriage, he still almost always texted you back as quickly as possible.   “God I can’t fucking wait for you to meet the kids! We’ll keep it a surprise, yeah? We have a bunch of treats, and we also got the kids to get some gifts for you! How thoughtful aren’t they? They’re MY offspring by the way, so like, you know, whenever you want a kid, it’s your call ;)”   You snorted to yourself, smiling. He genuinely seemed so excited, and it was all shining through even though it was from a screen.    “Maybe in a few years, I don’t even wanna imagine a little you.”   Despite the excited, bubbling feeling brewing bigger and bigger in your stomach, you figured it’d be best to sleep before the chaos. Happily sighing, you laid down, using your purse as a pillow, drifting into a blissful sleep.  ‧₊˚✩彡.   You awoke to a sudden halt, Looking around your surroundings, you figured you were home. Ijichi looked like he was damn near about to fall asleep on the steering wheel.   Well, maybe that’s what 24 hours of constant driving did to you. You fished around in your purse, silently cursing looking for a water bottle.   “Here, Ijichi, looks like you ran a marathon.” you grinned, handing the slightly crumped water bottle to him.   He beamed as if a guardian angel had descended down and gave him a trillion dollars.   “Mrs. Satoru! You really mean it? The ride was nothing, I was merely instructed to do so and I would’ve done it happily regardless.”   You waved your hand, as a dismissal of the conversation. “You overwork yourself Ijichi, go catch a break, on me. If Gojo tears you apart, tell him he won’t be getting any pussy from me for another year.”   Ichiji nodded vigorously, before dashing off, probably towards a massage center, God that guy needed it. ‧₊˚✩彡.    Gojo frantically hopped up and down, it had been a day, now he was just waiting for you to bust through the door in your wild hair, his legs sprawled onto the whole of a couch, he stared at the ceiling, a dopey smile spread across his face.     “Satoru. (Y/N) will not even want to be associated with you, looking at your current state.” he remarked, staring at the sorcerer with his strikingly dead eyes.     “Nanami, how the fuck am I supposed to act calm?! I’ve waited for this moment for ONE YEAR! Does my hair look normal?!”    “Your hair looks just like an albino porcupine, just as usual.” Flipping the page of his newspaper, he sighed, rubbing his temples. “I will never understand how someone like (Y/N) would be.. Interested in you, Satoru.”     Gojo paid no attention to the insult Nanami had so clearly made, his ears were perked up, eavesdropping on a distant conversation coming closer and closer.     “Gojo-Senpai was telling me about this movie while training my cursed energy! He basically spoiled the whole thing but he told me that the main character was super annoying but apparently she dies in the end in the most gruesome way possible! It’s worth the watch, your soul will feel cleansed as soon as you see her lifeless body!”     “Yuuji, you literally spoiled the whole thing to me just now.” Fushiguro calmly stated, looking bored out of his mind.     “Oh, oops.” Yuuji rubbed the back of his neck. He smiled coyly, tightly hugging his present.    “What’s with the decorations, Gojo-Sensei?” inquired Nobara, stroking her warm toned brown hair. She had figured it was something about the presents that Gojo had forced the trio to get, but he never told them who it was for.    The room had been decorated with various balloons and confetti, scattered about, on the table and the ground. A cake box wrapped with a gigantic bow limply guarded whoever was brave enough to get their hands on something that Gojo seemed to be protecting with his life.    A pink table cover with a crudely drawn Gojo and what would seem to be a girl, a heart in the middle of the pair. In a horrible font with an even awfuller text, the text on top and at the bottom of the drawing proudly stated:    “WELCOME BACK QT”    “-YOU’RE HUSBAND AND THE CREW”    Nobara stood in distaste, trying to disguise the face she made. The drawing, the misused you’re, and the overall poor design choice was enough to almost make her vomit.     Nobara, about to make her distasteful statements about the whole mess, was suddenly shut up as Gojo started hopping up and down, looking directly at his phone.   “SHE’S COMING! SHE’S COMING! EVERYONE IN YOUR PLACES!”    Now, seeing Gojo freak out wasn’t outside of the ordinary, but it was to see him freak out to this extent. He was hopping up and down, blabbering about a certain woman named (Y/N). Nobara was pretty sure that if a curse attacked right now, even a special grade comparable to the one with the uncomplete domain could completely crush Gojo, the guy seemed completely unaware of the example he was setting to the kids. Even Yuuji stood in disbelief, and he had seen multiple tantrums by Gojo.   Nanami, however, licked his finger and flipped the newspaper page. A face of boredom obviously displayed.     Nobara, preparing herself to chew Gojo out about how utterly stupid and embarrassing he made the whole class of jujutsu sorcerers look like, stopped wide eyed as she looked at the doors slide wide open. ‧₊˚✩彡.    You stood, shyly, looking at the ground. Gojo dove headfirst into your arms, laughing like a maniac and digging his face into your shoulder. You breathed in his scent, scanning the room.     Three teens, sat wide-eyed, backs straight as they looked at you with eyes you couldn’t quite read. All three of them held presents.     The one with eyelids underneath his eyes (which you assumed was Yuuji, the vessel of Sukuna) eyed you curiously, his eye twitched.     The other boy, one with wild black-blue hair, sat mouth agape, before closing it. He looked like he was about to say something, before stopping entirely and hugging his present closer to his chest.    The warm haired girl darted her eyes between you two, seemingly trying to put the puzzle together.     Nanami put the newspaper down, glancing over to you two.    “This is obviously Gojo-Senpai’s wife. He hasn’t seen her in many months, and as you can see, really really misses her.” he paused, a small smile spreading on his face, a rare sight.     “I don’t even know why myself, but what can you do with lovebirds?” he thought aloud, his attention now focused to the two of you furiously making out, hands in places Yuuji and the crew didn’t need to see.    “Satoru, (Y/N), leave the kissing for later. Don’t you see the kids?”     You detached yourself from his mouth, panting for breath. The air being exhaled out of his nose fanned over your face, you had just now realized the kids again.     “Satoru, lets sit down. I bet the kids are surprised. “ you motioned to the couch. Gojo whined.     “What? They’re not that dumb, they can tell you’re my wife or at least, you’re my girlfriend, just by the way we kiss right? Isn’t this telling enough?”     “You didn’t tell them about me, ever did you?”     He sighed in defeat, holding tightly onto your arm as you dragged him over and sat down on the comfortable couch, opposite of Yuuji and the crew. Nanami scooched over, before finally getting up to pull another chair from somewhere else. Grunting, he excused himself from the room.     “YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND, GOJO-SENPAI? AND DIDN’T TELL US?” Yuuji questioned, looking like he was about to faint.    Gojo laughed, snuggling deeper onto you, almost like a koala.     “She’s my wife, aren’t you, sugar? Did you even pay attention to anything Nanami said? He literally said she was my wife.”     Megumi made an obvious gagging sound, but even he didn’t seem as bored as he was usually. He actually looked intrigued.     “Why didn’t you tell us, Gojo-Senpai?” the girl nagged, slamming her fist down on the table.     Gojo smiled, “Uh, well, I wanted it to be a surprise when she came back.”     “Couldn’t you have told us that you had a wife or something?” Megumi butt in.    The door slid open, Nanami coming in with a wooden stool.     “Knowing Gojo-Senpai, that probably went over his head.” grunting as he placed the wooden stool down and sat, he opened his newspaper again.     “Where do you guys know eachother?”    “Was Gojo-Senpai handsome back in highschool too?”    “Do you know what lipgloss Gojo-Senpai wears?”    “Gojo-Senpai, how did you know you loved her?”     “Gojo-Senpai, can we eat now?”     “Do you know why Gojo has such a horrible sweet tooth?”      Before you could even respond, Nanami put his hand up.     “Now, now, lets let the happy couple settle down.” he cleard his throat, not even making eye contact with anyone but the newspaper.     An audible chorus of groans sounded, “What do you expect us to do? We literally just met her!” moaned Yuuji.    “Weren’t you the one that literally asked if we could eat yet?”    Yuuji immediately shut up afterwards.     “Yuuji, she just came back from a 1 day trip. She should be laying down comfortably with Gojo-Senpai and they should be catching up. You’ll have the opportunity to talk to her and learn about her later. Right now she needs space.”    “But-” Nobara whined, clasping her hands together.    Nanami turned to Fushiguro, but even he had his mind set. “I didn’t even begin to think that Gojo had a wife. I really want to know more about her, if you think about it, this is all Gojo-Sensei’s fault.”    Nanami rubbed his temples, staring at the two of you for backup, realizing that you two were making out again.    Nanami sighed, 10 years later and you two were still the same.    

[supernaturallyobsessedchic]

Our Girl

J2 x Reader

Word Count: 1,419

Summary: Jensen and Jared treat the reader to an exciting birthday.

Warnings: Smut (P in V, Anal sex, protected sex and unprotected sex, Oral Fem Receiving, fingering, double penetration, overstimulation, threesome.)

Masterlist

a/n: Could be a teaser for a possible J2 Series, still in the brainstorming works.

a/n#2: Originally a Birthday Girl rewrite, but just so there’s no doubles on here, and not an attempt at a Re-entry on Jen’s SPN Tell me a Story Bingo.

~

She laid between Jared and Jensen as they slept through the night. She had snuggled against Jensen, laying her head on his chest while Jared snuggled in behind her.

As the sun began to rise over the horizon, and the world slowly waking up, she tossed onto her back, Jared being long awake.

Jensen woke up, admiring the beauty he woke up to. Brushing her hair from her face. She looked so peaceful as she slept.

He realized the day as he laid there. It was her birthday. She has turned 30 today. Originally, they didn’t plan on doing anything for her birthday, she didn’t ask for anything. But Jared and Jensen wanted to treat her to a day she won’t soon forget.

He laid a gentle kiss just below her jaw, traveling down her neck. Sucking at her pulse point. Drawing out a moan from her sleepy lips.

His hand hiked up her shirt, palming her breast, pinching the hardening bud between his fingers. He was slowly pulling her out of a deep slumber, feeling her squirm under his touch in her sleepy state.

His kisses traveled down her torso, up her thigh as he worked her panties off of her. Seeing a wet streak from her heat. Making him smirk.

His kisses got higher up her thighs to her soaking mound. And he placed a kiss on her sensitive clit. Her hips jerked up at the warmth his lips offered.

The covers were pulled off over his head, seeing her darkened eyes looking back at him.

He worked her legs over his shoulders as he made himself at home and went to work. Lapping his tongue over the sensitive bud.

She threw her head back with desire as a moan escaped her throat.

He pinned her hips when they jerked again wanting more friction. His lips locked on as his tongue worked around and around her clit, building her up.

“Fuck Jay,” she moans. Her hands running through his hair, holding him in place.

She felt his thick fingers enter her aching heat; her breath hitched in the back of her throat.

His finger rubbing against her g-spot ever so gingerly, driving her nuts.

“Oh lookie here.” Jared says entering their room.

Making a B line for their bed, his lips latching on to her neck, kissing and sucking her sensitive spots. Driving her ever crazier.

She felt the heat in her belly grow, and grow with each lap of Jensen’s tongue, every thrust of his fingers, every suck of Jared’s kisses. Until it, snapped in a nuclear explosion of pleasure.

Her back arched off of the bed as she came on Jensen’s mouth. His fingers thrust slowly to a stop, and eventually once she calmed down, he pulled his mouth off of her mound, his beard soaked in her arousal.

“Happy Birthday Y/N.” He says with a dark smirk.

“I’m loving what you got planned so far.” She pants.

“I can think of something, because seeing you two like that, I gotten so hard, I want some of this.”

“Sam here.” Jensen says.

“Then why not come get it,” she says wiggling her hips.

They discard their clothes like they were on fire. And they weren’t joking at how hard they’ve gotten.

“Fuck me.” She groans at the sight of them.

“We plan on it baby.” Jared says.

She was sandwiched between the two giant Texans, Jared delivered a passionate, hungry kiss to her lips. Jensen behind her kissing the nap of her neck.

“How do you want us baby?” Jensen asked.

“I want Jared behind me, and you on top of me.”

“And do you want me in your ass, of do you think you can handle both of us in that tight little pussy of yours?” Jared asked.

“Oh god, so tempting. Let’s try both.” She smirks.

“One at a time baby.” Jensen says.

Jared hopped up to the nightstand to grab the bottle of lube, Jensen taking his place on top of her, kissing her ever so passionately. Their tongues dancing across each other’s mouths. Sucking his lip, driving him crazy.

Jared settled behind her, his hands traveling down her shoulders to her back, then sliding between her cheeks. Her hips bucked into his hand; Jared smirked.

“Very impatient little birthday girl you are.” Jared says in her ear. Before kissing behind her ear, bringing her ear lobe between his teeth gently.

Pulling away slightly, he lubed up his fingers, prepping her tight hole.

The distraction was enough for Jensen to drive his cock balls deep into her core. Her jaw drops, letting a wanton moan escape from her throat.

And that distraction was enough for Jared to scissor his fingers in her hold, prepping her for him.

Pulling his fingers free, Jared slides on a condom before lubing up one more time and inches his way into her.

A low, pleasured moan escapes her lips into Jensen’s shoulder. Feeling her holes fill up with her two favorite men in her life.

“You love that feeling? Feeling how full you are of our cocks?” Jensen says lowly into her ear. Making her whine and grind her hips against them.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Jensen adds.

“And I’ll even take that as, someone move.” Jared chuckles.

“Well lets not keep her waiting.” Jensen says as he pulls out before slamming back in. the sensation causing a yelp escape from her mouth.

Jared slightly pulling out, the head not even escaping from the opening, before slamming back in, his balls smacking against her.

And then they started a pace that had a rhythm when one pulls out someone thrusts in and rinse and repeat.

Y/N bounced up and down against Jared at the force of which they were delivering.

Her breathing was catching up as the coil in her abdomen built up in intensity. Each moan escaping with each breath.

“Sounds like she’s close again,” Jared growled.

“Lets give it to her.”

“God, I’m…” She moaned.

Her walls clamped down hard without warning around them, she could feel a warm, wet ooze spill inside her womb as Jensen’s thrust slow.

Her back arched off of Jared’s chest, the back of her head nuzzled in the crook of Jared’s neck as she came with a strangled wanton moan.

“Got one more left in you Stacks?”

“Damn right I do, lets see how stretched she can get.”

“Fuck me.” She pants.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, we’ll get there.”

Jared slowly pulled out, he smiled proud at how stretched open she was from him.

Jensen stilled inside her as Jared guided his still hard cock to her soaking heat.

“Focus on me sweetheart, he’s gonna go slow. Just holler if you can’t take it.”

She nods against Jared. Jensen held her close giving Jared enough room to maneuver close to her so he could inch his way in.

She could feel her walls stretch to accommodate not only Jensen but now Jared, as he inched his way further in, until he was balls deep.

“What a trooper.” Jensen congratulated, planting a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“Oh god, someone start moving.” She moans.

They moved at the same time, nearly pulling out before thrusting back in.

“Oh god!” she moans.

Their pace starts slow as they worked her back up with each, full, thrust.

Her heart spiked into her throat as her coil slowly built up, a mixture of pain and pleasure.

Their paced quickened as they felt their end coming to a head.

“Oh, guys,” she moans. Her legs quivering and shaking as her orgasm draws near.

“Almost,” Jensen growls.

“There,” Jared adds, as his hips buckled against her, the used condom filling up with more of his seed.

Jensen’s hips buckled and spasmed not long after Jared, spilling more into her as her walls clamped shut around them nearly milking them dry, as she came with a scream, their names on her tongue.

She saw pure white, heated pleasure as they worked her through her high. Getting them through their own.

 She woke up, to Jensen and Jared passed out, sandwiching her between them. She noticed a certain glow on them as they slept, they noticed the same glow before sleep to them.

She snuggled more into them as best as she could, feeling their release slowly oozing out of her as she adjusted herself. Smiling, content with what she did with her two loves of her life.

A birthday present she will never forget, but she does have to think of something for them.

~

Tags:

@pandazombie69​, @luci-in-trenchcoats​, @supernatural-jackles​, @becs-bunker​, @evansrogerskitten​, @akshi8278​, @jayankles​, @jeaniespiehs20​, @winchesters-favorite-girl​, @mlovesstories​

~

Copying and reposting someone else’s content is plagiarism and illegal. This work is property of supernaturallyobsessedchic. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher. An electronic reference link to the original posted work may be provided for purposes of promotion or assistance of publication by the readers discretion, if proper credits are given to the author in the re-post. 3/9/2021

[liighty]

Guzma babysitting Reader’s Niece

(A/N): BACK ON MY BULLSHIT AGAIN! BUT THIS TIME IT’S NOT ALL THAT SELF-INDULGENT AND MIGHT POSSIBLY BE TURNED INTO A SUPER FIC IF I FEEL LIKE IT

In all honesty i’ve thought about making another largeass super self-indulgent Guzma x Reader mega fic, but I’m not sure if I want to? I don’t know if anybody would read it, so that’s what this post is for!!! If you like this and want to see actual Guzma x Reader with plot and not just fluff drabbles lmk!! I have a bunch of asks to address so maybe i’ll get to that too soon

Anyways, back to the fic.

Mini Summary: (Y/N)’s niece needs to be babysat while (Y/N) is interviewed, so they turn to Guzma and crew to help out for a bit. Chaos ensues.

Rating/Triggers: UH drugs are mentioned but not really? THE KID DOES NOT DO DRUGS!!!! but yeah if that makes you uncomfy i’d be careful with it??\

Pairing: Guzma/Gender Neutral!Reader (I used the honorific ‘Titi’ which is gender neutral for ‘Tia’ or ‘Tio’ [extra thanks to Ocha_Bocha for helping me with that one <3] and tried to make it as gender neutral as possible. Originally this was written with a male reader, and then I went female, and ultimately attempted to eliminate gender completely. [Following the footsteps of Splatoon teehee])

Fic under cut!!!!!

"Are you sure this is a good idea, honey?" You clutch your niece's hand as you approach the large walls that separate Po Town from the rest of Ula'Ula Island. It's not that you don't trust the man who you're leaving her with- in fact, those two have been acquainted previously and seem to get along fairly well- It's his friends who you're concerned about.

"..." Her silence is expected, as the kid isn't all that talkative. Recognizing the young girl's silence, you frown. 

"You can stay in the office lounge if you really want to. I know you aren't the biggest fan of crowds, and um- Guz has some pretty loud friends-" Your explanation of what to be expected is quickly interrupted by a blue haired young man decked in black and white clothing. "Yo yo, what's with the kid?!" 

You arch a brow. You knew that Guzma worked with kids, but this guy couldn't be any older than 15! "I could say the same for you. I'm here to talk to Guzma-"

"Ya mean the boss? Why would some random chick want anything ta do with the leader of the Team Skull, huh?!"

A pink haired girl dressed in the same outfit walks up to the boy, crossing her arms. "Shut it, ya clod. Don't you remember the conversation we had with Boss yesterday?"

Hearing this, the blue haired boy's eyes light up in an epiphany. "Ohhhhh shit- Right-"

"Watch yer fuckin' language around the kiddo." She lightly smacks the back of Dansei's head. "She's in good hands, ma'am."

Another pink haired woman, this one being someone you finally recognize, walks in and smacks both of the delinquents in the head once more. "You say that after cussing, Reese?" 

Thank God. Plumeria. "Hey Plumes-" You smile weakly, waving politely with your free hand. Your niece does the same. Another young man, this one much shorter than the first and with green curly hair scrambles after Plumeria, jumping up and down to be seen. "Sorry about these numskulls. I'll lead y'all to the big boss man, yo. No worries at all, so you can chillax!"

I'm regretting this more and more by the second.

The crew starts whistling some hip hop tune as they make their way to the Shady House, the smaller boy beatboxing. You've taken this time to offer a piggyback ride to your niece, who's politely declined. Are all kids like this? Or is it just her?

Once they approach the boss, Guzma immediately jumps out of his chair, his signature shit-eating grin plastered on his face. "Eyyyyyy! (Y/N)!!! Kiddo!! What's up, homeslice?!" He hops down the stairs and crouches so he can get at eye-level with the young girl, offering his fist for a pound-it.

She bumps her fist against his, smiling just a bit. It's more of a reaction than you expected, at least. "S-sup, Uncle Guzma-" 

Looks like his slang is rubbing off on her. That's cute.

"Thanks for droppin' by, Doll. No need to worry about Little Miss Troublemaker over here, I got it all under control." He picks up your niece and walks over to you, pressing a looooooooongass smooch on your cheek. The other Team Skull members all make mini comments, like "Ewwww-", "Grosss-", and "Cooties-", causing Plumeria to once again smack their heads together. 

You roll your eyes, unable to stop the smirk on your face from growing any further. "Not in front of the kids, Guz." "Ah, right, right- My bad." His shades slide onto his face, hiding the bright red blush that had crept onto his cheeks. "Well, you should probably get goin', ey? The Aether Foundation's one lucky company to have you interviewin' for a position."

"Dork." You boop his nose, then your niece's. "Call me if you need me, okay honey? I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay, Titi (Y/N)-" You smile at the nickname while the others snicker. 'Titi' sounds an awful lot like 'Tittie', and considering three of the 7 people in the room are immature teenagers, there's definitely some laughing going on in the background. Plumeria looks very tired. How does she deal with these kids all the time?

"Alright, I'll be back. Don't light anything on fire, okay?" You yell as you walk off, feeling a slight hint of unease at the idea of leaving your young niece with so many delinquents, even if it's just for a few hours. It'll be fine, though. Guzma's there to keep them from doing anything stupid.

You laugh at the thought. Who am I kidding? He's probably gonna be the one who explodes something first.

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

The interview itself wasn't all that bad. You're fairly certain that you either aced it or put yourself up for consideration, which in itself helped your confidence just a bit. With the absence of Lusamine and the arrest of several of her chairmen, the foundation was very antsy and in need of someone who could handle the Pokemon Observation department. With your background in medicine and PR, you were rationally on the list of potential replacements, and despite your initial resistance, learning that the company would be run by somebody that WASN'T the manipulative little bitch Lusamine gave you enough comfort to accept the offer for the interview. Was it just an offer or an invitation? You weren't quite sure, but Wick was very insistent on you showing up.

Either way, you're pretty certain you got the job. Good on you. 

You can't help but wonder how your niece is doing, surrounded by so many troublemakers. As you make your way to the entrance of the Shady House, you can hear loud music, causing you to feel a small tint of anxiety. She'll be fine.

You walk up to the door and creak it open, the smell of burnt… whatever the fuck that is flooding your nostrils. Of course. They lit something on fire.

"Guz??" You call out to the empty room. "Plumes? Anybody home?" As expected, there's no response. You start to feel more and more anxious the more ground you start to cover. Where are they? Peeking your head around the corridor, your anxiety comes to its peak when-

"And that's why you should never do drugs, aight?"

H-Huh?

Your niece sits on Guzma's knee as he bounces it up and down, his signature shit-eating grin plastered on his face like usual. Awfully burnt cookies sit on the table, explaining the smell from earlier, and Plumeria seems to be asleep with the other team skull grunts. Are they… napping? Seems like it. 

She nods enthusiastically, taking a bite of a charred cookie and grimacing shortly after, causing the two to both laugh in unison.

"Doesn't matter if it's just for recreational purposes, you could still get hooked, and that's the last thing we want!" Grinning once again, Guzma pokes her forehead.

Hypocrite. You're reminded of the first time you two had kissed, which happened to be shortly after you both had blazed a couple of joints. It's enough to get you laughing, though.

