#hell i got rejected by the job i applied to and my first thought was 'lol just like everything else <3'< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[mysunshine-youremoonlight]

.

[jo-harrington]

On-the-Job Training (A Store Manager Verse Story - Steve Harrington/Reader)

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: Steve has a crush on the Dippin' Dots cashier.

Warnings/Themes: AU where the Upside Down doesn't terrorize Hawkins. Late Summer of 1985, Steve and Robin work at Scoops, Reader works at Dippin' Dots, Mutual Pining, Flirting, Enemies to Lovers(sort of?), Tie in with the Store Manager Verse

Note: Ok what started off as a silly little conversation about what flavor chapstick each ST character would use turned into this and I typically don't write Steve...but I had to give him some love.

Tagging my loves who were integral to that convo to thank them for inspiration especially Drac who started it all. This is for you bb. @dr-aculaaa @mopeymopeymouse @chestylarouxx @somnambulic-thing @fracturedarkness @br0ck-eddie

Technically slightly anachronistic because Dippin' Dots didn't open until 1988 but I'm a stickler for accuracy in the regular series. This is just a fun little do-dad.

You can find my masterlist here for more fics featuring pretty much exclusively Eddie Munson content but also a little Steve.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Largely unedited; I didn't even re-read it. It's might suck. Enjoy!

---

"Ahoy! One U.S.S. Butterscotch!"

Steve never thought that this would be his future after graduation.

This summer he should have been living it up before he went away to college and made something of himself. Lifeguarding at the pool, going to all the parties, hanging out with his friends.

Instead, his life went to shit, Nancy Wheeler had broken up with him, he had gotten rejection letter after rejection letter from the schools he had applied to...and instead of working at the pool like he had every summer since he turned 16, he had a crappy job slinging ice cream at Scoops Ahoy of all places at the new StarCourt Mall.

"Thanks so much," the sweet lady who had placed the order smiled at him and handed the sundae to her son. "Look at that Frankie, your favorite." The little boy shot Steve a grin complete with his two front teeth missing and Steve melted a little bit.

Alright, it wasn't so bad. He got to make people smile, he got some spending money--which was nice since his dad had pretty much cut him off, although his mom was sneaking him some cash on the side.

"Look alive dingus," Robin called from the window separating the front of the ice cream parlor from the backroom. "Your schmoopsie poo is here."

"Shut up Rob!" Steve groaned through gritted teeth.

One of the perks of working at the mall was that he got to interact with people of all shapes and sizes and yeah...Steve had tried to use it as a means to get over Nancy. He'd had little hours-long crushes on fellow mall employees, customers, Robin--although working with her made that difficult--hell there was even a manager that had caught his eye towards the beginning of summer except he'd seen Eddie "The Freak" Munson of all people hanging around her.

Although after a few months of seeing Eddie around StarCourt not being a wastoid menace, Steve had to admit...well he wasn't that bad either.

The one who'd caught his eye the most though was you, and yeah...he'd developed an actual big little long-lasting crush.

You, who came around for a root-beer float most afternoons.

You, whose smile made his heart skip a little.

You in your pink polo, teal apron, and white visor with the words Dippin' Dots emblazoned on the front.

The enemy.

And you never let him forget it either.

Steve had been heart eyes over you the first time you had entered into Scoops territory to order your float. Undercover in casual summer clothes a week after the mall had opened. There was just something about you, your smile, your laugh.

Robin teased that he said that about everyone; Steve ignored her.

Then you opened your mouth and said the float was good but the service could have been better. That Steve should stop by Dippin' Dots sometime and see how it was really done.

Shots fired.

It really hurt at first. This was his first real job outside of the community pool, one he had been excited to get. He was really nice, tried his best; why didn't you think so?

"It's called flirting," Robin insisted. "God, you really suck, you know that? How can you ask people out willy nilly and then miss someone flirting with you right in front of your face? Flirt back next time."

So he did.

Every so often he'd mosey across the mall to your kiosk, order a small vanilla cup, and throw a little insult of his own your way. Usually something about how tiny balls of ice cream could never beat an actual scoop. Or about how you didn't count his change the right way, or that your visor was on crooked.

You wouldn't hesitate to get your own comment in. Especially about his choice in flavor.

"You work at an ice cream parlor and you order vanilla?" you questioned. "A hundred flavors to choose from at scoops; do you only get vanilla there too? Vanilla...is good but when you have variety? Order something exciting one day, and then we can talk business, Stevie."

Oof, it steamed him.

But not enough to stop playing the game.

And it left you both grinning so who was he to end the fun.

So when you showed up at Scoops today after not being around for a few days and your smile didn't reach your eyes like it usually did...Steve was suddenly overcome with...well he didn't really know.

"Ahoy, uh, sailor," he greeted and tried to put on his biggest award-winning, tip-earning smile.

"Ahoy," you replied weakly.

"Root beer float?" he asked, already heading over to the case to start scooping ice cream into a cup.

"Uh," you hesitated. "No, just...just a small vanilla cup today."

Steve froze and looked at you. Your shoulders were slumped, you had your visor in your hand, and you were pointedly avoiding eye contact with him.

What was...what was wrong with you?

Where was your fight? Where was your fire? Why, all of a sudden, was your game over?

"Hey, uhm," he coughed awkwardly. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, Steve," you nodded absently.

"You always get root beer."

"I just want vanilla today."

"The special is salted caramel? I can give you a sample if you're--"

"No, I just want vanilla," you cut him off and rolled your eyes. "You always get vanilla. Why is it a problem if I suddenly do? Vanilla is good too. Maybe vanilla is just...what we both want ok? Nothing else."

He was shocked. That wasn't playful annoyance in your voice; you were just...annoyed.

"Sure," he agreed. "Sure. One small vanilla coming right up."

He got your ice cream and rang you out, and as you were about to leave, he called after you.

"See you in a little while?" he asked.

"If you want." You waved goodbye and headed out of the ice cream parlor.

Steve turned and looked at Robin who simply rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"What just happened?" he asked.

"You're hopeless," she sighed and slammed the shutters on the window closed.

---

Steve roamed around the mall on his break.

Typically, he'd make his way to Dippin' Dots but...that just seemed like a waste of time today.

He'd fixated on your visit for the rest of his shift until his break, analyzing everything he said, everything he did. Everything that could have made you mad at him.

Once he got Robin out of her hiding spot in the back room, he monologued all of his thoughts to her.

She watched him pace back and forth, called him a dingus a few times, a loser a few other times, and then finally sent him on his break with some last words.

"I know you're hearing everything they're saying Steve," she began. "But are you really listening? You just keep...ordering vanilla."

"Uh. Yeah. That's the game."

"It's not a game you...ughhhhh! GO!" She pointed to the exit. "Before I throttle you."

Why couldn't she just tell him? What had he done?

In his rumination, he'd been chewing at his lips. A habit he had pretty much done his entire life when he got nervous.

Shit, and he'd left his chapstick in the car; it was hot, it probably melted by now.

That was one of the little ways you made his life a little better...through your teasing. You had told him, once, that his lips looked dry.

"Maybe invest in some chapstick or something."

He'd gone to Melvald's that same night that you told him and got a 3-pack of strawberry chapstick. All the while wondering if it meant you had been looking at his lips for a while or...

But it was...just another little jab right? Another little flirt? Another part of your game?

Still, he never knew when you might show up so the chapstick became a constant--something that soothed him even, gave him courage--and he always had a tube tucked into the pocket of his shorts, or on the register, or in the cupholder of his car. To swipe on if he knew he was about to see you...or hoped he was.

And now...he desperately needed it, needed his strawberry chapstick--needed you--and it was nowhere to be found.

Steve stopped in his tracks and looked at the stores around him.

WaldenBooks, Regis Salon, JH Camera Repair.

Claires.

Bingo.

He'd seen little kids with their play makeup and sparkly plastic jewelry post up in one of the booths at Scoops after they spent their allowance money at Claire's. He had to find strawberry chapstick there. He'd even take cherry. Something.

Anything.

Steve crossed into the pink-and-purple-and-pop-music-filled oasis to a melodic "Welcome In" from the employee helping a little girl by the ear piercing booth. And as out of place as he felt, he was immediately relieved to see a wall full of eyeshadow palettes and glitter hairspray.

He closed the distance and frantically searched the wall, but it was all novelty makeup. There was one package of Dr. Pepper lip smackers, but the package was half-ripped and the cap was missing; he was a little worried but he figured it was better than nothing.

He was about to snatch it off the hook when that voice sounded behind him.

"Did you need help finding anything?" He immediately turned on his heel to find the employee--the manager, Eddie Munson's girlfriend--standing there in a flourish of tulle and fluorescent colors. "Oh! That's a customer favorite...looks like it's damaged though, let me just..."

She reached out to take the package but Steve reacted instinctually. He quickly grabbed it and clutched it to his chest.

"I don't mind," he tried to reason. "I don't care if it's missing the cap."

"Listen, I can't sell it to you if it's damaged," the manager explained. "It's just not safe. Is there anything else I can help you find though?"

She reached for the package again but he held it back.

"I need this," Steve tried again.

"Oh...kay."

"Because I messed up and this...you know the cashier down at the Dippin' Dots kiosk? Well...I don't know...I pissed them off or something and I just need to...go down and talk to them and I can't."

"So the lip balm is a gift for them? To make amends?"

"No...it's for me because my lips are dry." Steve sighed. "I...ok I know it sounds crazy, but I swear. It's...they got me to start using chapstick because they said my lips were dry and it's this thing we do. We go back and forth and we tease each other.

"But they're mad at me now, and they didn't...I mean they ordered vanilla. They never order vanilla. They hate it when I order vanilla."

"Uh huh." The manager's eyes went a little soft. "I'm not...really following the logic...but I get it."

"You do?"

"You like each other. But you're just...going back and forth. And no one has really...admitted it," she observed. She suddenly burst into laughter and Steve cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Sorry, sorry...it's just...whatafuckincoincidence.

"So are you the one who's afraid of being rejected? Or...are they...or..."

Cue the record scratch in Steve's head.

Rejection.

All summer...all year actually...Steve had been faced with one rejection after another. First Nancy, then all of the college applications, his dad and now...all of the little fleeting mall crushes that he'd asked out that had said no.

Robin had even made a scoreboard that sat in the back whenever someone turned him down.

He thought all this time...he'd become immune to it. But with you...it was easier to think it was just a game than to possibly face the reality that if he asked you out...you'd say no and then the little game would be ruined. And his hopes would be dashed.

He didn't realize that all of his waffling could potentially be hurting you too.

"Why don't you," the manager continued when Steve hesitated to answer, "go down there and talk to them? Even if they're mad at you. Communication is very important. I'm sure if you explain everything, or even...just show that you're willing to bridge the gap, they'd be willing to listen. The worst they could say is no, but if they're already mad, you have nothing to lose. See if they'll give you a chance."

"So I...shouldn't order vanilla this time?" He looked up at her and asked, recalling your words.

Order something exciting, and then we can talk business.

The door had been open for him to ask you out this whole time.

And that's why you ordered vanilla earlier. Because Vanilla meant...meant that this...flirtation...this game...wasn't going anywhere. He hadn't made a move, so you didn't want to wait anymore.

God, he was so stupid.

"Uh, no...don't do that," the manager smiled kindly. She reached out for the broken lip balm and took it from him. "I'll just...damage this out."

"Wait...but my lips are still dry," Steve floundered. "I still need chapstick."

"Do you think there's gonna be some kissing happening?" the manager's eyes narrowed. "I said talk to them, not...plant one on them."

"I just need...something," he begged. "Strawberry...if you have it."

"I think we have strawberry flavored lip gloss by the register."

"I'll take it."

---

So there Steve was, in the concourse by JCPenney, patiently waiting in the line for Dippin' Dots with sticky, strawberry-flavored lips tinted a very nice shade of pink.

As soon as he had swiped the gloss on...as silly as he had felt...he had been reminded of you.

"Next!" your voice sounded every so often and the line got shorter and shorter, and Steve's courage got weaker and weaker. The Claire's manager had been right though...communication...the worst you could tell Steve was "no."

"Next!" You'd be just another tally on Robin's scoreboard. And she could call him a dingus again. She really enjoyed doing that. So some good would at least come from his failure.

"Next!" He'd also get...a cup of Dippin' Dots which...if he had to admit, he kinda enjoyed. He got all the Scoops ice cream he wanted for free but this was different. Ice Cream of the Future and all that. He sort of expected Henderson to come up with something like this, the little nerd; well, if he could never show his face here again, he'd ask the kids if they could figure out how to make some kind of futuristic ice cream for him.

"Ne--oh!" Steve finally got to the front of the line and saw your shocked face. He smiled and waved as he approached the register.

"Hey," he greeted. "I told you I'd see you around."

"You did," you said flatly and scrunched your nose. "So...the usual? Small vanilla cup?"

"Uh no..." Steve said hesitantly. You raised an eyebrow in question. "I uh...can I get a large..."

"Large vanilla?" You sniffed.

"Large Rainbow Ice," he recited after squinting at the menu board. "It's time for something new."

You stared at him silently and Steve couldn't help but doubt himself.

What if Rainbow Ice was the wrong answer? Should he have gone with Banana Split? Shit he should have just stuck with Strawberry. It was his favorite. Strawberry chapstick, strawberry gloss, strawberry ice cream. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Yeah," you finally answered with a beaming smile and Steve's heart soared. "Yeah it is time for something new, isn't it?"

Next Part: Incremental Planning

[randomprose]

a series of texts/letters/notes that mo guan shan has written for he tian but will never send

note: he tian left after high school

—

xx/xx/xx to: chicken dick [unsent]

are you at wherever the fuck you should be at now? hope your flight was as shitty as your goodbye was

—

xx/xx/xx

Decided to give the old college experience a try after all. The high school teachers did say my grades were good enough to apply to some. Thanks for that I guess by the way. Studying wasn’t so bad when you have help.

Tuition costs are gonna be a bitch though so I’ll have to look for scholarship and shit.

I’m keeping my promise and trying my best to be better.

—

xx-xx 01:09 PM to: chicken dick [unsent]

[photo attached: a black puppy]

ma got a new dog. the mutt followed her from the market after she shooed some bigger dogs picking on it. 

xx-xx 01:10 PM to: chicken dick [unsent]

now it switched to following me around it’s fucking annoying. i have to look where i walk or i’ll step on it and then it’ll cry non-stop. stupid mutt. 

xx-xx 01:10 PM to: chicken dick [unsent]

told ma not to name it or it’ll get attached.

—

xx-xx 10:34 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

[photo attached: a black puppy with an orange collar]

named him tian-tian

—

xx/xx/xx

Got accepted to a university in Shanghai. Food science and tech. It feels so fucking surreal.

Ma cried when we got the acceptance letter. I legit thought it was another rejection but the envelope was different. She opened the letter because my hands were shaking. It came with a fucking scholarship. She’s on the phone now telling all our relatives about it. We’re gonna see Pa tomorrow to tell him.

I wish you were here to open the letter with me too, chicken dick.

—

xx-xx 02:38 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

ma said there’s a chance pa could get out on parole. they’re hopeful but i don’t wanna get my hopes up. 

xx-xx 02:40 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

sorry. idk who else to tell this to.

—

xx/xx/xx

I applied for an athletic scholarship too. Track and field. The one the school gave was just for basic tuition. This one will cover the rest. It helped that I won a couple of track meets in high school. Guess all that running from gang’s in middle school paid off, huh?

Did you ever imagine I’ll be in college with not one but two scholarship? ‘Cause I sure as hell fuckin’ didn’t. Holy fucking shit.

Still gotta work part time though. Living expenses in Shanghai is no joke. Fuck. Do you know how much cong you bing costs here? Don’t even get me started on how much a bowl of noodle is here. Unbefuckinglievable. 

It wasn’t even as good as the one we used to eat at after school. I miss eating xiaomian with you.

—

xx-xx 11:21 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

shanghai is fucking big and confusing. and busy. 

xx-xx 11:30 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

i missed a station and messed up my train switch.

xx-xx 01:19 PM to: chicken dick [unsent]

it’s fine. i still made it to the campus. lots of rich boys here like you btw. you would’ve fit right in.

—

xx/xx/xx

First years have to live on campus and the dorming system fucking sucks ass. And my roommate was an even bigger dick than you but at least he wasn’t a slob. No one will top you in that department I guess.

Rented a cheaper apartment off campus this year. It’s a shitty studio type, a bit cramped, but I like the privacy. It’s also closer to my part-time job and there’s this elderly couple who lives below me. I help them around sometimes and they give me food. The old landlady is a bit of a hardass though but…I think you would’ve charmed and won her over too, you smarmy ass shithead.

Rent isn’t cheap but it’s not too expensive either. If you were here, we could’ve shared an apartment. A regular one, not the high-end one you used to live in. Better for costs and splitting chores—not that you were any good at them, but you would’ve gotten better if you stayed. I wasn’t gonna tolerate your rich boy ass in college.

I know you had to leave but I wish you stayed instead. Would’ve been less lonely here.

—

xx/xx/xx

Finals exams are coming up and it’s kicking my fucking ass. Between classes and my part-time job I hardly have time to study. It’s a good thing sports training and extra-curricular activities are on pause now. But holy fucking shit why is it so hard to study?? It’s like I’m back in middle school and nothing is going in my head. How did I make it through high school?!

Yeah, yeah. I know. You were there. You tutored me and shit. Whatever, you dick. I don’t know why but it was just easier to focus with you around…but also not. It’s…you’re a distraction, but also you help me focus. Does that makes sense?

I guess what I’m trying to say is…you being around made me want to do better. 

It’s selfish but I wish it was just Jian Yi. I wish I got to keep you here with me.

—

xx/xx/xx

Exams are finally fucking done ended. I think I passed all of them. I have to pass all of them. I wanna graduate next year already. I can't be delayed. I’m so exhausted I feel like my brain is running on fumes. Bet you’ll be all smug and shit because you know you aced all your exams, you fucking smart ass. If you were here I mean. Fuck. I’m hungry but I’m too tired to get up. I want those sandwiches you used to make. If you were here would you make them for me? Would you pat my head and tell me I did a good job? When are you coming back? I miss your stupid smugass face. I miss y—

—

xx/xx/xx

I smoked a cigarette tonight. Just one. I was at a party and someone somehow had real cigarettes instead of a vape or those fancy e-cigarette shit. Does your rich boy ass use those? Or do you still prefer real nicotine? Bet you still smoke sticks you fucking edgelord.

I smoked in the balcony while my friends talked shit. Yeah, I have friends, dick head. You pick a few of those up when you do the college experience apparently. The owner of the house and the host is also my friend. Never imagined my punk ass self to hang out with college kids and get invited to honest to god normal college parties, but, fuck it. Here I am.

Zhengxi was there too. We go to the same university. Don’t think I ever mentioned that before, have I? I’m not sure what he’s taking. I think it was business? Something with a lot of math. I don’t fucking know. He’s…he’s been better. He was a fucking hot mess after Jian Yi left but now he’s…still a mess. Sometimes. I am too. After you left. But he’s trying. I am too. And some days are harder than others.

I don’t really smoke. Just felt like it tonight. Maybe it’s the alcohol (no, I’m not drunk, I barely drank) or the company. Maybe I just missed you and thought this is what you’ll do if you were here.

It was menthol. The cig I smoked. It fell cool in my lungs, calming almost, and I kind of understand why you're addicted to this shit I guess. If I didn’t hate the taste of smoke and the aftertaste maybe I’ll be too.

I didn’t hate it when you were blowing it in my mouth though.

The air in the balcony was cold. The smoke from the cig reminded me how you’d sometimes forget you still have a lighted stick between your fingers and just watch the smoke float up. I finished the stick and stubbed it twice on the ash tray before twisting it. Just like how you put it out.

—

xx/xx/xx

‘will he be sad if i leave?’ you wrote that down in your notebook. Before. In middle school. It was scratched over by ballpoint but the ink was blue and the words were written in black. It’s like you didn’t want to erase it after all. Did you want me to read it, you fuck?

Will I be sad if you leave? Guess what, dick head? I’m fucking devastated. Not really. 🖕

[bytmm]

002

Life is a trip.

I remember my freshman year of high school, in 2004, Athens Olympics, Michael Phelps won his first of many gold medals, Usain Bolt didn’t qualify out of the 200 meter heat, Abby Wambach and the USWNT won gold, Manu Ginóbili and Argentina won gold. Harold & Kumar went to White Castle, Crash came out, Lost premiered, Martha Stewart went to jail, Halo 2 came out, safe to say, 2004 was eventful. 20 years later, I am now called unc, because well, that’s life and that’s time. One day you’re a tiny 14 year old freshman, before you know it, you’re 34, wondering how you can get to your goals. Replaying every mistake, overthinking the simplest shit while you’re chasing, racing, fighting against an internal clock that is ticking faster than Usain Bolt, no one can see it, but you can feel it.

Excuse my tongue but social media has fucked us up. I’ve been on apps forever, AIM, MSN, Hotel Habbo, MySpace, all of it before the ones you see today. Maybe I was young and naive but these social media apps have us all fucked up, in some way or another. As the old adage goes, comparison is a thief of joy. As I scroll, I wonder am I doing this life thing right? I got laid off from a job I loved. I am freelancing, consistently looking for a new job, getting rejected; questioning my talent, questioning myself. Am I good enough? It’s easy to go on IG, Twitter, TikTok, hell even LinkedIn or whatever have you and feel you’re behind the 8 Ball. People are “winning”, their life looks cool. Working with brands you want to work with, having opportunities that you want, you wonder what have I done wrong to not be here. Do I quit? Do I keep going? Do they see the work I have put in? Millions of thoughts along these lines.

Professionally, I feel I should be further along and it’s frustrating; bouncing around from opportunity to opportunity. You begin to internalize every job rejection, you begin to believe something is wrong with you when you get laid off. You know what you are good at but it doesn’t show. Now you’re scared to apply for jobs, scared to reach out for help. Frustrated at the world and it spills to every facet of your life. Your friendships, relationships, everything is ary. How do you show your talent to the world and ask for someone, anyone, to take a chance on you. Knowing that you can do the job and you have a unique perspective. You don’t want to share with the world and now you’re here wondering what the hell is going on.

I try to give myself grace, even writing this, it feels like the ramblings of a mad man. It’s something I’ve never done, something I vowed to never do, vent and be personal on the internet. But turning 34, I felt I wanted to share something. Someone out there might read this and take inspiration, or take anything from it. As I’ve aged, I am sure of myself, sure of where I want to be and what I want to do, personally and professionally. But the demons, the demons fight harder than Buster Douglas on Feb. 11, 1990 (look it up if you don’t get it).

I’ve reflected on my last year, hell the last decade. Love lost, love gained, friends lost, friends gained, opportunities lost, opportunities gained. Life has a way of showing you that it’s how you react and bounce back. We all go through shit, the cards are stacked against some of us harder than others. I miss some friends, I am self aware to know where I fucked up and wish the best for those people.

