#i anticipate their text back which Honestly might not be until tomorrow

[strxnged]

my bestie just texted me outta nowhere and said "[partner] is doing my makeup" AND I SWEAR IM LOSING MY MIND NAHH THIS IS ADORABLE

[minisugakoobies]

Paradise | JJK - Six

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: smut, neighbors to lovers (not quite friends but not quite strangers), slow burn, love triangle, Stripper!AU

Rating: M (18+)

Warnings: swearing, drinking, kissing, fingering, oral sex (f & m receiving), hand job, dirty talk, orgasm denial, sort of a soft dom situation going on, Jungkook is a tease, Jin is a tease, I feel like I should warn you that Jin wears glasses in this chapter, oh and Jungkook wears the PTD On Stage body harness so y'know - caveat lector

Word Count: 7.1k

Disclaimers: NSFW, obviously I don’t own BTS - they just inspire me

Summary: That sexy man on stage - the one currently giving your friend the lap dance of her LIFE - is your super shy neighbor, Jeon Jungkook?!

A/N: It's been two months since the last chapter dropped and it feels so good to be back! This is the longest chapter yet and honestly was primed to be even longer but I decided to chop it. I think I picked a good place to end it. You'll have to let me know if you agree!!

Unbeta’d as usual. Please let me know what you think, I’d love to hear from you! Taglist is open. 💕

Previous Chapter ♦ Paradise Masterlist ♦ Next Chapter

The high rises in Jin’s neighborhood stretch endlessly into the evening sky. As you exit the subway station, emerging into the upscale part of town where Jin lives, you try not to let their astounding heights intimidate you.

You’re not very successful.

Obviously, Jin’s thriving. The man travels constantly and seems to spend most of his days in meetings for various business projects. But what that really meant hadn’t hit you until right now. He must be doing incredibly well if he can afford to live here, among these towering monoliths shining in the neon light of the bustling city.

Jin’s apartment is near the top of the building, so the elevator ride is a long one. Which is unfortunate, because it gives you time to think. And thinking usually leads to nervousness. Even though you’ve been out with Jin several times before tonight, you still feel that rush, the buzz of anticipation and anxiety.

Clutching your phone, you reread the messages again.

Seokjin 👨‍🍳 (3:31): Can’t wait to see you later

Seokjin 👨‍🍳 (3:31): I’m going to earn this tonight 🏆

That little trophy made you laugh at first, but the longer you stared at it, the longer you wondered - just how seriously are these guys taking this? Both he and Jungkook made it sound like you dating them both is some sort of game, but you figured they were joking. Jin’s text now has you considering if maybe they’re a little too into it.

The idea of the two of them duking it out for your affections worried you mere hours ago, when you informed the group chat about your upcoming dates. At the time, all you could think about was how stressful this might be, and how messy it could possibly get. You scroll back through the group chat now, to remind yourself what Jisoo said.

Queen Ji 👑 (1:42): They’re adults. They know what they signed up for

Queen Ji 👑 (1:43): So don’t stress. Enjoy yourself tonight. And tomorrow

Her words bring you comfort. Taking a deep breath, you relax your shoulders as the elevator arrives at Jin’s floor. You’re going to keep things light tonight. Casual. Just enjoy the moment. And try not to think about your other date tomorrow.

But as you walk down the hallway, something else occurs to you. If Jin and Jungkook are really going to compete, that means they're probably going to pull out all the stops, right? Do their best to impress you.

To please you.

You come out of your reverie as Jin opens his door. Only to fall head first directly into another one.

Jin’s hosting a dinner date at his apartment, what you’d assumed to be a casual affair, but he appears to be dressed for the red carpet. He wears a sharply tailored black suit, silky black tie popping against a crisp white shirt, hair swept off his face to show off his handsome forehead and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses that are perched on his perfect nose. He’s stunning, standing there looking like the lead in some romantic movie as he smiles warmly at you.

“Uhhh…” you greet him ever so eloquently. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get the formalwear-only memo.”

“Yah, sorry, I had a meeting this afternoon that ran long.” Jin laughs as he bends to kiss your cheek. “You look beautiful.” A wave of goosebumps flows down your neck.

Unsure what exactly to wear tonight, you’d settled on a summery dress, one of your favorites, wanting to be comfy but cute. Your personal motto.

Jin steps back, gesturing for you to enter.

“Holy shit!” No wonder Jennie called this place a ‘panty-dropper.’ Jin’s apartment is ridiculously luxurious. Pristine white walls, shiny marble floors, windows that run from ceiling to floor. Since he’s on the corner of the building, there’s an amazing nearly panoramic view of the city below.

The open concept space is divided by furniture into a living room, dining room, and kitchen. The furniture is sleek and modern. Pendant lighting hangs from the ceiling, plush rugs decorate the floors, and there is artwork everywhere.

“I know, this place is a little ostentatious,” Jin acknowledges sheepishly as he guides you towards the kitchen. “My accountant said it would be a good investment.”

The other rooms are impressive, but the kitchen is an absolute dream. No wonder he chooses to film his cooking show from home. Spotless stainless steel appliances, double oven in the wall, gas range, an island that honestly could be described more accurately as a continent - even someone with your limited-to-nonexistent culinary skills is completely dazzled by the extravagance of the space.

“It’s spectacular. No shame in flaunting what you’ve earned.” You sit on a leather stool at the island, crossing your bare legs. Something is simmering on the stove and it smells fantastic, immediately driving any thoughts about the apartment’s opulence out of your mind. “Is that dinner?”

“Mmmhmm,” he replies, attending to the bubbling pot. “Haemul kalguksu. I’ve already got some other dishes waiting on the table. And something delicious for dessert, of course.”

“Sorry, can you repeat that? I couldn’t hear over the ‘whoosh’-ing sound of my mouth filling with a tidal wave of saliva.”

Jin cackles, that silly squeaky laugh echoing in the cavernous room as he peels off his suit jacket and lays it carefully across a stool. “Very descriptive. Perhaps a little too much so.”

“Thanks, I try.”

“What can I get you to drink?” he inquires. “I’m not much of a mixologist, but I make a mean old fashioned, if you like whisky.” He rolls his sleeves up, pushing the stiff white material of his shirt up over his sinewy forearms, like he’s ready to get down to serious business.

Forget the soup, Jin right now is a whole meal and you’re suddenly absolutely starving. It’s good that the food smells so delicious, because it’s the perfect excuse if you start drooling.

“That sounds perfect.”

As he prepares your drinks, muddling the sugar, his glasses slip down his nose slightly, catching your attention.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses. I don’t think I’ve seen them in any of your videos?”

He nudges them back into place with one long finger. “I usually wear contacts, but they were bothering me today.”

“You should wear them more often.” You prop your chin in your hand, grinning at him. “They’re cute on you.”

The tips of his ears flush as he strolls around the island, handing you your drink. “I’ll ask you to please pass along that comment to my agent. He calls me Harry Potter whenever he sees me in them. Told me not to wear them on camera.” He pauses to take a sip. “He claims they make my face ‘less marketable.’”

“Are you serious?” The whisky warms your chest as you laugh. “I think your agent needs to get his vision checked. There’s no way that face couldn’t net subscribers or sell a million products, glasses or not. If this were ancient Greece, someone would’ve launched a thousand ships over you by now.”

Jin cocks his head. “Are you comparing me to Helen of Troy?”

“You know your mythology,” you beam.

“And you know just how to flatter me,” Jin grins, tilting your face up and brushing his mouth against yours. You taste the sweetness of the cherry from his cocktail as you lick your lips.

He straightens up, his hand skimming softly down your arm, and you’re not sure if the shiver that rolls through you is from his touch or from the look in his eye.

“Uh. Sorry. I shouldn’t leave that boiling for too long.” He returns to the stove and as much as you want to protest, you are here for a dinner date. Probably not a good idea to distract the chef too much.

Of course, if dinner ends up ruined, there’s always takeout. A thought you keep in the back of your mind as you watch Jin at work, broad shoulders rippling under his starch white button-down.

“Is there anything I can help with?” you ask politely, hoping he’ll say no. You know your strengths. You’re more likely to be in his way than to be of any use.

“Nah, I’m almost done here. If you’ll grab my drink and go take a seat at the table, I’ll be right over.”

The dining table, a solid slab of dark wood, is already laden with side dishes that have your mouth watering. Jin joins you a minute later with a large pot of soup, pouring you a bowl piled high with seafood and vegetables. You both dig in, and for several minutes, the only sounds in the apartment are the two of you chewing and you repeatedly humming “Mmmmm” with nearly every bite to Jin’s delight.

The kalguksu is like no kalguksu you’ve ever had. Rich broth, tender noodles, perfectly balanced flavors - delicious doesn’t begin to cover it. You wish it would cool faster, but not enough to actually wait for that to happen. As it is, you’re not eating it as quickly as you’d like because you’re in the presence of another person. If you were alone, you’d be shoveling it into your mouth like a human backhoe.

It’s times like this that you reflect on what a total catch you are.

“Jin,” you begin, when you finally take a break from eating to breathe, “this soup is unbelievable. Did you make these noodles yourself?”

“Of course. What kind of chef would I be if I invited you over for dinner and then used store-bought ingredients?” He pretends to be offended, one hand held over his heart.

You shrug. “An economical one?”

“I suppose. But I’m happy to have a reason to make a meal like this for once. Not as much fun cooking for one.”

“Mmm, can’t quite relate, since the extent of my cooking is usually warming up leftover takeout, but… I think I get it. Why put in the effort if it’s just for yourself?” You grin. “Except, this is absolutely incredible. If I could make something like this, I think I’d make it all the time.”

“Well, if you want, I could show you how.” Jin leans forward across the table. “If you’d like.”

His voice is slightly husky and that look is back in his eye as he gazes at you. You swallow your whisky with a loud gulp, and he smirks.

Another smirk flashes through your mind, and you glance away.

“Private cooking lessons from a world-famous chef?” You hold out your arm and pinch it. “Nope, I’m not dreaming.” Your nose scrunches. “Wait, you didn’t say ‘for free.’”

“Of course for free!” he laughs. “I’m just saying. The offer stands if you want to take it.” He helps himself to more pajeon. “If you need a personal reference, ask Yoongi. I’m the one who taught him everything he knows. Well, a lot of it, anyway.”