"Huh?! What're you doing here so early? Don't tell me ya flunked THAT bad!" Guzma's eyes widen, a genuine look of bewilderment painted on his face.

"I did not flunk! I think I did great!" You huff, crossing your arms defiantly. "It's suuuuuuuper comforting that you thought I failed, Guz."

"Nononono I was joking!! Right, kiddo??" Your niece quickly nods. "See???? No harm, no foul!"

Arching a brow, you walk up to the two and pick up the young girl. "Mhmmm. Did you have fun, honey?"

She nods again, unable to contain the grin on her face. "Uncle Guzma told me about his Pokemon training! And I got to ride on Golisopod's back!" 

The large bug type pokemon bops up and down upon hearing its name, prompting a smirk from Guzma. "Yeah, I told ya I'd take care of her. She's welcome back anytime, okay?"

"Thanks, Guz." You peck his cheek, and your niece sticks her tongue out, closing her eyes. 

"Icky cooties!!" Where the hell did she hear that? The only people you can think of who'd say such a thing are in the other room snoozing, so- Yeah, actually, you know exactly who taught her that word.

"Well, I'm gonna getchu with my cooties! And my tickles!" You raise a hand menacingly, wiggling your fingers with one eye closed. She immediately curls up, not out of fear, but out of excitement. It's nice to see her so happy again.

After a very long tickle session, you quickly glance at the large grandfather clock, noting the short hand of the clock slowly approaching the number 8. Shit. "We gotta go, kiddo. Your dad isn't gonna be all that happy if we get home any later than 8:30. Besides, it's past your bedtime."

"I bet Uncle Guzma stays up past his bedtime-" She yawns. "Can we stay for a little longer?"

How can I say no to that face? You find yourself incredibly conflicted. Do you tell her you have to leave anyways? Or do you stay and risk getting in trouble by your brother-in-law?

"Eh, as much as I'd love to have you over for longer, kiddo- Look at your Titi (Y/N). They look exhausted."

You smile gratefully at the comment, glad that it doesn't have to be you to tell your niece to go home. "Yeah, I'm beat. We can hang out some other time, okay? I promise." You pat her head and get ready to leave.

"Aww… okay. Bye, Uncle Guzma!! Bye Golisopod!" She holds your hand, and the two of you eventually walk your way back to the car. As you drive away, one thing lingers in your head. You can't think of anything else, in all honesty.

Guzma's great with kids. I should've expected as much, but… I'm glad he gets along with my family.

Your stomach rumbles at the intersection. I'd kill for some malasadas right about now- 

Okay, maybe you CAN think of something else.

[midgardianweasley]

hello! welcome to fanfic writing for hp and mcu! I was wondering if I could make a request for Freddie! Maybe something fluffy where he’s becomes familiar with the muggle world bc of work and takes his pureblood gf to London for the first time and just gushes over how cute she is experiencing all the muggle stuff for the first time? Thank you!

hello my lovely! I had so much fun with this request. I hope you like it!<3

Seeing the sights

Fred Weasley x fem!reader

Summary: Fred takes a week holiday from work, he’s been doing some travel over the last few months to muggle London and decides to take Y/N, who’s never experienced the muggle world, to see some of the popular sights.

Warnings: none :)

Word count: 1864 words

Message/ask if you want to be on the taglist <33

“Hey sweetheart! I’m home!” Fred announced to the quiet home, hanging up his coat and putting his wand down on the unit beside the front door. He briefly thought that maybe his girlfriend was out somewhere, however, that thought was quickly discarded when he heard footsteps running towards him and before he knew it, a body collided with his chest. After recovering from his stumble from the collision, he looked down to see a mop of Y/H/C hair just below his chin. He went to speak, before hearing a slight mumble.

“Sorry Darling, what was that?” He chuckled, holding her arms as she gently pulled away, looking up at him, she smiles before responding

“I missed you”

“I missed you too sweetheart, but, I come with good news!”

“Ooooh, I like good news! Tell me, tell me, tell me!” She claps her hands, excited for what Fred was about to reveal.

“Georgie and I have closed the shop for the next few days, he and Angelina are gonna be heading off to Scotland on holiday, so, I was thinking that you and I could take a trip to muggle London!” He spoke, excitement in his voice clear as day. He’d been going to muggle London on business with his brother a few times over the last couple of months and he’d seen some places he wanted to share with his girlfriend, a pureblood like himself, as she’s never experienced anything muggle related before that wasn’t taught in a classroom. He wanted to show her firsthand to let her have an insight on some of the things he’d seen.

“The place you’ve been telling me about?”

“Yeah! The place that has the awesome cake I was telling you about!”

“There’s gonna be cake?”

“There will be cake”

And those were the last words spoken before she ran off in a hurry again, reaching the cupboard in the hall of their shared home, to pull a suitcase down and beginning packing. Fred smiled, happy to see that the excitement he was feeling, was mutual.  

~Timeskip~

The couple had just arrived and settled themselves into their hotel in the heart of London when Y/N bounced over to the windows in their bedroom and opened the door of their balcony, giving them a full view of the city.

“Wow, it’s beautiful!” Y/N spoke, wrapping her hands around the new pair of arms that had found themselves around her waist. Fred gently kissed below her ear, enjoying the slight breeze outside, glad they had worn their jumpers as it was starting to become fall season.

“So I was thinking” He began, still giving her quick pecks, moving between her neck and her jawline. “We could either chill out for today and see the sights tomorrow, or, we could spend the rest of today out and about and just choose what to do tomorrow depending on how you feel today goes.”

She thought it over for a few minutes, trying to decide whether she wanted to save the tourist stuff for later in the trip or start exploring today, when looking out at the busy city, it was suddenly really obvious what she wanted to do.

“I wanna go and see what that thing is!” She jumped, struggling to contain how eager she was.

“The big circle thing over there?” He spoke, following where she was pointing.

“Yeah!”

“Ahh, that’s called the London Eye” Leading her inside and helping her put her coat back on

“Wait, what? But there’s no eyes? Can that thing see?!” She exclaimed. He laughed before explaining that it wasn’t a literal eye, before leading her out of the door and smiling at how clueless she was, almost forgetting that it was exactly how he and George were when they first visited. Thankfully this time, Fred remembered the key card to their room, learning from an unfortunate mistake he and his twin brother made that resulted in the pair sitting outside in the hall for forty minutes, waiting for someone to let them back in. Y/N watched Fred put the key into their door, confused as to what he was doing as she pulled out her wand. Upon turning and seeing her eyes flutter between her wand and the rectangular thing in his hand, he started to explain again.

“This is a little card we put in this machine attached to the door handle, it locks and opens the door for us whenever we swipe it in this little slot here.” He explains while demonstrating, taking great joy in her face morphing as she tries to understand.

“We can’t just use ‘Alohamora’?”

“No Love, it’s all done the muggle way here, remember?”

Not entirely sure of herself, Y/N puts her wand back into her coat pocket and watches as Fred does the same with the muggle key card.

After a walk in Hyde park and hearing Big Ben ring out, scaring Y/N almost half to death ultimately causing Fred to practically fall over from laughing so much, the pair found themselves in Trafalgar Square, a soon to be favourite of Y/N’s.

“Can you guess why we’re here?”

“Uhm, to look at the fountain?”

“Well, yes, that, but, look up and to your left”

Y/N did as Fred had told her and gasped in excitement, for what felt like the thousandth time, when spotting the big cake logo above the doorway. Putting the pieces together, she knew that this was the place where Fred had kept bringing back Y/F/C from his trips. Fred took his hands from his back, to reveal two boxes of her favourite cake that she had been craving since it was first mentioned. Y/N wasted no time in taking the box from his hand, thanking him and opening it up, not stopping to wonder how the hell he’d managed to go and get it when she could’ve sworn she was with him the whole time. Her attention was brought back to Fred when he held a plastic, wrapped fork in front of her face, saving her from getting any crumbs or icing on her outfit. She took it from his hands gently and the two of them started to eat their cakes, occasionally taking some from the other person with large smiles painted across their face.

~Timeskip~

The sun had almost set now, the city now starting to light up with rows of street lights, headlights from the cars of people returning home from work to their loved ones, further accompanied by the lights from overlooking apartments. Y/N stood in the middle of the streets that had started to calm, but not by much, and spun slowly on the spot, taking in the beauty of the night atmosphere. What she had failed to notice, was that all throughout the day, Fred had been giving her the same look. He was completely in awe of her fascination and how she thought everything was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen. He knew that the muggle world would be a new environment for her, causing him to feel slightly anxious when first raising the idea, but seeing her be so absorbed by everything, made him feel like his heart had grown double the size. Stopping on the spot, Y/N saw her boyfriend look like he was in a trance, making her shy under his gaze when realising he was staring at her.

“You okay Freddie?” She spoke, watching him blink a few times before stepping forward and hugging him, feeling slightly colder now that it was darkening. He noticed her shiver slightly, unwrapping his scarf from his neck and gently wrapping around hers, before holding her face in his hands, a soft smile on their faces.

“Never better, my love.” They pulled away from their hug, taking each other's hand, and walked towards the main event of the day, well, night time now. Waiting in line to hop on the ride, the two of them swung their arms back forth. ‘The eye looks so much bigger from down here’, Y/N thought, craning her neck to look at the top of the wheel, Fred not having to strain too much due to his height, but is still taken aback everytime he sees how tall it is, he chuckles to himself thinking that this must be how Y/N feels when looking up at him, not daring to voice his thought, knowing it would result in a slap to the chest, a light-hearted one, but it was better safe than sorry.

The line moved quickly until it was eventually the couple’s turn to walk into the pod-like thing, managing to have it all to themselves, the line not being as busy as it was during the day. When it started to move again, Y/N stumbled, holding onto Fred as she lost her balance slightly, not prepared for it to move so suddenly, causing the both of them to laugh at her clumsiness. Everytime they feel that they can’t possibly be happier than what they are or smile anymore than what they have, they’re proven wrong.

When they got to the top, an audible gasp fell from Y/N’s lips, if she thought that the views were pretty from the ground, seeing them from the top of this wheel was a whole other level. She walked closer to the glass, looking at all of the lights and tiny figures walking the streets. Sure, she’d gone flying on her Firebolt before and playing quidditch had given her a high view of a crowd before, but when flying, you can never really appreciate the views, especially not if you have a bludger flying towards you, something Fred had always made sure wouldn’t happen, knowing how painful it can be to be hit with one of those things. But with everything so still from where she was, there was no crowd screaming, no breeze whipping her hair in 50 directions, there was just serenity.

“Do you like it?” Fred broke the silence, eyes still focused on the girl beside him, watching her eyes go back and forth. He thought she hadn’t heard him she was so entranced, before she whispered a short “It’s incredible.” Another minute went by until she was pulling her eyes away and meeting with his, having to look up slightly. “I love it Fred. I love it all, today has been absolutely insane. Thank you so much.” She spoke softly, wrapping her arms around his torso and hugging him tight, but careful not to squeeze him. He returned the hug, arms wrapping around her shoulders and chin placed upon her head. A soft “you’re welcome darling” escaping him, careful to not break the peaceful silence they had.

And while Y/N was peacefully looking at the view, still wrapped up in Fred's scarf and his arms, her head felt empty with how peaceful the moment was, Fred felt the same, however, his head didn’t feel empty as he had one thought running through his head.

‘I’m going to marry this girl’

And thankfully, he had the ring in his back pocket ready to act on it.

Taglist: @horrorxweasley @dracofknmalfoy @gaycatlord-stuff

[pterodactylterrace]

Guys Like You Chapter 19

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 19

Chapter Summary: Just a bunch of random fluff for the time being.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, and so much tooth rotting fluff.

{Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8} {Chapter 9} {Chapter 10} {Chapter 11} {Chapter 12} {Chapter 13} {Chapter 14} {Chapter 15} {Chapter 16} {Chapter 17} {Chapter 18}

“Faye?” Henry called out, wandering into the living room where she was lounging on the couch with Kal.

“Yes?” Faye asked slowly, lifting her head from the fluffy canine’s side.

“Would you mind looking this over? Tell me if you’re ok with it?” Henry requested, handing her his phone to look over his newest Instagram post in the making, several pictures lined up and awaiting her approval.

First, was one of his signature boomer selfies, his face and chest covered in pony and princess stickers, glitter shimmering on the planes of his face, almost shining as bright as his smile. Second was a snapshot of his feet, nail polish globbed on the ends of his toes, Briar’s tiny hands in the frame adding more onto the top of his foot. Next was another selfie, his curls now tugged up into random tufts, secured with bright glittery hair ties, another amused smile on his face. Last was a small video clip of Briar painting makeup on his face, chatting away about the differences between unicorns and pegasus’, Henry asking at the very end if he was pretty yet, only for Briar to very definitively tell him ‘no’ and continue brushing over his face with more eyeshadow.

The post was captioned as:

“Girl Dad

#girldad

#glitterbomb

#amIprettynow?”

“That… that’s adorable.” Faye gushed, throwing her arms around his neck, his nervousness fading away. He had yet to introduce his fanbase to Briar. They had seen Faye a few times, different paparazzi photos surfacing of the two of them out together along with her accompanying him to the Witcher premiere. Neither of them minded Faye being photographed. She knew what she was signing up for, and Henry was always careful to only show her the good comments and headlines. The last thing he wanted was for her to be driven away thinking she wasn’t good enough again.

They had yet to reveal Briar’s presence, however. He had a Zoom interview later on in the week, and they had agreed that he could mention her if he was asked about family life. This was just him wanting to reveal his daughter on his own terms before people began trying to invade the child’s privacy. He could already see the feisty toddler chasing after someone with a camera, smacking them with her stuffed rabbit, Kal dutifully chasing after her.

Though, in retrospect, Kal may actually not chase after Briar to back her up. In the last couple of weeks, he had been by Faye’s side almost constantly. Not that he was jealous or anything, but he wasn’t exactly happy about now being Kal’s third favorite human. He’d raised that dog since he was ten weeks old, then Briar comes into his life and suddenly she’s the best thing ever. Now that Faye was pregnant, he split his time between curling up next to Faye and playing with Briar. The only time Henry spent with him was when he fed him, literally drug him out for a walk and at nighttime when he would lay on Faye’s legs all night. The poor dog was going to go crazy after the baby was born trying to split his time between everyone.

“So, is it ok to post?” Henry asked, shooing Kal from the couch so he could be closer to his fiancé. The dog was less than pleased to be uprooted form his spot, but relented and laid at her feet instead, huffing in annoyance as he laid his giant head on her tattooed foot.

“Well, nothing is showing her face, and I can tell you’re about to explode if you don’t tell the world about her soon.” Faye teased, gently kissing his stubbly cheek.

“I’m going to disable comments on it.” Henry explained, taking his phone back to finish the post and upload it to Instagram.

“Might be a good idea.” Faye agreed, peering over his shoulder as the images uploaded, hugging his thick arm to her chest. “I love you so much.”

“Aww. The baby’s making you all mushy.” Henry teased, dropping his phone onto the couch and wrapping his arms around her, kissing the crown of her head.

“Shut up.” Faye whined, leaning further into him, her face drawing into a pout.

“Please don’t cry, I was just teasing.” Henry requested softly.

“Sorry. Hormones are making me crazy.” Faye apologized, hiding her face in his chest.

“There’s no need to apologize.” Henry assured, squeezing her a little tighter.

“We’re going to have to tell Briar eventually.”

“We can’t just wait until the baby gets here and just be all ‘surprise! You’re a big sister!’?”

“No. She’s going to wonder why I’m getting so fat long before then. There will be questions. They might make me cry. Are you still going to love me when I’m huge?” Faye asked suspiciously.

“When you’re rounded out carrying my baby, tits full and just begging to be sucked on? I’m probably going to have a hard time keeping my hands off of you.”

“You can’t keep your hands to yourself now.” Faye teased, turning her head to look up at him.

“You aren’t wrong. I love feeling your skin on mine. In any way I can get it. Kissing you.” He whispered, gently kissing her neck. “Holding your hand.” He continued, tangling their fingers together as he nipped at her neck. “But best of all, I love being buried balls deep in that sweet little pussy of yours.”

“Bedroom. Now.” Faye hissed, Henry popping up with her in his arms, all to eager to carry her back to their bedroom, closing and locking the door before Kal had the chance to squeeze his way in.

~*~

“Just pull it off like a band aid, right?”

“Quick and easy and it’ll be over with.” Henry agreed, wrapping one large paw around her hip and pulling her closer.

“Briar, can you come here for a minute?” Faye called, resting a hand on his knee.

“Hi Mommy!” Briar greeted enthusiastically, practically tacking her mother as she launched herself into her lap, stuffed bunny still in tow.

“Hi.” Faye giggled, situating her daughter in her lap. “Briar, Mommy and Papa have something to tell you.” Faye started, Briar turning her wide innocent gaze up to her mother expectantly. “Henry?” Faye delegated, looking up at him.

“Princess, you’re a big sister. Mummy and Papa are having another baby.” Henry explained, Briar staring blankly up at him for what felt like an eternity, processing what he just said.

“Where?” She finally asked, Henry stifling a laugh at her innocent question.

“The baby is in Mommy’s tummy.” Faye told her, taking her daughter’s tiny hand and resting it on her stomach.

“You ate baby?!” Briar gasped, her eyes going wide as she frantically pulled up her mother’s shirt. “I get you out baby!” She yelled, poking at her mother’s navel, Henry unable to contain his laughter this time.

“The baby needs to stay in Mommy’s tummy until they’re ready to be born. They’re still too little.”

“How baby get there?” Briar asked, continuing to poke at her mother’s stomach curiously.

“Papa put the baby there so they can grow big and strong.”

“Big and strong like Papa!” Briar giggled.

“Yes, like Papa.” Faye laughed. “So, Mommy’s tummy is going to get bigger and bigger as the baby grows, just like when you were in my tummy.”

“I was in you belly?” Briar whispered in amazement. “Papa tummy get big too?”

“Yes, you were and no, I don’t see Papa getting a big tummy anytime soon.” Faye laughed.

“Nope, no tummy.” Briar confirmed after pulling up Henry’s t-shirt and taking in his still firm, furry abdomen.

“Thank you.” Henry chuckled, pushing his shirt back down and kissing the top of her head. “So, is that ok with you, princess? Would you like to be a big sister?”

“Yeah! I help with baby!” Briar squealed excitedly, hugging her stuffed bunny close to her chest and bouncing on her mother’s lap.

“Will you show Papa how to take care of a baby?” Henry asked, Briar nodding her head excitedly.

“Yeah! I show you!” She agreed.

“Ok, how do you hold the baby?” Henry asked, leaning down to look her in the eye.

“Like this!” Briar explained, cradling her stuffed rabbit in her arms.

“Ok, I think I can do that. How do you burp the baby?” Briar flipped the bunny up onto her shoulder, smacking it on the back and looking up at Henry to make sure he was paying attention. “Alright. What about feeding, how do you feed a baby?”

Without missing a beat, Briar pulled up her shirt and pressed the bunny’s face to her chest, Henry bursting out laughing along with Faye. “Very good, sweetheart.” Faye praised around a laugh, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. “Now why don’t you go play with Kal for a little bit?”

“Kal!” Briar called, hopping off her mother’s lap and running off to her room, the canine hot on her heels.

“I still don’t think I’m going to be very good at breastfeeding.” Henry lamented, Faye snickering and shaking her head.

“Yours are still bigger than mine.” Faye pointed out, playfully grabbing at his chest.

“I’m not so sure about that anymore.” Henry teased, resting one hand on the side of his chest she wasn’t groping and the other on Faye’s swollen breasts, pretending to contemplate as he shamelessly squeezed at her chest.

“You may have a point. The only bras that fit anymore are sports bras. I’m gonna need to buy more. Sports bras and swollen tits are not a fun combination right now.”

“You have my attention.” Henry purred, perking up at her declaration.

“Henry, I’m going to be getting ugly nursing bras, not sexy lingerie.”

“Why not both?”

“Really?”

“What? You’ve been pouncing me at least twice a day for the last week. How is me wanting to see my gorgeous pregnancy fiancé in something sexy out of line?”

“Ok, first of all, I haven’t been pouncing on you twice a day.” Faye started, Henry raising an amused eyebrow at her declaration. “I may have suggested we get closer a few more times than usual, but it’s not like I’m barging in while you’re busy to try and get some. I’m not some sex crazed maniac.”

“You barged in on me showering twice.”

“You do that to me all the time!”

“And I haven’t been able to complete a workout without you demanding I finish with a round of couples cardio.”

“Have you seen what you look like all sweaty with your muscles all pumped up? It’s not my fault you’re irresistible.”

“I also seem to remember you surprising me in the gaming room and riding me while I was on coms playing world of warcraft.”

“Ok, so like one slutty instance.” Faye scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“There was also that time last week when we went out for dinner. You had your hand shoved down my trousers before the driver even finished putting up the partition.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was bothering you so much.” Faye grouched, crossing her arms and scooting away from him.

“You’re not bothering me at all.” Henry laughed, grabbing her hips and pulling her closer. “I’m just making a point. You can’t keep your hands off of me, and I’m loving every minute of it.”

“Wouldn’t mind your hands on me a little more.” Faye lamented, turning sideways on the couch and tossing her legs over his, leaning back to rest her head on the armrest.

“Are you hinting at something?” Henry asked, his fingers just barely skimming above the waistband of her leggings, a shiver following in their wake.

“Probably not what you’re thinking. My calves have been really tight lately. It would be great if my loving fiancé were to rub them down for me.”

“Are you sure that’s all you’re wanting?” Henry teased, his hands sliding down her legs to gently knead at her tense muscles.

“We’ll see.” Faye half yawned, already settling down for her usual mid-afternoon nap.  

~*~

“Faye.” Henry started out sternly, crossing his arms and raising a brow at his fiancé as she attempted to look innocently over her shoulder.

“Yes, my love?”

“What do you have there?”

“Nothing.”

“So, it’s not another cup of coffee that I’m smelling?” Henry challenged, crossing the room as Faye sat the cup down on the counter, spinning around to face him.

“But… the baby…”

“The baby is the exact reason you asked me to make sure you’re not drinking as much caffeine. Remember what the doctor suggested? Only one a day.” Henry scolded, gripping her hips to pull her closer.

“The baby wants coffee.” Faye whimpered, giving him her best puppy dog face.

“Then the baby will have to settle for decaf.”

“It’s not the same! Why are you being so mean?”

“I’m not. You told me not to let you drink more caffeine than you should, so I am.”

“Can’t you just leave me alone for two minutes? One extra every now and then is fine!” Faye growled.

“Of course I can leave you alone. I’m doing what you asked me to, so don’t yell at me.” Henry stated calmly, reaching past her to grab the pot from the coffee maker, dumping it out and taking it with him to his office, wincing at her irritated ranting. She had been very clear and adamant about him monitoring, and limiting her caffeine intake, especially coffee. Unfortunately, her most recent craving had been exactly what he had been told to keep her from. Why couldn’t she just crave normal things, like pickles and ice cream? No, she had to be obsessed with something she couldn’t have, and now she was extremely upset with him for doing exactly what she had asked him to do. He could almost feel more gray streaking through his hair.

He was just finishing up a phone call with a contractor when he could hear her again, this time strangled sobs and quiet sniffles meeting his ears rather than her ranting. He was up and out the door in a second, almost running into her when he found her loitering just outside the door.