My relationship with God is very complex but it’s funny how things get you reading the bible and reflecting on everything. I listened to “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers”, “Count me out” had me stuck. I never felt more vulnerable, more afraid but yet so fearless. “One of these lives, I'ma make things right With the wrongs I've done, that's when I unite With the Father, Son, 'til then, I fight.” Starting a song like that, with fresh ears, I got it. Kendrick was extremely vulnerable on this album, especially on this track. “Fuck with you from, fuck with you from a distance Some put it on the Devil when they fall short I put it on my ego, lord of all lords, Sometimes I fall for her, dawg”  has been on my spirit for months.

I’ll wrap these thoughts up shortly. Give yourself grace, don’t be hard on yourself. We are not perfect, we are human. We try, everyday. We mess up things but don’t let it define you.

Try to be your best self, everyday, we will fall short. Have empathy for your fellow human, there are some dickheads but try not to be one yourself.

In my 34 years of life, I am slowly becoming happy with who I am. There’s still work to be done.

For those of you who are in my life, my friends, my associates, my family, I love you. Thank you for guiding me. Thank you for your patience.

For those who are no longer with me, I am sorry. I still love you.

I can’t please everybody.

[lavender-long-stories]

Spoilers for Testing Success | Chapter 1 | Rated T

Fugaku Uchiha’s latest failed assistant brought him a stack of folders holding candidates for his replacement. Given the option of being fired or looking for his own replacement and transfer departments, he made the choice that would save his career. “These are the most qualified young candidates.” 

“Why young?” Fugaku flipped open the first folder.

“I only selected applicants with less than ten years of experience. Your eldest son suggested someone young enough to keep up with you,’ sir.” He didn’t look him in the eye as he muttered, good.

Fugaku dropped the first in the trash, then the next, then the next almost slipped out of his hand before he caught sight of the name. “Hyuga?”

“Oh! Sorry, she wasn’t qualified.” The assistant moved to snatch the folder, but Fugaku pulled it out of his reach. The assistant retracted, dipping his head. “She has a good GPA, but her school is unimpressive, and she’s only two years out of university, all temp work. She comes from a bland background, no family connections. I considered including her because she has the highest university scores out of the lot but nothing else impressive. I meant to take her out.” 

Fugaku barely heard him. He was transported to the past, just looking at her face. A woman smiled in his memory with those eyes and the roundness of her cheeks, but another memory’s cheekbones. His eyebrows furrowed at sour memories. “Bring her in.” He tossed the folder. 

His assistant scooped up the other folders. “Are you sure, sir?” Fugaku shifted his glare from up to him, and the man simply bowed and left. Fugaku knitted his fingers together. If this girl was who he thought she was. He was going to make her life a living hell.

--**--

Hinata straightened her blazer. She knew she didn’t have a chance of being selected to interview when she applied, but she applied anyway to bring up her hopes of having something better than temp jobs for the rest of her life. So when she was called, she was mortified to find she applied for the wrong position. Instead of being a manager’s assistant, Hinata applied to be the executive assistant to the company’s director.

Hinata wanted to decline and admit that it was a mistake, but something in the back of her mind told her she should at least try. If only to experience an interview in one of the hardest markets. If she was rejected at the highest level, at least she tried, right? You could only go up from that. 

Knowing the outcome didn’t take away all the nerves. Hinata needed to learn the process and find herself a good job. Hanabi shouldn’t worry about money for university, Hinata had to pay off her own college, and her father would need care eventually. 

Hinata needed a good job. Everything she had worked hard for was in service of that.

“Hyuga Hinata?” Hinata stood up straight, following the man. He took her into a conference room, which was already occupied by a man in an office chair turned away from them. 

The interview was grilling. Challenging questions, scenarios Hinata had never heard of needing to be solved. She answered to the best of her ability, asking questions only that she thought were relevant. He grilled her on schooling, why she had picked a cheap school, and why she had no extracurriculars, which were the ones she found the hardest to answer, even if the answer was simple. She was working two part-time jobs. She hadn’t had the time.

That was why Hinata didn’t understand being selected. People who got jobs high in a company’s infrastructure young were from wealthy families. People with connections. Why was she chosen when she so clearly came from a family with no connections?

“Why have you come like this today?” Her interviewer glanced down at her clothes.

Hinata looked down, feeling very self-conscious. She wore her best conservative pencil dress and a blazer. They weren’t expensive and a little too big, but surely she didn’t look that bad? “My clothes shouldn’t be the reason to hire me.”

He shook his head. “You would be representing the company poorly in that.” Hinata tried to keep a straight face. She felt thoroughly embarrassed, and she wasn’t even sure why. “I think we are done. You are excused.” 

Hinata stood, bowed politely, glancing at the back of the chair, still yet to turn around or say a word. It was rude, and she had already been insulted enough. Hinata bowed to the chair and walked out of the room, missing the surprised face of the interviewer.

--**--

A knock came on her door, making Hinata look up from her phone. Hanabi eyed her. Hinata was still dressed for the interview, minus her heels. She pulled her hair down on the bus to hide her face. “That bad?”

“I wasn’t qualified, but I wanted the experience anyway. It doesn’t make it hurt less.” Hinata set her phone down.

“You’ll get there,” Hanabi assured her. “I finished my homework. Come watch a movie with me.”

“I should get to bed. I have to be in the office tomorrow by five.” Hinata was tired. She took a bus and a long train ride to the interview and back.

“That place is awful,” Hanabi whined. “It’s 8 o’clock.”

“It’s temporary.” Hopefully, Hinata’s phone rang in her hand. “Hello?”

“Hyuga Hinata?”

“Yes?” Hinata wondered.

“I am from Uchiha Industries. You had an interview with me.” 

Hinata’s breath caught. They don’t call you for rejections. “Yes,” Hanabi dove to press her ear on the other side to listen.

“We are offering you the position. We need you tomorrow at 6 am sharp.” He told her.

“I… Yes, sir.” Hinata agreed.

“Goodnight.” He hung up. 

Hinata didn’t even take the phone from her ear until Hanabi shook her arm excitedly. “You got the job!!!” 

“How…?” Hinata wondered aloud.

“Who cares!” Hanabi hung herself over her sister. “It doesn’t matter if you keep this job for a month. Passing an interview at a big company will get you a job anywhere!” Hinata never told her what the company name was. Hanabi never asked. Hinata was too embarrassed that she put her resume into the biggest company in the city.

“Yeah,” Hinata wasn’t sure she would last a day.

Testing Success

Pairing: Sasuke x Hinata Rating: T

Description: Hinata accidentally applies for the director's assistant position at Uchiha Industries. Though surprised when she gets the job, it seems like the director has it out for her. His sons seem to be on her side, though.

Tags: Romance  |  Fluff and Angst  |  Happy Ending  |  Alternate Universe - Office  |  Alternate Universe - Modern Setting 

[rocknrollsalad]

STWG Daily Prompt (Nov 19) - ADHD

✏️ pairing(s): stonathan

🖊️ Steve can't really focus or accomplish this task he doesn't even want to do. Of course, it's something he needs to do. Jonathan steps in to help in a few ways that really benefit Steve.

📄 content/trigger warnings: fire, house fires (hypothetical)

✏️ word count: 1343

“All you have left is the essay,” Jonathan said, shaking blank notebook pages in the air. They crinkled with anger his voice didn’t have.

“I’ve tried to write it, like, fifty times! I sit down at my desk and I think ‘yeah, this is it, I’m going to write this!’ and then I think ‘wow, when was the last time I washed the bath mats’ and then I’m downtown grabbing pizza with Dustin. Robin says it’s classic fear of failure. They can’t reject me if I don’t apply.”

“So glad she took Psych 101.”

“She’s kind of wrong though, right?” Steve stopped his pacing to look over at Jonathan, who still wore the same disappointed look that Steve so desperately wished had left by now.

“Uh, yeah.”

“I mean, we know they’re going to reject me. I don’t have to be afraid of it.”

And there the look goes. It’s replaced by this sadness Steve usually only sees sent Will’s way when he’s not looking. It doesn’t feel like an improvement.

“I just want to do something meaningful but I could, like, get a job at a pet shelter or something. That’s good. Old people need read to…okay, yeah. I see the problem with that one but you know what I mean.”

“Or you could do this and follow your dreams or whatever.”

Jonathan tossed the paper down on Steve’s desk the same way Steve’s dad did back when he helped with homework. All of it brought up this feeling of failure. Not of not knowing because Steve knew the stuff but yet he couldn’t sit down and get it on paper. Something that came so easily to other people, he couldn’t do. It frustrated his dad, mom, teachers, exes, and now Jonathan. A tradition Steve didn’t need to carry on.

He didn’t know how to distract Jonathan, how to switch the subject, and find something else to focus on. It wasn’t like he could bribe the guy or tempt him with a swimming pool they both avoided like the plague. Maybe Steve would get lucky and he’d be hungry.

As Steve ran through his choices, Jonathan was off doing his own thing. Something that collided when he put a Rubix Cube in Steve’s hand. “What the hell is this for?”

“Solve it,” he said simply.

“It’s impossible. You think I haven’t tried?”

“It’s not impossible.” Sitting down at Steve’s desk, no doubt rolling his eyes first, Jonathan looked back and silently added, “Get on with it.”

“Seriously, I’ve had this thing forever. It’s never going to be solved.”

“Okay, well Jim got one whole side green except the corner and it sits on our mantel like a Nobel Peace Prize. I never really thought he was smarter than you but maybe I was wrong.”

“No, no, no. I’m way smarter than Hopper. I can’t be–”

“Show me what you can do then.”

This almost felt like bait and Steve stared across the room through narrowed eyes, trying to figure it out, but decided it was the distraction he was looking for. Jonathan could do whatever and Steve had a fun but old problem to solve because he was definitely better than the former chief of police.

Wandering around the room, Steve shifted the block a couple of times as he studied what was where and what moved to where. He started to get a bit of plan when Jonathan perked up from what he was doing.

“If your house was on fire, like, right now…what would you save?”

“Am I the only one here? I mean, you, obviously.”

“Obviously,” he said with an eye roll Steve got to see this time.

Blowing a kiss back, Steve looked down to make sure he’d connected the two oranges.

“I think it’s safe to assume the people are out of the way. You and I were cooking, grease fire sort of thing and we got out in plenty of time. The fire department is on the way but things are catching fire fast.”

“Okay, just as easy. Mom would die if her photo albums didn’t survive. There are ones in there of when SHE was a kid. So I’d grab those but I feel like I’d also have time to grab some clothes. At least for you and I but maybe for my parents. Just, ya know, so we had something.”

“Clothes?”

“It’s kind of stupid but even if the firefighters put everything out before it wrecks our closets, the stuff is going to smell like smoke so it’s all gonna need cleaned. You know as well as I do how much changing into clean clothes makes things feel better.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“So, yeah. I’d grab us stuff like that. How much time do I have? I could get toothbrushes. If Mom and Dad are on vacation, they’ll be fine. It’s just me and you and mom’s pictures.”

“What about all these trophies?”

“What about them?” Steve scoffed, looking up and back down to work another orange onto the face he was working on. “A bunch of achievements that mean nothing, especially now. No one is impressed by this. Least of all me.”

Steve had resumed pacing in a circle at the foot of his bed. As he clicked the cube in all directions, he’d started to figure out how it worked a little better than he ever had before. A line of three was already beating his personal record but it was also giving him confidence he could complete the whole thing.

Jonathan was scribbling on paper and as much as Steve wanted to know what, he was too focused on this stupid cube.

They continued like this for a while. Jonathan asked a bunch of weird questions, they talked back and forth about the answers, and Steve wandered his room. Orange didn’t pan out but he was now halfway to a white face.

It was trying to get the sixth one in that was really starting to boil Steve’s blood. He knew how it needed to happen but wasn’t able to get it to work. Not wanting to mess up what he had too much to get the rest.

That was the same time Jonathan stepped up and placed and hand on top of the now messed-up side Steve had just clicked into. Looking at him to ask if he was looking to be murdered today but met with the softest smile. Immediately disarmed, Steve was left with comical annoyance.

“So you have a whole essay here. One that shows who you are and how you obnoxiously don’t think about anyone other than yourself. Not that it's worded that way, though. It’s good and any college would be stupid not to take you. You’re not bad at this, you’re bad at sitting still though.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“It’s not a bad thing.”

“You don’t say it like it’s a good thing.”

“Well, you’ll have to do a lot of it for a while if college is where you want to go. Starting later tonight, okay?”

“What! Why?” Steve’s head drops backward as he whines.

“Because I can’t write it for you. It’s gotta come from you but I got you a whole outline, quotes to work off of, it’s going to be turning it all around to get the cubes right okay? Make the puzzle work, it's easier than starting from nothing.”

“After dinner?”

“I don’t know, I might try and tire you out after dinner. See if that helps your focus.”

Before Steve’s brows can completely furrow everything clicks and his eyes go wide. “I have a lot of energy right now, I think.”

“Go for a fucking run then.”

There wasn’t any bite behind that but Steve was willing to play around and let Jonathan think he was hard to get. Tossing the Rubik’s cube to the desk, Steve played the game and he played it well. They had loads of time to “tire him out” before dinner. And maybe…if he was lucky, they could drag him through this essay too.

[nihilnovisubsole]

Hi, I hope this isn't a bother, but I'm attempting to be a writer and feeling a bit lost in my life, trying to gain some footing, and I was wondering how did you start out with writing or what has your writing journey looked like? Did you go to school for writing specifically or was it something that came after?

sure, i can always talk about that. i've told a lot of these stories before, but they're worth re-telling. your perspective changes over the years. when you say "lost" and "trying to gain footing," i'm not sure whether you mean professionally or emotionally, so i'll talk about both.

i always wanted to be a writer. a lot of writers share that experience: a deep, primordial urge that they felt from an early age. they'll say, "i can't not write," or they'll describe these nagging ideas that they simply have to exorcise. it's not everyone, though. some people start writing to process a hard time in their life, or they journal, but don't think about making a career of it until later. some authors say a specific book awakened something in them. you get the idea. in short, there's no bad place to start.

but i always knew. i also knew i wanted to be a lit major, and i grew up in a household that pushed very hard toward that. i didn't care that it wasn't a slingshot to a high-paying job. i wanted to study books and be a writer, and that was that. [there were a few reasons i chose lit over creative writing! we can get into that later. i'm already going to keep you a while.]

this is a philosophically-tricky part of the story to tell. i don't know where you are. in america, college is, well, a lot. it's hideously expensive. most undergrads go into debt. many would question the wisdom of throwing that money toward an english degree. it's an ugly debate, and it squeezes the beating heart of what you think the point of higher education is. i don't get into it, because between good grades and sudden, extreme poverty, the financial aid system took pity on me. i got my lit training debt-free. i was lucky. most people don't. i'm very glad i did it! should you? you'll have to decide for yourself.

the thing was, in my late teens, i didn't appreciate it. i was too busy fretting that i wasn't any good. [if you've read my old stuff, you might laugh to yourself and say, "oh, don't worry, you weren't!" but, you know, don't rub it in.] i was down a well that most creative people find themselves in at some point: both terrified to fail and utterly convinced that i would. i thought i'd never manage to write a novel-length story. my plots had huge flaws that i had no idea how to fix. so i just... did nothing! i avoided serious writing projects for years, because it was easy, and i didn't want to confront all that.

it took two things to break me out of that: fallout new vegas, and life dumping a bucket of cold water over my head. many games have great plots, but fallout new vegas hit storytelling notes that i'd never seen in an RPG before. i felt connections to steinbeck and the old movies i'd been raised with. i wanted to dig into the world and explore new corners of it. at the same time, i noticed that some people were skeptical of my writing, and even the legitimacy of my desire to pursue it. it made me mad as hell! more than that, it made me realize that if you want to do something, you have to actually do it. i'm not telling you to write a thousand words a day. i'm saying your love of it has to triumph over your fear of being bad. don't underestimate spite as fuel. i threw myself into a new vegas fanfic, and once i finished it, i never looked back. i've written steadily ever since.

even so, i had a problem. you can't pay bills with fanfic. i graduated, and the world of adult finance became real. first, i kicked the can down the road and applied to writing MFAs, thinking i'd get scouted for a publishing deal there. i got rejected from all of them, and i later found out that MFAs don't work like that anyway, so, eh. i cried, i moved on. i still had to make some money, so i took a job transcribing reality TV bites for some fifty bucks a week. it was only a couple of years later that i noticed a friend of mine had found a contract job writing for a mobile romance game. i inquired about it, and - hallelujah! they were taking new writers! it didn't work out the first time! they asked me back a few months later! as gullible and desperate i was, and as sour as things became, i still never would have gotten started if it weren't for them.

if you're looking for work, i'd tell you to keep your eyes open. writing opportunities won't always come where you think they do. as henry rollins says, "say yes to stuff." i could give you a more detailed history of my job-hunting if you'd get some use out of it. if your conflict is more emotional, i'd ask, what are you drawn to? what parts of human experience interest you? failing that, what do you find hot? you're smart. you'll figure it out.

[ugly-sweater]

im still sick as hell but im gonna do a little 2022 year in review i think. i used to do book lists on my old tumblr but i didn't do too much reading this year. i posted on my ig & saved to my highlights if you want book thoughts (or i guess request it here i don't mind too much).

2022 feels both dreadfully slow & pretty eventful. i moved to canada for 5 months, then back to MA as you can only stay without a visa for 6 mo. i applied to grad school, which was a painful process that im unfortunately still struggling with. i spent as much time as i could with my wonderful girlfriend. i got 3 tattoos. i made new friends and separated from old ones.

but also i worked the same job ive been at for years both before and after canada. sold my car & am back to relying on rides from friends. barely read any books by my standards (22, my goal was 25 which i purposefully set to be low, though i did read like 50 volumes of one piece). i also spent ten months knitting a blanket for my sister, which i ended up not giving her... (she was supposed to get married in novemeber. her bf broke up with her in october. i thought it would just be a kind of painful gift....) but it is a gorgeous blanket & im really proud of it (i left it at joy's place though).

i don't really do resolutions but i guess what i want out of 2023 is to get into one of the schools i applied to (already rejected from my first choice due to missing a paperwork deadline alas), read more books, make more art, be kind to myself and others. joy got me an introductory stained glass class for our anniversary that's happening in february, something ive been really interested in this year. i got some punch needles and embroidery hoops for christmas. i have a lot of knitting projects planned.

even when i am depressed, and i am depressed somewhat frequently apparently, i still think about how i am glad to be alive so i can appreciate birds and cool rocks and love my friends. i hope 2023 is good to me, and good to you too

[idy-ll-ique]

I posted 346 times in 2022

36 posts created (10%)

310 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@writing-prompt-s

@donaweasley

@badjokesbyjeff

@muresetivoire

@metamorphesque

I tagged 59 of my posts in 2022

#writing - 34 posts

#marvel - 33 posts

#disney - 33 posts

#avengers - 33 posts

#mcu - 33 posts

#writeblr - 32 posts

#fanfic - 32 posts

#bucky barnes x reader - 22 posts

#sebastian stan x reader - 20 posts

#winter soldier - 19 posts

Longest Tag: 107 characters

#stop fetishizing queer people!! stop the fetishization of queer men! stop the fetishization of queer women!

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

fortune

pairing: ceo!bucky barnes x f!reader

genre: fluff, angst, smut

warnings: ...smut. gets a lil graphic you have been warned

requested: nope

word count: ~6.7k

summary: they meet when y/n returns bucky's lost wallet. who knew that bringing him his fortune would also bring her her own someday?

author's note: hiya peeps! im about to hit 1.1k followers, so excited!!!! enjoy!

masterlist

---

"Ah— o-oh, okay, thank you for calling."

Y/N ended the call with a sigh, looking up at the sign board of the café before walking in. She'd gotten a call about the most recent job interview that she did, but it was a call that rejected her. Similar to the 10 other jobs she'd applied for. "What the fuck," she mumbled to herself, crossing her arms as she stood in line for her regular order. In front of her, stood… a tall man.

At least, he was a good head taller than her. He had broad shoulders, and, judging from what she saw from the back, looked like he lived at the gym. He had thick, luscious brown hair that reached his shoulders, tied in a half-up, half-down style. After judging the stranger for a good minute, she took out her phone and started looking through it. Soon, it was the stranger's turn to order. "A black coffee for me, please."

"Of course you order that," she whispered to herself, rolling her eyes. He received his order and turned to leave; Y/N quickly stole a glance at him, blinking twice when she realised— he was actually a good-looking man. Strong jaw, a structured nose, stormy blue eyes, pink, full lips… "Oh, hey Y/N! The usual?" Y/N snapped out of her thoughts and turned to the barista, whom she had become good friends with. "Hi Alexa, yeah, the usual for me, please."

"So, did you get a call back from that place?" Alexa asked as she prepared Y/N's coffee. "They rejected me," she sighed and Alexa crooned sympathetically. "They lost a good one, I can tell," she chuckled, "No worries babe, you'll find a job soon!" Y/N laughed along, accepting the cup Alexa handed her. "If nothing works out, I can come work here," she winked at the barista, who grinned broadly. "Hell yeah! Bye!"

With a wave, Y/N left the café, sipping on her coffee. Only, as she walked, she suddenly tripped on something, stumbling forward. Y/N caught herself easily, turning to look at what she had tripped on. "A wallet?" She walked back to pick it up. Upon opening the wallet, the first thing she found was a photo and a business card. "James Barnes," she read. But as she looked at the photo, she gasped. It was the handsome stranger from the coffee shop!

She checked the wallet further; it was stuffed full of… credit cards. There were at least 5 cards in there, along with a few 100 dollar bills. So, the guy was rich… For a second, a thought passed through her head— should I just keep the wallet? As soon as the thought passed she shook her head; she wasn't a thief, she could never steal a person's wallet! It was best to return it to the rightful owner. Hey, maybe he'd compensate her somehow for finding it.

So she quickly checked the address on the business card; his office wasn't that far, just a 10-minute cab ride away. Y/N stopped a cab and got in, showing the driver the address. The driver took her there, and as she got out of the cab, she looked up at the massive building, her jaw dropped. No wonder James Barnes is so rich, when you work at a company like this… She cleared her throat and walked inside the building, looking around.

But not even 15 steps into the building she was stopped by a security guard. "Ma'am, do you have an appointment? You can't enter without a pass," he said sternly and Y/N blinked at him. "I just— I have the wallet of one of your employees, I simply came to return it," she stammered. The receptionist walked over to them, an unfriendly look on his face as well. "What's going on here? Do you have a pass, miss?" he asked her.