Forget the travel and the worldwide fame, that’s a claim worth bragging about. Yoongi’s a fabulous cook, something you’ve been blessed to discover over the years, from the late night post-bar broke student feasts he’d miraculously whip up at his apartment in college to the chic dinner parties Jennie loves to host now. True, you grudgingly attend those, but that has nothing to do with the food. You usually leave each party with a ton of yummy leftovers.

“You know, the more I get to know you, the more I’m shocked that you and Yoongs are so close. You’re such opposites! He’s so reserved, so deadpan, and you’re so -”

“Loud and awkward? Clownish?”

Your lips twitch mirthfully. “I was going to say, cheerful and open. From those suggestions, I’d worry about your self-esteem, except I’m pretty sure someone who refers to himself as ‘Worldwide Handsome’ doesn’t need any help in that department.”

Jin sighs, ladling more soup into his bowl. “I knew telling you that story would come back to bite me one day.”

In between more servings, the two of you chat about your weeks. Even with multiple trips that forced you out of your apartment, yours was still boring in comparison to Jin’s packed schedule of filming new episodes, meeting with potential sponsors, and overseeing his restaurant plans. How does he manage to get so much done? Some days, it feels like just logging in to work takes too much effort.

Eventually, sated, you push your bowl away with a contented sigh. Jin reaches for your empty glass. “Can I get you a refill?”

“Yes, please.” Swiveling in your chair, you watch him play bartender. Again, those forearms are so distracting, keeping you preoccupied as he mixes up another round. “So… why cooking?”

“Why cooking?” Jin echoes, looking up from his muddling.

“Yeah, you know,” you wave your hand vaguely, “what made you decide to become a chef?”

“Ah. Uh, well, my parents both loved to cook. Growing up, I’d hang out in the kitchen with them while they made dinner. It almost seemed like magic, what they could do. I always watched so closely. When I got old enough, they started teaching me.”

“Oh, that’s so lovely.”

“Yeah.” Jin stares unseeing at the glass in his hand, lost in thought, a soft smile on his lips. “Dinner tonight was a family recipe. I remember the first time they showed me how to make the noodles. I did a terrible job of rolling them out and they were these hard little lumps of dough, barely edible, but they still said it was the best they’d ever had.”

“How sweet!” you coo, picturing a tiny Jin rolling noodles, getting flour everywhere, beaming with joy when his parents tell him well done. It’s an adorable image.

“When I realized I could go to culinary school and make a career out of what I loved doing, there was no second guessing.” He hands you your drink as he rejoins you at the table.

“And now you teach others, too, with your show. That’s beautiful.” You sip your whisky. “I wish I had a cute memory to offer to explain how I ended up in my field, but it all came down to having a knack for stats. Not much of a story.”

Jin swirls his old fashioned, watching the ice bounce against the sides of the tumbler. “Permission to get a little cheesy?”

“Always granted.”

“To me, cooking is an act of love. It’s a way of caring for someone, by providing for them.” The sincerity in his words matches the look in his eyes as he speaks. “Teaching is a way of sharing that love, too. I’m lucky that I get to do that. Wouldn’t trade it for the world. But…” He chuckles quietly, shaking his head as he trails off.

“What? But what?”

Jin studies your face for a moment. You’re hanging on his every word, and that seems to encourage him to continue. “What I really want is to share that knowledge, that love, with someone. Not an audience. One person.”

It’s ludicrous to search for any sort of meaningful intent behind his words. Or wish for one. You’ve only just started dating.

But.

For two seconds, you picture it. What it’d be like to walk through that door and find him standing at the stove, maybe wearing a little apron that says “Kiss the Cook” or “Hey Good Lookin’” or something else silly and sweet, greeting you after a long day with a drink and a recipe ready to go. To feel his arms around you as he demonstrates how to properly knead dough, chin resting on your shoulder, grin on his lips as he rewards you with a kiss. To share that magic, that love together.

It’s an intoxicating little fantasy, made all the more so by the lavish surroundings you find yourself in and the gorgeous man sitting across from you, ears flaming red as he stares at his drink.

Reason catches up to you and politely requests that you slow down, maybe back up the moving trucks. There’s no need to rush anything. Light. Casual.

Focus on the moment.

Jin clears his throat, bringing you back to reality. “Like I said, cheesy.”

“I don’t think it’s cheesy at all.”

He smiles shyly, rubbing his neck. “Anyway, back to more important matters. Like dessert.”

“Oooh, yes, please!” You clap your hands. “What are we having?”

“Nothing fancy. Just a chocolate honey almond torte with fresh cream and strawberries.”

“Oh, right. So not fancy.”

Jin starts to clear the table, and you jump up to help. He tuts, waving you away. “No, no, you’re my guest. Go have a seat in the living room and I’ll bring dessert out in a few minutes. Just gotta clean a few of these pots first - I can’t stand dirty dishes in my sink.”

You don’t even bother to feign a protest. Grabbing your drink, you stroll around Jin’s living room as he cleans, admiring the view. The city skyline shimmers around you, bright lights gleaming against the darkening summer sky, calling to mind your date at Dionysus.

“Either your bag is possessed or you’re getting a text,” Jin calls out, pointing to where your clutch rattles on the kitchen island.

“Probably Jennie being nosy,” you sigh, grabbing your bag. Or Lisa begging for details. Or possibly Rosé trash talking Jin. Anyone except Jisoo, who you know is out on a date of her own with Taehyung. Or was it Jimin? Fuck, maybe it was both.

“Tell her I said hi,” Jin chuckles as you stroll back into the living room, glancing at your phone.

Jungkook 🦌 (9:02): hey

Or it’s your neighbor.

(9:04): Hey

(9:04): Aren’t you at work?

Jungkook 🦌 (9:05): yeah, worked a day shift for the guy i swapped with

Jungkook 🦌 (9:05): so i’m leaving soon

Jungkook 🦌 (9:06): thought i’d see if you’re around

Jungkook 🦌 (9:06): wanna hang out?

You can practically picture his wide doe eyes as he waits for your reply. Smiling to yourself, you perch on the edge of the blue velvet couch separating the living room from the dining room as you tap out your response.

(9:06): Sorry, I’m not free tonight

Three dots appear and disappear a few times.

Jungkook 🦌 (9:07): are you out with him?

You glance over at where Jin is still scrubbing dishes.

(9:07): Yeah, we’re on a date

The dots return, linger a little longer.

Jungkook 🦌 (9:09): k

You frown. Texting makes it impossible to read tone, but that single letter reply is never a good sign.

Your thumbs are hovering over the keyboard as you try to formulate a response when the dots come back. Then they disappear. Appear, disappear, appear….

A loud clanging sounds from the kitchen and you nearly jump out of your skin. Jin’s holding a metal bowl, whipping something furiously. He sees your startled expression and his eyes crinkle merrily. “Sorry! Just beating my cream.”

“Jesus, Jin, phrasing!”

His honking resonates across the room.

Thankfully, the noisy clattering of Jin’s churning and giggling masks the curse that slips from your mouth as a photo pops into the message app.

Jungkook smolders at you on your screen. He wears a black blazer, cut deeply enough to reveal more than an eyeful of his taut pecs, and he’s sliding the material up his torso to show off his tight abs, and something else. Something silvery that glitters as it hangs down his chest - a metal body chain? It appears to wrap around him like a harness. His dark curls are perfectly tousled, hanging in his eyes as he gazes at the camera with a sly smile.

Jungkook 🦌 (9:11): up next. think they’ll like my new costume?

You blink rapidly. Given the way your entire body is responding to the pixels in your hand, pulse racing, breath quickening, thighs twitching, you can only imagine how that room is bound to explode once the real Jungkook hits the stage in that outfit.

What a flimsy pretense of a question, though. He’s so obviously trying to distract you from your date.

And it’s so obviously working.

(9:12): Yeah, I think they will

(9:12): Especially the chain

Jungkook 🦌 (9:13): you like it?

Jungkook 🦌 (9:13): wanna play with it sometime?

You tilt your head in confusion.

(9:14): Play with it?

Jungkook 🦌 (9:15): yeah

Jungkook 🦌 (9:15): wind it around your hand

Jungkook 🦌 (9:15): pull it tight

Jin’s finishing plating your desserts as you glance over at the kitchen, delicately topping the slices of torte with fresh cream and sliced strawberries. You should probably stop texting Jungkook, but your thumbs aren’t listening at the moment.

(9:16): Like while you’re wearing it?

Jungkook 🦌 (9:16): just imagine

Jungkook 🦌 (9:17): i'm pressing you against the door again

Jungkook 🦌 (9:17): your legs wrapping around me

Jungkook 🦌 (9:17): your hand grabbing the chain

Jungkook 🦌 (9:18): don't know if i can hold back next time. think you could hold on?

Fuck. You just had to ask.

Jungkook 🦌 (9:18): can you see it?

Oh, you can see it. The room around you vanishes as his words conjure up a vision of you and him, against the door, your hand clutching the chain, twisting, tightening, as he thrusts into you, watching with dark eyes and that wicked smirk as you cum again and again…

Jungkook 🦌 (9:19): gotta go. see you tomorrow

Jungkook 🦌 (9:19): sweet dreams, neighbor

Wow, okay.

Should’ve just left your phone in your clutch. If Jungkook’s mission was to wind you up, he succeeded beyond belief. You shift in your seat, slightly uncomfortable at how wet and needy you suddenly feel. Dating these two at once might be hazardous to your health. You’re going to have to set some sort of boundaries, because this is ridiculous.

But whatever you do in the future, right now you should definitely stop rereading his messages.

“Are you giving Jennie a play-by-play?” Jin’s voice stirs you from your stupor. You toss your phone back into your clutch and take a deep breath, trying to steady yourself. Downing the rest of your cocktail, you shake the text exchange off and beam at Jin as he joins you on the couch.

“Nah, that’ll wait until brunch. So… you wake up to that insane view every morning, huh? Must be nice,” you quip. “I mean, sometimes the dry cleaners across the street from my place will put a pretty frock in the window, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.”

“I do feel a little spoiled here,” he admits. “This place is wasted on me, especially since I’ve been traveling so much since I moved in.”

The slice of torte he hands you looks too decadent to eat, but that doesn’t stop you. “Oh fuck me, this is amazing. Holy shit. You baked this in addition to cooking that magnificent meal?”