“Darling, what’s wrong?” Henry asked, holding her shoulders gently and leaning down to look at her more closely.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” Faye apologized, looking up at him with red rimmed eyes.

“Faye, please don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry, I just feel really bad. You’re just doing what I asked, and I started screaming at you!”

“Faye, darling, please calm down.” Henry soothed, pulling her closer and letting her cry into his chest. “I’m not mad, I know you didn’t mean it.”

“I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

“Faye, I’m not mad.” Henry insisted, kissing the top of her head. “There’s nothing to forgive. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Faye sniffled, wrapping her arms around his thick waist and squeezing him tight. “I’m sorry I was acting so crazy.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Henry repeated, rubbing her back softly. “The builders are going to be starting later on this week.”

“Really?” Faye sniffed, looking back up at him, Henry cupping her face and wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

“Yes. I told you we would get it done in time. It does mean we’ll have to watch Kal when he’s outside now, make sure he’s not getting into anything.”

“This doesn’t even feel real. I’m engaged to an amazing man, pregnant with his baby, living in a house with more than two rooms in it, and now we’re building a guest house out back.” Faye half laughed, reaching up to rest her hands on his wrists.

“Well, originally I wanted to move back to Jersey before we started expanding out family, but well… that didn’t happen. I don’t think moving out of a house we just moved into while you’re pregnant is a good idea, and we don’t have any family that lives close. Next best thing is building a guest house so family can stay without everyone being under each other’s feet.”

“Are you still wanting to move back to Jersey?”

“It would be wonderful if we could, but only if that’s also what you want. I just wanted us to be closer to family.”

“Maybe after I recover would be a good time. Kinda sucks that we’re building just to sell the house not long after.”

“We don’t have to sell it. Unless you’re not wanting to come back here at all.”

“Hen, you have to remember, I’m not the kind of person that owns multiple houses. I’m used to renting questioningly inhabitable apartments.”

“Never again.” Henry stated firmly. “Only the best for you from now on.”

~*~

Five minutes. They made it five minutes before being interrupted. Four minutes longer than he thought it would take. He gave Briar specific instructions not to come into his office until the door was open again. He never should have said anything. She normally never went into his office, finding the room ‘boring’ even after she put stickers all over the back of the door and window clings to the window. Now that he had told her not to come in, she was looking for reasons to do just that.

The interviewer had just asked him a question, and he opened his mouth to answer when he saw the door opening out of the corner of his eye.

“Yes, Princess?” Henry sighed, smiling and turning his head to see her standing perfectly still in the doorway.

“Hi.” She whispered, quickly running over to him and throwing her arms around his leg. “I love you!”

“I love you too, Princess.” Henry replied quietly, gently removing her from his leg and shooing her off towards the door, “Papa’s busy right now, so you need to wait outside, ok?”

“Ok.” Briar agreed, sitting down in the open doorway and staring at him again.

“Can you close the door, please?”

“But I wanna see you.” Briar pouted, her face falling at his stern look, standing herself up and closing the door again. He could faintly hear her crying her way down the hall, his heart shattering at the sound.

“Sorry.” Henry apologized, shifting uncomfortably. He wanted nothing more than to go and apologize for pushing her away like that, but the interview wasn’t quite over yet.

“Was that your daughter?”

“Yes, it was.” Henry responded, unable to keep the smile from his face.

“When are we going to get a peek at your family? There have been rumors of you settling down.”

“Yes, I am settling down.” Henry agreed, “I have found the most wonderful, amazing woman. We don’t want the children to be drawn into everything, though. That’s a pretty big boundary for us.”

“Children? As in, more than one?”

“We do see more children in our future.” Henry skittered around the question. Faye had been adamant about waiting until they knew what they were having before announcing it to the world.

“Papa, I brought you something.” Briar’s small voice cut in, peeking her head around the cracked open door, holding up a sticker she had already peeled from its backing.

“Thank you, princess. Papa’s trying to work now.” Henry chastised softly, leaning down when she crossed the room to let her place the pony sticker on his cheek.

“Almost done?” Briar asked hopefully, batting her lashes at him.

“Almost. Why don’t you go get Kal’s leash on him? We’ll take him for a walk just as soon as I finish up here.”

“Ok, Papa!” Briar gasped excitedly, rushing out the open door again.

“That should give us about two minutes.” Henry laughed, turning his attention back to the screen. “I’m terribly sorry about all the interruptions. I would have come in person, but my fiancé isn’t feeling quite well, and I didn’t want to leave her.”

“It’s alright, I understand.” The interviewer assured, flipping through their notes again. “Last question, do you have any future projects in the works?”

“I have one movie that is in post right now, but I haven’t lined anything up right now for afterwards. I’m focusing more on family at the moment.”

“You’ve stated before that having a family was your dream. What’s it feel like to have it actually happening right now?”

“I’m happier now than I’ve ever been.”

Tags:  @weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient @summersong69 @mis-lil-red @lharrietg @amberangel112 @mansaaay @packerfan43

[rafael-silva]

out of darkness, light: a tarlos fic

When the 126 got called to a kitchen fire a little after noon, it never registered for TK that the rest of his day was going to turn out the way it did. If anything, he was thinking about the complete opposite. He was thinking about light and happiness, going home to Carlos at the end of their shared shifts, lying in his boyfriend’s embrace. He thought about comfort and safety. But what he ended up getting, was darkness and fear. The power of manifestation, people had told him. Well, if you ask TK, he never manifested this.

for the bad things happen bingo: tarlos + communication suddenly cut off

established tk strand/carlos reyes, major character injury, emotional hurt/comfort, hurt/comfort, angst, whump, fluff, team as family, hurt tk strand, hurt carlos reyes 

6.9k | on ao3

*****

When the 126 got called to a kitchen fire a little after noon, it never registered for TK that the rest of his day was going to turn out the way it did. If anything, he was thinking about the complete opposite. He was thinking about light and happiness, going home to Carlos at the end of their shared shifts, lying in his boyfriend’s embrace. He thought about comfort and safety. But what he ended up getting, was darkness and fear. The power of manifestation, people had told him. Well, if you ask TK, he never manifested this.

As TK hops out of the firetruck after it comes to a halt at their scene, he sees a very familiar APD cruiser pull up to the scene, most likely dispatched there for crowd control. TK’s face breaks into a wide smile, watching Carlos climb out of the car, followed by his partner, Amber.

TK liked Amber, she was smart, witty and he knew she had Carlos’s back no matter what. All three of them had gone out a few times for dinner and he immediately took a liking to her. And he’s heard from Carlos how well they work together and how they understand each other in the field, and knowing that helps TK relax just that much when Carlos is working.

TK and Carlos don’t have time to exchange any words as Owen starts giving out orders, so they settle for quick, reassuring nods and then both direct their attentions to their jobs.

TK, Judd and Paul are tasked with extinguishing the fire, while Marjan and Mateo are tasked with clearing the residence. Carlos and Amber secure the scene, guiding civilians and on-lookers to the other side of the street and on the sidewalk. He looks over his shoulder just in time to see TK sliding his mask over his face, shouldering and securing his oxygen tank and walking towards the house, his eyes catching the T.K. STRAND printed on the bottom of his turnout coat, shimmering as the sunlight bounced off the name.

Carlos swallowed as the three firefighters disappeared inside, it looked to be a small fire, but still, any small fire can escalate very quickly. Carlos quickly shakes his head, not wanting to go to the worst case scenarios. He trusts that TK is excellent at his job, and he isn't in there alone and Carlos takes comfort in that fact. Even though there’s a little voice in the back of his head, reminding him that his boyfriend is a trouble magnet. (Like Carlos needs reminding.) He expels the thought and redirects his attention back to the perimeter as he and Amber work to keep the scene clear.

It all works out without a hitch. Marjan and Mateo jog out of the house, leading three people out,  closely followed by TK, Judd and Paul. Carlos lets out a sigh of relief upon seeing TK clear of the house, watching as TK takes off his mask and oxygen tank.

“All clear, Cap,” Judd reports. “And the fire was contained to the kitchen, no further damage to the rest of the house. Structural integrity is good.”

“Good job, team,” Owen nods.

Carlos looks as Marjan leads the house owners to the ambulance where Tommy and Nancy are waiting to check them out and then makes eye contact with TK.

“You got this?” Carlos asks Amber.

“When do I not?” She teases with a smirk. “People are fanning out anyway. Go,” she nudges her head in TK’s direction.

“Thanks,” Carlos gives her a grateful smile and tries not to jog towards TK. It doesn't work. He jogs.

“Hi, babe,” TK smiles, meeting Carlos halfway on the green lawn.

“Hey, baby,” Carlos replies, wrapping his arms around TK in a quick but firm hug. TK smells like smoke but it doesn’t matter, because TK is here. “You okay?” He asks as they pull apart.

TK nods. “Yup, it was pretty straightforward. Didn’t encounter any problems or surprises.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

“I think we’re heading out,” TK points out as he watches the rest of the crew pack their equipment and pile into the truck. “Your shift going okay so far?”

“Yeah,” Carlos answers. “Just small calls.”

“I hope it stays that way.”

“You and I both,” Carlos nods.

Their heads turn in sync as they hear TK’s name being called from behind them.

“TK!” Judd waves his hand. “Let’s go.”

TK nods, turning back to Carlos. “See you at home.”

“Yeah.”

TK leans in, brushing a chaste kiss to Carlos’s lips. “Text me. And be careful, please.”

“Will do,” Carlos promises. “You too, on both those things.”

TK smiles as he makes his way towards the truck, giving Amber a nod and climbing in.

Leaving the scene, too, TK sees Amber and Carlos get into their cruiser and drive off in the opposite direction.

The crew sit in silence as they drive back the firehouse wearing their headphones and TK stares out the window as the city passes by in a blur.

Then the radio comes to life, but it’s not a call for them.

“Unit 363-H-20, 10-50,” the female voice relays, giving the address of the car accident.

Carlos and Amber. TK knows Carlos’s unit number by heart.  

“10-4, dispatch,” Carlos’s reply rings through the channel, his strong voice filling the headphones. “Responding, en route.”

TK could hear the sirens begin to wail in the background.

“Roger that,” the female voice returns. “ETA?”

No response comes.

The female voice tries again. “Unit 363-H-20, please respond.”

Nothing.

And just like that, the silence echoing through the firetruck is deafening, the air suddenly thick and heavy, and TK holds his breath as he waits for a reply from the officers. As he waits to hear his boyfriend’s voice.

Which still doesn’t come.

“Reyes, respond,” the female voice returns, rigid but TK can hear some unsteadiness in the tone.

Still, nothing.

TK can feel the tension rising in the small space. And he’s suddenly hot, his body feels like it’s on fire. He knows the rest of his team aren’t just concerned for him, but they’re concerned for Carlos, as well. Carlos is now part of the family, of their family.

TK finds himself fishing his phone out of his pocket, his mind working on autopilot as he touches Carlos’s contact and brings up the phone to his ear.

It’s fine, it’s okay, there are a lot of explanations for what happened, he repeats in his head as the ringing continues. “Come on, come on, pick up,” TK whispers, mostly to himself.

It goes to voicemail.

“Damn it,” TK hangs up. His heart sinks a little more.

But still, he won’t allow himself to panic. Carlos might be on the phone with dispatch. Or another officer. Maybe the radio broke.

TK tries calling Amber next.

And when her phone goes to voicemail too, the dam in TK breaks as the fear starts coursing through his body, through his veins.

“They’re not picking up,” TK’s voice wavers.

No one says anything, they just exchange worried looks.  

“Why aren’t they answering?” TK continues. He doesn’t know the answer. And there’s a part of him that doesn’t want to know the answer. Because his gut tells him he won’t like the answer.

He shakes his head, drawing in a deep breath and shakily letting it out. What do people say about manifestation again? Right. So he tries to think positive thoughts, tries to convince himself that Carlos is okay, that the radio just broke and Carlos will call or text him any second.

TK doesn’t allow himself to think about the what if the little voice at the back of his head keeps supplying.

No, Carlos is fine. The radio just broke.

He waits. No text or call come through.

The more he waits, the most TK’s world closes in on him.

He holds his breath once again as he tries to call Carlos for a second time.

Same outcome.

That's the last string as TK gives into that small voice.

“Something’s wrong,” TK finally says the words out loud, the hot pit in his stomach getting deeper and deeper by each passing second. “I saw him get into the passenger seat, he should be answering.”

“Hey, TK,” it’s Owen who speaks up. “It’s okay, I’m sure there’s a valid and logical explanation.”

But TK’s shaking his head. “We have to do something.”

“I need you to breathe, son. Breathe.”

TK swallows against his very dry throat, doing his best to follow his dad’s instructions. Deep breath, hold for one, two, three, four and let out for one, two, three, four…

He repeats the exercise a few times, feeling his heart begin to calm down.

Before anyone can say anything else, the radio comes to life again, this time a different voice and a call for the firefighters.

Judd looks at TK with a concerned and supportive gaze. “You alright? Get your head in the game brother. I’m sure your man is fine.”

TK nods, sitting up straight in his seat. He can’t let anything affect how he does his job, people are relying on him, his team is relying on him and as much as he wants to curl up in a ball and keep trying Carlos until he answers, he knows he can’t do that. And he also knows that if he lets the worry get the best of him and put him out of action, it would be impossible to get out of bed each morning.

TK sighs, reluctantly putting his phone away and closes his eyes, focusing on his breathing. Yeah, there are several reasons why Carlos couldn’t pick up. He could be at the scene right now, doing his job. And TK needs to do his job, too.

Still, however, he can’t shake off this gut wrenching feeling echoing through his bones.

The silence sits heavy among the crew, each of them busying themselves in any way until they reach their scene. TK slightly startles as an invisible voice speaks suddenly as dispatch is radioing again and redirecting them to a different call.

TK swallows and tries to keep the sickening feeling down. He’ll deal with it later. He has a job to do now. He shares a quick look with Paul, and sees support and grounding in the other man’s eyes. He knows his crew—his family—has his back.

However, all concentration TK had been building to focus on his job goes out the window when the firetruck rolls up to the scene.

When he spots the APD cruiser sitting the middle of the intersection. And his eyes land on the license plate he knows by heart.

He’s jumping out of the truck before it comes to a full stop, his name being called out in a fury behind him but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t dare slow down. He doesn’t look back at them. He barely registers the shuffling going on as the rest of the crew jump out behind him when the truck stops.

He’s screaming out another name.

“Carlos!” Even TK’s voice sound foreign to him. It sounds broken. “Carlos!”

The closer TK gets, the more he realizes that another one of his worst fears is becoming a reality.  It’s confirmed when he’s a few feet away from the car, and it’s clear that the passenger side took the hit head on.

And Carlos had gotten into the passenger seat.

TK can’t hear Judd yelling his name over the beating of his own heart in his ears. He swallows and wills his heart to calm down. So he can work. So he save Carlos.

He hears a groan coming from inside the car. He jumps at it, closing the distance between him and the cruiser. TK gets to the driver’s side, looking through the car to see Carlos resting his head against the door frame. And the window has been shattered into pieces. It’s then TK realizes the sound is coming from Amber.

“Amber, hey, it’s TK,” he says. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” she replies weakly. “Check on Reyes. A car ran a red light and crashed into us.”

Only then does TK see the other car on the other side of the intersection. And his blood boils when it appears that the driver is fine.

He looks over his shoulder to see Marjan and Paul coming up to the car, and then he allows himself to walk around the car to Carlos’s side.

His heart drops into his knees at the sight that meets his eyes. It’s like a bucket of ice water has been dumped on TK’s head.

“Carlos? Carlos, can you hear me?” TK speaks, his voice unsteady. “Carlos, it’s TK. I’m here.”

He’s met with silence from his boyfriend.

With a trembling hand, he reaches out, placing two fingers on Carlos’s neck and waits, praying. He sags slightly when he feels the thump against his touch.

“Carlos, please,” TK tries again with the same outcome.

He hears his father say that EMS is en route.

The firefighter takes in a deep breath, collecting himself and goes into first responder mode. He can’t fall apart now. He needs to save Carlos.

He hears the rest of the team working to get Amber out, and then feels a presence at his side.

It’s Judd, and the man draws a breath himself at seeing Carlos in his unconscious and bleeding state.

TK starts cataloging Carlos’s injuries.

“He’s got a nasty gash on his hairline,” he points to Carlos’s head, the cut which is steadily oozing blood appears to need stitches. “His heart is racing, and from what I can tell, his breathing isn’t good,” he continues. “He’s wheezing, not taking deep, full breaths. Could be from the impact of the crash,” TK analyzes. “I can’t tell about anything else, though.”

Both TK and Judd look up when sirens get closer and TK lets out a sigh when Tommy exists the ambulance, making a beeline for them, Nancy following her with the medical bags.

They quickly secure Carlos’s neck with a c-collar to ensure no further harm occurs to the cop. TK’s eyes drift to Carlos’s closed ones, and the bang in his chest is painful, it’s so painful TK feels like his knees will give out. He misses those bright, brown eyes. He’d give anything to see Carlos open his eyes again.

He redirects his attention to the tangled mess of a door. He pulls at it, trying to get it opened, but it doesn’t budge.

“It’s stuck! We need to get the door opened! He’s trapped!” TK yells.

Wordlessly, Judd moves, making his way to the truck so he can get the equipment they need to bust the door open, while Tommy and Nancy open the medical bags and start gathering what they need.

And in a blink of an eye, the hood of the cruiser goes up in flames.

“TK!” Owen howls. “Get back!”

“I’m not leaving him!” TK yells back, his voice higher than the roar of the flames.

“Judd, Paul, extinguishers!”

TK hears his father scream the order, but he’s looking at Carlos. It’s only Carlos. Carlos has his full, undivided attention.

He doesn’t move even when the heat evaporates, and the fire is put out just as quickly as it had started.

It’s only Tommy speaking to him that breaks TK out of his trance.

“TK, take a set back, I need to check him,” Tommy says, her voice authoritative but still soft.

“Hang on, babe,” TK whispers, watching Tommy press her stethoscope to Carlos’s unevenly moving chest.

“Diminished breath sounds,” Tommy reports. “I think he has a bruised lung.”

TK’s heart sinks even further at the Paramedic Captain’s words.

“We need to stabilize him,” Tommy continues. “Get ready with the IVs and oxygen once he’s out, we don’t have any time to lose. Okay,” she nods at the firefighters, “ready for extraction.”

Judd wastes no time in digging the jaws of life into an open juncture of the mangled door, TK watching with his hands on his heart as the machine slowly works in pulling the door apart, the metal shrieking as it’s torn apart.

TK feels a hand on his shoulder and looks to the side to find his father standing next to him, Owen’s eyes not leaving Carlos.

TK swallows, turning back and drops to his knees, already wanting to be near Carlos as Paul steps forward to help Judd carry him and lay him on the backboard.

But the second he’s removed from the car, blood starts gushing and pouring out of his thigh. And it keeps coming, it doesn’t slow down as it stains the asphalt beneath Carlos red.

“It’s the femoral artery!” Tommy yells, her hands immediately going to the wound and pressing down, hard. She looks at TK, who’s the closest to her, and his face is pale. Unmoving. He’s staring at Carlos, eyes unblinking.

“TK? TK!” Tommy cries out.

But TK can’t move. He can’t bring his muscles to move. There’s so much blood…Carlos…Carlos’s blood…

“I need you to apply as much pressure as we get a tourniquet on, do you hear me, TK?”

But Tommy’s voice is so far away, it’s like TK is under water and she’s speaking from above. But then…

“He needs you.”

That’s what brings TK back. And he’s lunging forward, covering Tommy’s hands with his own as she retracts her, and TK presses down as hard as he can. But there’s still blood seeping through his fingers, and he wants to cry. He want to sob. This can’t be happening. He can’t keep Carlos’s blood inside his body, where it should be. He suspects he lets out a whimper because a second later, he feels another all-too familiar touch to his back. A silent gesture of support.

TK applies more pressure, determined to do whatever it takes to save his boyfriend.

And then Owen’s voice is there in his ear, telling TK to let go.

But TK can’t let go. He can’t. Carlos will bleed out if he does. No. He has to keep applying—

“TK, son, you can let go.”

It’s then TK allows himself to tear his gaze from Carlos’s bloodied face and takes a peak at his thigh. It’s not bleeding anymore. He reluctantly lets go.

“He’s stable for now,” Tommy says.

For a second, TK feels lost. So much is happening around him but he feels detached. Feels like he’s far, far away. He unceremoniously tumbles backwards, and into his father’s chest. Owen manages to take on TK’s weight without losing his balance and wraps his arms around TK’s shivering form.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Owen whispers. “He’s okay.”

“He’s okay?” TK questions, a puzzled look on his face.

Owen frowns a little. “Yeah, Tommy said he’s okay. We’ll get him to the hospital and they’ll take care of him.”

“She did?”

Owen sighs. “She did.”

Owen’s heart shatters at the pain in TK’s eyes, the look painted on his face. It’s a broken look, and TK’s eyes are glassy with unshed tears.

“It’s going to be okay,” Owen comforts TK. “He’s strong and he’s a fighter.”

“It has to be okay, he has to be okay,” TK whispers. There’s no other option.

Owen brushes a kiss to TK’s temple.

“Come on,” he helps TK get to his feet and gestures to the ambulance. “Go, we’ll catch up and meet you at the hospital.”

TK doesn’t need to be told twice. He jogs and jumps into the back of the ambulance, and for the first time, notices the absence of Amber and the driver of the other car. And the amount of APD cruisers that had arrived.

He keeps the tears at bay, or does his best, as he settles on the small bench in the ambulance. He reaches out, taking a hold of Carlos’s hand and giving it a light squeeze.

He can’t help the tear that rolls down his cheek when Carlos doesn’t squeeze back.

Tommy and TK sit in silence, the Paramedic Captain taking glances at the heart monitor to ensure the cop’s stability while TK doesn’t move his eyes from Carlos’s too-still form.

TK watches as Carlos’s check weakly rises and falls with every breath he takes, and this whole sight is wrong, it’s just so wrong. Even though Carlos is a calm and steady sleeper—TK’s the fidgeter and tosser in his sleep in this relationship—Carlos does have a few minimal movements, they’re very small but they’re there, and once TK noticed them, he always watches for them if he wakes up before Carlos. Like how Carlos scrunches up his nose in his sleep sometimes, how his eyes move underneath closed lids when he’s dreaming, how he automatically nuzzles his face against the back of TK’s neck when they’re spooning, those are all Carlos and right now, in this ambulance, this sight is anything but Carlos. It’s too still, too distant. Too cold.

It’s almost like Tommy can sense TK’s mind spiral. She hasn’t been at the 126 for long, but she immediately had picked up on the connection and bond between TK and Carlos. The love they share. She had taken one look at them together and she knew. And knowing about their love from just one look, with the amount of affection and passion that had radiated off the couple, her heart breaks at what TK must be feeling.

“He’s hanging in there, TK,” Tommy breaks the silence like a knife slicing through butter. “I’ll be honest, his numbers aren’t great, but he’s holding on.”

“I—I can’t lose him,” TK whispers.

“I haven’t known Carlos for long, but I know he won’t go down without a fight. And I know he’s fighting to get back to you, too.”

TK doesn’t reply, the words caught in his throat, but he wishes he could express his thanks to Tommy, how much he appreciates her kind words.

It seems that once again, Tommy can read TK’s mind because she’s reaching out and giving TK’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. There’s no need to thank me, you aren’t alone, the gesture seems to speak.