"I told you, I'm just here to return—"

"A wallet, yeah, we heard. But you can't just barge in here like this, this is a very important building—"

Y/N hung her head low as the two men lectured her. In the end, the receptionist held his hand out. "Give the wallet, I'll make sure it reaches its owner safely." She didn't want to stay in the building another minute. But as she took out the wallet from her purse, her eyes landed on James Barnes himself, who walked out of an elevator. He was flanked by no less than 6 other office members; he was wearing a very expensive blue suit, too.

Y/N figured it would be better if she gave the wallet to James himself instead of the receptionist, so she yelled, "Mr Barnes! Mr Barnes, over here!" Bucky looked over at her, eyes narrowing in confusion. "Give me a minute," he whispered to his assistant before walking over to Y/N, hands smoothing out his suit. "What is it?" he asked her, a polite smile on his face. She handed him the wallet. "You dropped this outside the coffee shop."

Bucky blinked at his wallet, before looking up at her in question. His eyes then landed on the receptionist and the security guard; his nostrils flared when he noticed how the security guard was holding her by the arm. "Let her go," he hissed and both of them took a few steps away from Y/N. She adjusted her t-shirt and smiled at Bucky. "You know, the café you stopped by around half an hour ago? I was in line behind you. But as I left, I saw a wallet on the ground and recognised you from your photo."

He looked down at his wallet, and up at her. "You can check, all your cards and cash are in it, untouched. I promise I didn't steal anything." Bucky chuckled and opened his wallet. Indeed, everything was perfect. "I'm surprised you came to return the wallet at all," he told her, "If someone else had seen a wallet this hefty they might've kept it." Y/N instantly shook her head.

"I'm not a thief! Granted, I do need the money but come on, I'm not gonna steal someone else's money like that…"

Bucky's brows furrowed when she said she needed money. He dug into his wallet and pulled out a card; it was the latest one he'd gotten, and he hadn't used it even once. "Take this." Y/N blinked several times at the card before looking at Bucky, jaw dropped. "Mr Barnes, you don't have to do this—" Bucky shook his head. "I do. You saved me from a big loss, Miss…?"

"Y/N Y/L/N."

"Miss Y/N. You deserve this, please, take it." She kept refusing, raising her arms in surrender in front of her chest. "Please, I really can't. It's your money, I just did my duty as a citizen…" Bucky scoffed and grabbed her hand, placing the card on it. "Please. Keep it, I insist." Y/N expertly reached her hand out and slid the card in the front pocket of his suit jacket. "No, it's your money. I, uh, I'll get going now." But before she could turn, Bucky took her hand again. "Dude, I'm not—"

"No, no, I'm not offering you my money," Bucky laughed, "If you won't take the money, I… will you go on a date with me? Please, do me at least that much of a favour." Y/N stared at him for a few seconds. He seemed kind and friendly enough, plus he was good-looking and rich, so— "Alright fine, a date it is." Bucky grinned widely. "Awesome!" He handed her his phone, and she quickly uploaded her number in it. "I'll give you a call, hopefully you're free this evening?"

See the full post

550 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

#4

safest with you

pairing: bodyguard!steve rogers x f!reader (brief mob boss!oc x f!reader)

genre: mob au; angst, smut, fluff

warnings: smut, adultery, cheating spouses, mentions of abusive households, mentions of poor mental health, mentions of marital non-con sex, domestic abuse, violence and murder. whew.

requested: nope

word count: ~8.5k

summary: y/n y/l/n is forced to marry a mobster named edmund silverstein, who turns out to be the worst husband ever. when someone attempts to assassinate y/n, he decides that y/n is in need of a bodyguard so he hires steve rogers to look after her. but y/n and steve start falling for each other and begin a secret relationship which, unfortunately, edmund finds out about. so it's okay when he cheats but it isn't when y/n does the same? steve fails to find the logic in that.

author's note: hiya peeps! my longest fic yet, i've been writing this for like... 8 days. really hope everyone likes it, enjoy!

masterlist

---

"Y/N, come downstairs this instant!"

Y/N looked up from the book she was holding. "What now," she muttered, keeping it away before trudging down the stairs, annoyed. She hated it when people interrupted her reading. "What, mother?" The second word, laced with sarcasm. "Lower your tone, miss," her mother hissed, "We have guests." That's when she noticed the three men sitting in front of her mother and her father.

The one in the middle, she'd seen him before. Alas, she didn't remember his name but she knew he was sort of like the Kingpin in the mob world. The God among men, the most revered and respected mobster of all time. "Hey, sweetheart," he winked at her as she sat next to her mom. "...Hi," she blinked after a pause. What was he doing here?

"You don't remember me? Wow, didn't think such people existed," he whistled, leaning back on his seat. "I know who you are," she bit back, "I just don't know your fucking name." She yelped when her mother slapped her arm. The man's eyebrows shot up. "Such language, my my my. Anyway, the name's Edmund, Edmund Silverstein," he chuckled.

Ah, that's it! Edmund Silverstein!

"Right, Mr Silverstein," she drawled, "Now that I've had the pleasure." A sneer took over her lips. "I shall take my leave." But as she got up to go Edmund grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him. She stumbled and fell right on top of his lap, clutching her heart. "What are you doing?" she asked, horrified.

He draped his arm over her waist and held on, his other hand coming to caress her cheek. "What's the rush? There's a thing we need to talk about with your mummy and daddy," he smirked and Y/N wiggled, begging him to let her go. "Afraid I can't do that, you'll just run again. So sit tight, angel, and listen to what your father has to say." His hold on her waist tightened, becoming uncomfortable.

Her father cleared his throat. "As you know, our family has a peaceful alliance with Mr Silverstein," he began. She agreed; they did, in fact, have one. "And um, recently we've got into some trouble so… we need you to marry Edmund." An incredulous sound escaped Y/N. "What?! Marry— what?! Dad! I'm still so fucking young, you want me to—"

"It's for everyone's benefit," he countered, "If you don't do this, we're doomed. We'll be killed, do you understand?! So if you want to save your life, and ours, marry Edmund by next week." Y/N shook her head. "First of all, I do not give a rat's ass about your lives." She gestured to both her parents. "Second, killing myself would be a better choice than—"

She did not get a chance to finish her sentence, for right at that second Edmund clamped his hand over her mouth. "How fucking dare you," he whispered in a menacing tone in her ear, "How fucking dare you say that?!" When he yelled the second question Y/N startled badly, starting to tremble on his lap. She had a condition; ever since she was born she had been terrified of loud noises.

Whether it be someone yelling, or even simply shouting with joy, she couldn't stand it. Hell, her own voice was soft, people always had to ask her to speak up when she talked. As for why she hated her parents, it was because… Growing up, Y/N was never allowed to leave the house. Never allowed to go beyond the front gates.

Her first (and only) friends were the butler and the housemaids. She grew up thinking it was normal; her parents made it seem that it was normal for kids to grow up cooped inside their houses, never allowed to leave and never permitted to make friends their age. Only when she became an adult did she realise how… not okay it was.

She got a phone at the age of 21, a few years ago. When she joined Instagram, the social media app, only then did she find out— She even reached out to a few people online, and they told her that yes, indeed, keeping her cooped up in the house was abusive and toxic.

She'd confronted her parents once about how they treated her but they deterred the topic, saying how they only did it out of love. Since then, her trust in her parents was ever-dwindling.

"Now don't be scared," Edmund crooned upon feeling her tremors, "I will keep you safe, princess, I promise your mum and dad." She took deep, shaky breaths, collapsing against his chest. He rubbed her back, turning apologetic looks unto Mr and Mrs Y/L/N. "I completely forgot she has a thing about loud noises. I'm sorry." They waved in dismissal.

"We're getting married whether you like it or not, sweetheart. Not only yours, but my head is at stake too." With that, he stood up and placed her down on the chair on which he was sitting, running his hand over her head. "See you." Pressing a small kiss on her forehead, he nodded at her parents and motioned to his goons, walking out of the room. They followed him out.

After they were gone, Mrs Y/L/N turned to Y/N. "Go to your room, you embarrassing piece of shit," she muttered and Y/N stood up, readily leaving. Once she was inside, she dramatically flung herself onto her bed, her book long forgotten as she buried her face in her arms, starting to sob.

One afternoon changed everything.

Her life, for the worse.

---

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551 notes - Posted February 17, 2022

#3

the highest bidder

pairing: retired avenger!bucky barnes x f!reader

genre: fluff

warnings: smut at the end, unprotected sex, mild degradation kink

requested: nope

word count: ~3.6k

summary: y/n's brother owns a charity. there is a date auction planned, and the highest bidder gets to go out with her. sam wilson is good friends with her brother and is invited to the auction, so he brings bucky along. bucky, when he sees y/n, decides he has to have her, no matter the cost. thank goodness avenging the world pays well ;)

author's note: hiya peeps! i saw a reel about this date auction concept a while back and really felt like writing something based on it lmao enjoy!

masterlist

---

“Y/N, can you come here for a while?” She looked up from her laptop when her name was called. Leaving her bedroom, she went downstairs to see her brother and some of his friends sitting in the living room, tense. “Is everything okay?” she asked worriedly and he looked at her. “You see, we’re organising this charity function 2 days from now…”

He sighed. Her brother and his friends owned a small but well-known charity. “The problem is,” Ken, one of the other men present there spoke up, “We were planning on holding an auction but we don’t know what to auction.” Oh, yeah, that could be a problem. “You don’t have any valuables that you can give away?” Daniel shook his head. “We did that at the last auction, now we have nothing to give.”

“How about a date auction?” Y/N blurted out. “Maybe invite rich, single men and have them bid money for a date with a woman or something? I’ve read stuff about it, it always seems to work.” The men shared glances and her brother looked at her. “But a date with whom? We don’t know any models or anything, if that’s what you’re suggesting.” Y/N leaned against the doorframe. “She doesn’t have to be a model, if she has enough societal status, that works.”

“So someone like you?” Tyler blurted out. “Me?” Y/N blinked. “Yeah! I mean, you’re not half-bad, you look nice, and you’re Y/L/N’s sister, so that’s enough of a status!” he elaborated. “And you’re single, too. Do you want to be a part of this auction?” She rubbed the back of her neck, a sad smile blooming on her face. “I don’t think anyone’s gonna bid for me, it won’t work out.” Her brother scoffed and walked up to her, slapping her back.

“Don’t be like that, idiot, you’re okay-looking! And that’s coming from me!” The others laughed as she hit his shoulder, shaking her head. “Alright fine, the highest bidder gets to go on a date with me. But if it flops or the charity doesn’t make enough money, that's on you guys, not me.” They all agreed and Y/N went back to her room, sitting in front of her laptop.

“Sure hope someone bids on me, or that’s just embarrassing,” she muttered before hitting resume, continuing to watch the show she was watching on Netflix.

---

“What, Wilson?” Bucky tiredly spoke, keeping his book down. “There's this charity function,” Sam insisted on the other side of the call, “It’s organised by my friend and he has invited me.” Bucky groaned, rolling his eyes. “Then go! Why did you feel the need to call me?” Sam clicked his tongue in annoyance. “You have to get out of your house, Barnes.”

After everything that had happened when the Avengers undid the snap, Bucky was tired. Steve went back to the past, leaving behind his friends of more than a decade for a woman he talked to in total for 2 hours and kissed once. Then he returned as an old man and died just a few months later. Stark was dead as well. Romanoff was gone. The team had scattered.

Bucky was exhausted. He’d put in his resignation just a few days after Steve’s death, and now he was a free man. No longer the Winter Soldier, but also no longer the White Wolf. He was simply James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes, a 105 year old man trapped inside the body of a 35 year old man. All he liked to do was sit at home, watch TV, read books, go grocery shopping, eat and sleep. The only people from the Avengers he had maintained contact with were Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff.

Lately, she hadn’t been returning his calls. Wonder what happened. “What good will it do to me if I get out of my house, Sam?” he countered. “New opportunities! You’ll meet new people, maybe get a decent girlfriend or something…” Sam always brought that up. Bucky was single; he’d been on countless dates but none of them were ever satisfactory. “Hell, this charity event has a date auction!”

“What the actual fuck is a date auction?”

“The highest bidder gets to go on a date with the organiser’s sister. She’s a super gorgeous woman, I’m sure the charity’s gonna flourish.” Bucky raised an eyebrow. They auctioned people nowadays? “Hm, that does sound interesting,” he muttered. “Then come along! You don’t even have to bid, we can just watch.” Bucky scratched his stubble-covered chin, looking down at his book. “Fine, I’m in. Just text me the date and venue of the function, I’ll meet you there.”

“Awesome. I’m texting you the day and address, be there on time, okay? And dress nicely, not like some homeless hobo who hasn’t showered in weeks.” Before Bucky could retort Sam ended the call. “I’ll have you know I shower everyday,” Bucky muttered to himself. He checked his phone; the function was 2 days later, and the venue was a mere 10 minutes away.

“Well that’s convenient,” he chuckled to himself and kept his phone away, picking his book up.

2 days passed by in a breeze. On the day of the function, Y/N was in the process of putting on her dress when there was a knock on the door. She quickly adjusted her dress before calling out, “Come in!” Her brother poked his head into her room. “You ready? The event starts in 30 minutes.” She shook her head. “Not yet, I’ve yet to do my hair and makeup, you go on ahead. I’ll meet you there.”

She wore a beautiful, shimmering golden gown that reached her ankles, had a thigh-high slit on her left leg, as well as spaghetti straps with a loose, plunging neckline that offered enough of a hint of what was underneath but still left things to the imagination. The dress fit her perfectly; she looked like a goddess in it. “That dress is cool, by the way,” her brother smiled before leaving.

It took her another half an hour to get ready. She’d even purchased matching, golden stiletto heels that were supposed to be laced up upto her knees. They matched well with the dress. Finally ready, Y/N grabbed her purse and left the house, going to the venue.

At the venue, Bucky and Sam arrived precisely at 6:30 in the evening. Mr Y/L/N was standing at the entrance and grinned when he saw the two Avengers. “Wilson, hey man!” The two shared a hug and Mr Y/L/N turned to Bucky, holding his hand out for a handshake. “Mr Barnes, it’s a real honour.” Bucky forced a smile, shaking hands with him. “Likewise, Mr…”

“Y/L/N, sir. Please, go in, have some drinks and enjoy.” Sam thanked his friend and the two of them walked in to see a lot of guests already present there, chatting with each other. Bucky noticed, though, that a lot of those guests were male, specifically, men between the ages of 25 and 40. “The bidders, probably,” Sam whispered to him, handing him a glass of whiskey.

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680 notes - Posted April 7, 2022

#2

jealousy, jealousy

pairing: ceo!steve rogers x f!reader

genre: angst, fluff

warnings: smut at the end (can you tell steve has a domesticity k*nk because— 😳) unprotected sex so don't learn anything from my fics and use some damn protection

requested: by my best fren @roguese7en 🥰

What if ceo admits his feelings to his assistant reader and she is like "you only keep me around cause you like me ? Not because of my abilities , degrees , hardworking etc etc " and she start hyperventilating like oh no that's why all her colleagues hate her and all her hardwork is washed down the drain but ceo is like " no , no I did keep you around because of how hard you work at first and you still do but I just over the months realized you are so beautiful ...... shit it came out wrong , sorry I scared you . Wait ....... who hates you ?"

word count: ~3.3k

summary: steve plans on telling y/n how he feels by calling her to his house to help him with some paperwork. but it doesn't go as planned and lot of workplace secrets are revealed... thankfully, it all works out in the end

author's note: hiya peeps! so @roguese7en has already read this fic and she liked it so i just wanna post it here because it's high time i post something lmao enjoy!

masterlist

---

"Y/N? What are you still doing here?"

Caught in the act, Y/N looked up at her boss, Steve Rogers. He was frowning at her; though it seemed like more of a confused one rather than a disappointed one. "I, uh, I just—"

Y/N Y/L/N was the assistant of CEO Steve Rogers, who owned a massive company that also had international branches. He was widely known across the globe as well; every day, without fail at lunchtime he'd go out, only to return 2 hours later. And ever since Y/N began working for him, she spent her lunch break in his office rather than with all her other colleagues in the cafeteria.

Why? They all hated her. It wasn't like a discrete thing either, they were very open about it. They called her names, bullied her, and also often told her that the only reason Steve had hired her was because he found her to be physically attractive. They even insinuated that the two had a sexual relationship, and that's how she got her job. So her degrees were just useless, right?

She avoided them like the plague; she only ever spoke to Steve, and spent all her breaks alone. But that day, Steve had apparently come back earlier than usual, and caught her sitting on the couch in his office, going through her phone. He was incredibly confused; why wasn't she outside like the rest of his employees? His office was strictly out-of-bounds for loitering around.

"You know you can tell me, right?" Steve smiled softly, taking a seat behind his desk. Y/N had started working for the man around 2 years ago; she was the best damn assistant Steve could ask for. Not only because she was super hardworking, very intelligent and amazing, but also because he… he had a mild infatuation with her, AKA he was in love with her. The woman was simply brilliant.

She was kind of overqualified for the job as well; one day, he'd asked her why she didn't just open her own company and she'd replied that that was simply not her thing. She liked the work she was doing now; managing his timetable, arranging his meetings, looking after some of his work… Plus, he was paying her well, so why would she choose stressful work when this job existed?

That had earned her massive respect from Steve. As the two continued staring at each other, Y/N sighed. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again," she muttered, rubbing her neck. "I just wanna ask, why? I've also noticed you don't talk to anyone much; is there a particular reason why?" She shook her head. "I'm just… shy, I guess." Y/N decided not to snitch on anyone, since that would only make them hate her more.

"Understandable. Should we get to work again, then?" Y/N gave him a smile and nodded, checking his timetable on her phone. "Mr Stark is coming to meet you at 3 pm, if you remember," she reminded him and he nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Right, right."

---

"Thanks so much for being here, Y/N, you are a literal angel, I swear." She chuckled bashfully at his words. "You're my boss, Mr Rogers, you know I'll do anything you ask me." Steve's mind immediately went to the gutters at her words and he cleared his throat. "Right, so there's some paperwork I need to finish and can't do it alone, so—"

"That's what I'm here for."

A few days had passed since their interaction in his office; they were at Steve's place, and it was very late at night. He'd sat doing paperwork the entire day but as the night rolled around, he realised that it was too much work for a single person. So he called the one person who he knew would never hesitate to help him— Y/N.

She'd showed up just a few minutes ago. Y/N sat down on a couch in his lavish sitting room, looking around. He lived in a luxurious skyscraper, and his apartment was easily 10 times bigger than hers. The living room was littered with comfortable couches and the view from the apartment was to die for. The "walls" were actually floor-to-ceiling windows.

She'd only ever seen an apartment like this on social media. And to be inside one? The one whose owner was her extremely hot boss? The feeling was unparalleled. Steve soon returned with two glasses and a bottle of champagne, sitting next to her with a sigh. "Oh, what's this?" Y/N blinked when he popped open the bottle, pouring the liquid into the glasses.

"I'm really tired of writing, can we start later?" She chuckled and accepted the glass from him. There was silence for a while as they had their first sip; Steve was the one who commenced a conversation. "So, how are you? Made any friends at work yet?" Looking down, she shook her head. "Nah, I don't know… maybe later." He nodded.

"Are you seeing someone?"

She tilted her head in confusion. "Asking because I thought maybe your boyfriend told you not to talk to anyone… some men are assholes like that." Y/N laughed at his words. "No, no, I don't have a boyfriend. Plus, even if I did have one, I'd certainly not date someone like that," she scoffed at the end, making Steve laugh as well. "Yeah. I'm single as well, ya know," he hinted softly.

Y/N looked at him, surprised. She genuinely didn't know, he kept his love life very secret. "You are? Seriously? No one wants to date you? Man, people have incredibly high standards then." Steve gave her a wistful smile. "It's not that, it's… the one I want probably doesn't want me. I know a lot of people who are interested in me, I'm just not interested in them." Y/N nodded.

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1,452 notes - Posted March 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

mr grumpy man

pairing: mob boss!bucky barnes x f!reader

genre: angst, fluff, smut

warnings: smut, mentions of abuse and wounds, adultery

requested: nope

word count: ~4.3k

summary: bucky kidnaps y/n because her husband owes him money. what happens when he finds out her husband is abusive?

author's note: hi guys! i crossed 1450 followers today, plus my masterlist is about to reach 1000 notes, and ngl i'm kinda excited for that, so i wanted to post. i have been writing fanfiction even though i stopped posting weekly (it's a great stress reliever). so yeah... enjoy! (also lmk if you want me to write and post a part 2, since the ending to this imo feels kind of incomplete) also ik i am reusing names but go with it, it's difficult to come up with names :(

masterlist

-

The sound of her gasp echoed around the garage as the blindfold was lifted off her eyes. Y/N blinked in the dim light, her hand trying to reach up to soothe her aching head, but— She struggled to free her tied hands, to no avail. Finally collapsing against the chair, she looked around the room as her eyes adjusted to the lights. Or the lack thereof.

A bunch of men stood ahead of her. In the centre was a tall, brunet man, his blue eyes glistening with… mirth. He seemed happy, even though his face didn’t betray an emotion. “S-Sir… Who…” Y/N choked out, thanking the Gods that her mouth was still usable. “Oh, sweetheart, you’re awake,” the man crooned, walking up to her. She peered up at him, a little scared and a lot confused. 

Bucky blinked at her. Why… Why was she looking at him like that? There wasn’t an ounce of fear he could see on her face, just— perplexion. “Mrs Silverstein,” he began. “Yeah?” He internally heaved a sigh of relief. At least he had the right person. But then why wasn’t she scared? Surely, being married to a mob boss meant she knew the danger mob bosses posed. “I’m James Barnes.” Y/N cocked her head to the side. “M-Mr Barnes, have you— kidnapped me?” 

“If you know that, why aren’t you scared?!” Bucky burst out impatiently. This woman was starting to get on his nerves with her nonchalance. “...ooh, ah, save me…” Y/N mumbled a couple seconds later, pursing her lips to keep herself from smiling. She never thought she would be, but here she was now! Kidnapped! Meaning, away from her husband! Bucky growled in annoyance. “Are you fucking mocking me or something?”

She hurriedly shook her head, lowering it in shame. “Sorry.” He huffed. “Your husband—” Y/N nearly flinched at the mention. “—has stolen a huge sum of money from me. So now, my dear, you’re going to live with me until he returns the money.” Bucky wasn’t a monster. As annoyed as the woman was making him, he had no intentions of hurting her. He simply wanted to lure Edmund, her husband, to him by using Y/N as bait.

“Wait, seriously?” Y/N realised she might have come off a little excited because Bucky raised an eyebrow at her, his men exchanging glances in shock. “You’re— happy about that?” Bucky asked, bewildered. “No I’m not,” she muttered, clearly lying. Bucky shook his head, deciding to let it go. Surely she was so… scared and traumatised that she was acting bizarrely. It had to be that. “Okay… um, untie her, I’m taking her to her room.”

