#i am still so amused by how much of a talking point the jersey is

[hollywoodsargeant]

i knew it! i knew they would fuck when you posted that snippet. i LOVED that scene, so breathless with want and SO trusting, they love each other SO MUCH (and somehow they STILL do not get it that fucking each other is NOT A NORMAL FRIEND THING) like come on you WANTED to be each other's firsts GET THE MESSAGE and though i know nothing about american high schools and what they call football i absolutely shrieked when logan was like "yeh oscar is wearing my jersey" like NO. come on logan. THE GIRLFRIEND WEARS THE JERSEY. mia is not cool like grace. you done fucked up man. also POOR KYLE. he was like "you fucking dumbasses". when they do get their shit together kyle is gonna hold th BIGGEST "i fucking told you so" party. he is gonna go to dalton and be like, "we have to celebrate these two IDIOTS finally growing a brain cell". i feel bad bcause i keep being suspicious of ben, even though he has done absolutely nothing to deserve it. he seems chill so far. i am also trying to be forgiving of mia because they're sixteen-seventeen, that's a time when Big Feelings can get even Bigger out of control bc hormones but i do NOT like. grace was cooler. logan your taste in girls sucks. (also 100% oscar's parents are so surprised because the boyfriend is Not Logan) in Conclusion: THEY ARE SO FUCKING DUMB.

when i posted that snippet i was like hehe... i think we all know what i am implying here... no way oscar actually told him to fuck off and go take a cold shower. that was so not in the cards. but they are definitely making some decisions there was a part of me that was like. am i Really gonna have them fuck then the immediate scene After is oscar getting a boyfriend. and yeah. i did do that

yeah logan made an oops. he amended it following. but how could you give your jersey to anyone but your girlfriend for your first varsity game... you fool. i still don't think he actually Gets It but he has submitted to the fact that he will abide by The System. and the system demands mia wears his jersey. this is proving to be a very important piece of fabric isn't it

kyle deserves financial compensation for the shenanigans he's been forced to witness and Boy you do not even know the half of it yet. on one hand he literally just doesn't know certain things but ALSO. yeah. i know things. bc i am writing the fic. and therefore. know things. :) loscar shares one brain cell between them and fucking kyle kirkwood has it. whoops

i'm suspicious of ben but solely bc i binged heartstopper s2 then named him ben anyway. i lit almost changed it just for that but i am already so bad at naming characters i just went with it. if oscar ever ends up with a boyfriend called evan know i have failed fundamentally and all of you should laugh at me. ben is cool though

BUT MIA IS FINE... i will fix her. she has thoughts in her brain and i am the only one with access to them. i have. more scenes in my brain. eventually they will become scenes on the doc. for now. in my brain

but i agree they are stupid. thank you for entertaining me with this ask i love talking about this fic. in case anyone was not yet aware

[shytastemakerthing]

ALR!!! GN is fine with me!! 🦀🦀🦀

I would like a romantic matchup for twisted wonderland!!

Here's the matchup info:::

My personality is basically the epitome of a drunk dude in a fever dream, literal chaos itself. I am extremely weird, && basically alternate between a calm && rational person to a complete chaotic idiot. I am obsessed with crabs && spade cards! Literally all i talk about is crabs, in my mind it's only crabs.

((if you're okay with swearing))

I am one foul mouthed motherfucker, i have a habit of cursing, either regular swear words or the most absurd sounding swear words come out of my mouth. (E.G. : “you blithering feculent shithole” “primitive fuckjam” “putrid shitsmoking cretins” “you dickreeking undulating fuckass” “fucksquatting pain in the waste chute” “heinous ravaging trash" “reprehensible sanctimonious jitterfuckery.”) I am completely incapable of uttering a single word without fucking cursing. I also create weird mash of words like:: ("diddlesnob" "smiddlewat" etc.)

I have no mental filter whatsoever i say weird shit like::: ("you smell like carbonated cucumbers on a hot summer night" "what if i just shat out amoxicillin" "it tasted like Mario was inside of your ass himself with a blow-dryer" "that was the most toe-wetting knee-curling thing I've ever seen" && "this feels like crunchy water") complete crackhead shit

Alongside my weird swears i often say stuff like::: "If jumping jacks take turns while jumping, how is a water fountain like a solid desk?" "Why is a croquet set like a baseball club?? " && "If bacteria eat chicken legs but not candycanes, why does a lamppost achieve the theory of evolution????" Basically some twisted riddles && questions. What can I say? The confusion of others amuses me.

I also say "Nyeh" and "NYEHEHEHE" a lot. It is basically my signature laugh and confusion noise at this point!!!

I also have a permanent smile attached to my face! :]] Due to that and my overall personality my friend's call me "humanized remake of Cheshire Cat" Orr "Smiley bastard"

A/N: Thank youbfor your request! I certainly hope that you like it! I honestly had a lot of fun with this!🤣😊

I match you with.......

Floyd Leech

• You + Floyd = Chaos, that's literally the relationship right there.

• All jokes aside, this lanky eel boy LIVES for your random drunk guy every and makes matters even worse by hyping you up about it! He's never bored when you're around!

• We have poor azul pulling at his hair in the background and Jade between the edge of having a crisis of now having to deal with two Floyd's and laughing in amusement as Azul's own reactions.

• Your random sayings and strange choices of curse words always have him wheezing! He doesn't think he's had this much fun in years! Now he repeats your sayings and curses while he's at work and Azul is beating his head on the desk.

• Speaking of work, please come visit him! Not only is the temperamental eel in a much better mood when you're around, he also tends fo work a lot better. (He may or may no have been bribed that if he works hard and gets his hobs done, then he can leave early)

• You LOVE his squeezes! Floyd is so used to people running in thr direction opposite of which he is coming, and then there's you. You're running up to him fir squeezes, or yoh standat the end of the hallway with wide open arms which is all Floyd needs to come charging at you.

• Please come to his basketball games! And the practices, too! He will have a nice spare jersey just for you to wear and cheer him on. It does wonders, Ace and Jamil can verify this. Come every game, they can't loose.

• You'll still always be Shrimpy (given that Ace is Crabby), but he will indulge in your Crab addled brain.

• Swimming with him in his mer form is a must! Don't worry, he'll try not to drown you (though he makes no promises). This means late night swims at Octavinelle, in the pool, or any other deep body of water the two of you can find.

• When he does get into one of his moods, he doesn't really feel like doing anything. This means, either you're in his room or he's in yours and you're a tangled mess of limbs, either passed out asleep, or he's asleep and your combing through his hair (something he finds soothing), or your letting him rant and vent out anything that may be frustrating him.

• Being with Floyd means various things. You get the 'you hurt my brother and I'll make your death look like an accident' from Jade, the 'break his heart anf no amount of blackmail will keep you safe' from Azul, talks. Past the threats, they care deeply for Floyd, and don't want to see him hurt (even if they will never admit to it outloud). After that, you have two more people who would do anything to protect you.

• Overall, chaos energies collide and come together in this tooth rotting relationship. Floyd doesn't plan on letting you go any time soon. He'll He'll anything if it means protecting you.

[kiyosamu]

a lucky encounter~

———♡———

pairing: issei matsukawa x female reader

genre: fluff, first date, one shot // 3.7k words

synopsis: when a fellow third year at fukurodani won’t leave you alone, you desperately try to find an excuse not to go to prom with him. funny enough, your perfect excuse walks by in the shape of a certain 6’2 volleyball player.

———♡———

“come on, i know you’re not going with anyone.” a man towering over you pressed his palm to your locker, caging you in and rendering you unable to make a quick escape. “go to prom with me.”

the school volleyball team walked by and gave you strange glances as they headed toward the gym. you silently pleaded for any of them to save you, but you’d never even spoken to any of them.

“come on, washio. we need to warm up.” the captain, bokuto, gave him a hard smack between his shoulders and the dark haired man flinched. he nodded at bokuto and turned back to you as the team went into the gym.

you knew you just needed to speak up and say no.

why was it so hard to do that?

“i am, actually, i uh- i have a boyfriend.” you said quietly.

“really? who?” washio gave you an amused grin, clearly not believing a single word you were saying.

you crossed your arms, trying to act as natural as possible. “he goes to a different school.”

“really.” he snorted, “what school?”

“uh-“ you paused, glancing around and could’ve sworn a lightbulb appeared over your head when you realized the volleyball team was hosting a game from another school. tall boys in teal and white uniforms walked past the two of you, not paying attention to your situation.

you nodded at them. “he goes to aoba johsai.”

“aoba johsai.” he smirked, “kinda far from here, isn’t it? this is our first time ever playing them.”

you shrugged. to be honest, you didn’t even know where the school was.

“huh.” he smiled, “well who is it? he must be on the volleyball team since you’re here, right?”

you were actually at school late because you needed private tutoring for college entrance exams. but he didn’t need to know that.

“yeah, he is,” you were getting frustrated with washio’s persistence and just wanted him to go away. it was obvious he didn’t believe you, though, and wasn’t going to stop.

as you looked away from him, a tall volleyball player from aoba johsai slowly walked down the hallway. you wondered why he’d taken longer than the rest of his team, but you took it as a sign. now or never.

“he’s right there!” you smiled, ducking under his arm to run to the taller boy. you gripped onto his arm and he practically jumped away, eyes wide with surprise when he did a double take between you and washio.

“wh-“ he opened his mouth to ask what was going on before you quickly interrupted him.

“i missed you, babe!” you smiled, standing on your tiptoes to hug him. he awkwardly returned the gesture which gave you the opportunity to whisper in his ear.

“please pretend to be my boyfriend,” you hissed, “he’s a creep and won’t leave me alone.”

you pulled away with a smile, turning to look back at washio who was completely dumbfounded.

“i missed you more.” he smiled, leaning down to give you a kiss on the forehead. he put his arm around your waist and guided you towards the gym, still speaking loud enough so washio could hear. “find a good seat, i wanna hear you cheer for me.”

“of course!” you giggled, snuggling into him. washio scoffed, walking past the two of you before heading over to the side of the gym with fukurodani’s players.

you immediately pulled away from the man. he looked down at you with a playful smirk.

“i’m so sorry, thank you so much-“ you began.

“it’s no problem.” he grinned, “go sit down. i’m already late and my captain can be a real ass.”

“oh, i don’t have-“

“you’re not gonna stay and cheer for me?” he gave you a fake pout and you laughed, nodding along to his request.

“sorry, of course i will. it’s the least i could do.”

“cool! the guys are gonna be really jealous.” he grabbed your hand and walked into the gym with you. all eyes were immediately on the two of you, washio whispering to his teammates and aoba johsai’s team staring in disbelief.

“alright, i gotta go.” he gave you a thumbs up.

“okay- wait, who am i even cheering for?” you looked lost as the only time you were ever in the gymnasium was for p.e.

“matsukawa.” he smirked, leaning in closer to you, “but if you wanna make it real believable, you can cheer for issei.”

“oh, okay then.” you smiled. he nodded towards the bleachers on the aoba johsai side of the gym.

“see ya!” he waved as he jogged towards his team.

“…bye?” you said to yourself. his teammates flooded around him in a huddle, some of them looking up at you and you were suddenly aware of how you were the center of attention. might as well get a good seat.

———♡———

walking up the bleachers on their side felt like you were at a different school. their fans and colleagues completely filled the stands. even more than your own school, and they were having the game at fukurodani.

you sat down in one of the only empty spots and pulled out your phone. it was 6pm. you were tired, and to be honest, had absolutely no idea how long volleyball games even were.

“hey, can i ask you something?” a blonde girl sitting on the bench behind you poked you on the shoulder.

“yeah, sure.” you looked back at her curiously.

she leaned in, looking back and forth before speaking quietly to you.

“are you dating matsukawa?”

who? …oh!

you let out a nervous laugh, waving your hand dismissively. “oh i wouldn’t call it that! i-“

“oh my god, look how red you are!” she squealed, pulling on the sleeve of the girl next to her. “they’re totally dating!”

“no way!” the other girl shrieked. “well, i’m sure we’ll hang out soon since i’m with oikawa.”

“he can’t be your boyfriend if he never officially asked you out.” the first girl muttered, turning to you. “i’m yuki, by the way.”

“well he is, okay! he’s just… shy.” she pouted and looked back at you. “i’m sakura.”

you introduced yourself to them, pausing before asking “which one’s oikawa?” a bit too loudly.

“what?” they both looked at you in disbelief.

“only, like, the most popular guy in school.” sakura blinked. “number 1. the captain, setter for their team. has matsukawa not introduced you to him? they’re, like, best friends.”

“oh, uh- not yet-“

“shh! it’s starting. we can’t interrupt his serves!”

the game began and you found yourself enjoying it as the night continued. you quickly leaned seijoh’s cheers, joining in with them to cheer for each of the players when the time came.

you made sure to cheer extra loud for matsukawa, who noticed and gave you a thumbs up.

when the game ended, aoba johsai had won. you noticed your school’s team looking visibly defeated. bokuto, who was the only one you knew by name other than washio, looked like he wanted to cry.

they shook hands and parted ways.

“come on!” sakura grabbed your hand, pulling you towards the stairs. “let’s go see the guys!”

“oh, we really don’t have-“

“come on, we can congratulate them on their win.” yuki smiled. you nervously went along with them, unsure of how to act once you got down there.

“congratulations on your win, boys!” the two girls called in unison near the locker room doors. you nervously stood there with your arms crossed as 4 of the players looked over to you.

“aw, is your girlfriend shy, mattsun?” oikawa sauntered over to you, tilting your head up by your chin and smiling at you. you were taken back for a minute, silently wondering if he was secretly an idol or an actor. his movie star looks were unexpected.

sakura immediately glared at the two of you. you nervously stepped back, only to feel his arm around your waist. “i don’t believe for a second that he pulled someone as pretty as you.” he whispered.

“get off of her, you freak.” a brute looking guy approached the two of you. he grabbed on to the back of oikawa’s jersey, pulling him off and away from you completely.

“aw, iwa-chan, always so noble.” oikawa teased.

“uh huh.” he muttered, turning to look at you. “nice to meet you. i’m hajime iwaizumi.”

“hi!” you smiled. you genuinely had no idea what was happening. this was going to be awkward to explain later.

“shouldn’t you be talking to someone who’s actually interested in you?” matsukawa cooed, walking up to you and putting an arm around your shoulder. he was the tallest player and his height was almost intimidating.

“what’s the fun if there’s no chase?” oikawa smirked. yuki whispered something to sakura and she finally spoke up.

“hi, toru.” she smiled.

“hm?” oikawa hadn’t even noticed the girls standing next to you. sakura looked up at him with bright eyes full of hope and was immediately shut down.

“oh, hi.” he gave a fake smile, “thanks for coming to the game. see ya later!” he waved them off and headed into the locker room, pulling iwaizumi by the wrist and muttering something in his ear as they walked side by side.

yuki and sakura said their goodbyes, clearly wanting to vacate as soon as possible. this left you and matsukawa standing alone at the gym entrance.

“so, wanna get something to eat?” he suggested.

“oh, uh, you don’t have to do that.” you smiled, “you’ve done enough. really.”

he took his arm off of your shoulder and leaned back against the wall. “i’m not asking because i feel obligated. i think you’re cool and i want to get to know you.”

your heart fluttered at his words. the way he spoke was both dominant and respectful. the latter being a trait you had yet to experience with a man.

“on second thought, sure.” you nodded. why not? you had nothing to lose at this point.

“sweet.” he grinned, “do you have a curfew?”

“not anymore. now that i’m over 18 my parents kind of just want me to fend for myself at this point.” you laughed.

“all right then. let me take a quick shower and change and we can go. do you mind waiting?” he swung his backpack over his shoulder. “i’ll be, like, 10 minutes tops.”

“oh, yeah, go for it. i have some stuff to put in my locker so i’ll meet you back here?”

“sounds good!” matsukawa excitedly jogged off to the locker room and you stood there unable to really process your evening. in a good way, though. you were excited.

for the first time in a really long time.

———♡———

“where are we going, anyway?” you asked, leaning back in the passenger seat of his car. you’d been driving for almost 45 minutes now, mindlessly chatting about yourselves and singing along to the music playing through the speakers.

“it’s kinda like a diner. lots of food choices. good milkshakes.” he leaned his left arm on the driver door with one hand on the steering wheel and you couldn’t help but admire this man who was only a stranger to you a few short hours ago.

matsukawa glanced over at you as you spaced out, letting out a small chuckle. “is that cool?”

“yeah, yeah, that sounds great.” you nodded, feeling your face get hot, “sorry, i was just thinking about something.”

“let’s be honest,” matsukawa smirked, “you were checking out these guns, weren’t you?” he winked and flexed his bicep at you and you immediately turned away.

“no! i-“

“i’m just kidding,” he snorted, “i don’t think i’d be able to live with myself if i said something like that seriously.” he leaned over, patting your knee reassuringly and placed his hand back on the steering wheel.

“by the way, if you get uncomfortable or wanna bail, i totally get it. just let me know and i’ll take you home. or even pay for a taxi to get you back.” his tone was light but you could tell he meant his words, “i’m sure it’s not a common occurrence for you to hang out with some random guy from another town so i don’t want to do anything to make you feel unsafe.”

“i’m fine, matsukawa, really.” you smiled, “where is this coming from?”

“i have a little sister and have seen how shitty and weird other guys can be. not to mention the way some of my friends act.” he rolled his eyes, “i just don’t want to be that guy.”

“i get it. i appreciate your thoughtfulness.” you noticed him pulling into a small parking lot with a cute little diner, just like he’d said.

“we’re here. don’t get out yet, okay?” he shut his car off and quickly got out. you looked around, unsure of why he wanted you to wait.

your door opened and matsukawa offered his hand to you to help you out. you graciously accepted, already feeling like you were falling prematurely out of pure appreciation for his manners.

“let’s go eat!” he said happily, putting his arm around your shoulder and leaning down to talk quietly your ear. “by the way… you can call me issei.”

———♡———

“that was good, right? did you like it?” matsukawa paid for your dinners (he insisted on paying for both), and the two of you walked back out to his car.

“it was. thank you so much.” you couldn’t lose the massive smile on your face. it felt too good to be true. he was sweet, cute, funny, and a total gentleman.

“my pleasure. i hope we can do that again.” his smile was as big as yours and you weren’t ready for the night to end yet.

“me too, i’d love to-“

you were interrupted by his phone ringing, he checked who it was, and apologetically told you it’d only be a second.

“hello? yeah, uh, i’m kinda busy tonight, really? shit, you have to go in? in 10 minutes?” he sighed, “it’d be nice if you let me know ahead of time. i’m with a friend. i can’t just bring her over… wait, i can? i- yes it’s a girl! jeez. have a good night at work.” he hung up and groaned.

“i have to go home, my mom’s gotta go into work and my sister is gonna be home alone.” he ran his hand through his hair, “i’m so sorry, that’s so lame of me. you’re totally welcome to come over, but i understand if not and i can pay for a taxi-“

“i’d love to come over.” you said as you leaned back in the front seat. he turned towards you with wide eyes.

“no way? really?” he couldn’t hide his excitement.

“sure, why not? it’s a weekend and i’m having a lot of fun. only if you’re comfortable with me coming over, though.”

“oh, yeah! of course!” he started his car, letting out a sigh of relief. “to be honest, i’m having a great time and wasn’t ready for the night to end yet. i was hoping you’d want to come over. we can watch a movie or something?” issei was very animated when he talked, and as he was speaking he subconsciously rested his hand on your knee while he drove.

“sure that sounds great.” you placed your hand on top of his and relaxed in your chair. “i was feeling the same way.”

matsukawa looked at you and made a satisfied hum, resisting the urge to do a double take at the beautiful girl who’d been taking his breath away since he laid eyes on her.

———♡———

matsukawa had made sure his sister was sleeping and the two of you went into his bedroom to watch a movie. his bedroom was big, it was the master bedroom of the house with an ensuite and everything.

he’d made an entire blanket fort on his bedroom floor. comfy pillows all over and even made popcorn.

“my mom will be home at like 3 or 4 am,” he yawned, laying down on his stomach next to you. he groaned as he stretched his body out before continuing, “so i can take you home after if you want.”

“i’m not in a rush. are you sore?” you glanced over and he nodded.

“always get really sore after a good game. we played well but man it takes its toll.” he sighed, “i guess that’s the price to pay.”

“you just need a good massage.” you smiled, feeling a bit daring. the late night and building feelings were making you feel… impulsive.

“want me to give you one?”

he turned back to look at you. “one what? a massage? hell yeah! i mean, if you want.” he tried to tone down his excitement.

you giggled at his reaction and straddled his lower back, sitting down on him.

“okay, just relax.”

you started at his neck and worked your way down his shoulders, you rubbed into his muscles carefully and he made small noises to let you know how good it felt.