The rest of the trip to the hospital is spent in silence, with thankfully no surprises arising with Carlos’s condition. Tommy had hoped his numbers would get better as he received treatment in the ambulance, but she’s also glad his numbers didn’t plummet.

They’re met with a team of doctors and nurses outside the ambulance bay, the nurses ripping the ambulance doors open and Tommy pushes the gurney, relaying the information of Carlos’s condition and vitals. It all happens in a blur, TK sticking close but giving the doctors and nurses space, rushing through the chilly ER. TK only stops when Carlos is rolled through a door with a sign that reads Authorized Personnel Only.

He lets out a shaky breath, arms hanging heavily at his sides. He feels a presence next to him: Tommy. They don’t say anything, though, the only sound surrounding them that of a semi-busy emergency room.

On autopilot, TK reaches for his phone, fishing it out of his pocket and opens his contact list.

He needs to make a phone call while he can still speaks without every word breaking.

Carlos’s mother.

She answers on the fourth ring.

“Hola, Tyler,” she answers with a gentle tone.

“Camila…”

She immediately knows something is wrong when TK’s voice breaks.

*****

He doesn’t know how long he’s been pacing the waiting room, having been lead there by a nurse a few minutes after he finished talking to Carlos’s mom.

He turns when he hears his name being called, and sees his father and the rest of the 126 marching towards him, all wearing the same worry and concern on their faces.

“Dad,” TK’s voice quivers.

“What’s the latest?”

“They took him straight into surgery,” Tommy supplies from the chair she’s sitting in. “No word since.”

TK nods. “I called his mom, she’s on the way.”

TK’s eyes are bloodshot and swollen, swimming with unshed tears.

It breaks Owen’s heart all over again.

“Come here,” he pulls TK into a tight hug, holding his son close and running a hand up and down TK’s back.

And TK feels so small in Owen’s arms, the way he curls against and into his father’s body and hold, the way TK clutches at the back of Owen’s AFD t-shirt, his tight fists grasping the material. Owen suspects it’s a lifeline for TK, and in this moment, it truly is.

Judd walks past them, squeezing one of TK’s arms as he does and sits on the chair next to Tommy.

“He hasn’t sat down for a moment since we got here,” Tommy tells Judd.

Judd nods in acknowledgment. “Yeah, that’s TK for you. He’s always moving, nervous energy.”

“This can’t be good for him,” Tommy sighs.

“It’s not. But getting that kid to sit still for a moment has been a collective failure for the 126,” Judd replies. “Most of all when he’s worried or anxious.”

TK’s still pacing around, the rest of the 126 having taken their seats, when Owen spots a Latina in her late forties quickly walking towards the waiting room through the glass window. Her long, wavy black hair tied up in a high ponytail, gripping her arm bag tightly, her forehead creased and brown eyes wide with worry and concern.

Owen gets to his feet as she enters the room.

“How’s my son?” She asks right away, eyes landing on Owen.

“He’s still in surgery,” Owen answers, cutting to the chase. “No news yet.”

Camila closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She still faces Owen when she opens her eyes, and gives him a nod. Her eyes then divert to TK, who had stopped moving when she entered the room, watching the exchange between her and his dad.

She takes in his appearance and her eyes soften.

“Oh, querido,” she breathes. Darling. And then she’s opening her arms wide.

TK closes the distance between them with a few steps, her strong arms going around him and a hand traveling to rest on the back of his head.

Camila is a little shorter than TK, but here, right now, and in his current state, she might as well be a giant and TK a little boy.

“I—I’m sorry, I didn’t—” TK’s voice trembles, muffled by Camila’s sweater as his body shakes in her arms.

“Hey, hey, no, no, amor,” she whispers. “None of that now. I know in my heart that you did everything you could for my mijo and you were by his side.”

TK sniffs as they pull apart.

“Carlos is going to be just fine,” she reassures TK. “My son is strong, he’ll pull through.” TK swallows, nodding.

He can’t stop the tear that falls from his eye, slowly rolling down his cheek. He does, however, give Camila a small smile when her hand cups his face and she wipes the tear away with her thumb.

After brief introductions with Tommy (Camila knows the rest of the 126), and Camila thanking Tommy for everything she did for Carlos,  she sits down on one of the chairs facing the door.

“Tyler,” she says and taps the chair next to her. “Come sit with me.”

TK does. He falls into the chair and sighs, comforted right away by her close presence.

“Well,” Judd turns to Tommy. “I guess there is one person who can get TK to sit down.”

Tommy smiles at that.

*****

TK falls asleep as they wait for any news to arrive about Carlos. He had tired himself out, mentally, physically and emotionally. He needed the rest, Owen knew TK was this close to collapsing. And that would have been the last thing they needed.

Owen gently adjusts TK into a better position so it doesn’t ache his son when he wakes up and to keep his muscles from straining.

Camila watches. “He’s exhausted.”

Owen nods, dropping into the chair on her other side with a sigh. “It was hard. It was a…tough scene. I could see that TK was barely holding it together, he never left Carlos’s side.”

It’s Camila’s turn to nod. “Tyler didn’t tell me much about the accident, but I knew enough. That boy’s voice is as transparent as glass. Still, though, it doesn’t change anything. Carlos is strong.”

“Absolutely,” Owen agrees.

“Mi mijo will be back on his feet in no time.”

They sit in shared silence for another hour, the rest of the 126 going and coming with some pastries and coffee, Owen keeping saving pastries for TK to eat when he wakes up. Grace had joined them a short while ago and was sitting next to Judd, clasping his hand as she prayed for Carlos.

The doctor marches into the waiting room about thirty minutes later, a weary and tired look on his face, no doubt from the long surgery.

“Family of Carlos Reyes?”

They can’t read the doctor’s face as they all rise to their feet, Camila being the first as Owen moves to wake TK up.

“TK,” Owen lightly shakes his son. “Wake up, the doctor’s here.”

“Hm?” TK slowly rouses from his sleep state, getting to his feet at the speed of lightning at soon as he registers Owen’s words.

They collectively hold their breath.

“Si, doctor,” Camila speaks. “How’s my son?”

“He made it through surgery,” the doctor reassures him and the tension in the room starts fading.

The family just as collectively lets out the breath they were holding, exchanging relieved looks.

“Oh, thank the Lord,” Grace says.

“It is, however, going to be a tough recovery,” the doctor continues. “He did sustain a bruised lung due to the collision. We’ll keep monitoring his breathing and oxygen levels but he’s already breathing on his own, which is a good sign. The also suffered a concussion, but there’s no evidence of any brain trauma and the laceration on his hairline has been stitched. We repaired the femoral artery in his thigh, and in time and with some physical therapy, the injury won’t present any difficulties for movement. Overall, I expect him to make a full recovery, he’s young and healthy, he’s going to be just fine.”

“He’s…he’s really okay?” TK asks, his mind still catching up with everything the doctor said.

“Yes,” the doctor nods. “He’s really okay.”

And for the first time since finding Carlos in that cruiser, TK lets his tears fall. All of them. He stops holding back and the dam breaks. He pours out everything he’s feeling, all the fear, the hurt, the pain, the relief, is all comes tumbled out.

TK blindly reaches for his dad, and Owen is right there to hold him. TK buries his face in his father’s neck, the tears streaming down his face, and Owen speaks to him in whispers.

“It’s okay, son. He’s okay, everything is going to be just fine.”

TK hears someone ask if they can see Carlos in the background and he wants to scream please! but all that leaves him is a broken sob.

*****

Later, after TK had calmed down and gotten cleaned up, and eating after Owen insisted on it. Now wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, TK finds himself sitting next to Carlos’s bed, the beeping of the heart monitor the only sound.

He watches Carlos for a few moments, the gauze tapped to his forehead, the nasal cannula attached to his nostrils and curving down his face, secured under his chin. Carlos is covered with a blanket, but TK can see the heavy bandaging on his injured thigh.

Slowly, TK reaches out, taking Carlos’s now-warm hand into his and holding it gently. He runs his thumb over Carlos’s knuckles as he finds his voice to speak.

“Hey,” the word gets caught in his throat, and clears it before speaking again. “Hi, babe, I’m here and you’re okay. Everything went fine and they’re taking great care of you. God, Carlos…” TK draws in an uneven breath. “I was terrified. I was…I really need to see your beautiful, brown eyes opened. I need to hear your voice. I need…you.”

It’s not that TK had expected a response, but he wants to cry again when he doesn’t get one.

He mostly just sits there, watching Carlos breathe, until the door is pushed open and Owen appears.

“Hey, how’s he doing?”

“Okay, no change, his numbers are holding.” “That’s good,” Owen says. “The team send their love and support.”

“Thanks.” And before Owen can say anything else. “I’m not leaving.”

“Yeah, I know,” Owen nods. “I talked to the doctor, they’ll let you stay with him.”

TK’s shoulders sag, having tensed up, ready to fight to stay with Carlos. “Thanks, dad. For everything.”

“You’re not alone, son. You’ve got everyone. You both do.”

TK gives Owen a small smile.

Owen approaches TK, and TK gets up to hug his dad, one hand still holding Carlos’s.

“If anything changes or if you need anything, you call, okay?” Owen says.

“Promise.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”

*****

TK doesn’t get much sleep. Between the nurses periodically rounding on Carlos throughout the night and his own anxiety, he probably gets a couple of hours of shuteye. He kept tossing and turning and often had gotten up to check on Carlos.

He’s nursing a cup of coffee when there’s a knock on the door and Owen steps in, shouldering a small duffle bag and holding a medium sized bottle of orange juice and a brown bag, which TK recognizes is from his father bagel spot in Austin.

He holds up the items. “Brought you breakfast. I know hospital cafeteria food, and right now knowing just from looking at you, that’s the last thing you need.”

TK smiles at that.

“And I thought it would cheer you up a little,” Owen gestures to the bagel bag.

TK nods. “It worked.”

Owen sets the bag on the floor near the wall and hangs TK the bagel and juice.

“Finish that first,” Owen points to the coffee cup.

“Nah,” TK shakes his head. “Gone cold a while ago.”

“How’s he doing?”

“The nurse that checked on him this morning says he’s doing better. He could wake up at any moment,” TK replies.

“That’s really great news, TK,” Owen smiles.

TK nods. “I just…really need him to wake up.”

Owen squeezes TK’s shoulder in response.

“Amber stopped by an hour ago,” TK tells Owen.

Owen looks a little confused.

“Carlos’s partner,” TK clarifies.

“Ah. How is she doing?”

“She’s shaken up, as expected. Physically she’s fine, needed some stitches for some cuts and she has a few bruised ribs but that’s about it. Kept apologizing for what happened. Said she was driving, I told her it wasn’t her fault. The other driver ran the red light.”

Owen stays for some more time before he has to leave for shift, making TK promise again to call if anything changes.

*****

The movement is minimal. TK would have missed it if he wasn’t waiting and longing for it. A twitch of a finger.

TK was leaning forward, careful not to disturb the wires connected to Carlos’s body, holding his hand while going through the texts he’s received from the 126.

He feels it, feels Carlos brush up a finger against his palm. TK pauses, not sure if it was his imagination or if it was reality.

Then it happens again and TK’s phone goes forgotten as he gets to his feet, watching Carlos’s face for any signs of consciousness.

He hears a groan next, throaty and low.

“Carlos?” TK breathes, his heart hammering against his ribcage. “Babe? Can you hear me?”

Carlos squeezes his eyes before very slowly peeling them open. His vision is blurry, seeing two TKs that slowly merge into one. Oh, those breathtaking green eyes.

A wide smile, the first true smile since all of this happened, spreads on TK’s face. “Hi, babe.”

“TK?” Carlos croaks.

“Yeah, I’m here, you’re okay,” TK assures his boyfriend. His eyes fill with tears, but they’re happy ones this time. “You have no idea how glad I am that you’re awake.”

“What—what happened?”

TK slightly frowns. “You don’t remember?”

Carlos begins to shake his head but stops midway, the action having proven to do more harm than good. Yeah, he’s on painkillers, but that isn’t stopping the feeling that his brain is getting knocked around his skull.

“Whoa, easy, easy,” TK soothes. “No sudden moves. Your concussion won’t like that.”

“Concussion?”

TK takes a deep breath. “You were in a car accident. You really don’t remember?”

“Remember you, the scene and then…darkness,” Carlos replies.

“Well, I think that’s normal with your injuries. But the important thing is that you’re okay.”

Carlos uses his strength to squeeze TK’s hand, and the firefighter can’t express his thankfulness at that gesture.

He moves to brush a kiss to Carlos’s forehead and then touches his own forehead to Carlos’s. He closes his eyes, breathing Carlos in, his shampoo mixed with hospital antiseptic and all.

“I was so scared,” TK admits through a whisper, the first time he speaks those words out loud. “I was…so scared, Carlos. The way your radio just cut off and then…coming up on the scene and how…”

From the way TK’s voice trembles, Carlos knows it’s bad. He just needs to know how bad.

“How bad is it?” Carlos finally asks.

“Let me go get the doctor,” TK tries.

But Carlos tightens his hold on TK’s hand to keep him from moving. It’s not a strong grip, but TK felt the difference.

“TK, please…” Carlos pleads, his brown eyes wide and well, how can TK resist?

“Okay. Well, I’ve already mentioned your concussion, you have a gash on your hairline which has been stitched, a bruised lung, but the doctor said that will heal, you just need to take it easy and they’ll monitor your oxygen levels. Your thigh is going to need physical therapy once it’s healed, your femoral artery was hit, but don’t worry,” TK quickly adds when he sees the gears turning in Carlos’s head, most likely going to a bad scenario. “It’s just to get your strength back and the doctor said you won’t have any problems with movement.”

Carlos visibly relaxes at TK’s words.

“I promise to be with you, by your side, every step of the way,” TK vows.

“You always are,” Carlos gives TK a tired smile.

TK leans in, closing the distance between them with a chaste, gentle kiss pressed to Carlos’s chapped lips. It’s perfect. And it’s more than that, it’s a reaffirmation that they’re going to be okay. And peace surges through TK’s body.

“Amber,” Carlos says. “How is she? And my mom, what—”

“Amber is fine, she visited this morning. Said everyone from the police station sends their love and support and they’ll visit when you’re up for it. And your mom was here yesterday, she’s doing okay. Asked me to update her, which brings me to this.” TK then grabs his phone from the foot of the bed where he had discarded it when Carlos wakes up and opens his texting thread with Camila. “I’ll have to text me dad, too.”

Carlos watches as TK types away. “So, is you and my mom texting a regular thing?”

TK’s eyes snap up to Carlos’s face and then are quickly lowered back to the screen. “No.”

Even silent, and lying in a hospital bed, tired and sore to his bones, Carlos’s power with the look should never be underestimated. TK feels it radiate off Carlos, aimed right for him.

“You text my dad,” TK points out.

“Yeah, to make sure you’re okay,” Carlos retorts back. “I have a feeling it’s more than that with my mom.”

“Okay, fine,” TK raises his hands in surrender. “I mean, it’s also about making sure you’re okay, but there may be another reason for texting with her.”

Carlos is waiting for TK to continue, but silence stretches between them.

“Are you gonna tell me the reason sometime before my stitches come out or?” Carlos quips at TK.

“No,” TK replies, planting a kiss to Carlos’s cheek. “Because it’s a surprise.”

“Ty,” Carlos groans.

“I promise, you’re gonna like this surprise.”

Carlos is about to say something but it transforms into a yawn.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to get the doctor?”

“I’m okay,” Carlos says.

“Okay, I’ll just tell them you’ve woken up. But go to sleep, babe and rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Carlos gives TK a smile, feeling love and comfort when TK plants another kiss to his forehead. Carlos feels safe.

TK’s soft touch is the last thing the officer feels before drifting off to sleep.

TK watches Carlos, his heart just about to burst with so much love and relief. He got his biggest love back.

TK thinks back to the call yesterday, he never expected that it would lead to him sitting by Carlos’s hospital bed. They should be home right now, asleep in their bed, in each other’s embrace.

But they will return to their bed. They will lie in each other’s embrace. And they’ll have comfort and safety. He’s going to manifest that.

And the surprise TK was telling Carlos about?

It has something to do with Camila sharing recipes with TK.

It’s about a meal TK wants to cook for Carlos on a very special day that's quickly approaching.

[whisperlullaby]

Just Say It And I’m Yours- Ch. 4

Summary: You and Steve decide to go on an adventure that ends in a new revelation.

Warnings: Trespassing, explicit language, angst, pining

Words: 1619

A/N: Okay so we’re getting into it now. Thanks to @river-soul​ for beta reading this for me and @dreamslikeaheartbeat​ for the BEAUTIFUL banner! Um.....I hope you all like it! If you are under 18 please do not interact with me or this story. This chapter is in Steve’s POV

The credits started rolling on this week's movie. Steve popped the last dumpling in his mouth as you let out a big stretch. After you let out a satisfied groan, you started searching through the take-out containers.

“Are there any more dumplings, Steve?”

“Uh, I don’t think so.” Steve swallowed hard, almost choking.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “You ate the last dumpling didn’t you, asshole?”

Steve laughed as you playfully swatted his chest. He grabbed your hand and held it on his chest for a moment, rubbing soft circles on the back of your hand. You let out a content sigh as you withdrew your hand to find some fortune cookies. Steve looked at the time and noticed it was still a bit early, he was going to suggest another movie when you spoke up. 

“Hey Steve, wanna go on an adventure?” You said through a mouthful of fortune cookie.

Steve cocked an eyebrow at you. “What kind of adventure?”

“The kind that’s a surprise,” you wiggled your eyebrows at him. “So, are you in?”

Steve sighed heavily and gave you a sly smirk. You knew you had him in the palm of your hand, he would follow you anywhere.

“Great! Get your coat, a flashlight, some band-aids, and maybe a granola bar. I’ll meet you in the car.”

You jumped up to grab Steve’s keys and ran out of his apartment as he shouted after you, “Why do we need band-aids?!”

After about an hour-long drive out of the city, you pulled off on an abandoned access road and stopped in the middle of nowhere. Steve watched as you unbuckled yourself, grab the flashlight and your backpack, and hop out of the car.

“Are ya comin’, Cap?” You laughed in excitement.

Letting out a heavy sigh Steve stepped out of the car and followed you. He kept his distance behind you as you led the way, keeping an eye out for any trouble. After about a quarter-mile, you came across a chain-linked fence and an abandoned factory. Steve surveyed the scene as you tossed the backpack and flashlight over the top of the fence and started to climb.

“Y/N I’m not sure we’re supposed to be here,” Steve whispered as you scaled the fence.

When you asked him to go on an adventure he didn’t think you meant trespassing in an old warehouse an hour away. This didn’t seem safe and all he could think about was making sure you didn’t get hurt. Now he was looking around anxiously, hoping you would give up and you both could find a diner somewhere and get some dessert. He knew that would never happen though. Not when you got that determined look in your eye.

“Sure Cap, you’ve never in your life done anything remotely illegal. Never aided and abetted a fugitive, or lied on your draft papers in the ‘40s, or I don’t know, destroyed an entire airport?” You teased.

Steve shook his head. “That was a long time ago, things are different now. I can’t just trespass for fun.”

You landed on the other side of the fence and shrugged your shoulders. “Well, you can either follow me or stay here, alone, in the dark. I’m pretty sure I saw wolves on our way out here, but whatever you want to do. I’m heading inside!”

With that, you bounced backwards towards the abandoned building shooting Steve a gaze full of mischief. Steve huffed and raked a hand over his face. He thought you were absolutely out of your mind but he would follow you straight through fire as long as you kept looking at him like that.

He climbed the fence and jogged over to you. You reached out and grabbed his hand to drag him along, and as your fingers intertwined with his Steve couldn’t help but notice how effortlessly your hand fit in his. 

“What are you smiling at Cap?” You cocked an eyebrow over your shoulder and giggled. 

“Just thinking how completely insane this is, but as long as you’re happy,” Steve responded.

“Damn straight as long as I’m happy, now come up and pick up the pace Rogers! I thought you had super stamina or something,” you joked. 

Leading him further into the building, you expertly dodged the debris and made a show of looking in each room with the flashlight like you were on one of those cop shows. Steve thought you were the most free-spirited person he ever met. The further you led him through the building the further he found himself falling for you.

“You’re out of your mind doll. We should probably get out of here before we get arrested for trespassing.” Steve tugged on your arm causing you to trip and stumble back into him. 

You pressed your free hand to his chest and looked up at him. Steve's heart started racing as you stared up at him with your brilliant eyes that seemed to glow in the low light. His eyes flickered down to your mouth as your lips parted slightly. He started to lean into you and was close enough to feel your warm breath on his lips. Watching your eyes flutter shut in anticipation, he wrapped his other hand around your waist and pulled you flush against his body. Closing his eyes he could hear your heart start to race as your breath caught in your throat.

“HEY! What are you two doing!” 

Both of your eyes snapped open. 

“Run!” You shouted.

As you sprinted through the building with Steve in tow you were laughing like a hyena. Once you both exited the building Steve spotted a piece of fence that seemed to be pulled apart and beelined for the opening. When you made it to the fence Steve let go of your hand and pulled the fence open a bit more for his large frame to fit through. He slid through and reached back to pull you into the opening. As you started making your way back to the car you jumped on Steve’s back. 

“Come on Steve get us out of here!” You hollered.

Steve grabbed your legs under your knees and jogged towards where you parked the car while you rested your head on his shoulder. Steve felt you nuzzle into his shoulder and your breathing evened out by the time he made it back to the car. He gently set you in the passenger's seat realizing you were out cold as he started the engine and began to pull back onto the road. Steve was completely envious of your ability to fall asleep anywhere smiling at the memory of last week in the park when you had just gotten ice cream and the second you sat on the bench to eat it you fell asleep on his shoulder. The ice cream went everywhere and when you woke up you threw puppy dog eyes at him until he bought you a new one.

He watched you while you slept off the adrenaline rush thinking about the almost kiss. He was completely captivated by your spirit. Your ability to help anyone who needed it without a second thought left him feeling nostalgic. Whenever Steve was around you he felt a little more like he did when he knew who he was and what he was fighting for. He knew he needed to talk to you about the almost kiss. 

About 45 minutes into the drive, Steve’s phone started vibrating and he answered it in a whisper.

“Hey Buck, everything okay?” He glanced down to make sure you were still asleep.

“Yeah but we kind of need you to come back. I know you’re supposed to be taking a break, but we have a lead on a new Hydra group and need your help.” Bucky said exasperatedly. 

Steve sighed. He knew this is what it would be like for him, a life resigned to fighting wars. As much as he enjoyed his time away from The Avengers he knew he would always be pulled back. He couldn’t bring you into that, he wouldn’t subject you to even more violence on his behalf. You deserved a normal, stable, happy life. One that was lost to him when he went into the ice all those years ago. If you were with him you would never have that and he knew how desperately he wished for the chance to live his life. He wouldn’t place that same burden on you. 

“Alright Buck, I’ll come to the compound in the morning for the briefing.”

He hung up as he pulled up to your apartment. He gently caressed your cheek, relishing the feeling of your skin on his for a moment before you stirred.

“I’m up!” You snorted.

Steve smiled. “Just in time too, this is your stop.”

You looked out the window unclicking your seatbelt, you were biting your lip when you turned to him. “I think we should talk about what happened back there.”

Steve took in a deep breath. He knew this was the right thing to do, but God it didn’t make it any easier. 

“I think we both just got caught up in the adrenaline. It can mean nothing, we’re still friends.”

Steve didn’t miss the way your breath caught or how tears sprang in your eyes. You cleared your throat and threw him a brilliant smile.