“As much as I’d love to say that…” Jin points to the island, where a bakery box sits. “I’m not much of a baker. I just added the strawberries and cream.”

“Ah, well, there goes your trophy,” you sigh dramatically. Jin looks confused for a moment, then catches on.

“Night’s not over yet,” he states, swiping a strawberry off your plate. You utter a tiny ‘hey!’ as he pops the berry into his mouth.

“Yeah, but dessert usually signals the end of the night, doesn’t it? Also, stealing my food is not going to win you any points.”

Jin sets his plate on a side table and peers at you with a devious grin. “So you’re keeping score, then?”

You grimace as he laughs. “You know what I mean.”

“Anyway, this isn’t what I meant by dessert.”

You raise an eyebrow at his statement. He takes your plate from your hands. You’re not finished, but you don’t put up a fight. That look is back in his eye again, and this time you don’t see any reason to turn away.

However, before you can scoot any closer to him, he walks across the room.

“If you’re about to reveal another torte, I’ll reconsider that trophy.”

He just shakes his head, back to you as he places his phone on a little stand. He swipes a few times and the lighting in the living room dims. Then heavy bass begins to thump all around you. Before you can make any dumb jokes about setting the mood, Jin suddenly spins around, pinning you to the couch with a sultry stare.

His hips begin to sway in time to the pounding beat.

“Jin?”

He presses a finger to his lips.

“Yoongi told me what Jungkook does for a living,” he informs you, fingers loosening the knot in his tie. “I thought I should step up my game. What am I going to do, just keep cooking you dinner?”

Because the question is rhetorical, you don’t reply, “Yes, you should do that.” But you do think it.

“I realized, I can take a page out of his own playbook.”

He punctuates his point by yanking the tie from around his neck, whipping it towards the floor a few times before throwing it at you. It bounces off your shoulder, landing on the couch beside you. Threading it through your fingers, you rub the silky material as Jin saunters towards you.

Oh shit, this is happening.

Jin puckers his pillowy lips, blowing a kiss as he advances. Should you say something - whoop or yell or otherwise encourage him in some manner? Having never had a private dance before (you try not to think about what is happening right now at Paradise), you’re not sure what the proper protocol is.

He sidesteps, right left, to the beat, as he dances his way across the room. His moves are a little erratic, hitting a little too hard. But you have to give him props. He seems to really be into it.

Jin stops a foot away, peering down at you with an intense expression as he slowly unbuttons his shirt. His gyrations become more pronounced as he winks. Then he abruptly drops to his knees, shimmying his shoulders. A blurt laugh of shock escapes you at the unexpected movement, and he pouts, stilling. “Don’t laugh!”

“Sorry!” You don’t mean to, truly. It’s really cute, what he’s trying to do. “I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

Uncrossing your legs, you sit up, still clutching the tie. Bobbing your head to some hip-hop track you vaguely recognize, you try to lose yourself in the music as Jin slips back into the rhythm.

His hands continue down his chest, working at the buttons. A light sheen of sweat has broken out on his forehead, strands of jet black hair sticking to his face as he tosses his head. When he finishes the last one, he tugs his shirt down his arm, shrugging his bare shoulder emphatically in time with the song. Then he reveals his other arm, letting the shirt roll down to his fingertips.

Your eyebrows lift as Jin reveals a finely toned torso. Not ripped, but fit as fuck. Your eyes rake over his knotted shoulders, admiring the flexing muscles in his arms as he pulls the shirt off. He loses his undershirt next, and you immediately zero in on the dark treasure trail that drifts from his navel to disappear under his belt.

“Excuse me, my eyes are up here,” he smirks, placing a finger under your chin to tilt your head back up to face him. He rips his glasses off theatrically and flings them aside. “Right here.”

He surges forward, placing both hands on either side of your thighs, and you think he’s going to kiss you, so you lean in as well, but he suddenly stops and scrambles away, fingers combing over the rug until he finds his glasses. “Sorry, I can’t actually see anything without these.”

Biting the inside of your cheek to suppress your giggle, you nod understandingly.

Kneeling in front of you again, he takes your right hand and places it on the buckle of his belt. With a naughty quirk of his eyebrow, he silently urges you to undo it. You do as desired, but before you can ease the leather strap through the loops, he stands and wiggles out of his pants, hips thrusting exaggeratedly to force the material down his legs. If you were still leaning forward, you might lose an eye.

Your shoulders shake with repressed laughter. Hopefully it just looks like you’re dancing.

Jin doesn’t give you a moment to enjoy the sight of him standing in front of you, wearing nothing but a pair of silky black boxers and a smile, before all six-foot-whatever of him ends up in your lap.

“Oh!” you exclaim as he straddles your thighs. Given how cute he’s been so far, you weren’t really expecting him to take it all the way and complete the “lap” portion of the lap dance. But he’s clearly committed. Jin winks again as he looks down at you

The hip-hop track fades away and a new song begins. It’s slinkier, an R&B jam with a more relaxed groove and a slower tempo.

Maybe it’s the new beat. Maybe it’s his nearness to you. Whatever it is, something shifts in the air. The mood in the room changes.

You stop laughing.

Jin smoothly rolls his hips as he sinks into your lap. There’s an impulse to reach out and clutch at him, hold on to the thick thighs astride yours, but you don’t know if you should, so you distract yourself with his tie, winding the soft material around your fingers.

You needn’t have worried about what to do. He’s still in the lead, ready to show you. Gently, he tugs on your right hand and brings it up to his chest. The tie flutters to the ground.

Your breath hitches as he presses your palm to his smooth, warm skin. You can feel his heart pounding. Strong. And fast. It matches the rhythm of your own.

Slowly, almost painfully so, Jin drags your hand across the firm planes of his chest. His head tips back, dark hair falling from his face as he keeps moving your hand down, over the gentle ridges of his abs, over the valley of his navel, down, down…

His hand stills just as your palms brushes over the satiny waistband of his boxers. You’ve been silent until now, mouth slightly agape as you concentrate on the sensation of your skin on his, focusing like you’re trying to commit every inch to memory, but when you realize he’s stopped, you whimper. Just a tiny little whine. Barely noticeable over the music.

Of course he hears it.

He rolls his head to the side, examining you. You can only imagine your appearance, chest heaving, bottom lip tucked between your teeth, eyes wide as they stare at where your fingers meet his boxers. Already looking fucked out when he’s barely touched you yet.

“Did you need something?” he murmurs.

You nod, trying to lower your hand, but he holds it in place. You whine. “Please.”

“Please what?”

Peeking up at him through your eyelashes, you sweetly beg, “Please let me touch your cock.”

His eyes widen slightly, cool facade momentarily slipping at your choice of words, but he regains control. “I might not be a professional, but I’m pretty sure that’s against the rules.”

“Fuck the rules,” you curse, hooking your free hand around his neck to pull him down for a kiss.

He tastes of tart berries and sweet cream. Your mouth mutes Jin’s surprised yelp as you nibble on his pouty bottom lip. He releases your hand to cup your face, taking charge of the kiss. You don’t fight him, because the moment his hand drops yours, you find what you were searching for.

He’s hard, a massive tent forming underneath your hand as you stroke him through the silk. Fuck, he’s big, too. You want to pull him out, take a peek, but then Jin breaks off the kiss.

“Hey!” He watches your hand at work. “That, ah, shit, that’s not part of the plan!” His hips don’t appear to be on the same page as his mouth, though, given the way they keep jerking forward, seeking more caresses.

“Plan, huh? Maybe we should move to the next step? Seems like part of you wants to,” you giggle, flashing a cheeky smile.

He snaps back in charge. You pout as one hand pulls yours off of his crotch while the other grasps your chin to lift your head up. He brings your hand to his mouth, gently kissing your palm, and your sulk quickly turns into a gasp as his lips part and his teeth lightly graze your fingertips.

“Patience,” he states, voice firm. “Be good for me now. I already told you. I want to have my dessert.”

A wave of heat rolls through you, thighs clenching together at his commanding tone and dark eyes. Fucking hell, was this guy always here, lurking just underneath the goofy quips and honking laugh?

Jin slides from your lap and settles on the floor in front of you again. His large hands are hot on your thighs as they slide towards your skirt, just stopping when his fingers brush the soft material. “Is this okay?” he asks.

“Yes,” you breathe, and he slowly guides your legs apart. His hands keep traveling upward, only stopping again when they reach your panties. Long fingers hook under the satin and lace, tugging them downward. You lift your hips without hesitation and he tugs them all the way off.

He runs a finger along your slit and you whimper again. “Oh, look at you,” he sighs happily. “You’re completely soaked.” As if you couldn’t already feel that. He pops his finger into his mouth and sucks. “So juicy and sweet. The perfect dessert.”

“Jesus Christ, Jin!” Both hands reach for him. He playfully grabs your wrists and pulls them together as he clucks his tongue.

“What did I say about being patient?” he inquires, cocking an eyebrow.

“Patience is a virtue,” you remark.

“Yes, it is.” He rubs his thumbs over your wrists and the sensation sends a bolt of electricity to your core.

“I never claimed to be virtuous.”

He visibly fights a smile as he releases your wrists and reaches behind you, hands pressing against your lower back to urge you forward to the edge of your seat. Another bolt races through you as he lowers his lips to your ear, warm breath tickling as he whispers, “Try to behave for me. I’ll make it worth your while.”

You bite your lip and nod, reaching deep to find some patience. It’s not your strong suit. All you want to do right now is throw yourself on him and kiss him and touch him and ride him into the sunrise. But that’s clearly not what he has in mind.

So you’ll hold him to that promise, and wait.

He pushes your dress up to your waist. “Here. Hold this,” he instructs, and you clutch at your skirt, keeping it from sliding back down, thankful for something to do with your hands.

Jin grabs a few plush throw pillows and arranges them at your back. “Comfortable?” You nod, and he presses his plump lips to the inside of your knee. “Good. Now lie back, but keep your eyes on me. I want you to watch while I savor you.”

“Fuck,” you mumble.

He laughs, a low rumble that sends a puff of air darting along the sensitive skin of your inner thigh as he kisses his way towards your core. You stare, unable to tear your gaze away from him as he finally reaches where you need him most, and licks a long stripe up your folds with the flat of his tongue.

And then he dives right in.