“you were so tense.” you murmured, leaning in close to him.

“mmh- well, i’m definitely not anymore.” he let out a weak laugh, sighing and resting his head on the pillow. “feels so good.”

“glad i could help.” you said quietly, moving your hands under his shirt to rub his back directly on his skin. his skin was warm, very soft and you could tell how toned his back was just from touching it.

you finished giving him a massage and he’d pretty much turned into a puddle of bliss. the stress on his body gone in just a few minutes and it was such a relief.

“thank you,” he smiled. you laid down on your stomach next to him, the two of you turning your heads to face each other.

“my pleasure.” you smiled back.

matsukawa let out a happy hum, studying your face carefully before resting his palm on your cheek.

“i just wanted to thank you for choosing me.” he said softly, “you could’ve picked any of the idiots on my team to save you from that dude and somehow ended up with me. and now here we are after spending the entire evening together.”

you nodded into his palm, resting your hand on top of his.

“i’m happy it was you who happened to be there. the right person, in the right place, at the right time.”

“maybe we should just date for real.” he said casually. your eyes widened at his boldness. you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t hoped he’d say something like that, but it was still something that made your heart race hearing it out loud.

you softened your gaze and smiled at the man in front of you. the kind, respectful man that you just wanted to spend more time with.

“i’d be cool with that.” you replied quietly.

“yeah?” he tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, “let’s do it, then.”

you gazed into each other’s eyes and you leaned in closer to him.

“a gentleman isn’t supposed to kiss on the first date.” he whispered playfully, his lips barely an inch away from yours.

you looked into his eyes with an equally playful smirk. “that’s too bad. i’ve been hoping you would all night.”

“hmm,” issei pulled you closer, pressing his lips to yours. his hand travelled down your side and pulled you against his chest. “i suppose i can make an exception.”

you giggled against his lips, bringing your hands up to tangle in his hair. “well aren’t i lucky, then?”

“hah,” matsukawa pulled away for a second, silently appreciating your beauty once again. he sighed, pressing his forehead to yours before giving you another soft kiss. “and here i was thinking that same thing… ever since i laid eyes on you.”

[physcoticfrog]

Van you do a soul mate one either #1 or #6 for Nishinoya please!!!! Like maybe they are at one of his games when it happens! Can you imagine him being in the middle of the game and he makes eye contact with you by chance and everything turns to color and thing he knows he got hit in the face with a volleyball 🤣🤣

Oh jeez I am so sorry, this has been sitting in my inbox for so long 😭 I apologize

But yes! I can do that <3

pairing: gn! reader x Yu Nishinoya

Soulmate au number 6: Black and white until you meet your soulmate

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

If someone told you that for the first time, you'd start seeing color at a volleyball game, you would never believe them.

You'd been going to volleyball games since you were little, your sister played for as long as you could remember.

That being said, here you were. You could finally start going to her games at Karasuno High School for free, as a first year at the school. That was pretty good motivation to go more often.

You showed up early to the event, and saw the other game that was up before hers. That game was the Karasuno boys team.

They were on the second set, having already took the first one. You couldn't lie, they were really good. You started cheering for the plays they made, getting excited and hoping that they would win.

Their libero caught your eye, of course his jersey was a different color but you could tell he loved the sport. His dedication to get the ball, and his hair was cool too.

It was their turn to serve, and he was looking around and made eye contact with you. And then everything became blindingly bright, colors popping up seemingly at random around you, and then his figure lit up too. 'he's pretty' is all you thought.

This guy is your soulmate? Even though you had a million thoughts going through your head, so did he. But you weren't on the court.

Next thing you knew, he got smacked square in the nose with the ball, and his nose started bleeding. You started laughing, with him looking up at you confused, but smiling at your laughter.

You decided to make your way down to the court, that way you could wish your sister good luck and meet the man on the court.

There was a man who tried to stop you, saying that only the athletes could be down there. "What's your name then, kid?"

"F/n l/n, sir. My sister is down here." You could tell you didn't have to mention your sister, it seemed he already knew one you said your last name.

Once you made it past there, you found the number 4 sitting down, and as soon as he heard your foot steps, he looked your way. 'his hair looks cooler in color' you thought.

"H-hi" he stuttered out. You giggled, it wasn't really that funny, but something about his struggle to find a single word amused you.

"Hey" you said with a smile. "I'm y/n, nice to meet you!" You held out your hand. It took him by surprise how casual you were about this, considering you had both just figured out that you were each other's soulmates.

"I'm Yu Nishinoya, nice to meet you?" He took your outstretched hand and shook it. Once again, you laughed a little at his hesitation.

Still slightly chuckling, you asked "How's your nose? That didn't exactly look comfortable".

He made a face, one that looked like a cross between he's about to laugh and he's about to be mad at you. You couldn't quite tell. "It's fine, I think it was worth it. I found you now, didn't I?"

Just to mix things up, you decided to say "I think I found you, actually. I was here to watch the game, you were here to play it."

His nose scrunched up, which he quickly undid and regretted. "Good point, but what do we do now?"

You stood in though for a second, coming to a small solution. "We could just talk for a bit, maybe go grab something to drink after this?"

He was once again taken by surprise at how you did this with so much ease. He just nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah. Sounds good."

You laughed, again, at him. You two exchanged numbers and then you ended off with "I have to go talk to my sister now real quick, talk to you later?" You wished you could just sit and talk forever.

He nodded quickly, "Yup, see and talk to you later y/n!"

You had quite a story to share with your sister now.

-------

A/n: Well, its been a hot minute. Enjoy?

[leiawritesstories]

Improbability

Rowaelin Month, Day 26: You’re seeing my roommate and accidentally walked into my shower. Featuring Sam and Rowan as roommates. :)))

Word count: 1542

Warnings: language, little bit of math gobbledygook that I stole from my stats class.