“Whatever you say, Cap,” you ruffled his hair, “best friends it is.”

You pushed open the door and slammed it shut. Steve waited for you to enter the building before he slammed his head on the steering wheel. This was for the best, he needed to protect you, his little spitfire.

[dewykth]

SWEET SEPTEMBER.

a @periminkle​​​ and @dewykth​​​ collaboration.

synopsis. for many, september symbolizes new beginnings. but for namjoon, this month never fails to send him back into the past. though this time, something seems different.

pairing. kim namjoon | female reader contains. fluff, angst, slice of life au, ballet instructor!reader, single dad!nj  word count. 7.5k+  warnings. death mentions, mature audience

dae’s note. surprise !!! this fic is dedicated to my favourite virgo karla @guklvr​​​​ !! happy birthday bae i hope you enjoy this lil thing me n vira whipped up for u!! (i stress wrote a lot of this ha.) also sry for lying & keeping you up but hopefully this makes u forgive me. but i hope ur day goes amazing ILYSM DUDE !!! <333 and a huge thank you to vira for hopping on board for this idea bc i cld not have done this without her !!! pls give her all the love !!!

vira’s note. KARLAAAA!!! i always gotta scream ur name it’s mandatory to start with a good scream ykno? bUT HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL 🥳  i already told u this too many times today but ILYSM !! like that full day without saying a single word to u felt so weird and i kept going into our chat and rereading our mssgs and wishing I was talking to u??? which is weird to admit?? but that literally how much i missed u idk how but im addicted to u so if you leave me I will literally die :))) aNYWAY have the bestestestest day ever and i hope u love the fic bc I ignored all my uni work to finish this !!! (also i feel reallyreallyreally bad about last night sO IM SORRY AGAIN BUT I HOPE THIS IS WORTH IT) 💖

Despite the papers carelessly stuffed into his leather briefcase, the dark coffee stain on his black slacks, and his unkempt locks resembling that of a bird’s nest, Namjoon’s become accustomed to the hectic nature of his mornings.

The kitchen table is practically buried under stacks of files, yet he brushes them aside to allow one corner of the glass surface to peek through. He plops the toddler in his arms onto a high chair before racing to the counter and sloppily pouring some honey nut cheerios into a small bowl, handing it off to his daughter. 

“Daddy?” her voice squeaks, a patient smile stretching across her lips. Her brown strands are tied up into pigtails at the crown of her head with pink ribbons that flutter with the movement of her tiny head. 

“Yes, angel?” He scurries around to their bedroom, peeling the stained fabric off his body and threading one leg through another pair of slacks fresh from the laundry. 

With Namjoon’s focus pinned on checking off the mental to-do list in his head, he misses the gentle, reassuring smile that stretches across her rosy lips. The adoration for her father is clear in her gaze. “You forgot to pour the milk.”

At the reminder, he squawks and hops back to the kitchen on one foot as he maneuvers his other leg through the pant hole. Swinging the fridge door open, he grabs the carton and sloppily pours the milk into her bowl—white droplets leaping out with their newfound freedom and forming perfect domes on the glass tabletop.

Cleaning the mess falls to the bottom of his priorities at the moment, and so he speeds off to the bathroom to ensure that his appearance is presentable for work while Dasom reaches over to pluck a tissue from the box, swiping the milky beads away before diving into her breakfast. She shoves as many cheerios into her small mouth as she can, rushing because she refuses to finish her meal in the car with their wild driver behind the wheel. 

Despite her mere four years of age, she knows from experience that a bowl of cereal and a shaky vehicle is a recipe for disaster.

Namjoon races over to his briefcase with most of his hair sleeked back, only the locks of his bangs hanging out to frame his forehead. As he slips his dark blazer on to complete his form-fitting suit, Dasom scoops the last few brown rings into her mouth and slurps the remainder of the liquid.

“Did you finish your milk?” he questions while cramming the edges of the loose leaves that peek past the seam of his briefcase, hurriedly zipping it up and turning to face her.

Dasom flips the edge of the bowl up to display its empty contents, gulping the last of her breakfast down her throat. As per routine, she scans her father for any inconsistencies in his attire, landing on his odd fitting bottoms.

“Daddy, your pants are on backwards.”

His eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets, glancing down to affirm that the pockets at his sides are no longer at the front of his hips. Hastily, he shimmies out of his slacks once more and twists the fabric around to the proper orientation. 

Dasom hops off her chair, her bowl and wet kleenex in hand as she waddles over to the sink and waits for him to deposit the dirty dish into the sink and the sullied tissue into the trash. Although her short arms couldn’t reach over the countertop just yet, she’ll diligently drink every last drop of her milk in hopes of growing tall enough to take some of the load off of her father’s back.

He hoists Dasom up at the sight of the red car pulling up to the driveway, squeezing into the back seat. Namjoon doesn’t have to tell the driver to book it, as the calm man in front has learned to keep his foot pressed on the pedal. The car weaves through the morning traffic with concerning speed, snaking through the other vehicles littering the road as if they were no more than stationary pylons, simply there for practice.

Dasom remains on her father’s lap with his arms looped protectively around the seatbelt over her torso. She sinks into his embrace, fiddling around with his long, slender fingers as she watches the blurs of colour speeding past the window.

“Did you put your ballet shoes into your backpack, angel?” Namjoon loosens his grip on her, unhooking one hand to rummage through his own briefcase in order to confirm that he had indeed slid his laptop within the chaos inside. To keep her entertained, he playfully extends his digits out of her reach.

“Of course!” she chirps, a wide grin revealing the gaps between her teeth. The pads of her fingertips brush against his palm and tickle the sensitive skin there when she realizes that her arms lack the length required to latch onto his hand. “I can’t wait for class, we’ve got a new teacher coming in today!”

Humming absentmindedly, he sighs in relief at the sight of the silver device and packs the crumpled papers back in. “What happened to Ms. Kim?”

“She’s teaching the older class now.” The pout on her lips can be heard within the muffled lilt of her voice when she continues, “I asked her to stay until my birthday next week b-but she didn’t.”

Namjoon’s breath hitches at the reminder, but attempts to compose himself for his daughter’s sake. “It’s out of her control, angel, plus she’ll probably swing by anyway.”

His mind starts to fog up with the emotions he thought he buried last year–they swarm his every thought and nibble away at his sanity. He knows better than to believe that they would ever disappear. September will always be an insurmountable month for him.

“I might be a bit late to pick you up later, just sit tight and wait for Daddy, okay?”

She eagerly nods in response, noticing the dull red bricks of her school coming into view. “Okay, bye Daddy!”

Namjoon unlocks the seatbelt, wistfully watching his toddler bounce out of his arms and onto the asphalt below. No matter how many times he drops her off, it’s always difficult to be separated from her bright smile, but he reminds himself that it’s all for her; it makes things a little easier to bear.

“Have a good day at school.” He reciprocates her frantic waving through the window, craning his neck to watch her adorable form become smaller and smaller with the increased distance. Her full cheeks and crinkled eyes are engraved into the back of his mind.

Before long, Namjoon finds himself rushing into his office after an earful from his surly boss about everything from the late hour to the long list of meetings scheduled to all the work he’s got piled up. With his lips pursed and his head bowed, he somehow manages to make it past another lively morning.

Namjoon has a habit of overthinking. He figures it’s normal when you have a stressful job and a four year old full of energy to balance all by yourself. Not that overthinking about his daughter does him any good, because that is far from the reality. If anything, it just makes him, what you’d call, a bit... overprotective (over worrisome if you asked Jin). But it’s something he can’t really help. Even when she had just entered his life, so small and so blissfully unaware of the awful and evil things in the world, all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and shield her from it all as long as he could.

Though he’s very aware of the fact that it won’t be much longer, that won’t stop him from going over every single little thing that could go wrong in the meantime.

So, of course, when Namjoon’s asshole of a boss makes him stay two hours over his shift, all Namjoon can think about is Dasom. Is she okay? Has she eaten anything? Did she drink enough water today? She’s always dehydrated after her classes too. He usually calls Ms. Kim to check up on her, but his calls went straight to voicemail, which definitely wasn’t helping his hectic mind. Perhaps something had happened to her?

Oh god, maybe someone broke in and had injured Dasom?

The doors are thrown open, the sound of the doorknob hitting the wall reverberating through the room. The receptionist wearing her usual polka-dot dress jumps in her seat, eyes lifting from the intense scene on her phone to the entrance of the building. An unsure smile stretches across her ruby red lips at the familiar figure, though a bit disheveled and breathless. But before the customary ‘hello’ can even form on her tongue, the figure is rushing past her, leaving only a gust of air in his wake. The papers on her desk fall to the ground, and she sighs.

Namjoon is prepared to fight the (fictional) person who thinks breaking into a toddler ballet class is a good idea, but the scene in front of him once he pushes past the doors of the studio is one he is wholly unprepared for.

He sees Dasom first, and the relief that fills his body is indescribable. It’s far from the usual sight he’s greeted with when he picks her up late. She’s not sitting on one of the chairs in the far corner of the room. His heart doesn’t feel heavy, which comes with seeing his daughter so glum. This time it’s her laughter that greets him, not one provoked by him but by the figure standing in the middle of the room with her.

Dasom doesn’t seem to be aware of the presence of her dad yet, but the figure twirling her around turns, and her eyes land on Namjoon.

The reaction is immediate. The carefree smile that had been on your face slips off, a look of embarrassment and surprise overcoming your features. Namjoon only catches a glimpse, and somehow finds himself wishing that won’t be the last time he sees it. You let go of Dasom’s hand, quickly making your way to the stereo on the other side of the room. And that’s when-

“Daddy!”

Dasom wastes no time running into her father’s open arms, and Namjoon suddenly can’t remember why he was so worried in the first place. “Hi, angel.” he says, just loud enough for her to hear. She pulls back. “I’m so sorry for getting here so late. I promise i won’t do it again.”

But of course, Dasom holds nothing but forgiveness in her heart for her hard-working father. She does love teasing him, though. “Don't say sorry to me, say sorry to her.” she giggles, pointing behind her and Namjoon furrows his brow until he remembers they’re not the only ones in the room.

His eyes immediately move to where you stand awkwardly near the stereo, eyes moving around the room as if you hadn’t been watching the whole exchange. Namjoon sighs, realizing he definitely can’t avoid talking to you now. He stands straight, holding onto Dasom’s hand as he makes his way over to you. You only seem to grow more nervous as he nears, and Namjoon distantly recalls Jin telling him he came off as intimidating to most people. Something about his ‘beefy’ arms, in his own words. (“And that stupid and unfairly attractive face!”) He goes for a smile because it's not like he can control his physique.

“Hi, I’m so sorry about…”

Namjoon stops.

Maybe it was the overwhelming distress before, or the really shitty lighting of the studio, but he hadn’t realized how pretty you were before. But now he’s standing right in front of you and he can’t seem to form a coherent thought. Pretty can’t be the right word. He realizes how creepy he probably looks, running in here like a madman and then downright staring at the (very beautiful) woman who looked after his daughter? Not cool, man.

You clear your throat, before extending a hand to him. “Hi, I’m ____, the new ballet instructor.”

Your voice sounds just like honey.

Namjoon stares at your hand dumbly, before the sound of Dasom snickering (very discreetly) behind him snaps him out of it. But instead of introducing himself, or apologizing, or just taking your fucking hand, he says-

“What happened to Ms. Kim?”

He mentally face-palms.

Not. Cool. Man.

Your face falls, and Namjoon has never wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole more than he does now. “Uh, she’s instructing the teen class now.” you chuckle awkwardly, dropping your hand.

“Oh-”

“Daaaad,” Dasom's voice sounds annoyed, and perhaps it’s a bit silly of Namjoon to feel like he’s being scolded, but that is exactly how he feels right now. “I told you this. In the morning. Remember?”

He doesn’t. “Ah, right of course,” Namjoon scratches the back of his neck. It wasn’t like he meant to forget, he had just been too busy thinking about the other things every September would bring. “Sorry, I’m Kim Namjoon. Dasom’s dad.”

This time he offers his hand, and he thanks the skies above that you don’t seem to hate him because you fit your hand against his. Warm, like honey. How long had it been since he last made a fool of himself in front of a pretty girl?

Too long.

“I’m terribly sorry for arriving so late it’s just that my boss, who’s a huge-” Namjoon glances at Dasom, who is now in her own world, singing some song she learned in school, “jerk, decided to assign these reports last minute and the printer would just not work and then traffic hour-”

Your hand comes up to cover your mouth, but Namjoon can see the amusement bubbling in your eyes. He flushes a deep red, eyes falling to the floor, realizing he started ranting.

“It’s okay. Really.”

When he looks back up, there’s a smile on your face. Not like the one before, this one was more reserved, but genuine, reassuring. And just like that, he’s sure you don’t hate him.

Namjoon’s not sure he likes this feeling though.

“Straighten your arms out, girls!” you belt over the classical music that floods the studio’s walls, scanning your army of toddlers in tutus whose arms immediately tense at your command. Making your way through the row, you poke and prod everywhere from their shoulders to their ankles. “Arch your back more, Somin.”

Their muscles violently tremble in response to the strenuous routine you’ve introduced, facial features scrunched in concentration and a resolute will to uphold their positions despite the hyperextension of their limbs. A mix of pity and pride swells in your chest at their effort. “Keep your chins up, the annual recital is only a couple of days away.”

Cheers erupt throughout the small room, disrupting the focus and spoiling their perfect form, yet you refuse to quiet excitement because of the renewed vigour buzzing throughout the room. The next hour depletes all of their built-up energy with demi-piles, pirouettes and sautés.

A glance at the analog clock in the corner informs you of the five minutes remaining before the end of class, so you pause the speakers and instruct the girls to stretch themselves out as they wait for their guardians to trickle in. They collectively sigh in relief before dropping to the floor like flies.

You snort at their dramatics with an amused smile playing at your lips. “I said to stretch, not to lay down and nap.”

“Can’t we nap and stretch at the same time?”

Strolling over to the source of the voice, you cluck your tongue at her limp form sprawled across the wooden floor and cross your arms, struggling to keep your giggles from breaking your angered facade. “And how do you suppose we do that, little Miss Dasom?”

She flashes her toothless grin up at you. “Like this!” With one leg bent over the other and her hands looping around to hold her twisted limbs to her torso, she shuts her eyes and exaggerates her snores.

At this point, it’s nearly impossible to withhold your snickers, and the rest of the class joins in your laughter. You pick up on Dasom’s tinkling giggles between each of her heavy breaths. The lighthearted jokes continue as kids are signed out with bright grins on each of their faces.

You wait for the rest of the toddlers to file out one by one, waving goodbye and checking them off your list until, as usual, Dasom is the only toddler left. Her tiny feet still clad in her faded ballet shoes waddle up to you, tugging on your blouse.

“Your pirouette was a bit wobbly today, do you want to go over—”

“‘M tired,” she interrupts, slouching her shoulders with an adorable frown marring her lips. Her exhaustion is justified, since the routine is rather exhausting, and with their recital right around the corner, you worked them to the bone today.

The odd timing of the switch between you and Ms. Kim left you with a little under a week to tweak and perfect their current choreography. A sloppy routine is not the way you want to present your skills to their parents for the first time, thus you were stricter with the kids than normal.

Your sympathy wins out, and so you gather Dasom’s lithe figure into your arms as you head to the closest wall. With your back supported, you spread out your legs and place her in your lap.

“My birthday is this Thursday.”

“Mhm,” you hum, bobbing your head to signal for her to continue her train of thought.

Her back faces you, but when her head tips down to stare at her hands, you know she’s contemplating her words carefully. Rather than encouraging her to speak freely, you wait for her to feel comfortable enough to reveal her thoughts; and surely enough, her shell cracks open just enough for you to peep through. “Do you wanna come?”

“I would be honoured.” A giddy smile splits across your lips. “Is Daddy picking you up again today?”

She flips around in your hold, wrapping her arms around your waist and snuggling her head to your chest. Her words are muffled into the fabric of your thin shirt, but her tone indicates her affirmation.

Suddenly self-conscious of your heartbeat—that Dasom can definitely hear with her ear pressed up against you—picking up pace at the mention of her father, you suppress your thoughts with a guilty conscience. You internally chide yourself for harbouring feelings for the charming, taken, man, defying arguably one of the most important fundamental rules of becoming an instructor.

Do not develop silly crushes on your student’s parents.

“Ms. ____?” her faint question snaps you out of your reverie, attention brought back to the present moment. While preoccupied, your hand took on a mind of its own, gingerly patting the space between the little girl’s shoulder blades at a slow rhythm.

She gazes up at you when you halt your rhythmic movements, sharp eyes boring into yours. “Are you gonna ask Daddy to come see me dance?”

The edges of your lips flip up in what you hope to be an encouraging smile as you nod your head. Subconsciously, you begin to stress over another encounter with Namjoon, formulating a script to hopefully avoid the stiff, tense atmosphere that lingered throughout all your previous interactions.

“Daddy’s always really busy,” she slurs, drowsiness coating her words and weighing down on her lids. Grumbling under her breath about her numb legs, Dasom crawls onto the floor beside you with her head resting on your thigh. “He’s always working hard for me.”

Your eyes soften at the fetal position she’s taken up on the ground; not only was Dasom lucky to have such a dedicated father, but Namjoon was also blessed with a caring daughter. “You don’t think he can make it?”

“It’s okay,” she whispers and you have to crane your ears to listen. You stroke the strands littering her forehead, gingerly caressing the crown of her head. “It’s okay if Daddy can’t come. I know him, he’s trying to do it all because Mommy’s not with us anymore, but it’s okay. I still love him even if I can’t see him lots.”

A knot forms between your eyebrows, a bittersweet ache forming within the creases of your heart. The painful constriction of your chest ebbs and flows with your shallow breaths that can’t seem to make it past your throat. You bite your lip to subdue the plentiful liquid gathering at your waterline.

No more than a croak escapes your lips before the door to the studio flies open, meeting the adjacent wall with a bang!

“I’m so sorry, my meeting ran late and I couldn’t—” the rest of his speech gets stuck in his windpipe at the sight of you, eyes rimmed red and sniffling, with Dasom, ostensibly dead asleep, on your thigh. “Did she…?”

You blink away your incoming tears, although your dignity has been completely thrown out the window, seeing as he believes that his four-year-old kid made a grown woman, who just so happens to be her ballet teacher, bawl her eyes out.

As you go to gently shake Dasom awake, she sluggishly lifts her head off of your lap and starts to scale your torso like a koala on a tree. Your confusion is vocalized through the high-pitched hum in your throat, but your efforts to pry off her limbs, tightly wound around the small of your waist, are futile.

“Uh, Dasom? It’s time to go home now, angel.” Despite his firm words, Namjoon’s tone is unsure and shaky; he can feel cold sweat build up in the lines of his palms. He knows his daughter, and she can be periodically stubborn and insistent the way children are at her age, thus even as you come to stand, she’s stuck to you like glue. “Would you, uh, did you need a ride?”

You mimic the sheepish smile on his face, hoping the flaming blush you feel on your cheeks isn’t as visible as it seems. “Sure.”

With Dasom latched onto you, both of you make your way to the red car outside after you lock up the studio. Namjoon courteously opens the car door for you, what with your arms supporting his clingy toddler; although, with the brute force he uses, you worry for the state of the hinges. Thankfully, they stay intact and he’s able to slip into the backseat after you.

Before an awkward silence can settle, you clear your throat and prepare to ask him about his day, but you’re interjected by Namjoon’s sudden stammering, “D-driving’s such a hassle for me so Jin drives us everywhere. Jin knows how to drive though, so, don’t worry.” He finishes with a deep chuckle that dies off nearly as quickly as it began. Oh, that’s unexpected.

“You don’t to drive yourself?” Rather than being processed in your brain and logically thought through, the question immediately enters your mouth without any prior scanning for dumbass-content. You instantly regret it, feeling as though it’s much too invasive. “You don’t have to answer that, I—”

The hearty laughter that meets your ears is “No, I do. Sometimes. But its easier raising this one like this.” His tone turns sweet at the mention of Dasom as he reaches over to pat her head, and you’re overcome with an intense desire to prod more into his personal life. Why does he have to work so much? Which shirt in his closet is his favourite? How does he like his eggs in the morning?

“I’m not sure if you already knew about the annual recital on Saturday, but Dasom’s been practicing really hard for weeks and the kids are all really talented, so it would definitely be worth your time...”

As he’s gazing at his daughter, galaxies of devotion and longing swirl within his cocoa irises. The cool light of the moon shines through the windows of the car, illuminating his sharp jawline and strong brows. You’re absolutely mesmerized by the sight in front of you. “You must be really busy, huh?”

“More than I’d like to be.”

You rip your entranced gaze away from Namjoon, willing yourself to steady your frantic breaths.

The remainder of the ride still drips with awkward tension, although with a definite lighter tone than before. Jin pulls up to your apartment with your direction and you dislodge a sleepy Dasom from your torso, which is much easier now that her limbs have gone slack with sleep. Handing her off to Namjoon, who practically engulfs her tiny form with his broad chest, you rush out of the vehicle with a quick, “See you!”

You slam the door closed before he can say anything, racing into the comfort of your home with your heart in your throat.

The last thing you had expected to do on a Thursday evening was to go to a birthday dinner. Thursdays are your days off, your in-days. The ones you spend lounging on your couch with a face mask and some wine. And yet, here you are.

When you received a text this morning, the last person you had expected it to be was Namjoon. Much less Namjoon asking you to come over for Dasom’s birthday. You weren’t going to say yes, hell, you had thought of downright ignoring it. It was weird, wasn’t it? But Dasom had quickly carved a toddler-shaped hole into your heart. Truly, you had said yes before the message was even typed out.

And so now you stare at the tall apartment building in front of you, definitely feeling more nervous than before. You knew that Namjoon had to be well-off to afford a weekday chauffeur, but damn did you not expect him to be this well-off.

It seemed today was the day to expect absolutely anything.

You enter the opulent building, signing in at the front desk before entering the large, mirrored elevator. The beating of your heart picks up the more floors you pass, and you can’t help but fidget with your appearance. Namjoon had said it would only be you three, which you guessed was supposed to calm your nerves but really, it did anything but that. The mere thought of eating dinner with Namjoon was nerve-wracking. But now you were about to eat dinner and enter his home; you had no fucking clue what you were getting yourself into.

The doors slide open, and you step into the hallway. A single door could be seen at the end of the hallway, so you quickly make your way over. You stop right in front, taking a deep breath in before pushing the doorbell. A beat, a crash, another beat, then-

The door swings open, and your breath catches in your throat.

Namjoon looks heavenly as always, but seeing him in clothes other than his usual black slacks makes your heart do a cartwheel. God, this is dangerous.

“Ms. ____!”

Before Namjoon can form a hello, Dasom is running past him and wrapping her small arms around your legs. “You came! See daddy! I told you she’d come.” her tongue pokes out of her mouth, aimed straight at her father and you stifle a laugh.

“Did he think I wouldn’t?” you ask, eyebrow arched as you glance at Namjoon, who seems to have a permanent pink hue on his face.

“He said you wouldn’t!”

“Oh, really? What else did he say?”

“He said I had to help him clean either way!”

“Alright, Dasom. That’s enough.” He says firmly, clearing his throat and trying to act as unaffected as possible. His eyes shift to meet yours. “Why don’t you come inside?”

