#headache is almost gone now but. headphones are downstairs

[autumnoakes]

downloaded re3 remake last night and hm. i kinda want to start playing it like right now

[nicksbestie]

hii, I’ve never done a request before so sorry if this doesn’t make sense😭

Could you do a fic where the reader is dating Matt and is autistic and is having a bad sensory day, and like someone tries to hug them without asking and Matt gets really protective and yells at the person for making reader more overwhelmed?

Don't Touch Me - M. Sturniolo

Summary : Matt has always been the protective type, and that only doubles when he's with you.

Warnings : sensory issues, overwhelm, mentions of headaches

Word Count : 1136

Pairing : Matt Sturniolo/Reader (romantic)

A/N : this is written with a gender neutral neurodivergent reader! reminder that this account is a safe space and any hate, disrespect, or rudeness will be deleted and blocked.

You hated having sensory issues.

It caused the little things in life to be so much more than little, and a lot of it was uncontrollable or completely unpreventable. It really didn’t have any benefits for you, as you really struggled with doing a lot of anything outside of your house. Your room was specifically set up a certain way, the overhead light never really used, the temperature always set to a perfect spot, and soft, dim, fairy lights as well as some adjustable lamps decorated the walls. Matt made sure to reassure you about it every time he had to put on an extra layer because your room was kept cooler than the rest of the home. 

You were incredibly lucky to have such a loving boyfriend who was so understanding and patient when things went wrong. He always fought for you, because sometimes you couldn’t stand up for yourself. You struggled a lot with anxiety, and every now and then, Matt took on the protective role and made sure to be in your corner. It wasn’t often that he snapped at anyone, but if you were very clearly distressed and someone did something wrong, he definitely would catch an attitude with them. While you were curled up next to him, you thought about how exactly that had happened just hours prior. 

You had been on edge all day. You hadn’t slept well, causing you to have a headache, so even the gentle lighting in your room was aggravating it. Matt had noticed you wincing in pain and immediately shut them off, pulling you back into his arms and managing to convince you to go back to sleep. You’d slept for a little while longer, but eventually had gotten up and you had both made your way downstairs to eat something. Chris had made some stupid joke about Matt being awake before one in the afternoon, and they had laughed about it, which you didn’t want to admit hurt your head. 

Then, while you were eating a usually safe food for you, there had been some wrong texture in it that had made you gag, and had completely put you off of eating the rest of it. So, after not finishing all of your food, it obviously didn’t help your headache much. Matt tried to gently convince you to drink some water, but you hated the texture of it and didn’t drink very much. 

Throughout the day, your headache dissipated, but you encountered other things that caused other problems.

You and Matt had gone out, running errands, spending quality time with each other, and had eventually gone to go get ice cream. Unfortunately for you, you had forgotten your headphones, and it was just your bad luck that when you entered the shop, there was a child absolutely screaming at the top of their lungs. Matt noticed the way that your face scrunched up, trying to hide the fact that it was bothering you, and he quietly told you that he would order and you could sit at one of the little tables outside, if that helped. You nodded, leaving the shop and relaxing almost instantly once the noise was quieted. You found a small table in the warm sun, calming down and thinking that the day really was looking up. 

That was until the family with the screaming child sat down at the table next to you, and as you went to get up to go to a different one, you noticed they were all taken. You winced for what felt like the millionth time that day, hoping that Matt would come out with your ice cream soon. Luckily, he did, and he immediately noticed the kid at the table next to you. They were quieting down, but still making just enough noise to be incredibly annoying. He handed you the ice cream, offering for you and him to go walking, but you waved him off. As annoying as the kid was, they were being progressively quieter, and you’d rather just sit and eat for right now. 

Eventually they got up to leave, and the mom walked over to you both. Matt eyed her warily, not knowing what she wanted. You had your back to her, but turned slightly to hear her when she began to speak. 

“I’m sorry about my kid being so loud, I know it can be frustrating.” 

You didn’t feel like speaking, the thought of trying to form words through how frustrated you had been all day was exhausting, so Matt spoke for you.

“It’s okay, we understand.” 

Both you and Matt assumed she was going to leave now, so you turned back to facing Matt, your back subsequently facing her. But what she did next was completely unpredicted, and completely worsened your day. The woman decided to hug you from behind, and the second you felt arms wrap around you that weren’t the familiar comfort of your boyfriend, you snapped. You twisted out of her grip, standing up and moving a step away from the table so that she couldn’t reach for you again, frustrated tears filling your eyes.

“Don’t touch me!” 

Matt was off of his seat in an instant, standing next to you, offering you his hand to hold, ice cream forgotten on the table. The woman looked completely taken aback, crossing her arms over her chest with an indignant look on her face.

“Well you don’t have to be so rude.” 

You couldn’t even find the words to say to her, though you had many rushing through your mind, and upon your shocked silence, Matt took his opportunity.

“Don’t be so rude? You wanna fucking talk about rude? You just came up and put your hands on a complete stranger, and on top of that didn’t even ask if you could. Their reaction was completely valid, and you are the rude one here. Letting the fact that your kid was screaming their head off slide, regardless of if you’re apologizing or not, you don’t just grab someone. Especially someone you don’t know. Go take your kid home and leave us alone.” 

The woman looked completely stunned by Matt’s outburst, and stalked off. He turned towards you, sitting you back down next to him, and quietly asking with his gaze if he could wrap an arm around you. You let him, letting out a deep sigh and reaching for your ice cream again, eating it while comfortably sitting against your lover. He could tell you no longer wanted to be in public, so he immediately drove you both home. 

Looking over at your boyfriend who was scrolling on his phone, arm still wrapped around your shoulders as you both laid in his bed, you felt so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing person in your life.

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[nero-vanderwolf]

It was hard to accept.

The fact that Tohru Adachi was the one behind Saki-senpai’s death.... And for what? Because he was bored? Because she hadn’t done what he wanted?

It hurt. It stung worse than any injury Yosuke had ever gotten from Shadows, from spending time in this cursed world.

It filled him with rage. He wanted to tear Adachi limb from limb, to watch the blood of that killer stain his palms crimson.

But instead, he started to cry. His eyes burned and his shoulders shook as they trudged back from that place, from Magatsu Inaba and Ameno-Sagiri, he and Yu carrying Adachi between them.

“Partner....” Yu whispered, but Yosuke ignored him.

He wasn’t mad at Yu for anything, and he knew that was the conclusion his partner was drawing, but he couldn’t make himself talk. He couldn’t force words out of his throat, he could barely breathe correctly.

Yu fell silent, simply keeping his gaze forward as they left the dungeon and the TV world.

What happened next was a blur, but soon Yosuke found himself restlessly pacing his bedroom, music blasting in his headphones and anxiety gnawing at his soul.

Frustrated, he yanked his bedroom door open, tugged his shoes on downstairs, and marched out the door. His parents were both at work, it was just he and Teddie in the house- and Teddie had seen him leave. He could rely on the bear to tell his mom and dad where he’d gone.

Outside Moel, he tugged his hood on as a defense against the downpour of rain. At least it hid the tears that once again wracked his body. Why was he such a crybaby?

He sat down under the gas station, watching the rain fall in sheets just beyond the cover. It was almost calming- the sound of the rain as a background to his music.

“What are you doing out here, kid?”

He whipped around to see a tall person in the Moel uniform watching him, a cigarette between their fingers.

“...I was on my way to a friend’s house when the rain started,” Yosuke responded, turning back to continue staring at the rain.

The smell of cigarette smoke grew closer as the attendant sat beside him, far enough away to not be blowing smoke in his face.

“...It’s calming, isn’t it? It’s somehow both steady and unsteady. Kinda like life,” they said, flicking ash from their cigarette.

“...I guess so. My life is more like a blanket of fog right now, though. I have no idea where I’m going, and I keep running into stuff that seems to emerge from nothing,” Yosuke muttered, fighting back the urge to start crying again. He would not break down now, especially not in front of some poor stranger.

“Fog eventually lifts, though, doesn’t it? And when it does, you can see everything. You can see the path ahead. You can see where you’re going, what you’re doing. You just have to keep going until then,” the attendant said, and Yosuke closed his eyes.

“But what if I can’t? What if the fog never lifts? What if I’m lost forever, never making progress in my path because I keep circling back?”

He winced at how his voice broke, cracked from the sobs that he was so desperately trying to suppress.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and opened his eyes to see the attendant sitting next to him, an odd look on their face.

“Fog never stays forever. Even if it lingers, the sun eventually breaks through. And when it does, it’ll show you where you need to go. It’ll show you how to live, how to move forward. The fog gets denser before it gets lighter, but it does get lighter. This fog won’t stay forever, kid. I promise.”

Yosuke looked away, wiping his eyes. Of course he was crying. He always cried.

“Thank you, er-”

“Nami,” the attendant said, extending a hand.

“Thank you, Nami. I’m... sorry,” Yosuke murmured, accepting their hand.

Nami offered a warm smile, ruffling his hair. “Don’t worry about it. You’re the first person to stop by here today, so I kinda appreciate the company.”

Yosuke raised an eyebrow, now smiling- despite the pounding headache he now had. “You appreciate the company? I’m the one crying.”

Nami simply grinned. They had a weird smile- they smiled with too much teeth and wrinkled their nose, but.... There was something authentic about it. It didn’t seem forced like a lot of people’s. They seemed to be genuinely smiling at him.

“You’d better get to that friend’s house, naitesan. The rain’s letting up. You’d probably make it with a damp jacket and soggy shoes if you hurry,” they said, and Yosuke snorted at the nickname as he got to his feet.

Naitesan. Mister Cry.

Like everything with Nami, it was oddly charming.

That nickname swirled in his mind as he hurried off to Yu’s house. Hopefully Dojima-san would be home.

YEAAASSSSS YOSUKE!!!!!! YOSUKE AND NAMI CONTENT? YES PLEASE!!! YOYO NEEDS COMFORT

also mister cry... love the idea that she just gives everyone she meets a nickname.

[writersblog20]

A restless night

Henry Cavill x reader

Gif credits to the owner!

Summary: When anxiety finally visits you again, you don’t know how to handle it anymore but luckily Henry comes to the rescue.

Warnings: dd/lg vibes/dynamic, reader calls Henry daddy, anxiety, panic attacks, tensing your whole body, vomiting from the anxiety, cockwarming and just fluff.

Words:2,4K

A restless night

It was a rough day. You were a week off and Henry was filming Enola Holmes 2 so wasn’t home. You haven’t seen Henry for 2 weeks now. He would come home late and be gone before you woke up, or you had to go up early. You missed your bear, especially today. It started in the afternoon. You were busy and decided in the afternoon to take a little nap, only to be greeted by a bunch of anxiety, floating through your stomach.

Every time you almost tucked away, you quickly got shaken by anxiety. It didn’t took long before your heart started to pound against your chest as well. You started to feel sick from all the tension in your body, even getting a headache because you’ve been clenching your jaw a lot.

You got your headphones and played some music while you sat behind your laptop to write some more, hoping it would help but the anxiety stayed in the front. You didn’t really knew what else to do so just kept writing until it was around dinner time but you felt so nauseas from the anxiety that you only got some soup but was quickly to put it away again. You walked Kal, took a shower, watch a movie but nothing worked so you decided to take your sleeping medication and it would be an early night.

You crawled back into bed, feeling exhausted and in pain from being so tense. The medication was supposed to make you calmer and feel sleepy but right now you didn’t feel anything except more anxiety. It had gotten so bad that it turned into a panic attack. You got downstairs and tried to rationalize but it wasn’t working. You felt the tears streaming over your face. Kal patted your way and nudged your leg. You scratched his head and walked to the couch. Only on rare occasions, was Kal allowed on the couch. You didn’t even say anything but Kal was already next to you on the couch with his head on your lap.

Your tea was steaming on the table while you cuddled with Kal. You had put on some stupid tv show in hopes that it might distract you but nothing worked and it all got worse. You knew it was going over in a panic attack. You turned the tv off and put your earphones in and put some music on, reading some stories online until you finally fell asleep on the couch. Kal was laying besides you, your arm around the big Akita.

Henry opened the door to your shared home and to his surprise the lights were still on. He frowned since it was very late and was wondering why you were still up. “Pup?” he asked softly, not wanting to be loud but also not wanting to silent. “Puppy?” he asked again. He frowned even more, wondering why Kal didn’t came to him to greet him until he walked in the livingroom. His heart sunk when he saw your form on the couch with Kal besides it, who was waggling his tail softly but didn’t leave his spot.

Henry walked over to you and saw that you had your earphones in. He petted Kal softly on his head and let out a soft sigh. He still didn’t really know why you were sleeping on the couch but the way Kal didn’t want to leave your side told him enough. He softly went with his hand over your hair. You stirred a little and your heart started to pound again.

You opened your eyes from the panic and anxiety that came rushing back. You quickly sat up and saw Henry with a soft look on his face. You got your earphones out. “Hi pup, what’s going on?” he asked you softly as he cupped your cheek softly. “I don’t know… just a lot of anxiety and panic attacks. I don’t know why, they’re just here.” Henry nodded and you started to feel even more sick. Your stomach was your weak spot.

You quickly got up and rushed to the toilet to throw everything out. God you haven’t felt this miserable in a long time. Henry quickly took his coat off while he walked towards you. He softly rubbed your back while you clang to the toilet. He held your hair back and felt his heart break slowly for you. Your anxiety was away for a very long while along with your panic attacks but right now, it all seemed to come back at a rapid speed and all at once.

You flushed the toilet once you were done. “Let’s get you freshened up huh pup?” he suggested and you nodded. Henry helped you go upstairs. You got to the bathroom and brushed your teeth again while Henry got some comfortable clothes and placed it in the corner of the bathroom. “Do you think you can sleep?” he asked you but already knew the answer. You shook your head and Henry gave you a soft sympathetic smile. “Okay baby, why don’t you wait while I take a shower.” you nodded and sat down on the toilet seat, your legs tucked towards your chest.

You looked at Henry who was showering at a rapid speed so he could be with you again. You felt your heart flutter at the sight but it quickly got replaced with anxiety again. Henry got out of the shower and gave you a soft smile while he quickly touched your chin in a comforting manner “unclench your jaw sweet princess” he told you before he got back to drying himself up. It wasn’t new that when you would battle anxiety or a panic attack that you would be extremely quiet so it didn’t surprise him when you didn’t say anything.

Henry put the comforting clothes on and held out his hand for you. You grabbed it and he helped you up from the seat. “Let’s go downstairs than mhm puppy?” you quickly looked at him. “Aren’t you tired? I can handle it, you need sleep though.” Henry smiled softly and got your chin between his fingers. “I know you can, I know you’re a big girl but that doesn’t mean you have to. I rather stay with you, making sure that you’re okay. I can sleep later. Now let daddy take care of you and go downstairs.” He quickly placed a kiss on your forehead.

You already felt a bit better just by his presence. You both got downstairs and Henry already knew that you didn’t want to leave his side so he took you with him to the kitchen so he could make you both a new cup of tea. Henry helped you jump up on the kitchen counter while you waited. He turned his focus to you and cupped your cheek softly. You could tell he was tired but he still chose you over everything. His eyes held a soft gaze “Since when did it start again princess?” he asked you. “Since today. Just got really bad at a fast pace.” You told him and he nodded softly. He got his phone out to send a text message to someone, which made you curious.

“How about, we watch a movie and tomorrow, we’ll take it easy or do whatever you want.” You looked puzzled at him. “Aren’t you supposed to work tomorrow?” he shook his head with a soft smile. “No, I just canceled. I have room to take a day off besides, you’re more important and you need me right now.” he told you and placed a quick kiss on your nose before turning away to make the tea.

“Oh and don’t you dare to feel guilty pup. I want to be with you.” you got a sad smile. Henry knew you too well for this. You slid off the counter and couldn’t help but wrap your arms around him, your head resting on his back. Henry softly raised his eyebrow “I’ve missed you so much daddy.” You told him softly. Henry smiled lovingly and got your arms a bit off of him so he could turn around and give you a proper hug. “I’ve missed you too sweetheart, so much.” He kissed your forehead “Let’s get the tea to the table and cuddle on the couch” he told you and got the tea while you walked with him.

He placed the tea on the table and sat down, looking at you and hinted to get into his lap. You sat down sideways, your head resting against his shoulder. He got a blanket and wrapped it around the two of you. You looked up at Henry, who looked down at you and he placed a delicate, soft kiss on your lips. Once he pulled away, he got you closer to his chest and he wrapped his strong arms around you, placing another kiss on the side of your head.

You tried to snuggle even closer to him and Henry noticed that you wanted him closer than he could give you. He held you tightly while he got the tea from the table and handed it carefully to you and got his own.

Your fingers dug into his shirt, holding him close. One hand cupped the back of your head and held it softly against his chest. You once told Henry that that made you feel safe and secure and since of than, he never stopped doing it, his thumb softly rubbing your cheek and you finally let out a deep breath and felt calmer. “Good job baby girl.” Henry responded to your sigh.

Something outside caught your attention from the corner of your eyes and you saw that it was snowing. You shivered a little at the thought of the cold and Henry tucked the blanket tighter around your body. You finished your tea and Henry too, placing both mugs on the table. You tried to get comfortable but it just wasn’t working for you right now and Henry noticed your frustration. “You can’t get comfortable princess?” he asked you and you shook your head, anxiety slowly creeping back. “Okay, let’s go upstairs and cuddle. You can even watch a movie there.” you nodded “I just want you close.” You told him and Henry smiled softly and looked at you. “I know baby, let’s go upstairs and cuddle.” He helped you stand up.

You both got upstairs after putting the lights out and freshened up. Once you arrived at the bed, you quickly got rid off of your clothes and got into the bed, tucking the blankets already up to your chin. Henry came into the room as well and smiled at you in a way that made your heart flutter. He walked to his side of the bed and bowed down to give you a kiss on your head. His hair softly tickled your nose, making you giggle.

Henry couldn’t smile brighter from the giggle that you just let out. He got out of his clothes as well and he didn’t even had the chance to lay down or you were already attacking him with cuddles. Henry chuckled “Sweetheart, let me get comfortable first.” You heard the rumble through his chest from the chuckle. You let go of him and waited.

Henry signaled that now, you could cuddle. He placed his arms around you while you almost laid on top of him, your head on his chest and underneath his chin, your arms tightly around him while you felt Henry softly massage your head with his fingers, sending you into another wave of relaxation. You let out another comfortable sigh from all the pent up energy before. “Good girl” his voice a bit hoarse, sending shivers down your spine.

His other fingers went up and down from your spine and you tried to snuggle even closer but got frustrated once again when you couldn’t. That was when Henry got an idea. “Sweetheart can daddy try something?” he asked you, making you nod and curious about what he was up to. He got you a bit to the side, his fingertips slowly going over your skin more downwards and you felt the excitement growing in your stomach. He got your panties of and threw them to the side of the bed. “What are you doing?” you asked him puzzled. “Do you trust me sweetheart?” you nodded. “Do you still want me closer?” he asked you again, making you nod. “Okay, you tell me if you don’t want it or want to stop okay princess? You’ve got to promise me sweetheart.”

You nodded “I promise daddy.” He smiled softly and got your chin again so he could place a kiss on your lips. His hand started to go down again and got attached to your pussy. Your breath hitched a little and Henry felt how wet you were and he let out a growl that gave you goosebumps. He stroked his cock a bit before putting the tip by your entrance. He stopped and looked at your face for any discomfort. “You still want it baby girl?” he asked you serious and genuine, making you nod again.