Enjoy!

~~~~

“Mate, you alright with my girlfriend coming over today?” Sam called out to his roommate. “We’re probably going out, but I asked her over here first.”

Rowan pulled out one of his earbuds and stuck his head out his bedroom door. “Yeah, that’s totally fine, just for God’s sake warn me if you’re going to do the dirty on our couch, bud.”

“THAT WAS ONE TIME!” Sam yelled, “and I was 100 percent sure you had football!”

“It’s called soccer, Cortland!” Rowan laughed, never missing the chance to poke at his British roommate. 

“Whatever, mate. You’re good with Ae hanging out here for a bit, yeah?”

“Sure am. She’s a fun person.” Rowan put his earbud back in and returned to doing his homework, or rather, swearing at his statistics textbook. Some fifteen minutes later, he heard the door of his and Sam’s dorm open.

“Anybody home?” enquired a throaty female voice. “Someone told me he was at home, but obviously he’s too busy to go out today. Guess I’ll just go drink with the girls, then.”

“And leave me lonely?” Sam asked.

Aelin Galathynius, who’d been dating Sam for almost two years now, smiled. “Never.”

He returned the grin and pulled her into the living room, where their conversation faded into a blur of noise too dim for Rowan to interpret. Not that he minded…much. Aelin was hilarious, though, and he loved hearing her make cracks at Sam’s British habits, her friends, her day, and pretty much anything else she thought deserved a snarky comment. 

Slamming his stats book closed, Rowan huffed a sigh and decided that he could use a quick shower to relax a little before heading out to training. He grabbed his towel and a bar of soap and went into the tiny dorm shower, which was low enough that he, at 6’3,” had to crouch to fit under the shower head. Grumbling to himself about the stupidity of whatever idiot architect designed dormitory showers, he stood under the stream of hot water and tried to make sense of all he still had to do. Which was too much. After somewhere around five minutes, he stuck his head out of the shower, realizing the dorm had gone awfully quiet. 

Maybe Sam and Aelin were out, then, he thought.

Rowan turned off the shower and reached for his towel, giving himself a quick dry-off before stepping out. He was just wrapping the towel around his waist when the door swept open.

“Oh, shit, sorry, I didn’t realize you were in here!” gasped Aelin.

Rowan gaped at her, forgetting that the only thing between her and a prime view of what he may or may not have been doing in the shower was a dark green bath towel.

A too-thin green bath towel.

Aelin’s turquoise eyes traveled down his frame, decidedly not missing a single detail. A pink flush spread over her cheekbones, and she hastily backed out of the bathroom and shut the door with a firm click.

Rowan swallowed whatever he’d thought he might have said and told his raging male hormones to calm the hell down. Quickly, before anyone else could walk in on him, he pulled on his practice jersey and sweats and went back to his room, where he grabbed his soccer bag and hauled ass for the gym.

He spent the entire 90-minute workout trying and miserably failing to get the image of Aelin Galathynius in her unfairly attractive blouse and miniskirt blushing at his nearly-nude self out of his mind. When he got back to his dorm, having showered in the locker room, this time without anyone interrupting, Sam and Aelin were gone. Sam had left a note on his bedroom door, stating that he’d probably be back around three. Checking his watch, Rowan groaned. It was almost two, and he’d broken down and signed up for stats tutoring at four. 

He just hoped that whoever the tutor was, they’d be able to help him get his mathematical shit together and pass the course. 

~

Two hours later, Rowan walked into the library and took a seat in the study room marked with a sign that read “STATS 320 TUTORING 4 PM.” Nobody else was there, but to be fair, he was a little early. He plopped his textbook, notebook, and calculator onto the table and waited. 

And nearly fell off his chair when Aelin Galathynius walked into the room.

“What the hell?”

“What the hell, what?” she asked, obviously amused at his reaction. 

“I--I didn’t expect to see you here, that’s what the hell. You here for tutoring too?”

“Yes and no.” Rowan blinked in confusion. Aelin’s little smirk grew bigger. “I am the tutor, Rowan. You’re here for my assistance…and expertise.” She winked.

He felt himself flush at the image that conjured. “Yeah, expertise, in stats, right?” He knew full well he was stammering like a fourteen-year-old on his first date, but that about summed up how his roommate’s girlfriend made him feel right now.

“Correct.” Just like that, Aelin was all business. She set her backpack down, closed the door, and sat across from Rowan. “So. How can I help?”

He sighed. “I’m stuck. I need this class, it’s the last math I have to take for my major, I’m usually decent at math, and I’m fucking stuck on a concept my professor said was fucking simple.” 

Aelin listened to his mini rant without comment. She pulled out her own stats notebook and calculator from her backpack and slipped on a pair of glasses. Rowan cocked his head. 

“I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

“Reading glasses, Whitethorn. I’m supposed to wear them whenever I’m reading, on my laptop, or studying, but do I? Hell no.” She grinned. “Don’t tell my optometrist.”

“Given that I don’t know them, no problem.” He returned her grin.

She flexed her fingers and turned her attention to Rowan’s math. “Right, big bad soccer boy. Where are you stuck?”

He flipped his book to the section on conditional probability distributions. “Here. I took notes, and it seemed logical enough, but I completely tanked the quiz we just had, and I don’t know where I went wrong.”

Aelin scanned the quiz. “You’re reading the graphs wrong.”

“What?”

“Conditional probability is the probability of an event occurring given that a certain condition is satisfied.” She opened her notebook to a blank page and drew a horizontal line. “Any time you see a condition, that condition goes in the denominator.” She pointed to one of the problems he’d answered wrong on the quiz. “What’s this question asking you to determine?”

“Probability that a student chosen at random is an engineer given that the selected student is female.”

“Right. So, you take the condition, the ‘given,’ and put that number in the denominator. Remember you’re only looking at the row labeled ‘female,’ because that’s the condition. Once the condition’s written in, you find the other part of the question, in this case the number of female engineers. Put that number in the numerator, divide by the denominator, and there you have the probability. Does that make sense?”

“Condition in the denominator…” Rowan mumbled, writing it in his notes. He looked up at Aelin and smacked his hand flat on the table. “Aelin, I’m a fucking idiot. I spent so much time trying to look at the totals that I didn’t remember to keep the condition, I--goddammit, I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, Rowan, lots of people struggle with conditional probability at first.”

“I’ll bet you didn’t.”

“Oh, I did. A lot.”

“Really? But you just explained this shit to me better than my professor.”

“I…I happen to like stats. Might be part of my major description, but I just find working with the numbers extremely satisfying.”

“What’s your major?” he asked, intrigued.

“Don’t judge me.”

“Nope. Promise.”

“I’m in finance.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I’m impressed.”

She blushed. “Thanks. It’s a lot of stats and spreadsheets and yelling at each other about the stock market, but I really love it.”

“You’re making me look bad; I’m just your standard pre-PT student athlete”

“Standard pre-PT student athlete,” she mocked, “don’t sell yourself short, Whitethorn. Pre-PT is nothing shabby.”

“Yeah, but not remembering a stupidly easy math concept sure as hell is.”

She snickered. “Fair enough. Is there anything else I can help you with, or is that all for this session?”

He flipped through his notes. “That’s all I had for today, but I’ll probably be back at some point whining about another tricky concept.”

Aelin grinned, closing her notebook. “Wait until you get into chi-squared models. I’ll be here then, waiting for all the stats students to come crying to me while I plug seventeen equations into my spreadsheet and hope it actually calculates the quarterly interest this time.”

Rowan shook his head. “You lost me at ‘chi-squared,’ Aelin.”

“Oh, trust me, it’s fun.”

“As much fun as you and Sam have?”

Her voice dropped to a sultry purr. “Your couch would know.”

Before he could sputter out a response, she’d shouldered her backpack and was walking out the door. Rowan watched Aelin Galathynius leave, wondering how fast he could make up an excuse to talk to his roommate’s brilliant girlfriend again.

[rocorambles]

Mending the Cracks

Pairing: Daishou x Reader

Genre/Warnings: NSFW, Choking, Spitting, DDLG, Degradation, Dirty Talk, Overstimulation

Summary: Daishuo prides himself on his cool and collected facade, his ability to not let anyone see past his polite and put together appearances unless he wishes them to. But Kuroo has always had a special talent for getting under his skin and now it’s your turn to help mend the cracks the messy haired captain has accidentally created.  

OR

Roco once again turns a request that should have been just a rough jealous angry spicy PWP fic into a whole angst/fluff/comfort fic WITH rough jealous angry spice~

Your heart sinks as the referee blows the whistle signifying the end of the game, pride and disappointment swirling in a confusing mixture inside of you as you rush to your feet, already making your way out of the stands and towards the locker rooms. It had been a good game, a great game, one Nohebi should be proud of regardless of the end result, that Daishou should be proud of. Yet, you know that’s the farthest thing from what any of the boys are thinking of as they dejectedly shake hands with Nekoma, another chance of Nationals taken right from underneath their noses, Daishou’s last chance of Nationals gone, just like that. 

You should be paying more attention to your surroundings, especially in such a crowded building with masses of spectators and athletes, but you’re too focused on rushing to your boyfriend as fast as you can, barely dodging the crowds and receiving more than a few dirty looks from people you accidentally bump into in your haste. But it doesn’t matter. All that matters is comforting your lover, being there for him and reminding him that he’s still the most amazing person you know regardless of how one game went. And determinedly you quickly hook around the corner of the hall, only to yelp when you crash into something firm, the impact making you stagger back. 

Mortification rushes through you once your body steadies itself and you fumble for words, stuttering out apologies when you realize what, or more specifically who, you’ve run into, practically diving to pick up the knee pads the other has dropped because of your carelessness. You can barely bring yourself to look up at the other person’s face, already cringing at the look of irritation you know you’ll receive (and frankly, deserve). But it’s the polite thing to do and your eyes slowly travel up and up a long, lean frame, only to blink in surprise when you see the amused smile on a handsome cat-like face as he plucks his knee pads from your hands. 

He looks...familiar and you take a second to appraise him, eyes widening in shock when you recognize the Nekoma uniform and, emboldened by his lack of annoyance, you shyly smile, politely congratulate him on his team’s win and earning their ticket to Nationals. 

You’re secretly glad your boyfriend is nowhere in sight, already knowing how childishly competitive he can get, especially where Nekoma is concerned. And you know he’d throw a fit if he saw you “consorting with the enemy”. But it’s the least you can do after running the poor guy over. Plus, Daishou really only has an issue with one person on the team and what are the chances that this athlete is…

“Oya? It’s not everyday someone decides to literally run me over. Nice to meet you. I’m Kuroo Tetsurou.” 

Crap. 

You pray to anyone who’s listening that Daishou doesn’t walk in on this scene, can only imagine how bad it would look to be caught chatting with Kuroo Tetsurou of all people only minutes after Nekoma had swiped Nohebi’s chances of Nationals away from them, even before you’ve talked to your own boyfriend. 

But when it rains it pours and unknown to you, narrowed eyes scowl at the both of you from down the hallway. 

If Daishou’s honest, the outcome of the match isn’t surprising. Nekoma has always been a stronger team than Nohebi, as aggravating as it is to admit. But it doesn’t make the loss any easier and he knows he’s just looking for a reason to pick a fight when annoyance curls inside of him at how quietly and respectfully Kuroo shakes his hand, not a hint of the other’s usual provoking or teasing after the match is over. He knows it’s out of sportsmanship, but he can’t help but believe he sees his own self-pity reflected in those feline eyes. And he storms out before he accidentally makes a scene, mustering every last bit of his snake-like charm to plaster a smile on his face and force out some pleasantries and kind words to his team, all the while wanting nothing more than to rush into your arms and lock himself away as he comes to terms with his dreams being dashed. 

So imagine the stomach sinking shock he feels as he rounds the corner in his search of you, only to stare in disbelief as you smile up at literally the only person in this entire building who he’d rather you not ever meet, the person who led the team that had just crushed his team’s hopes, seemingly in no hurry to excuse yourself. 

Shock makes way for hot fiery fury fueled by jealousy and insecurity and before he can fully register what he’s doing, he’s storming towards you, startling both of you when he suddenly cuts in between, rigid and stiff with hostility and anger as he shoves his face mere inches away from Kuroo’s surprised one. 

It’s startling to say the least to have his view of you suddenly replaced by a larger figure and Kuroo instinctively steps back, uncertainty filling him when he sees heavy shadows of pure unadulterated ill-intent in Daishou’s eyes.

Interactions with the Nohebi captain are always playful, even if the stinging words aren’t always exactly lighthearted and Kuroo enjoys their bantering and rivalry underscored by respect for each other that both captains would die before admitting to. But this...this is different and Kuroo can’t help but think that somehow they’ve accidentally crossed the line to a point of no return, that something terrible is on the verge of happening, jaw instinctively tightening and fists clenching in self-defense.  

“Winning wasn’t enough for you, so now you’re trying to rub more salt in my wounds by hitting on my girl?” 

Oh. OH. 

Kuroo KNEW you looked familiar, unsure where to place you, but it all makes sense as his brain quickly puts the pieces together, frantically working under pressure as the snake in front of him rattles his tail and hisses. You’re the new girlfriend he’s seen in all of Daishou’s social media posts recently. And suddenly it’s his turn to fumble over words as he tries to calm the furious athlete in front of him, desperately trying to find a way to de escalate the situation without having to resort to anything physical, trying to reassure the other captain that it’s not what it looks like, wincing at how cliche that phrase sounds. 

You’re frozen as you watch the taller man continue stammering explanations, stunned by the feral aura radiating from your boyfriend, unsure what’s the best way to approach the situation without exacerbating the issue. But when you see Daishou take a step forward, your hands fly to the back of his jersey, harshly tugging at the fabric in a bid to drag him away from Kuroo, to keep him from doing something stupid that he’d regret. 

You wonder if you did the right thing as you cower when he whirls around to face you, pinning you down with a practically murderous gaze. But then you see it, underneath the blazing fires of his eyes, the vulnerable insecurities he keeps so deeply hidden within him, that he’d shared about to you in full confidence, raring back to life and tearing him up inside. 

Am I not good enough?

The question is unspoken, but you hear it clear as day and you want to scream at him, touch him, anything to wipe away the torment in his gaze. No, you're more than good enough. So much more. And despite the way you feel like a tiny mouse about to be swallowed whole, you easily let him drag you away, mindlessly following him and lacing your fingers with his bone crushing grip. 

It's silent as you scramble to keep up with his determined pace, clutching at his arm and pressing against his side in quiet obedient comfort, a reminder that you're with him every step of the way, out of your own desire and love for him. And although his countenance remains stony, your heart swells when he instinctively leans into your touch, the dark fog around him lightening just a bit. 

Not a word is said even as he locks his bedroom door behind the two of you, even as he pulls you onto his bed, wrapping his body tightly around you not unlike the creature he's nicknamed after. 

And you let him, ignoring the discomfort you feel as he constricts your body too tightly to be comforting, murmuring how amazing he was on the court, what a respected captain he is, how you know there's still so many opportunities for him in life, volleyball, anything he wants even if Nationals wasn't his fate. 

But when he remains silent, you nervously take a deep breath, knowing it's time to address the elephant in the room. 

"Suguru, you know I love you, right? I only have eyes for you and no one else. Kuroo-"

You squeal in surprise when you're suddenly pinned to the bed by a toned body, gasping when a hand wraps around your throat rendering you silent, whimpering at the venomous look staring down at you. 

"Don't say his fucking name, especially when you're in bed with me." 

But you need to explain! Need to clear the air! And you desperately claw at his hand digging into your neck, struggling to force words out, only to moan when lips crash down on yours, a tongue slithering inside of your mouth and ravishing you, fangs harshly nipping at your lips in a warning to remain silent and pliant. 

You pant for breath when he finally pulls away, trying to reach up and cradle his face in your hands, keep him still as you explain everything to him. But your efforts are futile and you moan when he promptly spits in your mouth the second you try to open your mouth to speak, body instinctively grinding against his when the hand on your throat tightens once again, mind busy trying to obediently keep his saliva in your mouth while simultaneously breathing through your constricted airway. 

"Not a single word from you unless it's about me and how good I'm making you feel, understood? Swallow." 

Daishou trained you well and you're quick to gulp down the pooled liquid in your mouth, baring your neck in submission as his lips and teeth possessively mark the expanse of your neck, sucking and biting marks you know you'll be proudly wearing for days afterwards, traveling down and down as your clothes are pulled off and haphazardly thrown away. 

The room fills with breathy moans and sighs as you let him have you, let him mark every inch of you, relishing in the slight twinges of pain you feel when teeth sink in too deep, when lips suck too hard all over your collarbones, the valley between your breasts, your rib cage. But you wail when he deems you sufficiently marked, a hot wet mouth wrapping around one of your nipples, fingers harshly twisting and pulling the other. 

"DADDY!"

Pride soars inside of Daishou at the nickname, a name he knows only he’s lucky enough to hear from your lips, and he pulls away from your aroused bud just long enough to spit out a few choice words. 

“That’s right, baby girl. I’m your daddy. I’m the one who takes care of you. I’m the one who makes you feel good. So why the fuck did daddy find his precious girl chatting it up with some other man like a dirty little slut? Daddy not good enough for you anymore?”

Your head swirls from the degrading words, thighs clenching at hearing his endearing terms for you, but tears pricking at your eyes when you hear the trickle of doubt that seeps into his last question. Shame floods through you as you frantically shake your head, salty droplets leaking from your eyes as you begin to sob, desperately clutching Daishou’s sides and trying to pull him closer to you. 

“No, Daddy! Never! Only you! You’re my only daddy. I love you. I’m sorry! I’m your good girl. Please let me show you that I’m your good girl?” 

Daishou chuckles, warm fondness beginning to take off the frostiest edges of his insecurities as he watches you flail and fight against his hold in your pursuit of making him feel good, your greedy fingers trying to drag him closer to you, your hips grinding and humping his hardening cock like a bitch in heat as you babble and beg to ride him, suck him off, help him cum. 

It’s heartwarming in the most depraved way how loyal and dedicated you are to him, how easily you’ll let yourself fall into debauchery just to please him. And in his heart of hearts, he knows deep down that you’d never betray him, that you love him just as much as he loves you. But the heart and the mind aren’t always on the same page and he can’t help the way his eyes narrow and his stomach twists uncomfortably when he replays the scene of Kuroo and you in the hall, even though he knows the chance of you being swept away so easily by someone else is close to null, even though he knows Kuroo is a decent enough man to back off once he knows you’re a taken woman. 

“Settle down, little one. I know you’re a desperate slut for daddy, but today you’re going to behave, okay? You’re going to lay there, let daddy thoroughly remind you who you belong to, and thank me for it, understand?” 

It’s a rhetorical question and you barely have time to nod your head before Daishou’s blunt cock head is pressing against your already drenched entrance. You claw at the bedsheets when he suddenly slams in balls deep inside of you, your sopping wet folds easily making way for his cock, and your toes curl at the abrupt stretch, eyes already shamelessly rolling to the back of your head from the sensation of finally being stuffed full. 

“Daddy, so good, daddy, daddy, daddy” becomes your mantra, barely discernible amidst your wanton moans as he hardly gives you time to adjust before he’s starting up a brutal pace, hips slamming into yours, balls slapping your ass with every thrust. It’s embarrassing how close to the edge you already are, how you nearly came just from his cock stretching you full, but you can’t help it when Daishou knows your body even better than you, when your pussy is practically molded just for him, trained to be his perfect cock sleeve and you wail as you fall to pieces around his cock, body convulsing and mind shattering from the overwhelming pleasure. 

But he doesn’t let up, continuing his relentless onslaught, smirking down at how broken you already look, drool and tears staining your wrecked face, incoherent babbling and wails slipping past your lips as overstimulation begins to wash over you, body now shaking uncontrollably as pain and pleasure swirl inside of you. 

“That’s it, baby girl. You’re doing so well. Keep on taking it. Fucking take my cock! This is what you were made for. Being daddy’s cock slave that he fucks silly. Going to use you until you can’t even think about anyone or anything else other than daddy’s cock.” 

There’s nowhere else he’d rather be than in between your legs and he swears he could die happy like this, cock buried deep within your tight pussy, would happily live the rest of his life bottomed out inside of you if he had the chance. But he’s only human after all and he can feel his end approaching, balls tightening and pace becoming wild and erratic when he hungrily devours the sight of your lewd state as you dopily smile, brokenly chanting “I’m daddy’s cock slave”, slurring thank yous over and over again. His hand reaches down to furiously rub your clit and all it takes is your second fall from grace, the sensation of your tight walls clamping and clenching around his cock, milking him of all his cum, to empty his balls inside of you. 

It’s silent again save for both your shaky breaths as you come down from your respective highs and Daishou carefully slumps down to the side of you, pulling you to also lay on your side, wrapping you in his arms as your lower bodies remain connected, hooking his chin on top of your head and letting you burrow into his neck and cuddle up beside him. 

But despite all his earlier bravado, you can feel his scales shift and skin shed as he reveals his softer, more vulnerable side, can feel him slump and his defenses crumble in the way he clings onto you, and you wriggle out of your comfortable position, ignoring the throbbing between your legs and all over you body as you determinedly reposition yourself until the two of you are face to face, forehead and noses pressed against each other. 

“Suguru, I love you. I love you so much. You’ll always be more than enough for me.”

You smile at the love and hope you see reciprocated back at you in your lover’s eyes, giggling when it’s quickly replaced by panic and embarrassment as he holds you at arms length, staring in dismay at all the punishing marks he had left all over your body before frantically nearly crushing you as he pulls you tightly back towards him, apologies spilling from his mouth for being so rough, a stupid stereotypically jealous boyfriend. And you roll your eyes as he suddenly starts raving and ranting about how this is somehow all Kuroo’s fault, shutting him up with a forceful kiss of your own, a playful smirk sitting on your face. 

“You told me not to mention his name and yet here you are, going on and on about him right after we’ve had sex. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re a little more interested in him than two rival captains should be. Should I be the jealous one?”

You bite back a laugh at the look of pure disgust on Daishou’s face as he stares agape at you, jaw slack and open wide in disbelief at your blasphemous lies, using whatever latent talent you have as an actor to tap a finger to your lips in a parody of an inquisitive thoughtful gesture. 

“I’m pretty open minded, Suguru. We can invite him for a threesome if you want. Ooh! Who do you think would top? Kuroo? You’d look so pretty on bottom for once, don’t you think? Or would you prefer to shut him up-”

You squeal in laughter and surprise when you’re suddenly being suffocated and crushed by a heavy weight on top of you, Daishou flipping the two of you over and laying his whole weight on top of you, shoving your face into his chest and grunting at you to shut up as he nuzzles his face into the top of your head and closes his eyes to rest, dragging you to an exhausted slumber with him as his breathing even outs and lulls your own heavy eyelids into shutting. 

Somewhere else in Tokyo Kuroo sneezes out of the blue, curiously wondering if someone is talking about him.

[onlydylanobrien]

Dylan O'Brien - NME Magazine Interview

Dylan O’Brien: “I was in this transitional phase – close to a quarter-life crisis”

From YA heartthrob to legitimate leading man – how the 'Maze Runner' star hit his stride after a whirlwind decade