As much as this day really sucked for Namjoon, today had been… different. Not all too much. Of course, getting up was the hardest part, but he had decided to make Dasom her favourite breakfast meal instead of her usual cereal. He had also made sure to get her all the toys she had been wanting, and planned their day out to do Dasom’s favourite things. Namjoon just wanted this day to be special for her. That was all he cared about.

But when Dasom had asked him to invite you, he had hesitated.

Dasom had never spent her birthdays with anyone else but Namjoon. Not that it was intentional, but Namjoon liked to have this day just for the both of them. Because that’s how it’s always been. He didn’t know what it was about you that made his daughter talk about you all the time. Or why she wanted to spend a birthday with you. But how could he deny her? And so, the text was sent.

And now, as Namjoon puts away the dishes while you sit on his couch, he realizes he hadn’t thought of her today. Not as much as the years before. Dinner had been so... nice. It felt nice to have someone else around. Namjoon loves Dasom, but he hadn’t realized how distant he had gotten from everything that had once seemed to be the centre of his life.

Namjoon closes the dishwasher, exiting the kitchen and making his way to the living room. He places the two glasses on the table before pouring the dark red liquid.

“I hope you like Merlot.”

“Oh, please. Anything’s fine.”

You take the wine glass, sending him a thank you before taking a drink. “So,” you lean back, “remind me how to play this again.”

“Ms.____ I told you. You have to take a block without knocking the tower over,” Dasom shows you by pushing a middle wooden block out, “then you have to place it on top, like this.'' She places the same block on top of the tower.

“Ah, right! I just need to make sure if I want to win.”

“You can’t! I’m the best!”

“Oh really? And what about you?” you turn, brow raised and eyes playful.

“Pshh,” he scoffs, leaning forward. “Who do you think she takes after?”

He doesn’t think he’s ever lost a game so quickly.

Namjoon watches as you close Dasom’s door quietly from the hallway before you make your way back to the family room. “She’s out like a light. I guess all that tower building got to her.”

Namjoon snorts. He feels oddly disappointed as he watches you gather your things to go. Was it weird that he wanted you to stay? “Do you need me to get you a ride? I can call Jin to drive you home.”

“No, it’s fine! Really! I already ordered an Uber anyway.” You grab your coat near the door. Before Namjoon can unlock the door, you touch his shoulder. “Listen, thank you for inviting me today. I know you probably wanted to spend this day together instead, but I... “ you inhale, because you aren’t sure of what you want to actually say “thank you.”

Would it be weird to say how much better you made today? Probably. “You don’t… have to thank me. I think I should be the one doing the thanking. I really wanted this day to be special for Dasom and you… you definitely helped. So, thank you.”

The door opens, and the light of the hallway fills his dim flat. “Guess we’re even then.” you smile before turning, making your way to the elevator. Namjoon shuts the door once the sight of you is gone, but the smile on his face remains

“Guess we are.” he whispers wistfully

Perhaps stopping at a flower vendor when you’re already running late was a bad idea, but Namjoon wasn’t thinking about time. He had seen the bouquet of flowers and imagined the huge smile that would stretch across Dasom’s face, and that was all he needed to swerve into the left lane.

Now, though, as he anxiously watches the cars in front of him move a foot forward after thirty minutes, he’s sure he should have just left the fucking flowers alone.

Namjoon doesn’t know how long he’s been shifting his eyes from the traffic to the watch ticking around his wrist, but by a miracle, the cars start moving. Slowly, then he’s speeding down the highway, praying to the skies above he’ll make it in time. Even if he arrives in the midst of the dance, he can’t miss this recital. He won’t.

He sighs in relief when he sees the familiar glass building, though it’s cut short when he sees the parking lot. No available place in sight. Fuck. Namjoon is sure he looks insane right now, swerving around the parking lot in search for an empty spot, or really just any fucking spot that looks like it could fit his monster of a car.

Then the clouds seem to open up, and right near the entrance is a vacant spot. Namjoon swears his mouth almost waters at the sight. Quickly speeding around the lot, he parks, but not before flipping off the angry parent who tries to beat him to it. Namjoon exits his car, quickly grabbing his coat and the large bouquets of flowers from the backseat. He runs to the entrance, practically throwing the shriveled paper at the ticket clerk.

Namjoon slows as he nears the theatre doors, taking a deep breath before calmly opening it. He had completely forgotten to book seats in advance, so he’s not surprised to see the velvet seats filled to the brim. When he looks to the stage, he’s relieved to see that there’s still time until Dasom comes on.

Now, Namjoon knows he’s not the most… balanced person. It’s common knowledge that he trips over his feet and knocks things over sometimes. (Oh, but definitely more than the average person.) Now, if you were to ask Namjoon if he pays attention to his surroundings, he'd say yes.

But if you were to ask Namjoon what he tripped over, he wouldn’t know. It doesn’t matter, because now there’s a furious mother with a horrendous bob cut glaring at him, and what he thinks to be a broken camcorder on the floor. The only thing he can manage is an awkward smile and an even more awkward apology. Namjoon offers to give her the cost for repairs, hell, even offers to buy her a new one. The woman snatches the bills from his hands but she doesn’t go back to minding her business like he thought she would. No, instead she starts to argue with him, in the middle of her child’s recital, no less!

Namjoon can’t do anything but stare at her as she blabbers on about how horrible he is for throwing her camcorder on the floor. (Not like it had much life left, that thing looked like it was from 2007.) She’s damn near spitting on his face, and causing other parents to turn around and glare at them. As if it was his fault. Who knew she had such an attachment to the damn thing!

A hand lands on his shoulder, and for a second he’s sure it’s security ready to escort him out of the building. But when he turns, he’s surprised to see it’s you. Like an angel had ascended from the clouds to save Namjoon from the wrath of a ballet mom. And just like that, you’re leading him away, taking a seat two rows before the stage. Namjoon’s eyes widen at the sight of the empty seat beside you.

It’s that feeling again, and Namjoon’s palms start to get sweaty as he takes a seat. “Jesus, thank you for that,” he whispers, relishing your quiet laughter that follows.

“Of course. She was probably a blink away from going full-blown Karen on you.” you tease.

“Oh, and that wasn’t?”

“Oh, Joon, you haven’t seen how angry ballet moms can get.” you both laugh, huddled together as if you’re sharing a special secret. It seems so natural. As if this is where he’s supposed to be. So much that Namjoon almost doesn’t catch the nickname, but how could he miss it when you say it just like she used to?

The stage lights darken, and Namjoon is grateful for the excuse to look elsewhere. He’s sure if he would have stared at you for just a bit longer, he would have done something completely and utterly stupid. “This is her.” you whisper, and Namjoon buries the thought away.

A blue hue shines across the stage before the soft melody begins to play, filling the room with the sounds of strings and keys. One by one, tiny swans begin to come into view, prancing around the stage. Namjoon catches sight of Dasom, looking adorable in her white tutu and he can’t help the proud smile that makes its way onto his face. He watches with adoration as she does her pirouettes, and maybe there’s some water overflowing in his eyes as they finish their dance, bowing towards the audience.

You both stand, clapping and cheering the loudest, uncaring of the stares from the snobby rich parents because you’re both too damn proud of Dasom to care. For a moment, Namjoon pretends that it’s different, simpler. That it’s not only his child on stage but yours. Ours. He thinks he likes the sound of that too much.

Once the show ends, you lead Namjoon backstage where the buzz of dozens of girls talking fills the air. You tell him that you need to check in on the other kids and disappear through a hallway. He spots Dasom quickly, or rather, she spots him.

“Daddy! You came!”

Namjoon lifts Dasom with his free arm, twirling her around before placing a big kiss on her forehead. Her giggles fill him with delight, and he doesn’t care that his cheeks hurt from how hard he’s been smiling. “Of course I came, angel. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

He places her on the ground before he grabs the bouquet of sunflowers from his other arm. The sight of her favourite flower makes Dasom jump with joy. She takes the flowers, and Namjoon silently coos at how much smaller they make her look. Then she spots the other bouquet of flowers in his arm. She scrunches her brows together, about to ask who those are for before her eyes catch something behind Namjoon.

“Ms. ____!”

“Dasom!”

Dasom jumps into your arms, and you laugh at her enthusiasm. “You did so well! I’m so proud of that pirouette!” You twirl her around once her feet hit the ground, smiling as you watch her stumble slightly. Namjoon can’t help but smile too.

“Look what daddy got me, Ms. ____! Look!” Dasom lifts the flowers up, almost shoving them into your face.

“Wow, these are very beautiful, Dasom!”

“Look! He got you some too!” she giggles, and you look at her confusedly then at Namjoon. He sighs, looking pointedly at Dasom despite the cherry hue making its way across his cheeks. She giggles once again before running to her friends. “Dasom!” but it's futile.

If it weren’t for the consistent chatter, Namjoon’s sure there would be an agonizing silence to fill the space between you. You walk closer to him, looking down at your shoes bashfully. “Ah, these-” he takes the bouquet from his arm, “these are for you.”

You looked surprised to say the least. Eyes wide and glassy, your mouth falling ajar. “Wow, uh, really?” you ask, glancing up from the bouquet. He nods shyly.

Listen, he had only planned to buy Dasom her favourite flowers. But then he caught sight of these beautiful yellow roses, tips painted a light amber orange. Somehow they reminded him of you. And the way you had left him with his heart feeling lighter for the first time in years the other night. Maybe it was a way of saying thank you. He’ll admit, he didn’t think it all the way through, but the way you’re smiling at him right now makes him think it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

There’s a moment where it seems to just be you and him, despite the tons of parents and children running around. He’s only focused on you, and the way your eyes drop to his lips, if only for a millisecond. Namjoon wants to say it. God, he wants to say it so badly. “Listen I… I’ve been meaning to ask you,” his voice fades away as his eyes catch yours. Hopeful. Beautiful. Glimmering.

Just like hers.

“Do you, uh, need a ride home?”

And the bubble bursts.

You step away, looking at anything but him and he hates it. He despises it. He wants you to look at him like that again. He wants nothing more than to pull you back and kiss you senselessly, like his mind is screaming for him to do. But he can’t. He can’t do it for some fucking reason and he almost wants to cry in frustration because why can’t this just be easier? Why is it so hard to move on? You don’t deserve this. You deserve so much better than what he can offer you. And that thought keeps him still.

“Uh, sure.”

Quiet.

Say something, idiot! Tell her what you’ve been dying to say! Just fucking say it!

Namjoon hates himself for the next words that tumble out of his mouth.

“Let’s find Dasom.”

The drive to your house is just like it was before, except this time there’s no chatter to fill the emptiness. Dasom is sound asleep in the backseat. You've never seemed more distant than now, facing the window, body pressed against the door. You had almost begged to go in the back with Dasom, and Namjoon doesn’t know why he didn’t just let you.

How did it come to this? This wasn’t what he wanted. This night wasn’t supposed to go like this. Everything should have gone differently.

He doesn’t know how he’ll ever fix this. If things will go back to normal. If he completely ruined it. But he’s too afraid to ask. Too afraid to know.

Namjoon has never hated the quiet more.

The sight of your apartment complex fills him with dread. All he can think about is all he wants to say, all he should have said, all he wants to take back. God, Namjoon wishes he could take it back. If only there was a way to turn back the time. Why had he been so afraid to make a move? Why did it hurt so much? But he knows going back wouldn’t help. Not when he doesn’t know if he would have done it differently.

His car comes to a stop, and the doors unlock. He faintly catches the small thank you before the passenger door slams shut. Namjoon watches as you make your way up the pathway, feet moving briskly and it feels like he’s watching you walk away from him.

You’re shuffling through your bag, looking for your key. And fuck, is he really just going to this go?  Is he that stubborn that he can’t see past himself? He can’t. He can’t let you go. Not like this.

Well do something, dumbass!

The door of his car is thrown open, and before he can overthink it-

“____!”

You still. You turn.

Namjoon shuts the door. He walks up the steps and stops a few feet away from you, but he feels like he’s miles away. You look up at him, questioning. Your eyes aren’t the same ones. Not like you looked at him before. Yet they’re still warm. Inviting. Namjoon is tongue-tied, and all those words he wanted to say are gone now.

“Are we… good?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I just…” he scratches the back of his neck. “That moment back at the recital. I… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” you say, simply. When he looks at you, he can’t tell what you’re feeling. You’ve blocked him off. “Namjoon, really. It’s fine.”

But is it really? He wants to ask. But he doesn’t. It’s quiet again, this time the sound of the wind rustling the browning leaves above filling the space. Still.

“I… god, I don’t know why this is so hard. Ever since, you know,” you don’t. “I… I didn’t think I'd ever get an opportunity to…” he inhales, unsure of what he wants to say first.

“I just feel like I ruined it so carelessly.”

You don’t say anything for a few moments. You only stare at him, really stare at him. Like you can see through his mirage, through the walls he’s spent so long building up. You’re taking it all, but there’s nothing he can take back from you.

“You didn’t.” you whisper it so quietly, Namjoon would have thought his mind had taken pity on him. But a smile slips onto your face. Unlike the other ones. It doesn’t fill him with joy. It doesn’t give him butterflies. This one hurts.

And he knows you’re telling the truth.

“This… It might take a while.”

The wind picks up. The leaves rustle. The cold, biting.

“That’s ok. I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”

Your lips are bittersweet on his tongue.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN TO KARLA !! ILYYYY <3

[kreidewaltz]

christmas rush | s.r.

pairing. suna rintarou x gn!reader

about. after your interesting encounter with the suna sublings, he texted you to meet up at the station and you let him come along to experience what christmas is to you.

word count. 3.1k

genre & warnings. fluff. strangers to friends. mutual pining. suna's sister is cute. timeskip. vague mention of atsumu and msby jackals.

author’s note. my secret santa fic for you @avantaes for the happy holidays exchange of alice's server <3 sorry if i slip up on the pronouns, i'm trying out writing a gn!reader eheh thank you to @haikyuu-is-for-lovers ​for beta-ing this fic ily this is a part of the haikyuu holidays collab which you can check here!

“have a merry christmas!” you say, waving at the girl who looks at you with bright, sparkling eyes that makes your heart warm. her parents, sliding money onto the counter and giving you two heartwarming smiles, stepped away from the store before you could decline and give it back to the family. clasping your hands for a moment, you squeal and shake your co-worker’s shoulders,  resulting in you messing up his bright red cap, showing off your two thousand yen, and doing the thing where you swipe the money off your palm.

“look, look! I’ve got tips, ‘samu!” you exclaim, your voice getting a pitch higher because you can’t contain your excitement from doing well on being a cashier today. it drains your energy from repeatedly talking and keeping up a persona in front of other people to live up to the reputation of the toy store. the jar on your counter filled with crumpled money and coins makes you confident and you excitedly bounce on the wooden chair. he provides you a thumbs up along with a soft smile on his exhausted face before the ringing bell and chatter of people startles you both in your places. 

another christmas rush, you both ponder. 

you prepare yourself by cracking your fingers and stretching for a minute since you’re experienced in the working field– demanding customers, stubborn and loud children, and oldies who whisper and say they know everything about working. both of you have gone through that and it seems fate throws another batch of those people. turning your head and seeing him staring back at you with determination bubbling on his eyes cracks a smile on your dull face.

“osamu, let’s ditch work and celebrate together.” you say, voice lowered to a whisper as you jutted out your bottom lip while waiting for the customers since they take their time picking out plushies or christmas cards. osamu chuckles, his hand playfully punching your arm and murmuring under his breath how you’re confusing which made you step on his white shoes. the look of horror forming on his face is more than enough to leave you satisfied with your revenge, which was childish to begin with. you whisper three, two, one before hearing the bells, indicating that customers are coming in. you mentally prepare yourself for another continuous rush.

-

"spare us ten minutes?" the voice asks, making you startled on your chair and a small smile appear on your face to assist the last customer for the night. there are still people in the mall, but the store got quiet after the rush earlier, so this was expected. but the person got you dumbfounded. locking eyes with the man had you unconsciously gulping because you’d heard of him from your co-worker.

"suna rintarou..?" muttering to yourself and giving him a subtle nod, your tired eyes move to the glass door and a sigh leaves your chapped lips - seeing no one handling the fans is arduous. arching your back for a moment to stretch and feeling your bones crack brings contentment because standing and moving around for eight hours isn’t a pleasant experience. because of the beige bucket hat he’s wearing, you can’t see his expression clearly, but his lips are pressed together and there’s no brightness forming in his eyes. 

the hell? he should be excited about the christmas season!

“taro-nii, let’s go!” a gentle yet loud voice breaks your stretching and you instantly see the resemblance of the volleyball player to his sister, who looks adorable in her olive green sweater and the hair clips resting on her hair, making her stylish at a young age. hearing “wish me luck!” produces chuckles from you because of his monotone voice in contrast to his sister’s. and because you know he’ll be dragged around in the store, your exhausted eyes meet his, a mix of gray and yellow which is beautiful, you muse to yourself. 

as the siblings disappeared on the aisle, you instantly nudge osamu’s waist with your elbow and lean forward to remove his cap since he angles it in a way his eyes are covered. 

“‘samu! he’s hot.” cupping your cheeks before shrieking and shaking your head in disbelief, you bite on your lip to prevent squealing because you two made eye contact earlier, chuckling at the way it’s obvious he didn’t want to be here. the fact that he’s wearing a bucket hat made your palms clammy, picturing him in your mind while swooning over him for the next couple of hours.

“you do remember that he attended inarizaki, right?” your eyes widen like the dangling christmas balls hanging on the ceiling— leaving your mouth open and desperately trying to recall your high school, which is evident due to the furrow of your eyebrows and the continuous bouncing your left leg.

“wait.. you’re kidding right? i’m sure i would’ve seen him somewhere!” 

with your voice turning to a low whisper, you scoot your chair closer to osamu’s because there’s a possibility the other volleyball player could hear you— and you don’t want that to happen.

in your mind, you’re weighing the pros and cons: he’s in the toy aisle and probably helping his sister to pick toys, there’s upbeat christmas songs playing in the store, and add the indistinct yet loud chatter of people in the mall... it's possible that he wouldn't hear you, but you won't take risk— not for now.

“you could, but you didn’t.” throwing a harsh glare in his direction, but reconciling by giving a peace sign after, you recognize that osamu’s words are the truth, but the underlying tone of cockiness didn’t go unnoticed. by nature, you are observant, after all. even if your co-worker denies he’s similar to the nosy blonde that is his brother, but there are some things you couldn’t help but notice, they both love teasing, only osamu is lowkey about it. 

“you’re a literary type of girl, so it makes sense you didn’t watch our game... don’t even say i didn’t invite you.” 

“studying is important, you idiot!” crossing your arms and rolling the stack of papers laying on the counter before slamming it on his head with little force, you pout in distress, only because if you’d attended the games, you could’ve seen suna around the high school, or admired him while he’d practice and get lost in his voice whenever he’d speak.

“why are we even talking about me! we should talk about your cru—“ 

“excuse me but..” a familiar voice interrupted your playful banter and you had to clutch your stomach because of who’s laid in front of your eyes. the glint forming in your eyes makes suna annoyed and let out a tsk, but he didn’t move because his sister was currently fawning over the toys that she’d add to her new collection.

“osamu, don’t just stand there.” you nudge your co-worker to help his friend, but instead he leaned over the counter and whispered something to suna, and the sly smirks forming on their faces makes your toes curl on your shoes in nervousness and the countless worries are starting to overlap in your head. 

you couldn’t help it, you’re a natural overthinker.

“alright! suna, you’re in good hands.” osamu’s hand gives your shoulder a soft squeeze before he disappears through the backdoor. you watch, tapping your fingers on your thighs to the beat of the cheerful christmas song playing right now.

“taro-nii, give it already!” his sister’s voice made you hold back a laugh by lowering your head, and you went to help him scoot over the toys and candies onto the counter. there are plushies on his hand, biscuits squished by his elbow and a reindeer headband he’s wearing which isn’t that neat— you assume his sister put it on and kept being persistent. plus, his soft brown hair looks all over the place.

“look, look! this is cute, right?” his energetic sister beams at you, her small hands holding the fox plushie with a proud smile on her face. you leaned more onto the counter to pat her head, her giggles due to your head pat making you giddy inside. she’s courteous and well behaved; her natural bright energy gives off a great aura. 

“yes! it’s so adorable like you!” patting her head once more and gently grabbing the toy from her, the literal sparkles present in her eyes make you snicker and scan the tags of the items quickly, giving the fox plushie back to her hands, which are welcoming the toy warmly. 

“no! this is taro-nii.” after finishing the scan, you put the items on the two pastel red and green paper bags and your ears perk up. giggling at her enthusiasm towards her brother, your eyes focused on him, faint red visible around his neck as it extended to the tip of his ears.

“how much do you love him?” you whisper, side eyeing the latter while he stands still, holding the two bags without looking in your direction. you and his sister giggle while she squeals at your question.

“this much!” she states, putting her hands to the side and expanding the love she has for her beloved brother— who’s standing, flustered, but somehow still keeping an eye your fingers tapping mindlessly on the counter. he ruffled her hair and poked her cheek to annoy her, only now a distress pout is forming on her lips and she huffs her pink dusted cheeks. 

“let’s go, we’ll come back soon.”

hopping on the counter and helping suna hold the bags while he fixes his sister’s adorable pigtails, the next song blasting on the speakers makes her jump around and slur the lyrics while her hands are wrapped around the plushie as if she’s never letting go. he gave a subtle nod and his eyes went to his arms, catching up on his clues and giving a big wave to the siblings. if you only noticed the faint red tint adorning his cheeks as he ran a hand through his hair because of him doing something discreet without anyone noticing, or you.

this is indeed a memory you can’t forget on christmas. 

-

“he’s so slow, is he a turtle?” you say, murmuring under your breath as you snuggle your head on your pale blue scarf wrapped around your neck comfortably. balling your fists in your coat pocket to not shudder at the cold breeze passing by, regret flooded your mind because you only wore your off white shirt and the coat protecting you from the snow falling from above. you tap your white sneakers against the snow-covered ground as you impatiently wait for suna, who texted you he’d be ahead of you earlier that day. 

“hey, christmas cashier.” seeing him beside you wearing casual clothes got your cheeks to heat up and made you playfully punch his shoulder. tiptoeing a little to adjust the scarf around his neck and pat the snow off his dark gray coat, neither of you said anything. you can’t say anything; the close proximity and being under his sharp gaze makes you nervously uneasy.

“hi to the most discreet and late man i know.” the smirk forming on his face indicates he’s not offended by your statement. by discreet you’re referring to the small paper with his number written on it that he slid smoothly onto the counter while you were busy with his sister. hours later you figured out it was the reason why osamu and him were smirking. his text particularly said “let’s be early and be spontaneous, show me how christmas is to you”. ruffling his hair to purposely annoy him, you tug his hand to skip along the grounds and finally begin the journey of doing christmas activities, showing him how he should appreciate the holiday through your perspective.

since you accidentally ponder out loud, "how many reasons must i provide for you to enjoy winter season with me?" and he shrugs instantly, looking from far away, his eyes longing for something as he softly whispers... "two or three would be enough." 

-

"why the hell are we here?" he narrows his gray-yellow eyes at you while you're busy cupping your cheeks due to the cold temperature at the mall. walking a little further to the back, but enough that you'd see what's happening to the center of the place, people who are in the front (whether they like it or not, they've got no choice) get to sit in santa's lap and get to take pictures with santa claus.

"hey! let me explain. in christmas season, mr. suna rintaro, enjoy the free entertainments!" crossing your arms and pointing a finger in his direction before you adjust his scarf and pat his hair, ruffling it to cover his eyes because he's a volleyball figure, you and him watch this with a company can ensue chaos.