He pushed his cock in, making you both moan while you felt him stretch you out. He pushed further, his other hand on your waist, pulling you softly down onto his cock. When he was fully in, you still waited for him but nothing happened. You looked confused in Henry, who chuckled at your confusion. “Now I am as close to you as I can.” He told you and kissed you multiple times before placing his hand on the back of your head and guided you to lay down on his chest before he wrapped his arms around you again.

“Try to get some sleep pup. I’ll be right here with you and I’m not going anywhere.” He told you and kissed the top of your head again. You finally, after all these hours, felt comfortable and sleepy. Your eyelids heavy as you focused on the feeling of Henry, completely indulged in his touch as you finally fell asleep, safe and sound.

taglist: @thereisa8ella @chrisevansdaughter @sarahrogersevans

[wisherbysharlight]

I Wanna Get It, I Didn't Get It, Til Now

Word Count: 4084

Pairing: Analogical

The second in a series of different pairings being capital O Oblivious because that’s a trope I will never ever get tired of.

Virgil sits at the same library table every single day, alone, until one day, Logan needs a seat.

They are both kind of idiots.

Warnings: none that I can think of

AO3 Link

Virgil loved his library table. He would get there after his work study shift in the registrar’s office, around 7pm on weekdays and 1pm on weekends, and the section on the second floor would be mostly clear. Second floor was quiet but not silent, so it didn’t feel oppressive, and he didn’t feel insecure about whether his headphones were too loud or not. His favorite table was just to the left of the water fountain, had an outlet built into it, and the chairs were adjustable enough that he could lean back and press his knees against the side of the table while he typed. He loved his table so much that he’d come even if he didn’t have homework to do, just to scroll through endless Tumblr pages or work on his personal writing. He’d had his table for 3 months with no problem at all, which was why he was baffled when someone came up to him while he was reading and stood expectantly next to the table, overly full backpack hanging off his shoulder.

 He recognized the other man immediately, he was another library regular who usually sat two tables away, always messing with his hair and adjusting his tie pushing his glasses up his nose and drawing Virgil’s eye with movement. He took his headphones down and put them around his neck, though he could still faintly hear his music, “Hi? Can I help you?”

 “The outlet is broken on my table, and I was wondering if I could join you and utilize the other half of yours?” mystery-man asked, gesturing to where Virgil was only using two of the four outlets.

 “Oh sure, of course, go ahead. Sorry about your table,” Virgil offered, brandishing his hand vaguely at the chair across from him.

 “You have nothing to apologize for, of course. I appreciate your amenity. I submitted a work order request, hopefully it will be repaired soon,” the other man took the seat and set his things down before extending a hand across the table, “Logan Perry. I believe I’ve seen you here frequently so this is at least a good opportunity to get acquainted.”

 Virgil blinked a bit, trying to process, then hurriedly pulled his hand out of the makeshift paw he’d made out of his sweatshirt sleeve and shook Logan’s hand so he wouldn’t think that Virgil didn’t want to, “Um. Yeah. I’ve seen you around too, I think. Virgil Storme. Nice to meet you.”

 Logan tipped his head to the side curiously when Virgil leaned over, as though he was listening hard, then adjusted his glasses, “Hmm. Interesting melody. I appreciate the solid bass rhythm. Who is the artist, if you don’t mind my asking?”

 “The... Artist? Oh, you mean the band I’m listening to?” he picked his headphones up but only put one ear on, “It’s Arctic Monkeys. They’re like, known, for solid bass lines, which is probably what you could hear.”

 Logan hummed like he was intrigued, then began pulling books out of his bag and… wow. That was a lot of books, each one thicker than the last. Chemistry I, Physics II, Theory of Numbers, Discrete Mathematics… Virgil had a headache just looking at the titles, “Uh… Wow. That’s some collection you’ve got there. What year are you?”

 “I am a first semester sophomore. I struggled choosing a major, so I opted to dual major in Math and Physics and minor in Philosophy and Conservation Studies. Also a minor in Astronomy, but that came with no extra courseload, just strategic choices in electives. I enjoy learning quite a bit, so I opt to stay during break semesters, and I am on track to graduate on schedule with no more than 18 credits a semester,” Logan rattled off, like he’d gone through the spiel before and was expecting certain questions and wanted to head them off, “And yes, before you ask, I do take breaks, I am not a hermit with no friends, and as far as I know I am not a robot.”

 Virgil blinked dazedly again, trying to absorb the bucketful of information being thrown at him, “Cool. Sounds like you’ve got it under control then. I’m dual-major too, but creative writing and interactive media design have a bunch of overlap.”

 Logan nodded, pulling out what must have been the notebook he was looking for with a triumphant noise, “You want to be a game designer then? Very lucrative career to choose, especially with the current market for such employs.”

“I wanna write books, actually, but like you said, markets good for game writers and I wanna have a fall back in case everything sucks, ya know?” Virgil admitted. He’d been told his stories were good, sure, but there was always a chance it would all go to shit, and the only way to account for that was to put 110% in and have a backup plan for his backup plan’s backup plan.

 Logan gave him an indecipherable look that passed in a moment before he went back to his neutral expression, “Understandable, I suppose. If you would ever like a second opinion on a piece, please allow me to offer my aid. I may not be as fluent in creative ventures, but I am a fan of such works, and my roommate often uses me as a sounding board for his own ideas.”

 Virgil tried not to let his surprise show, he didn’t want to offend his new… desk-mate? Acquaintance? Study partner? Whatever Logan was to him now. “Sure, uh, that’d be great. I don’t know if I can offer the same, since, ya know, science is really not my strong suit, but I can try?”

 Logan pushed his hand through his hair and pulled a hairtie off his wrist to pull it up into a slightly messy bun that kept his hair out of his eyes. Virgil noticed it actually looked more red than brown as the light hit it, and was so distracted he almost didn’t notice Logan offer a genuine smile, green eyes sparkling and catching Virgil off guard yet again with just how attractive he actually was, and flipped his laptop open, “That would be much appreciated Virgil. Thank you.”

 They worked together in silence for the next hour and a half, then both headed back to their dorms. Virgil felt even more productive with just Logan’s presence and aura of concentration, and he found himself hoping the work order took a while to be completed.

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

The next day, Virgil arrived at his table to find Logan already there, two coffee cups in front of him, studying a tome of a textbook raptly. Still, he looked up when Virgil took his seat across from him and pushed one of the coffee cups his way, “I made myself a tea downstairs and figured I’d make a second in case you wanted one. It’s a vanilla flavored English black tea, not the garbage they serve in the dining halls.”

 Virgil grabbed the cup greedily, “Oh shit this is perfect, I had an 8am and desperately needed caffeine.” He took an experimental sip and groaned a bit as it hit his tongue, closing his eyes as the warmth passed through him like a calming fire, “Thank you, Logan, it’s delicious.” He thought he heard a choking sound, but when he looked up, Logan was looking back down at his notebook. He thought he saw a slight flush to his face, “Hey, you alright?”

 “Oh yes, I’m fine. I just needed to clear my throat,” Logan insisted, though he did not look up from his book and his cheeks got even brighter. Virgil supposed he was probably a little embarrassed since he was normally so poised and put together.

 “Ok, if you’re sure!” He opened his laptop and checked his to-do list, and was thrilled to realize he didn’t have anything urgent in terms of schoolwork. He opened his novel document instead, and immediately remembered why he’d left off where he did as the frustration resurfaced. Well, he thought, now was as good a time as ever to see if Logan meant it when he said he was willing to help. “Hey, Lo, could you help me find a word for what I’m trying to say here?”

 Logan finally looked up from his book, sticking a bookmark in and closing it before adjusting his glasses and giving Virgil his full attention, “Absolutely, I could do with a break from formulae. Go ahead.”

 Virgil felt a little off balance with the full weight of Logan’s stare, and his brain suddenly chose this moment to remind him that he was very, very gay. He cleared his throat and looked back down at his laptop so he wouldn’t be distracted, “Oh. Um. Thanks. So this guy is looking at his friend who he hadn’t really noticed in a romantic sense before, but i need a word for ���‘momentary gay panic at how pretty he is’ without saying it like that. Like more poetic? Or just less casual.”

 Logan cleared his throat, face flushing again, and Virgil had a moment of alarm when he realized he didn’t even know if Logan was ok with LGBT stuff, and oh god, what if he was a homophobe and yelled at him or he just made him super uncomfortable or - “While romantic language is typically much more my roommate’s forte, I can certainly, er, relate, to the situation you are describing, and attempt to describe it as Roman would.”

 Virgil let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, relaxing once he realized the source of Logan’s hesitation was not derived from intolerance but instead from hitting a little too close to home. Then, in a moment of emotional whiplash, his breath caught again as he realized it hit a little too close to home and that meant Logan was likely attracted to men and that was nerve-wracking in an entirely different way. He forced himself to relax, knowing that Logan was likely waiting for an answer, and stammered out, “Y-Yeah, that would be good. Anything would help.”

 “I believe a good way to phrase it would be ‘Suddenly caught unaware by the realization that he may be attracted to this man’. You could also describe side effects of the feeling itself, such as flushed skin or quickened heartbeat or what I believe my friend Patton calls butterflies?, rather than spelling it out explicitly.”

 Virgil couldn’t hold back a grin as the inspiration hit him, “Oh! Duh! Show don’t tell would work perfect here, thank you Logan you rock!”

 He didn’t miss the way Logan looked momentarily shell-shocked and made a mental note to be sure to give him more compliments in the future, if he was that maladjusted to them.

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

 Virgil hissed as his pencil broke again, clicking the end to get more lead a bit more aggressively than he probably needed to. Calculus was the devil, he’d decided. He was in hell and series and sequences were his instrument of torture.

 Logan cleared his throat and Virgil’s head shot up in surprise. When had Logan gotten there? Oh good, tea, that was always welcome. He grabbed the cup Logan extended towards him and started chugging before Logan could even give him the usual background on what kind it was like he had every day for the past month. The other table was definitely fixed by now, but the two of them had gotten so used to the company that they’d just kept sitting together. “Virgil, are you… alright?” Logan asked tentatively, and Virgil looked up again, guilty and a bit crazy eyed.

 “Fuck that was so rude. Yes. Yes, I’m fine, sorry, thanks for the tea Lo, I’m just stressed about this godforsaken calc II exam I have Monday. I don’t understand any of this stuff,” he gestured to the packets and notebook and textbook spread out on the table.

 “That’s quite alright, I’m familiar with the stress of midterms. Though I may be able to help alleviate some of yours? I am a junior TA for Calc II, I could potentially provide assistance,” Logan offered.

 Virgil let out a breath of relief, twisting one of his rings in an attempt to quell some of his nervous energy, “Oh that would be incredible. My Grad TA’s office hours are during when I have work, and he’s kinda a dick anyway.”

 Logan exhaled heavily like he was trying not to laugh. “Chad, I assume?” he asked and Virgil nodded, “Well I can definitely be more helpful than that glorified orangutan.” It was Virgil’s turn to be startled into laughing, “Here, let me see what you’re working on....”

 An hour and a half later, Logan was watching him work carefully and when he tentatively circled his final answer he gave him an encouraging nod and a smile, “You’ve got it now. See, it’s all about the rules and the patterns.”

 “Oh Logan I could kiss you,” Virgil enthused, still looking in amazement at his own work, “You just saved my entire life, thank you.”

 Logan cleared his throat and turned away, though when Virgil looked up he could see that the tips of his ears were red. Ugh, you’d think after a month he’d be used to being complimented by now. “Well, if that was all, I, er, I need to work on some of my own assignments.”

 “Yeah, yeah, of course, I can do more practice myself,” Virgil told him, waving him away with a smile, “You’ve absolutely helped enough,  I’ll get you that jam you like so much or something. I owe you so much.” 

 Logan mumbled something in return but when Virgil asked him to repeat it he stammered, “I’ll be right back!” and ran off to the bathroom. Virgil shrugged and went back to puzzling through the rest of his study guide.

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

“-so, theoretically, there could in fact be another planet in this solar system, but it would need to be far enough away or small enough to not affect the gravitational pull of Pluto’s moons in a significant way or just in a way which is balanced by another gravitational pull which forced our equations to not identify any irregularity.”

 “Well shit,” Virgil breathed, “So, theoretically, how possible are aliens?”

 “Damn close to guaranteed,” Logan told him with a grin, “Intelligent life, that’s another story, but I still believe they are highly likely-”

 Virgil set his head in his hands, pushing his work to the side so he could simply listen.

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

“I’m going to head down to the cafeteria to make another cup of tea, would you like to join me?”

 “Sure thing, Lo, I desperately need to not look at this anymore.” Virgil felt a teeny bit of pride when Logan choked on nothing in what Virgil assumed was shock as he stood up to stretch and revealed his outfit, his heels giving him the extra three inches he needed to be what Remy called scary tall, which was actually enough to effectively tower over Logan, and the confidence to leave his sweatshirt unzipped over a mesh crop top and ripped jeans that he knew looked good, as he had been assured so around 100 times before he agreed to go to the library in it in the first place, “Sorry, forgot you got here after me, my friend’s playing a show tonight after this and I told him I’d hang with his boyfriend and make sure no one gets obnoxious. So I got a little dressed up, cuz I didn’t wanna have to go back to my apartment in between. Besides, when I’m this tall no one fucks with me in general, not just in the mosh pit.”

 “That is… certainly an outfit,” Logan wheezed, then took a sip of his water in an attempt to wash it down.

 “You ok L? You’re all red, I don’t need you dying on me,” Virgil asked, concerned his friend was actually drowning on his own water bottle.

 Logan waved him off, gulping water down like he’d been stuck in the desert for days. “Yes, yes, just a little, erm, parched. Got a bit too focused and forgot to drink and you startled me.”

 “Whatever you say, Professor,” Virgil teased, stretching his arms up to try to roll his shoulders, “Just don’t get too enthusiastic there. Last thing we need is you to choke to death cuz you were thirsty.”

 Logan seemed to make a concentrated effort not to choke again, adjusting his tie and turning on his heel quickly to head down to the cafe, and Virgil considered it a win.

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

There was someone else at their table. The new man was broad shouldered, with dirty blonde hair that had just a bit of a beachy wave to it, skin tanned perfectly like he’d never spent a day out of the sun. How was that even possible? They went to school in Massachusetts and it was January. He was gesturing wildly while he spoke and Logan was doing that half-laugh he did when he thought something was funny but didn’t want to admit it and Virgil felt… something… pang deep in his stomach. Of course, Logan was ridiculously hot, Virgil had no chance at all, even if he’d been starting to feel like there was something between them. He definitely didn’t have a chance if Logan wanted someone that looked like that. He couldn’t help but be a little vindictive though as he plastered a smile onto his face and headed over, setting his bag down with a resounding thump, “Wow, this quiet corner just keeps getting more crowded, huh?”

 Logan startled a bit, and Virgil could have been imagining it but he thought he saw a flash of hurt at Virgil’s tone, “I-I suppose. This is Roman, he needed some assistance with his screenplay and I suggested he come here, but we can go back to our apartment if it will be too much of a nuisance for you.”

 Virgil would have eaten his own shoe to take back his original words, but he couldn’t, so he covered up as best he could, “R-Roman. Your roommate. Of course. Hi, I’m Virgil, you can definitely stay. Sorry, just had a long day at work, I’m a little - er- cranky, or whatever.”

 Roman gave him a smirk that was just a tad too knowing for Virgil’s taste, “Don’t worry, Mr. Prince of Darkness. I’ll be out of your hair soon and you two can get back to doing whatever the hell it is you do every day. Just need the human thesaurus here to help me out a bit, and it’s not like he’s ever home anymore with how often he hangs around here for your little study-”

 “Roman,” Logan hissed quickly, and Virgil saw Roman shoot him an unimpressed look.

 “Study sessions.” Roman finished, “Now come on Pocket Protector, what’s another word for pining. I’ve already used it twice, and longing and yearning are both not quite a right fit.” Virgil had a momentary thought that Roman should be very glad looks couldn’t kill, with how Logan was glaring him down. “Nothing? How about some flowery language for black hair or blue eyes, hmm? Think you can help me there?”

“Roman Michaels.” Logan bit out, and Roman gave him a bright, shit-eating grin.

 “No? How about helping me with a sweatshirt sharing scene, how about that? I mean, it’s a cliche, sure, but I’m sure we can put a spin on it, like make it clearly well used and important...”

 “I will dye your hair fluorescent orange in your sleep Roman, I swear,” Logan seethed, and Virgil was stock still, eyes wide as they darted between the two roommates.

 ”Maybe some music recommendations then? Those are slightly less cliche…”

 “Destroy your conditioner and hide your blow dryer, add cheap hair gel to all your shampoo,” Logan continued, attempting to speak over him.

 “I know you’ll suggest a height difference, I believe I can fit that in,” Roman’s voice was rising too, and the new occupants of Logan’s old table were firing dirty looks at them.

 “Guys?” Virgil asked quietly and both of the roommates stopped immediately, turning to him with fire in their eyes, “Um. I guess this is like... a touchy subject? But people are staring cuz you guys are sorta… loud.”

 Roman and Logan both flushed brightly, turning to give awkward waves to the other table while Virgil tried to comprehend what had just happened, “So like… Logan you’re pretty passionate about Roman’s screenplay, huh?”

 Roman groaned dramatically and shoved his laptop in his bag, standing abruptly. “I can’t believe there’s two people as oblivious as you,” he muttered like a curse, then almost literally flounced off with a clearly meaningful look shot at Logan that Virgil couldn’t quite figure out but made Logan flush brighter.

 It was silent for a couple minutes, just the taptaptap of Virgil’s pen against his notebook sounding out through the space between them, before Virgil couldn’t take it and spoke up, “You wanna talk about why that was a thing for you or nah?”

 “Y-You don’t know? Seriously?” Logan looked incredulous, then laughed a little to himself, “Virgil. He was teasing me.”

 “Teasing you? About what?” Virgil asked, trying to think through what it could possibly be, “You that against, like, cheesy romcom cliches?”

 Logan shook his head, still looking like Virgil had amazed him in some way, “Virgil. Please. Think about it. Black hair, blue eyes, height difference, well-worn sweatshirts and music recommendations. You don’t have any idea what he could possibly be mocking me for?”

 Virgil’s brow creased in thought, and suddenly it hit him and he audibly gasped, making Logan swallow nervously, and the word pining soared to the front of his mind, “Y-You. You mean?”

 “I am… Interested in you Virgil. Romantically. I have been since far before I ever sat at your table, the broken outlet just provided a good excuse for me to finally attempt to talk to you. Roman was… blunt but he had informed me that he was, and I quote, ‘Coming to see what the fuss was about’ after I got, I admit, a bit too in depth in lamenting my inability to ask you out on a date. I had no idea he would be so infuriatingly obtuse about it, I hope he did not make you uncomfortable. Obviously, you do not share the sentiment-”

 “Whoa whoa. Hold on there. Who said I didn’t?” Virgil cut in quickly before Logan could keep babbling, recognizing social anxiety when he saw it, “Cuz I sure didn’t.”

 “...I’m sorry?”