Definitely!” hoots Dylan O’Brien when NME asks if he still has to audition. “I’m not Tom fucking Hanks, bro.” He’s clearly amused by our question, but forgive us for thinking the 29-year-old actor gets cast on reputation alone. A decade into his career, and he’s making an impressive transition from teen TV star and YA franchise hero to charismatic leading man.

New York-born O’Brien cut his teeth on MTV’s hit Teen Wolf series, before landing the lead in the Maze Runner film trilogy based on James Dashner’s hugely popular novels. Leading a band of bright young things that included ex-Skins tearaway Kaya Scodelario, Game Of Thrones’ Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Will Poulter, he honed his craft while racking up nearly a billion dollars at the box office. “My career is a constant acting class,” says O’Brien. “To be able to do the Maze Runner movies simultaneously with Teen Wolf was amazing in terms of getting in reps and working my [acting] muscle.”

Now for the sometimes tricky bit. Many actors struggle with the post-breakout period, but O’Brien is making it look easy so far. This year’s Netflix hit Love and Monsters proved he can carry an old-school family adventure, and new film Flashback (out next week) reveals an appetite for weirder, more cerebral work. He stars as Fred Fitzell, a young man reluctant to buckle down to life as a nine-to-fiver with a boring corporate job and a long-term girlfriend (Mindhunter‘s Hannah Gross). When he runs into a freaky-looking acquaintance from his teenage years, Fred becomes obsessed with finding an old high-school friend he used to drop a mind-bending experimental drug called Mercury with. It’s difficult to say any more without entering spoiler territory, but Flashback is a wild ride underpinned by the idea that we can exist in several realities at once. Even if you follow every plot twist, you might not fully understand the end. “Oh, it’s definitely a headfuck,” O’Brien agrees. “There’s not totally an answer to figure out. There’s a lot of different things that people can take from it.”

Speaking over Zoom from his LA home, O’Brien is bright, thoughtful and really good fun to talk to, especially when he relaxes into the interview, but he clearly knows where his line between public and private lies. When he first read the Flashback script, written by the film’s director Christopher MacBride, his “mind was blown” by just how much he related to Fred. “I felt like I was in this transitional phase of my life that was, you know, sort of close to a quarter-life crisis type thing,” he says. “For whatever reason, it was like me and this script were meant to be. I remember reading it and thinking: ‘I am this guy right now.'”

“There were a lot of things in my personal life that were neglected for a while”

When we ask why O’Brien felt as though he had reached a “transitional phase”, he gives an answer that’s vague but not exactly evasive. For understandable reasons, he doesn’t mention the incredibly traumatic motorcycle accident he sustained while shooting the final Maze Runner film in March 2016. O’Brien suffered severe trauma to the brain and said in 2017 that he underwent extensive facial reconstructive surgery after the accident “broke most of the right side of my face”. Tellingly, he’s never really revealed what happened on set or how it affected him.

Today, O’Brien dances around the details of the accident and other issues he was dealing with at the time, but doesn’t shy away from discussing his inner conflict. “You know, it was a lot of personal things combined with at-a-point-in-my-career things,” he says after a brief pause. He says he’d have been going through some of this stuff anyway, simply because of his age, but it sounds as though success intensified it all. “It was like this whole fucking storm of shit,” he continues. “I was simultaneously so fulfilled and happy about these, like, otherworldly and surreal things that I had experienced in terms of where my career had brought me. I had all this confidence and fulfilment and beautiful people [in my life] – such amazing things to experience at a young age. But at the same time, there were a lot of things in my personal life that were unchecked and sort of neglected for a while.”

O’Brien says that in time, he realised he had to “stop for a second” and “re-explore how I wanted my life to look going forward”. In fairness, you can see why he needed a breather: his career took off while he was still a teenager. After his family moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles County when he was 12, O’Brien contemplated a career as a sports broadcaster – his Twitter bio still bills him as a “no longer suffering Mets fan” – then began posting YouTube videos as moviekidd826. A funny, slickly edited skit titled ‘How to Prepare for the SAT in 45 seconds’, shared when he was just 17, shows he was a born performer and storyteller. YouTube success led to him getting a manager, but his breakthrough role in Teen Wolf still came out of the blue. At the time, he was treading water at a local community college and taking auditions on the side.

Still, he has since taken a rather fatalistic view of this career-making moment. “It’s totally weird because, when I think about it now, I don’t see how it could have happened any other way. I can’t picture myself doing anything else now,” he told Collider in 2011. “It was really sudden and a little random, and not provoked by anything. It was just out of nowhere. It wasn’t my intentional doing.” Today, O’Brien summarises his skyscraper career trajectory succinctly. “I guess I just graduated high school and started acting,” he says. “And then I felt like I was just flying by the seat of my pants and never got a chance to stop.” Thankfully, straight-out-the-blocks Hollywood success hasn’t taken away his sense of perspective. When I say how easy social media makes it to compare yourself unfavourably to others, O’Brien jumps in: “Yeah, that’s very true. I was watching the Billie Eilish doc the other day, and I was like, I’ve done nothing. I’m not an artist at all!”

“No one thought ‘Love and Monsters’ was going to be good!”

O’Brien is also self-deprecating when he talks about being cast in Flashback, suggesting it happened because he had such an intense connection with Fred. “I was honestly like, ‘Who is watching me right now?’ That is the best way I can describe how I was feeling when I came across this script,” he says. “Chris [MacBride, director] and I had this conversation that went so well in terms of [my] understanding this script that I think he’d sent around a lot and [that] very commonly wasn’t understood. I think Chris has even said that the night before shooting, he suddenly had this thought, like, ‘Wait, do I even think he’s a good actor?'”

Though O’Brien has firmly ring-fenced elements of his private life, he’s actually pretty frank about his acting vehicles. He readily admits he was expecting a snobbish response to Love and Monsters, a CGI-heavy hybrid of post-apocalyptic action and romcom that dropped on Netflix in April and topped the streamer’s daily most-watched list. “It means so much that Love and Monsters has gotten the response that it’s gotten,” O’Brien says. “No one thought this movie was going to be good.” His blunt honesty makes me laugh out loud. “No one did though!” he says in response. “And so, fuck that. You know, most of the people who say something to me about the movie, they’re like: ‘I watched Love and Monsters, and it was… good?’ And honestly, that just cracks me up.” For obvious reasons, we hastily decide not to share our response to the film – namely, that it was a whole lot better than expected.

In Love and Monsters, O’Brien plays Joel, a survivor of a so-called “monsterpocalypse” that has bumped humans to the bottom of the food chain. Though he’s known in his colony as a bit of a coward, Joel sets off on a treacherous 80-mile journey to find his high school sweetheart Aimee (Iron Fist‘s Jessica Henwick), which means evading the hungry clutches of various supersize grizzlies including a giant monster-frog hiding in a suburban pond. It’s a simple but pretty out-there premise that wouldn’t work if O’Brien’s performance was even slightly condescending. Instead, his unselfconscious sincerity really sells a film that has as much in common with the family-oriented Robin Williams movie Night at the Museum as darker fare like The Walking Dead.

His obvious affection for the project really comes across during our interview today. “When I read the script, I just thought it was so sweet and funny and smart and unique, but at the same time reminiscent of all these movies that don’t really get made any more,” he says. That’s a fair point: Love and Monsters is neither a fail-safe superhero movie nor a slice of classy Oscar bait. “And when they were talking about how to market this movie, it was so funny hearing all these conversations like, ‘How do we actually get people to watch it?'” he adds. “But that’s a big part of the reason I wanted to do this movie: because it felt like something I missed seeing.”

“I’m lucky to be surrounded by people who want to make something out of love”

So in a way, Love and Monsters was a risk for an actor seeking to establish himself outside of a bankable movie franchise and a hit TV show. O’Brien has only made four films since his final Maze Runner outing in 2018, and insists he hasn’t been tactical with his choices. “I don’t have anyone saying, ‘We need to get you in an Oscar vehicle’, or any of that kind of shit,” he says. “I’m really lucky to be surrounded by people who think like me: that you should do what you’re drawn to, and make something out of love.”

He’s recently finished shooting a mysterious crime thriller called The Outfit in London with Mark Rylance. Directed and co-written by Graham Moore, who won an Oscar for his screenplay to Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game, O’Brien calls it “quite possibly one of the most special pieces of writing I’ve ever experienced”. He first read the script on a plane and says he “actually stood up and clapped” when he got to the end. Considering O’Brien probably wasn’t flying Ryanair, this reaction presumably attracted a few baffled glances.

Anyway, it must be pretty intimidating walking onto set with Rylance, a multi-award-winning actor revered by his peers – Al Pacino once said he “speaks Shakespeare as if it was written for him the night before” – but it sounds as though O’Brien took it all in stride. He says he’s confident in his abilities, but admits to having a slight wobble whenever he begins a new project. “I’m always sort of re-questioning everything – like, ‘Can I even act?'” he says. “But I think there’s something very natural about that. I think even Rylance could relate to that feeling. Acting is like starting a new year at school every single time.”

At this point in his career, O’Brien has made peace with the fact that some people will have preconceptions about him based on what he’s known for: Maze Runner and Teen Wolf. “People will put you in a box no matter what,” he says. “There was definitely a time when that would get to me, especially when it felt like somebody had a perspective on me that in my soul, I just felt wasn’t accurate.” Still, there’s no doubt he wants to show us what’s really in his soul with more films like Flashback. “If anything,” he adds bullishly, “it just makes me think: ‘Right, I’m really gonna show them now’.”

‘Flashback’ is out on digital platforms from June 4

[halstudandruz]

Had Me By Halftime

*Not my gif*

Pairing: Kevin Atwater x Reader

Requested: Yes

Prompt: Based off the song Had Me By Halftime by Morgan Wallen

Warnings: Swearing

A/N: I know this game was on a Monday but we’re gonna pretend it wasn’t. Also I know there’s different rules to cornhole, but I did the 21 or bust version for sake of the story.

You were talkin' trash, we were tossin' bags

When I caught your name at a corn hole game

You and your friends had decided to tailgate at the Chicago Bears game. You were in your last semester of college and your group had collectively decided to forego buying tickets. Not wanting nosebleed seats, but knowing your broke college student bank account would not offer many other options. The parking lot was crowded with Bears fans; scattered Minnesota Vikings fans sticking out in the crowd. It was surprisingly warm for a Chicago October. You had just finished a game of flip cup and informed your friends you were going to get food from a nearby food truck, your best friend, Madison tagging along. You hadn’t made it far from your group when you made eye contact with a handsome man. Slowly walking you heard him talking to a man about the same age as him,

“Adam come on!” He exclaimed.

“I am not playing against him, he might as well be a pro.” The brown haired man shook his head.

“Don’t take it out on me cause I’m better than you.” Another good-looking brown-haired man from the group laughed shrugging and throwing an arm around a pretty blonde girl who wasn’t even paying attention to the men, already conversing with a group of girls. The handsome dark skinned man groaned seemingly pouting. Grabbing Madison’s arm you stopped her to pull her over to the group.

“You need a couple players?” You smiled gesturing to the corn hole boards.

“Actually yeah we do.” He nodded.

“Let’s roll.” You challenged taking your place by the board and picking up the orange bean bags. Madison sighed already reading your dirty thoughts about the man as she walked to the board opposite of you and the broad muscled man took his place next to you, gathering the navy blue bags. “Let me just get you a menu cause you’re about to get served.” You joked and luckily he let out an adorable laugh.

“That’s the best you got?” He sported a wide smile causing you to instantly blush.

“Yeah...sorry I’m not the best at trash talking. My game usually speaks for itself.” You shrugged, turning to throw the bean bag on the board Madison stood by. Watching it slide right through the center. Humming he looked at you impressed, gearing up when you threw him a seductive smirk.

“Let the games begin.” He grinned.

The game was close, full of playful banter, and maybe a little flirting from you and the man you now knew was named, Kevin. Luckily you and Madison came out on top thanks to Kevin’s partner’s accidental bust over 21 taking their score back down to 13.

“Ruz, you might want to take up a math class in your spare time.” Kevin teased, knowing he only aimed for the board because of his poor math skills.

“Shut up.” He attempted to throw a bag at him, but it fell short. “I’m never playing this game again.” Adam huffed, walking away.

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” You shrugged, winking at him.

Said "Girl, where you sitti'g? I got an extra ticket

It's right on the 50"

“Sorry. He gets a little competitive.” Kevin smiled, “Thanks for playing though.” He leaned against the side of a truck crossing his arms. Madison stood awkwardly a couple feet away as you two flirted with each other.

“Thanks for letting us. It was nice to do something other than a drinking game for once.” You chuckled gesturing to where your group was now playing beer pong.

“Where are you guys sitting?” He asked gesturing to the stadium behind him.

“Oh we actually don’t have tickets. Just here to tailgate.” You explained and his smile got slightly bigger.

“Well I actually have an extra ticket. It’s right on the 50 if you want to join me?” He offered.

“Thanks, but I don’t want to just leave my group hanging..” You contemplated looking back at Madison who was nodding quickly mouthing the word “Go!” Sighing you turned back towards him with a smile, “you know what. What the hell why not?” You pushed the tingling of your body deeper down at his happy grin.

You had a 16 home team jersey on

Singin' every word to the fight song

Had your airplane bottles from your purse out

“Okay. I have to ask. Why are you wearing that jersey?” Kevin asked, sitting down beside you.

“Because we’re at...a Bears game?” You looked at him skeptically, causing him to laugh.

“Obviously.. I mean why O’Donnell? I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone actually wearing his jersey.” He explained.

“Well I do like to be an outlier,” you joked, “punters never get the credit they should. Same with kickers. They deserve more love.” You answered.

“Good to know you’re not a bandwagon fan.” He said.

“We won one super bowl 35 years ago and we just benched our newly signed QB for a rookie. I don’t think there’s any wagon for someone to hop on.” You retorted.

“You got me there.” He agreed watching you pull a few tiny bottles of alcohol out of your small bag you had strategically hidden to make it past security.

“You a fan of fireball? I hate it but it came with the pack.” You asked, turning to see an amused grin covering his face. “What?”

“How in the hell did you sneak those in here?” He inquired.

“Can’t give away all my secrets on the first date.” You shrugged, wiggling your eyebrows. He took it from your hand nudging Adam who sat on his other side. Adam took it graciously.

“Hell yeah. We’re keeping her!” He exclaimed, twisting the cap off to take the shot.

The first half of the game was rough. Only lucking out with a safety in the first quarter.

“I hope to god Trubisky starts to prove he has more than just a pretty face.” You shook your head preparing yourself for the second half. You and Kevin had talked throughout all of halftime, and you caught him staring with a wide smile more than once as you might’ve got a little too competitive throughout the first and second quarter.

“I could play better defense than his line is. Kev, get down there you know how to tackle people.”

“He does realize he’s supposed to be throwing it to his own team right?”

“Fucking 2 yards isn’t gonna get you anywhere!” Were just a few things you remember spouting off.

“This is ridiculous.” You threw up your hands when Rudolph took it into the Vikings endzone.

With 5:33 left in the 3rd quarter O’Donnell took the field for the punt, but instead to everyone’s surprise the punt is faked and #16 puts up a pass to Cunningham who runs it in for the touchdown. “Oh my god!” You jumped up and down, “No fucking way! That’s my man!” You yelled pulling Kevin in for a hug who was in utter disbelief.

“I cannot believe that just happened.” He laughed, cheering with the crowd. The fans were hyped watching Barth kick it between the posts.

“Believe it baby!

Bear down, Chicago Bears, make every play clear the way to victory;

Bear down, Chicago Bears, put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.

We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation.

Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you're wearing the crown.

You're the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, bear down.” You sang along loudly to the Bears’ fight song roaring throughout Soldier Field. The second half was much more heated than the first, but unfortunately thanks to a successful kick from Forbath in the last few seconds the Vikings took home the win.

You would've thought that post-game

Kiss would've made me wanna make you mine

But you had me by halftime

Everyone was starting to file out of the stadium, Kevin’s group included.

“You comin?” Adam turned to you both.

“You wanna wait till the crowds disperse a little?” Kevin asked and you smiled nodding.

“We’ll be waiting for you.” Adam winked, a knowing smirk covering his face as he grabbed tightly ahold of Kim’s hand to lead her through the crowd.

“You would’ve had to keep a tight hold on me. I’m small and can get lost easily.” You joked, body frame tiny compared to his broad muscular one.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I do regardless.” Kevin flirted, looping an arm around your shoulders to pull you closer to him.

“I told you. Punters and kickers, they don’t get enough credit.” You reiterated, “I mean how often does the game come down to a field goal? Too often in my opinion.”

“I can give you kicker I’m not sure about punters though.” He looked at you amused.

“Did you miss that play?” You scoffed.

“And how often does that happen? I’m sure you didn’t buy his jersey banking on that.” He replied.

“Yeah, alright. I just thought O’Donnell was better looking than Barth.” You admitted.

“You really know your football though.” He observed.

“I grew up with three brothers. It just came with the territory.” You explained.

“Three brothers?” He looked over at you, a faint look of fear appearing on his face.

“Yeah, I’m sure you could take any of them though.” You bit your lip squeezing his bicep to get your point across.

“Is that so?” He grinned face inches away from yours.

“Mhmm.” You hummed searching his eyes, begging him to make the move and he did. Closing the distant for a gentle, smooth kiss. His hand caressing your cheek to pull you closer. This is nowhere near what you expected your day to turn into when you got up this morning. You were just supposed to be tailgating with your friends too drunk for your own good. Instead you were seated inside the stadium making out with a guy you had just met this morning. Not that you were complaining, but what were the chances?

“Was that okay?” He asked lips still slightly brushing against yours and as an answer you gripped his face pulling him in for a deep bruising kiss that had him groaning low in his throat. Pulling away to get a breath you looked around to see very few people still seated, a warmth buzzing throughout your body despite the chilly fall air becoming more prominent.

“We better get out of here before we get in trouble.” You whispered. And he nodded tightly clasping your hand in his as you made your way out of the stadium back out into the parking lot.

Now every time the leaves start fallin' down

I get to thinkin' 'bout

5 years later

“Kev, can you check on the pizza while I get Carsyn dressed?” You asked after seeing your daughter stir from her nap on the monitor. Walking in her room you retrieved her from the crib. She was all smiles and giggles. “Well I take it you had a good nap.” You kissed her chubby cheek, attempting to flatten her bed head before laying her on the floor to get her dressed. “Daddy is just gonna be head over heels when he sees you. Not that he isn’t already.” You smiled trying to slide her tights on despite her wiggling legs. Succeedingly picking her up 10 minutes later. “Look who’s awake daddy.” You caught Kevin’s attention as he turned away from the stove to take her from your arms.

“You didn’t.” Kevin laughed, a smile wide on his face when he took his daughter into his arms admiring the outfit she was sporting. A blue tutu accompanied by an orange jersey that repped the #16, outfit topped off with a Chicago Bears bow. “Well don’t you just look adorable. Yes, you take after your mama.” Kevin laid kisses all over her face erupting numerous giggles from her. “Where’d you even find this at?” He asked and you knew what he was talking about without even turning around as you took the pizza out of the oven.

“I had to specially order it as one of those custom name jerseys. Seems they don’t make O’Donnell’s jersey for babies.” You laughed checking on the wings in the air fryer when a knock at the door interrupted. Adam and Kim strolling their way into the kitchen minutes later.

“Where’s my girl?” Adam asked, spotting her in Kevin’s arms. Carsyn immediately reached out for Adam. “There she is and aren’t you just the cutest Bears fan in the whole world?” He tickled her stomach taking in her outfit, “Gotta say [Y/L/N] it looks better on her.” He joked gesturing to your identical jersey.

“Joke all you want this jersey got me a husband.” You leaned up on your tippy toes to lay a kiss on Kevin’s cheek.

The rest of your crew arrived not too much later. Hailey and Jay bringing along their son who was a few months younger than Carsyn. This was now a football season tradition and you loved every minute of it.

All Tag List:

@corebore123 @scarletsoldierrr @hehurst23 @beautiful-bunny89 @ingie @halsteadsway @malrunaway @grettiwrites @inlovewith3 @wanniiieeee

[shin-city]

Physical Therapy [Tobio Kageyama x Reader]

pairing: dom!tobiokageyama x manager!reader

genre: smut, fluff

word count: 3.9K

tags: minor character injury, soft/hard dom kageyama, oral sex (male receiving), fingering, dry humping, praise, degradation, spanking, hair pulling, pwp

*

It wasn’t like Kageyama to ever hurt himself during a game. He’d always taken the necessary precautions to avoid that: staying hydrated, stretching religiously, and always being mindful of how he moved his body when setting a ball.

But something had gone wrong this game. Maybe it was the nerves of playing in his first college match. Maybe it was the unfamiliarity of not having Hinata there to receive his set. Whatever it was, he was off his game the moment the match started. Fortunately, he had a strong team behind him, and they’d racked up a good amount of points throughout the game. Towards the end, Kageyama had set the ball toward the wing spiker, lifting his arms up and back to hit it toward him in what used to be he and Hinata’s signature move.

But he’d hyper-extended his arms too far, resulting in a pulled muscle near his right shoulder blade. He’d tried to play it off, but you could tell by how he clenched his teeth and rolled his shoulder that he was in pain.

Both coaches noticed as well, and had it have happened to any other player, they would have pulled them out of the game; but Kageyama was stubborn as a mule, and quite frankly they needed him. They were in the home stretch at that point, only needing a couple more points to win; and if anyone could pull it off, it was him.

They made the right decision, the team winning by two points.

The coaches had dismissed Kageyama while the rest of the players were assigned to clean up the court. You watched worriedly as he stalked off toward the exit, twisting his back as he did so in a failed attempt to relieve the pain.

Seeing as no one else was going to, you went after him to make sure he was okay. You were the team manager after all and it was the least you could do. You’d found him in the club room, reaching across himself uncomfortably to rub at his back. He hadn’t even noticed you come in until you cleared your throat.

“Oh. Hey y/n.” He immediately dropped his hand, not wanting to give away how much discomfort he was in.

“You’re hurt,” you stated, frowning in concern.

“I don’t know what happened out there,” Kageyama huffed, disregarding your comment. “I couldn’t get my damn head in the game!”

He threw his arms up in frustration, regretting it immediately as he only put more strain on his injury. His face contorted in pain as he rolled his shoulder in an attempt to relieve the discomfort.

“But you won,” you reminded him. “You set the ball that scored the winning point to be exact.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. I screwed up almost every set before that.”

Kageyama lifted his arm to run his hand through his damp hair, once again being reminded of his injury as he strained the muscle. He audibly expressed his pain this time, wincing as he lowered his arm.

“You’re obviously in a lot of pain...maybe you should go the nurse?” You suggested, concern clear as day in your voice.

“No! I...I can’t. If I do, she’ll tell Coach how bad it actually is; and then I won’t get to play next week.” He knew it was irresponsible to hide the extent of his injuries, but he couldn’t bear the thought of being benched so early in the season.

You rolled your eyes, disapproving of him prioritizing his performance over his injury. “Kageyama, if you play with it in this condition you could make it worse.”

“Don’t you think I know that!” He snapped, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath soon after. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. Though it wasn’t necessary. Not only were you used to his short temper, but you were attracted to it.