Your mouth falls open in silent exclamation as he devours you. The soft pile of pillows catches you, keeping you upright as you go slack with pleasure. Jin eats you like he’s eating one of the strawberries from earlier, eagerly, messily, lips sucking, tongue darting out to lap up your juices, chin and nose slick and glossy in the dim lighting of the room. His hands slide under your thighs, locking your legs in place as he works.

His mouth feels like heaven. Your voice returns to you and you keen as he circles your clit with his tongue. Judging by the muffled groan he lets out, Jin’s enjoying his ministrations almost as much as you are.

There’s no way you’re turning away from that lustful gaze as his mouth moves against you. After several blissful minutes, Jin releases your legs to sit back and catch his breath. He removes his glasses, which have fogged slightly, using his discarded shirt to wipe them clean.

“I hope you don’t have anywhere to be in the morning, because I could eat you all night.”

“Jiiiinnn,” you whine, knuckles turning white as you grip the bottom of your dress, patience wearing thin. “Please!”

He runs a thumb over your folds, a light tease, and you tilt your hips, trying to urge him to touch you more, but his other hand splays on your belly and holds you back as he gives you a stern look.

“Uh-uh,” he chides you. “I thought you were going to be good? Be patient for me?” His thumb flits around your clit, tantalizingly close. “I’m enjoying this. Don’t you want me to enjoy my meal?”

Fuck. Where did this dominant side of Jin come from and just how far does it go? You’d love to explore it. But some other night. Right now, you just want to get off.

You nod fervently. “I’ll be good.”

One of his long fingers parts your folds and slips inside. As you mewl helplessly, falling back into the lush pillows again, Jin’s mouth finds your clit. He strokes your inner wall, crooking his finger perfectly. His other hand roams up your stomach, squeezing your right breast through your clothes.

He resumes his frantic pace. The lewd noises his tongue and lips make are no match for the guttural moans emanating from him as he basks in the way you taste and the way you tremble. He squirms a little, and a spot of drool gathers in the corner of your mouth as you fantasize about how much his cock must be aching right now and how much you’d love to help him find some relief. But the only thing you can articulate is his name, which spills from your lips again and again as an exquisite tension builds within you. It spreads, toes and feet flexing as your whole body tightens, preparing for your end -

Jin stops.

A wordless wail of indignation is all you can manage as you stare at Jin in frustration. He chuckles, a rude sound far from his usual squeaky giggle, and drags his nails down your thighs. You shiver despite your current state of agitation.

As much as you’d love to ask him what the actual fuck, you keep silent, panting, waiting.

After what feels like an eternity, Jin grins. “You’ve been so good. Let me finish my meal.”

He immediately plunges two fingers into you as he drops his face to your cunt to suckle at your clit.

“Fuck, Jin!”

His fingers, his tongue, his lips. That lascivious stare. It’s too much. The tension returns faster than you expect and you can’t stop yourself from bucking against his face before the pressure bursts and you cum, crying out, as Jin moans against you, still drinking you in, tongue fluttering away, fingers not stopping, until you drop your skirt and gently push him away.

“Holy. Shit.” you huff as Jin joins you on the couch. He draws you into his side as you try to catch your breath. You glance at his lap and see his erection straining at his boxers. “I see you liked your meal.”

He nods, cupping your face. “Very much.” His kiss is searing, all heat, and he gasps into your mouth as your hand slips beneath the silk and wraps around his hardness, giving him a few strokes.

You quickly free him from his boxers, eyes widening slightly as you finally witness his impressive length. He doesn’t move to stop you this time, but encourages you on with tiny grunts as he thrusts up into your hand. You can’t resist purring, “I’m ready for my treat now,” as you duck your head to take his cock in your mouth.

He must’ve really enjoyed you, because he doesn’t last long after that. A few more strokes, a few swirls around his sensitive head, and Jin’s spurting hot into your throat with a low groan, fingers laced in your hair. You swallow each pulse that your hand pumps out.

The two of you collapse against the cushions, your head on his shoulder, his arms around you tight. You’ve no idea how much time passes before he speaks. “That wasn’t part of the plan, either.”

You smile into the soft curve of his throat. “I improvised.”

“I’ll allow it.” He stretches. “Do you want some water? I need some water.”

“Oh god, yes please.”

He pads towards the kitchen, and you tip your head to ogle his rather firm ass as he walks away.

“Are the windows tinted from outside or are you an exhibitionist?” you call after him.

He simply grins as he returns with two glasses of water.

“I would like to shower,” he announces, running a hand through his sweaty hair. “Would you care to? Alone, of course” he quickly clarifies, “unless you want company. I’m happy either way. But I thought I’d offer. In case you’d like to.”

You’re an absolute mess, so showering sounds wonderful. Before you can make up your mind whether you’d like to wash up alone or possibly go through round two in his shower together, he babbles on.

“Not that I’m trying to say the night’s over or it’s time to go or anything. If - if you want to stay, you’re welcome to.” Jin gently brushes his fingers across your cheek, gaze darkening again. “I wasn’t lying about what I said earlier. I have a big appetite.”

You consider your choices. Go home and get some sleep so you’re refreshed for tomorrow? You don’t want to be a zombie for your date with Jungkook. Or stay and see just how much of that bold promise of an all-night buffet he can keep?

“So… do you want to stay?”

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© 2022-23 by sunshinerainbowsbts/minisugakoobies. Crossposted to AO3. Please do not copy or repost.

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[hyungieyoongi]

Sleep

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

Word Count: 2,300+ 

Genre: fluffy + angst (because I am clearly stressed studying for my final exams, and I am projecting that into my writing) + HYBE employee from America falling for Joonie b/c who wouldn’t

Sleep wouldn’t come. She tossed and turned for a couple of hours before realizing it was futile with how fast her mind was turning over possible scenarios, worries, and anxieties one after the other. She sighed, pulling back her covers and bringing her laptop from the nightstand on top of her comforter. If she couldn’t sleep, she would at least get some work done for tomorrow.

Yawning, she opened her computer, logging in and sorting through the emails she had ignored since getting home from the HYBE offices. If something was really urgent, she would get a call. She looked over the text with glazed eyes, fighting the urge to go back to sleep, knowing she would feel wide awake as soon as her head hit the pillow again.

The truth is, she kept thinking of him. The thoughts kept streaming in, refusing to let her rest or even work. Today had hurt. It had felt like someone was laughing in her face at the sick cosmic joke the universe had played on her, forcing her to deal with her growing and overwhelming feelings for someone she could never have.

A new hire in the public relations department of the label falling for the leader of the biggest band in the world? It had disaster written all over it. Which is exactly what she told Namjoon. He had laughed, saying she was being paranoid, that they weren’t doing anything wrong by hanging out, getting closer, but she knew better. She wasn’t laughing. And by the end of their conversation today, he wasn’t either. Instead, he was looking at her like she had slapped him in the face, ruining any chance of a normal relationship between them.

“Ha, normal,” she thought with a slight, sardonic chuckle. Like anything involving this situation could be classified as normal. She knew how she felt–there was nothing normal about that considering their situation. Two people from different sides of the world, the employee-employer aspect of it all…not to mention the fact that he was a beloved Idol and completely untouchable. It could never work, she knew that. So why was he being so stubborn? He was fighting her every step of the way, telling her that the way they felt about each other warranted at least trying to be together. But it wasn’t that easy. If they didn’t work out, well, easy enough for him to move on and forget this ever happened. But, for her, it meant career devastation.

“But what if it did work out,” Y/N whispered to herself, letting the warm feeling of possibility wrap around her like a hug. She didn’t let the sensation linger, squashing it with a shake of her head as she began to furiously type to try and distract herself from the broken record that was her head versus her heart.

Her phone began to softly buzz on the nightstand next to her. She glanced at the time on her computer - 1:04 a.m. A little late for even an emergency client call. She reached for the phone, answering before checking the name on the screen.

“This is Y/N,” she said, putting on her best professional tone despite her current state of being tucked into bed in her pajamas.

“Y/N.” She knew right away she made a mistake answering the phone.

“Namjoon,” she whispered into the receiver. “What’s - what’s going on? Are you alright?” She shook her head with worry, assuming the only reason he could be calling at this hour after the way the day had transpired was for an emergency.

“Yes, no, well, technically yes,” Namjoon said. It sounded like he was on a busy street. Not hard considering her location in downtown Seoul, but he was clearly outside rather than calling from his home with the rest of BTS.

“Why are you calling me? It’s late, Namjoon,” Y/N said, not really knowing what to say. Alarm bells were ringing in her head, but she needed to know he was really okay before hanging up.

“I know, I - I’m outside,” Namjoon said. Y/N felt her breath catch, realizing the noisy street in the background was her street. She got up like a shot, keeping the phone to her ear as she rushed to the window, pushing the curtain to the side and peering out, seeing a bundled up Namjoon on the phone outside of her apartment building door. He was wearing a black hat, mask covering the lower half of his face, glasses perched on his nose–an attempt to look inconspicuous. He seemed to sense someone’s eyes on him, looking up at her window. She reeled back from the window, tripping over a nearby chair in her haste.

“Fuck,” Y/N swore under her breath, gaining her balance.

“Y/N, please,” Namjoon whispered. She knew he had seen her, but she needed another 30 seconds to gather herself before she could really, truly wrap her head around the situation. It was late. He was here. “Y/N?” Namjoon said her name like a question, wondering if he had lost her.

“I’m here. I - I’ll buzz you up,” Y/N said, grabbing a sweatshirt out of her top drawer to pull over her loose t-shirt and shorts to try and cover up at least some of herself. She counted backwards from ten, knowing exactly how long it would take him to get in the door and up the stairs until...

Two knocks on the door broke her out of her dreamlike state. She tiptoed to the door, opening it slowly, taking in the sight before her. She hadn’t seen him since their fight, and, honestly, she assumed she really would never see him like this again. Frazzled, hair messed up from anxiously running his fingers through it again and again.

He bore his eyes into her so intently she looked down at a worn spot on the floor to avoid them. She saw one of his feet step forward toward her, and she instinctively stepped back away from him. He stopped. She looked up. He looked - hurt. Hurt that she had stepped away from him. Hurt that she was so clearly uncomfortable with the situation. The easy way they used to talk to each other, laugh with each other in the hallways outside of his studio - it was gone. He wanted so desperately to get it back, see the glimmer in her eyes right before she hit him with a sarcastic comeback, watch her cheeks get red when he teased her. He craved it, that comfort, that familiarity.