 “You should be. Can’t go assuming stuff about people, L. Now why don’t you ask me, straightforward, if I am interested. Because I can guarantee you will like the answer.”

 Logan cleared his throat, then swallowed thickly, his cheeks lightly pink, “Well then, Virgil, I like you very much and would like to know if you would like to accompany me to dinner this Friday night? As a date?”

 “I’ll do you one better, since I also very much like you back, and I don’t think my anxiety could take waiting that long. Let’s go get some food right now. I’m starving and I would very much like to kiss you and I want to get at least one date in before I totally ruin your opinion of me and do that right here in this library, and Friday can be our second date, deal?” Virgil offered, extending his hand across the table to Logan.

 Logan grasped his hand and brought it up to his lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles with a heady glance up through his glasses, “V, I think you will find that there is not much that you could do which I would not fully endorse at this moment. But I absolutely accept this proposal. Let’s go.”

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 5 years later, almost exactly to the day, Roman is insufferable during his best man speech about the fact that he is the reason they even got together in the first place, and insists that if left to their own devices they would still be meeting at 7pm on weeknights and 1pm on weekends at a table in the corner of the library with the good chairs and never, ever confessing their love. Logan and Virgil are too busy clinging to each others’ hands and staring into each others’ eyes to dispute it at all.

[saltedpeppermintmocha]

into the night (bakugou x reader) - Chapter 3/?

Summary:

You were born to die.

It is a fact you’ve known since your quirk first manifested, and one you have been denying for just as long. You refuse your supposed fate and try to live the best life you can while remaining undetected.

But maybe fate has another plan. A chance encounter on a mountainside changes your life forever.

Chapter One

MATURE : MINORS DO NOT INTERACT // 18+

“-such an asshole though!” You groan into your hands, hiccuping lightly.  

“I couldn’t hear that, but I can kinda guess what you said.”  A tinny voice responded.

“Sorry.” You mumble, bringing the phone up to your ear. “I’m jus’ angry.”

She laughs. “And drunk."

“Mmmaybe.” You attempt.

“Honey, I know when you’re drunk.” She laughs. “I met drunk you first.”

“HAH! Yeah, that was great.” You smile at the ceiling.

“I don’t know about that.” Her voice is light and airy. “Having some random girl come into the bar at like midnight screaming that I stole her desserts wasn’t exactly how I planned my first day open to go.”

“But, you met me!”

“Ah, and my life hasn’t been boring since.” Another light laugh. You hear a different voice in the background. “Okay hun, I have to get back to work now. Take care of yourself okay? Drink water, eat some bread.”

“Imma go for a walk.” You decide, sitting up. The room spins a little, so you close your eyes.  

“Uh, that’s probably a bad idea hun.” The voice on the phone continues. “Just stay home.”

“No no no nonononononono.” You say. “ s’Makkari, s’fine.”

“I just don’t want you to run into any shady characters out there.”

“Pshhh, shade-shady characters should be scared of ME!”

The voice in the background gets a bit louder. She puts a hand over the phone and responds to them. “Ah, shit okay. One sec.” The muffled sound stops as she takes it off. “Hun I gotta go, but please be safe okay? Text me in the morning.”

“Will do captain.” You salute lazily, then hang up the phone. Ah, shit. You forgot to say goodbye. Bringing the phone into your eyesight, you sigh sadly. You miss her. Naoko had been too busy with an event at the bar a week before you left, so you haven’t seen her in almost two weeks now. It’s longer than you’ve gone without seeing your friend since her bar first appeared in your neighborhood.

Putting your phone down on the bed, you stretch a little before reaching towards your nightstand. Past-you had been smart enough to grab some water on your way upstairs, so you chug it. It doesn’t make you feel any less woozy, but you hope you’ll be happier in the morning because of it. Once gone, you return the glass to the nightstand and stand up, making your way shakily downstairs. The stairs are no challenge for you, so you make your way towards the front door, pausing only to peek into the living room. Dad is still passed out on the couch, the blanket you laid over him earlier somehow still holding on. The room itself is a bit of a mess with beer cans littered throughout, but that is a problem for tomorrow.

You give a quick nod, grab your jacket, and head on out into the cold. It should be cold, as evidenced by your breath becoming visible, but your alcohol-ridden body stays warm as you walk. It’s only after you’ve gone quite a distance that your body starts to register the change in temperature. You don’t mind much, the cold serves as the shock your system needs to gain more awareness. While you are walking a bit more clunky than normal, you are no longer stumbling or swaying. You feel lucky that nobody is outside to witness you.

Nostalgia hits you in full force as you pass your old elementary school. Memories flash behind your eyes of running around the field, digging in the dirt, and playing make-believe. You were lucky to go to school here. Nobody gave too much thought into quirks beyond the initial ‘cool’ factor. Kids from Makkari didn’t have particularly strong quirks, and you can only think of one classmate that even dreamed of becoming a hero. Maybe that's why Dad decided to come here after all.

You pass the school and continue down the road, drawing a smiley face of condensation on the window of Tanaka’s store as you pass. Task completed, you continue on your aimless walk. You should probably start heading back soon, your fingers and toes are getting a bit cold. You look up as you walk, marveling at the star-lit sky. The sky in Sapporo is never this pretty.

“Watch it, idiot.”

Your head snaps forward at the unexpected voice, vision swimming slightly.  There is a person directly in front of you. A few blinks later, your eyesight clears enough to recognize him. The asshole on the mountain. The blond is dressed in all black, breath coming out in quick wisps of mist in front of him. You can hear a dull beat of music from his headphones.

“It’s a shady character!” You raise your hand to your mouth, covering a gasp.

A scowl forms on his face. “The fuck did you call me?!”

You giggle, hand leaving your mouth to return to your side. You want to say something, really, but nothing is coming to mind. In the end, you just stare at him. To be fair, he also takes a minute to consider you. Those red eyes flicker up and down your body, brows furrowing.

“You’re drunk.” That scowl fades a bit into an unimpressed look.

“Whaat?” You deny, looking away. “Nooo.”

“So you’re usually fucking dumb enough to walk around in slippers?”

Huh?  You look down at your feet. “Oh.” Wiggling your toes a bit, you giggle. “Cold.”

“Tch. Dumbass.” A moment of silence. You are still looking down at your feet when you hear the shuffling of clothes. Looking up, you realize he has begun to leave. Something in you wants to stop him. Probably the alcohol. Wait, what is he even doing here? Shouldn't he be up on the mountain? Is he actually here?

“Are you a ha-hallucination?” You ask, taking a step forward. You bring your hand up towards him, not entirely sure what you intend to do. It stops inches from his shoulder. Huh? A warm hand is wrapped around your wrist, preventing you from making contact. “You feel real.” Your hand opens and closes in his grasp.

“Go home, extra.” He scowls. Wow, his eyes look more intense up close.

“Yanno,” You say. “I think - I think you’d be pretty if you smiled.”

“Hah?!” Red eyes widen a small bit.

You smile at him, big and bright. “Like ‘dis.” It’s a bit muffled through your smile. There is a moment of silence, both frozen in place before he scoffs. Your hand drops heavily to your side as he lets go. The hand that was holding your wrist moves to your shoulder, a sudden pressure forcing you to completely turn around to face the village.

You stumble as he lightly pushes you forward. “Go home.” Looking over your shoulder, your eyes lock with narrowed red ones. Ugh.

“Fine.” You mumble, turning back to walk. “Byebye shady character.”  You can almost feel that intense gaze on your back as you walk away, only breaking when you turn a corner. It’s a bit weird, but despite his sudden appearance, you don’t feel unsafe around the mysterious blond. That intense gaze was more...intriguing than scary. Maybe it’s because he saved your life. Hm.

It takes you much longer to get home than you thought. You had been too distracted to realize that you made it all the way through the village and onto the surrounding side roads. Extremely unsafe, in hindsight, and something you would never do in Sapporo. Still, the walk back was quiet and easy.

Dad is still passed out when you re-enter the house. You adjust the now fallen blanket to once again cover him and head upstairs. Now that you are a bit soberer and inside, your feet feel frozen. You grimace and change into pajamas and your thickest socks. You contemplate having another layer of socks, but decide to just head to bed instead.

You don’t exactly fall asleep, but pass out when you hit the bed.

The headache creeps up on you in the morning. At first, you think you’ve gotten away without any consequences of trying to keep up with your Dad in drinking, but by the time you are dressed and heading downstairs, your head feels like a jackhammer has hit it.

The main floor is clean of any remnants of last night. Dad is fully dressed and humming while making breakfast. You frown, jealous at his cheerful demeanor.

“Morning.” Dad sings, placing food down on the table. It is a simple breakfast today, definitely something your body should be able to take. You grunt in response and grab a piece of toast, nibbling lightly on the edge. Breakfast is a quiet affair today, with Dad slipping you some headache pills in the middle of it. Ah, how you love him.

“Your phone is buzzing.”

Glancing down at your phone, you see it light up briefly. Huh. While you had grabbed it on your way downstairs, the headache had made you concerned about checking it.

[ 7 New Messages ]

[ 6 Missed Calls ]

You blink at your phone, confused. Checking the missed calls first, you see they are all from Naoko: four from last night, two from this morning.

22:08

Naoko: Hey hun plz remember to text me when ur home.

23:34

Naoko: Are you still on ur walk?

23:55

Naoko: Plz let me know you got home ok.

01:24

Naoko: I hope you’re just passed out at home. PLZ CALL ME IN THE MORNING

Naoko: I am not above calling Makkari police on ur ass.

08:33

Naoko: Okay I’m getting really worried now.

09:10

Naoko: Please be alright.

“Oh shit.” You sit up straight, thumbs hitting the buttons to call Naoko back instantly.

“Not at the table,” Dad grumbles.

“But-” The phone connects.

“I’m going to kill you.” Aaand she's pissed. You grimace at the sound of her voice, a bubble of guilt growing in your stomach.

‘Out.’ Dad mouths, pointing towards the living room. You roll your eyes but get up, passing the living room to make your way up the stairs.

“I’m so sorry!” You say. “I honestly got home and passed out. I just woke up!”

There’s a long silence on the other end as you enter your bedroom, sitting down at your desk. Then, a sigh. “It’s alright.” She replies, and you can practically hear the anger drain from her voice. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I was just worried, you know? The last I hear, you are absolutely drunk and wandering the streets. It’s not safe.”  That bubble of guilt grows a bit more in your stomach. As the owner of a bar in the busy downtown core of Sapporo, Naoko has witnessed a fair share of horrible things happen to drunk people. You stay quiet as she seems to calm herself, then “I never got it out of you last night, why were you even that drunk?”

“I tried to outdrink my dad.” You mumble.

“...Really?” She sounds surprised. “Your dad? All of this wasn’t at least for some guy or something? A rebound?”

“As if!” You let out a sharp laugh. “There’s no cute guys in Makkari.” An exaggeration, sure, but the cute ones are either taken or not in your age range. In fact, now that you’re thinking about it, you might be one of the only single people around your age in the village. Oof, that's a bit of a punch to the gut.

“What about your mountain boy?” Naoko asks. “I thought you said he was attractive.”

“He is  but he’s a complete…jerk…” Your words fade off a bit as a memory floods your mind. The night sky, dark and beautiful. Drawing a smiley face in the window. Blond hair and a heavy base echoing from headphones. Red eyes and a scowl. A hand on your wrist, on your shoulder.

“Ahhh…” You raise your free hand to your cheek, feeling it heat up. “Oh no."

“What?”

“I think...I think I saw him last night.”  

“Wait, while drunk?”

“I don't remember all of it!” You insist. You remember reaching for him, smiling big in his face. “It’s all a bit blurry, but I think we talked for a minute.” Oh shit, what did you do? What did you say??

A laugh echoes through the phone, juxtaposition from the dread that creeps up your spine. When you reached out, what exactly were you doing? “Well, did he walk you home?”

“No." You hope you would remember that. "I don’t think so…”  There's a disapproving sound from Naoko on the other end, then a thoughtful silence. “Can we talk about something else? Anything else?”

“Alright, I’ll let it go. For now. ” She responds. “Hm, let's see, I can tell you about this girl that came into the bar last night…”

The call didn’t last much longer after that. Your heart wasn’t really in it, and Naoko always has a bunch of errands to run on her days off. You hang up the phone and place it on your desk, walking over to plop down face-first on your bed. You groan as more blurry half-memories from last night flood your brain. Did you make even more of a fool of yourself in front of that jerk? Ugh.

Eventually, Dad calls you to help with clean-up downstairs, so you begrudgingly pull yourself up and go help. You shoo him away from the sink, manners telling you that if he made the food you should be the one to clean up. Instead of leaving, however, he sits back down at the table and talks. It warms your heart, really, how much you can tell that he’s missed you.

You agree to go with him today to run errands. Originally you had planned to climb the mountain today, but after everything that happened yesterday you are not too sure if you can face the blond again. It’s a nice day, walking through the village and spending more time chatting to folk. You both pop into Tanaka’s store and chat for a bit with him. It feels like you are a teenager again, almost like you’ve gone back in time, but Dad has gone more grey since you’ve last seen him, and Tanaka struggles to move around the store like he used to.

Dad stays to chat with Tanaka a bit longer as you pop into the nearby cafe. You are next in line when familiar voices make you turn around. Saneka and Nakamura wave from the door, walking up to talk. It’s mostly mindless small-talk until Nakamura brings up the noises on the mountain again. He mentions hearing them again last night, definitely more interested in them than the other day. You think about the blond, his scowl, and intense gaze, and honestly consider mentioning something. But what would be the consequences of that? If a hero had to come to Makkari to take care of an unlicensed quirk, that would only spell more trouble. And, well, you sort of owe him. You deny hearing anything.

Luckily, you are next to order. You order a latte from someone you don’t recognize. It’s made quickly, and you wave at Saneka and Nakamura as you leave, headed back towards Tanaka's store. You are about to go in when your pocket buzzes. Letting go of the handle, you check your phone.

[ 1 New Message ]

Naoko: What did you say the mountain guy’s quirk was?

You are confused at the sudden question. Sure, you were drunk when you explained it, but you don’t suddenly have more information now. Why did she even care? With one hand occupied with the coffee, you slowly answer. Thank god for autocorrect.

You: I’m not really sure. Didn’t see it.

You: It was loud tho, and strong. The trees were completely shattered. Some I think were on fire?

[ Incoming call: Naoko ]

The hell? You pick up the phone. “Uh, hello?”

“Was it like an explosion?!”

“Hm, yea. I guess so.”

“Shit.” She mumbles to herself, voice shaking slightly. “I think that might be him...”

“Who?” You take a sip of coffee.

“A pro hero.” You startle at her answer, coffee definitely going down the right pipe. Coughing harshly, you hit your chest with the hand holding the phone and try to breathe. It takes a minute before you calm down.

“A-what?” You finally make out. “That’s not possible.”

“I don’t know hun.” She replies. “Just, the description you gave of him and the attitude and now the quirk….” She fades off for a moment. “Google him. Ground Zero.” You place your coffee on the sidewalk, careful to not knock it over. You put her on speaker and open up your internet app, typing in ‘Ground Zero hero’.

You pause, hand over the ‘search’ button. There is no way. Naoko must be wrong. But Naoko has always been obsessed with heros and hero culture. Still, she could be wrong about this, right? Your heart pounds a bit harder. Heroes don’t come to Makkari. Nothing happens here. Why would he be here? It makes no sense. Taking a shaky breath, you hit the button. It takes a minute, as your data has always been a bit spotty out here, but soon the page loads.

RED RIOT TAKES DOWN VILLAIN WITH GROUND ZERO

IS GROUND ZERO DATING FELLOW HERO URAVITY?

GROUND ZERO: SETTING A HORRIBLE EXAMPLE FOR CHILDREN

TOP 10 EXPLOSIVE GROUND ZERO INTERVIEWS

You stare at the articles as they come up, dread crawling up your spine. There are no pictures, but something in you fears the worst. You click on the images tab. It loads slowly, but the first image that appears makes your stomach plummet.

Blond hair. A red, intense gaze. A seemingly permanent scowl. Your wide eyes take in more photos as they load. Some of them are professional, magazine shoots or runway press. Some of them are shakier, taken of him the heat of battle with a terrifying look on his face.

“Well?” Naoko's loud voice shocks you from your staring.

You take a deep breath. “It’s him.”

In a village like this, if a hero showed up it would be the only thing people talked about for years. So, why haven’t you heard of it? You frown in thought. If people don’t know, did he come here in secret? It's extremely suspicious, but if it was something bad, why would he risk his cover to save you?

“Let’s talk about this later.” You take it off speakerphone and press it to your ear. “How does five sound?”

“Sure.” She replies steadily. This discovery seemingly has less of an effect on her. “I have some other stuff I have to do anyway. If you run into him again, think you can get an autograph for me?”

You respond unsure and hang up after a quick goodbye. Reaching down, you grab at your latte and take a large sip, not really tasting it as it goes down.

The door to the store opens and your dad pops his head out. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” You give him a -hopefully confident- smile. He still looks concerned, so you take the opportunity to hide from his gaze by walking into the store. Tanaka waves at you from the counter.

“What was that about?” Dad asks from behind.

“Just...work.”

“Does your team really need to call you on vacation? What is so urgent about accounting?” The two of you reach the counter. You determinedly look at Tanaka, avoiding Dad's gaze.

“Uh, yea.” You mumble, before realizing you probably need more to dissuade him. “One of my juniors made a mistake, so she called me to figure out how to fix it.”  It concerns you how easy it has become to lie to him. Dad makes a sound that you can't understand without looking at him, but you can feel another question coming, one you probably can’t answer. You decide to change the topic.

“Hey, Tanaka.” You lean against the counter, feigning causality. “That guy that is staying in Fuccanchi, what do you know about him?"

“Oh, him again!” Tanaka smiles. “Not much, I’m afraid. I’m afraid you lost your chance dear, he left this morning.”

...

Oh.

[quickspinner]

Stuck On You (I’ll Never Not Know You)

This one was a suggestion in the comments on AO3 from Fern:

Soulmate’s AU where one can hear in their heads the song the other one is thinking about? Imagine Marinette’s headache when Luka gets stuck on a creative loop (and she doesn’t even recognize the song but it’s good damn it) 

Marinette smiled to herself as the music in her head began again. It often started this time of day. It must be a boring time for her soulmate too, she thought as she doodled flowers in the margin of her notebook. At least he could get away with playing music. Maybe he had study hall or something and he could wear headphones. 

She, unfortunately, had history, and while it could be interesting sometimes, it often wasn’t. Her notebook was as full of tiny sketches in the margin as it was notes. Really, she was grateful for the soundtrack her soulmate provided, since she wasn’t allowed to listen to music in class. 

Marinette sighed wistfully. Of course, everybody hated the waiting. Well. Almost everybody. Aside from some chronically optimistic people who insisted that the anticipation was part of the “fun” and heightened the experience of meeting their soulmate at last (never mind that the people in question met their soulmates criminally early). Marinette knew that the waiting was something that everybody had to endure, so she tried not to think about it too hard, even as her curious mind went over the few things she knew about her soulmate. Which...wasn’t much, unfortunately.