Two of his men stepped forward and untied her hands and legs. Bucky expected her to kick and scream upon being untied but instead, she simply stood up, dusting her clothes. “My room, sir?” Bucky stammered incoherently. “Uh, sure,” he ended up mumbling, leading her into the mansion whose garage they were in. He kept alert; maybe once away from the guards she would act up. “Intelligent,” he thought.

But even when they were away from all the guards, just the two of them, Y/N kept demurely following him, looking up at the mansion. “Wow,” she whistled, “This is your house? It’s pretty solid, dude.” Bucky stopped in his tracks, turning to face her. “Okay, what stupid fucking game are you playing with me right now?! You really think I’m that dumb, Mrs Silverstein? You think I don’t know what you’re doing?! Playing nice until you get a chance to run back to your husband?!” 

This time, she did end up flinching at Edmund’s mention. Bucky noticed and paused, his brows furrowing in suspicion. “I don’t— I’m not playing any games. Look—” She rummaged through all her clothing. “I don’t have any weapons on me and plus my hands are recovering from injuries, so I’m not even strong enough to kill someone like you. Have you looked at yourself? You think I will be able to hurt you?” Bucky released a breath.

An awkward silence fell between them. “What are your hands recovering from?” he finally ended up asking as they commenced their walk. “Broke my bones in both hands, just a little accident, heh,” Y/N chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. A few more minutes passed. He glanced at her. She was looking at the decoration around the house, lips pursed, as if she was about to burst into tears.

And without thinking, he asked the one question a kidnapper never asks their victim.

“Are you okay?”

A teardrop leaked down Y/N’s eye and she hurriedly wiped it off, clearing her throat. “Yeah.” What the fuck was her deal? They soon stopped outside a bedroom; Bucky opened the door, revealing— “This is the most beautiful room I’ve ever seen!” Y/N gasped, awed. The colour scheme was pretty, there was an attached bathroom and also a balcony! "This makes my architect heart really happy."

"You're an architect?" Bucky couldn't help but ask again. "I was, before I got married. Edmund didn't like that I worked, he then started keeping me at home," she revealed. Bucky found himself getting annoyed again but this time not by Y/N, by Edmund. "Well, uh, you've seen everything. Spare clothes are in the wardrobe, um, the shower has clean water if you want to clean up… there's facewash and body wash in the bathroom and also toothpaste and a toothbrush."

"Aren't you, like, my kidnapper? Why such nice treatment?" Y/N wondered. "I have no personal vendetta against you, I'm after your husband. And I'm using you as bait. So don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. That's how my mob functions." A smile bloomed on her face. "That's a nice way to function. Uh, I'll see you then, Mr Barnes." Bucky licked his dry lips. "Yeah, s-see you."

He left her room, closing the door behind him. But he simply stood there, his thoughts racing. The way she wasn't upset that she was kidnapped, the way she flinched earlier when he mentioned her husband, and how sad she looked when she told him her husband didn't allow her to work after they got married. All the proof was there— She disliked him. Y/N disliked Edmund. But was there more to it?

Was she only upset about her job, or maybe something more? Bucky shook his head, heading to his own room. Now that he knew, her previous behaviour didn't seem so… annoying anymore. 

-

The next morning, Bucky woke up with Y/N on his mind. Immediately upon getting out of bed, he rushed to Y/N's room, pausing before knocking. When she didn't open the door, his nose scrunched and he pushed the door open, freezing when he saw her naked in the middle of the room, a pair of his shorts in her hands. The spare clothes he'd given her. Y/N froze as well, the water from her wet hair dripping on the floor. She had just finished taking a shower. 5 uncomfortable minutes later, both of them snapped out of it.

Bucky was staring at her body. "My men didn't raise a finger on you," he whispered as she hurriedly covered herself with her towel. "Mr Barnes—" He entered the room, slamming the door shut behind him as he closed the distance between them. "I told them not to. Then what is this?" Her body was covered in scars big and small, and also healing bruises. Some that looked an angry red, some black and blue, while the almost healed ones looked yellow-green.

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2,142 notes - Posted November 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝐴𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑧: 𝑆𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐷𝑖𝑙𝑓!𝐴𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑧 (𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑)

Warnings/Disclaimer: NSFW content/Older Ateez but age differences is written withing legal boundaries. Also mentions of infidelity (which I don't condone, justify nor encourage), corruption kink and loss of virginity.

A/N: Also, Yeosang's reaction is a sneak peek at the Dilf! Fic in my w.i.p.

❥𝓚𝓲𝓶 𝓗𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓳𝓸𝓸𝓷𝓰

It all started as a way to get a passing grade for the semester, but soon became a mission to get inside your professor's pants. You still remembered the unamused gaze he gave you when you first suggested you 'help' him out.

"Nice try Miss Y/N.... but perhaps instead of wasting time behind the bleachers sucking off the jocks' cocks, maybe dip your head instead into your books and study for once."

You couldn't believe he'd actually reject you. No man had ever rejected you, they always fell to your charms. Professor Kim was about to become your biggest challenge yet and you didn't mind. Besides, something about fucking an older man had you pulling out your trusted vibrator out so many times during the night. Kim Hongjoong was just so fucking hot and you desperately wanted him, even if for one night.

"Please Mr. Kim..... you know they say I give the best blow jobs here." You tried yet again one day when everyone else left.

"They? You mean horny 20 something year olds who bust a nut by just a booby pic?"

For the first time, his poker face finally had an expression in the form of a smirk.

"Honey, you're going to have to try a lot harder than that. I've had my cock sucked by countless women in all my years. Besides..."

Leaning closer to you, he reached a hand out so his thumb could graze across your bottom lip.

"What makes you think a pretty young thing like you can take a mature cock like mine? You've probably never even had one half the size of mine."

You let out an involuntary moan as you pictured just how well endowed your teacher was. Looking down, you noticed the obvious bulge he was donning and you wanted nothing more than to pull him out and suck him dry. It seemed he noticed since he sat back down on his chair. Gesturing for you to come over, you practically hopped over to him, letting him guide you on your knees as he began to take himself out.

"But do knock yourself out. I'm kinda curious to see what the newer generations do nowadays."

❥𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓴 ����𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓱𝔀𝓪

Others would have complained and would be annoyed by the fact their new neighbors would have almost daily fights between them, typical marital disputes. But not you, you didn't mind hearing their screaming that was clearly heard through the walls. Especially since more often than not their fights would end in rough, angry sex that had you touching yourself at nights, a guilty pleasure you always looked forward to.

And you had been eyeing the husband from the moment the couple moved in. Park Seonghwa was everything you looked for in a man and even more. Handsome, mature, tall, well sculpted, responsible, sexy as hell and you knew for a fact he could definitely fuck. One day you knocked over at their door to give them one of them many pastries you'd often bake for your neighbors in the building.

"You know Mr. Park....if you ever get too frustrated with your wife....my door is always open." You boldly offered him.

He looked at you in shock but you sent him a reassuring wink before walking back to your apartment, making sure to sway your hips so he could have the image engraved in his mind. And boy did you rile him up. Now he couldn't stop thinking about you. You're all he had in his head. Now whenever he'd fight, he'd storm out and you'd welcome him, proud to get what his wife wasn't getting anymore. And you were hell bent on making sure you'd keep him to yourself.

"Cum inside me....fill me up." You told him one day.

He was so lost in his lust for you he didn't think he'd hear you correctly. Giggling, you flipped the position so you were now on top of him, bouncing yourself on his enormous cock.

"I'll give you what your wife won't give you. Knock me up with your babies, fill me to the brim. I wanna carry your kids in me." You ran your hands down your chest and placed them on top of your stomach to get your point further across.

Seonghwa was going wild by this point. He had wanted to become a father for so long but his narcissistic and conceited wife would not budge. Yet here you were offering him the one thing he wanted and he couldn't resist. Sitting up, he began pounding up into you with more intensity, sending you crying his name over and over again as his teeth began to mark your neck.

"Oh I'll make sure to knock you up babygirl. Gonna fuck my kids into you...fuck! You're going to look even more pretty carrying my baby in you."

❥𝓙𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓨𝓾𝓷𝓱𝓸

Yours and Yunho's relationship was rather.... unconventional to say the least. He ended up becoming your sugar daddy after you had auctioned off your virginity online cause you were a broke college student and you honestly didn't give a damn at that point. But it was you who were in for a surprise when you met him in the hotel room and he just handed you the money without wanting anything in return.

"Just take it and don't give away something so valuable away like that."

You were so stunned by his behavior and it honestly sent some weird feeling inside you.

"But what if I wanna give it away?" You asked before he could open the door to leave. He let out a deep sigh.

"Trust me, you don't." He insisted.

Biting your lip, you took in his height and built. You weren't going to lie and pretend you didn't size him up from the moment you saw him. He probably had a monster cock that could tear you apart and part of you wanted that. Plus he was probably experienced in making love to someone so why not?

"If it's with you I really do..."

He whipped his back at your words, about to scold you but his words got caught in his mouth when you began to strip in front of him before laying down on the bed, legs spread for him and anxiously waiting for him to touch you. He couldn't resist himself. He ended up pining your tiny and virgin body under him, tearing your hymen apart and claiming you as his. He made sure you were in no pain and he had you cumming more than once. You could say it was an amazing first time.

You spent the rest of the night talking, and you ended up spilling about your economic situation. Perhaps it was pity, perhaps he was high on having taking your virginity, or perhaps he truly felt something for you. Either way you agreed to be his sugar baby, and you don't regret it one bit. Not when you get to have his monster cock in you, and he's not complaining either when he gets to stuff himself in you.

"Fuck! You're still so damn tight my little one... just like the first time."

❥𝓚𝓪𝓷𝓰 𝓨𝓮𝓸𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓰

He tried to ignore the sound of the shower right behind the door he was leaning in. He had to. He shouldn't try to imagine what was going on in there. But as his eyes closed, he couldn't stop picturing your naked body glistening as the water cascaded down your skin. His hand grazed over his erection, wondering if perhaps you were doing something similar.

Before he knew what he was doing, he slowly and quietly opened the door, the hot steam fogging up the glass doors to the shower but he could still make out your beautiful and young figure. He witnessed as your hand played with your clit, dipping inside your folds as tiny gasps and pants escaped your lips.

"Mr. Kang...." Hearing you murmur his name sent any self-control he had out the window.

He began to strip himself out of his clothes, very slowly and in silence so as to not disturb you. Besides you looked so pretty as you touched yourself, trying to get yourself off at the thought of him. Without taking his eyes off you, he slid the glass door and soon stood behind you in the luxurious and spacious shower. You jumped slightly when you felt familiar hands wrap themselves around your waist, fingertips digging into you. You could never forget his touch, you remembered how those hands felt when they once caught you and saved you from a nasty fall.

You knew it wasn't a dream or fantasy when you felt lips pressing open mouth kisses against the side of your neck and traveled down to your shoulders. You moved your hand away to allow the person behind you to take control, his long and slender fingers finally making your darkest fantasies come true as they penetrated inside you, moving back and forth in an effort to bring you into an orgasm.

Kang Yeosang's deep and husky voice breathed into your ear, sending shivers down your body.

"You don't know how long I've lusted after you..."

❥𝓒𝓱𝓸𝓲 𝓢𝓪𝓷

With Choi San it wasn't you seducing him. It was letting him seduce you. Ever since he saw you walk in with your short skirt, applying for a part time job at his bookstore, he had been wanting you, craved your body. And honestly... you fed him in his game.

You would wear even shorter skirts, bending down right in front of him so he could get a glimpse at your scantily clad pussy. Or you'd constantly ask him for help in putting away some of the books that went on higher shelves just so he'd put his hands around you, which he'd often keep there longer than needed. And you loved it.

One day he had been frustrated by you past his limit. Throwing away all decorum, he came up behind you as you arranged some books. You let out a gasp when you felt his hands grope your breasts.

"I've been working you too hard my darling... maybe I should let you take a little break?" You became putty in his hands when he used his satoori tone with you.

You didn't stop him when he lifted your shirt up to your neck, nor when he pulled your breasts out from your bra cups. You just moaned with no shame as his fingers tweaked and pinched at your highly sensitive nipples.

"Fuck you have really soft and squishy boobs. It's like they were made for my hands."

Snaking one hand under your skirt, he was surprised to not only find out that you were practically dripping for him but you were not wearing any underwear that day.

"Shit darling, did you came here hoping I would fuck you?"

You threw your head back as he cupped your heat, rubbing at your clit.

"Yes! Please fuck me Mr. Choi! W-wanna get fucked by you." You begged him, pushing your ass behind you to grind against his very obvious bulge.

He was more than satisfied by your answer. Finally getting your consent, he no longer had to hold back. Freeing his cock which was leaking at the tip, he pushed your skirt up to expose your ass cheeks. Giving each of them a few slaps with his cock, he teased you as he rubbed his bulbous tip along your slit.

"Now my little apprentice, I'm going to show you how a real man fucks a little cunt like yours."

❥𝓢𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓜𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓲

Spotting exactly what you were hoping to find for the night, you approached the older male and sat in front of him. Giving you a little glance, he furrowed his eyebrows as he took in your countenance.

"Aren't you a little young to be in a club like this?" He questioned you.

"Trust me, I'm old enough." You boldly took the glass he had in front of him and took a sip before setting it back down.

He let out a tiny chuckle as you practically drowned almost an entire glass of straight vodka. You had guts, he was giving you that.

"Little lady I'm sure there are more young men your age scattered about waiting for a beauty like you to pay attention to them. So why not go find them?" He suggested.

You frowned at him, a tiny huff coming out from your lips.

"Guys my age are all idiots and little babies. Absolutely nothing fun about them."

You scooted closer to him, your hand coming down to rub at one of his ridiculous thick thighs.

"I prefer men who are more older and..... bigger." You made emphasis on that last word.

The male snorted as he let you continue your little game. He was actually pretty amused and flattered at having a young and attractive girl hit on him.

"Little lady as much as I'd love to take you back to my place and fuck you into my sheets, I'm warning you that I'm into more.... risque and exotic pleasures and honestly....I don't think an inexperienced thing like you could handle it."

The man, whom you soon found out was named Song Mingi peeked your interest even more as he confided in you that little detail. And you were more than happy to indulge in extremely naughty kinks. That's how you ended up in his bed, your hands and feet tied to each of the bed posts, blindfolded, gagged, nipple clamps adorning your perky breasts as your older lover for the night was continuing his abuse on your swollen and red pussy, drawing out orgasm after orgasm out of your body.

"Fuck! Holy shit!" He cried out, grunting in an almost animalistic manner as he pumped his cum all over your body.

Removing your blindfold and mouth gag, he looked for any signs of regret but was instead met with your fucked out face that held a tiny grin.

"Older and bigger cocks are indeed the best."

❥𝓙𝓾𝓷𝓰 𝓦𝓸𝓸𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰

Working as an exotic dancer, you met a lot of customers and got used to having regulars. But no one got under your skin or made you lose your senses like Jung Wooyoung. Usually you didn't give any special treatment to anyone unless it guaranteed more cash in your garter belt. But there was something about him that had you constantly looking over when he was there. Every time he was watching from the crowd, you made sure every wink, every lip bite or swirl of your tongue was directed at him.

You were thinking about giving up, since weeks passed and he didn't seem to make a move on you or on any of the other girls. Perhaps he was dragged there by his friends since he always sat there idly, no expression whatsoever. When you were told someone payed to have a private show with you, the last person you expected to see was none other than Jung Wooyoung himself, sitting on the couch, a glass of wine on his hand. Pulling out a large bill, he smirked at you.

"One hundred dollars if you take off that top."

His request had your legs wobbling. Since it was a rather fancy and elegant strip club, none of you ever actually stripped completely bare, only staying in scanty lingerie. But honestly, you didn't hesitate and let the top fall to the floor. You loved the way Wooyoung was eyeing your chest, tongue poking out to wet his lip. Reaching into his pocket once more, this time he produced even more bills and layed them on the table.

"500 dollars if you remove that lace thong."

Holy crap, you thought to yourself. That was a lot of money that you weren't going to refuse. And besides, you were already wet for the older man that you would suck him off right then and there if he asked you to, with absolutely no payment. This time his hand began to rub at his crotch. Unzipping his pants, he took his long length out which had your mouth watering and staring for so long that you didn't notice the even larger stash of cash he had taken out of his jacket which layed beside him.

"One thousand dollars if you hop your pretty ass over here and bounce yourself on my cock."

Not needing to be told twice, you practically plunged yourself down on him, not caring to take your time as you began to fuck yourself on his cock. The man underneath you was enjoying himself as well, the visual of your ass clapping against his hips driving him insane.

"Fuck! Yes! Just like that- oh god!"

You let out a yelp when his hand came down to slap your cheeks rather harshly, hips taking control as he rammed his cock into you. Through raspy grunts and growls, he made his final proposition to you:

"Your own place, monthly allowance and anything else you want if you leave this place and become my own personal fuck toy."

❥𝓒𝓱𝓸𝓲 𝓙𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓱𝓸

Working as the personal assistant for your father's CEO friend was not easy. Not because Choi Jongho was difficult, scary and begrudgingly agreed to have his friend's daughter work for him when she had no experience, but because the man was hot. You had the hots for your dad's friend and knowing you would have to be by his side for 8-10 hours on the daily both thrilled and terrified you.

"Can't you even work a simple printer? Seriously? How stupid could you possibly be?"

You honestly didn't mind his constant insults and degradation. In fact...that's exactly what you wanted, even more if he did it in front of others. Truth was, you did know how to work a printer and do other office related small tasks. You just chose not to just to have him yell and scream at you. His anger further fueled your sexual desires for him.

Eventually he ended up finding out what your little plan was when he chanced upon you sending a fax for someone, something he had always refrained from teaching you cause he thought you'd be too stupid to do.

"Why you cunning little vixen." He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he saw you, angry that a little brat like you was getting under his skin just to get a reaction out of him. He felt his palm start to tremble with an urge to bend you over and spank you into place.

Which he did end up doing, among other things in an effort to get you to behave or straighten up. But it never fully worked since you kept testing his patience, and he truly didn't mind. He liked your little game and he started to look forward to having his little vixen misbehave just to put her back in her place. And you lived for having him punish and degrade you.

"Look at you. You look like a common whore, letting me fuck her little hole as much as I want to."

You whimpered as his hand pulled your hair, making you lift your head and watch from the mirror as he fucked you from behind against his dresser.

"Maybe I should take a picture and send it to your dad. Let him know that his precious daughter is nothing more than a slut that likes getting her tight little hole fucked by his best friend."

You shook at his words, tears steaming down your face from the overstimulation he was putting you through. You absolutely loved it. Loved having him remind you of how wrong and sinful it was. Pressing your back against his chest, he wrapped an arm around your throat as he pounded his cock into you like the beast he was.

"But no... I won't do that. This will be our little secret."

Gifs not mine. Credit goes to their respective owners

[youarejesting]

Hope in the sheets.9

[Masterlist]

Beta: N/A Pairing: Hoseok x Reader Genre: Friendship, Comedy, Soft boy, Fluff, SMUT, Friends2Lovers, Words: 4.2k

Summary: You held many titles: his neighbor, colleague, wing-man… well, more likely a wing-woman, yet most importantly, you were his best friend. You had been friends since you were born. Between the two of you, you were younger; barely, but he never let you forget it. He always seemed to ruffle your hair and tease you, which could get rather annoying but he made up for it by treating you to things.

What if a drunken one night stand between you and your best friend Hoseok leads to more complicated situations? Your reckless twenties are cut short as you find yourself suddenly responsible for something a little more.

Warning: Implied sex, pregnancy, implied reader has baby.

[First] [Previous] [Masterlist] [Next]

Waking up every morning beside his childhood friend, his most trusted confidant, former neighbor, and the woman he was utterly in love with, was always the most amazing thing. When the two of you had confessed your feelings to one another in the darkness, solidifying the moment with the best sex Hoseok had ever had. Well, that was even better.

Brushing a few strands of hair out of your face he admired just how beautiful you were. Memories of the two of you flooding back; at your school prom when Hoseok had been too nervous to tell you how he felt. Whilst the two of you were in college and you kissed him during a drinking game. When you both applied for jobs at the amusement park and the two of you swore that if neither of you got accepted then neither of you wanted to work there.  The times you would knock on his door when your shower stopped working, or the time you both spent tickets to go to Yoongi’s performance across the country and spent the rest of the month without any electricity. He thought you looked so beautiful in candlelight.

There were so many moments he told himself that he should tell you how he felt but he repressed it, unsure how or if your relationship would change. What you had going was good and he would rather spend his life by your side watching you smile than a second away.

It had been hell without you in his life. You had been slowly pulling away from him since you found out about the pregnancy. He felt it the day you moved out, he had knocked on your door and almost had a breakdown. Even that wasn’t as bad as your fight, when he found out you had lied it was like the ultimate rejection. 

It was like you didn’t want him to be a part of any of this, that you would rather erase him from your life and pretend the baby wasn’t his. He felt rejected and he reacted badly, he drove and cried, he drank and waited for any excuse to bring you back. He said some nasty things in an effort to remove the hurt from him, to target it somewhere else but seeing you cry only made him hurt worse.

It was after all this that he grew even more depressed, the thought that it was over, your friendship, the bond you shared that spanned over years shattered into pieces. All he could think about was apologizing and begging for you to let him stay, as a friend, as a father, even as a servant, he was desperate.

You were his oxytocin and he was addicted. He never felt love or happiness when you were gone. Stirring he leaned over to pepper kisses over your cheeks the fear in his chest that last night's actions might be classified as a late-night compulsive activity. Like dying your hair and cutting bangs, something you know you shouldn’t but you do because you can’t help it.

“Good morning, Lil darling,” he said, taking a slow breath as you stretched as if preparing for the worst. He prayed that your eyes would fall on him with love and not disgust. 

“Hi,” your face split into a wide grin and you buried your face in your little hands.

“Hey, what are you shy for?” he said, picking up on your playful and giddy mood.

“We had sex.” You snickered into your palms and he tried to pry your arms free. “Wait no, I am not ready to look at you.”

“Was it bad, love?” Hoseok whispered quietly hoping that you didn’t regret it. If you did, he would play it cool, take it like a gentleman, and move on as just your friend.

“No, it was nice…” you said peeking through your fingers, “and you were really good”

“I was good?” He grinned, “I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“No, I really had a good time.”

“But?”

“No buts, I was just going to ask if perhaps you might want to do it again sometime.”

Hoseok’s smile was so wide his lips pulled up until they were shaped like a heart, “Whenever you would like.” He kissed your palms and slid the blankets down making you grab for them.

“Hey Woah, I am naked!” You scolded him.

“I know silly, I want to say good morning to my baby.” He gave you a face as if he was trying to challenge you to a fight, not a real one, the silly kind with tickles. “Plus I saw this beautiful body last night.”