“It’s fine. I didn’t mean to rub it in your face. But at least...let me help you.”

He looked over at you with a quirked brow, wondering exactly how you’d be able to help him. “What do you mean?”

You chewed on your lip, not sure what the best wording would be. Your idea suddenly seemed a lot better in your head.

“Well um...” you murmured, looking at anything but him. “I could try...massaging your shoulder...if you want? I mean, I don’t know if I’d be any good, but...I guess it’s better than nothing.”

Kageyama blushed ever so slightly, his eyes widening as he stared at his feet. You instantly regretted suggesting it, your face growing just as hot as his. Your lips parted to apologize and tell him never mind when he began to grumble.

“Well...I suppose if I can’t go to the nurse then that’s the next best thing.”

Your eyebrows raised slightly in shock. You really weren’t expecting him to say yes. The two of you had become pretty good friends over the summer practice season but you’d never really touched one another before; besides maybe a friendly pat on the shoulder, or high-five after a good game.

“O-okay, um,” you looked over at the couch that was nestled in the back corner of the club room. “Hold on.”

You walked past him and removed all but one of the small pillows from the couch, leaving it for him to rest his head on. His eyes widened when you grabbed the sleeve of his team jacket and pulled him towards the sofa before gesturing for him to lay down. He glanced at you hesitantly before sitting down. You weren’t expecting him to take anything off, which is why you nearly squealed when he slid down the zipper of his jacket and threw it over the arm of the couch. He turned to lay on his stomach, the couch being just long enough to accommodate his tall frame.

Kageyama tensed when he felt you climb on top of him, your legs on either side of his torso as you straddled his lower back. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. Though, he didn’t have any complaints; especially not when your hands traveled up his back and almost immediately found the spot that was troubling him. You massaged the area so expertly, so diligently that you’d think this wasn’t your first time doing this. You were so focused on the task that you hadn’t even noticed him trying to get your attention.

“Y/N.”

You stilled your hands to signal that you were listening.

“A little harder,” he requested, voice muffled by the pillow.

You nodded as if he could see you before digging the heel of your palm into his back, tracing slow circles over the pulled muscle. Upon doing so, Kageyama exhaled a long sigh that unexpectedly turned into a groan, and you immediately pulled your hands away from him.

“Sorry!” you squeaked out. “Am I hurting you?”

“No, no,” he assured you. “Keep doing that.”

Your stomach fluttered at the command as you hastily returned your hands to his back. A series of grunts, groans, and sighs fell from his lips as you kneaded into his shoulder blade, and you cursed yourself as you suddenly had a revelation.

You were getting wet.

“Roll my shirt up.”

Your eyes widened as you were pulled from thought. “Huh?”

“My jersey,” he muttered. “Push it up so you can massage my shoulder properly?”

“Oh! Right, okay.”

With trembling fingers you grasped the light material of his jersey, sliding it up his back. Your mouth watered at the sight of his back muscles flexing under his skin, and you prayed that he didn’t feel your thighs clench around him. You resumed rolling your knuckles into his back, trying desperately hard to calm down; though it was incredibly difficult with the sweaty man below you moaning like he was receiving the best head of his life.

“Yeah,” he groaned. “That’s better.”

You hadn’t realized how close you’d been leaning over his back, and neither did Kageyama until you let out a shaky breath, the warmth fanning over his neck. You were also unaware of how you’d been rolling your hips into his back ever so slightly, and it wasn’t until you heard him click his teeth that you noticed that he was chuckling.

“I can’t believe you’re getting off on this.”

Your hands froze and your stomach dropped as you registered what he said.

“W-what? What are you talk-”

“You think I can’t feel you grinding your pussy into my back?” he inquired, his tone bored; as if he was asking you the time or something. “Speaking of, I don’t recall telling you to stop.”

You weren’t sure whether to be mortified or turned on, but you were both, and your body immediately obeyed him. Your palms rested on his back for stability as you continued grinding into him. He chuckled again, craning his neck over his shoulder to throw you an amused grin.

“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Such a dirty girl. Have you no shame?”

“Kageyama,” you whimpered, your face growing hot as he watched you with feigned disapproval in his eyes.

Suddenly he was getting up from under you, causing you to fall back against the armrest of the couch. In seconds he was on top of you, one of his knees between your thighs as he peered down at you.

“Is this why you offered me a massage? You wanted to touch me that badly, huh? Wanted me to touch you?”

He leaned down to nuzzle his head into your neck, pressing soft kisses against your skin.

You shook your head furiously. “N-no! I just wanted to-”

“Never knew you were such a pervert,” he continued, taunting you. “And now you’ve gone and made my cock hard, so...”

The knee between your thighs pressed up against your crotch, grinding into you.

“What do you think I should do to you, club manager?”

He began to place wet kisses all over the expanse of your neck, one of his hands roughly gripping your thigh, and you wondered how on earth he expected you to answer him when he was touching you like that. Every lash of his tongue against your skin had you squirming, and caught up in the pleasure of it you blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Use me,” you breathed. “Please.”

Kageyama chuckled darkly against your throat before hovering his lips over your ear.

“You sure that’s what you want? After today I have a lot of pent up aggression to work through.” He caught your earlobe between his teeth, tugging gently. “Might break you, baby.”

You had to stop yourself from moaning at the mere thought of him putting you out of commission. His sudden change in demeanor already had your head spinning, and him threatening you with a good time wasn’t helping that. He smirked against your skin as you nodded fervently.

Kageyama pulled away from you and sat back in the couch, resting both arms over the top and being mindful of the one adjacent to his injury. He spread his legs just far enough for you to fit in between, his obvious erection straining against his shorts.

“If that’s the case then why don’t we start with that pretty mouth of yours? I think we can put it to good use, don’t you?”

You nearly threw yourself at his feet, kneeling between his legs and resting your hands on his knees, awaiting instruction. Kageyama appreciated how obedient you were, admiring how you gazed up at him while he pushed down his shorts and boxers in one motion. An inaudible gasp fell from your lips at his size, his cock standing at attention, and clearly you weren’t the only one getting off on the massage.

“Touch me,” he commanded, tone laced with authority.

You propped your elbows up on his thighs and grasped his length with both hands. He hissed as you began to work your hands up and down his cock, squeezing every so often. You leaned closer to lick up the trail of precum that dribbled out of the tip.

Kageyama’s hips involuntarily bucked up toward your face, his cock pressing against your lips. “Fuck,” he groaned. “Spit on it.”

You opened your mouth, letting the saliva drip off of your tongue and onto his cock before spreading it around with your hands.

“Mhm, such a good little slut.” He pet your head as he lifted his hips once more, this time purposely nudging your lips with the head of his cock. “Open.”

You parted your lips in compliance, allowing him to push himself into the warmth of your mouth. Immediately you swirled your tongue around the head of his cock, humming as you savored the taste of him. The hand atop your head grew heavier as he pushed to encourage the rest of his length into your mouth. Moaning as your throat constricted around it, you began to suck.

Kageyama’s head fell back, and his fingers tugged at your roots as you pleasured him. The sound of you choking around his cock each time you attempted to take all of him in was enough to have him ready to cum in your mouth. You yelped around him when both of his hands entangled in your hair, gripping it tightly as he fucked your mouth.

By the time he reluctantly pulled out, you were an absolute mess. Tears streamed down your cheeks, saliva glistened against your chin, and your hair had been ruffled from Kageyama’s rough pulling of it.

He couldn’t recall a time that you looked more beautiful.

Grabbing your shoulder, he pulled you up from the ground with his good arm. He stood up along with you before pushing you onto the couch where he previously sat. His fingers dug into your hips as he flipped you over so that you were on your knees, your upper body leaning against the top of the couch. You could hear him get down on his knees behind you before he gripped the waistband of your track pants, dragging them down to around your thighs. Your ass wiggled as you squirmed in anticipation of what he might do.

“Club manager,” he mused, one of his hands gently caressing your ass before he brought it down harshly with a loud smack. “If only you could see how much of a needy whore you look like right now.”

He rubbed at where your skin bloomed red, soothing the area; only to spank you once again in the same spot.

“Kageyama,” you whined, burying your face into the cushions. “Make me cum. Please.”

He sighed, the warmth of his breath against your rear apprising you of his proximity. “I thought you wanted me to use you?” he taunted, his fingers gripping the waistband of your panties.

Despite his teasing tone, he still slid them down your legs, cock twitching at the sight of your glistening cunt. You gasped when he dipped two of his fingertips into your dripping entrance and gathered some of your wetness, spreading it across your slit. He pressed his thumb against your needy clit, grinding the digit against it.

“Don’t you worry, baby. M’gonna make you cum nice and hard for me, and then I’m going to fuck you as a reward for sucking my cock so well. How does that sound?”

Nodding eagerly, you tried to push back against his hand but he pulled it away. You winced when he brought his palm down to spank you again.

“I asked you a question.” Another slap. “Where are your manners, club manager?”

Something about the way he wouldn’t even call you by your name was so exhilaratingly degrading. “G-good! It sounds good...please, make me cum.”

Kageyama hummed, content with your response as he returned his hand to your pussy. He offered you no warning as he pushed in two of his fingers, immediately curling them to press against that spongy spot inside of you.

He began to fuck you with his fingers, driving them into you relentlessly. You moaned out his name, though it was drowned out by the way you buried your face into the couch. Kageyama didn’t like that, and made it known as he grabbed a fistful of your hair and pulled you away from the cushion so that he could hear you properly.

In fact, anyone within a fifty foot radius of the club room could probably hear you properly, along with the lewd sounds of your wetness gushing around his fingers.

“Kageyama~” you moaned. “G-gonna cum...”

He didn’t need you to tell him that. He could tell by the way you clenched around his fingers, and how you bucked your hips against them, that you were close. Bringing his other hand underneath you, he rubbed at your neglected clit, pushing you over that edge. You cried out his name as you came around his fingers.

Only when you stopped convulsing did he withdraw his fingers from you, and had you been facing him you would’ve known that he brought them to his mouth, cleaning them off with his tongue. He’d also pulled off his jersey, laying it carefully over the top of the couch.

While you caught your breath he stood up from behind you, gripping his leaking cock in his hand and pumping it a few times. You’d expected him to at least give you a minute or two to calm down, which is why you were caught off guard when you felt the head of his cock pushing into your entrance.

He didn’t stop there, filling you up until his hips were pressed against your ass, and enjoying every whimper that escaped your lips as he did so.

“Yes,” he groaned, staying still just to relish in the feeling of your walls contracting around him. “So fucking tight.”

He pulled out halfway before slamming back into you, beginning a relentless pace as he fucked you. He really wasn’t lying when he said that he had a lot of pent up aggression to work through. As scary as he could be sometimes, he was never anything short of nice and respectful toward you. And now here he was, taunting you and pounding into you as if he had some sort of vendetta against you. Nonetheless, you were honored to be the one he unleashed his frustration upon.

“Mm, you feel so good,” he moaned, hands kneading into your flesh. “What a tight little slut you are. Fuuuck.”

He thrust into you faster and harder, your needy whines egging him on.

“The door’s not even locked,” he grunted, his voice shaky as he slammed into you. “Any one of my teammates could walk in right now and see our slutty little manager taking my cock so fucking well.”

His fingers dug into your hips as he fucked you, not caring if he left any bruises. Who else would see you like this anyways? You were his now.

“You really should- ah~ be ashamed, club manager. I mean really: where is your professionalism?”

Your face flushed at his teasing as you whimpered. He already had you so close to cumming, your stomach tightening along with your aching cunt. “K-Kageyama...”

You yelped when he gripped your hair roughly in his fingers, pulling until your back was pressed up against his chest.

“What is it? You wanna cum already, hm?”

You could only moan in response while he growled into your neck, licking and biting at the skin there as his rhythm began to fall apart. “Do it, then. Fuck, cum all over my cock baby girl.”

That was all it took for you to let go, a series of swears followed by his name falling from your lips as you came.

He bit down on your neck as he chased his own orgasm, not having to try very hard as your cunt fluttered around him. After just a few more thrusts, he was moaning into your neck, hips stuttering as his cum flooded your insides.

He released your hair, allowing your upper body to fall against the top of the couch. He leaned over you and pressed soft kisses onto your shoulder as he came down from euphoria. The two of you stayed like that for a couple of minutes before he pulled his softening cock out of you. He watched in awe as his cum dribbled out of you and down your thigh.

He scanned the room for his gym bag, and upon finding it, pulled out a tattered tee shirt with the words ‘Karasuno’ printed in worn letters on the front. Returning to you, he used the shirt to clean you up.

He cleared his throat as he wiped at the mess between your legs. “Sorry if I was...too much. I uh-”

You could barely keep your eyes open, but you looked back to give him a reassuring smile.

“You don’t have to apologize,” you assured him. “It was good. You were good.”

He blinked at you, setting aside the tee shirt and turning your body around to face him.

“Really?”

It was strange how unsure he sounded of himself, considering how he’d just been pounding into you with the utmost confidence just moments before.

You nodded, propping yourself up to press your lips to his in what would be your first kiss. His hands immediately shot up to cup your cheeks, humming against your lips as he kissed you passionately. His fingers traveled toward your hair, rubbing circles into your scalp to soothe any soreness he may have caused with his merciless pulling.

You reluctantly broke the kiss, pecking his lips once more before gazing up at him.

“You played really well today, too. And even if you aren’t, I’m proud of you, okay?”

He nodded, unable to hide his smile as he thanked you.

The two of you helped each other get dressed, and just in time too. It wasn’t long before you heard the whooping and hollering of the rest of the team from down the hall, signaling that they had finished cleaning up the gym.

When the club door was thrown open, you and Kageyama had been seated on the couch as far away from each other as possible, trying your best to be inconspicuous.

“Hey, there he is!”

The players flooded the room, and your eyes widened when they made a bee line for Kageyama. Two of the wing spikers pulled him up from his seat before hoisting him up on their shoulders.

The way they all congratulated and cheered for him warmed your heart, and you hoped that if your words from earlier hadn’t made him feel any better, then at least this would. Though you could tell from the growing smile on his face that he was already in better spirits.

“Alright, settle down you two. Don’t forget, he did hurt himself out there.” The team captain looked to Kageyama as his teammates carefully set him down. “We’re going out for ramen to celebrate the win. You’re more than welcome to come if you’re feeling up to it- you too, y/n!”

You and Kageyama looked at each other before agreeing, the two of you needing some kind of sustenance after what had just transpired.

You didn’t know what would become of your relationship after that day; but it went without saying that you’d definitely grown closer because of it, and you were both eager to see what the future held in store for the two of you.

[tinyboxxtink]

"Weird Secret Friends" *Chapter 11*

Chapter 10

Chapter 12

Tag List

@madamsnape921

@lolliepopsicle

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@word-scribbless

@gibbs274

@sassyada

@aprildecker-blog

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

@stars-trash-18

@omgsuperstarg

@objection-argumentative

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@shittanyy

@mrsrafaelbarba

Alright this one is kinda short but I needed a cliffhanger, and I need to get to fifteen now. Also, I had to write the ending of this in the car and it's difficult so I ended it where I did. Plus I love watching y'all squirm. SUFFER.

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

Rafael hadn’t texted you back since you told him you didn’t care whether he believed you or not, maybe he had gotten the hint and decided to leave you alone. Why didn’t that make you feel any better? You knew what you had told Sonny was true; you couldn’t be in any kind of relationship with anyone but alcohol. 

You’d never admit it to Sonny since he was so proud of you lately, but the monster inside you may be present more than you let on. It wasn’t big things that set you off sometimes, sometimes it was just one bad grade on a test, or being lonely. 

You knew you needed to reach out to someone, anyone other than Sonny. Get some friends of your own, people you could talk to. But you were too ashamed of your problems and your life to ever approach anyone. Even when students in your class would ask you to go out with them after school, you’d always decline in fear of what you might do while you were out. You could keep yourself from having more than one drink on your own, but the social pressure of being around other people drinking made you just want to keep going. And you knew where that led. Where it always led. 

You had kept the monster at bay for so long, it was exhausting most days. And now that you had fed it and let it loose, you were too tired to even try and reign it back in. So here you were, practically unable to move from being so sick from drinking fucking mouthwash rather than ride out your cravings. 

You looked up at the sky and began to pray for God to just take you right there and then, just so you would have to stop feeling like this. Not just physically ill, but completely devastated and heartbroken that the one time you had ever opened yourself to someone, opened yourself to love, the monster inside you killed it. Just like it killed everything. Now you just wanted it to kill you. You were just about to grab some pure rubbing alcohol from under your bathroom sink to drink, you knew it was lethal if you drank about a capful. You had it up to your lips when you heard a banging on your front door.

“Y/N! Y/N open this door!” 

Were you still that fucked up or was that actually Rafael banging on your door? No, it couldn’t be. Could it? You decided it was worth at least checking, if you had hallucinated it you could always come back to the bathroom. You forced yourself to stand up and hobbled towards your front door, still afraid to open it. If it really was him, you didn’t want him to see you like this. Your t-shirt was covered in bright green vomit stains, your hair was messy from puking, your hadn’t checked but you figured your face was probably disgusting. 

“...I’m not home!” The words came out before your sense kicked in to tell you that was literally the most idiotic thing you could say. Clearly he’d know you were fucked up now.

“I’m not kidding! I’ll break down this door, I swear to God,” His voice was angrier than you’d ever heard him. Well, that wasn’t saying much considering you hadn’t known him that long but still. 

“Uh...okay, just a second!” You called nervously, doing your best to quickly change your shirt and fix your hair. 

You grabbed a semi clean t-shirt laying on your couch and threw your hair up in a messy ponytail, wiping the dried vomit and drool from your face. You glanced in the mirror, you looked messy but just messy enough you were pretty sure you could pull off “I’m emotionally destroyed because of you” not “I’m totally trashed and fucked in the head because of you,” You tried walking as straight as you could to the door and softly opened it a bit, not letting him inside.

“Hey…” You gave him a sheepish smile. Wait, weren’t you supposed to be mad at him? Don’t act nice now just because you’re trying to act sober. 

“I mean...that’s a pretty lively looking corpse there, counselor,” You smirked. 

“...What?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Weren’t you the one who said you’d never be caught dead in Jersey?” You smirked harder. Damn, even when you were on the verge of dying you were smooth.

“Let me in,” Rafael said flatly. 

“Uh, no,” You said mockingly. 

“Let me in,” He repeated more sternly. 

“Do you have a warrant?” You asked with an amused smile. 

“Dammit Y/N don’t make me shove this door open,” 

“Oh okay so now you’re threatening to break into my apartment? Why don’t you yell that a little louder, maybe my neighbor will call the cops,” You yelled at him while gesturing down the hall. 

“...Please let me in?” His voice lowered, his eyes softened. You were a sucker for those eyes, no matter how mad or worried about appearances you were.

“...Fine,” You sighed and released your hold on the door and walked away quickly to sit on the couch. You didn’t want him to realize you couldn’t stand without holding onto something. 

“Fuck, I knew it…” He muttered as he glanced around your apartment, then focused on you.

“Knew what?” You crossed your arms, playing it cool. 

“You’re drunk right now, aren’t you?” He looked at you pitifully, not livid like he was a minute ago. 

“What?” You kept your composure. “Uh, I’m sorry Rafael, do you see any empty bottles here? Any FULL bottles for that matter?” You gestured around your apartment while acting offended he would even think that.

“My dad was an alcoholic, Y/N,” He said softly which made you angrier, why was he doing this? 

“Um okay, so that has to do with me why--?”

“Tell me right now if I smelled your breath that it wouldn’t be overwhelmingly ‘clean’,” He talked over you.

“....What?” You blinked, trying desperately to act oblivious. 

Fuck, why did he know that was a thing? Well, obviously he just said it. If you weren’t so angry or out of your mind right now, you’d feel absolutely terrible for being like this around him now that you knew he’d been through this before.

“So it’s a crime to have dental hygiene now?” You smarmed.

“Dammit Y/N I know what you’re doing!” Now he was getting angry again, he couldn’t stand that you weren’t taking this seriously. He couldn’t stand watching another person he cared about completely shit faced in front of him, acting as if he was the one in the wrong. 

“And what am I doing, Rafael?”

“Sonny might be naïve, but I know what it looks like when an alcoholic is hiding their drinking!” He accused you.

“God dammit…” you muttered. 

So many things were buzzing in your head at that moment. One you now felt ashamed that he was seeing you like this, two you were upset that he knew all your tricks, and finally you were somewhat happy and hopeful that he cared enough to come for you. 

“Did you have an actual reason for coming over here, or did Sonny just send you to lecture me because he’s tired of doing it?”

“...Can you drink some coffee or something?” 

“What?” You furrowed your eyebrows. “Why?” 

“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this,” 

“What? Oh suddenly I must be out of my mind trashed because I’m mad at you? Guess what Barba, this is 100% snarky sober me,” You lied. 

“Mad at me?” He laughed. “Why in God’s name are you mad at me?!” 

“After the way you treated me--”

“The way I treated you?!” He cut you off angrily. “I treated you with nothing but caring and respect, Y/N. Even after you sat there in my apartment throwing a temper tantrum like a petulant drunken toddler!” 

“You--” You were livid at him calling you a toddler.

“Just because Sonny told you what I usually act like towards-- lovers, doesn’t make it true with you. Did I ever, ever act like you were some ‘conquest’?” He asked you.

“...No,” You bit your lip nervously.

“Did I ever make you feel cheap, or unwanted?”

“No…” You looked at the floor.

“Didn’t I tell you that you were different, that you meant something to me?”  He gave you a sad look, as if he was crushed that you didn't believe in him.

“But how do I know that wasn’t just a line?!” You protested.

“Because I’m here!” He gestured around your apartment. 

“And why are you here?” You pressed him.

“I don’t know!” He put his hands over his head.

“...That’s not an answer,”  You crossed your arms.

“It’s the only answer I can give you, Y/N,” He finally sat down next to you on the couch. 

You curled up your knees to your chest instinctively, still trying to hide your inebriation and the smell of your breath; even though you knew it was futile at this point.

“So, you come all the way here to bang on my door and yell at me, but you have no idea why?” You continued to be defensive, trying to keep him off your scent.

“What do you want me to say, Y/N? Huh?” He threw up his hands. 

“Do you want me to say it’s because I’m in love with you? Because for the first time in my life I found someone that I want to be with all the time, because you make me the happiest I’ve been in a long time, maybe ever?” 

“Uh no,” You rolled your eyes. “I didn’t ask you to lie,” 

“...I’m not lying,”  He looked at you very seriously, trying to take your hand.

“Yes, you are,” You shook your head and pulled away from him. “In fact I know exactly why you’re here,”

“....What is happening right now?” Rafael asked himself softly. He had just sat there and poured out his heart to you, and you were dismissing him completely. This is exactly why he should have just let you be.