His taste was eclectic. He preferred rock music but he listened to a little bit of everything. He really liked guitar music, that much was obvious. Sometimes the songs in his head that echoed through hers were nothing but guitar, electric or acoustic. She wondered if he played, and thus remembered the guitar parts of the songs he knew better than the rest of it. Unfortunately, she seemed to have a hard time recognizing the melodies without the other instruments, so it was a little frustrating. He probably didn’t know it, but he was the one who had first introduced her to Jagged Stone’s music, years ago, and Marinette was now a huge fan. She’d love to check out some of the other things he liked, but her attempts to find any of it were rarely successful.

Someday, when they met, Marinette hoped he would share all of it with her, because even with just the guitar part, she really liked what she heard most days.

She doodled another flower in her notebook and sighed again.

***

It had been four days of that awful XY song and Luka was about ready to lose his mind. He’d thought his soulmate, whoever she was, had pretty good taste in music until now, but...ugh. Luka tried not to judge, he liked a lot of things himself and he’d never want to be considered a music snob, but...XY? Really? The man’s music had no heart. It was bad enough hearing his latest single constantly on the radio, but to have it haunting Luka’s mind all the time was torture.

Luka put his head down on his desk and groaned. Enough was enough. He thought for a minute, and then focused on one of his soulmate’s favorite (he assumed, based on how often she was thinking about it) Jagged Stone songs, and began playing it mentally at full volume, fingers tapping absently to the rhythm as he tried to overwhelm that awful song. Hopefully whoever it was would forgive him for this but he just couldn’t listen any longer.

The XY song warped and twisted in a way that made him wince, but Luka was nothing if not focused. He visualized turning up the volume knob on his mental stereo, his left hand beginning to mimic the fingering for the guitar piece even as his right continued to drum. Eventually the warped tune began to follow his beat, and slowly the melody shifted as well, and there was almost an audible snap when they were back in sync again, the familiar Jagged Stone song playing without resistance.

Luka’s shoulders slumped in relief and he sighed, just listening to the song. 

Then he gasped as he felt a sudden rush of relief and gratitude that definitely did not come from him. Luka sat frozen, his head still on the desk. Then a smile gradually grew on his face. “Ear worm, huh?” he murmured. “I knew you had better taste.” He closed his eyes and concentrated on the song again, falling into the flow of it. Then he tried to send his feelings back to her. 

He didn’t know if it worked. He hadn’t even known it was possible to sense anything besides the music. Luka wondered if it was just him; he had a rather unique and intense relationship to music and the emotions it carried. Maybe that, plus being so intensely focused on the bond at that moment, was what allowed those feelings to come through. 

It didn’t matter; that awful song was gone, and now that he knew his soulmate didn’t like it either, he’d be quicker to intervene if it came back. 

***

“It’s gone!” Marinette cried, elated.

Alya looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 

“That stupid song Chloé kept playing!” Marinette grabbed Alya’s arm. “It’s been in my head for days and I couldn’t get rid of it. My poor soulmate must have gotten as sick of it as I was and somehow he made it go away!”

“Does that mean you’re finally going to stop humming it? Because if so then I owe that boy a coffee when you finally meet,” Alya said dryly. “And Nino might actually put him up for sainthood.”

Marinette just sat back in her chair and sighed, relieved and happy and very grateful. 

She stiffened as she felt a wave of amusement and affection wash over her. It was a little overwhelming but also calm, steady. Comforting. Marinette sighed wistfully. She hoped it was a sign they would meet soon.

*** 

Luka growled and set down his guitar. He’d been so inspired once he’d helped his soulmate finally get rid of that awful song, but now he was stuck. Nothing felt right. He went up on deck and leaned against the rail, folding his arms and dropping his chin onto them. The cool breeze raised goosebumps on his bare arms and he realized he’d left his hoodie downstairs. He dropped his head on his arms and groaned. 

He stayed at the rail out of sheer stubbornness a little longer, playing the melody over and over in his mind and trying to figure out where he was going wrong. Maybe if he...no, that didn’t work. He turned the pick still in his fingers absently as he considered the possibilities, but nothing spoke to him.

Luka groaned and chucked his guitar pick into the river in frustration. Or rather, he tried, the wind blew it right back onto the deck and he rolled his eyes. “Well that about sums it up my day,” Luka observed wryly, leaning down to pick it up and shove it back in his pocket.

He went back down and sat back on his bed, picking up his guitar.

“If you play that damn song again,” Juleka warned without looking up from her homework, “I’ll snap the neck off your guitar and stab you with it.” 

Luka threw himself back on his bed and pouted.

***

Marinette was starting to wonder if something was wrong with her soulmate. He’d had the same song stuck in his head for a long time now. It was a nice song, she liked it, but...it always stopped around the same place, and it never felt finished. It was a consistent melody up to a point, and then it would vary before it either stuttered to a halt or...shattered, she supposed was the best word. 

Marinette wondered if maybe her soulmate had heard the song in passing, but either hadn’t heard all of it, or hadn’t remembered how it ended. Unfortunately she didn’t know it either, so she couldn’t finish it for him. It must be frustrating for him since he kept dwelling on it. 

Frowning, Marinette settled herself more solidly in her chair. Maybe she could help him the way he helped her. She paused to think of a song, and then concentrated, trying to play it over the song she was hearing. 

It was harder than she expected; her mind wanted to follow the tune in her head and even finding the right melody for the song she wanted was hard. She didn’t make it very far before she lost it completely.

To her surprise, despite her failure, the song shifted immediately. When he’d done this for her it had taken some time and effort to replace the old song with the new one, the two competing at first before his overwhelmed hers, but when she tried, the old song yielded easily, even though she hadn’t managed to hold the right melody in her mind. Just like before, she felt a wave of feeling. This time, though, it was more like...remorse. An apology? 

Oh, no, she hadn’t meant him to think that. She just wanted to help, but if this was something he wanted to be thinking about, she hadn’t meant to stop him.

She wasn’t conscious of doing anything, but she must have, because the next thing she felt was gratitude and forgiveness, tinged with amusement. The song gently shifted back to the first tune. 

More perplexed than ever, Marinette just shrugged and sighed and went back to her sewing, grumbling at yet another mystery that wouldn’t be solved until someday finally got here.

***

“Ugh, I’m so not ready for this test,” Alya moaned, slumping onto the library table. Mylène patted her back sympathetically. 

“That’s why we decided to meet up,” she reminded Alya. “At least we can all get slightly less unprepared together.”

“Actually...” Marinette pulled out her notebook. “Look, I’ve divided up the material. If we each take a section to review, we can cover everything on the test and then make copies of everything so we all have the notes to study from!”

Rose squealed. “That’s brilliant Marinette!”

Marinette grinned, shoulders hunching slightly as the other girls joined in the praise. “Okay, great, if you all agree, then who wants to take which section? She put her color-coded outline on the table and the girls leaned over it. It only took a few minutes to get the assignments settled, and then they all got to work. 

Marinette was so focused on what she was doing that she jumped when Juleka spoke suddenly. 

“Where did you hear that?” Juleka asked sharply.

Four heads lifted and stared at the normally quiet girl, whose eyes were fixed on Marinette. Marinette blinked as three heads swiveled to move their gaze from Juleka to her. “Sorry?” she said.

“That tune you were humming, where did you hear it?”

“Oh, was I humming?” Marinette straightened in surprise. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“Never mind that,” Juleka nearly snapped. “Where did you hear it?” 

Marinette tilted her head. “I didn’t, actually.” She tapped her temple with her pencil. “My soulmate’s had it in his head for a while now and I guess he’s thinking about it again now. I didn’t even realize I was humming along. Do you recognize it? It keeps cutting off, and I’d love to be able to hear the end. Maybe if I could hear the end and—uh...think it for him? Maybe he’d finally get it out of his head. It must be driving him crazy.”

“It is,” Juleka mumbled, and everyone’s heads whipped back around so they could all stare at her again. “You need to come home with me when we’re finished here.”

“Oh...kay,” Marinette agreed, exchanging a look with Alya, and then with Rose, who just shrugged. Apparently she didn’t know what Juleka was talking about either. Juleka just went back to her work without any further explanation. After a moment, Marinette sighed and did the same.

***

Luka was in a mood again, sitting in a deck chair and still trying to work on this song. He’d actually thought he’d made a breakthrough a few days ago, and he did make some progress, but only a little. He was starting to wonder if maybe he should just give it up, but the song just wouldn’t leave him alone. 

It was weird. He didn’t usually have this much trouble when composing. If something didn’t work, he let it go and worked on something else. He wasn’t sure why he was so set on figuring this one out. It was like...like he’d heard it somewhere, in a dream or something, so he knew somewhere deep down what it was supposed to sound like, but he just couldn’t find the notes to make it work. 

He let his head fall back and closed his eyes, trying to just feel the sun on his face and the wind in his hair and the rock of the ship, but he wasn’t having much luck.

After a moment his lips quirked in a wry grin. Apparently his soulmate had his song on the brain now too, because he was still hearing it even as he tried not to think about it. 

“Hey dumbass.”

“Juleka,” he sighed, not opening his eyes. “What’s up?”

“That new song you’ve been writing. Play it.” 

“It’s not finished,” he grumbled. “I’m still stuck.”

“Don’t care. Play it now.” 

Luka sighed, shifting the guitar in his hands. “Fine,” he muttered. Apparently the whole damn world was against him at this point, he might as well give in and play the stupid song one more time. He sat up and got comfortable and played that damn, frustrating, unfinishable song.  

As the song trailed off at the same place that it always did, he heard a gasp behind him that definitely wasn’t Juleka. He craned his neck back over the chair, frowning. There was a girl standing next to Juleka with her hands over her mouth. “Oh, sorry,” he said, standing up and sliding his guitar to his back. “I didn’t realize we had company, I didn’t mean to be rude.” 

He offered his hand to the girl, expecting Juleka to introduce him. When she didn’t, he added, “I’m Luka, I’m Juleka’s brother. Welcome to the Liberty.” 

She still stared at him, without moving. “You...write music?” she asked, and Luka pulled his hand back and ran it through his hair awkwardly. 

“I try,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Not having much luck with this one, honestly.” 

“That’s why I never recognized your music,” she breathed. “You were writing it yourself. I’m such an idiot, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that, of course you’re a musician…”

Now Luka was the one staring, or rather they were staring at each other. He was barely aware of Juleka turning and walking away without a word. The new girl’s words jumbled up in his mind and he couldn’t quite make them make sense—or rather, he was so afraid of being wrong that he didn’t want to admit what they meant.

But the longer he stood and stared into her eyes, the more certain he was, and he suddenly realized where this frustrating, insistent song had come from.  

“Oh,” he said softly. “It’s you.” 

“Yeah,” she smiled. “I guess...it’s me. Um, I’m Marinette. By the way. That’s my, you know...name.” She held her hand out awkwardly. 

Luka took her hand, stepping nearer, but forgot to shake it as he gazed at her, his smile slowly growing. Marinette began to blush. 

“What?” Marinette asked finally, hunching her shoulders slightly. 

“I got it,” he said quietly, still smiling as he looked at her. “I know what I was missing now.” 

Marinette blinked in confusion. Luka took another step toward her, and Marinette jolted slightly as he let go of her hand and brought both of his up to curl them behind her neck, resting his forehead against hers. Marinette closed her eyes automatically, and it was only a moment before she heard that familiar beautiful but frustrating song...only this time, it didn’t cut off. 

She smiled delightedly, eyes still closed. “You finished it.”

He gave an affirmative hum. “I finally found what I was looking for.”

“It’s beautiful,” she sighed, bringing her hands up to rest on his wrists. 

“It’s you,” he breathed, pulling back slightly and opening his eyes to look into hers, hands sliding up to frame her face, caressing her cheeks lightly with his thumbs. “You’re right. It is beautiful.” 

For a long moment they just looked at each other, and then Luka’s eyes flicked down to her lips. He started to lean in, and then hesitated, glancing back up at her. Then he closed the distance and kissed her softly. Marinette closed her eyes, and as he pulled back suddenly there was a new song in her head, and it both made her blush and made her burst out laughing. 

“Are you ever not thinking about music?” Marinette giggled, and had the satisfaction of seeing Luka blush. “Really, at a time like this?” 

Luka shrugged, dropping his hands from her face to wrap them around hers. “What can I say? You’re inspiring.” He smiled at her. 

“Are you idiots done yet?” Juleka yelled from somewhere out of sight. “Because you’re totally buying me dinner.”

Marinette giggled, and Luka hung his head with a sigh. “At least you already know her so I don’t have to figure out a way to explain her,” he chuckled. “Well, can I take you and apparently my annoying sister out to dinner tonight, Marinette?” 

Marinette smiled. “I think that sounds like a good start.” 

“A start,” Luka’s smile grew into a grin. “I like the sound of that.” 

“Don’t you dare,” Marinette warned, laughter bubbling up as another melody began to form in her mind. 

“Get used to it,” Luka chuckled. “I think it’s going to be happening a lot from now on.”

[cuddlepilefics]

19.    “In the lane snow is glistening” ~ Michael Bublé

Fandom: Stray Kids/3racha

Sickie: Changbin

Caregiver: Chan + Jisung

 Noone’s POV.:

Stray Kids weren’t used to having as much free time as they had now that they were on Christmas break. 3racha had decided to go to the studio, despite not having to work. Writing songs was their hobby so they just wanted to play around and try some new things without deadlines looming over them. They’d just be a few hours and quit as soon as they weren’t having fun anymore. Chan had left for the studio first, almost an hour earlier than his two partners. Changbin an Jisung headed out together but while Jisung was taken there by a driver, Changbin wanted to walk. Sure, it would take a while but he was wearing warm clothes and was hoping for some fresh air. Since the went to the studio in their free time, nobody would mind him showing up later than the others, so the rapper shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked down the icy streets.

When he made it to the studio, he was sweaty and drained. His walk had turned out to be a lot more challenging than expected. The streets were frozen and extremely slippery in some spots. However, his worst opponent was his own balance as he struggled to keep his slipping feet underneath his body. It’s safe to say that the rapper wouldn’t mention the numerous times he had fallen, often times landing on his but comically. Instead, he smiled while still being a bit out of breath and waved back at Chan who greeted him after removing his headphones. Changbin shrugged out of his coat and sat in the unoccupied seat slightly behind Chan, next to Jisung. “Ugh, you wouldn’t believe how slippery the streets are. Felix would have loved going out and skidding down the sidewalk. Maybe we should take him out for a walk later”, Changbin chuckled, remembering the young Aussie’s excitement the first time he had seen snow, he’d love this too. “Hyung, is that what took you so long? I arrived ages ago”, Jisung laughed. “I mean, my walk certainly turned out to be an adventure and it was kind of funny but I think, I’ll ride the car back to the dorm with you later”, Changbin smiled, picking up his headphones and nodding at Chan to show him what they had come up with so far.

Changbin tried to catch up with what he had missed due to joining quite a bit later. It was a struggle because his head was pounding mercilessly and the pressure the headphones were putting on it certainly didn’t help. In order to not hold his friends back any further, he decided to ignore it or rather not mention it because ignoring was difficult at this point. His chair didn’t seem to be standing still and his stomach has started churning too. Chan, having his back to the younger, didn’t notice his distress but Jisung who sat next to Changbin kept shooting him worried and confused glances. The older rapper had seemed fine when they left earlier, he had been in good spirits and more talkative than usual but now he had gone quieter than he usually and out of the corner of his eye, the youngest 3racha member thought he saw his hyung wince from time to time. Jisung had been quietly observing the other for a few minutes, unsure whether he should say something or not. He knew something wasn’t quite right but figured if his hyung wanted them to know, he would bring it up himself. After a while however, he wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Changbin kept spacing out and was not really acting like himself anymore. “Hyung, are you ok? You’re acting a bit off”, the youngest spoke up, catching Chan’s attention. Turning around, the leader finally took notice of the pained frown on his dongsaeng’s face. “Sungie? When did you get home? Thought you were at the studio with Chan”, he muttered, eyeing his dongsaeng questioningly. “Binnie?” – “Channie-hyung, what are you doing here?”, the rapper asked looking a bit lost. “What’s going on, are you feeling ok, Bin?”, Chan asked, gently resting his hand on the younger’s arm. “My head hurt’s”, the boy in question admitted quietly. Chan and Jisung made eye-contact, clearly alarmed by their friend’s behavior. They guessed Changbin must be having a migraine by how out of it he acted and how suddenly it came on. “Hyung, let’s lie down on the couch for a while”, Jisung decided, helping his hyung up. The older immediately started swaying as soon as he was upright and Chan jumped up from his Chair, wrapping his arms around the younger’s waist to keep him from toppling over. “Easy, Binnie. Dizzy?”, the leader frowned. The rapper in nodded his head as he squeezed his eyes shut, willing the ground to stop moving at least till he had made it to the couch.

With both of his friends holding him upright, Changbin shuffled his way to the couch. The journey there seemed to take an eternity while black spots danced in his vision. Jisung quickly sat down, pulling the older’s head in his lap. Chan squatted next to the couch, closely studying his dongsaeng’s face. “You know, we could have gone straight for my room. Want my bed”, Changbin whined, burying his face in Jisung’s thigh. “Hyung, where are we?”, Jisung asked, panicking slightly. “We’re home, though I thought you’d both be at the studio. I didn’t even notice you coming back”, the older hummed with his eyes closed. He didn’t notice how the other two members stared at him, freaking out inside but trying not to show it. “Binnie, we are at the studio. You joined us to experiment a bit, don’t you remember how you walked here?”, Chan whispered. “Course I do. I knew we were at the studio”, the younger lied. He was feeling increasingly nauseous and didn’t really care where they were, as long as the place would just stop spinning.

Truth be told, he had no idea how he had gotten to the studio if Chan was right about their location. He was confused, nothing the other two told him made sense and he was slowly freaking out. Were his friends playing a prank on him? Now was really not the time for pranks, he thought feeling to shitty to be up for that kind of fun. Jisung seemed to sense his inner agitation and ran a hand through his hyung’s hair to sooth him. Noticing how the older relaxed almost instantly, he kept gently scratching at the older’s scalp with his fingernails. Chan fought to make sense of his dongsaeng’s words, panicking but keeping a calm exterior as to not freak Jisung out too. The leader was deep in though when their youngest spoke up again. “Hyung, what that thing on the head of our head?”, he asked, turning Changbin’s head to the side to get better access as he felt around the older’s scalp. “Ouch” – “Hyung, did you hit your head or something? You have a pretty bad bump right there”, he explained, grazing his fingers over the spot that had Changbin cry out the second before. The realization hit Chan as the pieces suddenly fell into place. The headache and dizziness, the confusion, the fact that Changbin had been fine before walking to the studio and his story of the slippery streets. “Binnie, did you slip on the way here? Did you hit your head while falling?”, he asked urgently. Jisung tensed as he guessed where the leader was headed with his questions. It would make sense. Changbin was not the one to get migraines and if he did, they were nothing like what was going on. “Don’t know. Can I please just sleep my headache off?”, the idol in question slurred. “Hey, don’t fall asleep on me!”, Jisung yelled, clearly panicking. “Binnie, can you do me a huge favor? Stay awake for hyung, ok? I just need you to stay awake a bit longer”, Chan urged, pulling out his phone to call for an ambulance.