He pulled the blanket down and your hands covered your bare chest, he giggled and exposed your rounded tummy and leaned down whispering something you couldn’t hear and he planted multiple kisses to the fullness until the baby kicked back against his lips. He looked offended, his face down turning as if he was about to cry and he held his chin turning to you.

“Hobi got kicked! Baby doesn’t like Hobi!” You were cackling. Hoseok knew how much you loved his aegyo and how much it made you laugh. Your laugh made his heart flutter and you shot out of bed, all thoughts of nudity out the window.

“I have to go pee. You can’t make me laugh like that Hobi, I am pregnant!” you accused and shut the bathroom door behind you.

The two of you ended up showering together, hands wandering each other's bodies some more. “I wish I wasn’t huge, it would be easier to have sex and I would feel a lot sexier.”

“I am sorry you feel that you aren’t sexy but I disagree, Lil darling, I think you are the most captivating being in my life before you were pregnant, while you are pregnant, and when you have the baby too.”

~

“Come on Hobi, the class is going to start,” you arrived and took a seat on a bright yellow mat and Hoseok sat behind you pulling you back into his chest. He peppered your jawline with kisses making you laugh.

“Welcome back, Mummies and Daddies.” The woman walked in, her light green polo with a stalk on the front and the company logo. She looked happy to see you two again. Smiling at how affectionate you two had become. “How are we all today, let’s go around the room and talk about what's been happening?”

Hoseok was diligently learning how to bathe and dress and hold the baby, he was doing really well and you felt the tears fall before you knew it. “What is wrong mummy?” The woman knelt beside me.

“I just, I was doing this on my own and I was so scared, but seeing Hobi doing so well, I just felt like this weight had been lifted and I am so proud and I love him so much.” Your voice was distorted by the strain of trying to hold back your sobs.

“Do you hear that, Mummy Hope says she was scared about having to do everything on her own but when she saw Daddy Hope doing well it lifted a weight off her shoulders. Let's all take a moment to understand that every mummy gets scared. Do you get scared Mummies? Do any daddies feel out of place?”

“I felt kind of out of place at the beginning but knowing that I could provide some sort of comfort and relief to my partner, I will try my best.” The young man spoke honestly for a moment and smiled at his partner.

“Thank you so much, Daddy Mogi,” The woman said. “It is nice to let each other know how much you appreciate their contribution. I am sure Mummy Mogi and Daddy Hope feel really happy to have such wonderful partners.”

Hoseok nodded, crawling over and kissing you softly. “You don’t have to do everything alone. I am going to be there. We got this.”

The night ended with a weak juice and cheesecake slice, you watched Hoseok talking with the other dads happily. “He really adores you, it’s cute,” the woman from the blue mat smiled. She and her partner chose the name kimchi.

“I think I remember you saying you were both friends when you first came here.” You blushed, filling them in on the story. They loved the gossip and were so happy you two had found each other. 

“Not long now.” the instructor smiled looking at your belly. “I have a few little activity sheets here, just fun things you and your partner might enjoy.”

~

Friday came around and the two of you arrived at ‘Jin and Tonic’ for pizza night and stayed for some dancing. You ordered a cold lemonade at the bar, in a baby doll dress that did nothing to hide your voluptuous figure. You didn’t notice all the men staring but Hoseok sure did. He was excited that the gang was all back together. He loved this little family all of you had made and the new additions were well welcomed.

“Who is this Yummy mummy at the bar?” Hoseok slid up to the bar beside you, “I will have what she's having.”

“One lemonade coming right up,” Jimin said, disengaging from his longing gaze at Taehyung, who sat across the bar trying to appear nonchalant, but the guy couldn’t even drink alcohol without cringing and gagging. He was currently nursing a Fanta, watching Jimin from behind his bangs.

“How are you and Taehyung going?” You asked Jimin. “Did he come over for the photoshoot?”

“He did and we didn’t do anything, he took pictures and I was naked but he kept telling me he didn’t want me to do anything for free as he respected my business and wanted to support me.” Jimin sighed, “I work two jobs and I don’t want him to pay. Do I look like I need support?”

You could practically see Jimin stomp his foot along with the pout on his lips, “I think your ass needs some support, and Taehyung’s hands are big enough to do the job.”

Jimin giggled, “doesn’t he just.”

“Perhaps you need to ask Taehyung on a date?” You suggested. “He might be nervous because he is showing interest but you aren’t. He might think you only see him as a sugar daddy.”

“As in I, Park Jimin, go up to that god of a man and ask him if he would go on a date with me?” He said shocked.

“I am saying you, Jimin Eubegene Wolfgang Park the Third, go ask him to go on a date.”

“Oooh… she used your full name, be scared. She is a mum now!” Seokjin laughed, the high pitch sound filling the bar area.

“That’s not my name.” Jimin pouted again

“Mum has spoken, go ask the poor boy out, he is desperate,” Yoongi muttered wiping his face on a cool towel handed to him by Jin, who also gave him an ice-cold lemonade. “I have to get back soon but I will let this remix finish.”

The group watched intrigued by the confident sugar baby, becoming timid and nervous as he walked over to his admirer. You couldn’t hear anything but you saw Taehyung smile making a gesture like he was taking photos and describing something with an animated expression and a grin.

Jimin walked back a pout on his lips and once back he let out a sigh and you felt bad for the poor boy, but you could understand Taehyung's hesitance. “Give it some time, there will be a moment where he can no longer refuse. His feelings will grow too strong and he will come for you.”

“I am ready to give everything up for him, I am ride or die, right now.” Jimin whined, “have you just looked at someone and thought, this is the one, they are my soulmate.”

“Everyday,” Hoseok smiled at you and you blushed but nodded.

“I am going to go to the bathroom.” You slid off the barstool rubbing your back and slowly shuffled along the edge of the room escorted by Hoseok who kept a keen eye out for any trouble, not wanting you to get bumped too hard on your journey. He also helped your travel by stopping any unsolicited hands from rubbing your belly.

“You good?” Hoseok asked outside the bathrooms, concern in his eyes because he couldn’t accompany you inside.

“I can take care of this part myself, trust me I have done this a thousand times.” You kissed him and went to take care of your lemonade strained bladder. It seemed the sugar and cool temperature had your baby kicking a little stronger and if you didn’t go now one wrong move and you would not make it. Ah, the joys of pregnancy.

Sitting down you felt your stomach tense. It was mild, nothing excruciating, perhaps you had sat down wrong, you didn’t want a repeat of the Braxton hicks situation. Taking note of the time you marked it in your app and went to wash your hands. You smiled, feeling a small sense of pride at the feeling of being more mature.

It wasn’t uncommon before you were pregnant to be in these bathrooms and unable to see, the feeling of being out of control scary, exhilarating, and a little addictive. You were much happier now, you felt physically stronger, you felt like you had started organizing your life prioritizing your health.

It was funny. You were out of your mind scared at the idea of having a baby, petrified of what was to come, but you were feeling like somehow it was your turning point to do something with your life to get everything on track. You had goals that you had not only worked towards but had accomplished and that feeling lasted longer and gave more gratification than one night of alcohol-induced numbness and two days of recovery.

Waddling out to Hoseok you grinned shyly at him, something about the way he was standing under the soft glowing lights looking at his phone with a soft smile. Walking closer you looked at the screen seeing your sleeping face. He was kissing your nose, you would have scolded him for taking an embarrassing picture but you both looked so cute.

“Lil darling,” He smiled down at you, “I care about you more than anything in this world.”

“I love you Hobi, kiss me.” He tilted your head up delicately by the chin and kissed you slowly. You were mid-kiss when you pulled back, struck with an extreme craving. “Can we sit in Seokjin’s office and order a fried chicken? I’m hungry.”

The two of you giggled before running behind the counter to Seokjin’s office as he scolded, “YA! You two keep it clean, I know how you got pregnant and I don’t want any repeats in my office.”

Your laughter rang through the hall past the storage rooms and into the small office where you two both sat on the couch sighing in relief. Needing a seat with proper back support, you were aching so badly. “Lay down love.” 

Hoseok let you lay your head on his lap and he slowly combed his fingers through the soft strands they had grown a lot since being pregnant. You had been considering a cut to keep it more manageable with a newborn.

You felt your stomach tighten, logging it into your app, you noticed it was thirty minutes from the first which wasn’t cause for alarm just yet. The conversation was slow as Hoseok began ordering a half and half of fried chicken, he was just talking about random things at work. 

“Move in with me.” Your voice was definite and Hoseok stopped ordering and grinned. “I want you to live with me.”

“Really, you want me to live with you?” He seemed surprised and you wondered if there was something you didn’t take into account, had you jumped in too quickly.

“You already stay over every night.” You reasoned, “saves bus fares back and forth and my place is closer to your work than yours.”

“I work from home at the moment because I wasn’t quite sure when to take paternity leave.” He whispered gently, his smile made him look so soft. “You want me to move in Lil darling?”

“Of course, I love you Hobi.”

“Am I moving in?” He giggled excitedly and you sat up equally excited by his contagious laughter, “I am going to wake up to your pretty face every day.”

The food arrived and you used Jin's toilet quickly, stepping out confused. You were excited for Chicken but you were wondering if you might actually be going into early labor. You made sure to pay more attention to your body and when another cramp took over your stomach you marked it on your app. This one felt as mild as the last but it had come a few minutes quicker than the last.

Your instructor told you to relax and keep calm in this stage to conserve your energy and you were going to follow her guidance. The contractions were pretty consistent in the pattern but didn’t quite grow intense or come any quicker.

The two of you cleaned up the food mess, you would have already headed home but Yoongi was going to drop you home that night with some meals he and Jin had made for you. Hoseok pulled you to his chest and the two of you slept to the muffled bass from the dance floor. It was quite peaceful. You fell asleep stirring only slightly to the tightening of your stomach. It was one particular contraction that made you gasp and sit up. You checked the time and marked it on the app.

You had slept and failed to record all your contractions. You were trying to breathe through the tight feeling rubbing the circumference of your stomach and pacing slowly.

“Is something wrong?” Hoseok mumbled sitting up and looking at you, “do you have a pain in the tummy, is the baby okay?”

“I have been having contractions for a while, but you know the lady said to relax and eat to preserve energy and so I wasn’t worried but this one was a little stronger, I just have to wait and see the timing between the contractions to see if we do anything yet.” He stepped behind you, holding your belly in his hands and taking the weight relieving the stress on your back. 

“She said when the contractions last for 45-60 seconds and they are 3-5 minutes apart that is active labor.” Hoseok had been paying attention in class and it warmed your heart. “They said if you go too early you will be sent back home to wait for the labor to progress.”

Hoseok swayed you both gently and you laid your head back on his shoulder, he could tell you were nervous and he began singing low in his ear the vibrations of his chest were enough to make you relax. It was as you relaxed than another contraction occurred. Looking at the app they were about ten minutes apart and you were sure this was it.

“Would you like to go now?” Hoseok said worriedly, kissing your neck and hugging you a little tighter.

“No, but we should probably get the hospital bag.” You mumbled, “I don’t want you to leave though.”

“Text Taehyung and get him in here.” You nodded, texting the young man and smiling as he cautiously entered. “Hey Taehyung, can you do us a favor?”

“Uh, I don’t make adult films, but you could probably get Jungkook if you were persuasive. He has some good quality video cameras.” Taehyung said nervously, the two of you laughed as you swayed gently.

“No, we were wondering if you were interested in going to my house and picking up my hospital bag. You have a license don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” He spoke, eyeing you up and down for signs you were going to pop out a baby. “What does it look like?”

“It is one bag just inside the front door that looks like this,” Hoseok said as you showed him a picture on your phone and he nodded, commenting on the cute star pattern on the bag. “You might have to ask Jimin about stealing his keys.”

“Oh and Taehyung about Jimin, he really likes you, really likes you and well he wants to try dating without the sugar baby business. He wants to date you without money.” You were stepping in hoping to help Taehyung realize how much he loved Jimin and how much Jimin loved him. The two were both too scared to admit it, reminding you of how things were with Hoseok before you both confessed. “He has been upset that you have been refusing to see him. Have a think about your feelings and when you are sure you know what you want, then let him know.”

It was a whole lot of waiting and feeling uncomfortable, there wasn’t really anything you could do but wait. Taehyung returned with your bag and you waited, chatting together for half an hour before deciding to use Seokjin’s laptop to watch movies in hopes of passing the time.

The music stopped and you realized it was one in the morning and time for lockout. “You looked at the app that was tracking your contractions and as you logged the next contraction you saw the words at the top change from early labor to active labor. The three of you abandoned ‘Meet the Robinsons’ and headed down the hall back to the bar area.

The place cleared out pretty quick, designated drivers carrying away their drunk friends. Namjoon and Jungkook helped lead out any reluctant frequenters and gave them a friendly good night.

“Hey Yoongi, I was wondering instead of dropping me off at home, you could drop me off at the hospital. I have been in labor for about seven hours now and well I think it is time I go as things seem to be picking up.” Yoongi and Jungkook, who had both been packing up the sound system, looked shocked. Jin threw down the cloth and raced over, 

“Pack the van we are going,” he called and began gathering everyone and locking up. There was a shout from the bathrooms that made you jump for a second. “JIMIN EGGPLANT HUBERT WHAT IN GOD’S NAME ARE YOU DOING?”

“I am cleaning up vomit and I told you that isn’t my name.” You could hear the pout in his tone before a shout, Jin walked out with Jimin over his shoulder. “Hyung put me down. Don’t you damage these goods!”

Hoseok playfully smacked Jimin’s behind as he passed by receiving a growl, “Hey! The exchange rate for a butt slap is a pair of Chanel earrings Hoseokie. Hands off what you can’t afford.”

“We haven’t got time, the baby is coming!” Jin screeched.

~

“I thought you said the baby was coming, it’s been 3 hours?” Jimin sighed, flipping through his third trashy magazine from four April’s ago. “I am not working tomorrow if the bar smells like vomit.”

Jungkook was asleep leaning against Namjoon with Namjoon’s coat wrapped around him. Everyone was bored and Jin and Yoongi went for coffee. Taehyung was trying to stay awake and talk to Jimin, but he kept falling asleep. He grew restless in his half woke state and took Jimin's hand in his before promptly falling asleep.

Throwing the magazine aside, Jimin crossed one leg over the other resting his head on his hand and elbow on his knee turning slightly to gaze at the sleeping Taehyung.

“Why didn't she want me to go in?” Hoseok said, worried about hearing your small cry of pain “I want to help her, I want to be there”

“You have to respect her decision. I watched my niece come into the world in the back of my brother's car and I cannot look my sister-in-law in the face again. I think that's when I started dating guys for a while,” Yoongi laughed, “It will scar you. You would be so worried to touch y/n if you saw her give birth and you would beat yourself up over her being in pain. You would be a sobbing mess. We know you Hobi, it’s best you stay out here.”

There was a lot of noise from the birthing suite and Jungkook woke up looking nervously around, before the piercing cry of a newborn filling the halls, and the boys stood up hugging Hoseok who had broken down into tears. They slapped his back cheering and the nurse came out shushing them.

“It’s four in the morning, try to keep it down.”

“How is she? How is Y/n?” Jin asked as Hoseok was unable to articulate anything clinging to him and sobbing.

“She is very good, a very strong young woman. She had a little baby girl, if you give her a moment to clean up and settle the baby you can all go in for a quick visit, and then you will all have to go home as visiting hours have long since been over.” she smiled at them all before patting Hoseok’s back “Congratulations.”

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[local-ground-apple]

I saw requests are open for Pomefiore, so please... How about Pomefiore being absolutely in love? How would they react and think? They would confess to their love?

So, I didn’t do it yanderish and I wrote a small scenario per each. 

I seriously need to stop writing Vil kissing scenes 🙃 🙃

🦚 oh, he fell for a potato? Well, you must be a refined potato then, if you managed to catch his attention,

🦚 at first Vil seems indifferent. He’s not the type to rush into action after localizing his target  (like Rook) or dwell on his feelings (like Epel). No, he takes his time getting to know you better, 

🦚 you won’t even notice that he may have developed feelings for you. You’re convinced that your another target, just like Epel and you do your best to follow all the routines Vil implored on you. After all, being in Pomefiore was never supposed to be easy. You were certain he was treating you just like any other student from his dorm, making sure you look presentable, being strict and calling you potato,

🦚 yet Rook notices small slips and hints Vil is leaving. Soon he refrains from adressing you as a mere potato and calls you by your name, he won’t scold you for tiniest mistake brushing it off and pretending he hadn’t seen it or inviting you once for a smoothie, making everyone gasp in shock. Rook clearly see that you’re special,

🦚 Vil gets impatient soon. He craves your affection and wishes your attention would be focused on him. He wants to shower you in small kisses, leaving the trail of them on your neck, gently run his fingers through your hair and brush his lips against yours. Oh, he wants you so bad,

🦚 sometimes, Vil may seem distant, engrossed in his thoughts, yet he denies it when Rook confronts him about his behavior. He is just thinking of the perfect way he could confess to you. He absolutely wants it to be flawless, 

🦚 he seems confident that you won’t reject him. After all, who would reject Vil Schoenheit? Yet, he feels tad insecure deep down. Vil will never admit it, but the countless “what if” scenarios are playing in his head before confession,

🦚 you’re probably one of the few persons who managed to mentally frustrated and make Vil Schoenheit’s heart flutter. You achieved unachievable,

🦚 it was Neige Leblanche who pushed Vil to yeet his perfect confession plans into void and aggressively take the lead, (it’s always Neige or Lilia that either start apocalypse or change the course of history),

 Vil clicked his tongue in annoyance as exasperated sigh left his lips. He was tapping his heel impatiently, his arms firmly crossed on his chest, as his gaze was fixated on you.

Why were you taking so long talking with Neige?

Neige out of all bloody people.

Vil watched you giggling at some sort of joke Neige had made. Your bright and broad smile you were gracing Leblanche with, was driving him up the wall. Vil ignored Deuce and Ace bickering in the background, as well as Rook laughing at them, while Kalim and Jamil were nowhere to be found. Probably they were occupying food stalls.

Vil frowned. You all were supposed to have a rehearsal on the stage day before VDC, yet you all run into Neige who was more than eager to meet you.

Especially you. 

Vil was fully aware of how Neige hand brushed against yours, how he leaned a bit too close, how his fingers tuck strands of your hair behind your ear. Vil didn’t fail to notice how Neige’s eyes would stop on his annoyed form, clearly enjoying his visible jealousy or how we would smirk whenever his face was mere inches from yours and dorm leader was close to exploding.

Enough!

Here he was, Vil simply had to save you from Neige’s sly clutches. With a barely audible “tsk”, he aggressively walked to you. You slightly jumped, startled when Vil gripped your arm rather firmly. He didn’t give you the time to bid farewell to Neige.

,,Excuse us”

With that, Vil began dragging you away. You flashed an apologetic smile to Neige, trying to keep up with dorm leader’s rapid pace. Well, you weren’t blessed with long legs, like him. You quickly realized that struggling was pointless, his grip was too strong for you to wriggle out.

Vil was practically fuming with anger, ignoring your questions about what was going on. He soon stopped before a close room, pushing you inside and closing door. Now, you were beginning to feel nervous and, well, curious. Vil was never the type to personally drag you somewhere, it was always Rook’s job.

You raised your eyebrow, eyeing Vil with pure confusion written all over his face. He run his head through his hair and sighed deeply in frustration, before his gaze pierced through, making you take a step back. He looked so intense.

Vil quickly cut the distance between you two, his fingers firmly grabbing your chin, making you look straight in his eyes.

,,I don’t want you associating with that…that potato”

His words were dripping with disgust and malice, as a frown flashed on his face. You opened your mouth to say something, yet your words were muffled by soft lips pressing on yours. Your eyes widen and your hands subconsciously clutched the cuffs of his jacket, pulling Vil closer. He smirked, not breaking a kiss. 

He pulled away, his lips gently brushing against yours. Vil eyed you for a brief moment, before clicking his tongue. His thumb gently grazed over your lips, gently smearing the remaining lipstick.

,,My, my, looks like you need to apply it once again”

You nodded, still in shock, as your fingers touched your lips in disbelief. Vil only chuckled seeing your reaction. He swiftly turned around on his heel, briefly glancing at you.

,,I’d love to take you out for a nice lunch after rehearsal. I have a important confession to make”

With that Vil left, leaving you completely stunned with a fluttering heart.

🏹 Rook is rather quick to realise his burning feelings for you and he’s a man who would immediately began to act,

🏹 he does a research on you beforehand. Before he even approaches you and starts talking to you, he will spend several days observing you, taking notes about your habits and paying attention to your dislikes and favorites. Rook doesn’t view this as stalking, non, non, it’s just an extensive research,

🏹 when Rook feels that he had gathered enough informations, he’s first to approach you. He complimets your dazzling beauty and starts a small talk with you. He absolutely doesn’t hide his attraction towards you, non, non, he rather makes it crystal clear, 

🏹 Rook would flirt a lot. You would see him popping up in most random moments, always when you’re alone, meeting you by “pure coincidence”,

🏹 he worships your beauty even before he asks you out. Rook probably worte multiple poems or serenades concerning you and he’s more willing to read them to you on a proper date. You always get embarrassed and hide your frustrated face in your hands, when he showers you in praises out of blue, 

🏹 Rook asks you out rather quickly. Maybe after talking with you like three or four times. This man takes the risk without batting an eye,

🏹 and he’s rather dramatic about it, practically giving you a heart attack, 

You quickly scanned through your notes, knowing very well that even this rapid revision wouldn’t save you before Crewel’s class. You were absolutely doomed and you were well aware of that fact. You sighed defeated, staring at complicated notes concerning potions you had absolutely no clue about.

,,Prefect, watch out!”

You jumped, papers dropping from your hands and flying in the air, as the arrow pierced through the wall inches from your face. You could feel it teasingly brush against your cheek, yet not cutting your skin. Your eyes widen and you tried to steady your breath. You were sure your heart would jump out of your chest. Letting a heavy sign, you hesitantly and reluctantly reach for the note attached to the arrow.

You frowned, not understanding first few lines written in French.

Should have studied this bloody language when I had the chance.

You scanned neat, cursive handwriting and you could feel your heart flutter. You bit your lip, lowering your gaze, as you giggled slightly at the cheesy confession and invitation to romantic dinner with candles. Normally “in the middle of the forest at the ungodly hour” would make you concerned, but you were too flattered reading the attached translation of the poem basically worshipping your beauty.

You raised your head and looked around, trying to find a certain hunter behind bushes, but to no avail.

,,I accept!”

You yelled, ignoring Ace’s and Deuce’s “what the hell human” look.

,,Très bien!!”

You could swear the source of that voice was somewhere in bushes.

🏹 Rook won’t hesitate to confess and he declares his love to you on first date. Like literally, you would be enjoying your dinner, while he’s planting small kisses on your hand, making you beyond frustrated and almost choking on your food and suddenly Rook declares his feelings to you,

🍏 he’s confused at first. Very confused. What is this weird feeling in his stomach whenever he sees you? 