“What’s happening, is that you-- you feel bad that you couldn’t... I don’t know, ‘deal’ with your Daddy issues," You air quoted Daddy, making him shift uncomfortably.

"That is so--" He tried denying it.

"True?" You gave him a look. "Let me guess, you couldn't 'save' him as a kid, right?"

"...That wasn't on me," He muttered, looking at the floor.

"You don't believe that," you scoffed. "I know you don't."

"And how do you know that?" He looked at you skeptically.

"Because I feel like I failed my parents, and they were the shittiest people on earth!" You exclaimed.

"How did you fail them? You weren't even--"

"By being born, Raff," You clarified.

"Carino, don't--"

"Look, my point is you've got this 'white knight syndrome', but you know what I learned? You can't save everyone, so you shouldn't even try,"

"That's a great philosophy," he scoffed. "So you don't even try?'

"Oh fuck off," You rolled your eyes. "I can't even save myself, let alone anyone else,"

"That's not true," he protested. "You saved me,"

"Oh my god," you made a fake gagging noise. "You're just saying that so it'll appease some kind of guilt,"

"I have zero to feel guilty about," he shook his head. For some reason that made you even angrier. 

"Alright well good! So you can leave,"  You pointed towards the door.

"No I'm not leaving, not until you acknowledge what I said," He crossed his arms.

"What? About you being in love with me?" You scoffed. "I told you that's a load of shit."

"And why do you say that?" He asked.

"For one, because you don't fall in love with someone just because they're good in bed," you gave him a look.

"That's not why--"

"And for two, nobody can be in love with a monster," You finished over him.

"You're not a monster--" he tried pulling you towards him but you stood up.

"Yes I am!" You screamed.

Well that was a bad idea. All of a sudden it was as if the chemicals from the mouthwash were sizzling around your insides. You doubled over in pain, the room was going dark. 

"Y/N? Oh my god, baby hold on--" he grabbed you and pulled you into his lap while he dialed 911.

"It's okay, you're okay...just...just hold on, please…" he pleaded with you while stoking your hair and kissing the top of your head, gripping you as if you were going to disappear if he let up.

That was the last thing you heard before everything went black.

[crescentsteel]

Keeping a Secret - Prologue

plot: ehehe lemme leave this blank for now as this is only a prologue genre: fluff, crack, slow burn, eventual smut, sexual tension, angst at some point wc: 2.7k

[a/n]

I am reeling just from finishing this one because Tsukki is my boy (Kuroo ily too i swear)

Who writes 2.7k words of prologue? lol me

I’ll set up the masterlist when I’m done with the 1st Chapter.

Thank you so much @oii-sugasan​ and @haikyuu-is-for-lovers​ for the betaread! :)

Let me know if you wanna be tagged

Chapter 1 || masterlist

You aren’t just annoying. You’re a fucking menace. Every time he goes to the gym, your presence is like a plague. You're just a manager, but sometimes he thinks that you think you’re the assistant coach. There’s nothing he’d love more than to shower you with the nastiest, most off-handed comments, just to shut you up and wipe the cheery grin that taunts him every time he sees you. 

Seriously, you’re all over the place -- you talk to all members of the team as if you’re a player yourself, you nag everyone to take care of themselves outside training like you’re their older sister, you hand out self-gathered information on upcoming matches as soon as matchups are announced, you scamper around the gym tossing balls, assembling the net, doing whatever the hell you can get your hands on, all the while wearing those stupid shorts that distract the majority of the team, especially the new members. 

As his eyes follow you, you suddenly turn around to face him, breaking him from his reverie. Even when you’re halfway across the gymnasium, he can see the sharp playfulness that you always exude whenever you talk to him. 

“Tsukishima!” You wave at him with that disgustingly sweet grin. “If you’re done staring at my sexy back, you can start your blocking drills, okay?!” you shout with a voice loud enough for everyone else in the gym to hear.  Tsukishima feels multiple sets of eyes glance towards his direction and he ‘tsks’ in annoyance under his breath.

He immediately walks away. He refuses to hear more of the unnecessary and untrue prattles directed at him by you.  

He hears footsteps follow him. Judging from its pace and heavy strides, he already knows its Kogane without even looking

“Oi, Tsukki. Do you like our manager?”

He doesn’t understand why Kogane is whispering when you’re half a court away from them. More than that, he doesn’t understand why Kogane assumes he likes you. For one, you were wrong: he wasn’t even staring at you. He was staring randomly at nothing while thinking  about how irritating you are and you just happened to be at his line of sight. 

“I don’t see anything to like about her,” he replies passively. 

“What? Why? She’s super helpful -- and pretty too.” Kogane, just like the rest of the team, believes so. Even Kyoutani is fond of you because of that one time you received his spike on full force. You rolled on your back from the sheer power of it but you were able to receive it perfectly, making the whole team go wild when you did, with him as the only exception as he found it inane. 

“If you think so, go confess or something then.” 

“You know we can’t!” Pink stains begin to surface on his teammate’s cheeks, obviously infatuated with you. Then again, this is not new to him. It was a basic reaction from anyone whose dick is more functional than their brain.  Maybe it’s because you’re the only female so close to everyone else. Honestly, he really doesn’t know. But one thing’s for sure. Kogane has 0 chances with you, and neither does every player of Sendai Frogs. 

He remembers the conceitedness you displayed even in your first year as a manager. You two became part of the team almost at the same time. He was two months in when the former manager introduced you to the team. As she finished introducing you, you whispered to her to add something. It went something like ‘oh, umm. y/n-chan also said that no one from the team can’t date her.’ Even the former manager looked at you weirdly but you were just there beaming as you bowed to everybody. 

They thought it was a joke, but when you became a full-pledged manager in less than six months, you announced it yourself. 

‘I know I’m kind of cute, but I won’t ever consider dating anyone from the team. Okay?’

You announce it with a sickening smile every time there are new members, reminding everyone else that you’re untouchable. 

It’s fucking atrocious, to him at least. Unlike the other players from his team, he’s not shallow enough to fancy you just because you’re not disgusting to look at, or that you did your managerial duties so exceedingly well.

He grits his teeth. He hates it. How can someone so chaotic as you be so effective in managing the team. What grinds him even more is that you go to the same university he does, and even there, your presence stinks. He once had a class with you only to find out that you’re not as dumb as you make yourself out to be. 

It’s infuriating. He can’t wait for the day you mess up -- only then would he finally get the chance to diss you. He’ll turn that shit-eating smile of yours upside down. 

--

Man, nothing boosts your mood better than bugging Tsukishima. When you felt his sinister stare boring at your back earlier, you just couldn’t waste the opportunity to say something about it. He just ignored you, but the scowl on his face was enough response to satisfy you. 

The truth is, you have nothing against Tsukishima. Yeah, he has a sharp tongue and a vile attitude, but hey, he’s a good team player. He doesn’t speak much, but he gets shit done in matches. Despite his foul personality, he’s actually manageable: he listens to you and he rarely shows up late. He’s not particularly motivating to look at, but he still does what’s asked of him. For some reason that you don’t know, he still hasn’t spat out his usual, rancid remarks towards you. You know he’s itching to, and honestly, you’re kind of curious of what he’ll throw your way. 

Still, for the last three years he kept his mouth shut even though he looks at you like you’re the most unpleasant being he’s ever laid eyes on. 

“Y/n!”

You jog towards the team coach, Coach Mira. “Yes, Coach?”

“Do you like Tsukishima?” she asks curiously. The question is funny to you but you hold back the laughter and smile instead.

You like Coach Mira a lot. She’s more like an older sister than a coach to you. You’re free to share a few laughs with her, and she values your input to the team. Maybe it’s because you’re both women drowned in a sea of male athletes that you sort of have that innate connection. 

“No, Coach. Why?”

“Cause you pay attention to him the most.”

“I don’t see what’s to like about him,” you veer your gaze towards his direction, watching his scowling face as he walks away, Koganegawa following closely behind him. You can’t hear them, but the sight is already amusing as it is. “I just like putting him in place whenever he’s being extra nasty,” you add. 

“If you say so, y/n. Honestly, I don’t really care if you go out with one of them.” 

You wave your hand back and forth like you’re swatting a fly. “No way, Coach. They’re like little boys I’m taking care of.”

She sweeps her gaze behind you, scanning all the players present in the court. “Can’t say they feel the same way though.” Then she looks at the same person you’re looking at. “Well, maybe except for Tsukishima.”

“That’s why I like messing around with him the most,” you admit with mirth as you watch Tsukishima get away from Kogane.

--

Everyone in the gymnasium is staring as they enter the arena. If there’s one thing opposing teams remember about the Sendai Frogs, it’s their female tandem of a stone-cold coach and a ‘hot,’ bubbly manager who walk side by side in front of the whole team, not the players.

It’s not really an issue for Tsukishima. He doesn’t really care. Shimizu had the same reputation back in high school. But you? You’re not Shimizu. You aren’t even close.

And you, being the chaotic mess that you are, you milked the attention. Whenever someone blatantly gapes at you,  you’d wave at them. You’d even entertain those who openly flirted with you. In retrospect, he should find it despicable. Rather finds it entertaining. So does the rest of the team.

When the Sendai Frogs reach their spot, a guy wearing a Tamaden Elephants jersey approaches you shamelessly. A brave (maybe a little bit foolish) act, considering you’re with the whole team.

“Hi!”

You turn around and greet him just as enthusiastically, maybe even more.

“I just want to say, great game from last season, he says as he scratches the back of his head. 

Liar. 

If the guy really wants to acknowledge the team’s play from last season, he’d approach one of the players. He also wouldn’t have that stupid blush on his awe-struck face. 

“Thank you! Great game indeed,” you return the compliment.

As soon as the guy starts fidgeting, Tsukishima can already guess what comes next: it’s either a date or your number.

“If you don’t mind, can I get your number?”

Tsukishima sneers at how predictable the scene is, and he can’t wait to see what comes next.

You beam at the guy. “Sure! It’s number 1.”

He still smiles even though he’s obviously dumb-founded. “Sorry, what?”

“My number, right? It’s 1. Cause we’re number 1 in the district,” You say with that fake innocence that isn’t really fooling anyone.

“...Uhh.”

“Go Sendai Frogs!” You cheer out of the blue and as if an automated response, the rest of the team, even Tsukishima (though lifelessly), answers.

“Sendai Frogs fight!”

The loud baritone of deep male voices drew the attention of other people in the area, brightening your face up even more as you focus on the guy in front of you again. He looks scandalized by what just happened. 

“How about you? What’s your number?” you ask, pushing the guy to a mental corner as Tsukishima and his team glares at him while waiting for how he’ll answer. An embarrassed blush replaces the previously infatuated one as he realizes that he shouldn’t have made the mistake of hitting on you. 

“I-I’m not really sure,” his voice loses any shred of confidence it once had.

“Oh. That’s too bad,” you feign sympathy. 

“Yeah.” The guy looks down. “Guess I’ll see you around,” he adds before retreating defeatedly.

“Bye! Nice to meet you,” you wave cordially. ‘Whoever you are, newbie elephant,’ you say to yourself as you watch the unfamiliar member of the Elephants go back to his team, a team you wiped the floor with last season.

Until now, you don’t understand why people still even bother. You welcomed the flirtations, but never really went out with anybody. You’re not really opposed to getting in a relationship, but like -- Gooood! They’re all so uninteresting. Rejecting them is more fun than the mere prospect of dating them.

You feel a familiar touch on your shoulder. 

“Good job boosting the team morale,” Coach Mari says in a volume that only you can hear as she pats you.

“Thanks, Coach!” You grin at her praise. 

You turn around to check your players and your eyes instantly land on Tsukishima who had just put on his white headphones and began scrolling at his phone. Around him, everyone else has already started stretching. 

You bounce your way to him, knowing that you’d instantly get his attention even without saying anything. But even with you ogling when you stopped in front of him, he still doesn’t budge.

“Tsukishima.”

No response.

‘Heh,’ you snicker internally. He never fails to amuse you when he tries to ignore you. 

“Tsu~ ki~ shi~ ma~” You bob your head sideways, popping at the opposing sides of his phone so he’ll notice you.

You don’t miss the minute twitch of his eyes as he drags his phone closer to him in an attempt to shut you out. 

Tsk tsk. He should know better by now that you're not the type to back away. 

You go beside him instead, tiptoeing so you can see what he’s so busy looking at. As soon as your arms touch his, he puts down his phone and irritatedly removes his headphones. 

He’s shooting daggers at you, making you giddy with excitement as he looks like he’s about to say something you. You hold his gaze with a raised eyebrow and subtle smirk that you couldn’t suppress. Did he get fed up already? Is he finally going to say something?

‘Do it. Do it. Do it,’ you chant in your head. 

He takes in a painful deep breath instead. “What?” The single word contains so much disdain that you want to cackle so bad. 

“Shouldn’t you be stretching?” you query.

“In a bit.”

You leisurely shake your head with disapproval. “I know you’re a lazy ass fucker sometimes,” you begin. “But you always help us win. You’re our meanest, tallest, best blocker.” Your gaze drops down to his ankles and travels up.

“So,” you continue, dropping your voice amusedly, “stretch those gorgeous, God-given, legs you have.” Your eyes linger on his thighs before landing up to his face to smile sweetly at him. “Will you?”

This is one of the moments you’re pretty sure he won’t dare talk back at you. Why? Because you’re one hundred percent right, and he knows that too. 

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t hate it.

He glares at you for one second and walks towards the rest of the team to join them. 

--

Playing at the professional level, he always considers one match to be a big win already, even if it’s just the first match of the regular rounds. Ever since he became a starter for Sendai Frogs, he was not allowed to slack off even for one rally. He could take the lecture if it’s from Coach, but he couldn’t stomach it if it’s from you. 

Even before the match started, you were already on his grill, pestering him just because he wasn’t warming up yet. He was pissed the whole game and put extra effort than usual to make sure that you won’t have anything to say after. 

“Um, excuse me.” A girl from Red Rabbits blocks him on his way to the restroom. “Tsukishima, right?”

He can tell that she is trying her best to look nonchalant, but the familiar tint on her face is telling.

Tsukishima had never understood girls who approach him for anything remotely romantic. Does he look like he’s interested? It’s not that he’s not open to the idea of dating, but he finds it unpleasant when people go after him because they like how he plays. Worse, for some obtuse reason like him being ‘cute.’

“Yes. Why?”

She smiles at him bashfully with her arms crossed behind her. “I’m also a middle blocker. I was really inspired with how you read block so well. If it’s okay with you, can you teach me how you do it?”

Why would he do that? He’s already a senior college student who’s also a professional athlete. He has no reason to go out of his way to teach someone read blocking. Especially someone who’s already supposed to know it since (as she claims) she’s also a middle blocker. Judging from where they currently are, someone from Division 1 no less. 

“Sorry. I’m really busy,” he says bluntly. 

“Oh, okay. Sorry for bothering you.” She bows then takes off immediately. 

He watches as the girl from Red Rabbits scampers off as quickly as humanly possible. Did she really think he’d agree to it?

He is too occupied to notice the faint sound of footsteps behind him, and only when you speak does he notice your presence.

“Aww, poor girl going out of her way to ask you out.” 

He groans. Why are you even here? You’re supposed to be checking on the team since their match just ended.

You fall into step beside him as he brushes your comment off and continues heading for the rest rooms.

“I didn’t ask her to,” he calmly responds despite your irksome presence. 

“How are you going to get a girlfriend like that?” you ask exaggeratedly as if not getting in a relationship will lead to his ruin.

“I don’t need one.”

You gasp. “Damn, Tsukishima. Men your age are all about raging hormones. Where do you put all that raging testosterone?”

He purses his lips in a corner, his jaw tensing at your remark. Men his age? You talk as if you’re older when you’re in the same year he is.

Also, what the fuck?

Now you’re nagging about his personal life too? You’re already aggravating as the team manager. Now you’re even sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.

His blatant irritation must have shown in his face because you suddenly let out a giggle. “My bad, my bad. Don’t look so scary. Geez. Where you get action is none of my business. I just followed you to let you know that we’re leaving in twenty minutes.”

You turn around, about to go back but stop before you make the first step. “Oh, and we have a meeting later. I did the stat sheets of the game and gave it to the coach already. Great blocking, Tsukishima!” You pat his shoulder twice with a proud smile, then saunter off back to the arena. 

Damn it. If only you aren’t so good at being a manager, he would actually be able to dislike you to the fullest. Not only that, he wouldn’t feel that silly, tiny contentment he felt upon hearing you.

Chapter 1 || masterlist

Taglist:(those crossed out can’t be tagged)

@ameliaxo @suikrem​​ @akaashisslave @tsumurai​​  @babythotshq​​ 

[hondagirll]

#44 for Ted/Rebecca 🥰

#44 - is that my shirt?

(I did change one word of the prompt. I hope you don't mind especially because I am certain this scenario has already been written a million times but I don't care. I wrote it anyways)

Ted enters her office whistling, carrying a long white box under his right arm and a familiar pink box in his left hand.

"Morning, boss!" He says cheerfully, setting both items down on her desk with a flourish. Rebecca closes her laptop and pushes it to the side, instantly alert. It's been a year and a half since she first met Ted Lasso. A year and a half since he had catapulted over the strong fortress she had built around herself, decimating it down to nothing more than a pile of rubble and stones with his kindness and integrity. She and Ted are friends now, legitimate and proper friends who get dinner and drinks together. Friends who have long talks after losses and wins. Friends who occasionally meet up for Sunday lunch at the pub provided by Mae. They are friends but ‘Biscuits with the Boss’ notwithstanding, they aren't the type of friends who regularly give each other gifts.

Rebecca looks down at the unfamiliar white box sitting in front of her and then up at Ted. He is still smiling. The box is large, about the size of a small jumper and it doesn’t have any emblems or logos printed on the outside to help her identify the contents. She picks the box up, surprised by its lightness.

"What is it?" She finally asks, tapping the lid with a manicured fingernail. Ted merely sits down in the chair across from her and shakes his head.

“Now come on. The surprise will be ruined if I tell ya. Open it up!”

Rebecca rolls her eyes but obeys. Ted sounds very similar to her goddaughter on Christmas Day, full of enthusiasm and good will towards everyone on earth. She sets the box down on her desk and gently removes the lid. Whatever is inside is covered by light pink gift paper, each section neatly folded over each other to the extent she cannot see what is underneath. She lifts the sections of paper out one by one until she finally reaches the bottom and finds herself staring at a familiar blue and red striped pattern. She pulls the item out of the box and holds it up in front of her.

It’s a team jersey, the A.F.C Richmond logo displayed prominently on the chest.

“Thanks Ted,” Rebecca works hard to keep the disappointment out of her voice. He was so eager to have her open the present that she was expecting more than a simple jersey. Instantly she feels ashamed. How is Ted supposed to know she already has five Richmond jersey’s hanging up in her wardrobe at home? Along with matching hats, scarves and gloves. He cannot be expected to memorize every article of clothing she owns, especially on game days when he is busy managing the team. She doesn't want to offend him, she would die before causing Ted any more pain than she already has so she pastes a smile on her face, determined to lie through her teeth if necessary.

(She will wear this bloody jersey every day of the week if that will make him happy)

“Turn it over,” coaxes Ted from behind the wall of knitted polyester and cotton and Rebecca obliges. She turns the jersey over and her body instantly freezes at the sight.

For there, on the back of the jersey, above the number one is a name printed in big, block lettering.

WELTON

“Is that my name?” Rebecca asks in disbelief, lowering the jersey just enough to look over the top at Ted. His body is vibrating so much with excitement that his bottom is nearly halfway out of his seat. He nods, hair flopping into his eyes and he brushes it back with his hand.

“Yup! I thought you might want your own this year so I asked Higgins to order a custom one. Do you like it?”

His voice rises on the last part, his tone high pitched as if he is worried she wouldn’t but Rebecca smiles at him and nods, warmth blossoming quickly throughout her chest as she looks back down at the jersey.

“It’s perfect, Ted. Thank you.” She touches her name on the back, her fingers tracing the letters. This is more than a simple gift. It is a statement that she belongs, that she is one of Richmond's very own. “I never- well, I never thought to ask. I mean, no one ever thought to give me one before.”

“No need to ask.” Ted cannot stop smiling. It's highly endearing. “You’re the boss. It’s only right you get one. I’m glad you like it. Higgins was a bit skeptical but I knew you’d love it.”

“I do. Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Where's yours?”

Ted winks at her, nose wrinkling in delight. "Since you asked...."

He stands up and removes his jacket, revealing the Richmond jersey he is sporting underneath. He spins and points behind him to where it says LASSO across his upper back.

“What do ya think, boss?” he said, still peering over his shoulder at her. “Should we go and grab Keeley for a little photo op?"

“Absolutely.”

(Later that evening Rebecca is at home curled up on the sofa, a pair of slippers on her feet and a glass of wine in her hand when she gets a text from Keeley. She has sent Rebecca a picture of her and Ted from their impromptu photo session.Their backs are to the camera, but this particular shot must have been taken in between sessions when they were not prepared because Ted's body is turned too much towards Rebecca, half the words on his jersey are out of frame. He is caught mid-sentence, his mouth is partially open while Rebecca has one hand raised to her eyes, blocking out the sun as she leans her head down towards Ted, listening intently. The picture is zoomed in on their faces; under his visor Ted's eyes are crinkled up in amusement, the lines around his mouth deeper than normal while Rebecca is grinning widely, all of her teeth exposed. Immediately Rebecca is struck by how comfortable and relaxed they look together, as if they are not carrying around all the heavy burdens and vast expectations of the League on their backs. They look young, carefree. It's not an image the public is used to seeing from the assertive and confident female owner and their bumbling Yankee coach which is probably why Rebecca doesn't recognize it from any of the photos Keeley had already posted to the team's Instagram and web page. This one is too personal, too intimate to share with the world and she’s grateful to Keeley for recognizing that. Underneath the photo Keeley has sent another text to Rebecca, this message containing only one word.

Friends.

Rebecca smiles and immediately saves the photo to her phone. She repeats the word in her head, twisting it around on her tongue as she taps out a response to Keeley.

Friends. Her and Ted... friends.

For now)

Yes.

.

.

.

.

.

[nishinoya-can-rolling-thunder-me]

Guess Monster

Tendō Satori x Reader

Summary: you catch a certain guess blocker’s eye at the youth training camp that you were invited to help manage

Still getting in the swing of writing for Haikyuu lol

Masterlist

The sound of balls bouncing and zipping by had just become a sound that made up the usual ambiance that echoed through your ears and into your brain. Watching those balls slam down to the ground and rise to the ceiling was also such a sight that had become so normal to your bored gaze that stared on in your position to the side of the small gymnasium as you watched the first years selected for the youth camp continue their warm up besides the two coaches. Though one thing that you couldn’t get ahold of was the antsy red head beside you that stared on with such an intensity that it made a shiver travel through your body. It made every single hair of yours stand on end. Though also embarrassment also took hold as he only did just that. Stood by. You almost had to physically restrain yourself from facepalming at just the thought of knowing that Hinata really and truly did sneak into the youth camp held for these few selected first years to be trained and guided in the gym located on the vast grounds of Shiratorizawa. Not only that, but to be told that he would only merely be a ball boy and nothing else. He would be the one to help wash the jerseys and set them to dry, fix water bottles, and chase after any ball that tried to escape. Though now he helped you keep track of the score of the game between the trainees and Shiratorizawa’s own boy’s volleyball group.