As they waited for the ambulance to arrive, Jisung kept nudging his friend every few seconds to prevent him from falling asleep. Chan and Jisung watched their injured friend anxiously, cursing what was taking the ambulance so long, when the barely conscious rapper suddenly shot upright and without any warning threw up into his lap. The others gasped in shock and while Chan sprinted to grab the bin from under the desk, Jisung held the older up by his shoulders as another round spilled from the pale boy’s lips. Soon after Changbin had collapsed back into Jisung, the paramedics arrived and after a quick check-up agreed that the rapper was probably suffering from a concussion. The problem was, only one of them could ride the ambulance to accompany their sick friend. Deciding Chan should go with Changbin because the boy would most likely need his hyung and because the leader was better at handling the paperwork, Jisung called himself a driver who would take him first to the dorm, so he could pack a small bag in case Changbin had to stay overnight, and afterwards to the hospital to meet up with the other two.

To Jisung’s surprise, the dorm was abandoned and he found a note on the dining table stating that the others had gone to the Christmas market and would be back in the evening. Good, he thought, at least he would have to explain the situation to them. Going through the older rapper’s closet, Jisung stuffed sweatpants and two hoodies Changbin wore often, so he figured they were his favorite, into a small sportsbag. He grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste from the bathroom and glanced around his friend’s room one last time, to check if there was something else he might need. His eyes fell on Gyu and knowing the older couldn’t sleep without his plushie, he quickly stuffed the comfort item into the bag too before closing the sipper and jogging downstairs to the waiting car.

Chan was sitting in the waiting room when Jisung walked in. The two waited anxiously while a doctor examined their friend. When they were called to see him, they learned that Changbin had indeed a concussion and would have to stay two nights for observation and would need to take it easy for at least a week after he’ll be discharged. Even though Changbin was soon asleep with Gyu in his arms, the two sat with him for the rest of the day, heading home around dinnertime when the others would come back from their daytrip as well. Changbin was awake for a few minutes, so they hugged him goodbye, promising, they’d come visit him first thing tomorrow and would also bring the rest of the group, who were at this point still blissfully unaware of the emergency that happened at the 3racha studio.

[thepinkwriterr]

Loner // IT 2017 Chapter Fifteen

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Soul To Squeeze

--

all the love from thee With all the dying trees I scream. The angels in my dreams (yeah) Have turned to demons of greed that's mean.

Where I go I just don't know I got to got to gotta take it slow. When I find my piece of mind I'm gonna give you some of my good time.

Today love smiled on me. It took away my pain say please All that you had to free You gotta let it be.

//

Danielle’s POV

Wednesday

April Thirteenth , 1993  

I stormed down the hallway, rage fuming in my veins. As I walking down the hall from last period, Richie Tozier came into sight. As I passed him, he stuck his foot out, tripping me. I stood up to see he was laughing.

Now I’m storming toward his car, ready to fuck up his day. As I reached the blue car I heard the familiar tune.

Lightning crashes a new mother cries

This moment she's been waiting for

The angel opens her eyes

Pale blue colored iris

Presents the circle

And puts the glory out to hide

I stood back, speechless. He still listens to the song? The anger I previously had flushed my body. I turned, scurrying away from the scene.

I looked for Bill’s car, but didn’t see it. In actuality, I didn’t look very throughly. I wanted to walk home. I pulled out my walkman and plugged my headphones in. I pressed the play button and the music played through my speakers.

When I arrived home Kali’s car was in our driveway, but James’s wasn’t. I opened the front door, slamming it behind me. I ran up the stairs and into my room.

Today has been the worst day of my life.

Waking up with a pounding headache, I naturally wanted to go back to sleep. But I had a whole ahead of me. Casey started running her mouth about me in Math, so the principal wanted to speak with us. Naturally, I said something “inappropriate” and got three days detention. (Starting Thursday).

If my day wasn’t bad enough by then, if I didn’t already want to jump off the top of the school building, Bill got mad at me for messing with Casey.

Beverly told me it would be better if I didn’t sit with them at lunch because Bill was so mad. I honored that and ate with Ben’s friends. By then, I didn’t feel like talking. But, his obnoxious friends kept talking to me. Ed Cocran kept hitting on me. So, I bit his finger.

Ben told me none of them ever wanted me to sit there again because I was “buzzkill”. I didn’t particularly care what they thought me. They were annoying and unintelligent.

And then at the end of the day, Richie had tripped me and laughed his ass off. I was angry until I heard that song. But, on my way home I had picked up the feeling again.

I closed my eyes, drifting off. Right as I felt my body relax, I jumped up. I had to meet with Eddie today! I jumped out of bed, running down the stairs.

I dialed the number I remembered Eddie had given me for his home phone. “Hello?” A woman’s voice sounded over the receiver. “Um…is Eddie there?” “Who is this?” “Uh-someone from school. We were supposed to work on a project today.”

“Hm…Is this Beverly Marsh?” “Uh-no-this is Danielle Sinclair.” “Hello?” Eddie’s voice was heard opposed to his mother’s. “Boy, is she harsh.” “She means well.” I chuckled,”Well, um, we were supposed to work on our project today.”

“Uh, yeah, I know. How about we work on it at your house tomorrow?” “Sure. You wanna ride home with me?” I asked, resting against the door frame.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” “Alright. We can pick up supplies on our way here. See ya then.” “Bye.” He hung up, leaving the dial tone ringing in my ear. I hung the receiver back on the hook, climbing back up the stairs and into my room.

Kali’s POV

Waking up, dreading what I was to face in the day. James has been gone for almost a week. But, I got a goodbye dinner and a beautiful night before he left for two weeks.

One week left without him. This week is gonna be hard…

He graduates soon, and then he’s going to study abroad for a while. I could tell our relationship was running low, as we had little time left.

We luckily ate lunch at the same time, so I drove to see him during my lunch hour. We met up at a small diner on campus. I had twenty minutes to eat with him.

I hummed as I found myself a seat in a booth, reading over the menu. I placed the melody in my head as Soul To Squeeze. “I gotta bad disease…” I sang quietly.

“From my brain is where I bleed…” I heard the familiar voice sing back. “Insanity, it seems, has got me by my soul to squeeze.” I sang back as he sat across from me.

“What’s on the menu for today, buttercup?” He asked, raising a dark eyebrow. I smiled,”I’m having waffles.” “Breakfast for lunch? Whats your problem?” He joked. I gave a small giggle,”I didn’t have you to make me breakfast this morning, so I didn’t eat.” He fake gasped,”You didn’t eat? Whats wrong with you!”

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Hm…I don’t know what I’m gonna get. Nothing here is vegan…” He sighed. “They have water.” I smirked. “Haha, very funny.”

Breaking into a toothy smile, I felt corny. “Did you two find everything alright?” “Um, I have a question. Do you have any vegan options?” “Hm…Yes, I’ll go get the menu.” She smiled. “Thank you.”

He breathed out heavily when she walked away,”Thank god…” I giggled at him. “What?” He asked, looking up from the regular menu. I shook my head, a smile plastered to my face,”You’re a dork…”

“I’ll see you later.” He kissed my cheek as we departed. “Bye.” I smiled, getting into my car. The drive back to school was laborious and took a lot out of me. Tears couldn’t help but develop in my eyes.

Danielle’s POV

When I woke up there was a ringing at the doorbell. I rolled my eyes, climbing out of bed. When I got downstairs I opened the door quickly.

Bill was at my door step, smiling softly. That smile kills me. The pink sky behind Bill illuminated his pale face, giving everything around us a soft glow.

“Can I come in?” His soft voice sounded. I nodded, stepping to the side. We went to the living room, sitting on the couch. “Where’s James?” He asked as we sat. “I think he went back to school. I don’t really care.” “

A-anyway, um- I want to apologize. I acted like a jackass over something stupid. I didn’t want to start anything with Casey, because I wanted her to leave us alone. I shouldn’t have acted like that, and I really do apologize.” I sighed,”I accept you apology, and we can move on from this.”

He hugged me tightly,”I’m sorry. I-I love you…”

[goodproofingwater]

Wildfire Records - Chapter Thirteen

Word count: 2547

Andy awoke with a headache that he was increasingly getting used to. He used to be able to get away with drinking half bottles of tequila, had stood by the coke sobering him up a little, a fact he still maintained to this day despite so much evidence to the contrary, but it seemed that that tactic was no longer working. He knew that he had to slow down with the drugs, that he needed to pull it back to just parties and gigs again at least but it was hard when it was so easy. His dealer was only down the road and had even delivered to him previously when he had been working on tracks that he didn’t want to leave.

The events of the last few days had shown him a new side to the world that he hadn’t yet experienced, something that he should have known being a 26-year-old who had lived on the other side of the world for a good sum of his life - his actions had consequences, and they were not always the ones he had anticipated.

Although he had not treated her right, he had been enjoying his time with Victoria. She had an attitude to life and a determination that he found more intoxicating than any drug, and on top of that, the sex was incredible. She had been the perfect mix of submission and resistance, and although he had gotten them a spot on a radio show through his actions, he was starting to think that having sex with that other girl (so named because he couldn’t remember what her actual name was despite texting her since that evening) was not the best move.

Still, he arose the next morning and showered, his hand slipping between his legs as he remembered how Victoria’s lips had moved on him so perfectly in that very shower, and then met her eyes in the reception room with a longing that he would never honestly let show through. God how he wished he could bury himself between her thighs one last time, have her whimpering his name as he edged her so close she could taste her orgasm and then denied her to make it all the more intense later on.

“Coffee?” Danny’s voice snapped Andy out of his stupor, and he cleared his throat as he nodded

“Yeah, thanks man..” he took the mug from his friend, blowing on the steaming liquid and switching on the tv to stop himself from glancing at the redhead who was speaking to Juliet, the red head’s pyjamas somehow both cute and sexy.

“Yeah it was amazing,” Victoria spoke, the smile that Josh called from her still settled on her lips, “there are so many different types of studios in there, and Josh got to play this super expensive guitar..”

“I bet he loved that,” Danny grinned as he sat down at the breakfast bar opposite where Victoria was standing, Juliet topping up his coffee and the curly haired boy kissed the top of his girlfriend's head.

The couple warmed Victoria’s heart more than she would ever let on, their sudden and ongoing affection for each other making her believe that maybe love was actually real. Although, Josh had gone a long way to prove that not all men were shit the previous day.

“He did, he sat there playing for a while, I think we held up the tour actually..” she grinned, and Danny raised a knowing eyebrow at her. The man was either incredibly intuitive, Josh had already told him about their affection, or it was written all over her face how much she liked him. She suspected it was the latter.

The rest of the previous evening had been a dream. They had sat on the roof drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, watching as the sun set behind the skyline. She had rested between his legs on the couch and fallen asleep, and had woken in her own bed in the hoody that he had wrapped around her to keep her warm once the night’s chill had taken over.

She had curled up in bed with the smell of him around her, but had chosen to leave the hoody downstairs for fear of being teased by the others. That and she wasn’t sure she was ready for Andy to know that she was moving on with his best friend. Usually she wouldn’t have cared, but she was walking a very fine line considering they both lived and worked together.

As if thinking of him had summoned him, Josh walked over to the breakfast bar rubbing tired eyes in nothing but pyjama bottoms, and Victoria hungrily took in his body. He wasn’t as chiseled as Andy, but his abs and the delicious V lines that always made her weak were well defined. She was glad for Danny igniting a conversation about the camping trip to take her mind firmly away from the gutter it was tumbling towards.

“I checked the prices for that lee valley place,” the youngest boy spoke, his hand absentmindedly running along Juliet’s arm, “it’s super cheap and King has already ordered a couple tents..”

“A couple?” Victoria’s eyes darted to Juliet’s, and the small smirk on her face told the younger girl that the brunette knew exactly what she was doing.

“Yeah, it was cheaper to buy two two-man tents than one four or six-man one…” fucking unlikely. Victoria mouthed to her friend who pretended not to see.

“Plus,” Josh added, “do you really want to share a tent with those love birds? We’d have to get earplugs as well as noise-canceling headphones…” he smirked over his coffee and Victoria grinned at him as both Juliet and Danny protested.

“We’re not that loud!” Juliet spoke, and Victoria couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend.

“Not true..” Andy called from the couch, “I had to wear headphones all day yesterday..”

Josh and Victoria looked between each other as they chuckled, and the man couldn’t help but smirk as he watched the redhead's eyes dance over his body once more. He would be lying if he said that it wasn’t a deliberate move considering how she had looked at him the last time he had appeared shirtless. As her eyes met his he could see lust dancing the waltz with logic, and as much as he knew she wouldn’t let his preference lead, he couldn’t stop his own eyes clouding over with lust of his own. Images of her hands and her lips running the path that her eyes made down his body made him lick his lips, and he knew he had to think of something else before it came more obvious just how much he wanted her.

“Oh shut up Andy,” Juliet chuckled, and Danny through a piece of toast across the room that barely reached halfway. “You can barely talk, we had to stay in my room almost exclusively when you and Vic were fucking”

Victoria had not expected the comment, her stomach lurching and she felt sick for a moment before she realised that Juliet was doing her best to normalise something that was now firmly in the past. Andy met his former lover's eyes and he grinned, “Yeah, well that was mostly her..”

The girl looked down for a moment and bit her lip as memories of how good their sex had been ran through her.

“And who’s fault was that?” She quipped, sipping her coffee and trying to ignore the darkness that came over his eyes at her comment. The glance that housed the same look he had given her before he had hiked her up on the sink and fucked her into oblivion.

“You certainly weren’t complaining at the time..” he turned to face the TV again with a smirk and she let out a sigh of relief, glad that he seemed to have gotten the message that she was no longer interested. The relief was more than she had thought, and she glanced at Josh who was busying himself making fried eggs, hoping that she hadn’t stepped over the line.

“Anyway…” Danny spoke, a grin on his lips as his mind darted over the mischief himself and Juliet had gotten up to while in her room, “it’s gonna be like $10 for a pitch fee but that’s between all of us…”

“You’re going camping? Here?” Andy spoke as he walked over to the kitchen counter, placing his mug down and reaching for the pot to pour more in. Caffeine seemed to be the only thing that was helping his hangover.

“Yeah,” Danny started, “Wanna come? It’s not too far away and it’s—“

“Dan I appreciate it, but when have I ever gone camping?” Andy asked with a grin, and Josh looked up from placing eggs on his plate to smile softly at Victoria.

“I don’t know why you hate it so much..” Danny shrugged and Andy looked between Josh and Victoria for a moment, noting the affectionate looks between them.

“I’m not going anywhere I have to shit in a bucket.” Victoria almost choked on her toast at the bluntness of the comment, and she couldn’t help but laugh. Andy grinned over at her, glad to have given her something to smile about after she had done nothing but scream in his face. It was nice to be getting back to a point where she would look at him again. Maybe she would even forgive him enough to give him another chance. After all, she did seem to enjoy the sex just as much as he did.

“They have bathrooms, dumbass” Josh chuckled, munching on the crispy bacon that Danny had made before he had come upstairs.

“Still, I’m not doing it. Wilderness and this hair don’t match.” The boys rolled their eyes with a smile, the same reaction they had each time he said almost exactly the same thing when they were in Cali.

Victoria hadn’t been surprised that camping wasn’t Andy's vibe, too much space and not enough clean surfaces to do coke off of, and she was glad that she would be able to spend a few days away from him. It was more comfortable today than it had been, but the fact that he had tried to touch her in the kitchen the previous morning still played hard on her mind.

“Well don’t wreck the house while we’re gone” Josh spoke, “keep the party up here and don’t set fire to anything, yeah?”

Andy rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee once more, “I think I’ll manage. Anyway, sit down guys we need to talk about some business.”

The girls looked between each other in shock - Andy had never been the one to suggest they have a serious conversation, had always been the one trying to get away from meetings and although it seemed out of character they soon found out why it wasn’t a meeting called by them.

“I’ve been speaking to uh..” he looked down at his phone, scrolling for a moment before he continued, “Lizzie, and she has managed to get us a slot finally.”

“Who’s Lizzie?” Juliet asked, but Victoria stared at her plate, jaw clenching as suspected she already knew the answer.

“She’s the girl from the show, right?” Victoria looked up, eyes narrowing as she looked at the other redhead. The way he was avoiding her eyes all but confirmed it without him having to say anything.

“Yeah.” He spoke, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, an uncharacteristic move that quirked Victoria’s eyebrows a little, “She um.. Well we’re booked in on a 6pm slot day after tomorrow. It’s a prime time slot on prime time radio, she’s really done us a favour.”

Victoria looked down as the words hit her, the fact that his terrible actions had elicited such a positive thing made her feel sick, and all she could do was switch to work mode to stop herself from losing control of her emotions in one way or the other.

“Have you got a track mastered for it?” She spoke, her voice dripping with poison, the room so thick with the tension between them you could practically taste it.

“We had the Uppercut EP mastered for Spotify at the start of the year,” he spoke, “she said that Spotify master is fine..”

Victoria nodded, “Well let’s just hope she’s right. Would be shit for you to go to all that effort of getting such a great slot for you to have a track on the radio that doesn’t sound the best.” The sarcasm dripped from her voice, and the other three at the table looked between the two parties, not wanting to say anything that could make it worse. She sipped her coffee and glanced up at Juliet who was still in silence at her friend’s remark “What?”

Andy cleared his throat, looking up at all of them before he sipped his own coffee, “We need to be there for 5pm at the very latest. They’re gonna interview us and then play a track of our choosing from the EP. I think it should be Uppercut, just because it’s the one the crowds seem to like the best.”

“The crowds like Red the best at the moment actually,” Victoria sighed, “But I suppose we don’t have that recorded.”

Josh smirked a little into his coffee, enjoying how sassy the girl was being. Of course he wanted there to be peace, but he was glad that she wasn’t letting Andy off easy.

“I think we should go with Uppercut..” Danny spoke, “It’s the only one on the EP people really go crazy for.”

“And it is a good song..” Juliet spoke, nodding and taking a bite of her toast, the bread now cold as she was too nervous to make too much noise when Andy and Victoria had been having their silent battle. “It has that really cool intro with the feedback and stuff, it will mold well into the broadcast.”

Victoria nodded, clearing her throat and sitting forward. “Are Juliet and I coming?” She questioned, wondering if she was going to be able to hold herself back from slapping the girl in the face if she saw her again. Of course it hadn’t been her fault, how could she know that Andy was seeing anyone? But the bored look on her face when Victoria had been so upset would have made anyone's skin crawl.

“It would be cool if you came but you don’t have to be..” Andy spoke and Victoria nodded, finishing the last of her coffee and standing from the table to grab more from the kitchen

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to stay as far away from the two of you as possible.” She sipped the lukewarm coffee, cringing a little at the bitterness before she poured the rest of the liquid in her mug down the sink, “Muscle memory might kick in and I’m not sure you want me slapping you in the face on air.”

A bitter smile crossed her features and she placed the mug down, making her way down to her room to shower and get ready for work.

[afteriwake]

The Cacophony Of Life (2/6)

AN UPDATE! SHOCKGASP! I KNOW!

Here’s an introduction to their preteen years. Enjoy (especially you, @elliedilly...I know you’ve been waiting forever).

The Cacophony Of Life - From birth, every person can hear the music that their soul mate hears, whether it’s music that they’re playing, listening to or singing along to, in their mind. Measures can be taken to lessen the sound, but there are times when the sound is too much, too overwhelming. For years, Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper use their connection to each other through the music they both hear to communicate: first to annoy each other as children, then to care for each other as teenagers and young adults, and finally to express the longing that hopefully one day, and one day soon, they’ll meet each other face to face and express the love that’s grown between them throughout the years.