🍏 you two went from classmates to “we-escape-from-Vil-on-daily-basic” friends to “fuck-we-escape-from-Rook-too besties to finally best friends. Epel has viewed you as a friend for quite a long time. You were always there to listen to his problems, help sneak out of Rook’s eagle eyes and you comforted him whenever he felt upset,

🍏 Epel realized his feelings, when certain hunter began cooing over how “stunning you had looked surrounded by rough nature”, all that while sniffing your hair and holding your hand. He got jealous, frustrated and practically dragged you out of there,

🍏 Epel is rather shy and hesitant to confess. What if you turn him down? What if you don’t reciprocate his feelings and want to stay as friends? What if you find Vil more attractive than him? What if…

🍏 those constant questions haunts and torments Epel practically all the time he’s around you or you spend time in the company of other males,

🍏 you live in his mind rent-free,

🍏 when he finally gathered courage to confess everything went wrong. Rook crashed his confession unknowingly (or on purpose, who knows) and you got dragged away by Vil to attend to “urgent matter”

🍏 needless to say, Epel was beyond furious and fuming. If the whole world was set on stopping his declaration of love and prevent him from speaking from the bottom of his heart, then he will aggressively take the action,

 Sometimes you truly questioned your ventures to Diasomnia or more likely questioned why you had refused the escort Sebek or Silver were willing to provide. You sighed heavily, mentally facepalming yourself. Oh right, you wanted to show Malleus that you by no means were scared walking back to your dorm practically in absolute darkness.

Oh, how wrong you were.

Where was your prince on the white horse?

Apparently nowhere to be found.

,,Y/N”

Oh how you wished you weren’t so squeamish and easily scared. You let out a blood-curling scream, when a hand roughly turned you around, pressing you into the wall. Your heart was beating so fast, you thought it could jump out of your chest, when your back collided with the cold surface. One hand rested beside your face, while the other one gripped your chin.

Before you could scream one more time and alert anyone, soft lips roughly crashed on yours, making you gasp from astonishment and pure confusion. You couldn’t see in the darkness face of the person desperately kissing you, yet the fragrance of fresh apples and gentle locks tickling your cheek smelling like Vil’s latest shampoo line, made you realized who it was.

Epel was kissing you.

Your hands tangled into his hair, pulling yourself closer, as you deepened the kiss. His hands landed on your hips, cutting any distance between you two. Your chest gently collided with him. Epel pulled away, when he felt you were breathless.

You placed the hand of your heart, taking few deep breaths to calm your racing heart from fear and sensation of soft lips on yours.

,,What the?! You scared the hell out of me!”

“Well, that’s the only moment I can confess in peace without Vil’s chattering. And if you hadn’t screamed, I wouldn’t have to kiss you before telling you that I’m in love with you”

“WHO NORMAL CONFESSES LIKE THIS?!”

,,WAIT, LET ME CONFESS”

🍏 you accepted his messy confession either way, yet you did scold him few times for practically giving you a heart attack,

[imkylotrash]

Cornelia Street (You Look Happier Part 2)

Summary: Hardin leaves reader for Tessa and reader calls Zed to help her. 

Warnings: Slut-shaming, swearing

A/N: I didn’t list pairing, because I don’t want to give anything away. Also I will publish a part 3 in the next couple of days, so I hope you’re ready. 

Tagging: @justyouraveragedorkygirl​

READ PART 1 READ PART 3 READ PART 4 READ EPILOGUE

The drive to Zed’s place is quiet leaving you to be suffocated by your thoughts. At some point, Zed reached over to grab hold of your hand and now you’re clinging onto it like a lifeline. How is it possible to exist when your heart has decided to stop beating? It’s as if you feel nothing but pain anymore. Pain and anger towards Hardin for staying when he didn’t want to. For going behind your back and confirming all your insecurities. Molly had been right that day; he wasn’t your Hardin anymore, he was Tessa’s. And it broke you. 

“Drink some water.” You’re sitting in Zed’s apartment with no idea how you got from the car and inside. You accept the glass of water but make no effort to drink it. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks earning nothing but silence from you. Somewhere in your brain you register his concern but right now you can’t focus on anything other than your breathing. Grief has paralysed you in the worst way possible and you hate it. You hate how weak you’ve turned over a silly boy.

“Say something so I know you’re still there,” Zed says trying to lighten the mood. 

“Tessa,” you rasp hoping it’ll explain your behaviour, hoping that he’ll put the pieces together and understand what’s happened. Understand why you’ve fallen apart. 

“Please tell me he didn’t.” You nod your head and Zed stops talking because he knows the kind of pain you’re in and he knows you need to process this slowly. So you sit there for a long time before you finally look over at Zed. He’s there and he’s ready to listen but you don’t want to talk. You want to do something that will help absolutely nothing and you’ll cry about tomorrow but you’re not thinking clearly as you crawl over to sit on his lap. 

“Make me forget him.” It’s cruel really because you know he’s had a crush on you since you started college but the world is cruel and you just don’t have it in you to think about feelings that aren’t your own right now. 

“Y/N, I can’t.” It’s meant as a rejection but he doesn’t mean it. You can tell that he wants this to be true and real. He wants you to want him the way he’s wanted you for such a long time but now you’re this broken puzzle that might be too hard to solve. 

“Please.” The word comes out as a whimper and if you’d been more coherent you’d probably be mortified by how pathetic you’re acting right now. But you’re not and Zed is fighting a losing battle. 

“I want this to be real, Y/N. I want to make you feel safe, but not like this. I don’t want to be second best to him.” He’s speaking faster than normal trying to get his point across before this goes too far. You’re kissing his neck and ignoring every word he’s saying. As you grind your hips, you feel him move beneath you. 

“Hardin will kill me for this,” he says and the name brings you back to Zed’s apartment. You scramble off of him instead sitting as far away as the sofa lets you. 

“I’m sorry,” you say not ready to realise how close you came to ruining your friendship with Zed. 

“I get it. I’m a safe option.” His eyes refuse to meet yours but you both know it’s the truth. Through everything Zed has been a safe habor that you’ve turned to over and over whenever you and Hardin argued. It’s not been fair on Zed but you haven’t known how to stop searching for him. He’s your best friend but he’ll never be more. It hurts to know that you can’t give him what he wants. 

“You’re not an option, Zed. You’re my best friend. You’re the person I need.” 

“But not the person you want,” he interrupts. There are no words that could help him right now so you reach over and take his hand in yours the way he did in the car. It’s support and love even if it’s not the love he want. In a perfect world, you’d want Zed. The two of you would get married after college and have kids at 30 when you’ve both had time to live your own lives. But it’s not a perfect world and you don’t want Zed like that. So instead the two of you sit together holding hands as your hearts are breaking fast and slow all at the same time. 

It takes you two weeks before you’re ready to return to campus. Zed lets you crash at his place because first and foremost you’re best friends and this is what best friends do for each other. And you both know that Hardin will show up at your apartment to see you. 

“Are you sure you’re ready?” he asks as you’re turning a corner. 

“I don’t know. I’m scared I’ll meet him but I also want to see him. Does that make sense?” Your faithful companion just nods knowingly as he always does. There’s an unspoken understanding between the two of you and it’s been the only thing keeping you sane.

“I’ll meet you after first period, okay? Wait for me.” He kisses your forehead softly before leaving for his morning classes. As he turns around, his face connects with Hardin’s fist. 

“What the hell is this?” he yells looking over at you. There’s an anger in his eyes that you’ve never seen before. He looks good, even had the time to add a tattoo to his sleeve. It pisses you off that she was probably holding his hand while he got it. 

“Walk away, Hardin.” You’re so mad you’re shaking but you just don’t have it in you to have a screaming match with Hardin right now. Instead you turn your focus to Zed who’s slowly getting back on his feet. 

“Are you okay?” Zed nods and wipes a little blood from his nose before coming over to stand next to you - loyal to the bitter end.

“Are you seriously with him now? Didn’t take you long to replace me!” He spits out the words and you can tell he’s hoping they’ll break you all over. Hardin is nothing but not persistent in his methods. 

“What I do is none of your concern anymore, Hardin. You made sure of that yourself.”

“I’d dumped you sooner if I’d known you were such a whore.” It’s like you’re standing on the other side of the road observing it all from a distance. His words are meant to cut you like knives but you just feel empty. These last couple of weeks have drained you and now you have nothing left to give. Why he’s even bothered now that he has Tessa is a question you have no answer for. You’d figured he would be too busy with her to even notice you. 

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Zed intercepts ready to fight Hardin right then and there but you spot security slowly walking towards the three of you. Hardin is once again making quite a scene but you and Zed don’t have the same kind of protection from the Chancellor that Hardin does. You can’t risk getting caught up in this. 

“You already broke me, Hardin. I have nothing left for you to take so please just go back to Tessa.” Without another word you take Zed’s hand and leads the two of you away from college not even caring how it looks to Hardin. You’ll have to miss another day. You can’t face those hallways again - they hold all the small touches and sweet nothings shared between you and Hardin. 

“I’m transferring,” you tell Zed as you’re approaching his car. You haven’t thought about it before but after seeing Hardin you’ve realised that it’s too much for you. The college holds too much for you to face it again. The kind of heartbreak Hardin caused you is something that time won’t mend. 

“Me too. I don’t want to see his face ever again.” You look over at Zed and realises that you’re not the only one Hardin’s hurt. You remember his last relationship that Hardin turned into a game. 

“Where should we go?” you ask. 

“Seattle? I’ve always wanted to go there.” And just like that it’s decided. Of course there’s all the paper work when you decide to switch school in the middle of a semester, but you both manage to transfer within a month. You find a crappy apartment not too far from campus. Even though you’re both thinking about it, none of you mention Hardin again. You apply for intern jobs and even manages to get an interview at Vance Publishing. It’s a new branch but you already know the company. It’s the one Hardin left right after first semester but for once the reminder of Hardin doesn’t cut your heart. So when you’re standing in front of the huge building Wednesday afternoon, you can actually breathe. 

“Hold the elevator!” you yell walking faster. Thankfully, the guy in the elevator holds the door for you. 

“Thank you.” He smiles as you walk past him into the elevator. 

“Are you new here?” he asks pressing the button for the 3rd floor. 

“I’m here for an interview,” you reply and take a second to look at him. He’s pretty. A cute smile and judging by his vibe and choice of clothes definitely no tattoos. He’s nothing like your usual type and definitely nothing like Hardin. Something about that draws you in. 

“Oh, I hope you get it then.” It’s a sweet thing to say really and it calms your nerves. 

“Thank you.” The elevator opens and he steps out. The moment gone. 

“I’m Trevor by the way. I hope to see you around.” 

[juniorgman187]

Serpent of Eden (Reid Series - Part 3)

~ Reader’s one-night-stand with Spencer turns into a year long semester ~

Summary: After a month of smooth sailing, Reader and Spencer finally cross paths on campus and spoiler alert - it’s not pretty. Couple: Fem!Reader x Professor Spencer Reid Category: Angst, Fluff, (eventual) Smut, Series Word Count: 1.7 (ik i promised no small chapters but this ones slightly more spicy and its in preparation for better, longer chapters) Content Warning: Age-gap, teacher student relationship A/N: POV switches from Reader to Spencer indicated by “_ _ _”

PART 2 HERE!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

It was easy to maintain a romantic relationship and to believe that everything was alright when we never had to see each other at school.

What’s harder was being in a professional setting and forcing ourselves to confront the reality that what we were doing was wrong. 

Just plain wrong.

We must’ve lucked out in the first few weeks of our relationship because it was smooth sailing for the entire first month. We’d even gotten into a routine - found our groove, if you will. 

Most often, we would meet at a place far from Hollis, where we knew we wouldn’t run into anyone who would recognize us. There we could just be (y/n) and Spencer; and there I would get lost in the good times and the bliss of the moment to the point of forgetting that we weren’t just (y/n) and Spencer - we were student and teacher, too. Other times, I’d come over to his apartment, but given my living situation, he had never come over to mine. 

It was somewhere around our one-month anniversary when our luck ran out. 

Holly had come into the room while I was finishing (or at least attempting to finish) reading a court case. 

“Are you going to the Promotional FBI Seminar?” She slid a large pamphlet on my desk, never minding the fact that she’d just haphazardly thrown the pamphlet in the spot where my book lied, causing me to lose my place on the page. Though I didn’t outwardly display my frustration, my agitation did grow beneath the surface. 

“What’s that?” I asked her, not out of sincere curiosity, but more so because I wasn’t even really listening to what she’d said before, and I’d pushed the pamphlet out of the way before I even read it. 

“A couple guys from the FBI are coming to talk to us about the job, like all the requirements to be hired, how much it pays - stuff like that.” 

Holly’s voice didn’t make for great background noise, especially when she started rambling while I tried to continue reading. 

“Are you going?” I asked. Again, this wasn’t a sincere question, just a way to make it seem like I was listening. 

“Yeah, and I really want you to come with me. I think you’d like it. You’re really into crime stuff, aren’t you?” 

“Yeah, yeah…” I said in a daze, obviously distracted by my other priorities.

“So you’ll come?”

I should note that I faintly recognized the name and premise of the seminar, but I couldn’t quite place where I remembered it from, and I was far too preoccupied to pay any further attention to the topic, so it slipped out of my mind almost as fast as it entered it. 

It was this moment here where Spencer’s eidetic memory would’ve come in handy. 

You see, the reason I weakly recalled the seminar was because just three days ago, Spencer had told me he was going to be a guest speaker for it. But again - I didn’t remember that, and so without any recollection of this information, I told Holly I’d go just so she’d stop bothering me about it. 

Unbeknownst to me, I’d just agreed to attending my own personal hell. 

I woke the next morning to Holly violently shaking me. 

“(Y/n), we gotta go! We’re so fucking late!”

Still half-asleep, I mumbled, “Huh?”

“The seminar started at 9:42 and it’s 10:36 right now.” 

This was enough to jolt me awake and get me out of bed.

There was just something about the pressure of being late that forced me into a mode where I could get ready in an ungodly short amount of time. I could never get ready that fast unless I was late for something, which makes no sense. 

Holly and I ran from our dorm, through the courtyard, and into the classroom, somehow managing not to trip once on the way there. I was actually quite proud of that. 

I couldn’t tell you if it was our breathlessness, our late departure, our struggle to find open seats, or a combination of the three, but we’d commanded the attention of the entire room - and the attention of someone I had yet to notice, too. 

“There’s a free seat over there. I can sit in the one over here.” Holly told me, suggesting that if we wanted to sit anywhere, we’d have to be separated. I followed her finger to the empty seat, shuffling awkwardly and apologizing profusely to the people I disturbed by approaching. I was so caught up in the hysteria and chaos to even bother looking up at the stage, hindering my ability to meet my impending doom any sooner. 

On the way to my seat, I noticed the copious amounts of notes being taken by virtually every student in the room, so rather than taking any time to look up, I was searching my bag down below me for note taking materials. 

But as they say - third time's a charm. 

After I’d settled into my seat, I finally looked up from the floor and it was then that I was transported back to a month ago - an eerie parallel to this exact moment. 

“Holy shit,” I muttered, earning sneers from the people sitting next to me who I’d clearly disrupted with my profanity. 

“Sorry,” I whispered to them, for I was truly sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. When I saw him, my stomach dropped. I had a feeling he’d already seen me, but I was too disorderly before to notice. 

I did, however, notice how he eyed me from the stage, even doing a double take when we locked eyes. 

“Most of us have done extensive work in areas such as …” His voice faded while my mind swirled.

We have got to stop meeting like this, Spencer. 

Our eye contact was too much for me to handle, so I was the first to break away. Through the entire question-period, I kept my head down to avoid any eye contact I could. 

“Well, that’s all that we have for you today. Before you go, please hand in your applications if you filled them out.” The other lecturer advised. 

I was well on my way out of the room even before he dismissed us, but I was drawn back by the sound of the sentence, “Excuse me, Miss? Could you stay back for a moment?”

I briefly walked backwards before turning on my heels and meeting those eyes that I desperately didn’t want to. 

“I noticed you came in late and I thought you might want to know the information you missed -” Spencer paused to look over his shoulder, noticing his colleague was attending to someone else and therefore, too engaged in that conversation to interfere with ours. 

“(Y/n), what are you doing here?” He asked me in a hushed tone, a stark contrast from his sweet tone from before. 

“I’m so sorry, Spencer. I completely forgot that you were a speaker for this seminar. I didn’t even know I was coming until last night when my roommate asked me to come with her. I would’ve warned you if I knew. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you in this position.” 

My apology was sincere seeing as I promised Spencer we would never run into each other. In fact, it was the sole reason we agreed to stay in this relationship - the mutual guarantee that we wouldn’t be put in these situations, but here we were. 

In this fucking situation. 

“No, it’s fine. I was just surprised to see you, that’s all.”

Spencer could tell I was flustered and truly apologetic for my ignorance, and he was almost about to reach out and rub my upper arm comfortingly when his actions were cut short by the looming presence of his fellow guest speaker. 

“Hi there. David Rossi.” He introduced himself by extending his hand into the space between us. “And you are?” 

“(Y/n) (y/l/n).” 

_ _ _

“(Y/n) (y/l/n).” 

It was like watching my worst nightmare come alive. 

If I ever imagined introducing (y/n) to my work family, this certainly wasn’t the plan. I just hoped to God that if Rossi and (y/n) ever met again in the future, he wouldn’t suddenly obtain my eidetic memory and recall her familiar face from this exact moment. 

“Got any questions for us?” Rossi coyly asked her. Once more I prayed to God that his profiling skills hadn’t just improved drastically and that he could sense the tension between the two of us. It almost seemed like he asked that question just to tease her because he knew what was really happening. But then again, that was probably just my paranoia speaking. 

She looked mortified when he asked this, even glancing back at me briefly as if to ask for a reprieve. “Um, no not really. I-I was just telling Dr. Reid that I’ve applied to audit his class before, but was always rejected.”

“That’s a shame. Well, maybe I can look into that. You know, put in a good word for you.” Rossi chuckled, nudging (y/n)’s shoulder to suggest he’d help her. She only shyly laughed and took a step closer to the door. 

“Oh, no you don’t have to do that for me.” 

“Nonsense. I’d be happy to do it.” 

“Thanks, Mr. Rossi.” With a thankful smile, (y/n) pranced out the door, closing the lecture hall door sharply behind her without one look back. 

“Nice girl,” Rossi acknowledged. “But it would be nicer if she could be on time.” 

I laughed, despite not finding (y/n) to be at the butt of the joke to be funny at all. 

“Um, are you actually gonna put in a good word for her?” I followed Rossi with my eyes, searching his face with a desperate hope that my question didn’t reveal too much. 

“Yeah, why not? I figured you would’ve liked to have another student audit your class.” 

“Yeah yeah…” I murmured in false agreement. 

Herein lies the trouble.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

PART 4 COMING SOON!

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[harryskalechips]

This sucks Part 3

A/N Hiiiiii! Here is part 3! It’s a bit fat but I hope you enjoy 🥰

Word count 5644

Warning: Smut :))))

Part 1, Part 2

Flashback…

Vanilla, warmth, and little giggles were the best things Harry could wake up to and although, he couldn’t have it all the time - at Y/N’s apartment they were always available. 

A finger slowly drags itself across his face as he tries to hide his smile. Grazing from his nose to his cheeks to the outline of his soft lips. Muffled laughs fill the room as Y/N tries to wake him up. She bites onto her pillow as she tickles her boyfriend’s face. 

“Ouch!” She yelps as her boyfriend caught her finger in his mouth. He opens his eyes to find her beautiful hair sprawled out on the white pillow sheets. The light from her window  was shining through her curtains hitting the corner of their bed. He teasingly bites as he sucks on it while his eyes stare innocently at her.

A few seconds later, the wet digit falls from his lips as he moves closer to wrap his arm on his girl. His face finds a comforting position between her shoulder and her neck. 

“Waking me up love?” He murmurs as his mouth leaves wet kisses on her shoulder. 

“I love tracing your features. Sometimes I forget this real.” She turns over to face him. Her hand tracing his jaw this time. “You’re really pretty you know.”

“I think you’re prettier than me.” Harry leans in to kiss her. His hands gripping onto her waist as he tries to rub himself on her soft legs.

“Not true. You’re the best man that I’ve ever known.” She wasn’t lying. All her past boyfriends didn’t want to treat her right but somehow she found herself in bed with a man who seemed to actually care for her. Her hips involuntary move forward as he sits up a bit to hover over her. 

“Someone’s a little excited, don’t you think?” He licks his lips as he takes both of her hands and holds them above her. “Last night wasn’t enough baby?” 

“I don’t know what you’re saying,” She glances down as she purposely bites her lip. She then looks up at him innocently. “Harry Jr. seems like he’s begging for more.” He laughs as he turns his head to the side to look at the window. 

“We should probably give him what he wants right?”

“Mhm.” He leans down to kiss her as she thrusts her hips forward.

“Fuck baby, look at you.”

Bzzz. Bzzz. ….. Bzzz. Bzzzz…..

Harry pulls away and gets off of her as Y/N sighs. She reaches the side of her nightstand to grab her phone. It’s her alarm. “I have to get ready for class.” She pouts as Harry palms himself.

“Maybe, you should stay in bed a bit longer. I won’t have you for long especially since you’re coming with me back to London next week.” He takes the blanket off of her so he can put it behind his back and throw it onto both of them. “See, now we’re both warm and we can get back to what we were doing.” He attempts to snuggle her. His mouth forming into a smile as he almost feels her body relax back into his arms.

“I’m sorry baby. You may be a pop star but I need to get a degree.” She kisses his lips as she gets up from the bed. Harry watches her as she takes his hoodie from last night and puts it on. “Now, I’m going to make breakfast while you help Harry junior.” She awkwardly makes guns with her fingers as she walks back to open her bedroom door.

“Or you can come here and watch me. Better yet, help me out.” He smirks as he leans forward to pull her back to bed. “Don’t need to make breakfast if I got my meal right here.”

~

When Harry was younger during his days in One Direction, They took some time in every country to explore a bit. He found himself in this old family vintage store with Niall during their time in Japan of 2013. As they looked at some of the things they sold, he couldn’t help but be fascinated by the little treasures that people forgot about. He was walking through the opposite aisle where his mate was when his eyes caught sight of the red strings that were hooked onto the wall. He didn’t know what they were but his hand couldn’t help but intertwine itself into the strings.

“You like that?” The old lady slowly walks to him as she grips onto the shelves to help herself walk. “That no buy. Therefore decoration.” Harry immediately pulls away as he tries to hide his embarrassed face from her. “You know what it’s about?” She smiles at him as she touches the strings too. “It’s the red thread of fate.” Harry looks at her with a confused facial expression. 