"yeah? like sitting on santa's lap?" he stepped a little closer to you because of people passing by - he didn't want injuries to happen. hearing your chuckles has his hands clammy and him shaking his head to compose himself internally.

"don't worry! we're just gonna watch them and bully them— a secret between us only." a giddy smile is visibly present on your face as you hold onto your scarf to cover your smile that can't seem to stop.

"oh my god.. look at that!" slapping a hand over your mouth and shutting your eyes because you had to physically stop yourself from laughing or people will hear you and think you're hysterical. he follows your gaze and he can't help but let out a snicker. he has to tell osamu about this.

there's someone sitting on santa's lap, much to his dismay because he's whining and moving a lot— like a child that doesn't receive candy from the doctors. the faux blonde seems at your age, his pissed off expression is somehow wholesome which makes the group of people here break into fits of laughter.

"that guy, he's a kid at heart." you murmur under your breath and grin at suna as he locks eyes with you and nods at your statement. he didn't talk much after that, just chuckling with you and angling his phone to record the blonde earlier, which had you squealing at it because free entertainments are rare. though one thing you failed to notice was how his black phone captured you tiptoeing to get more of a view in the enormous crowd, a hand on your waist and the brightness of your mesmerizing eyes beating the sparkling christmas ornaments.

you weren't an entertainment, because in his head it seems wrong, and it is. more of, you were just someone beautiful that suna rintaro could stare at for hours and never get bored of— because you are someone who's interesting, and he can't wait to discover the other layers you have.

-

“on christmas, use your charm and coupons to get discounts.” skipping around the streets to see different foods which makes you hungry and act distressed by whining so he’ll go with you to the food stalls. he scoffs at your statement and follows behind you, genuinely curious on what you’ll do because he isn’t the type to use coupons to buy food. he gives the cash and is good to go to savor the food alone.

“one order of oden, please!” you say, waving to the old man behind the oden stall with a bright smile. the former nodded, saying a “comin’ right up!” as you tug suna closer to the stall to inhale the heavenly scent of oden— the dashi soy sauce broth is making you lick your lips in anticipation, and the fish cakes and the deep fried tofu added excitement in your stomach.

“thanks! i’m so hungry.” with a chuckle slipping past your lips, you bow down before stepping to the snow-covered bench across from you. the cold feeling of the snow makes you hiss as you try to make yourself comfortable.

“suna? taste it! perfect food for this hell of a winter.” holding the bowl with delicacy before he accepts it with a small smile adorning his face, he brings down his scarf before taking a big sip of the broth and a bite of the hard boiled egg. a low rumble comes from his chest which you assume is because of the hot broth soothing the cold feeling.

“where’s the charm and discount there?” turning his body towards you and looking at you with soft eyes as he watches you take a bite of the tofu, a smile passing through your lips because it is newly fried while you huff your smooth, pink cheeks. 

“the charm is just.. interacting with people, you know? giving them smiles because god knows what they go through with customers.” he can’t help but chortle at your statement, but still nods after a minute, agreeing with you. his right hand plays with the black button of his coat, needing something to distract himself. 

“he only let me pay in half for the oden. it’s generous, yeah? he always gives me food when i go home years ago, you know, the shitty college phase.” giving the bowl to him once again as he listens attentively, his gaze goes to the oden stall- maybe he can visit once in a while and ask questions about you, or he can tag his sister along. tapping his black boots on the ground in habit while stretching his other leg straight, he hears your breath hitch and it makes him snicker inwardly, probably because of how long his leg is or because you’re amazed by the hot stew. either way, it’s charming.

“mhm, yeah, and i bet you insisted at first.” he feigns innocence as he takes in your offended expression. eyes wide like marble saucers, you purse your lips and cover the bowl with your ice-cold hands, acting like you don’t want to share the food with him anymore. 

“w-well, of course! but you know old people.” you sigh, grabbing the chopsticks and taking a bite of the fish cake while shutting your eyes for a moment to momentarily forget the flaring heat forming on your cheeks and down to your neck. he looks ahead as he attempts to scramble his thoughts, but there's something over his lips and it's the deep fried tofu. you push it further with a smile on your face as he begrudgingly takes it as a whole.

"and yeah! this sums it up, that during christmas you should enjoy the simple things." taking a last sip of the heavenly soy sauce broth before you nudge him for him to take the last gulp. he went along with you, after all; he deserves the last sip of the stew. you grab the bowl from him and stroll back to the trash can nearby the stall—oh, if you only noticed his eyes following your every move with a gentle smile forming on his face.

his thoughts begin to clear out and only come to a conclusion—you're pretty and simple, and he should appreciate it more.

[alpacaparkaseok]

Where you should be

9. Kairos

Genre: Hobi x oc

Warnings: this series contains stalking, blackmail, and similar stressful/fear inducing situations. Also unrequited love, which is perhaps the most terrifying of all.

Word Count: 3.2k

a/n: this is the final installment of Where you should be. I originally only planned for this story to have about 8 chapters, so yeah. I’m sorry if this came as a shock to some of you. I have loved getting to meet new people while writing this series; Hobi stans are literal sunshines. Hobi is one of my biases, so I was happy to get to write him a series. The world needs more Hobi fanfics. Thank you for reading, for reblogging, for interacting with me! Please enjoy and thank you for stopping in!

Kairos (n.) a propitious moment for decision or action; the ‘right time’

The bus station in Busan is crowded with people waiting to board the bus to head back to Seoul by the time I arrive there. Pulling my hood down low I begin to haul my bags to the taxi area, already exhausted.

While I wait in the growing line, I pull my phone out to start looking at hotels I can stay the night at. Hopefully Pdogg got my demo for Puma and will give me some feedback.

I get closer to the front of the line, hoping that a taxi will free up soon. I really just need a bed right now. Today has been too much.

Wincing as I see all the missed calls and texts from Hobi, I decide to text him as soon as I get settled into a hotel room. He deserves an explanation.

I’m watching the next taxi pull up into a vacant spot a black car swerves into the taxi lane, stopping right where the taxi was supposed to park. Honking and cursing ensues, people who were already frustrated after a long day of travel growing angry.

All of those angry voices are hushed the moment the driver’s door opens and a familiar face appears.

Hoseok’s eyes are on mine as he closes the door and strides up the steps toward me, ignoring the people that are staring at him. I blink at him, wondering if I’ve fallen asleep and this is all just a dream. This feels like something I would dream about; it’s too good to be true.

Only when the weight of my duffel bag is removed as Hoseok takes it off my hands do I realize that this may actually be real.

“Get in the car.”

His voice is gruff as the speaks, his eyes aflame with barely concealed anger. Shrinking in on myself, I pull my hood down even lower.

He knows I can’t make a scene here.

Hoseok waits until I start walking to begin walking as well, trailing behind me like a lurking predator and closing the door behind me when I sit down.

People’s phones are flashing as he puts my bags in the trunk, and he gives a polite wave before hopping back into the driver’s seat.

The kind smile he wore for the public as he waved is dropped as soon as he starts the car again, and he begins to speed out of the bus station. My heart is pounding out of my chest, the street lamps we pass under making me close my eyes as I can hardly keep up with them anymore.

I refuse to speak first, and it would appear that Hobi doesn’t plan on doing it either. Instead he drives and drives until we’re pulling into a hotel parking lot and he’s hopping out, grabbing my things for me.

“Stay here,” he orders, giving me a look that details just how he’ll murder me if I bail. “I’ll grab us a couple of rooms.”

It’s the fact that he specifies that we’ll be getting two rooms that has me freaking out. He disappears into the hotel, leaving me with my thoughts.

Scrolling through the texts I’ve been ignoring, I begin to realize just how much I screwed up.

Someone tapping on the window makes me jump, and I look up to see Hoseok waiting for me. Clambering out of the car, my face flushes as I’m sure that he saw that I was reading his messages.

I want to ask him how he knew where to find me, but one look at his solemn expression has me closing my mouth before I can ask the question. I follow him through a back entrance in the hotel, watching his feet as they ascend the stairs.

“Let me just drop your things off in your room,” he says when we come to a stop outside of a hotel room. Swiping the card, he waits for me to enter and then marches inside. Turning on his heel, he goes to leave, not even looking at me.

“Wait!” I scramble to stop him, planting myself between him and the door. “What...how did you…?”

He’s staring holes into the space just above my head, but I refuse to shrink away from him. Slowly, those eyes slide down to meet mine.

I feel like I’ve been thrown into hell with that gaze.

“October 15th.”

I blink at him. “What?”

Hoseok sighs, his nostrils flaring. “You couldn’t wait it out, Ha-rin?” I flinch at the way he says my name. “I’ve been killing myself over trying to get us together and happy, but it’s never enough! And then you go and let some psychopath get up in your head, and just bail! You bailed before I could even wake up!”

His anger stokes my fire, and I stand up taller. “I didn’t just bail, Hoseok. You- you could have died! And you’re angry about that freaking me out? I saw what the stakes were and I stepped away. But you don’t -” I shove at his chest, “even - let - me - leave!”

Grabbing my wrists in his hands, he holds them above my head as he backs me back against the door. Leaning down so we’re eye-level, Hoseok’s eyes rake over my features like hot coals.

“What, you think the stakes are too high? You think this is because we’re together?” He laughs quietly, shaking his head. “Don’t flatter yourself. This is not the first time I’ve received death threats. It won't be the last time, either. This is my life,” Hoseok growls out, “so if the stakes are too high for you then you should have said so.”

Suddenly my anger dissolves as his words sink in. “No,” I whisper, desperately trying to backtrack. “T-that’s not-”

“Then what?” Hoseok demands, his grip on my wrists lightening a little but still keeping me frozen in place. “Because when I woke up in an empty bed, with nothing but a note saying ‘I’m sorry’ I kind of got the idea that you maybe didn’t want this. Was I wrong?” He hisses out the words, making me close my eyes against them.

I take a deep breath, shuddering at this new side of Hoseok. I think there’s a reason why I’ve never seen him angry before.

I think there’s a reason why he keeps that side of him on a very tight leash.

“You...Jihun said you’d be better off, and…” hearing myself speak I realize just how stupid this was. “I didn’t want you to get hurt, Hobi.” His eyes clear a bit and he seems to come back to his senses, releasing my wrists.

“And you couldn’t just tell me that?” He asks quietly, the bite in his voice long gone. Now, he looks exhausted.

I look down at my feet, feeling completely embarrassed. “No…? But, if you’re so mad at me, why are you even here right now?”

Hoseok looks at me like I’ve just grown a second head. “Rin-ah,” I let out a sigh of relief at the way he says my name. “This is what people do when they love each other. I wasn’t just going to cut my losses and move on with my life. Did you really think I would?”

I shrug. “Maybe?”

He reaches out to me but hesitates. “I...I’m sorry for being so angry. That was uncalled for.” I shake my head, but he continues. “But you need to talk to me, not take a bus to Busan. When you left after last night’s scare, I thought that you changed your mind about me. I thought that I lost you again.”

Now that I’m finally able to see if from his side, I groan, burying my face in my hands. “I...I’m so stupid.”

Hobi gives a startled laugh, pulling me into his arms. I go willingly, melting into his embrace. “I mean…”

Smacking his shoulder, we both laugh. Hobi detaches himself from me, running and jumping on the bed. I glare at him, walking over and shoving him to the side.

“Scoot,” I demand, squealing when he just pulls me onto the bed, laughing as I nearly bounce off of it. Wriggling around, trying to scoot away before he can get a hold of me, I laugh as his arms lock around my waist, pulling me in to lay beside him.

“Make me.”

I gasp at his brazenness, burying my face in a pillow. “How did you even know where to find me?”

“Oh, well it wasn’t that hard actually. Especially once Pdogg told me that you passed Puma off to him and told him that you’d be working remotely for a while. Busan is one of the farthest places you can go, and I know you. You’d go as far as you could without leaving the country.”

“So you drove.”

“I drove.”

“And you nearly killed a taxi driver while you were at it!”

Hobi groans, also collapsing atop the pillows. “I know, how embarrassing. Bang PD is gonna kill me.”

“I mean, what was going through your head? You sure gave those people a show. I bet you’re all over Twitter right now.”

“Correction,” he quips. “We’re all over Twitter right now. And I don’t know what I was thinking. I just saw you and I’d had an entire car ride to think about everything. I was angry, sure. But more...insecure? Yeah, more insecure than anything.”

I frown, sitting up on my elbows and fiddling with the pillow case. “Insecure? Why were you feeling insecure?”

He shrugs, staring up at the ceiling. “Like I said earlier...this kind of stuff, while not frequent, happens all the time. The threats, I mean. It’s just a part of my life, and I thought that you would have known that. So while a part of me knew that Jihun had gotten inside your head,” I shudder at the mere mention of the man, “I couldn’t help but think that you didn’t think that I was worth the trouble. So when I saw you clear down here, thinking that you could just leave me after everything we’ve been through...it hit hard. And so I wanted to make you see that I’d come all this way. That I am worth it.”

My heart splits in two at Hobi’s confession, and I snuggle in close to him. “I’m so sorry, Hobi. I didn’t even think about what you were feeling.”

He lets out a long sigh. “How are we even functioning after the past twenty-four hours?”

I laugh, shaking my head in disbelief. “I have no idea. Can we just go to sleep now?”

Hobi jumps up to turn off the lights, making me chuckle. “Yes. I would love nothing more.”

Then I remember the extra room he got. “Wait, are you going to the other room?”

He tilts his head to the side. “Other room?”

“Y’know, the second room? You mentioned that you were getting two.”

Hobi’s eyes light up with remembrance before he’s turning off the final light and finding his way to me in the dark. “Oooh, that. I was lying. I only got us one room.”

“What?”

Hobi’s giggle makes me smile. “I needed to keep you on your toes!”

♟

October 15th 2020

Puma turns out to be a hit. I get to start writing lyrics to more tracks after it hits the radio waves, Pdogg offering to be my mentor.

What we don’t tell Bang PD is that Hobi tends to be the one that spends the most time with me inside the studio.

Jihun is arrested, as well as his other friends that had a hand in threatening us.

I get new locks on my door.

And through it all, I learn about the boy that has taught me more about love than years of living in this world ever did.

Hoseok still ends up on the top floor of the building quite often, locked in that room at the end of the hallway and dancing for nobody. He once told me sometime in July or August that sometimes, he just wants to dance. It’s become his career, but sometimes he goes back to the young boy that just wanted to learn and hone his passion.

Sometimes I visit him up there, when we catch a break between the endless producing and performing. Amidst the pandemic and the aftermath of the chaos Jihun wrought, we order some takeout and eat on the floor.

Those are my favorite moments. Sitting with him with my back against the wall, stealing food from his plate as we swap stories or vent our frustrations.

I’ve learned that I can’t always take away his stress and struggles. He’s sometimes quiet, sulking about not being on tour and feeling so distant from what he’s come to expect from life. Those are the moments when I beg him to order dessert and I stay a little longer until the clouds in his eyes have broken up a little.

For the past few weeks, however, Hobi and I have hardly been able to see each other. Bang PD found out about our little relationship once Hobi’s trip to Busan hit the social media apps, some very interesting photos of the two of us getting into the same car clueing him in on our relationship. He has hardly been accommodating, holding my contract over my head every chance he gets. I swear, if I look at Hobi for more than two seconds at a time Bang PD is threatening to enforce the rules of my contract. 

I swear, if I hear him say ‘you signed and agreed to this!’ one more time, I’ll quit.

He’s been keeping me busy with TXT’s new album coming at the end of October, and Hobi is swimming in promotions and final tweaks to their album.

I think he’s out with the boys filming something today. It’s quiet as I head up to the top floor, carrying my lunch with me. I enter the practice room, hoping to see Hoseok’s familiar face but find it empty. Sighing, I head over to my usual corner and sit down, beginning to eat.

I nearly choke on my rice when the door swings open less than ten minutes later, Hobi striding in with a happy smile.

“I thought I’d find you up here,” he states proudly, plopping down beside me.

“Don’t you have promos today?” I ask around my food, batting his hand away when he tries to grab some of my food.

“Oh, yeah. We’re finished though.”

“Really? That was fast.”

Hoseok smiles, nodding absentmindedly. “You haven’t looked at the news, have you?”

I pull my phone out. “...no? Why? Did you do something crazy?”

He laughs. “Maybe. I’ll let you be the judge of that.” I give him a quizzical look, immediately pulling up my news app. I scroll around for a little while.

“I’m not seeing…” I gasp as an article pops up. “What?”

BTS now owns 33.33% of Bighit Entertainment - what this means for the future of Bighit and K-pop

“You...you freaking own part of Bighit?!”

Hobi laughs, scooting closer. “Well, kind of. With the other guys. Together we own one third. Kind of cool, right?”

I look at him, utterly shocked. “How long have you known about this?”

He shrugs. “Let’s see...today is October 15th…” he starts counting on his fingers, but my mind is elsewhere.

“Wait. That’s what you said, back in April.”

He blinks at me. “Said what?”

“When you came to Busan! You said something about October 15th...was this it?”

With his heart-shaped smile, Hobi laughs. “Yeah, this was it. Remember how I kept telling you that we wouldn’t have to hide forever? You wonder why Bang PD hasn’t made us break up when he found out about us?”

I stare at the man beside me, my mind going a million miles an hour. “What are you saying?”

Hobi stands up, pulling me up with him. “Come on.” He leads me out the door, taking me to the elevator. “We own a chunk of the company down, so technically, if I were to, say, get all the boys on board with the idea of us, we could possibly convince the CEO of said company to shift a few things around on your contract.”

The doors of the elevator open, Hobi tugging me inside. He punches some buttons, but I keep staring at him like he just offered to fly me to the moon.

“So anyway, that’s where I’ve been the past week or so. Negotiating some terms with Bang PD and convincing the boys to back me up. Now today is the big day.”

The doors open up, revealing us to be on Bang PD’s floor. Pulling me along like an excited school-boy, Hobi throws open the door to find Bang PD sitting behind his desk. He hardly looks up at us, simply pushing a packet across the desk closer to us. Hobi grabs it, extending it to me.

“Here. Your new contract. It’s mainly the same as before except now…” Hobi takes this time to get a little embarrassed, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. “Now, we don’t have to worry about hiding. Not anymore.”

My eyes are glued to his face, still in shock at the sudden turn of events. “You...you did all of this?”

Hobi nods, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Yes. Of course I did.” He laughs to himself. “You have this strange idea of where you should be. You thought that you had to stay away from me even when I was practically throwing myself at your feet,” I cringe at the memory, “and then you thought you should move to Busan just to keep me safe.”

Hobi glances at Bang PD who’s pretending that he can’t hear us. Taking a pen from the desk, Hobi pulls me back out into the hallway. When he sees that it’s bustling with activity, he leads me to the stairwell beside the elevator.

“I think what I’m trying to say is that...that you should be here. With me. Through it all, we should be together. Because we love each other, don’t we? And we’re a mess and we’ve put each other through too much heartache to be good, but I love you. And I think that maybe part of love is walking away when it’s to save the other, but love is also running after each other and never giving up. So that’s what I’ve been doing. Running after this,” he holds up the contract, shaking it in the air with disdain. “Because you deserve to choose for once. You deserve to be where you want to be. I just really, really hope it’s with me. Because if it isn’t...then that just made this whole speech so much cringier.”

By the time he finishes, I’ve already made my decision. In fact, I think I made my decision nearly two years ago.

“In what world would I not choose you?” I ask incredulously. “Hoseok, is this real? No more hiding?”

Hobi smiles in relief. “It’s real. I have it in writing.”

I grab the contract, chuckling. “Does it say something in the fine print about loving you forever or else you’ll sue me?”

Hobi stands beside me, planting a kiss on my temple. “Of course it does, I have to protect my heart somehow.”

I extend my hand out to him, looking into the face that I’ve come to love so dearly. I’m not sure if I deserve him, still. I’m afraid that I’ve put him through too much pain.

How can one still love so fully even after having their heart broken over and over again by the same person?

Perhaps it’s time I learn to forgive myself the way that he’s forgiven me.

I think I would like that. A fresh start, by Hoseok’s side.

“Pen, please.”

Fin.

--

main masterlist || Help support me? ko-fi

Previous 

taglist: @taylorroe3​ @dreamcatcherjiah @diorhoba @eusticenatalie @ddaeng-i-need-help

[xmalereader]

Billy Hargrove X Male Reader

|| THREE ||

-

|| Masterlist ||

|ONE — TWO — THREE

-

Summary: Reader is new to Hawkins, his parents had just moved into the new house and are trying to start over from there old lives. But what if reader can’t? He’s still a messed up kid who’s tired of pretending to be happy...and that damn mullet head of a ghost won’t stop following him around!!

Warnings: PTSD, Langauge, OCD TRIGGERING, Reader wants to know why he can touch billy!

—

Tags; @daybreakmistakes @spnfanboy777 @cypherthetransmasc @kingreidx

—

He was bouncing his leg up and down as he sat on his bed facing his door, staring at a few notes that he had taped onto his door.

“Okay!” He throws his hands in the air and shot up from his bed. “So far, we know that ghosts only wonder around when they have unfinished business, so do you have any unfinished business?” He asks, turning around to face billy who sat on his bed, staring at him.

“Not really no.”

Y/ns frown deeps as he spins around and uncaps his red sharpie, crossing out the first option or idea that he had. “Okay, next we have objects.” He says, pointing at one of his notes. “Is there an special object of yours that someone could’ve taken from you?” He holds his sharpie out to the other option was he waits for a response. “No.” He hears again, as he crosses it out he stops mid way, “wait what about your camero? You told me that was your baby or something.” He shurgs as billy rolls his eyes and sits back on the bed. “My dad only gave me that camero to keep my mouth shut whenever I had to deal with Maxine, it wasn’t anything special.” He explains with a shrug as well.

Y/n can only frown as the explanation, Turing back to his door as he crosses out the information. “Well, I have nothing else...Whatever it is that’s keeping you here—“ he’s startled by his bedroom door being slammed open, causing the door to hit him in the face as he grunts. “Hey!” He winces out and rubs his head, looking up to see his own mother looking down at him. “Sorry sweety, but I heard you spreaking to yourself again.” She says as she looks over y/n’s shoulder to see his room floor covered in papers. “What are you doing?”

“Smoking weed.” He blurts out randomly as his mother glares at him.

“Where do you expect me to get that stuff?” He adds with a bit of sarcasm and steps back, stilling wincing at the pain as he rubs his head again. He hears his mother sign in disappointment. “Anyways, I just came up here to remind you to take your meds, you know that your father can’t sleep well with all of your mumbling and talking in the middle of the night.” She sneers out as y/n narrows his eyes, before giving her a wide and fake smile. “Yes, ma’am.” He says through gritted teeth as he watches her slam his door shut and leave back to the living room.

“Your mom may be the hottest women, I’ve ever hated.” He hears billy say behind him as y/n grumbles and bends down to pick up his mess., “shes a real piece of work.” Said y/n, setting his papers on his desk as he looks over to see the orange bottle filled with pills, he stares at it for awhile before reaching over to take it and popping it open. “Are you really going to take them?”

He stares inside the bottles and scoffs. “No.” He walks over to the trash and empties the bottle, watching the pills fall into the bin as he feels the bottle become lighter. Once the bottle was empty he puts the lid back on and tosses the bottle onto his desk. “They don’t even work, they think that ill become less crazy but in reality they only make me sick.” He walks around his room, picking up his mess as billy watches from his bed. “This mental illness of yours—“

“I’m not mentally ill.” Y/n snaps back with a glare.