She spoke first.

“Namjoon, what are you doing here?” She knew she needed to be direct - get to the point so he could leave and she could get back to pretending everything was fine–normal, even.

“I couldn’t leave things the way we left them today. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, about everything I wanted to say but didn't. I felt like, well, I felt like I lost you. And I couldn’t stomach that. I just couldn’t,” Namjoon said quietly. They were still standing in her doorway. Y/N felt tears well up in her eyes. She blamed exhaustion. She took a deep breath before turning away, walking toward the kitchen. He took it as an invitation to come inside, closing and locking the door behind him as he took off his coat. He heard the kettle start to hiss with the sound of boiling water and smiled - tea. Of course she was making tea. Her way to cope with stressful situations, with emotional coworkers, was always to make them tea.

Namjoon shuffled into the kitchen, hands in his pockets, mask and jacket now removed, as he watched her work, grabbing two mugs from the cabinet and popping tea bags into each of them. The kettle started to get louder, causing her to jump slightly at the interruption to the otherwise silence throughout her apartment. She poured the water slowly, knowing that, when it was done, she would have to look at him again. When she couldn’t avoid it anymore, she turned, handing him a mug.

“Here,” she said simply, passing him and heading to her couch, sitting on the corner of it and curling her feet under her. Namjoon followed her lead yet again, sitting on the opposite end of the couch. He felt like he was a mile from her instead of a few feet. He waited.

“I don’t like the way we left things either,” Y/N said. Namjoon turned his head to her, eyes wide with anticipation and hope. She didn’t return his gaze. “But,” his heart sank, “I can’t change my mind. This is the way things have to be.” She took a long sip of tea, shivering at the contact with hot liquid.

“You can’t, or you don’t want to?” Namjoon said, realizing what she had really said.

Y/N looked at him shocked, realizing she had slipped up in her argument - she might be trying to fight this rationally, but her heart clearly wasn’t all the way in it.

“I - I don’t know,” Y/N said, defeated.

“Yes, you do,” Namjoon encouraged, putting his mug down on the coffee table. He turned to her fully now, refusing to break eye contact with her. “You just don’t want to admit it to yourself because then it will all be real. All the late-night phone calls when we’re stressed, the meals in my studio together. All of it.”

Her eyes got wide and her mouth opened slightly before she quickly shut it and composed herself.

“If it’s real, we’ll both just end up getting hurt, and you know that. You can’t sit here and pretend it’s all going to be okay. Because it’s just - it’s just not,” Y/N suddenly felt more tired than she had all night, dropping her head into her hands and covering her face with her shaking fingers. She felt a tug on her right hand, Namjoon’s warm fingers circling hers as he pulled both hands away from her face. He got up from the couch, kneeling in front of her. She looked up slightly, meeting him eye-level in front of her. He put their joined hands in her lap, stroking the back of her hand subconsciously with her thumb, comforting her.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not going anywhere before you believe it?” Namjoon asked. “It doesn’t matter if it gets complicated or difficult or messy. I will be here for you. I will fight for us.” The exasperation, love, and his own exhaustion were written in his eyes as he scanned hers for reassurance that she felt the same way - that she knew she couldn’t keep going on denying what felt right.

“How can you be so sure?” Y/N asked quietly. He let out a breath, gripping her hands tighter as he brought his face closer to hers.

“Because I’m in love with you. I love you, Y/N,” Namjoon whispered. He saw the emotion flicker across her face, tears fill her eyes. He didn’t have any other words - he grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her, more passionately than he had ever kissed her. He poured every ounce of love and emotion into that kiss, wanting her to know and to feel exactly how he felt. She hesitated at first before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer, his own dropping down around her waist and bringing their bodies as close as possible given their position.

Y/N pulled back first, trying to catch her breath. He looked at her expectantly, hoping she would let him hear the words he so badly wanted - no, needed - to hear.

“Namjoon, I love you, too,” Y/N whispered into the small space between them. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her chest, finally being able to say those three words to the man that had entered every part of her soul and refused to leave. The man in front of her who was smiling bigger than she had ever seen. He stood up, grabbing her right hand and bringing her to stand in front of him. Then, he grabbed her and spun her around, both of their laughter filling her apartment. After all of the tension, the stress of the day - it felt like the pieces were falling into place again.

He put her back on her feet, looking down at her with the most love and adoration. Her cheeks were tinged pink from laughter, her lips slightly swollen from their kissing. He had never seen her look so beautiful.

“What are we going to do?” Y/N asked, her joy from their mutual admissions of love being replaced with worry. Her forehead scrunched down slightly in worry. He kissed her on the forehead, then both cheeks, then the corner of her mouth, before placing a soft, gentle kiss on her lips. He pulled back, placing his forehead on hers.

“We’ll figure it out - together,” he said simply, confidently. He felt her nod slightly in affirmation against his head, his eyes closing as he just took in this moment between them. Hell, he had waited so long, he needed to just soak it in.

He felt her take his hand in hers, opening his eyes to look at the woman he loved. She led him to her bed, climbing in under the covers while he took off his shoes before climbing in next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, smiling as he felt her head nuzzle into his chest, body forming perfectly to his side. He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. Y/N felt Namjoon’s breathing slow down slightly.

“I love you,” he whispered into her hair.

“I love you, too,” she responded, snuggling closer to him, closing her mind to the stress that was to come, knowing that Namjoon would be by her side when it did. His arms tightened around her as they both fell asleep. It was the best night of sleep they both had gotten in a long time.

[brattsun]

a contradiction in terms, a kuroo x f!reader smau

series masterlist | updates tues, thurs, and sat

summary: at a small liberal arts university, buried in the middle of America, romance blossoms in the most unconventional places after Kuroo Tetsurou, University Class President, and you, a scholarship student at the top of your class butt heads during a routine student council meeting.

a/n: lots of college pretentious debate, enemies to lovers, there will be smut and my blog is 18+ so minors DNI, I’m not anticipating needing a taglist but if anyone wants to be on it they can send me an ask. This is my first social media AU so I’m expecting it to be a mashup of texts and some written sections. sadlg;hakl im pretty nervous but i think the more i do this hopefully i’ll get better at it as;dghlask so bear with me.

CH 2 - let it go, bro, pt 3

prev/next

Kuroo makes his way up the stairs, slipping out of his wool coat and scarf, it gets warmer as he gets higher, and his legs feel like jelly from running Lev’s drills. The third floor of the science building is stuck squarely in the 80’s, dark wood, jewel tones, deep green walls and a grey rug floor. The tables in each of the classrooms he passes are huge and oak, with matching chairs behind them. It’s quiet, but as he makes his way down the hallway, catching your voice floating through the open door, and taking a moment to eavesdrop. 

“Ah, actually,” you say, and he hears you take a couple steps, “It looks like this might be the trans hudson orogeny, just because of the shape of the island arc in that one, when compared to this map here?” 

“Oh!” He hears another girl scramble for some paper, “Oh oh, oh my god, I think you’re right.” He hears the creek of a chair as she collapses in exhaustion. “You fucking did it.” He swallows, disliking how nervous he is, reaching up and knocking on the door. 

“Come in,” you say softly, “We don’t have the room reserved.” You’re hovering over a table covered in a colorful confusing map. “Oh! Ah,” he’s seized with guilt at the way you automatically hop on the defensive, the way your shoulders stiffen,  your fingers lacing and unlacing in a mannerism he now recognizes as a nervous tic. 

“Can I uh,” remembering that’s what he said last time, “Can I borrow you for a second?” You swallow, and the other girl looks intensely uncomfortable. “I uh, I got your annotations, and I want to talk to you about them.” You nod slowly and roll your neck, it cracks loudly. You follow him out into the hallway. “So,” he says, “You might have hurt my feelings, and I lashed out, which is an explanation and not an excuse.” 

“Oh,” you cross your arms across your chest. 

“I care, a lot, very, very deeply, for the students at this school. I care about my friends, and my work, and I know I’m not very emotionally expressive, but I can be ah, emotional.” You raise an eyebrow. “What?” 

“I’m valuing the merits of making a joke about you telling me to calm down,” you say dryly and he grins. 

“I get you now, that was  you making the joke, correct?” he says, and you nod. “I thought maybe, ah we could talk, about the paper? Civilly, I promise. No quoting founding fathers.” 

“Oh ah,” You move a little away from him in the hallway, “Honestly I’m not super interested in that.” He blinks at you. “You were right, political science isn’t my major, and um, honestly my views on this stuff are rooted in personal issues, I can’t promise it won’t get ah, heated. Plus I’ve really got to work on this lab,” you jerk your head back to the door. Kuroo’s mind races, he wouldn’t be able to sleep until he made this right. 

“Can I have your number, then, and we can text?” He watches you consider, disliking the way his heart is sprinting in his chest. Your eyes dart back to the classroom before answering.

“Yeah, ah, sure.” 

“I’d like to make this more accessible, I mean, student council, for scholarship students.” 

You nod quickly, and your eyes dart back to the lab. “But ah, tomorrow, okay, not, not tonight, I’ll let you finish up.” 

“I’m um,” you say quickly, “I’m not promising to come out of this conversation agreeing with you on anything, just um, just so you’re aware.” He grins, amber eyes glinting. 

“Excellent.” 

taglist: @ks-kitten @boosyboo9206 @rintarovibes @simpinforseventeen @whorefornoodles @antaraxy @roseestuosity @aggrocat121​  @erinoikawa @tirzamisu @chims-kookies

[meltwonu]

| 🍒 CH-CH-CHERRY BOMB! 🍒 |     [CHAPTER 15]

pairing; dom!seungcheol x camgirl!reader

this chapter’s notes; camshow, softdom!seungcheol, blowjob, cum swallowing, restraints/blindfold, daddy!kink, dirty talk, v little hair pulling, orgasm control, squirting, sex toys 😗💕 hope y’all are having a good weekend! As you can see, with this chapter comes the decided amount of chapters 😭 which means! cherry bomb ends on jan. 1st! 😭😭😭 I’m sad about it but!! excited to start the new year with some new projects too!! and I promise it won't be the last of this au either (I'll upload and talk abt a new schedule when it gets closer to time)💕💕 Thank you, as always, for your support with Cherry Bomb and I’m glad some of us have had pavlovian responses when we hear the term now LOOOL😩💕 Enjoy ch15 and have a great weekend! see u tomorrow for the last intro post! 💕🍒 

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - x - x - x - x - x 

Seungcheol takes it as a blessing that he doesn’t work on the weekends.