You were merely only a manager of Karasuno’s team that was asked to come on to help take notes of each individual player and keep track of their progress, very much like Kiyoko had taught you to once the two of you had found the groove of being the boy’s volleyball managers and was now teaching Yachi. You were the unlucky one to be offered up to do such a task.

“Hinata...can you stop being weird?” You whispered out sharply to Hinata. Your sharp words only seemed to put a even stronger determined look upon his face as a whistle pierced through the air, you letting out a sigh as you reached a hand to flip the flaps of plastic tat had their bold numbers printed upon them, adding another point to Shiratorizawa’s team.

“What? I’m just being a ball boy.” He almost seemed to proudly announce, causing you to almost turn red from the second hand embarrassment that seemed to take over your senses. How cold someone just be....like that? Seemingly so immune to embarrassment or shame? You knew he felt fear by how he worried of Daichi’s lecture or how he explained the feeling of despair once Mr.Takeda had scolded him with his eloquent words, but that was at least normal and expected. Heck, sometimes you could see embarrassment over take him on the court whenever he would make a fool of himself, but off the court it was like he was immune. Though you had to admit, he was forever evolving with his skills and techniques. So maybe that intense stare upon the court was just a part of the process of evolution, though the blaring whistle sliced through your thoughts. The set was over and done with and now both teams were having a cool down to rehydrate and catch their breaths.

“I have to go do something...” Hinata finally mumbled out before rushing off, you only huffing as you leaned against the sign, watching the other ball boys clean up the court and hand out bottles and towels.

“So! You’re a manager at Karasuno, right?” A voice soon piped up, your gaze slowly and lazily moving to land upon the source. The person in question was now lazily leaned against the score board along side you, red hair spiked upwards and of course had a strange....appearance. That appearance was quite hard to forget. Tendō Satori was a force to be wreckoned with when it came to his guess blocking upon the Karasuno vs. Shiratorizawa match and the middle blocker’s appearance was unforgettable since it was a bit different and you would be lying when you said it wasn’t. You’ve also heard the rumors and the whispers about him too from friends that went to school to Shiratorizawa or other friends from different schools who heard things and whatnot, just horrible gossip that you would listen to and indulge in, but never truly believed a word of it.

But knowing his nickname was the ‘Guess Monster’ sent a shiver down your body. The name was just so...intimidating and terrifying.

“Yes I am, I’m a third year at Karasuno.” You spoke, the silence falling between the two of you. You guess he suspected you to say more, speak more, just something. Though once he realized you weren’t going to say more, he continued on with speaking. Judging by how quick he was able to find the words to continue speaking, it seemed like he had much practice with executing one sided conversations.

“Third year? Would have guessed right, then. You are all...mature and respectful...unlike that shrimp who keeps staring everyone down.” He joked as he shrugged his shoulder and shot a glance over to Hinata who seemed to be pep talking one of the other first years that were actually invited to the youth training camp. It was actually kind of amusing to see Hinata try to cheer up such a large, tall, and stronger looking guy. It honestly almost made you laugh. Almost if it weren’t for the conversation at hand.

“And you’re a third year, but honestly I seemed to find you loud and...disruptive.” You hurriedly quipped back. Just hearing him call Hinata a shrimp just shot a bolt of heat through your body, a flare of anger. It was funny whenever Coach would endearingly say it or anyone of the team. Heck, you didn’t even care if Tsukishima said it, it wasn’t out of character for him to just be sarcastic or a little insulting. Hearing someone you barely knew call him that behind his back to you almost in a....demeaning manor just set a scowl upon your face as your stoic glare moved to rest upon his surprised features.

“Look I’m sorry, I was just trying to be funny.” He said with a laugh as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he looked down to you. It seemed like now you finally realized his towering, lanky figure as he allowed himself to straighten up for just a second before leaning back upon the score board. “I was just trying to make you laugh, but that really didn’t work....what a fail.” He said with yet another laugh as he looked to the shiny hard wood floor of the gym, watching the youth trainees being corrected and given advice to help strength their weakness or at least try to improve their weak points. “Kind of expected him to be invited to this thing...did he really break in?” Soon piped up his voice again, you only watching on ahead to the first years, lips beginning to move with your response.

“No he wasn’t...but he somehow got the bright idea to crash the training camp and I guess took on the roll of ball boy in order to not ruin his pride.” You muttered out, gaining a laugh from the other as your eyes watched the determined figure that belonged to Hinata dart after the escaping volleyballs, that strange look upon his face as he concentrated. Though the Whistle interrupted your words that were soon to continue, the coaches of Shiratorizawa calling over their volleyball team for a second match, Hinata now running back to his position on the other side of the score board, Tendo giving a little squinted look to the shorter and younger boy before looking back to you. It almost seemed like he was going to say something, but chose to just jog off instead to start another set with the trainees.

“Wow, you talked to that crazy guess blocker?” Hinata asked, standing at attention as he watched the first serve, eyes watching the ball sip back and fourth until the whistle blew. You nodded your head as you flipped the correct number, now looking over and to Hinata.

“Yes I did, wasn’t really much of a conversation though.” You admitted bluntly. Hinata of course gave a dramatic little huff as another sharp whistle sliced through the conversation, instructing you to once more flip the score board. “What did you expect? Him to relay all his darkest secrets to me?” You sarcastically added, but Hinata was already lost in concentration upon the practice match that went on with him.

The day was long and boring to be quite Frank. Your foot were tired from your constant standing beside that stupid little board and walking back and forth to keep an eye on all the players and of course on Hinata so he wouldn’t make an absolute fool of himself. Though the Guess Monster- or really Tendō had caught your eye many times. He seemed to cast his glances to you after a successful block, almost as in he was making sure you saw it. Then those few times he would totally be off with his intuition he would be checking to see that you didn’t, but you always seemed to catch a glance of his movements and game playing. It was the cliche thing that would happen in those cheesy American hallmark movies where those two people always seemed to be catching each other’s eyes and glances, though you did not think much of it all except for it being a big coincidence at the end of the day as you sling your bag upon your shoulders, bidding everyone farewell as you were prepared to walk back home alongside Hinata and Tsukishima.

“Hey! Ms.Karasuno’s Cool Manager!” Came calling out a voice. There, that red haired, atrange boy was jogging out of the gym and towards you, the two first years looking to you confusingly, though only continued walking forward as you waved them to continue, your bored gaze landing on Tendo, hands clutching onto the strange of your bag that slung over one of your shoulders. “I was wondering if I could get your number? We can maybe hang out sometime? Head out to town together?” He said with a hopefully look upon his face as he looked down to you, though he was only met with silence, the sound of your shoe scuffing up against the sidewalk was the only noise to he heard until finally you went digging into your bag, pulling out a pen before grabbing ahold of his arm and scribbling down a sequence of numbers before placing the pen away.

“Text me anytime...Tendo...” you said, a slight flush upon your cheeks as you shyly tucked a strand of hair behind your ears before turning away. “Tsukki! Hinata! Wait up!” You called to the two first years ahead of you, jogging forward to catch up with them.

“What was that for?” Hinata soon asked as he looked over to you, Tsukki in his own world along side the music that played through his headphones.

“Nothing....I just forgot something and he gave it back, just a silly old pen...”

[detectivesofty]

staking your claim | j.h.

Summary: Natalie has problems with Nina and you’re helping out, like the good future sister (in-law??) you are

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Doctor!Reader / Natalie Manning x Will Halstead / Nina Shore x Will Halstead

Song I listened to while writing: Bust Your Windows by Glee (cuz it’s a fucking bop)

Author’s Note: I literally wrote this in one sitting bc I got inspired lmao. This is very heavily centered around Natalie and Reader’s friendship, because I feel like Nat needs someone in her corner. This takes place in Season 2, Ep. 19 of Chicago Med and I know Jay and Reader’s relationship doesn’t make sense canon-wise, but this is a fanfic after all, so let’s just pretend that Jay and Reader have been in a commited relationship with each other for a while. Happy reading!

Warnings: mentions of alcohol

Word Count: 1,9k

“Hey Y/N,” Nina greeted you and you barely glanced up to greet her back, your focus entirely on your notes. Nina then turned to Natalie, who was standing right next to you.

“Hey Natalie. Can I ask you a favor?”

Natalie, held a finger up. “Uhm, one second,” she said, turning back to April. “Hey April, can you try and track down Connor for me?”

“Alright.”

“Thank you!” Natalie turned back to Nina, the stress written all over her face. “Sorry. What’s up?”

“I was going to give this to Will, but he’s busy. Can I leave it with you?”

That suddenly got your attention. Why would Nina ever ask Natalie for a favor regarding Will?

Natalie paused as well. “Sure,” she then replied, reaching a hand out for the jersey.

“He’s going to watch the game with his brother tonight. I slept in it last night and when he left this morning I was still in bed,” Nina added with a laugh and you furrowed your brows, while you kept your head down. 

“I’d leave it in his locker but I wanted to make sure he gets it.”

You rolled your eyes, but put on a smile when Nina looked at you. She wasn’t the best actress and you could see right through her act, even if Natalie didn’t.

Natalie seemed a bit lost as she held the jersey, glancing at you briefly. “... Okay?”

“Thanks. You’re the best. Bye Y/N, see you later!” Nina called over to you before leaving the ED. 

You forced a smile and waved at her, before turning to Natalie. She was still staring at the jersey in her hands and you nudged her gently. 

“Hey you okay?” 

Natalie nodded quickly, putting the jersey away. “Yeah, I am fine… But Nina was acting weird, right?”

Chuckling, you shrugged with your shoulders. You didn’t really like Nina with Will, if you were honest. She seemed nice enough, but you never clicked with her, despite her constant efforts to spend time with you. In your eyes, Natalie was the perfect one for Will. Especially because you knew of Will’s feelings for Natalie, you know, before the thing with Nina started. 

“Duh. She’s trying to mark her territory, it was so obvious.”

“What?” 

“I am pretty sure that she sees you as a threat, Nat. And the other day-”

“Doctor Manning, Doctor Y/L/N! Incoming, vehicular accident, two girls and their mother!”

Natalie gave you a look, which meant she was in no way done with this conversation. But for the meantime, you took care of the two hurt girls. Unfortunately, the day didn’t progress as you had expected it to go. The hospital’s server got hacked and you had to resort to old-fashioned blackboards, without knowing patients’ medical history. 

At the end of the day, you were completely exhausted and just wanted to fall in bed. You threw your jacket on and grabbed your purse, when Natalie came into the lounge. 

“Hey Y/N, are you going home?” 

You gave her a tired smile and nodded. “Yeah, I am beat.”

“I wanted to talk about the thing you mentioned this morning…?”

Frowning, you thought back to earlier until you finally remembered. “Oh yeah, uhm. Do you maybe want to come over? Jay’s watching the game at a bar with Will so I’ll be alone tonight.”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds nice. I’ll just swing by Helen real quick to check on Owen, and then I’ll come over, yeah?”

Nodding, you gave her a thumbs up, rubbing her shoulder. “See you later, Nat.” With that, you left the ED and drove home to an empty apartment. The moment you stepped into your home, you let out a loud sigh at the sight of Jay’s shoes being all over the place. Moving in together was Jay’s idea. Your jobs ate up a lot of your time and when Jay was on a hard case, you often had gone days without seeing each other. Living together had a lot of pros, but that was before you knew Jay loved leaving his shoes where he took them off, which could be basically anywhere in the apartment. 

But you loved that man, so you’d put them away for now and kick his ass later. 

Dropping off your purse on its designated place, you headed to the shower straight away. After a refreshing shower, you ordered pizza for you and Natalie, when a text from Jay came in.

Jay: hey babe, you home yet?

You: yeah, just got out of the shower

Jay: Without me?😜

You: First of all, ew You: second of all, you’re too old to be using emojis

Jay: 😭

You: nat’s coming over now and I just ordered some pizza

Jay: okay, have fun, love you Jay: save me some slices!

You: Love you too. And no!

At that moment, the doorbell rang and you put the phone away to open the door, expecting either Natalie or the delivery guy. But instead, it was Natalie, the delivery girl. 

“I bumped into the delivery boy on my way up and paid him,” Natalie said and you beamed at her, ushering her in. 

“You didn’t have to do that. Come in!”

You grabbed a bottle of wine and two wine glasses, then situated yourself on the couch with Natalie. The two of you devoured a couple of slices before Natalie spoke up. 

“So. About what you said this morning… Why would Nina see me as a threat? I don’t see Will that way.”

Pouring yourself another glass of wine, you gave Natalie a look. “Really? I see the way you look at him, Nat. The two of you have always been dancing around each other. Nina has eyes, she can see that.”

Natalie opened her mouth, frowning, before she closed it again. 

“I never did anything while they were dating, I swear,” she insisted and you gave her a smile. 

“I know, Natalie. No one thinks that, I promise.”

“It’s just…” She sighed. “At first, I didn’t want to rush into a relationship, because I haven’t worked through my grief yet. And then Will wanted to move on, which I totally understood. And with Jeff, I thought he was the right one, considering his history with my Jeff. But then he turned out to be the complete opposite. And now… Will’s with Nina and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“At this point, I think you should just let their relationship run its course. I know it sounds kind of mean to say that, but I don’t think that they’re a good fit. You and Will are. You challenge each other, but also make each other better. I can see how you look at him when you think no one is watching; Will looks at you the same way, Nat.”

You could see the hope glimmer in her eyes and while you didn’t want your friend to get hurt, since Will and Nina are in fact still dating and even living together, you knew how right you were. You spent endless hours talking to Will about Natalie and you knew that feelings like that didn’t disappear overnight. 

“I just don’t want Nina to think I am trying to step on her toes and ruin their relationship, you know,” Natalie added. “The way she acted today kind of intimidated me.”

“Yeah I totally get that. She was acting a bit crazy,” you laughed and Natalie grinned at you, nudging you with her shoulder. 

“Enough about me and my problems. How are things with Jay?”

“Oh, things are good.”

The rest of the night passed in a blur while you and Natalie talked about everything and everyone. Nights like these were much too rare and you enjoyed spending time with your friends outside of work. It was nearing one am when you heard keys jangling at the front door, you and Natalie instinctively turning to the door. 

As the door opened, Jay stilled in the doorway, like a deer caught in headlights. 

“Hey Jay.” 

“Hey babe.”

Jay waved, slightly abashed as he took his shoes off. “Hey guys, thought you were already in bed,” he mumbled, walking over to the couch to press a kiss on your head and high five Natalie. “I am just going to go to the bathroom real quick,” Jay told you and disappeared into the bathroom. 

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Natalie said, yawning loudly. “Don’t want to be too tired for work tomorrow.” 

You walked her to the door and leaned against the doorway while she collected her things.

“Thanks for today, Y/N. I really needed that.”

Smiling, you pulled her in a tight hug. “Anytime, Nat. That’s what friends are for. Get home safely, okay?” 

“I will. Say bye to Jay for me,” Natalie answered and you nodded, waving before you closed the door. With a yawn, you locked it and trudged over to the coffee table to clean it up, throwing the pizza cartons in the trash and putting the wine glasses in the dishwasher. You looked up when Jay came out of the bathroom, looking around. 

“Nat already left?”

You nodded and wrapped your arms around his neck. “Yeah. It’s late and we have work tomorrow. You okay?”

“Mhm,” Jay nodded, leaning in to kiss you. The kiss was short and sweet, which made you smile against his lips. You pulled away after a while, observing him. His cheeks were flushed and it was obvious he’s had a few beers. 

“What did you guys talk about?”

You snorted out a laugh. “Uh, about Will.”

“What about Will?” Jay raised a confused eyebrow. 

“You know. Will and Nat. Nina came up to her today, trying to stake her claim. Waving around Will’s jersey like it was a prize. It was ridiculous.”

Jay laughed, shaking his head. “She did? Nina’s crazy.”

Shrugging with your shoulders, you pursed your lips. “I kinda get her. I mean, if anyone would even think about getting with my man, I’d whack them.”

“Yeah?” Jay asked, smirking at you in amusement. “You’d be willing to go to prison for me?”

“As if you’d let me go to prison,” you snorted and he chuckled, leaning his forehead against yours. 

“Yeah you’re right. Can’t let anyone hurt my girl.” 

You felt warmth spreading in your chest, just like it did everytime Jay called you his girl, even after all this time. 

“You wanna go to bed?” Jay asked softly and you nodded, looking up at him. 

“Carry me?”

He groaned out, but complied anyway, hooking his arms under your thighs to hoist you up, carrying you into the bedroom. The two of you quickly got changed and slipped under the sheets, cuddling up. 

“You know,” Jay murmured, nosing along your neck. “I think you’re right about Will and Natalie. He’s still got that look in his eyes when he talks about her.”

“Yeah? I thought so. He should stop leading Nina on, then. It’s not really fair.”

“Tell him. He listens to you more.”

You rolled your eyes and swatted Jay’s hands away, reaching for your phone to text Will.

You: Get your head in the game, Will. If you still have feelings for Natalie, you should end things with Nina. It’s not fair for either of them. 

Unsurprisingly, ellipses popped up a minute later.

Will is typing…

Will: You’re right. Thanks.

[mcwriting]

The Marriage Project (7)

IT’S FINALLY HERE! MY FAVORITE CHAPTER OF THIS SERIES!!! Consider it a little Christmas gift from me to y’all :) there’s plenty more to come, but I loveee the vibes of this one so much

Story Masterlist

Word Count: 3491

Warnings: Some language but I’m pretty sure that’s it

% approximately the end of the 2nd week of October %

You stood on the Holland’s front porch Sunday afternoon holding a rust red jumpsuit over one shoulder and your volleyball bag on the other. 

It was nippy out, probably 50-something fahrenheit, but you’d tucked your long sleeved jersey into some black sweats and tossed on your letterman. You had decided to wear your favorite jersey, which was black except for the stripe down each sleeve in your school colors and the white words and number on the torso.

Since you were taking pictures, you straightened your hair again and put on some light makeup to complete the look.

Paddy opened the front door, looking star struck.

“Oh, hey Paddy. How are you?”

He stared up at you, flustered.

“I, um. Good?”

You gave a big smile.

“Good to hear. Mind if I come in? It’s kinda cold out.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.”

He stepped out of the way and shut the door behind you. Inside, Tom was running around frantically, grabbing various clothing items and stuffing them in a bag. He noticed you as he passed by.

“Hey, y/n. Sorry, just trying to get all my football stuff together. It just came out of the dryer.”

You watched in amusement as he rushed back and forth. Nikki came and stood next to you.

“I love my sons, but they can be a real mess sometimes,” she joked. “Let's go put your things in the car while he gets himself together.”

You set the bag in the back of her SUV and hung the jumpsuit hanger on a loop to prevent it from wrinkling. You were talking in the garage when Tom burst through the door, a duffel bag on his shoulder.

“Okay, sorry. I couldn’t find one of my cleats,” he explained, tossing his own bag in the back. He didn’t yet put on his uniform since the pads would get uncomfortable, so Tom just wore some jeans and a tee for the ride.

“Y/n, do you want to hop in front? I’m sure Tom wouldn’t mind,” Nikki said, raising her eyebrows at her son.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind either way.”

“It’s fine. We can just switch on the way home,” Tom replied. You found it odd that he didn’t press but assumed it had something to do with his mom standing nearby.

With that, you loaded up and started the hour long drive. The time passed quickly as you conversed with Nikki, telling her about your plans for after high school. In the backseat, Tom dabbed a little bit of his mom's foundation over the still-discolored parts of his cheek.

Eventually, you got to a small neighborhood and pulled up to a cute cabin. As you and Tom retrieved your things from the trunk, an elderly couple appeared on the front porch.

“Hey, mom. Hey, dad,” Nikki began, hugging them. She gestured to you, “This is y/n. You might recognize her from Tom’s soccer games and some academic things, she’s on the girls team and very smart.”

You blushed at the compliments.

“Why, yes, I have seen you. It’s nice to meet you, dear. Just call us grandma and grandpa,” Nikki’s mother said as you were shaking hands with her husband. 

She walked up and enveloped you in a hug. As you awkwardly wrapped your own arms around her, you looked over her shoulder to find Tom shrugging sheepishly at you.

She pulled away, holding you at an arm's length.

“Well you are just the prettiest thing, aren’t you?” You blushed at her kindness and thanked her. “Now what are we all doing standing around out here? Come on in! I made cookies while you were on the way so they’re still warm.”

She ushered everyone in, Tom holding open the screen door for the group. Tom directed you to a spare room to set down your bags and hang your jumpsuit while Nikki got her camera things together.

You were sat around the dining room eating cookies discussing the afternoon’s timeline. You and Tom would take your sports pictures, then everyone would eat around five, and then you’d go back out in regular clothes for golden hour at around six.

After a few minutes, Nikki finished getting her lens ready.

“Okay. Tom, why don’t you go put on your football uniform and meet us down at the dock. Y/n, do you need to get anything else for your volleyball pictures?”

You answered yes, walking with Tom to the room to grab your volleyball shoes and ball. You were waiting to take off your sweatpants until you got outside for two reasons: it was cold, and you felt weird about walking around his grandparents’ house in only spandex shorts.

The dock wasn’t far, you could see it from the top of the wooden staircase built into the side of the hill the cabin sat on.

You and Nikki conversed as you walked down, discussing ideas of poses and where you’d stand.

You shimmied out of your sweats once you got to the dock, draping them over a metal chair covered in dead leaves. The cold air gave your legs goosebumps, but you sucked it up. You were just glad you’d remembered to shave your legs above anything else. 

Nikki directed you around some trees, had you toss your hair over your shoulder, and took a few pictures with you in your letterman. It had been about 15 minutes when Tom came down in his football gear, helmet and ball in hand.

“Oh, perfect. Tom, would you mind tossing some leaves for me? I have a neat idea for a shot.”

She had you stand in front of the water and palm the volleyball as Tom sent a handful of leaves in the air around you. You tried a few with a serious expression and some while laughing. After a few more shots that included you sitting on the dock, she had Tom jump in next to you.

“Okay, y/n, I want you to stand with the ball on your right side like that, and then Tom, get on her left and hold the helmet by the facemask,” she pointed around, guiding you. “Good! Okay now y/n, put your weight on your left leg and Tom, raise your chin. Serious faces people!” 

There were clicks and flashes as she continued to direct you in slightly different poses. One cool shot had each of you palming your respective sports balls in front of you.

“Okay, are you good with those, y/n? Is there anything else you want in your jersey before I start working on Tom’s?” 

You shook your head and gestured for her to move on with Tom’s pictures. By now your legs were used to the cold, so you refrained from putting your sweats back on, instead just standing behind Nikki watching Tom model like he’d been doing it his whole life.

Oh right… he has

His mom and he worked together well, as if they were reading each other’s minds. 

You studied the way Tom looked. After all these years, you’d never really looked at him intently enough to see the way he filled out his uniform so well. 

His biceps bulged when he moved his arms to flex for a couple shots, and the tight pants and pads around his legs gave the illusion of massive thigh muscles. As you looked back up, his necklace caught your eye. 

He hadn’t tucked it in completely, instead letting it dangle over his jersey, the red “ruby” glinting in the afternoon sunlight. You smiled at the fact he’d left it on, then looked down at your own hand. You’d forgotten to take yours off, too.

Would it be noticeable in the pictures? Was there a possibility family members would start asking if you’d secretly gotten engaged when you eventually shared the shots online? Maybe, but you decided it wasn’t a big enough deal to worry about. Some had already pestered you Friday at dinner.

You didn’t realize how long you’d been out there when a cowbell began ringing from above you. 