Read Part 1 | Read Part 2 | Help Me Survive? | Commission Me?

May 1990 Molly Depeche Mode, “Enjoy The Silence” Sherlock Frédéric Chopin, “Prelude in E-Minor (op.28 no. 4”

She was starting to hate the smell of hospitals.

Dad was in the hospital again, though Mum swore he’d be out and about in no time, but they both thought she didn’t hear them when they talked at night. Sound carried in their little home in Bozeat, especially at night, when her room was quiet and so was her head.

Like she wished it was now.

She could tell her headmate was playing the music again. Was there nothing he...she...couldn’t do? She could barely dance and they were a bloody prodigy! It wasn’t fair.

None of this was fair, not at all.

She took her cassette player and went outside, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. Dad may come home, yeah, but this wasn’t going to end well. The hospital visits were becoming more frequent, the whispered conversations at home becoming more urgent, and she knew the truth even if her parents didn’t want to admit it: they had less time with her dad being alive than ever before. Maybe a few years, maybe a year, maybe months…

She jammed on her headphones and thumbed the volume dial all the way up. Yeah, sure, it could hurt her hearing but she didn’t care. Soon the soothing sounds of Dave Gahan’s voice filled her ears, drowning out the classical music a bit more.

Words like violence Break the silence Come crashing in Into my little world Painful to me Pierce right through me Can't you understand Oh my little girl

It took her a few moments to realize the other music, the music her headmate was creating, was slowing. It wasn’t their normal abrupt halt before doubling down. It was more that they were actually...listening. The song must have been a shock, roaring through their head like it did hers, but there was no retaliation.

Not this time.

All I ever wanted All I ever needed Is here in my arms Words are very unnecessary They can only do harm

And then, seemingly, they picked up the melody, playing a counterpoint, and she stopped in her tracks. This wasn’t the sort of music their headmate liked but they were...comforting her?

The tears fell and they couldn’t stop, and she wrapped her arms around herself. Someone was there, someone maybe cared. Maybe they didn’t know it all but...this was a change.

A change she needed oh so badly.

September 1991 Sherlock Johannes Brahms, “Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 - III. Allegro giocoso” Molly Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

He stood up on the platform, violin tucked under his chin. His headmate had been rather quiet the last few months, and he’d thought with there being a summer break she or he would have been playing music all the time. He certainly was. But it seemed, perhaps, he was playing to an audience of one even when he was in a room of his own. There had been a comfort in that, that the two of them were no longer being childish.

It was...nice.

Nice things had been in short supply when there had been an increase in the fights in the household. His family would never yell, no, but things changed. It decidedly got colder, darker…

Lonelier.

So for his headmate to let him be in peace had been a blessing.

He had not started to play when suddenly there was a blaring sound in his head and he grit his teeth. Not now, not now…

Load up on guns, bring your friends It's fun to lose and to pretend She's over bored and self assured Oh no, I know a dirty word

“May I be excused for a moment?” he asked the people who were judging him and his entrance to an elite music program. They nodded and he dashed to the lobby of the building, his headmate’s song repeating stupid, meaningless lyrics until there was a pause.

With the lights out, it's less dangerous Here we are now, entertain us I feel stupid and contagious Here we are now, entertain us A mulatto An albino A mosquito My libido Yeah, hey, yay

He laid his bow across the strings and then made the most horrific sound he could and the sound cut off in his head immediately. He waited a few moments to see if his headmate turned their music back on, but there was blissful silence. He took careful steps back into the auditorium, got on the platform again, and began to play the piece by Brahms he had been practicing for months.

All to blissful, sweet silence in his head.

Except for the hum.

They had heard him play this song at least a hundred times, and he found the hum to be a pleasant accompaniment to his playing instead of a distraction. His playing got more lively, infused with feelings he couldn’t quite describe, and he felt a small smile form on his face before he closed his eyes and let the music take him away.

And then, the song was over, and the humming was gone, and he felt...alone.

But the adults were clapping and he would show his gratefulness to his headmate later, he thought to himself as he took a bow.

March 1992 Molly Guns N’ Roses, “November Rain” Sherlock Robert Alexander Schumann, “Träumerei” (as performed by Mischa Elman & Joseph Seiger)

The song played on the radio as her mum brought her home from school, a different tune in her head, giving her a headache. A trip into London, have to go, urgent. A sad song for a sad occasion. Dad had to be rushed to one of the bigger hospitals for a series of tests and she and her family were staying at a hotel nearby and she’d get a week out of school.

As if that would make it any better.

Her classmates were mean. She was losing her father, bits and pieces at a time, didn’t they care? But no, they teased about the cane he used, the wheelchair he was in sometimes, the sudden weight loss, the loss of hair…

She was losing pieces of her father a bit at a time and they didn’t care.

She felt tears at her eyes for she didn’t know how many times this week, but soon she heard the other song in her head stop and a counterpoint to the orchestral beginning and she relaxed. Rain on the outside of the car to match the song, and beautiful music in her head to remind her she wasn’t alone. She had the feeling even though there was Slash’s guitar solo in this, her headmate appreciated the long version with the orchestral beginning. They never joined in before today, but they never stopped her from listening to it. Perhaps this was a shared song to love? Who knew?

She shut her eyes and set her head against the window as the lyrics came into play, her hand against the glass and a sad smile on her face as she hummed along to Axl’s vocals.

When I look into your eyes I can see a love restrained But darlin' when I hold you Don't you know I feel the same

'Cause nothin' lasts forever And we both know hearts can change And it's hard to hold a candle In the cold November rain

This might not last forever, but it was happening now, and she was so so grateful for the music in her head.

November 1993 Sherlock Giuseppe Verdi, “La Forza del Destino Overture” Molly Smashing Pumpkins, “Mayonaise”

For once, the music on his record player and the music in his head, though at odds, were a blessing. There was a row going on downstairs and so one of his favourite overtures was playing as loudly as the record player could play it. He knew his parents may be upset but frankly, he didn’t care. He didn’t care much about pleasing them in any shape or form since he knew he was going to be sent off to another boarding school soon.

Was this all his own fault? No, not really. He had a set of skills, he put them to use and instead of making the world better he was laughed off. Well, he’d show them one day. One day, everyone would know who he was and he would be important.

His headmate had been listening to a particular album off and on over the last few weeks and he was surprised that he found it interesting. It was not his typical sort of music, a bit more...avant-garde? Experimental? But he had heard of this alternative grunge music coming out of America, in Seattle, and that seemed to be what his headmate liked. Some of it was too loud, too crass, but this particular band was rather melodic in some ways. He knew the name now of one of the songs he’d heard in his head, “Disarm,” and this one wasn’t so bad either.

Mother weep the years I'm missing All our time can't be given Back Shut my mouth and strike the demons That cursed you and your reasons Out of hand and out of season Out of love and out of feeling So bad

When I can, I will Words defy the plan When I can, I will

Fool enough to almost be it And cool enough to not quite see it And old enough to always feel this Always old, I'll always feel this

No more promise no more sorrow No longer will I follow Can anybody hear me I just want to be me When I can, I will Try to understand That when I can, I will

He made a mental note to buy himself this album the next time he went looking for vinyl, and to thank his headmate when he met them...whenever that would be.

August 1994 Molly Nine Inch Nails, “Hurt” Sherlock Sherlock Holmes, Untitled Original Compositions

I hurt myself today

To see if I still feel

I focus on the pain

The only thing that's real

The needle tears a hole

The old familiar sting

Try to kill it all away

But I remember everything

She felt so hollow. She’d thrown herself on her bed after the funeral and turned this song on and kept it going, over and over and over, until she had fallen asleep. Had she fallen asleep? She didn’t know.

She didn’t care.

What have I become? My sweetest friend Everyone I know Goes away in the end You could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down I will make you hurt

It wasn’t apparent at first, but she heard something in her mind. Something...hopeful. Maybe even happy. Something that just made her want to reach out and find her headmate and hold them, have them hold her. She turned the song off and curled back onto her side, clutching the stuffed cat her father had given her when she was a baby, thinking she had no tears left to cry and yet there was new wetness on her cheeks.

The song was slow. Not because the song was meant to be slow, but it was as though her headmate was running on residual strength. But he or she kept playing, even though she imagined their arms must be so tired, so sore.

Had they been playing the entire time she was asleep? She glanced at her bedside clock and saw she’d been asleep for four hours. Four hours?!? Playing the violin for four hours straight? Bloody hell…

Soon the song tapered off after a little more, but she picked up on what the melody had begun and hummed her own version of the song. Then she wasn’t alone. There was a soft humming in her mind, knowingly differing the song to match her version. Soon the humming faded and she imagined her headmate had exhausted themselves.

But she kept humming until she, too, fell asleep, knowing she owed her headmate more than they could ever imagine.

[sam-i-am-27]

April Fools Pt. 1

Summary: Virgil and the Sides awake to a household full of April Fools pranks.

Word Count: 1850 

Warnings: Mentions of nudity

Virgil awoke and instantly realized something was wrong. His room was… too bright. Far too bright. He sat up and stared around his room, unsure whether to be impressed or horrified. Every inch of his room, which was normally gray, purple or black, had been transformed into pastel pink and yellow. His black headphones had been replaced with neon ones with large fluffy cat ears on top, as if to mock him of his allergies and hate of bright flashy stuff. He noticed as he descended the stairs that the cobwebs that normally hung from the bannisters had been replaced with cotton candy while the fog that usually hung in the air was now visible smells. He caught whiffs of sweets, gunpowder, and… he hoped that wasn’t blood. The TV was on and currently playing what looked like some sort of weird sitcom starring Mark and all his friends. He recognized it as that one show pitch that Wilford had back in 2017.

Then it dawned on him. It was April 1st. The Septics had warned him about how seriously the Ipliers took this day which left one explanation. Wilford. Wilford did this. Almost as if the room had heard his thoughts, every photo that held an actual face suddenly had a bright pink mustache covering the person’s upper lip.

A mixture of anger and awe at the mere fact that the clinically insane (well… formerly insane since Patton managed to help begin the healing process of a shattered mind) Ego managed to do this bubbled in his stomach as he snapped his fingers, returning the room to it’s normal state.

He sighed and left the dreamscape, only to find the original version of his room in a very similar state, but… worse. Before he could avert his eyes, before he could even make an attempt to warn himself that something might be on the other side, his eyes had been burned with the image of a naked Mark Fischbach, straight from the calendar but without… censoring. He shut his eyes tight but the image of the naked man plastered on every single surface was stuck in his mind forever. He wished, now more than ever, that every mention of brain and eye bleach on the internet was now in his hands to be used on himself.

“I should… probably warn the others…” he whispered and sunk down into Patton’s room. He landed and felt something sticky and soft squishy under his feet. The heavy scent of peanut butter hit his nostrils and he looked around. The floor, walls and ceiling had been coated in peanut butter and as he stood there, looking at the mess, large glops of the stuff dropped onto his head. At least they had been considerate enough to put all of Patton’s beloved items into a box that was closed tightly to keep any of the drops from getting into it. Virgil guessed they had used a bit of Wilford’s reality bending powers to fit it all into a box barely bigger than the normal moving box.

“Patton?!” he called.

“Up here, Kiddo!” Morality called from upstairs. With a lot of difficulty, he made his way upstairs, ending up with a thick coat of the stuff all over his shoes. Patton was sitting on his bed, which was clean of peanut butter, and was staring at everything else.

“It’s April 1st,” Patton said. “They really… they really did a good job.”

“Yup. Wilford hit me. Everything was… pink,” he shuddered. “And in the real house… we need to clean it up before Thomas gets out of bed wakes up.”

“Why?”

He opened his mouth to say something but then realized that if this Side didn’t even know the true definition for adultery, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to tell him what awaited him in the physical realm.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll ask Roman to help me if you can clean this up and get Logan up,” he said.

Patton nodded and clapped his hands, cleaning up every bit of the sticky substance and replacing it with his normal decor. Virgil smiled before transporting into Roman’s room. For a second, he thought everything was the same. Every single playbook, panorama, script, draft and story that he and Thomas had created or even brainstormed was laid out across the walls in such an organized manner that Virgil had thought it was Logan’s room when he first visited. Then he noticed the coloration of everything.

“What the hell?!” He felt as if he had just stepped into a 3-D optical illusion but without the glasses and even looking around gave him a headache. Anything that wasn’t red-and-blue was a light shade of gray that gave off a cold energy that made him shiver intensely but his breath wasn’t steaming, making him believe it only affected people, not the environment. Virgil knew that Wilford, King and Bim would most likely participate in the event but Dark?!

His headache was getting too much to bear so he summoned himself some 3-D glasses to level it out a bit. “Roman?”

The Creative Side looked over the counter, looking slightly shaken. “Hey, Virgil. Did they get you too?”

“Yes, they did. It was Wilford and believe me, only Patton would have liked it,” he said. “It was bright pink and smelled like cotton candy.”

Roman smirked. “Oh, I am going to use that someday, you’re going to regret saying that.”

“Whatever Mr. 3-Dingus. Listen, we got a major problem.”

His face went from disdain to concern in an instant. “What’s wrong?”

“They pranked Thomas too and… well, Patton isn’t the type of person to help clean it up. I warn you though…” He shuddered. “It’s pretty but not… pretty.”

He brought the two of them into the physical realm and Roman gasped, turned bright red and covered his face. “Oh my- Goodness! That is… that is quite a sight. This is… scarring.”

Virgil, already scarred for life, nodded in agreement, staring at the pictures without flinching. “Now you see why I grabbed you, not Logan or Patton. We need to get this cleaned up before Thomas or his friends wake up or…”

Roman nodded and they started grabbing each picture and either crumbling it into a ball or treating it like a ticking time bomb. It took the two of them nearly ten minutes to clean up every single image that was in-sight, hidden in cabinets, behind, stuffed into or under the furniture, in the books, and in the framed photos. They threw the hundred-odd photos into a pile in an empty corner of the Mindscape, put it into a twenty-foot-deep hole and lit it on fire. Seeing the images try and drift out of the hole to infect Thomas’ brain but failing was extremely satisfying even if the effort gone into cleaning it all up was a bit overkill.

“Well, for the first time in my life, I believe that I am jealous of Logan and Patton,” Roman said, looking down at the firey pit.

“How so?”

“They didn’t have to deal with… this…” he gestured to the pit. Virgil laughed and then felt a tug at the back of his mind- not Thomas calling him, but Logan.

“Logan’s calling; come on,” he said and they rose out of the Mindscape. Logan and Patton were sitting on the couch, Logan looking slightly shaken from whatever prank the Ipliers had pulled on him.

“What’d they do to you?” Roman asked.

“They set up screens all over… with the Jim’s reports,” he muttered.

Virgil snorted but quieted down at a cool but stern glare. “Well… Logan, that… That sucks.”

“They don’t even know how to use a green screen!” he blurted.

“I know, I know,” Patton said soothingly, reaching out to pat his shoulder but the Wall stopping him. Roman and Virgil glanced at each other, sharing a smirk before sitting down on the couch. They barely had time to relax before a strangled yell echoed down the stairs. At the same time, they all felt the same overwhelming shock, horror and disgust.

Thomas.

Virgil realized what was happening as soon as he remembered that the prank had never been confined to just the downstairs.

They glanced at each other and in an instant, were rushing to the stairwell. The only problem was that they all went at once and ended up running into the wall before even stepping foot on the staircase.

“One at a time!” Logan said, taking the lead. The other Sides followed quickly, bursting into Thomas’ room with their eyes shut tight but knowing what was on the other side. Unfortunately, neither Patton nor Logan had seen these before and soon their shrieks of horror joined Thomas’.

“For the love of- Roman, get them out of here!” Virgil said.

“Thomas!” Roman cried. “Close your eyes, we’ll take care of this!”

Virgil didn’t see what Thomas did but kept his eyes shut tight as he pulled down the pictures that he could unfortunately imagine in clear detail. He snuck a peak and saw Thomas sitting on his bed, eyes shut as the other Sides rushed around, taking the rest down.

“Roman, take Patton and Logan’s and then back to the pit!” Virgil said, stuffing them into his arms.

“What?! Why me?!” he asked, shoving them back to Virgil.

“Because I gotta help Patton, Logan and Thomas!” he replied, gesturing to the three, all of whom were curled into a ball, looking horrified and scarred. Roman nodded, collected the rest and disappeared. As soon as he was gone, Virgil rushed between the three and suddenly realized what it was like to be Thomas before Virgil first started showing up at meetings.

“Uh, guys… I know it’s a very unpleasant sight but… Thomas, if you let me, I can block out that memory if you want. If that’d make you feel more comfortable” he said to Thomas. Thomas looked at him and nodded. Virgil popped back into the dreamscape, collected every iota of those memories from Thomas’ mind and then shoved it into the back corner, blocking it off with a wall labeled ‘DO NOT ENTER: PRIVATE PARTS’.

When he returned, Thomas looked considerably better and was talking to someone on the phone. Patton and Logan were over to the side, looking slightly less shaken but still a little on the scarred side.

“Yeah. Yeah, it was bad. Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.” Thomas hung up and said, “That was Jack. Apparently he and the Septic Egos had a very similar experience but since there were more of them, it was more of a combined effort between the Ipliers; 3-D Jim recordings, Pink peanut butter, that type of stuff. They’re coming over later for the Mindscape Egg hunt with the Ipliers. We’ve agreed that next year, it’s a Septic-Sanders team-up against the Ipliers.”

They nodded and stood in silence for a while, not even saying a word when Roman showed up. Finally, Patton broke the silence.

“Let’s never speak of this again… if they ask… we don’t say anything…”

Virgil awoke and instantly realized something was wrong. His room was… too bright. Far too bright. He sat up and stared around his room, unsure whether to be impressed or horrified. Every inch of his room, which was normally gray, purple or black, had been transformed into pastel pink and yellow. His black headphones had been replaced with neon ones with large fluffy cat ears on top, as if to mock him of his allergies and hate of bright flashy stuff. He noticed as he descended the stairs that the cobwebs that normally hung from the bannisters had been replaced with cotton candy while the fog that usually hung in the air was now visible smells. He caught whiffs of sweets, gunpowder, and… he hoped that wasn’t blood. The TV was on and currently playing what looked like some sort of weird sitcom starring Mark and all his friends. He recognized it as that one show pitch that Wilford had back in 2017.

Then it dawned on him. It was April 1st. The Septics had warned him about how seriously the Ipliers took this day which left one explanation. Wilford. Wilford did this. Almost as if the room had heard his thoughts, every photo that held an actual face suddenly had a bright pink mustache covering the person’s upper lip.

A mixture of anger and awe at the mere fact that the clinically insane (well… formerly insane since Patton managed to help begin the healing process of a shattered mind) Ego managed to do this bubbled in his stomach as he snapped his fingers, returning the room to it’s normal state.

He sighed and left the dreamscape, only to find the original version of his room in a very similar state, but… worse. Before he could avert his eyes, before he could even make an attempt to warn himself that something might be on the other side, his eyes had been burned with the image of a naked Mark Fischbach, straight from the calendar but without… censoring. He shut his eyes tight but the image of the naked man plastered on every single surface was stuck in his mind forever. He wished, now more than ever, that every mention of brain and eye bleach on the internet was now in his hands to be used on himself.