You do your camshow on Friday and upload prerecorded content on Saturday which leaves two whole days of relaxation that the two of you enjoy.

But Monday comes quicker than you anticipate and Seungcheol drops you off to work before he heads back to the roller rink; ignoring the multitudes of texts it seems Jeongguk is sending.

I’ll be at work in 30 minutes, he thinks.

“I’ll be back to pick you up after work, baby!”

You nod back, blowing Seungcheol a kiss through the window before you turn to leave.

Seungcheol’s phone rings 3 more times, brows furrowed.

‘It can wait.’

“Hyung, we’re in trouble… Maybe?”

Jeongguk’s big puppy eyes stare back at the older male and he can already feel the blood draining from his face at the potential reasons that the younger male would even say that. “Um… is---is this pertaining to why you tried calling like 14 times?” Jeongguk nods, tugging on Seungcheol’s shirt and pulling him in closer.

“Before you say anything… Namjoon-hyung didn’t find out, did he?”

“Find out about what?”

“That I… cam… I don’t want to get fired because I--”

Jeongguk rolls his eyes, “Listen, I’m gonna be real, I don’t think he cares. The problem is… remember that dude that came in? A couple weeks ago. Lookin’ for a job.”

Seungcheol nods slowly; trying to remember the male’s name. “Seok--something, right?” Jeongguk nods.

“Apparently, he came back, and at the right time too. Namjoon hired his ass on the spot and he starts tomorrow. I heard from Seokjin.” Confusion crosses Seungcheol’s features as he stares and waits for Jeongguk to continue. “... And? How is that trouble for us?”

Jeongguk lets out an over dramatic sigh, hands on Seungcheol’s shoulders. “Nevermind, I forgot you’re making bank on those videos. I was gonna say, we might get a pay cut! Or maybe Joon-hyung’s trying to replace us but I guess that’s not a ‘you’ problem.”

Seungcheol laughs under his breath, shaking his head before patting Jeongguk’s hands.

“You’ll be okay. I don’t think anyone is coming for your concession stand job.”

The next day when Seungcheol makes it to work, he can’t help but have a weird feeling in his gut.

Much like the time when he first met Jun, there’s an indescribable feeling bubbling up in his body that he can’t seem to shake off once he arrives at the roller rink and the sight of Jeongguk with the new employee doesn’t help to settle the feeling at all.

Just before he can make his escape, the younger male waves him over; a cheery smile plastered on his face when Seungcheol starts walking over.

“Hyung! It’s the new employee!”

So much for panicking about being replaced, Jeongguk.

Seungcheol smiles at the other male, introducing himself swiftly before extending a hand to shake. “Ah! I remember you! I’m Seokmin! I’m the same age as Jeongguk!” Seungcheol’s lips part as he nods in understanding; that had been why Jeongguk seemed so okay with it all of a sudden.

Seokmin’s eyes form crescents when he smiles and Seungcheol takes a second to do a once over of the other male; noting the pins tacked to his denim jacket. His eyes hone in on a specific one, narrowing once he realized what it was.

It’d been a while ago now, but when you’d hit 5k subscribers to your camming channel, you had made only three of the same pin, which you had raffled and only gave to three winners.

By nature, Seungcheol was one of them, and the other two were ‘xcaliburDK’ and ‘gentleman_josh95’. Seungcheol could deduce from usernames alone that this wasn’t ‘Josh’ so it only left one option left; albeit Seokmin didn’t add up to the username either.

“Hyung? Hyung, are you okay? You’re spacing out.” Jeongguk waves a hand in the elder’s face as Seungcheol shakes himself from his thoughts.

He’d just have to figure it out later.

Although, he can already feel the groan spilling from his lips.

Why was everyone popping up now?

When he picks you up from work, later that afternoon, he can already tell something is off about you too.

You slink into the passenger’s seat of his car, quiet and a little jittery. “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He comments, watching as you fumble with the seatbelt.

“Yeah it’s just… Can we talk about it when we get home? I think I’m still recovering from the weird experience I had earlier.”

Nodding, Seungcheol reaches over, placing his palm in yours in a means of comforting you; even just a little.

“Guess we both have had weird days, huh?”

You can’t thank Seungcheol enough for how patient he is.

He doesn’t say a word in the car and lets you have your quiet, cool down time before you get home.

But when the lock slides into place and you finally plop down onto the bed, you know it’s finally time to have the talk that you knew was brewing.

“I met another one of my regulars at the diner today.” You mumble; beating Seungcheol to the punch of him asking.

“Weird, I think I ran into one of your regulars at the roller rink today too. He works there now, by the way.”

The two of you share an awkward laugh as Seungcheol lays down next to you; neither of you bothering to change out of your outside clothes as you bask in the oddly similar occurrences. “Wouldn’t happen to be ‘universe_WZ’ would it? He came by the diner earlier, ‘just passing through town’ he said. It was so weird though, y’know? Him and Jun kinda got along ‘cause apparently they’re born in the same year.” You smile at the memory, despite how odd it was at first. “He was quiet and Jun is very much not. I think he bailed earlier than he wanted ‘cause his ear was getting talked off. But he asked me for an autograph on the way out and some old lady stared at me. It was just… a little weird.”

Seungcheol laughs; somewhat glad that your experience hadn’t been as bad as he was expecting.

“How ‘bout you, ‘Cheol? What was that about him working with you?”

The male groans, sliding a hand down his features. “It was… somethin’ else.” You turn on your side to face him, raising a brow.

“Couldn’t be that bad, could it?”

Seungcheol laughs, but only in the way he knows that the next words out of his mouth will sound ridiculous, even to you.

“I’m not going to say who it is because I don’t want you to be extra weirded out. He’s an okay guy, very diligent about his work. But let’s just say I caught a glimpse of his wallpaper, which was you by the way. And when I asked him, ‘hey, is that your girlfriend?’, the fucker lied and said yes!”

It takes a second before you’re letting out a boisterous laugh; tears springing to your eyes at the hilarious encounter Seungcheol had experienced.

“You’re not mad!?” He comments, eyes wide as saucers as he watches you curl up in laughter. “I thought you’d be mad!” You wipe a tear from your eye, catching your breath before you turn back to Seungcheol who watches you in confusion.

“No way, that’s fuckin’ hilarious! And let’s be real, probably not the first time someone’s lied about me being their girlfriend, right? But I--he doesn’t know, does he? That you’re… y’know, ‘dom.cheol’?” Seungcheol blushes, cheeks blooming a pale pink when he thinks about it.

Would his voice be enough to give it away?

“I don’t… know? He didn’t say anything but neither did I, honestly. It was just… weird. And now I work with him so that’ll be fun. Can’t wait for him to tell me how cute his girlfriend is.” He grumbles.

“Awww, is widdol Swungcheol jealous?” You blink cutely back at him; a teasing smirk on your lips when you see him narrowing his eyes back at you.

“Watch it, brat. You know I can punish you at any time, right?”

“Try me, then~”

Seungcheol mentally logs into his brain and waits until your Wednesday show before he makes a move.

He brings his favorite silk ties from his closet and places them on the bed while you get changed; a sly smirk on his face.

“‘Okay, ‘Cheol I’m--whoa.” You bite your lip when you step out and see the array of ties and the vibrator already sitting on the bed. “Um… I take it that these are part of the show tonight?” You end with a shy giggle; body already warm at the way Seungcheol looks at you.

“Mmhmm. For the ‘lil jealous comment you made. What was it that you said? ‘Try me, then’?” He grins in a way that you know you’re screwed and you saunter up to him in hopes of maybe pacifying him a little.

“Too late to say that I take it back?”

“Waaaay too late, baby. Now, let’s get started.”

chwenon has donated $50

sleepy_wonu has donated $100

artist8hao has donated $75

artist8hao: she’s so pretty with her hands tied behind her back like that

angelhan: shibari next time???

universe_WZ: she’d be so pretty all tied up

universe_WZ: rly nice seeing u btw ;)

therealchan99: where tf are all of u seeing her!?!?? I need to go out more im lackin bro

alphagyu97: its the way u walk into every set up for me

Seungcheol chuckles under his breath, reading the comments with his hand tangled in your hair and your arms tied behind your back as you work your mouth up and down on his cock.

Before the show had even started, he had quickly rearranged the setup so that the camera was angled down towards the space in front of the bed instead of where it usually faced which was on top of the bed. You were a little confused at first when he had nodded and told you to start your camshow from the rug placed underneath you but it soon made sense when he had tied your arms behind your back and made you suck him off with your knees digging into the rug and a silk tie tied into a bow around your eyes to prevent you from seeing.

“Shibari, huh? Ooh, wouldn’t it be a treat for your viewers if you did a show where you were all tied up? I’d have to start it for you, or maybe they’d like to watch the process and see how quickly I can get you to fall apart.” Seungcheol pauses; hips canting up slightly into your mouth as you swallow and gag around him. “We can make it an extra long camshow… Maybe a pay-per-view situation. They can watch you squirm and cum all night long while I keep a vibrator pressed against your clit until your cute body is trembling.”

Your eyes roll to the back of your head even if Seungcheol can’t see it and you moan around his cock when you feel him throbbing in your mouth.

The sound of donations and comments is all you can go off of with your back towards the camera and your vision taken away; noting that the viewers must’ve liked the idea.

j__min has donated $150

j__min: popping in to say if u need help buying ropes, i know a guy ;)

alphagyu97: wait is this rly happening

alphagyu97: i’ll clear my schedule gentleman_josh95: yea same

xcaliburDK: i just started a new job i cant have any sick days plz… at least reupload it for me 😭😭

Seungcheol smirks when he reads that particular comment; fingertips massaging your skull when he hears you whining. “I know, baby. You wanna be fucked, huh? It isn’t nice being teased, right? So now you know how I feel~” In a blink of an eye, ‘xcaliburDK’s comment is buried and Seungcheol is thankful that you didn’t see it. He’d just have to keep it a secret for now while he played along and listened to what else Seokmin had to say about his so-called ‘girlfriend’.