“The red string of fate connects two destined lovers together. Regardless of time, place or circumstances… this magical thread…” She struggles to translate her thoughts into English for this young man. “May stretch or tangle but it will never break.”

Ever since that trip, Harry couldn’t forget that myth in that little shop. Maybe, the old lady was bullshitting him but he couldn’t get rid of that thought. The thought of having a soulmate. It was the hopeless romantic side of him that believed his girl was there waiting for him and no matter where he is or what happens… he will find her. Y/N. The girl he met as he was buying coffee close to Columbia Records’ building. 

It was an accident when she turned around too quickly to only pour her $5 coffee on him. Being a gentleman he is, he bought her a new cup of coffee as they walked alongside each other to a secluded bench off a trail they found themselves on while at the park. 

But as time kept moving forward, his heart began to mend again after feeling death on his shoulders for the past year. 

It was now, December but more importantly, it’s been exactly a year since he met her. He could barely survive his tour without her but now that it’s been a long while, he knew too well that nothing could happen. What happened to her being his soulmate? He obviously took her for granted and now she’s gone. All he has left is his beaten up journal with loose papers sticking out as it gathers dust on his piano. 

“Should I leave?” A raspy feminine voice interrupts his thoughts as he takes his gaze off his piano and onto the girl wearing his shirt. 

“Yeah. Take off my shirt too.” He sips the hot liquid into his mouth as he holds onto the handle of his mug. “Put it in the laundry basket.” He eyes her as she walks back into his room. He had just finished his tour for Fine Line and now that his schedule was free, he had some spare time on his hands. Especially to play around with Eva.

He doesn’t love the girl. No way! but he does get lonely some nights and instead of calling the number he knows by heart, he forces his finger to tap another one. 

~

It doesn’t snow in Los Angeles but Y/N always found herself craving a cup of hot coffee from Blitzers during times like these. It wasn’t the cliche feeling of having a warm cup in her hand as she walked through the snow instead, she used it as her drug. During her time in University, caffeine was the only thing that got her moving. She graduated last June and now she is finding herself nervous as hell after having one of her many interviews at another stupid corporation. She takes her cup from the counter as another name is called. 

“Hershell?”

“Sorry to bump into you, love.” A man bumps into her shoulder as he tries to grab his drink while she tries to walk away. He was wearing his shades and the hood of his hoodie was on as he made a perfectly criss-cross tie in the front with the strings. She glanced at him quickly and gave him a nod as she continued walking out of the shop. Was that him? 

“Y/N.” The familiar voice calls her out as she turns around to smile at him. Harry held the door for another customer entering and soon let’s go.

“I was wondering if that was you in there.” She eyes the iced coffee in his hands.

“Long time no see.” He walks towards her. As he stood 4 feet from her, he hid his hand in his pocket while he observed her. He truly thought he would never see her after his show in September but somehow the first visit back to this coffee shop, his eyes already caught her figure as she bumped into him… again. Her hair grew longer and it seemed like she dyed the ends. She was holding onto her cup of coffee as she had her purse in another. A pink lip and a business sort of like outfit.

“You graduated right? Where are you working now?” He takes a sip of his cold drink. Luckily, his shades covered his eyes. He was almost embarrassed just by remembering their last encounter. Remember when you begged for her like a pathetic dog and she still rejected you?

“Oh, I’m applying for a couple of jobs. I never knew you still get your drinks here.” Y/N switches the subject quickly. She couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that she wasn’t good enough for any of the businesses here. 

“Yeah um, I actually just finished the last leg for my tour this year. I was just craving some coffee after having a meeting from work.”

“Cool.” She bites her lip as she pretends to be in shock after looking at her watch. It wasn’t even working. She hasn’t replaced the batteries in 7 years! “Look H. I have to go. It was nice seeing you.” She was scared to lean in and hug him. 

“Alright bye.” He purses his lips as he watches her turn around. “Catch you next time.” What? Why would you say that? You haven’t seen her for 8 months nor do you have her number!

It was weird to see her walk away from him again but this time it was as if those four months of dating meant nothing to them. There were no tears in her eyes or his. Instead, they’re in the busy streets casually bumping into each other and bidding farewell as if they hadn’t cried their hearts out the last time. 

~

“You saw him again and the first thing you do is attempt to cut the conversation short?” Jenna sits in front of Y/N in their booth as they wait for their plates to arrive. “Babe, remember last time we spoke? You missed him.” Her hand takes Y/N’s across the table. They’ve been best friends since the first year of Uni and despite the new stage in their lives, they chose to keep in touch. 

“Jenna, he looked good.” Y/N rests her head on the table. She looks up to the girl and pouts. “He had his hood on and his sunglasses but the way he called out for me when he exited the shop…. He’s moved on.” 

“First off, you told him to move on. He was crying on his knees begging you to be with him in September. Lastly, what do you mean just by the way he called you out? How do you know he’s over you?”

“I don’t know. He just sounded okay.” Y/N sits up and rests her chin on her hands. “He went through his 7 stages of grief while I chose to just forget about it.”

“Karma is a bitch huh? Now you want him back?” She laughs a bit. “Look Y/N, you can’t let yourself be stubborn your whole life. If you know what you want. Take it. Stop being so scared. Now, Harry’s gone and you lost one of your chances to be in a happy relationship with a great guy.”

“He’s probably with some other girl now.”

“So what? If you can’t have him at least try to keep in your life. He made you happy.” Jenna’s eyes look behind Y/N to see their food coming. “Now let’s eat. I have to tell you all about my desk buddy at work. He’s a total cutie.”

~

As Y/N was walking the stairs to her apartment, she noticed Jim her landlord standing in front of her door. He was a nice guy. His family lived on the first floor and during the holidays, he would always deliver some homemade curry his wife made while she exchanged her own signature dish for them to enjoy. 

“Hey, Jim.” She smiles. 

“Hello Y/N, I know it’s late but I wanted to remind you about your bills. I know this whole year has been a struggle but I was hoping you would get a job by now and pay them.”

“I know I’m sorry. I promise I’ll give you my rent for this month just give me an extra few weeks.” She sighs. Don’t misunderstand. She was able to pay her rent every month it just took her a couple of weeks every time to get the money in. Now, that she has student debt and no job, it was more of a struggle. Funny thing is as much Harry adored her homey apartment, he had no idea she was struggling to pay for the place. He just assumed it was school stressing her out but maybe that’s why Y/N needed a reason to take a break from him. It was hard to focus on getting money while your boyfriend just threw money in the air for fun. 

She needed a job and she needed one right now.

“Hello?”

“Hey Glenne, I need a favour.” 

~

“Harry, you never know taking this brand deal may do you good.” Jeff parks the car in front of Glenne’s building. He always picked her up from work and today after having lunch with Harry, he decided to bring him on the ride. 

“I know but I was thinking of taking a break from the cameras.”

“And write new music? You have a thousand of those in your journal.”

“Anything that was written about Y/N, won’t be recorded for anyone to listen publicly.” He shakes his head as he leans back in the seats. He was sitting in the back since Glenne was obviously going to sit with her boyfriend. But those songs he wrote for Y/N was his only evidence that what happened between them wasn’t a fling. Despite being together for four months, it was intense and real. 

“Hey, babe!” Glenne opens the door to sit down and kiss him. “Harry fuck! I didn’t know you were with him.” She turns around to see Harry, confused.

“What’s wrong?” Jeff questions as Glenne looks out her window with anxiety. 

“I offered Y/N a ride home. She had an interview with my boss today.” Harry’s eyes widen. Holy shit. Was he going to see Y/N regardless if he went to the coffee shop or not. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jeff looks at Harry then at his girlfriend.

“Why didn’t you tell me you brought H with you!” She was cut off as Y/N opens the back door.

“Hey Je- Oh! Hi Harry.” She smiles and sits down in the car. Glenne can already imagine Y/N choking her the next time they see each other alone. 

“Hey Y/N. Sorry, I brought Harry along, we just had lunch together.” 

“That’s alright.”

“We’ll drop you home first and then H,” Glenne reassures Y/N as Jeff drives out of the lot. 

“Hey.” Harry looks at Y/N. He smiles softly biting his cheek. He was nervous as fuck as he sat very closely to her. She smiles back and decides to talk to Glenne for the rest of the ride.

“Your boss offered me a job.”

“Oh my god, I’m so happy for you!” she turns back to smile at her. “You deserve it!”

“Thanks!”

~

After twenty minutes of driving and catching up, Jeff’s car pulls up to a familiar building Harry and Y/N knew too well. Back when they were dating, he used to cover his face walking into her apartment at night. Now, he stayed in his friend’s car just looking at it. 

“Thanks for the ride guys.” Y/N opens the door to get out. “Bye Harry.” She waves at him as she steps out. Harry just looked at her as she closed the door. They watched her step into the building before driving off again. 

“Can you stop the car?” Harry blurts out as Jeff waits for the cars to clear so he can turn onto the road and off the property. 

“Harry.” Glenne looks at him in pity. “Don’t tell me what I think you’re doing.”

“I have to.”

“You’re right.” Jeff unlocks the doors and glances at his friend. “Go talk to her.”

His heart was beating fast. Faster than ever this past year. “Thanks, mate.” He smiles at the guy who looks at him in surprise. It was Jim who just so happened to be watering the plants in the lobby. Harry opens the door to the stairwell and runs 4 flights of stairs to Y/N’s floor. He would’ve used the elevator but after a whole year, he knew better that it still wouldn’t be fixed.

Knock knock…

Y/N somehow had managed to change in a pair of shorts and a shirt as soon as she came home today. Her plan was to drink a couple of glasses of wine tonight in celebration of finally getting a job.

“Harry?” She opens the door in shock to see him panting. He was wearing his black jeans and a regular band tee. 

“Hi, I was thinking if we could talk.”

“Alright come on in.” She opens the door wider for him. He looked around her apartment to see how nothing has changed. It still looked the very same. It still smelled the same. All he was wondering if she has changed.

They sit on the couch as Y/N grabs another wine glass for him. “I know it’s a bit early but I was planning on drinking in celebration of today.”

“I know. Congratulations by the way.” 

“Thanks.” She pours him a bit and some for herself. It was just about 5 PM and a little drink wouldn’t hurt. “How are you?”

“I’m okay.” He looks at her as he talks a bit more slowly now. It almost seemed like a dream to be here again. “I had to ask Jeff to stop his car so I can be here. I just thought that maybe we should catch up.” 

“Oh… true.” she takes a sip of her wine. Was there a possibility that Harry still thought of her. She knew he was too good for her. How could he? He deserves someone better. But she promised herself after walking home from dinner with Jenna, that if this offered ever came up again... she would take it. 

“I thought you had a car?” He looked around in the picture frames. He didn’t know what her boyfriend looked like but he wondered if they were still together.

“I actually uh sold it to get some money.” It was true. She had so many part-time jobs as a student that she simply burnt out after graduation. She was exhausted and the only thing she could do to earn a couple of months off was selling her car.

“Oh.” Harry looks at her in pity. “You loved that sedan though.”

“It was shit anyway and it’s not like my mom would give me some money if I even asked.” Harry knew the broken relationship between Y/N and her mother. It wasn’t a surprise that on the plane ride to London, Y/N was too excited to meet his. 

“Doesn’t your boyfriend give you rides?” He puts his wine glass down as he sits beside his ex-girlfriend. He likes to befriend his exes especially if they ended on good terms but it never numbs down the pain he felt. 

For Y/N, she was different. Maybe he wanted to befriend her but there was obviously that little feeling of wanting her back. Yes, he knows he said he was over her. He said it multiple times as he sat in the seat in front of his bed as Eva slept in his sheets. But somehow, seeing her again made his mind cloudy and his heart itchy. Too selfish and tempted to get back what was once his.

“We broke up in October. He uh cheated on me.”

“What the fuck? Are you okay?” Harry frowns as he sits up a bit more. 

“It’s fine.” She laughs as she places her glass back on her table. “I wasn’t that into him. He was way too jealous about things.” Harry raises his eyebrows for her to continue. “He was jealous of you asking me to go backstage.” She confesses as she rolls her eyes. 

“Please he would beg to leave the room if he knew what was truly going on in there.” It was screaming and crying and a bit of kissing. The worst nightmare a boyfriend could imagine.

“I know.” she laughs at his comment. “How about you? You have a girlfriend or something?”

“No.” He wasn’t technically lying but… he also kind of was. Eva wasn’t his girlfriend -just a fuck buddy. “Haven’t dated anyone after you.” She smiles at him. Truly the wine was kicking into her but she wasn’t drunk, she just had the confidence she needed.

“I miss you.” she murmurs as she lays her head on the couch staring at him. His lips still looked as soft as ever. He had a bit of facial hair but it honestly turned her on a bit more. She hasn’t had sex since 9 months ago. It wasn’t that Robbie and she didn’t try to do that stuff. They simply just weren’t in that stage of their relationship yet especially, when he was getting it somewhere else.

“I miss you too.” He bites his lip. He never expected Y/N to be this outgoing. He expected they would have a chat, become friends again and leave it there. 

She leans in to kiss him as her hands rest on his cheek. She wasn’t going to lie. Kissing him back in September gave her butterflies the same way as it is right now. He ushers her to straddle him as his hands hold onto her waist. She slowly rubs herself on him as he moans, kissing down her neck. 

“Baby, I missed this.” He whispers as he pulls himself away from her to only find her lips again. He kissed her with all the passion burning in him. She was moaning, fighting for dominance as their tongues fought back and forth but Harry knew just want to do when she started acting this way. He took his right hand and gripped on her chin to open her mouth a bit wider so he can kiss her more. Her hands rested on his shoulder as she continued to rub herself on him. 

“Still a needy girl. Aren’t you love?” 

“I just really missed you.” 

His hands hold onto the back of her thighs as he carries her off the couch and into her bedroom. Her sheets were different but overall, it still looked the same and that made Harry very happy.

“Why are you smiling?” She takes her mouth off his neck to see him looking at her room.

“I just missed this place.” He throws her on the bed as he pulls off her shorts with her panties. She moves a bit as he takes off his shirt. She almost gasped as she watches his arms flex to pull the tee off of him. She missed his tattoos and his soft chest. The same body she would cuddle as she fell asleep after studying for a fat exam. “Fuck, you look so good.” He licks his lip as he urgently unzips his jeans. He frustratingly pulls at the ends of his pants while balancing himself. Why did he wear jeans today????

Y/N watches him as she takes off her shirt and starts playing with her breast. “You’re taking a bit long there? Don’t you think?” He looks at her with his mouth open in shock. 

“Fuck it.” He pulls one last time to get his pants off and fortunately it was a success. He walks on his knees as he approaches her kissing her one more time before dipping his tongue in the center of her chest. His hands playing with her nipples as he slips his tongue lower and lower until they reach her needy core.

“Harry.” She bites her lip as she thrusts her hips forward. He smirks as his lips attach themselves on her thighs, sucking on it and biting on each side. He wanted to leave a mark on her. He needed to.

“Fuck!” She moans as her fingers rest in his hair. 

“Tug on it, baby. Let me know you miss me.” He licks her centre greedily as he murmurs against her. He’s trying his best not to rub himself on her sheets but he missed her too much. Her centre was wet… too wet. His fingers were slipping in too easily as he fucked her like that. It almost was too much for her to handle as she sat up and pulled away.  “Are you okay?” He licks his fingers and holds on to her thighs. Was she starting to regret this? He needs her back. He wants her back. Why can’t she want the same thing?

“Lay down.” She pants as she moves over so he can lay on the pillows. He rests himself on his elbows as he watches her take him in her mouth. 

“Aw baby. Fuck I miss your mouth. You take me so well.” He watches her mouth wet his dick as his chest heaves up and down. His mind was clouded with her. Her only. He forgot everything else in the world as if he wasn’t abusing alcohol earlier this year. 

She gags on him as her hands play with his balls. He begins to thrust his hips forward before stopping almost immediately. “Can I fuck your mouth baby.” He groans as she looks at him innocently before nodding. His hand holds her hair into a makeshift ponytail as he thrusts his hips forward and harder. The sound of her choking makes him harder.

“Good girl.” He pulls off her and carries her to where he was laying beforehand. “Let me go get a condom.” He was about to get off the bed when Y/N holds onto his wrist. 

“I’m on birth control and if- you haven’t been with anyone for a while maybe we can…” His mouth waters as he leans down to kiss her. 

“I’ve been with only one other person and I’ve always used protection.” She couldn’t help but pout at him. Was he seeing someone else at the moment? What were they doing? She began to sit up as Harry shook his head. 

“No no, please. I’m not dating her or anything. I’ve only been having sex with her. I love you, please. I need you.”

“Can you not talk about her?” Y/N snaps as she drops her head on the pillow. He leans down to kiss her on the lips before moving his lips to her neck. 

“We’ll talk about her later but I’m telling you now -I want you so badly. I’ve been missing for a whole year now and I’ll drop everything for you.”

She closes her eyes as he bites on her earlobe. “Who said anything about me fucking her good? I have never eaten her out. Never left my marks on her. I never pulled her hair and choked her until she cried out of pleasure. Baby, that’s all for you and I’ll make sure after tonight, I’ll have you back in my arms.” He sucks on her nipples as he positions himself and thrusts in her. He takes a deep breath as she continues to close her eyes and scratch his back. He could feel her heart beating fast as he thrusts a bit harder.

“You okay bub?” He kisses her neck as she nods.

“You’re so big and I can fucking feel you in my stomach.” She laughs as she accidentally clenches her walls on him.

“Uh, babe.” He bites her shoulder. 

“Sorry, it’s been a while.” He smirks and licks a stripe of her neck. 

“Alright, whatever you say. You’re still as tight as I remember.” He smirks at her. “Pussy so good I was heartbroken when you left me.” Y/N rolls her eyes as he continues to thrust into her making her begin to moan louder. 

The night carried on as he fucked her and how she fucked him. They couldn’t get enough of each other. They were sure to leave a dent on her wall due to her bed frame bumping into the wall every so often. 

But as much as they laid in each other’s arms, they still had an outstanding problem of what they were now. and it wasn’t long until that problem said peek a boo once again.

~

Happy. Happy Harry was. It’ was just about Christmas and he had a gift in his hand as he walked the stairs towards Y/N’s apartment. Lately, he’s been spending time with her. It was as if those 8 months no longer meant a thing to him. H made sure to visit Y/N during work, drop her off and pick her up. He made sure to cuddle her to sleep and most importantly he called Eva the day after he and Y/N reconnected. He made sure to make things clear-that he no longer wanted to play games with her and that they were over. 

Although it made Y/N a bit jealous he was sleeping with a pretty girl when they broke up, Harry made sure to fuck the jealously right out of her so the only thing she could do now was to roll her eyes. She wasn’t mad at him just a bit insecure but Harry reassured her, he only began a fling with Eva in the beginning of November. It was never serious. 

“Merry Christmas.” He smiles gleefully as he flashes the small Cartier gift bag to her.

“Harry, that better not be for me.” Her eyes were in shock. He shakes his head and wraps his arm around her waist as he kisses her. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too but you shouldn’t give me that.” After meeting Harry’s family and finally started seeing him again, she was scared his family would still think of her as a gold digger. She didn’t want to talk about it with Harry. She was really hurt when she heard that. 

“I bought it for you.” He locks the door and takes her wrist as they sit on her couch once again. Y/N had no family members and she was planning on spending Christmas with Glenne and Jeff or maybe Jenna but now Harry is back. Harry had nowhere to go either since he’s been avoiding his family for the past year. Now they decided to just spend Christmas together and catch up.

“Here.” He gives her the bag as she opens it. It was their signature love bracelet with diamonds on each side. Y/N began to cry as she looked at the bracelet. 

“Harry…”

“I want you to have it.” He takes the bracelet and puts it on her. “You look so pretty.” He smiles cheekily at her as she wipes her tears away. 

“We were supposed to give our gifts later but you’re too excited.” She sits up and picks up a rectangular box underneath the tree. “Here’s yours.”

He kisses her and takes the gift in his hands. As he opens the gift wrapping paper, there were a bunch of papers folded and underneath was a brand new journal that looked exactly like the one resting on his piano. 

“Read those letters on your own time!” Y/N’s cheeks turn red. “I bought you a new journal after you desperately ripped papers out of your old one.” She laughs as she plays with her nails. “You need one of those and I thought maybe a new one for the new year. For new beginnings.”

“I love you!” He tucks the notes in his new journal as he leans forward to kiss her a bit more longer. “So much baby, so much. you know I’m not letting you go anymore right?” Y/N smiles as he kisses her nose and her cheeks.

“I love you more H. Now, I have one more request and I was hoping you would allow it to happen.”

“What is it bub?” She grabs his phone beside him and takes it in her hands. 

“I was wondering if we could call your family and greet them?” His heart softens as he looks at her. He nods at her without another word as she searches for Anne’s name. The ringing was the only thing heard until Anne’s voice picked up.

“Oh my God, my baby boy!” 

and at that moment as Harry watched Y/N smile as he spoke to his mother, he knew he found the one. Y/N wasn’t mad anymore about what happened in London. She wished that trip ended another way but she found the goodness in her heart to let Gemma and Anne’s comments go. She hated the fact that Harry stopped talking to them. She had no family anymore and she doesn’t want Harry to feel that way anymore.

As the call ended, Harry’s eyes were wet as he looked at his phone. He haven’t heard from his mum this past year. And Anne made it clear that she wants to visit them two and make peace with Y/N. Harry became in asshole when he broke up with Camille but for some reason, when he broke up with Y/N, he fell apart. The only thing that Harry was thinking about now was what Anne said to him in the call. 

Are you two dating again? You better ask her or she might slip through your fingertips again. She’s a beautiful girl, Harry. I’m sorry about what Gemma and I said. Bless her soul that she encouraged you to call me. I missed you baby, you’ll always be my son.

Harry’s heart was beating fast. This was the problem. He knew he could only spend a few weeks with before this question came up. He was scared to ask her. What happens if they break up again? What happens if she says no?

“What’s wrong H?” She brushes his hair out of his face. Throughout the 10 minute phone call, she sat there listening to them catch up. Harry offered the phone to her but she wanted the mother and child to talk.

“I’m scared uh you might say no but I have a question.” He puts his phone down and takes her hand. “I was wondering if you would be my girlfriend again. I promise you I’ll treat the best I can. I want to make you happy. I want to travel the world with you and just love you.” He squeezes her palm. 

“Alright.” She nods before flashing a sweet smile. “I’m your girlfriend again.” Harry’s eyes sparkle as he kisses her and picks her up. He swings her in his arms before carrying her back into her bedroom. 

The red string of fate connects two destined lovers together. Regardless of time, place or circumstances. This magical thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.

Y/N was his soul mate because she made him the happiest he could ever be and the saddest too. Despite their relationship starting out once again… this time she was trying and they were both more serious about fighting for each other- they were more confident in their love. No one can break them apart this time… after all, it was a new year.