“I should… probably warn the others…” he whispered and sunk down into Patton’s room. He landed and felt something sticky and soft squishy under his feet. The heavy scent of peanut butter hit his nostrils and he looked around. The floor, walls and ceiling had been coated in peanut butter and as he stood there, looking at the mess, large glops of the stuff dropped onto his head. At least they had been considerate enough to put all of Patton’s beloved items into a box that was closed tightly to keep any of the drops from getting into it. Virgil guessed they had used a bit of Wilford’s reality bending powers to fit it all into a box barely bigger than the normal moving box.

“Patton?!” he called.

“Up here, Kiddo!” Morality called from upstairs. With a lot of difficulty, he made his way upstairs, ending up with a thick coat of the stuff all over his shoes. Patton was sitting on his bed, which was clean of peanut butter, and was staring at everything else.

“It’s April 1st,” Patton said. “They really… they really did a good job.”

“Yup. Wilford hit me. Everything was… pink,” he shuddered. “And in the real house… we need to clean it up before Thomas gets out of bed wakes up.”

“Why?”

He opened his mouth to say something but then realized that if this Side didn’t even know the true definition for adultery, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to tell him what awaited him in the physical realm.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll ask Roman to help me if you can clean this up and get Logan up,” he said.

Patton nodded and clapped his hands, cleaning up every bit of the sticky substance and replacing it with his normal decor. Virgil smiled before transporting into Roman’s room. For a second, he thought everything was the same. Every single playbook, panorama, script, draft and story that he and Thomas had created or even brainstormed was laid out across the walls in such an organized manner that Virgil had thought it was Logan’s room when he first visited. Then he noticed the coloration of everything.

“What the hell?!” He felt as if he had just stepped into a 3-D optical illusion but without the glasses and even looking around gave him a headache. Anything that wasn’t red-and-blue was a light shade of gray that gave off a cold energy that made him shiver intensely but his breath wasn’t steaming, making him believe it only affected people, not the environment. Virgil knew that Wilford, King and Bim would most likely participate in the event but Dark?!

His headache was getting too much to bear so he summoned himself some 3-D glasses to level it out a bit. “Roman?”

The Creative Side looked over the counter, looking slightly shaken. “Hey, Virgil. Did they get you too?”

“Yes, they did. It was Wilford and believe me, only Patton would have liked it,” he said. “It was bright pink and smelled like cotton candy.”

Roman smirked. “Oh, I am going to use that someday, you’re going to regret saying that.”

“Whatever Mr. 3-Dingus. Listen, we got a major problem.”

His face went from disdain to concern in an instant. “What’s wrong?”

“They pranked Thomas too and… well, Patton isn’t the type of person to help clean it up. I warn you though…” He shuddered. “It’s pretty but not… pretty.”

He brought the two of them into the physical realm and Roman gasped, turned bright red and covered his face. “Oh my- Goodness! That is… that is quite a sight. This is… scarring.”

Virgil, already scarred for life, nodded in agreement, staring at the pictures without flinching. “Now you see why I grabbed you, not Logan or Patton. We need to get this cleaned up before Thomas or his friends wake up or…”

Roman nodded and they started grabbing each picture and either crumbling it into a ball or treating it like a ticking time bomb. It took the two of them nearly ten minutes to clean up every single image that was in-sight, hidden in cabinets, behind, stuffed into or under the furniture, in the books, and in the framed photos. They threw the hundred-odd photos into a pile in an empty corner of the Mindscape, put it into a twenty-foot-deep hole and lit it on fire. Seeing the images try and drift out of the hole to infect Thomas’ brain but failing was extremely satisfying even if the effort gone into cleaning it all up was a bit overkill.

“Well, for the first time in my life, I believe that I am jealous of Logan and Patton,” Roman said, looking down at the firey pit.

“How so?”

“They didn’t have to deal with… this…” he gestured to the pit. Virgil laughed and then felt a tug at the back of his mind- not Thomas calling him, but Logan.

“Logan’s calling; come on,” he said and they rose out of the Mindscape. Logan and Patton were sitting on the couch, Logan looking slightly shaken from whatever prank the Ipliers had pulled on him.

“What’d they do to you?” Roman asked.

“They set up screens all over… with the Jim’s reports,” he muttered.

Virgil snorted but quieted down at a cool but stern glare. “Well… Logan, that… That sucks.”

“They don’t even know how to use a green screen!” he blurted.

“I know, I know,” Patton said soothingly, reaching out to pat his shoulder but the Wall stopping him. Roman and Virgil glanced at each other, sharing a smirk before sitting down on the couch. They barely had time to relax before a strangled yell echoed down the stairs. At the same time, they all felt the same overwhelming shock, horror and disgust.

Thomas.

Virgil realized what was happening as soon as he remembered that the prank had never been confined to just the downstairs.

They glanced at each other and in an instant, were rushing to the stairwell. The only problem was that they all went at once and ended up running into the wall before even stepping foot on the staircase.

“One at a time!” Logan said, taking the lead. The other Sides followed quickly, bursting into Thomas’ room with their eyes shut tight but knowing what was on the other side. Unfortunately, neither Patton nor Logan had seen these before and soon their shrieks of horror joined Thomas’.

“For the love of- Roman, get them out of here!” Virgil said.

“Thomas!” Roman cried. “Close your eyes, we’ll take care of this!”

Virgil didn’t see what Thomas did but kept his eyes shut tight as he pulled down the pictures that he could unfortunately imagine in clear detail. He snuck a peak and saw Thomas sitting on his bed, eyes shut as the other Sides rushed around, taking the rest down.

“Roman, take Patton and Logan’s and then back to the pit!” Virgil said, stuffing them into his arms.

“What?! Why me?!” he asked, shoving them back to Virgil.

“Because I gotta help Patton, Logan and Thomas!” he replied, gesturing to the three, all of whom were curled into a ball, looking horrified and scarred. Roman nodded, collected the rest and disappeared. As soon as he was gone, Virgil rushed between the three and suddenly realized what it was like to be Thomas before Virgil first started showing up at meetings.

“Uh, guys… I know it’s a very unpleasant sight but… Thomas, if you let me, I can block out that memory if you want. If that’d make you feel more comfortable” he said to Thomas. Thomas looked at him and nodded. Virgil popped back into the dreamscape, collected every iota of those memories from Thomas’ mind and then shoved it into the back corner, blocking it off with a wall labeled ‘DO NOT ENTER: PRIVATE PARTS’.

When he returned, Thomas looked considerably better and was talking to someone on the phone. Patton and Logan were over to the side, looking slightly less shaken but still a little on the scarred side.

“Yeah. Yeah, it was bad. Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.” Thomas hung up and said, “That was Jack. Apparently he and the Septic Egos had a very similar experience but since there were more of them, it was more of a combined effort between the Ipliers; 3-D Jim recordings, Pink peanut butter, that type of stuff. They’re coming over later for the Mindscape Egg hunt with the Ipliers. We’ve agreed that next year, it’s a Septic-Sanders team-up against the Ipliers. Mark’s going to help us cause they pranked him just as hard. Also, we have to teach Jack and Mark before the Egg Hunt how to actually go into the Mindscape and then leave it.”

They nodded and stood in silence for a while, not even saying a word when Roman showed up. Finally, Patton broke the silence.

“Let’s never speak of this again… if they ask… we don’t say anything…”

OKAY BUT TELL ME THAT THEY WOULDN’T DO THAT

@nightmarejim @petunia9402 @fandom-trash1214 

[lordzuuko]

DUDE who would be the one blasting mcr when they're angry in the voltron family?

[The Voltron Family] After locking the garage, Keith headed to the front door. It had been such a long exhausting day and all he wanted was to hug his husband, kiss his kids, eat dinner and go to sleep. He needed all the peace he could get after this new author under him wouldn’t stop fanboying about him. “Oh my god oh my god. Keith Shirogane is my editor?! The best selling author?! How?! Shouldn’t you be writing your book?! Oh my god you’re so attractive in person? Holy shit!”

Not that Keith wasn’t grateful for his fans, he was. This was just why they shouldn’t let him handle upcoming authors that were his fanboys. 

He opened the door and greeted his family, “I’m home—” he stopped immediately upon hearing My Chemical Romance in full blast around the house. He looked around in the living room and no one was in sight.

He went to the kitchen and found Hunk gathering food with headphones on. He tapped his son to get his attention and shouted just to be heard, “Hunk, what is going on?!”

Hunk turned around and saw him, instantly taking off his headphones. “Oh, hi, Daddy Keith. Welcome home.” He leaned in to give his Dad a kiss and then frowned, “It’s Pidge.”

Keith closed his eyes, already feeling a headache coming in. “Do I even want to know what started this?”

Hunk’s eyes wandered around, looking guilty. “Uh, ask Daddy Shiro! Okay, I gotta go now bye! I have homework!”

With Hunk gone, Keith headed to the second floor and saw Lance coming out of his room, also wearing his own set of earphones. The boy just kissed him and went on his way, dancing to his own music as he went downstairs. As soon as he was in front of Pidge’s room, he tried on the doorknob and of course, it was locked. What was he even expecting?

“Pidge!” He shouted, knocking as loud as he could. “Pidge! Turn that down!!”

Knowing how useless it was, he needed to find the master key. He went back downstairs to look for it but it was no where to be seen. He sighed and saw Shiro’s clinic. He bit the inside of his cheek and went to see his husband. He stormed inside and saw Shiro’s head on top of the table, his hands covering his ears from the loud music.

“Why on earth is my daughter blasting the whole The Black Parade album of My Chemical Romance at 7 in the evening pretending as if she’s in a goddamn concert?!” Keith asked loudly, hands on his hips.

“It’s my fault,” Shiro murmured. “And can you please close the door?”

“I’ve been told,” Keith said as he closed the door, minimizing the loud music. “What is going on, Takashi? Teenage Rebellion in my house? I was expecting it but mostly from Lance and not Pidge.”

“I called her ‘my baby girl’ in front of her friends and teachers when I picked her up in school and that she will always be a baby girl to me,” Shiro straightened himself and looked at Keith, feeling so embarrassed. 

Keith blinked repeatedly, dumbfounded at what Shiro just said. “What?”

“And now she’s angry and won’t even talk to me,” Shiro continued with a frown. “Thus the MCR music started as if telling me that she’s grown up and deserves to be treated as such. And I do,” Shiro sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I do try but Keith, she’s my baby and I know sometimes I’m embarrassing but I just see Pidge and I can’t help declaring to the world how much I love her and—” Shiro paused and looked at Keith. “Wait, are you laughing? Are you seriously laughing at me right now?”

Keith couldn’t contain it anymore as he laughed out loud. “Oh my god. Takashi, she’s sixteen.”

“Exactly, that’s baby age,” Shiro pointed out.

“Do you seriously want me to remind you what you did when you were sixteen?” Keith raised an eyebrow, challenging the older man. 

The realization hit Shiro hard as his eyes widened. “Oh god, Pidge wouldn’t.”

“I honestly doubt she will,” Keith chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement. “But honestly, can you please fix this? I had such a long day and I just wanna snuggle with you in bed and sleep like a log.”

“Okay,” Shiro smiled as he got up, pulling Keith into a kiss. “Welcome home.”

“I’ll head to the showers and you’re free to join me, but not until you make her stop playing the whole album in the house’s sound system.”

“Oh!” Shiro’s face started heating up. “I… I should get on to that now then.”

Keith chuckled softly at his stammering husband, “Go. I’ll prepare the hot water.”

—

The bathtub was almost full when suddenly the house turned quiet. Keith rolled his eyes as he dipped his fingers into the water to check if it was warm enough. Shiro always liked bath bombs so Keith threw a few of them into the tub.

“Keith?” Shiro knocked. 

“Yeah, I’m here.”

The door opened and Shiro peeked inside. “I brought Pidge with me. Can she join us?” 

Keith looked up to see his husband holding onto Pidge’s shoulders, who had her arms crossed. He smiled as he answered, “Of course.” 

[summerrrluvvv]

Chapter 3

Music featured in this chapters: 

Cranes in the sky by Solange

Crew by Gold Like ft Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy

Yesirrrskii by Lil Uzi Vert ft 21 Savage

Act Up by City Girlz

Cash Shit by Meg Thee Stallion

Miami: Day 2

Ariana:

“Uhhhhhhh what the fuck” I groaned waking up. I had a huge headache and my stomach was on fleek. I still had on my fit from the night before, my damn wig was barely hanging on. “Bro what the fuck man” I said taking off my wig. I got up and got undressed and into the shower, which did not last long because I needed some medicine ASAP. “Rise and Grind girls” Melody came in happily. “Mel why did you not help me out my clothes?” I asked her. “Uh we all passed out in here. I got up in got in my bed and i guess we all just took showers” She said drinking out of a coffee mug. “What is that?” I asked. “Hangover Tea, Tye made” She said. I laid back down. “Tell Tye Tye to bring me up some” I told her. “Ari you can’t sleep in all day today is the yacht party” Mel said. I almost threw up thinking about being seasick and hungover. “When can we rest?” I asked. Melody looked at me crazy. “Miami never sleeps, shake that hangover off so we can drink again” She said. “Ima go get your tea” She told me closing my door. I sighed at the idea of getting fucked up again. I rolled over and grabbed my phone. “I want you so bad” I see. I had remembered that Marlon crazy ass messaged me last night. Tye came walking in with my mug. Melody was right behind her. “Okay now that we all in here except Zion ass, we need rules” She said. Melody groaned. “Boring” She said smiling as Tye playfully pushed her. “Aight so, basically rule #1 is always always get lit, #2 is never worry about yo girls get the Dick sis but send us your location so if shit go down you know #3 No sad girl shit, no mopping #4 if bitches try us they try us all and that’s the rules I love you hoes” She said laughing. “Not the ditch your friends for the D” I said laughing. “Well Zion completed #2, and I’m get on her ass too. Saying this trip all about my girl’s face ass” Tye said. “Yall um I think I seen Isaac last night” Melody said. “And I oop” Tye responded. “Are you sure we were drunk as fuck” I said to her. She nodded. “I know what Isaac looks like and his friends you know Freddie and Trey” She said. I nodded, “Well don’t let that ruin your trip fuck Isaac” I said. “She going to fuck Isaac alright” Tye said smirking. “Nooo Im not” Mel said. “Ima get me a new boo”. I clapped for her. “You see that, growth” I said imitating Kelly from insecure. Tye looked at me as Melody walked out. “She happy as fuck on the inside” I started laughing. “Shut up!”.

 After our little house meeting. I decided to take a run in our Airbnb subdivision. I always ran to clear my head especially after a hangover, Thank God Tye got me that tea. I took a break, caught my breath, and took a sip of my water. I see a Convertible pull up near me, and the top lifted off, revealing some sexy light skin guy. He started talking to me, but I had my headphones in listening to “Cranes In The Sky” by Solange. I took my earphones out. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you” I said smiling. He laughed a little. “I was saying damn it rare we see such beauty in this area, normally got to wait till you hit the beach” He said. I rolled my eyes playfully. “Uh boy” I said. He smiled at me. “I’m Anthony” He said. His voice was so whew lord. “Ariana” I said. “Call I call you Ari or RiRi for short?” He asked. I shook my head. “Nigga I don’t know you like that” I told him placing my hand on my hip. He laughed. “Feisty little thing, aight I dig it. Hopefully, I see you around, Ri” He winked at me before pulling off. I cheesed all the way to house cause that man was an Angel. “Girls, Ladies, Bitches I seen a fine ass man on my run. I’m talking GQ fine” I said blushing. Melody and Tye came out they room and looked over the staircase balcony we had in the house. “And?” Tye said. “His name is Anthony and he stays over here I guess; He has a nice ass car and he called me Ri” I said cheesing. They just looked at me. “Number?” Melody asked. I bit my lip and shook my head. “He just said, see you around Ri” I said smiling. Melody and Tye laughed. “Well at least it aint that nigga Marlon” Tye said. “We gone go to every door and find him” Mel said. I started laughing. “Ima get me some Anthony” I said. “You better” Tye said. I could not stop squealing about that man.

  Zion:

I woke up to sun beaming bright as fuck in my eyes. I put my hand up to block the sun. I turned over to see I was in bed with Kyrel from last night. I palmed my face. I got up and grabbed my shit. He rolled over and looked at me. “Good morning Beautiful” He said. Normally I would cringe at any nigga telling me that, but it made me slightly smile. “Hey, I’m sorry. Last night shouldn’t have happened” He said. I looked at him. “Yeah, I didn’t want you to feel like it was a one-night stand. I really dig you and I want to see you again if that’s okay” He said to me. I nodded. “I would like that” I simply said smiling. Normally my ass would say something smart, but his energy was different. “Let me get my ass up, so I can make sure you get home okay” He said. A man! I thought. These niggas in Atlanta do not even care if I made it home unless they thirsty as fuck. He got dressed and we got in his car. “I see money all around me, I feel like I’m the man. But I was done and out like last week tell me where have you been? You came out of hiding girl. Don’t act like I’m your man, you just a fan, don’t hold no rank” He sang along. He looked over at me smiling. “What?” He asked. I giggled. “Nothing, you just cute. I guess” I said. He put his hand up to me like a mic. “Come on sing it with me” He said. I laughed. “I see money all around me, I feel like I’m the man. But I was done and out like last week tell me where have you been? You came out of hiding girl. Don’t act like I’m your man, you just a fan, don’t hold no rank” We sang turnt in the car. “Aye see” He said. I playfully pushed him. “Got me slipping out here” I told him. He started laughing. We pulled up to my Vacay house and just sat in the car. “So, Ima take you out Wednesday if that’s okay?” He asked. I looked at him crazy “And where we are going sir?”. He smiled. “It’s a suprith” He said in a funny voice. “Aight We gone see about that” I said laughing. He leaned over and pulled my face towards his and we started kissing. His lips tasted so nice; it was about to be a Tsunami in this car. I had to go. I pulled back. “Thank you for the ride, home and to sleep” I said laughing. He smirked. “Keep your phone on you” He said. I got out the car and waived bye. I walked into the house and Ariana met me at the door. “Its 2pm Mam, where have you been young lady?” She said with her hands on her hip. “I went to see a man about a horse” I casually said. “Irrrrr ok” Ari said making a funny noise. Tye came downstairs in her swimsuit looking like a goddess. “Okay I see you” I said. She twirled around. “Inches on Inches baby”. Melody came down after her in her swimsuit. “Yeahhhh get intoooo itttttt” She said holding Patron in her hand. “Okay Ari I see you too girl” I said gassing up my girls. “Bitch go get motherfucking dressed; our ride will be here soon” Tye said. I ran upstairs got in the shower and got myself all the way together. That took almost 2hrs. “Zion! Hurry up!” Tye yelled. “Im coming!” I yelled. “Ooh Z you look good girl” I told myself. I did a little twerk, and scurried downstairs before them hoes leave me. “Dick got you taking yo time huh?” Melody said. I playfully pushed her. “Shut up, I have yall know that Kyrel is a gentleman okay, and he is fine as fuck. He laid it down good as hell, Yall I’m let him go because he gone fuck me up” I said. Ari sucked her teeth in. “You better get you that gentlemen peen” She said. I almost spit out my water. “Bitch, I almost died” I said laughing. “Shots!” Tye said. “I’m not uh uh, only a little Tye” Ari said. We all took shots before we headed into the party bus.