You rub your thighs together; already feeling the slickness on them from how wet you already were and how long you’d been teasing and sucking his cock.

“Fuck, I could cum down your pretty ‘lil throat and then make you work for my cock. Drag your punishment out even longer than your viewers would see.” You moan around his cock in response and Seungcheol can only take it as a whiny ‘no’ before he’s pulling you off of him by the hair; soft sputters and coughs spilling from your wet lips as you catch your breath.

“But I think you’ve earned your orgasm, hmm? What do you say, princess?”

Your throat feels hoarse and your body feel obscenely hot at the way Seungcheol doesn’t seem to want to take off your restraints just yet. “Y-yes, daddy I--I want to c-cum… pl--please.”

tangerine_kwan: ahhh shes so cute

tangerine_kwan: petition for baby pink ties next time i think they suit her

sleepy_wonu: if that shibari show is happening, yes

“We’ll talk about it later, although I don’t think she’ll be opposed to it~” You furrow your brows; wondering what Seungcheok was referring to. 

You’d ask later.

“D-daddy…?”

Seungcheol tugs you slightly by your hair, urging you up as you slowly stand on shaky legs. You let him take the reins as he unties your arms and repositions you until you’re bent over the edge of the bed; left leg folded atop the bedsheets while your right leg keeps you upright. He keeps your blindfold on but lets you keep your arms loose; which you find out fairly quickly, is for good reason.

The buzzing of the vibrator makes you bite your bottom lip and soon enough, Seungcheol places the toy in your clammy hand.

“You’re gonna slide your hand under your body and keep that vibrator pressed against your clit while I fuck you. And you’re not allowed to cum unless I say so. Am I understood, baby?” You feel Seungcheol teasing you as he slides his cock through your soaking folds before circling the tip around your entrance.

“I expect a response when I ask you a question, sweetheart.”

“Y--yes, daddy, I--ah!”

Seungcheol grins as he slides his cock into your tight cunt; watching as you slowly sandwich your arm between your body and the bed sheets to place the vibrator against your clit. You cry out, a mess of sharp whines and jumbled words spilling off your lips with the combination of Seungcheol’s thrusts and the vibrations on your clit.

“Ngh, d--daddy! Fuck me m-more!”

Your other hand digs into the sheets, fingers tight around the fabric as Seungcheol fucks you from behind. He knows your body like the back of his hand and he quickly already has you on the verge of an orgasm despite only having started fucking you, moments prior.

“Don’t cum, princess~” Teasingly, he alternates from quick snaps of his hips that have his cock slamming into your g-spot to slow thrusts that have you remembering every groove and vein of his cock when he pulls out. And when he fucks you like this, it’s easy to forget the camera was even on and that people were watching; if not for the constant pinging of comments and donations that mix in with your moans, Seungcheol’s harsh breaths and the sound of the vibrator against your clit.

hoshi_tiger_xx: hmm but shes obv being punished and we all kno good girls dont get creampies

therealchan99: ur right,,, where should he cum then?

kitty_junjun: my votes on her tits

kitty_junjun has donated $75

sleepy_wonu: maybe all over her back and then post the pics in the private room

xcaliburDK: or raffle them!! I want them

chwenon: ooo cum in her mouth but dont let her swallow

chwenon: then u can raffle those pics or sth

Neither you nor Seungcheol are even paying attention to the comments that fly past on the screen and the only thing Seungcheol even turns slightly for, is to check to make sure he’s still properly out of frame.

He can already feel you tightening up around him and with the vibrator on your clit, he knows for a fact you won’t last much longer before you’re cumming.

“Hmm, princess, I can feel you getting so tight around me. Bet you wanna cum already, huh?”

“D-daddy, I dunno, ah, how--how much longer I can h-hold off…” You mumble; already feeling the tension in your body ready to snap at any second.

“Be a good girl. I said you earned your orgasm but you need to be patient.” You nod to the best of your ability; head feeling heavy and fuzzy as you try to stave off your orgasm for a little longer. “Y--yes, daddy…” He slows down his thrusts in order to help you a little and the soft praises that fall from his lips have the warmth blooming in your chest.

But it doesn’t last long because despite Seungcheol’s valiant efforts, you’re already too close to cumming to stop yourself when you feel the pressure building up too fast.

“Oh, d-daddy, I---I can’t, I---I can’t, I have, ah, to---to c-cum! Fuh--fuck, ‘m s--sorry!”

Seungcheol can’t even manage a word in before he feels his cock being forced out of your pussy and the wetness that squirts all over his cock and lower half. Loud cries and whines are all you can manage in the thrums of pleasure and the grip you have on the vibrator only tightens as you grind against the toy to ride out your high.

Seungcheol takes the time to wrap a hand around his cock as he strokes himself; body turned halfway towards the laptop to see what everyone was saying.

hoshi_tiger_xx: uh ohhh pretty baby came without permission

hoshi_tiger_xx has donated $50

hoshi_tiger_xx: donation for squirting tho

alphagyu97: ugh look at her cute lil hole begging to be filled up

angelhan: bet she’s feeling empty rn huh

Your soft mewls have Seungcheol turning back to face you; eyes trained on your twitching body when the pleasure starts to ebb away and the overstimulation from the vibrator starts to bite. “Daddy… the---the, mmh, toy…”

“You can turn it off, sweetheart.” His tone is clipped and you already know you’re in for it once you manage to find the switch on the silicone toy. You turn it off and slide your hand from underneath you; palms flat against the sheets as you sniffle.

“I--I’m really s-sorry, I--I couldn’t--”

“I want you on your knees again, princess.”

Nodding shakily, you ease your bent leg down as you maneuver yourself onto your knees; hands already searching for Seungcheol before you hear his small ‘ah, ah, ah’s.  “Hands behind your back and tongue out, baby.” You follow his orders as you clasp your hands behind your back and diligently open your mouth and stick your tongue out as far as you can.

He brings his cock towards your face, tapping his cock head against your tongue before he starts to jerk himself off over your mouth and face. “I gotta hand it to you, princess. At least you apologized.” Seungcheol laughs under his breath, “But next time though? I won’t even let you have my cock.”

You whimper in return, brows furrowed under the silk tie.

“Fuck, ‘m gonna cum all over this pretty face.” His grip on his cock tightens and he thrusts into his palm quicker as he chases his high. “Don’t worry. I’ll take pretty pictures of your cum stained face.”

Seungcheol groans as he feels the coil in his body snapping and not a second later do you feel warm rivulets of cum hitting your cheeks and your tongue. Some of it manages to catch on the silk tie as you moan. The donations and comments pour in like water as Seungcheol continues to cover your face in cum and for the umpteeth time, you’re reassured that this was a path that worked out for you.

It was so silly that you’d thought of quitting camming earlier. 

Although, you never brought it up to Seungcheol.

In actuality, there were quite a few things that you’d never brought up to Seungcheol.

“Fuck…” He mutters from above you and it’s enough to bring you out of your thoughts as you hold still. Seungcheol takes the hint, using a sticky cum covered hand to reach for his phone to snap pictures of you; he’d just clean it up later.

“Say cheese~” He laughs, taking a couple photos before tossing his phone onto the bed as you draw your tongue back into your mouth and swallow down the warm salty substance that managed to hit your tongue.

Seungcheol helps you up from the floor, pouting when he sees how red your knees have gotten. “Hmm, think I need to take care of my princess after this.” He helps take your blindfold off and you’re quick to blink the fogginess away as  you try to focus on Seungcheol’s face before peering over to the laptop’s screen.

Your cheeks burn hot at the cum that still stains your cheeks when you see  yourself but the comments that flood in calling you pretty make you giggle.

“Ooookay. I think daddy is gonna get all cleaned up and I’ll wrap up here?” You check in with Seungcheol, who shoots you a nod and a small thumbs up before slinking completely out of the camera’s view.

“Okay guys, now what were you all talking about while I was on my knees?”

You get out of the shower feeling refreshed; tossing on a loose shirt before skipping out of the bathroom.

Seungcheol is cozied up on the sofa, waiting on the food that the two of you had ordered right after you ended your show. “‘Cheollie~” He turns to you as you plop down next to him and he’s quick to wrap an arm around your shoulders as he tugs you into his side.

“Feeling better?”

“Mmhmm~ A ‘lil sleepy but I can go for that food and then sleep.”

The two of you share a laugh, eyes focused on the movie that plays on the TV. “Say…” You start, “Someone asked a good question in the comments after you stepped out.” You gulp; palms a little clammy.

You just had to know.

“Yeah? Was it about the shibari camshow again?”

“No, actually…” You take a deep breath, telling yourself it’d be okay regardless of what he said.

“Seungcheol, am I your girlfriend?”

[imagines-r-s]

sticking it

chapter 9 

a/n: idk why this chapter took so long, but here it is. for reference - in gymnastics, US Championships are the last meet before Olympic Trials, they’re a two day competition. any feedback is welcome. i’m kinda upset that this series (or at least this part) is almost done, but there is more to come with this series i promise. also had to repost bc it wasn’t showing up in the tags 

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior @itsurgirlgracie @heartshapedkissxs @lwstuff @handwrittenheroes

warnings: uh, i don’t think there’s anything, but if i miss something just let me know (the jamie mentioned is jamie oleksiak, not j b*nn)

sticking it masterlist

wc: 5.8

(not my gif)

“Are you sure that you have everything?” Joel asked for the twentieth time in the past hour, “we can run back to yours if you need anything else”

“I feel like you’re just trying to get me to stay with you longer,” you said, skeptically.

“Is it working?”

“No, Bee, I have to leave at some point,”  you said, putting another bag of yours in his car,”I won’t be gone long.”

“Yeah, but you’ll be closer to the Stars and that has me worried,” he said, causing you to chuckle. 

“You worried about Seggy? Or Roope? Or Big Rig? Or Mi-”

“Okay, I get it.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, I love you and only you, shawty. Besides, I can only tolerate Texas weather for so long,” you said, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

“I love you, too, shawty,” he paused,”Wait,- that was rude.”

After packing the last of your bags into the car, you made your way to the airport to meet Marcus and Michelle. Once you arrived at the airport, Joel parked the car before the two of you headed into the airport. The four of you caught up for a while before Marcus suggested giving you and Joel time to say goodbye. 

“Is this how it feels when me and the guys leave for the road?” Joel asked, softly. 