“Oh! That’s mom. Dinner must be about ready. Let’s head back up. I think we got enough, Tom,” Nikki explained.

She started heading up the stairs as you grabbed your ball and sweats, and Tom was waiting for you at the bottom, holding his jersey and pads so he was only left in a compression shirt on top. He started up a few steps ahead of you. 

Woah. His ass looks really nice in those pants was the first thought that popped into your head when you looked up. Oh wait. Shit, what am I saying?

You tried to avoid looking as you continued up the hill. By the time you reached the top, Nikki was already entering the house and Tom was again waiting for you. You passed right by him when he spoke up.

“You’re really gonna go in the house like that?”

You stopped and turned back to face him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you really want to walk into the home of my elderly grandparents with your ass hanging out?”

Right. The whole point of the sweats.

You set the volleyball down while you pulled them on.

“Now I’m not going to say that I minded the view or anything but-” you slapped him in the chest before you tugged on the waistband, hopping a little to make them sit just right and tightening the strings, then picked your ball off the ground.

“Don’t be talking about my ass that way! Nasty.”

“Sorry, sorry, I had to say it.” He put his hands up in mock surrender.

“Well if you’re gonna say that, then I’m allowed to do this,” you said, right before giving him a light slap on his own butt and darting to the house.

“Ohhh, I’ll get you for that!” he cried, following you in.

You were both chattering as you entered the dining room, where Nikki and her parents were setting up the tableware.

“Alrighty, we have some roast chicken and potatoes and green beans tonight. Hope you all enjoy!” the older woman said before sitting down. The smell made your stomach growl quietly.

You all made up plates and chowed down. Tom’s grandpa sat at the head of the table, with his wife and daughter on his left, and Tom and you on the right.

You and Tom were talking about school things when his grandma addressed you.

“So, y/n. How long have you and Tom been dating?” 

You furrowed your brows, then looked between Tom and her, an awkward tension filling the room.

“Um, grandma… she isn’t my girlfriend,” Tom said for you. You gave him a light squeeze on the thigh to signify thanks.

“Oh! Oh my goodness I had no idea! You two just seemed so close that I just assumed you were together. Sorry about that!”

You talked a little bit longer as you finished dinner, but now things felt a little uncomfortable. 

What were we doing that seemed couple-y? Could they see our little spat outside?

You took your plates to the kitchen before heading back with Tom to change into your other clothes. Since it was already almost six, you both just changed in the room, backs to each other.

You slid out of your sweats and tugged off the jersey, leaving on the spandex shorts under your jumpsuit since they didn’t show through. It was sleeveless, so you needed to change into a different bra. You glanced behind you quickly to make sure Tom was still turned around.

He was, but he was butt ass naked. You turned back towards the wall quickly, eyes wide. You assumed it had to do with the fact he wore a jockstrap under his uniform, but dear God did he have to take off everything at once?

You were scarred to say the least.

You ripped off one bra and fumbled to put the other one on before sliding the shoulder straps of your outfit on all the way. By the time you were done, Tom was at least wearing jeans and tugging on a white tee.

You finally slipped on some wedges and refixed your hair in the mirror. 

“Ready to head down?” you asked.

“Why don’t you go on without me. I’ll be down here in a few. I need to restyle my hair,” he explained, sliding his own letterman jacket on. 

You accepted that and headed back outside and down the steps where Nikki was waiting, shooting pictures of the lake.

“Oh, I love that color on you, it compliments the autumn theme well,” Nikki said as you began taking pictures. Eventually Tom appeared, too. He had another shirt in hand for when he was done with his letter jacket.

You let them take those pictures real quick, and then Tom changed, buttoning up a flannel that’s colors matched your own outfit. You were sitting on the dock balcony posing when Tom appeared next to his mother, who noticed the coordination immediately.

“This is amazing! Tom, go stand in front of y/n and cross your arms, and y/n, drape an arm over his shoulder… uh huh just like that… yes that’s good!” she directed you.

Tom helped you hop down after a few different shots and you went to stand with Nikki as she took more photos of her son.

The sun was setting quickly, so she was about to call it a night.

“Okay, you two, I just need you to get together for a couple final pictures. Act like you like each other for at least a few minutes.”

You couldn’t help but snort as you stepped up next to Tom, him putting an arm over your shoulder as your arm snaked around his waist. She was taking pictures when Tom muttered out the corner of his mouth,

“Your hand’s a little close there.”

Knowing exactly what he meant, you slid your hand down his back, resting it on top of his butt.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you feigned innocence. 

He gave you a look that said “I’m onto you,” so you did what any rational person would do in that scenario. 

You squeezed his buttcheek. 

It must have scared him or tickled or something, because he about jumped from his skin, jaw dropped.

“Oh I’ll get you for that now!” he exclaimed, picking you up and tossing you over his shoulder.

You squealed and laughed and kicked your legs as one hand traveled along your waist tickling you. In the chaos, you didn’t notice the rapid clicks of the camera shutter. He kept you off the ground for a few more seconds before finally setting you down carefully.

“Rethinking that now?” he asked, eyebrows raised in amusement as you stared up at him, pouting. 

“I’d do it again just to see your jaw hit the floor honestly.”

He rolled his eyes when some lights around the deck kicked on, not adding much brightness to the darkening sky.

“Well that looks like our cue to wrap things up. The lights going up the stairs won’t be much better, and I don’t want anyone to fall,” Nikki explained.

Once again, she headed up first, leaving the two of you somewhat alone. Now that it was dark, the air made you grab your upper arms and shiver.

“Here, put this on,” Tom said, holding up his letter jacket.

“Oh, I’m fine. It’ll only take a minute to get to the house.”

“No seriously, you look like you’re freezing. Plus, I won’t have to carry it,” he joked.

You rolled your eyes and snatched it from his hand, sliding your bare arms into the sleeves. His jacket was at least a size bigger than yours, so it basically swallowed you. He chuckled.

“Come on. I don’t want you getting lost up the stairs since you’ve practically disappeared under my jacket.”

He put his hand between your shoulder blades, guiding you to step ahead of him as the darkness began to set in.

% 

You’d changed back into your sweats and put on a tee and your own letter jacket and were now loading up Nikki’s car to head back home. 

After walking back to the house, you had all sat around and visited a bit longer until realizing it was half past nine and there was an hour’s drive ahead of you.

“Come back anytime, dear. You were a real delight,” Nikki’s mom said, squeezing you into another hug. 

“Thank you, grandma. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Will you be at Tom’s senior night here in a few weeks? I’d love to see you there,” she said, holding your hands in hers.

“Yeah, I always try to go to the games. I’m hoping to be on homecoming court this year, too, so fingers crossed.”

“Oh, sweetie, if they don’t vote you queen, I’ll personally come count the votes myself,” she joked, shaking her head. 

You laughed and after final goodbyes, climbed into the back seat, expecting Tom to go up front. Instead, he slid into the other side of the back row.

“You can sit up front, Tom. I’m happy to stay back here,” you explained, showing that you’d already buckled in.

“Oh it’s alright. I’ve already sat down, we can both stay.”

You again found it odd that he was willing to do so, but didn’t push the matter.

Having spent most of the afternoon with Tom’s family, you hadn’t looked at your phone much as not to seem rude, so you immediately began responding to snaps and scrolling through social media.

Tom, on the other hand, was watching Tiktoks. 

“Hey, watch this,” he said, unbuckling his seat belt and sliding into the middle spot next to you, refastening himself in.

“You could have just given me your phone,” you said, eyebrows raised.

“Like I could trust you with that.”

He handed over an AirPod and you watched together, laughing. He continued to scroll through his for you page while you looked on. 

After a while, your neck became strained, so you resorted to leaning your head on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, instead only tilting his cheek to rest on your head as you continued in silence. 

A little bit later, he left the app and went to Spotify, turning on a playlist containing songs with soft beats that made you sleepy. 

You didn’t realize how tired you really were until you were being shaken awake by your nemesis, sitting up straight in realization of what happened. 

“Hey, we’re about to pull into my neighborhood,” he whispered. You just nodded in response, trying to compose yourself.

Nikki pulled into the garage and you began collecting your things from the back.

“Y/n, would you like to stay in the guest room tonight? It’s almost eleven and I wouldn’t want you to feel unsafe going home.”

You thought about it for a moment before realizing you had no extra clothes and well… Tom.

“Oh that’s alright, my house is only 10 minutes away. Thank you though,” you told her as the three of you entered the home. 

Nikki said her goodbyes and disappeared up the stairs for the third time that day, once again leaving you and Tom alone.

“Why don’t I walk you to your car?” Tom offered, opening the front door. You unlocked the car and Tom opened the back door for you to set your things in it. You were about to leave when something popped into your mind.

“Thanks again for clarifying to your grandma earlier. I didn’t want to break her heart but I wasn’t sure how to let her down nicely. She seemed so excited,” you explained.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure she would have asked any girl the same question. But she really did like you, grandpa too. He doesn’t quite show it like her.”

“That’s sweet. I enjoyed hanging out with them this evening, and the food was incredible.”

“She does make some of the best food you’ll ever eat, but you should taste grandpa’s grilled steaks. Those are a real treat.”

“Well, you’ll have to bring me again some time. Oh, and thanks for letting me use you as a pillow in the car. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

You knew your face had turned pink, but you could see Tom’s redden as well.

“Don’t mention it. I actually ended up sleeping for a little bit, too.”

A silence fell around you, so you eventually said your goodbyes and hopped into your driver’s seat. 

You watched in your rearview mirror as Tom stayed standing on his sidewalk until you had driven a few yards off, eventually meandering back to the house.

There was a familiar flutter in your stomach as your lips turned up into a smile.

Maybe he’s not as bad as I always thought.

%

A/N: omg I’m so happy to finally post this y’all have no idea. Hope you enjoyed! As always, feel free to send asks about anything or just say hi!

Send a message or ask if you’d like to be added to my permanent or series taglists so I can verify you’ve been added!

Story tag list: @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @l0lmk, @primadonnasdream, @bookworm06, @thenoddingbunny-blog, @agentnataliahofferson, @spider-babe, @stxfxniexreads,

[penguintransporter]

Winning The Game Called Love (Hector Bellerin) Part VII

You know how I keep saying that this will be the last chapter, well, I have no idea myself if this is it, so let’s keep it open. This one is dedicated to my favourite anon and @virgilthesuperbabe​ (and not because of your avatar, just so you know. I genuinely think you’re the sweetest). This chapter is not edited all the way, but I was just starting to go in the circles. Anyway, me stops rambling now so read, enjoy and tell me anonymously or not what you think about it...

The faint odour of sweat tickled her nostrils as she stood in the same corridor ninety-something minutes later – the entire second half of the match feeling more like a blur than anything else. Glancing down at unfolded paper between her fingers, Aida sighed before looking up at the very same chaos of people surrounding her – staff, medicals, journalists and footballers in their sweaty kits walking towards their changing room.

She was on the edge – heart contracting with both anticipation and fear, and for the first time in a while, Aida felt like fainting.

Despite not seeing him at first, Aida heard his voice coming from the tunnel just seconds before he strolled in, long after his teammates have entered their changing rooms, talking to the goalkeeper of the opposite team. Both of them were laughing as Héctor flailed his arms enthusiastically, painting a picture to his story like a kid with lots of imagination.

Aida exhaled the breath that caught in her throat, feeling the shiver spread down her spine at the sight of him – cheeks and nose nipped red by the cold, hair gathered in ever so messy bun after running on the pitch, and the jersey clinging to his body in a way that made her own cheeks turn deep burgundy and her core warm.

There was a feeling of apprehensiveness growing inside of her as she watched him hug his mate, saying something quietly that made them both grin before they parted their ways, and he, without a warning, started walking towards her.

Aida took a quick breath, anxiously straightening her clothes before looking at him with a small and timid smile.

It is only Héctor. Remember? 

Héctor gave her a knowing smile instead of the greeting as he stopped in front of her, tucking stray strands of his hair behind his ears. Not bothering to say anything, he pulled at the collar of his jersey before blowing wisps of air inside his shirt to cool himself down, looking at her through his eyelashes.

“Alright, unicorn?” he began, finally breaking the silence between the two of them. “You look a bit pale,” Héctor added, still blowing air into his shirt.

He sounded so casual; so relaxed while Aida only managed to open her mouth to say something, but as usual, no sound came out. She shook her head a little as if that would help her brain cells to rearrange as Héctor gave her an amused look with his eyebrows raised a bit.

“Uh, yeah…” she answered, rubbing at her forehead nervously, wishing for some invisible force to come down and knock some sense into her because God knows, she wasn’t able to do it on her own. “I’m alright, but I—that brochure you gave me… I found—,” Aida stopped to take a breath, realising quickly that she wasn’t able to express herself with words without sounding like a mess, so instead, she lifted her hand with the paper that looked as if the dog had been chewing on it for some time – fingers shaking a little.

“Oh that!” Héctor expressed innocently, rubbing at the side of his jaw with a grin.

“Yes, this,” Aida nodded, trying to keep her voice calm and steady, but she was sure that he could see the nervousness in her eyes as he took the paper out of her hands.

“We’ll have to print you another copy, love,” he stated calmly, looking at the partly scrunched paper, ignoring Aida’s confused face, “can’t follow anything on this one any more.” Héctor lightly hit the paper with the back of his free hand as he spoke, nonchalant as ever.

Aida wanted to groan in frustration.

She also wanted to slap him, shake him, make him stop with the theatricality and the entire beating around the bush game.

You also want to kiss him.

“Look, I am just trying… y’know—,” Aida trailed off – her stomach doing the all to familiar flip, feeling the heat suffocating her. She suddenly regretted wearing all the layers she had put on earlier that day. “What is this?” Aida finally asked.

She wasn’t stupid or slow – far from it, but she didn’t need to be a genius either to figure out what the contents of the paper in Héctor’s hand suggested. Aida knew that it referred to what she said that night – her poor attempt at flirting as they sat in his kitchen; the cocky smirk he gave her when she uttered those words, thinking that she was winning the game. 

He gave her a wide smile, putting the paper between his lips before quickly pulling his jersey over his head, surprising her with his movements. Aida almost chocked on her own breath when she realised that the long-sleeved white shirt he wore underneath fit him like a glove, and as much as she tried, she couldn’t keep her stare away as she blushed lightly.

Good Lord, what is wrong with me?

It’s been a while, Aida – that’s what’s wrong with you.

“This?” Héctor asked, unfolding the paper again after placing his jersey over his shoulder. “You’ve never seen an excel sheet before?” He moved to stand beside her, leaning closer, but quickly changed his mind, “Sorry, I forgot that I am smelly. It happens when I run.”

She briefly looked up at him, sighing defiantly, “Of course I’ve seen an excel sheet before, Héctor, and I don’t care if you’re smelly. I am just not getting—,” she moved her hand around as she spoke, pissed off with herself for not being able to focus.

“—Oh, so you want me to be close?”

“For the love of God...” Aida trailed off, getting impatient.

Héctor was obviously very entertained with her behaviour, containing his laughter as he straightened the paper between his fingers.

“I can explain,” he started, and Aida’s heart shifted in her chest a little when he placed his index finger on the paper, pointing at the first row. “Here are the items that I own. Obviously it is not everything because I own a lot of things, so I focused on the ones that I thought it would fit you,” he grinned, subtly checking her out from the corner of his eye as he moved his finger towards the bottom of the paper, “and then, here is the number of those items, and—.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” she quickly interrupted him, holding her hand up to stop him from talking, “can you just stop and tell me if this mean what I think it means, Héctor?”

“You need to be more specific, love,” he taunted, moving away so that he was standing in front of her again as he started to fold the paper.

Aida whispered a small profanity, closing her eyes for a second as she tried to gather her thoughts. If he was saying the truth and wasn’t taking a piss, then this entire thing meant—Aida couldn’t bring herself to even think about it.

Before she could say anything, she felt him lean closer, placing the paper in the pocket of her coat. Aida’s eyes opened in surprise and a single breath hitched in her throat when his fingers brushed against hers deliberately – a pleased smile dancing on his lips.

“You do realise that you still haven’t answered my question, and this—,” Aida left her words hang in the air as she glanced down at where he was moving his finger up and down her cold hand. “You’re not exactly helping, Héctor.”

“Ah no?” he asked with a smirk before retreating his hand and looking down at his kit – face expression changing from playfulness to a mild grimace. “Mind if I take a quick shower, unicorn, and then after that, I will be all yours,” he added with a wink and the only thing Aida could do was to stare at him wide-eyed and confused more than ever.

**

Stopping at the traffic light, Aida glanced at Héctor who sat in the passenger seat of her tiny and messy car, looking ridiculously out of place yet comfortable as he busied himself with reading the notes she had scribbled down on the sides of the book he found under her seat. It was an old copy of The Catcher in The Rye that she picked up on a South Bank book market.

She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when she agreed to give him a lift home after he joined her at the parking lot, but now, that she was halfway the route, she couldn’t help but praise herself for not crashing into something because God knows that she was in a state do to so.

“You’re staring,” Héctor smirked to himself as he spoke – eyes still focused on the page as he turned the book sideways to read whatever she had written down. She quickly looked away, blushing and just in time to see the green light turn on before she started driving again. “I don’t mind it, though,” he added, glancing at her, “strokes my ego.”

“As if it needs any stroking in the first place,” Aida retorted quietly, making him laugh out loud – the sound of it quickly filling the space of her small vehicle.

Héctor’s house was quiet as they walked in and he dropped both his backpack and his jacket in the corner of the entryway before helping Aida with her coat, hanging it on the modern and expensive-looking coat hanger. Giving him a quiet thanks, she stepped away from him, turning around sheepishly on her heels – a rush of butterflies evading her stomach when she realised that he was watching her.

“Anything in particular you want to do?” he asked weaving his fingers through his hair as he pushed it away from his face.

Aida forced herself to look away from him – ignoring the shiver that ran up and down her spine as she let her mind wander further than she wanted to; further than she thought she could go.

Blinking few times, she blurted the first thing that came to her mind, instantly regretting it. “Can I see your garden?”

Beg your pardon, Aida?

Héctor was clearly trying to stifle his laugh while he watched her. “Is that how people call it these days?” he asked, raising one of his eyebrows suggestively.

Aida wanted to slap herself.

Several times.

She groaned, shielding her eyes before peeking at him through her fingers like a little girl. A giggle escaped her throat, and she blushed ever so slightly at her idiot behaviour.

She was hopeless.

Héctor laughed lightly, shaking his head. “Come on, unicorn, let me show you my garden.” He gave her an encouraging smile before making his way through the small corridor.

Aida couldn’t bring herself to move, so she kept standing in the entryway for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm herself down before turning around – a sudden feeling of déjà vu greeting her. There were things that nagged her, and she needed answers to questions that kept itching at her brain like a weeks-old scab on a scraped knee.

He was in the kitchen when she hesitantly stepped in through the large hallway after ignoring the sitting room, dimly lit due to the blinds that covered the windows entirely – nervously pulling at the sleeve of her old, scuffed jumper. Héctor turned around, probably sensing her presence, giving her a smile that said absolutely nothing.

“I see you skipped seeing the garden. Want something to drink?” he asked taking out a glass from an open shelf.

Aida shook her head lightly – lips curling into a small smile that she had no strength to fight off. “No, thanks, but I do want to talk,” she spoke softly, the need to know the answers fighting off the nervousness, “you still owe me an answer, kind off,” she added as she leaned with her elbows against the kitchen island, “about the excel thing, y’know?”

He smiled at her, filling a tall glass with some tap water before taking a sip. 

“It’s a lovely excel sheet, innit? It’s a hobby of mine,” he responded, as his smile turned into that smug smirk, and Aida couldn’t help but let out a snort that was all but ladylike, giving him an incredulous look.

“Do you take anything in your life seriously?” Aida asked, straightening her back and shaking her head a little.

“Mhmm, many things.” Héctor took another sip of water, “Global warming issues, God and my grandmother, among other things…”

“You are unbelievable,” she huffed in annoyance.

“But in a good way,” he continued with a wink. 

It took everything in her power to keep her face straight, despite remembering the exact moment when he said those words to her. It didn’t help either that Héctor was looking at her before shaking his head in amusement as he made his way  towards the sitting room.

“What’s so funny?” Aida inquired as she followed after him.

Héctor sat his glass on the dining table – his grin turning into a gentle smile, and Aida’s heart soared at the sight. He kept watching her from where he only stood few feet away, giving her plenty of time to stew in anticipation, and the only thing she could do was to twist her fingers nervously as she waited for his answer. 

Instead of letting her nerves get the better of her yet again, she focused on the gold chain around his neck, the pattern of his jumper, the ring on his index finger. 

“You still think that I am taking a piss,” Héctor finally spoke and as Aida opened her mouth to object, he silently interrupted her giving her a look that stopped her from saying or doing anything – including breathing, “—despite me spelling it out for you? Literally.”

Aida could sense that he didn’t want to have this conversation, and she suddenly felt bad for pushing it. “Sorry, I thought you were just…” she bit back the words she wanted to say as she nervously rubbed at her right eye with the bottom of her palm. She was getting overwhelmed, but she needed to know. 

“’s okay,” he answered with a shrug before taking a step closer and reaching out to touch her face with his fingertips. “It’s a good thing that we are talking about it, no?” Aida couldn’t stop herself from looking up at him and meeting his gaze – feeling stripped naked of any words. “That blush just won’t go away, eh?” he asked – the vulnerability of his voice disappearing and a confident smile reappearing on his lips.

Aida was unable to move, and she was very much unsure of what to do with her herself when he ran a finger across her blazing cheek. She was fighting the urge to lean against his touch – to obey her own needs. 

“It’s not my fault that your flirting game is at the same level as my football skills,” she blurted out nervously, teasing out a chuckle from Héctor’s throat.

Pulling her against him, his other hand tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear before moving down her arm and stopping at the curve of her waist, leaving a trail of tingles wherever he touched her. Aida couldn’t contain her own smile at how he made her feel, and if there was one thing she wanted, it was to have him close, showing her what he wanted to say with that idiotic excel sheet that still rested in her coat pocket.

Her heart was beating hard against her ribcage as he drew her face closer until there was just a fraction of space between the two of them, and she breathed out shakily when his nose touched hers – warm on cold; fire on ice.

Aida was boiling on the inside as he teased her with his touch, and despite having her eyes closed, she could feel him smirk which made her huff lightly.

He knows what he is doing.

The idiot knows what he is doing.

“Don’t think I don’t want to kiss you,” he murmured when Aida went in for a kiss but he moved away ever so slightly but still staying dangerously close to Aida’s lips, “but I also enjoy watching you squirm. You get all breathy and nervous,” he added.

“You are unbelievable,” she whispered, taking every ounce of her power, wrapping her arms around his neck before closing the almost non-existent distance between them as she kissed him.

❤

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