[wefoundloveunderthelight]

Love, War, and Books by GleefullyCaptainSwan

Chapter 3/3 Notes:

Thank you so much for reading and going along on this journey. This 3 chapter AU took me more time to write than any of my other fics, I really stepped outside my comfort zone with this as I prefer to write original stories and struggled with an AU based on something everyone knows and loves. I haven't liked every word, but I grew to love the tale and I hope you did too.

Read on AO3: | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Or on FF

Stacy's Tortured Crew: @teamhook @kmomof4 @stahlop @lfh1226-linda @ilovemesomekillianjones @itsfabianadocarmo @mariakov81 @qualitycoffeethings @zaharadessert @jrob64 @jonesfandomfanatic @natascha-ronin @tiganasummertree @xarandomdreamx @therooksshiningknight @batana54 @superchocovian @onceratheart18 @ultraluckycatnd @snowbellewells @karlyfr13s @the-darkdragonfly

Chapter 3: The Book of You

“Well now that you’ve put her out of business, I wonder if she would come work for me? She’d be an excellent children’s book editor.”

Killian made a snorting sound, “I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t work for anyone associated with me.”

“I think I’m going to offer her a job anyway.”

“She wouldn’t be good for you; she lacks that killer instinct you like in your employees. What is it you always say, never apologize as long as you win?”

“Like you’re one to talk, you’re just as insensitive as I am, I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation.” She complained, punching the button on the elevator to their floor. “The only reason I have the chance to hire her is because you put her out of business.” She narrowed her eyes. “Who’s insensitive now?”

Killian internally groaned, watching the numbers on the elevator move slowly as Milah droned on beside him. Emma would never work for someone like her, she could never be as cutthroat as he had seen Milah behave. She wasn’t like her, or for that matter, him. Emma was a rare breed.

The elevator jerked violently to pull him from his thoughts, lights flickering on and off as it came to a shuddering halt.

“What the hell!” Milah yelled as the other occupants in the elevator began tapping on the buttons.

“I’m sure it’s just a technical issue.” He offered reassuringly. Milah pulled out her phone, dialing and waiting impatiently for someone to answer. He leaned against the wall, smiling at the woman with her young daughter. “They’ll get us out shortly, no need to worry.”

“No one is answering, how incompetent do you have to be to not know how to pick up a phone?”

“Milah, it’s possible there was an electrical outage that affected more than us, I’m sure the phone lines are busy.”

“I’ll be putting in my complaint to the city.” She squealed and Killian pushed himself down toward the floor, sitting on the ground and removing his jacket.

“I’m sure they’ll be awaiting your call with bated breath.” He grumbled to himself. “Shouldn’t be long, someone will come and get us out.” He announced to the group. “Might as well get comfortable.”

Three hours later and Milah was testing his nerves. He had expected her complaints to die down once the air in the elevator had gotten thicker and harder to take breaths, but it seemed to only intensify her anger.

“When I get out of here, I’m going to call my daughter and apologize. I haven’t spoken to her in 3 weeks, and I don’t even remember what we were fighting about.” The man beside him spoke to no one in particular. Killian smiled at the man; it was a lovely sentiment.

“When I get out of here, I’m going to apply for that job I’ve been scared to be rejected from. Even if I don’t get it, at least I will have tried.”

Milah jumped in, “When I get out of here, I’m going to get Botox.” She announced, staring at herself in her hand mirror and pulling at her skin. Killian rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what he was going to do when he got out of here.

“When I get out of here…” He began.

“Do you have my gum?” Milah interrupted and Killian exhaled, reaching into his jacket beside him to pull out his gum and toss it toward her. The moment was gone, but the second he left the elevator he did exactly what the moment called for. He told Milah it was over between them.

She barely gave up a fight, as he gathered his items, promising to return to pick up the rest of his stuff, and taking Smee out the door with him. Killian didn’t care, he was just happy he could stop pretending. He realized in that elevator that his and Milah’s relationship had always been pretend. He dated her because it was the next logical step in their relationship, they moved in together because that’s what you do when you’ve been dating for as long as they had. She was in the book business, she had contacts that he used selfishly for his own business, and beyond that they had nothing else in common with each other. It was over before it had even begun.

Killian sat down in front of his computer, he wanted to talk to Emma. She was the first person he thought about when faced with what he was going to do once he left that elevator. He needed to come clean to Emma, tell her who he was. But he knew that once he did that, it was all over. She would never speak to him again. But maybe, maybe if she got to know the real him, the real Killian Jones, maybe he wouldn’t lose her.

JR10: Tonight, I got in the elevator, something I do every day. Three hours later I got out of the elevator and Smee and I moved out of my shared apartment. It was like the smoke had cleared and everything just made sense to me. It’s a long story, full of all those little details we don’t share about ourselves, maybe one day we will.

~*~

Emma stared at the screen in front of her. He had been living with someone. She couldn’t be angry; she had been doing the same. She understood how he was feeling though, the smoke clearing. It was exactly how she felt with August. Like the world just opened to her and suddenly she got tired of playing the game. She just wanted to be happy and clearly she hadn’t been.

Lonelygirl: Change is a funny thing isn’t it? It’s like dominoes. One little thing changes and suddenly there is this chain reaction and when you look up everything around you has changed. Six months ago, when I met you online, I knew exactly who I was, what my life was going to look like, and where I would be for the rest of my life. Now I know nothing. My store closed this week. I haven’t told you I owned a store, but I did. It was a beautiful little bookstore that my mother had when she was alive. And maybe I held onto it so fiercely because it was my way of keeping her alive, but either way, it closed and I’m heartbroken. It’s like my mother has died all over again and there’s nothing anyone can do to make it right.

Emma walked down the street, looking up to see the Jones Books logo staring down at her, mocking her. She bit her lip and walked up to the door, yanking it open forcefully as if somehow her strength was going to topple the entire building to the ground.

She marveled at the size of the inside, stairs leading to a second and third floor, lights hanging in every corner, large comfortable chairs full of patrons sitting together, reading books. The place was full, she’d never seen so many people in a such a large space before. The registers were full of customers purchasing armfuls of books. She climbed the stairs slowly, stopping when she saw the children’s section.

It was a marvel, bright, colorful, with stuffed animals lying around for children to play with. She sat down on a large bean bag, tears falling softly down her face.

“Do you have the shoe books?” A woman asked one of the employees standing a few feet away from her.

“Shoe books? Who’s the author?” Emma rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know the author, my friend just told me that I need to find the shoe books.”

“Neal Streatfeild. The author is Neal Streatfeild, he wrote all the shoe books.” She announced to the pair as the tears started to come faster. “I’d start with skating shoes, though ballet shoes are just as beautiful.” She said with a snort, looking up to see them staring at her with a tentative look of concern. She wiped her nose with her sleeve and stood up, quickly exiting the building.

~*~

Killian stared at his computer. Sadness overtaking him at her words. He really was the bad guy.

“Cora and I are over.” Killian looked up at his dad.

“So soon, you just got engaged.”

“She was dating the nanny.”

He burst into laughter. “Well, that makes up for you leaving Kristen for the nanny.”

“No, Kristen was the nanny, I was with Kelly at the time.”

“Ah, so many, I lose track.”

Killian turned his attention back to his computer.

JR10: I’m so sorry about your store. I don’t know what else to say that doesn’t sound trite and inconsiderate. I hope that you will be alright.

He sent the message, but he felt sick inside.

“How’s the store? Business must be booming, and I heard that the children’s book lady finally closed.” His father poured himself a drink. “You met her; do you think she would date me?”

His father handed him a glass and Killian sighed. “On to the next, I guess.” He said with a shrug.

“Father and son, back together again.”

Killian could hardly believe that as much as he tried to not be like his father, here he was living on his boat, parked on the slip right next to where his father was currently hiding out in his. Father and son, indeed.

The next few days he went in search of a new apartment, checked in with Belle at the store, and waited anxiously for a reply from Lonelygirl. When he had heard no response from her after a week, he decided to reach out again.

JR10: Why haven’t you written back? Are you alright?

When Emma didn’t reply, he walked to the store, checking in to make sure that everything was going as expected for the new store. Business had taken off in the past week, Belle had made a very important hire, bringing in Will Scarlett from The Golden Swan to run the children’s book section.

After Killian had observed Emma in his store, listened as his employee was unable to assist a customer, he challenged Belle with the task of bringing in the best department head she could find for the children’s section. Will may not have seemed like the best option for customer services with his dry wit, his sour attitude, or his arrogant behavior, but when it came to children, the man turned into a new person. He told stories, acted out the parts, played the different voices, and children flocked to him. He was a rare find in their world.

When he returned home later that evening, he found a new message from Emma.

Lonelygirl: I’m sick. I can’t stop sneezing, my ears are clogged, my nose is blocked. I feel terrible. I haven’t left my bed in days. The worst part is that all I can do now is sit here and think about my life. Who am I kidding? What life? What am I going to do now?

Killian groaned, if he felt worse before he felt terrible now. He had ruined this woman’s life. And now here she was feeling like she had no future. He caused that. She was a bright woman with a bright future, and he needed her to know that too.

He jumped up from his chair, rushing out the door.

Ten minutes later he was standing in front of the brick apartment, staring up at the windows above him. This was a risk, but he needed to take it.

~*~

Emma lay in bed, sneezing for yet the fifteenth time that hour. She felt terrible. She closed her eyes, trying to find sleep when the buzzing forced her eyes open. “Oh God, not now.” She groaned, pulling herself up from her bed and stumbling through the apartment. The sound buzzed again, and she put her hands to her ears. “Please stop doing that.” She moaned. Pressing the button to the intercom.

“Go away.” She yelled into the box.

“Hi, Hello. This is Killian Jones.”

Emma stood back from the door like it shocked her. What the hell was he doing at her apartment?

“Go away.” She repeated. She had no idea what that asshole was doing at her apartment but whatever it was, it wasn’t a concern of hers.

“Can I come up?”

“No that’s a terrible idea. I’m sick, I haven’t been sleeping, I might be contagious so I would really appreciate it if you…”

There was a loud knock on the door she was currently leaning against. She jumped at the sound. “Hello?”

Emma stood back from the door. Killian Jones was standing outside her apartment. She looked around the room, scattered used tissue paper littering every surface, blankets draping the floor and chairs. She ran around the room, gathering items in her arms, tossing garbage away as fast as she could.

“Emma?” She heard his voice on the other side of the door. She looked down at the pajamas she was in and looked around anxiously for anything to cover herself up with. Reaching for the closest item she could find she wrapped the long coat around her and tightened the belt before reaching for the door.

Opening the door, she came face to face with her worst enemy, holding a bundle of flowers. “Why are you here?”

“I heard you were sick, I wanted to check on you.”

Emma stared at him, open mouthed. This was a new development, she didn’t think empathy was a trait of his. “You put me out of business. Are you here to gloat or offer me a job?”

“I wouldn’t think of it.” He announced, stepping into her apartment, and slipping past her into her living room.

“Hey!” She said, spinning around and following him. “I’ll have you know, I already got offered a job by your girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend actually.” He offered and Emma narrowed her eyes in his direction.

“Oh, what happened?”

“We broke up.”

“Oh, that’s terrible you two seemed perfect for each other.” She slapped her hand over her mouth. She did it again. Said something really awful just to hurt someone. That wasn’t who she was. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I said that it was really mean. I’m not like that, but every time I’m around you…”

“I know, the words just fly out of your mouth.” He offered with a laugh.

“Yes actually, but I’m sorry. Thank you for coming. But I think you should leave.” She opened the door and tapped her foot.

“I brought you flowers.” He said instead of walking out the opened door. He held them toward her, a beautiful array of snowbells. “Do you have a vase?” He turned and walked back through her house, wandering off toward the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” She argued, chasing him through the house.

“They need water, you should sit down, you’re sick.” Emma stared at him dumbfounded. What the hell was this man doing here? She sat down lazily onto her couch, staring toward the kitchen to see if she could see the man who was currently invading her life. He stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway, “Did you know that Will came to work for me? He’s a great kid. He’s the one who told me you were feeling sick. Did you know he has a PHD in children’s literature?”

Emma nodded absentmindedly and mumbled to herself. “Of course, I knew that.”

He returned to the room with the flowers and Emma smiled at the large bouquet of beautiful buds that almost lit up the room. “When did you break up?”

“What?”

“With your girlfriend, when did you break up?”

He put the flowers down, quietly speaking. “A couple of weeks ago.”

“Everyone is breaking up recently. This other person I know broke up with his girlfriend in an elevator. Or outside one or near it, something. It was stuck. And then everything was clear.” She said, her mind hazy. “When I saw you that night, at the restaurant, he’s the one I was waiting for and I was…”

“Enchanting.” He said almost reverently which caused Emma to snort.

“I was not enchanting, I was mean, you said it yourself.”

“Well, you looked enchanting” He said, before turning back to the kitchen and rummaging through her cabinets. “Tea?”

Emma nodded, “Top cabinet on the left.” She mumbled, blowing her nose into the tissue in her lap.

“Well, I was upset that night. And I was really rude.”

“I was the rude one, love.” He replied, handing her a cup.

“Yes, but I have no excuse.” She grabbed the flowers, the tea, and her blanket and walked toward her bedroom.

He followed her, “Whereas I am a horrible human being and thus have no excuse but to be rude. Correct?”

“No that’s not what I meant.” She said before sneezing violently. “I’m done being a mean person, even to you.” She crawled into her bed.

“But I put you out of business. You’re allowed to hate me.”

“I don’t hate you.” She sighed.

“But you’ll never forgive me.” He added with an almost sincere expression on his face, to the point that Emma almost believed that he felt sorry for ruining her life. She knew that was ridiculous because Killian Jones was a ruthless businessman, he wasn’t sorry for doing his job.

“You don’t care if you get my forgiveness or not.”

“It wasn’t personal.” He said softly.

“It was business.” She laughed. “What does that even mean? I’m so sick of it. All it means is that it wasn’t personal to you, but it was personal to me. What’s wrong with personal?”

“Nothing.” He added seriously.

“Exactly, if anything, it should at least start as being personal.” Emma shook her head, “My head is fuzzy, I need to go to bed.” She crawled into her blankets. “Why are you here again?”

“I thought maybe we could be friends.”

“You are crazy.” She laughed.

“I know, I guess it was too much to expect. Can I ask you something?”

“Well, you’re here aren’t you.”

“What happened with that guy from the Café?”

Emma’s shoulders sagged. “Nothing.”

“But you’re crazy about him?” He asked, a look of hope in his eyes she didn’t understand.

“I am.”

“Then why don’t you run off with him? Start a new life with this lucky man.”

Emma frowned. She knew she was about to sound completely stupid. “I don’t actually know him.” He smiled at her, and Emma was waiting for the retort. “We met…” Don’t tell him Emma. “You are going to think this is ridiculous.”

“You met him online.”

Her eyes widened. “Yes.”

He pulled the blankets up to her chest, a move that suddenly felt very personal and warm. “Well, I’m happy for you both. But I think maybe you should meet him, love.”

She laughed nervously, “I don’t think I need to take advice from someone who…”

His hand slipped against her lips, and they immediately tingled from his touch. “I’ll save you from saying something else you’ll regret.” His thumb grazed her bottom lip as he pulled it away. “Get better, Emma.”

She stared at him dumbfounded. “Uh huh.”

He smiled, his blue eyes shining down at her and causing her stomach to make unexpected flips. What was happening to her? It must be the medication.

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” She repeated as she watched him retreat from her apartment and shut the door.

~*~

Killian couldn’t stop thinking about Emma as the days went by. He had almost given up hope that his words to her at her apartment had fallen on deaf ears when he got the message two days later.

Lonelygirl: I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and I think maybe we should meet.

He smiled. Now he just needed to work on his relationship with her. Get her to know the real Killian Jones before he told her he was JR10.

JR10: Of course, we will meet, but right now I’m in the middle of a project that needs…tweaking.”

It’s showtime.

He left the house ten minutes early, taking the route that would get him to Starbucks. He stood in line, keeping his distance from the blonde woman at the front of the line. When she turned to face him, his mouth dropped in fake surprise.

“Emma?”

Emma stopped, “Killian?”

“How funny running into you here. Do you come here often?”

“Just every morning.” She laughed. “What are you doing here?”

“Weird, I come here every day too. Funny how we’ve never run into each other before. You look like you’re feeling better.”

She smiled. “Yes, much, thank you. Well, I should…”

He nodded, “Yes of course, nice seeing you.”

He ordered his drink and walked slowly past the table she was sitting at. Looking around he mumbled to himself. “It’s always so busy in here. Nowhere to sit.” Looking down he made eye contact with Emma and she sighed.

“Do you want to sit down?”

“Yes, thank you. How have you been?”

“Great.” She said shortly. “I’ve started writing a book.”

“That’s wonderful news. How’s that fellow of yours? Have you met him yet?”

She looked down at her newspaper. “No.”

“No? What’s stopping you?”

She exhaled loudly. “He said he’s working on a project that needs tweaking.”

“Tweaking? What does that even mean?” He paused. “I bet he’s married.”

Her mouth dropped. “No, that’s not possible.”

“Have you asked him?”

“Of course not, how do you just ask someone if they’re married?”

“Pretty sure you say, are you married?” He laughed.

When he got home that evening, he found a message from Emma that made him smile.

Lonelygirl: I’ve been meaning to ask, are you married?

JR10: How could you ask me that? I thought we knew each other better than that. Wait, are your friends telling you that I’m probably married?”

That evening, after conveniently running into Emma at her favorite diner, he casually brought up her internet friend.

“So, he didn’t answer the question?”

Emma paused and then put her hand to her mouth. “I guess he didn’t, did he?”

“Maybe he’s fat.”

“Killian!” She exclaimed. “I don’t care about that.”

“You don’t care that maybe he’s horribly disfigured or walks with a limp. Maybe he spits when he talks.”

“I highly doubt that.” She snorted.

“Why else would he be taking so long to meet you? Maybe he’s…” He opened his mouth and then closed it.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Killian, what?”

“What if he’s waiting until he gets out of prison.”

“Oh stop. Will already thought he was a murderer.”

“What’s his username?”

“I’m not going to tell you his username.”

“It might help tell who he is.”

“Fine, JR10.”

“What kind of a name is that?” He huffed.

“Maybe it’s his initials.” She offered.

“Or how many tons he weighs. Just Round 10 tons.” He teased and she burst into laughter. “Or how old he is! Maybe you found a technological genius who is 10 years old.”

“Could be an address or a location…” She laughed. “No that would be stupid.” Killian tried not to choke on his coffee. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. I mean besides being married or in prison, the only other deal breaker is the boat thing.”

“Boat thing?” He inquired.

“I could never be with a man who has a boat.” She said simply.

“I have a boat.” He said, his tone serious. “So that settles it.” She looked at him with confusion. “We’ll never be together.” He met her gaze, not breaking the contact.

“So, what is the book about?” He asked, changing the subject.

“It’s a children’s book, I know this editor from the store who wants to read it as soon as I’m done writing it. You know, JR10, he was the one who really made me think about writing.”

“You mean Mister 10 felonies committed before age 24?” he teased.

“More like Mister 10 ways into my soul.” She said almost lovingly, and he felt the desire to reach across the table and kiss her. “It’s weird how much we’ve been running into each other lately.”

“Wanna run into each other say, tomorrow, round lunch time?”

“Sounds great.” She said with a genuine smile.

Killian thought about Emma his entire walk home. The way her hair glowed bright with the sun shining on her, or how her eyes were the perfect shade of green. It was becoming harder to fight the urge to kiss her each time he saw here. He needed to tell her who he was, soon.

JR10: How about meeting me tomorrow? 4pm. The park on 88th. Where the flowers bloom in the garden and the path curves. You’ll find me there.

~*~

Emma stared at her computer. She was finally going to meet him. A part of her was excited, the other part of her was feeling something else that she couldn’t put her finger on. She’d been focused so much on meeting this man but between those moments she had formed something of a friendship with Killian Jones. It was a friendship that somehow she had learned to value.

He had offered her advice on her book, some to talk to about JR10, and in the times when they were together, a companionship that she had been missing. It was like he understood her better than anyone she had ever known before.

They were meeting for hot dogs for lunch, she was happy for the distraction from her nerves of meeting JR10later that evening. Killian would know the right thing to say to her to calm her down and prepare her for this meeting.

“Today?”

“I know right? This afternoon.”

“That’s very exciting, I bet he’s the clock maker on 82nd. You’ll never need to have your clock fixed again.”

“Stop. That guys like a hundred years old.”

His mouth grew wide. “That’s it, he’s 10 centuries old.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.” She bit into her hot dog, ignoring the way he was watching her. Lately he had been looking at her with a feeling that was almost akin to want. Which was ridiculous but also gave her butterflies for some reason.

“He was smart. He waited until you were certain there was no other man in your life that you could love.” She glanced at him and nodded but then he set his hot dog down and stared at her, his blue eyes glistening in the sunlight. “Sometimes I wonder…”

“What?” She asked anxiously, feeling like whatever he was about to say was important.

“If I wasn’t Jones Books, and you weren’t The Golden Swan, and we met…”

“Don’t do that.” She interrupted.

“I would have asked for your number, and I wouldn’t have waited until I got home to call you. I would have asked you out for drinks, dinner, and your every desire, for as long as we both shall live.”

“Killian.” She warned.

“And then we wouldn’t have gone to war, and I wouldn’t have put you out of business.”

“Killian, please don’t.” Her heart was pounding in her chest.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I need to go.” She couldn’t be standing here listening to Killian saying these words to her, not now, not when she was finally getting to meet the man of her dreams.

“How come you can forgive him for standing you up, but you can’t forgive me for this tiny little thing of putting you out of business.” He reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Oh, how I wish you would.”

“I need to go.”

“You don’t want to be late.”

She turned away from him quickly, practically running down the sidewalk to put space between them. She needed to stop herself from turning around and kissing him.

Fleeing the scene, she returned to her home to prepare for her date with JR10, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach.

Stepping out onto her sidewalk, she practically skipped to the park, she was about to meet the man of her dreams, the man who knew her better than she knew herself. Her soulmate.

She arrived early, taking her time to wander through the park, admiring the flowers, trying to embrace the nervous feelings currently building in her stomach. She stood on the path, where the curve bent around the park, adjusting her dress nervously.

“Smee.” She turned quickly, looking in the direction of the voice. A dog came bounding toward her, his leash dragging behind the pup. She bent down to pet the runaway dog when he came into view. She knew it, it was the only thing that made sense. It had to be him. He was her soulmate.

She stood up as he approached her, tears slipping from her eyes. Before she could react, he wrapped his arms around her, and she melted into his chest. “Don’t cry lonelygirl.”

She looked up into his eyes. “I wanted it to be you. I wanted it so badly.” He smiled and her heart melted as his lips touched hers.

Two lonely souls, Emma and Killian, had found love in the middle of a war over books.