  Melody:

“Hit your main bitch, yessirskii, Doin' donuts in the six, yessirskii. You got engaged but she still wanna slurpskii” Lil Uzi “Yessirskii” played as we walked onto the Yacht. I never been on no Yacht before and bitch this shit was a dream come true, another lit drunk night for me Yesssiiirrr. My girls and I were twerking our ass off. “Fuck it up Tye!” We yelled as Tye twerked on the opening of the boat. “I always wanted to do that” She said taking more shots. We were eating and Ari and Tye were smoking, just enjoying the vibes. 2 hours had passed, and we had drunk 2 bottles of Patron. I felt more fucked up then I did last night. The movement of the boat was causing my world to spin, and I needed to sit the fuck down, ASAP! “You good Mel?” Tye asked high as fuck. “No girl I feel sick as fuck” I said. She took me downstairs to lay on a random ass bed. No matter how much I stayed still the rocking of the boat was making me feel nauseous. I got up to look for a bathroom. “Fuck” I said realizing this room had no bathroom. I stumbled to quickly find one before I threw up in these people’s boat. As I was moving fast but woozy, I bumped into somebody. “Sorry” I said. I felt hands around me. “Yo you good?” I heard. I looked up seeing the beautiful man, but I was so messed up I did not care. I shook my head “No” I could feel the vomit rising. I tried to get out of his way, but he was trying to check on me, and what I feared most happened. I could not hold it in, and I threw up all over him. I could not stop it just kept coming. “Bro what the fuck!” He yelled. “I’m sorry” I said faintly before I knew it my eyes got heavy and I passed out.

  Tye:

“Real ass bitch gives a fuck about a nigga big Birkin bag hold 5,6 figures stripes on my ass so he calls this pussy tiger, fucking on a scamming ass rich ass nigga. Same group of bitches aint no adding to the picture” All of us girls were screaming the lyrics at the top of or lungs. “You check on Mel?” Ari asked. I looked at her crazy and hurried downstairs, because niggas is weird. When I got down there, I seen she was wrapped in the blankets on the bed. “This your friend?” I heard behind me. I turned around to see a fine ass black man wrapped in a towel. I nodded. “Yeah she didn’t feel good, I’m sorry I will get her up” I said. He shook his head. “Nah, she good this my boat so she straight. She must be sick or something she threw up all over me bruh” He said. I guess that explains the towel. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry” I said. He laughed, “It’s cool if it was anybody else they have to get the fuck off, I had my home girl clean her up and I put her in here, so yall enjoy the party. Here is the key to this room just check on her when you need too” He told me. I smiled “Thanks”. I locked Melody in and went back upstairs to go see Samar.

 “Hey stranger” Samar said as I walked over to him DJing. “When we gone be able to kick it?” I asked. He looked at me confused. “What you mean nigga? we are kicking it now” He said I rolled my eyes. “Samar I’m talking like how we do back home we in Miami nigga lets kick shit have fun” I said. He nodded. “Aight movie night at my house, bring the liq I got the wings and the weed” He said. I smiled at that idea. “Aight cool motherfucker” I said just dancing to the music slick coming down from being lit. “Here drink this and come over here” Samar told me. I took the shot and came near his mixing station. “Okay now what?” I asked. He smiled. “You gone learn how to mix for a little minute”. I was excited, “Bitch I’m a star, I got these niggas wishing. He says he hungry this pussy the kitchen, yeah he my dog he going to sit down and listen call him a drink and he don’t get offended” He clicked on some buttons then went to his computer. He brought the mic over to me. “Say something” He smiled. “I don’t feel like yall lit enough for me, let me run that shit back!” I yelled on the mic. Samar ran it back. “Bitch I’m a star, I got these niggas wishing. He say he hungry this pussy the kitchen, yeah he my dog he going to sit down and listen call him a drink and he don’t get offended” Every female sang. I got happy as hell. For the whole party that is all we were doing, I am surprised they aint pay me the fuck. After, the boat owner helped us get Melody on the bus, and Samar pulled me to this side. “Do me a favor bro, don’t be out here wilding with these Miami cats okay?” He said to me. “Can it just be yall girls chilling and shit?” He asked. I busted out laughing. “Samar, I’m grown sir you don’t have to worry about me honey, I’m good” I said. He looked at me annoyed. “Tye, I’m trying to be like a big bro and be protective but okay city girl Tye” He said. I shrugged. “Thanks bro” I said rolling my eyes. Nigga fuck yo big brother face ass, the fuck. He hugged me and said bye to everyone on the bus. I see him go talk to some Randoms. Typical Nigga shit. I pull out my phone a text Julian.

[sope-lover-namjin]

So I do wattpad. I was think of posting one of my storys. So here. 😅 Believe me

J-hope had been feeling super tired lately and would sleep for hours longer than normal. Namjoon was getting fed up with j-hope sleeping all day long. Because they had a song to write and he thought Hobi was trying to avoid the work. So Namjoon pushed away from his desk and stormed out of his studio and down the hall to J-hope studio.

Once he opened the door there was Hobi with his head on his desk with his arms under them. His headphones where still on and on his computer there was the song he was working on. Namjoon slowly walk up to the other rapper and took off his head phones and put them on. He then heard the song that was not even a quarter done. Namjoon's frustration seems to have died down when he saw Hobi sleep, but when he heard the song he was pissed.

Namjoon exploded he thought maybe Hobi just got too tired and fell asleep while making the song, but when he heard what Hobi had gotten done he was fuming. He put the head set down and turned j-hopes swivel chair around on push. Then j-hope jumped up and looked around to see a very angry Namjoon in front of him.

"J-hope I leave to get work done we need this song done with in 2 weeks you can't keep sleeping. we are all tired. If I didn't think any better your are acting super selfish and lazy", Namjoon said. J-hope just looked down and sniffled. "Namjoon please stop yelling my head hurts as it is and your yelling isn't making it any better", Hobi said

Namjoon was more than over the edge. "J-HOPE LOOK YOU MAYBE MY HYUNG BUT I'M THE LEADER OF THIS GROUP AND YOU WILL DO AS YOU ARE TOLD", Namjoon screamed

Hoseok just grabbed his head and tried to hold back tears well looking down at the ground. "I'll be back later and I hope to see more than half that song done", Namjoon said and stormed out and slammed the door. J-hope then got out his phone and started to text Jin

In Messages

JH: Jin hyung i'm going home just letting you know

Jin: No your not Namjoon gave you an order and I expect you to follow it

JH: But Jin hyung my head hurts and i'm tired

Jin: Hobi look we are all tired and if you have a headache just take something

JH: How did you know Namjoon yelled at me?

Jin: I could hear it from my studio

End of Messages

J-hope was in his studio for hours he even told his dance instructor he would miss the first practice of the week. By the end of the day the song was done and J-hope had sent it to Namjoon. Once done he got up and packed his stuff well almost falling over because vertigo was slowly taking over him. He then stumbled out of his studio well holding on to the wall for support. Once in the lobby Hobi saw Jimin. "Jimin could you walk home with me?", J-hope asked

"Why were you not at Dance practice?",Jimin asked ignoring J-hopes question

"Well Namjoon wanted me to finish the song we were working on and I'm feeling kinda sick", J-hope told Jimin

"Sick how", Jimin asked

"My head hurt and the room keeps spinning", J-hope says

"Well have you eaten today?", Jimin says

"Um no not since last night", J-hope says

"Well that's why. Come on I'll walk home with you", Jimin offers

"Mk thanks", J-hope says

As they start their walk home Jimin keeps talking and J-hopes head keeping pulsing with pain. J-hope wasn't to say something but he doesn't want to anger Jimin. "Hobi hyung", Jimin says

"Yes Jimin", hobi asks

"You do know that you promised Jungkook you would help him with his mixtape", Jimin says with a kind scared kind sad tone

"I completely forgot about it. He's going to have to want this headache hurts to much", j-hope says

Just then Jungkook runs up to them out of nowhere. "Hi hyungs. Hobi Hyung can we work on my mix tape as you promised", Jungkook said excitedly

"Look kook Hyung doesn't feel to good can we do it later", J-hope asks

"J-hope hyung you promised we have all worked ourselves to the bone. I think it's time you did the same. You promised you would help me. Ya know what don't worry about it you and your fake illness can go and sleep because all you are is lazy and just a bad hyung. I'm going home the back way.", Jungkook said well storming through a park.

"Jungkook want up I know how you feel", jimin said well running after Jungkook

J-hope was left alone to walk home by himself. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. Is what I keep telling myself. As I was a block or two away from the dorm I stopped in the park. I look around for any sign of the others or people. I just start to cry. It was night now and no one goes to this park.

Great now Jungkook and jimin are mad at me. What did Jimin mean by "I know how you feel". I don't care, all I know is I'm not going home for a little. Why go home if everyone is mad at me.

I must have been there for an hour because when I got up my fingers were blue from frostbite. I still don't want to go home so I just take my time walking to the dorm.

Once inside I look around to find all the lights off did they have dinner without me? That's what it looks like. I start to walk to my bedroom when I'm stopped by someone.

"Hobi-aai where have you been", It was Yoongi. He's probably mad that I didn't come home.

"And where have you been", He says well grabbing my hand and turning me around.

"Your hands are frozen", He says in shock

"I've been down at the park", I tell him

"So you've been at the park with no phone call, no telling anyone?"he asks

"Y-yes I didn't think anything of it,'' I tell him

"Well thanks to you and your not think anything of it everyone is super concerned. We thought you got kidnapped or lost", he says

"Well no one cared when I told them I didn't feel good or I was sick,'' I shot back

"Well they were right to not believe you. You've been out in the cold all night. If you were sick you would have come home and sleep", Yoongi says

"Yoongi hyung please. You have to believe me", I pleaded

"No like I said if you were sick you would have come home and rest. But no you at the cold park for 3 hours", Yoongi says

"I'm sorry hyung", I say well looking down at the floor

"Now you can either go get some leftovers or you can go to bed", Yoongi tells me

"Ok hyung", I say well walking to my room and shutting the door.

I just dropped my bag on the floor of my room. I get changed into my pajamas and lay down on my bed. I can't help but think what Yoogni hyung must be thinking when I didn't ask for dinner/ leftovers.

I had been in my room for sometime now and still can't fall asleep. Don't you just love it when your sick and you can't lay down because of a blocked nose. That would be me right now.

As I was about to fall asleep my bedroom door opened, and in walked Taehyung.

"Good morning hyung everyone is up and Jin wanted me to come get you", he said

I just turn over to see Tae smiling and super happy. I just grunt and sit up, I tell him I will be down in a few minutes.

He then just nods and walks out. I look at my clock and it reads 7:30am. I've never hated those numbers so much in all my times of getting up for dance practise.

So I get out of bed and take off what feel like I just put on, and put on so oversized pants and shirt. I grab my dance bag and shoes and head downstairs. when I get down there I see everyone talking and laughing.

The new loud noises are what reminded me of my pounding headache. I walk over to the end of the couch and put my shoes on. As I hear Namjoon yell for everyone to get into the van. He walks over to me and sits.

"Hobi hyung i'm very happy you finished that song. I think you did very well when we get home from practice you can take the day off. I even got manager to agree with me on it", Namjoon tells me

That sounded great, music to my ears even. "Thank you Namjoon", I say in a horse voice

"Oah hyung you sound like shit you really shouldn't have stayed out in the park all night. I think you really did make yourself sick", Namjoon says in a disappointed tone

"But I was already sick before i went out", I tell him

"Like yoongi hyung told you if you were sick, you wouldn't have gone out to the park in the freezing cold last night. I don't want your lies about being sick when you were not sick",Namjoon says getting a little ticked off

Hyung it's true though," I tell him

"If you keep acting up Hobi hyung I well tell manager to take away the free day you have", Namjoon threatens

"Namjoon I will not be threatened by you. Have manager take the day away. I'm not sick anyway", I say well falling into a fit of coughs

Namjoon looks at me worried taking over him. I just get up and start to walk to the door and once in the van everyone is quiet when namjoon get in right after me.

Once we are at the studio I set my bag down in the corner of the room and walked over to our instructor.

"Hello Hoseok are you ready for today", asks are dance instructor

I just slowly node and walk to my spot on the floor. He say to everyone that we will be doing MIC DROP, IDOL, Dionysus and more. As the music began to play out of the speakers. I could feel my he headache started to get worse as the beat to MIC DROP got louder.

I start to copy what the song said well I did my dance part. It was going pretty good. At one point I forgot about my headache because I loved to dance so much that I just got into the moment. I ran off to the side as it was time for Yoongi and the others to do their part.

I ran back on and started to dance again getting light headed from the fast movements. As I my spin and head node right next to Namjoon, Jin and Jimin. The room had black dots all over it. I keep looking and the next thing I know is I'm falling to the floor like in MIC DROP. Then everything goes black.

Jin's POV

I feel bad for J-hope everyone is mad at him. But he did lie about being sick when he wasn't and now he really is sick. Well he kinda did that to himself.

I got behind Namjoon and J-hope and to the right side of Jimin for us to do are sway and drop move. But right as we were about to drop Hobi stopped moving look right a head not making any movement. I was about to ask what was wrong. Think he had a headache from the cold he got being outside all night. The next thing I knew Hobi just fell backwards. I caught him, but he was out cold his breath was uneven and he felt super hot. Which makes no sense because we just started dancing not even three minutes.

I look at Namjoon with a worried look. "Namjoon he's burning up,'' I say to Namjoon in a concurred tone

The next thing that happened everyone ran over to see if he was ok. The dance instructor walk over trying to stay calm. Just as the instructor got over to us are manager walk in.

He said, "Everyone be quiet. What happened here"

No one knows how to explain to him that J-hope just passed out. Manager walk over to the music player and turned it off.

Namjoon spoke up and said, "He just passed out, we haven't even been practicing for three minutes, and Jin hyung says he's burning up"

"Well has he been eating, sleeping and doing his work", asks manager

"We... We don't know. I told him to finish a song two nights ago because i found him sleeping at his desk, the song not even started. Also he had been acting super lazy lately. I thought he was just being lazy and not doing his work", Namjoon explains to manager

"From the sounds of it sounds like he has been sick for over a week and none of you found out", Manager told us

He then walked over to Hobi and felt his forehead.

"He's burning up there is a car out front, get him to the hospital the fever feels to high. NOW!!!!", Manager told everyone

Kook then walk over to me and pick up Hobi like he was a feather. We all started to run to the van out in the from of the building. Once out front Jungkook got in the back with Yoongi and Jimin next to him. We told the driver to drive to the hospital as fast as he could.

The driver stepped on it. Ya know sometimes it was nice to have ARMY as staff. Once the driver go us to the emergence room we ran in and told the nurse what was wrong and like seven other nurses ran over and put J-hope on a gurney and take him into the hospital. We tell the one nurse that stayed behind that we are famous and she takes us to a room away from the other people.

The others have been very quiet. I can't help but think they think it's their fault for Hoseok ending up in the hospital. I was hours before we got any news about Hobi and his condition.

Namjoon's POV

I feel like this is my fault if I hadn't pushed J-hope to finish the song he would have sleep and he could have been fine.

As I was about to fall asleep from all the over thinking as nurse walked in. she said," Mr.Hoseok is suffering from Influenza or as others know it the flu. He will be sick for a few weeks but he will be fine"

"Thank you very much can we go see him,'' I ask wanting to see if he was alright. I could hear everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes he is in room 2013. Third floor left side off the elevator down the hall", She said

We all thanked her and went to him room. As we walked in he was sleeping he looked so peaceful. He had an IV in his arm and had a thing on his finger to keep track of his pulse. There were sets for everyone. The others still look like they had some fear.

I feel like I should do something. So I asked Jin if he would like to go get some food. He just said that he wanted to be here when Hobi woke up and that he was not hungry.

I look around the hospital room to see Jungkook, Jimin and Taehyung in the row of three chairs. Yoongi was in the chair next to Hobi's bed. Me and Jin were in the love set.

Jimin's POV

I keep thinking I didn't run off with Jungkook that night, maybe if I walk home with him like he asked would he been fine now. I think Jungkook feels the same way. I hope he's not beating himself up inside like I am.

Yoongi's POV

I can't help but feel like this is my fault. Maybe if I had brought him some food after I told him to either go to bed or eat left over he wouldn't be here. I wish I had told him to go eat.

J-hope's POV

I was hours before I woke up and when I did, I was on a bed, but were? I couldn't tell the only thing that told me were I was is the beeping of the heart monitor to the right of me. I know I just woke up but I just want to go back to sleep. Just as I'm about to go back to sleep I hear someone sniffle. I can hear people talking.

"Jungkook why are you crying? Bunny everything is going to be ok I promise it's alright",Jimin asks

"But I can't help but feel like it's my fault that hyung is in that bed and we are here", Jungkook says

"It's not your fault Jungkook. Not in anyway is it your fault", someone says

Everyone goes quiet and looks at the bed. To see J-hope with is eye half way open and looking at Jungkook.

"Come here Bunny come on", J-hope says

Jungkook gets up and walk over to the bed and sits were Yoongi was before he got up.

"I'm sorry hyung if I wasn't all over my mixtape I would have seen how sick you were. The night we walk home you were sick weren't you?", Jungkook questioned

"I was and it's fine Jungkook I forgive you", J-hope says well trying to hug Jungkook from the bed

"So am I Hobi hyung if I didn't force you to do that song maybe you could still be ok. I'm sorry I yelled at you", Namjoon said

"I forgive you Namjoon you were only being a leader,'' J-hope says

"My dongsaeng can you ever forgive me. I should have given you some food when you came home. Maybe if I had you wouldn't be here or we could still be making music back at the studio", Yoongi says

"Yoongi hyung I'm not mad at you it's ok I forgive you", Hoseok said

"And I should have listened to you when you texted me and said you weren't feeling well,'' said Jin

"It's fine Jin hyung I understand where you were coming from". J-hope says

"Hyung I feel like I should have stand with you when you were walking home. Maybe if I had stand with you would have never gone to the park and got yourself even sicker. I'm sorry hyung I feel like I was a bad dongsaeng", Jimin says

"Aigo Jimin it's ok. I don't hold it you for the reason I went to the park I went so I didn't have to come home and be yelled at by everyone. It's not your fault it's not anyone's fault. I made the decision to go to the park and stay out in the cold all night and come home to upset hyung's. Which i'm sorry I made you all so worried and upset", J-hope told everyone

"Hobi hyung I'm sorry I didn't help you went I saw that you were sick. I could see from my studio that you were sick and that you wanted to sleep I should have helped you. I'm sorry Hobi hyung", Taehyung said

"Hmm Tae it's ok, I still love you all the same. I love all of you the same. I just hope that you have all learned that when I say I'm sick I really am sick", J-hope says to everyone

As Hoseok finishes his sentence everyone makes one big hug out of it. As everyone goes back to their set in the room. J-hope lets out a Yawn that gets everyone's eye to lay on him.

"Maybe you should try and sleep some more hyung you still look exhausted", Jimin says

"Ya my dongsaeng try and sleep some more. we will wake you if your needed", Jin said

Just as J-hope's eyes were about to close to let the nice land of sleep take over him. He could see and hear everyone say,"Get better soon Hoseok we love you"

Then he fell into a nice and happy sleep.

Well I think that's it I hope you like this story it has 3500 words. I never thought I could write that much in one story but here it is. J-hope passes out at dance practice or as I named it Believe Me