“Then what are you?” Billy moves over to sit at the edge of the bed, crossing his arms over his chest as he tilts his head to the side. “I’m—i’m different than anyone else, I see things that no one else can and I sometime feel things too and just recently I discovered something that must’ve happened back in that mall that you don’t want to tell me.” He exclaims, gripping the sheets of paper as he spoke. “Mentally ill isnt really a good way to describe me...” he stands up and thinks, smirking a little as he chuckles. “Just call me crazy.”

“I don’t think your crazy you’re just weird.” Billy began to follow him around this time as y/n grabs a shopping bag that contained brand new shoes that he bought a couple of days ago. Billy watches him as he takes out the shoes and hums to hismelf, seeing as the other male began to replace the shoe laces. “What are you doing?” He asks in curiosity as y/n grins evilly as billy and tosses the shoe laces behind him.

“Making myself comfortable.” Said y/n as he opens up a drawer in his desk and takes out—

“Zip ties?” Billy rasies a brow.

“Mhm!” The other hums out as he puts his shoes on and uses the zip ties as shoe laces. “You are officially crazy.” Says Billy as y/n finishes adjusting his own shoes. “Okay so you use zip ties as shoe laces and now what? You pour the milk first before your cereal too?”

Y/n stays seated on the floor, slowly lifting his head up to give billy an innocent look. “Is that really bad?”

Billy’s eyes widen. “What is the matter with you?!”

He can only shrug In response as he walks over to his closet to grab a jacket.

“That is like—a sin to humanity!” Billy continues to blow up as y/n sighs annoyingly.

“Billy, sweetheart, the love of my life,” y/n says in a sweet and sarcastic voice as he turns to face him. “I’m case your haven’t notice but no human really likes people like me.” He reminds him for the millionth time before giving him a quick smile and dropping it. He grabs his Walkman and headphones, “come on.” He gestures towards the window.

“Where are going?” Billy follows him towards the window as y/n slides it open, he puts his headphones on first and then starts to play one of his favorites  cassettes’, ignoring bully’s question as he simply allows himself to get lost in the music.

I feel your heart

It's beating time with mine

But love love love is on the line

Y/n steps onto the roof as he sings along to the music.

He holds you down

But I know you want to run

You're hot hot loaded like a gun

He walks towards the nearest tree that he uses to climb down, using it to escape his horrible parents and his dumbass life. As he reaches out to grip one of the branches he sharply turns around to face billy who stops in his track to chuckle at him.

Oh you feel so trapped and confused

Start with nothing and you've got nothing to lose

“—you’ve gotta nothing to lose!!” Billy hears him sing out as he begins to dance to the music, throwing his head around crazily.

You can never never never ever hide your heart

Don't you ever ever ever ever try

If you don't give your heart wings you'll

Never never never ever fly

Y/n continues dance as he jumps down onto the tree and begins to climb down while billy only watches him go crazy to the music under the moonlight.

Break down the walls

You've got to cut the ties

There's pain pain burning in your eyes

Billy can’t help but smile at this strange teenager, he’s seen many weird teens back in high school but this one, this one was different. Y/n was free spirited and he didn’t care about what others thought of him—I mean yes, he is crazy and does so many things incorrectly but somehow Billy enjoys this unique thing about him. He thinks that the most unique thing about y/n is that he can see him and that made him feel whole. He used to be so alone and now he has someone.

It's time for tearing free

Oh come come running straight to me

Oh you know he don't love you like I do

Don't make believe that you don't feel it too

You can never never never ever hide your heart

Don't you ever ever ever ever try oh no

As y/n contiunes to sing out loudly he notices that they are heading towards the woods, following each other around as y/n spins in circles and makes weird hand gestures towards the sky.

If you don't give your heart wings you'll

Never never never ever fly

You never fly, if you want you can fly

At one point he feels y/n graze his fingers against his Billy’s cheek, causing him to gasp in surprise. Still getting used to the feeling of y/n being able to touch him. He sends him a small smile as y/n laughs at him and skips away, hopping to the tune as they mysteriously make there way back to star court.

“Why are we back here?” Asks billy as y/n takes off his headphones and turns off his Walkman. “We came here to look for some answers to our questions, pretty boy.” He winks at Billy before chuckling. Billy shakes his head as he stands in front of him, “you are not going back in there, you can get caught again and this time you’ll be getting it on your criminal record.” Y/n frowns at Billy’s words but the dead man was right. He could get caught again if he were to trespass once more.

But he can’t just give up, not like this.

“Not until I find something that explains everything about this!” He is quick to say as he runs towards the fence and jumps over, quickly he runs towards the opened hole on the door and crawls in.

“Y/n!” Billy hisses out as he reaches out to grab his arm. “You don’t even have a flashlight!”

“Don’t worry I memorized the place, I don’t need a flashlight to see in the dark.” He whispers out as he quietly makes his way around the ruined mall, making small turns as he finds the back door that billy had guided him through. “I saw something here that caught my attention.” He whispers, finding the entrance to a downstairs.

He grins to hismelf as he steps forward but is quickly pulled away by billy. “What the hell?!”

“I’m going first in case anything bad is down there.” Said billy, giving him a stern look as he goes in first. Y/n rolls his eyes and with a pout on his face he follows close behind billy.

The two male there way downstairs and through the tunnels, y/n walks next to billy as he grips Billy’s arm, not wanting to get lost in the dark or trip over something that’ll make him easily fight it or get hurt. “What the hell is this place?” He hears billy whisper out as y/n frowns.

“The mall?” He rasies a brow at his own answer, confused by everything as well as the two walk further, billy is the first to notice a light in the distance. “I think someone is here.” He’s quick to push y/n behind a wall as the two stay hidden, “Wait why are you hiding? You’re dead.” Said y/n as he turns to billy to see him shrug. “Sorry, I guess with you being able to see me and touch me makes me feel alive again.” He responds back, causing y/n to smile softly at the thought of billy feeling alive. “Maybe you are alive, but to me.” He adds quietly as he walks past billy and heads towards the light, ignoring Billy’s shouts as he makes his way towards the open room.

He peaks inside to see a couple of men talking amongst each other.

“Ворота в последнее время действуют, что-то требует, но мы не можем найти источник

Vorota v posledneye vremya deystvuyut, chto-to trebuyet, no my ne mozhem nayti.”

Y/n stays hidden behind the wall as he listens to the strangers speak to each other. “Russian...” he whispers out. “There speaking Russian.” He says to himself as he tries to remember his Russian learning from his grandmother before she died.

“The gate has been acting up lately, something is calling out too it but we don’t know where the source is coming from.”

He’s able to translate back to himself as he hears billy shift next to him. “You can understand them?”

“My grandmother used to speak Russian, as I grew up she taught me the language. One of my most successful moments in life.” He explains to billy, keeping a close eye on the Russians as they mumble to each other before they decided to walk away, heading towards a different room that lead them far away from y/n and billy.

“Lets go.” He’s crouched down as he walks past the room full of Russians, heading up a pair of stairs as he looks over his shoulder to make sure that they weren’t being followed. “You have to be careful y/n, we could’ve been caught and this time you’d be in deep sh—“

Y/n wasn’t listening to billy, he was zoning out his voice as he looks up ahead to see a strange glowing line that kind of looked like a crack of light, it wasn’t a wall and it was moving. Yes, it was defiantly moving. He steps closer, reaching the edge of the the railing as he lifts a hand up to try and reach out for it.

“Hey!” He gasps in shock as billy grabs his wrist, pulling him away. “You’re too close to the edge you dumbass!” He hisses out in anger as y/n shakes his head. “Sorry I just—I feel like...” he was feeling lightheaded and was stumbling backwards, lucky fo him billy was there to catch him in time before he could fall back. “Y/n?!” Billys voice is faint, sounding like he was far away as his vision begins to darken.

“You are the one.”

“They think your special.”

“He was able to open and close it all on his own! He’s too powerful!”

“He’s still a child!”

“Then we keep him locked away, far away from everything!”

“We all hate you.”

“Do you want to know why they call you One? Becuase your their number one prized possession!”

“You’re the one.”

He gasps awake, quickly turning to his side as he throws up his dinner. Coughing and panting as he wipes his mouth clean and slowly begins to sit up, he touches his surroundings to find himself still inside the mall and underground. “What—“

“Your awake.” He’s startled by Billy’s voice, Turing around to see him sitting across for him. “How long—“

“Three hours.”

“What—? Three—“ He was panting heavily again.

Three hours? But, it only felt like a couple of seconds to him. Everything just came rushing towards him, he remembers hearing the voices and the shouting. He remembers seeing white coats and children that were younger then him, younger by a couple of years. He could still hear his own screaming, wait—Wait was he screaming?

Y/n lifts his head up and places a hand on his temples. “Billy...” he murmurs out. “What’s happening to me?” For the first time in his life he was scared and confused. “Why am I seeing this stuff? Why do I keep getting these visions and why do I feel so lost? I feel like something is missing inside of me.” He croaks out in fright, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill out. “Billy.”

Billy was staring at y/n with a sympathy look in his eyes as the two made eye contact. “What’s wrong with me?”

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Chapter 8 -- Perfect Harmony | Charlie Gillespie

Summary: Emily Fox is a talented 17-year-old with a passion for all things music. Her dream is to become a successful singer-songwriter one day. But to achieve that dream, she needs to get into one of the most prestigious music schools in her district – it’s all been part of her plan since she was six. Sadly enough, those schools cost a ton of money that her parents don’t want to invest. They don’t even want her to pursue her dream. So, now Emily’s hustling, working at the music store to save up to get into college. That’s until she meets Charlie, an annoying seventeen-year-old boy with the same dream as her. The only difference is, he’s just doing it. He doesn’t need a fancy college to pursue his dream to become famous with his band. He just writes his songs and books small gigs here, there and everywhere. Will meeting Charlie defer her from her dream college, or will he actually help her achieve the dream?

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x OC (Emily Fox)

Warnings: mentions of death, sexual assault

Important note: the characters of Charlie, Owen, Jeremy and Madison are based on the characters they play on the show and i do not own their names, only OC are mine. The songs aren’t mine either, they’re all from the show except for one.

Chapter eight

~|Charlie Gillespie|~

Emily called me Charlie and now I can’t stop thinking about it. “Hey dude! How you doing?” Jeremy asks when I walk into the garage for a band practice when I come back from the Music Store. I can’t hide the smile that’s tugging at my lips. “She called me Charlie.” Both Owen and Jeremy look at me, a little stumped. “I mean, that’s your name?” Owen fairly points out. “Yeah! But she always called me Charles, you know with that scowl on her face and the corners of her mouth curling up slightly because she doesn’t want to smile. But tonight she actually called me Charlie!” I can’t contain my excitement. I feel like bouncing off the walls, running a marathon, climbing the Kilimanjaro. All in one night. “Happy for you, bro, but can we rehearse now?” Owen asks, seemingly stressed out, “My parents are annoyed at me and need me home asap.” He rolls his eyes at the thought alone. I pat his shoulder and grab my electric guitar, so we can start rehearsing. “Let’s do Crooked Teeth?” I suggest, and both Jeremy and Owen agree. I can’t stop thinking about Emily though. She called me Charlie.

“Practice tonight?” Jeremy asks when we meet at school the following day. “Yeah, but after seven. I’m hanging out with Emily tonight.” Owen and Jeremy’s eyebrows raise simultaneously. “Like a date?” Jeremy wants to know. “No,” I reply faster than I wanted to. “No, I’m just going to hang out at the store, play my guitar while she cleans up.” My two best friends nod their heads in understanding. “You’re bringing your own guitar to the Music Store?” Owen questions. “No, uhm… There’s this one guitar I always play when I’m there and she called it mine last night, so…” Once again, I can’t withhold myself from smiling at the thought alone. “Is it that Fender CD-60 in black?” Owen asks. “Yeah, that one,” I reply. “That’s the one she was tuning when I went in the store to ask her about the Open Mic Night.” I raise an eyebrow at him. So it was her that tuned the instrument differently from how I did it last time I was there. “Might’ve been a coincidence though.” “Might be,” I say, nodding, not believing one thing. That was no coincidence. Either she did that to mess with me, or she wanted to play the guitar I always used because she missed hearing the sound while working. I’m kind of hoping for the latter, which also means she missed me. Kind of.

Emily hasn’t arrived at the Music Store yet. Only Ash is present, along with a dude I’ve never seen before. I wonder if he’s the other employee whenever Emily’s at school.

“Oh, hey! Charlie, right?” Ash approaches me when I’m about to grab my guitar.

“Yeah. Yeah, hi, Ash!” The woman is taller than me, her bright red hair cut into a pixie cut, and her eyeliner dark and defining. She looks really cool. “Emily not here yet?”

“I’m afraid not. She might’ve been just held up at school or something. She’ll be here soon.”

“Okay, good. I wanted to ask her something.”

“Like on a date?” Ash wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

“What? No!” My answer sounds way too defensively. “I wanted to ask her something about music.” Now she has this face that just tells me she doesn’t believe one thing I’m saying. I wasn’t planning on asking Emily on a date. Not that I don’t want to. I just think it’s too soon. She’s just warming up to me, I’m not going to jeopardize that by asking her on a date.

“Ah, too bad. I think you’d be a great couple.” I manage to offer her a smile while my insides are heating up. “I actually wanted to ask you for a favor.”

“To ask Emily out?” I ask, totally confused and too focused on my body heating up.

“No, no!” she scoffs, “No, I wanted to ask if you would help me out and polish some of the guitars? Most of those are just there for display since we have the actual for sale ones in the back in stock, but they’re in dire need of a good polish and my new assistant is shit.” I widen my eyes, knowing he’s walking around here and heard that. “It’s my brother, I’m allowed to say that,” she whispers to me and winks, comforting me a little bit. “I don’t mind paying you for it?” The offer sounds compelling, but I’ve been playing their guitars for weeks without ever paying for anything except when I actually purchased something.

“Oh, no, it’s fine. I’ll do it for free. I’m here every day anyway.” Ash offers me a smile.

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I’m asking.” I open my mouth to say something else, but Ash has already turned back to her ‘shit assistant’. So, I close it and turn around to get to the guitars. I grab the one next to the black Fender, a mahogany Fender, when Ash brings me the polish to get to work. Which is also when the bell over the door rings, signaling a new client in the store. I look up to see if I’d recognize them from the neighborhood, and when I do, I can’t help the smile tugging at my lips. It’s Emily. And with the low sun shining through the large windows behind her, she almost looks like an angel. She already has the voice for it.

“Hey, Charlie,” she greets with a wave.

“H-Hi, E-Emily.” I’m not sure why my mouth can’t form the proper words, but I’m struggling.

“Is Ash exploiting you now?” She points at the polish and the guitar in my hands.

“I mean, I’m here all the time anyway, so…” Emily raises an eyebrow before making her way to the cash register where Ash and her brother are fighting. Now I’m curious what she’s going to do since she didn’t really react to what I said.

“Are you exploiting kids for free now, Ashlynn?” She always uses full names when annoyed. Noted. Ash turns to face Emily, mid-conversation with her brother, her eyes wide.

“I didn’t pay you on Monday either because you told me you would do it for free, just as he said he’d do it for free. I’m just calling it a win-win situation,” she shrugs.

“He doesn’t work here though, I do. If I take non-paid hours, that’s my problem. He doesn’t work here. He has no contract. You know that brings both of you in trouble, right?” Ash’s eyes widen as if she’d forgotten about all of that since she’s been too busy with her brother. Deciding to hop into savior-mode, I hop off the bench I’m sitting on and rushing towards the girls. “I really don’t mind, Emily. If this means I get to spend time with you, I’d do anything.” Emily’s mouth curls up into a shy smile as her cheeks turn pink.

“Anything?” Ash asks with eyebrows raised.

“Don’t,” Emily says quickly, the tint in her cheeks not leaving, but the smile does, “even think about it. He’ll do the polishing while I clean up, but that’s it.” Ash wants to add something, but Emily gives her a sharp look that makes her shut up. “Now get your brother home.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” she salutes her employee before grabbing her brother by the sleeve and tugging him along through the store until they’re at the door. “Be good, you two!” she yells before shutting the door and leaving me and Emily alone.

“You really didn’t have to stand up for me to your manager like that,” I tell her while she gets behind the counter to sort things through. “Are you going to get in trouble?”

“No, I’m not going to get in trouble. Ash and I know each other very well and we talk shit to each other all the time. She told me I could always call her out on things I didn’t like,” she explains to me whilst sorting through some papers.

“Oh… okay!” I reply, not entirely sure what to say to that, “You still didn’t have to do that though. I don’t mind polishing guitars, especially if it means I get to spend time with you.” Emily’s face lights up again and I can see her looking at me through her lashes.

“That’s sweet, Charlie, but she still doesn’t get to just pick someone who comes here a lot and tell them to do something. Especially without a contract. You can get into a lot of trouble.” All I heard was “You’re sweet, Charlie”. I don’t really care what else she’d said. I’m sweet.

“Won’t you get into trouble for letting customers in after hours?” I ask instead.

“Do you

want

me to kick you out?” I shake my head vigorously, raising my hands in defense, lifting the guitar in the meantime.  

“I’m just gonna…” I nod to the bench I’d come from.

“Yeah,” she replies, that mischievous smile cracking through her tough façade again.

While she handles a few last customers, I admire her from afar while polishing up the guitars. I can’t help but notice how her smile comes and fades with every customer. It’s her customer-service-smile, I can tell. A smile far from the ones she gives me. I also notice how she strains herself, trying to keep from rolling her eyes too much at annoying customers. Or how her lashes flutter whenever she laughs at something someone has said, which I’m sure is a fake laugh too because it wasn’t that funny. Or how she rubs her nose when she’s concentrating.

“UGH!” she groans when turning the little board to tell customers the store has closed for tonight. “People are so dumb!”

“How have you not punched anyone yet?” I ask her, trying to lighten the mood, but it only lands me a sharp glare. The glare only lasts for a second though, as if it was a reaction to what I said but then she realized who said it and softened.

“I have almost punched someone,” she says with a smirk, “On several occasions. Mostly when they’re middle-aged women, thinking they know what they’re doing.” I can’t help but laugh. I would also nearly punch middle-aged know-it-all women if I punched women.

“I admire your willpower to withhold yourself,” I compliment, which earns me a smile. A real smile. None of her customer-service smiles.

“You can stop polishing now,” she tells me. I open my mouth to tell her I don’t mind, but she stops me. “Please, stop polishing the guitars and play one for me. My work gets done faster with your music in the background.” I can feel my lips curling up at that. Maybe she did miss me the other day when she tuned my guitar.

“I’m actually working on a song,” I say while placing the last polished guitar in its place and taking the black Fender instead. “Maybe you could help me on the parts I think suck?” She opens her mouth, and I know what she’s going to say, so I quickly add, “I know you can’t write with me, but I just want your honest opinion, okay?” Her mouth closes and changes into a smile instead, which then changes into a lip-bite. It nearly sends me.

I strum the guitar and begin playing the chords I’ve been working on for a while now, then I start singing the pre-chorus and the chorus I have so far.

“I wanna fly Come alive Watch me shine”

I watch Emily, who’s smiling while grabbing a broom to start sweeping up the place. I quicken the pace of the song a little.

“I got a spark in me Hands up if you can see And you're a part of me Hands up if you're with me”

Before I can continue with what I had, Emily chimes in with something better.

“Now 'til eternity Hands up if you believe Been so long and now we're finally free”

I stop playing to reach for my notebook in my backpack.

“That’s way better than what I had,” I tell her, causing her smile to grow.

“What else you got?” she asks, not taking her eyes off the floor as she sweeps, but I know she’s really interested. Otherwise she wouldn’t ask. Emily is the sort of person, I noticed, who would only ask further if interested. If it doesn’t interest her, the conversation is over.

I play the same chords again and sing the next verse, hoping she’d complete it.

“We're all bright now What a sight now Coming out like we're fireworks”

Her voice is a little soft and hesitant, but I still hear it perfectly.

“Marching on proud Turn it up loud Cause now we know what we're worth”

I nod my head excitedly whilst grabbing my notebook again and writing down her lyrics.

“You’re really talented, Emily,” I tell her honestly, then go back to softly stroking the strings of my guitar. “I can’t wait until you let your creative juices out in the world and, you know, write with me. Properly.”

“This is all because of you, Charlie. Your words… I don’t know… They just perfectly flow with what I create in my own mind.” I’m stumped by that response. That’s exactly how I feel too. We fit so well together, songwriting-wise. It’s a pity we can’t do this more often.

“How can I convince you to join our band?” I blurt out without thinking, and it startles her too. At first, I think she’s going to shut me out again, call me Charles again, give me that scowl. Instead, she halts her sweeping and slowly looks up at me.

“I’m not sure… I guess it wouldn���t hurt to think about it.” I don’t think I was this happy when finding out we got a gig, but I jump up from the bench, leave the guitar on it, and run up to her, picking her up into a tight hug.

“I didn’t say yes, Charlie,” she says, laughing loudly. I slowly put her back on the floor. Our faces are inches away from each other. “I didn’t say yes…” she repeats but this time in a whisper. I’ve never seen her from up close like this. Her eyes glimmer and I finally notice the faint freckles decorating her nose and cheeks. My heart thumps in my chest, but all I can do is hope she doesn’t hear or feel.

“I know,” I finally reply, “But thinking about it is a start.” She stares at me for a while like I’m the only person on this planet for her. I’ve never felt anything like this. This feeling of feeling wanted, of feeling seen.

My lips part a little, my lungs not getting enough oxygen through my nose, and as I glance from her eyes to her lips and back, I swear she’s leaning in too. My eyes flutter shut when I see her eyelashes fluttering too. Her breath tickles my lips. It’s almost—

Our lips brush slightly when the bell of the store rings through the entire shop. Emily and I both jump apart, startled, like deer caught in headlights. The redheaded Ash gives us a sheepish smile when she realizes what she’s interrupted.

“I’ve interrupted a special moment, haven’t I?” she hisses, “I’m so sorry!”

“No!” Emily says defensively, which makes me turn my head towards her to see what she has to be all defensive about. “No, you’re fine. Nothing was happening.” Oof, ouch. That hurts.

“Okay…” says Ash, clearly not believing a word Emily says. “I forgot my backpack in the back.” She points to the door behind the counter before actually moving to go and get it.

“You can go home, Charlie. I’ll lock up with Ash,” Emily orders sweetly, suddenly very absent and withdrawn. As if nothing just happened. Like she said.

“Don’t you want me to walk you home?” I suggest, hoping she’ll say yes.

“Uhm, no, that’s fine. I’ll ask Ash for a ride. Thanks though,” she gives me a smile that’s supposed to be comforting, but really isn’t.

“Okay…” I mumble and turn to grab my backpack and place the guitar in its place. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Please, say yes, please, say yes.

“Yeah. Yeah, definitely,” she replies, “I mean, you do have a lot of guitars left to polish.” She points at the wall of guitars, offering me a teasing smile this time. At least she’s not sick of me or doesn’t find it too awkward what just happened a couple seconds ago.

“Right, yeah!” I chuckle, “Yeah, see you tomorrow, Emily.” I raise my hand in a wave and leave the store, hearing her shout a “see you tomorrow, Charlie!” back.

I’ve got no clue what happened just then. But I wanted it to last longer. I wanted it to last forever.

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