“Yeah,” you said, smiling sadly. 

“Well, good thing I’m the one on the road all the time, I mean, I don’t like leaving you, but when I’m leaving it’s a different feeling, you know.”

“Well glad it makes you happy, buddy.”

“Did you just buddy me?” Joel asked, incredulously. 

“Did I?” you asked, laughing as Joel gasped in shock.

“Wow, I see how it is. I’ll remember that.”

“Go ahead, babe. Remember it however you want,” you paused when you saw the sad look on his face, reaching to hold his face in your hands, “hey, I’m only a text away, I might not be right here, but I will answer as soon as I can and we’ll facetime as much as you want these next few days.”

Joel nodded before looking up and seeing Marcus and Michelle headed your way, “we hate to cut this short, but we have to get going pretty soon.”

“I know I asked, but do you really have to go?”

“Yeah, Bee, I really have to go.”

“You better kick ass out there or else you’re just leaving for nothing,” he said, jokingly, “but honestly, I wish you the best of luck - I know you don’t need it, but I’ll say it anyway. Make sure to tell Nicole I said good luck and please make sure to wipe that smug look off Kathryn's face. Okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” you said, wrapping your arms around him as he pressed kiss to the top of your head. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too, but if you don’t go, the only thing you’ll be missing is your flight.”

“Wow, Bee, you are so funny.” 

“Well, one of us has to be the funny one in the relationship. Your mom jokes only get you so far far in life, babe,” he said, causing you to elbow him in the stomach. 

“I’m leaving now. I love you and I will text you when I land,” you leaned up for a quick goodbye kiss before grabbing your carry-on bag and heading to your gate. You avoided looking back, knowing that if you did, both of you wouldn’t let the other leave. 

“I think you chose a good one,” Marcus said once the three of you had sat down. 

“What?” you asked, shocked. 

“Joel. He seems like a good guy. He clearly cares about you and I can see that you care a lot about him, too. He clearly makes you happy,” Marcus added. 

Heat rushed up your face, to which you simply looked out the window, “yeah, he’s a good guy.”

“A cute one, too,” Michelle interrupted. 

“Yes, that too. But Michelle, you better lay off,” the three of you laughed as the flight attendants started to announce the safety procedures for your flight. The three of you did your own thing the rest of the flight: Marcus planning out how podium training would go, Michelle analyzing your routines, and you sleeping.

“Alright, so as soon as we land, we get luggage and go to our hotel. There is a small media event tomorrow morning before podium training, then podium training, then probably some more media. You will have the rest of the night to do whatever, I know you’ll probably go see your Dallas friends and that’s fine, just make it back in time. Then, Friday is the first day of competition, Saturday is the second day, then we have some free time Sunday,” Marcus read off to you, even with you half asleep. 

“Sounds lovely,” you grumbled. 

…..

“So, y/n, with your injury being a top priority, how different have practices been since you are still somewhat in recovery?” one of the journalists asked. You had stayed prepared for a multitude of questions having to do with your injury, so this question had an easy response.

“I would say, it’s definitely a totally new experience. I’ve had to tailor my focus to other aspects of this sport since the start of my recovery, whether that be drills, more conditioning, or changing up my routines. My team and I definitely have figured out what things work and what doesn’t and we continue to learn as I continue training,” you answered, swiftly. 

“Now obviously, you were the highest scorer in most of your competitions, even before your injury, how has competition changed for you? And what has inspired you to train harder?” another journalist asked. 

“I have to say, competition is slightly more nerve-wracking than before. I mean getting injured at a major competition definitely changes perspective for all aspects of it. I feel that I have to be more cautious when performing, whereas before I would just go with the motions. Something that’s inspired me has been that my competitors have continued training, I have a fair amount of competition - all of which are excellent athletes - which has helped motivate me a lot, but I also have an amazing support system back home who have made sure to give me that extra motivation when I need it,” you smiled. 

“Now, having to deal with that support system at home, who and how have they influenced your decisions of your journey through recovery?” which was the first question that made you smile. 

“Well first, a huge shoutout to my family, especially my cousin, Kevin. Without his support, I wouldn’t have ever tried to get back in the gym, he’s been there this whole time and I couldn’t be more grateful. Um, my coaches were so supportive of my comeback; my physical trainor, Adrian, who told me all the doctors were wrong and gave me the reality checks I needed; the whole Philadelphia Flyers roster and their families cheered me on the whole time, especially my boyfriend, Joel Farabee. My friends, my teammates, all of them pushed me where I needed to be,” you said, gratefully. 

“Thank you for your time, y/n. We wish you the best of luck this weekend,” the main announcer said to you before you went off to podium training. 

Marcus and Michelle had both told you only to warm up simplified versions of your routine, so that you could bring shock factor when you were actually performing. You had upgraded almost all of your tumbling back to where it was before injury, but no one needed to know that besides you and those in your gym. Podium training had gone very well, better than you had anticipated, so you were looking forward to how championships would go. 

As you packed up your gym bag and grabbed your phone, you saw all the messages you had from the Flyers group chat you had somehow found your way to. 

Bee: did you guys see that too?

Tiki Bar: if we are talking about the same thing, i think we did.

Patti Lapone: did she actually say nice things about us?

Kev: i really think the texas heat is getting to her already

G: she’s probably just feeling under the weather about competition, otherwise we might want to check if she is okay

Scotty: i think i misheard or i got hit in the head and didn’t realize it

Frosty: hell has frozen over

Bee: haha. frost. frozen. get it

Tiki Bar: beezer. 

G: i’ll make you do laps if you make another frost joke

Laughing at the texts in the group chat in reaction to your interview, you simply typed up a simple response: this is what i get when i’m nice, now you know why i’m not like this all the time. 

Luckily for you, you didn’t have to do any media after podium training, so you were able to leave whenever you wanted to. After checking with Marcus and Michelle, you made sure it was alright that you went off to go see Tyler and the rest of the guys. Assuming that they would be at practice, after changing out of your leo, you took the drive to the Stars practice facility.

Having come to Fort Worth so much for gymnastics and Dallas for a few hockey games, you had run into some of the Stars roster on multiple occasions. By the third time you had ran into them, and this time ran into was a very literal statement, you had exchanged social medias and most of the roster kept an eye out for any updates in your gymnastics career. During your recovery, the whole team constantly asked for updates about how you were and how gymnastics was going. 

Once you parked, you quietly made your way inside - not wanting to interrupt the practice. There were a few officials walking around, but most either paid you no mind or recognized you from times before you had been here. Walking towards the rink, your eyes settled on the boys doing laps for the last part of practice. It wasn’t until most of the guys were only talking and about to get off the ice that they noticed you. 

Tyler was the first to notice you, smiling and waving towards you, which caused most of the team to follow where he was looking and notice you. As the team headed to the locker room to change, you simply waited on one of the benches for them.

“I feel like you only came all this way to see my dogs,” Tyler said, making his way towards you. 

“No, I would never do such a thing, I obviously came here to say hi to you,” you stood up to give him a hug. 

“Mhm, whatever you say. Didn’t you have podium training today? How’d it go?”

“Well, it went pretty well actually. I did a few of my dismounts, but kept most of my landings safe just to be careful. But other than that everything went well.”

“As long as you kick ass tomorrow, I’m fine,” he said, honestly, “do you have anything else to do for the rest of the day or did you just come to say hi?”

“Well, I have no plans for the rest of the day, but I don’t want to intrude on any team plans.”

“You know you would never be intruding on anything with us, even if you are dating a Flyer,” Jamie O said from behind you. 

“God, Jamie, what the fuck? Where’d you come from?”

“Your mom’s house,” he said, earning a fist bump from Tyler. 

“I can’t even be upset, that was a good one,” you smiled as Jamie hugged you,”and don’t bring Joel into this.”

“My condolences.”

“Condolences? No one died?” you questioned.

“You are dating someone that plays for the Flyers,” Tyler said. 

“Damn, that’s harsh,” you replied. 

“Anyways, moving on. Me and a few other guys were coming over to mine for lunch and to hangout, if you want to come you are welcome to,” Tyler said to which you simply nodded. 

“Is that who I think it is?” another familiar voice rang out, causing you to whip your head around to see Roope and Jake heading your way. 

“Well, if you thought it was me, then you would be correct, my friend,” you retaliated. 

“I’m surprised they let you in here, considering you are dating a Flyer,” Otter said, jokingly. 

“Quit bringing the fact that I’m dating Bee into the conversation.”

“At least Nicole is in the safe zone,” Roope said, causing your eyes to widen, “y/n. What was that?”

“What was what?” you questioned as Roope simply narrowed his eyes.

“You did the thing.”

“What are you talking about, bestie?” 

“Oh, you have a habit of your face changing when you know something that will ruin the whole perspective or something or if you know a secret that will change the entire story. Very entertaining and concerning that you didn’t know,” Tyler added. 

“Um, well, didn’t expect to be psychoanalyzed by a bunch of hockey players today, but here we are.”

“Ok, I think we should head to mine and then, we can continue psychoanalyzing you,” Tyler suggested to which you all agreed. Roope, who had gotten a ride from Tyler in the morning, immediately hopped into your car as soon as you unlocked it. 

“What’s up with Nicole?” he asked as soon as you started driving. 

“What happened to hello? How are you?” you joked. 

“Listen, I’m asking now because I don’t want to talk about this with the guys there. But what did you mean?” he said, causing you to take a deep breath. It wasn’t like Roope and Nicole were ever together, but it was always an unspoken fling of sorts, that they never made official. 

“Look,-”

“Please, just tell me what’s happening,” he pleaded.

“Nicole and Nolan are sort of together,” you rushed out, causing a moment of silence to break out. You didn’t know what to expect as a reaction, considering they weren’t official and hadn’t really talked since the last time you and her were in Texas.

“Is she happy?” 

“Yeah, she’s happy.”

“Okay, that’s all I care about,” he said simply, which made your heart almost break for one of your closest friends. 

…..

Being able to spend time with some of your close friends that you hadn’t seen in a while was just what you needed to destress about championships. Maybe an intense game of uno with five of the most competitive people was exactly what some might call a destressor, but here you were. 

Tyler threw down his cards as he stood up dramatically, “no, because there is no way that a.) she already has an uno and that b.) all of you used your draw two cards against me.”

“Don’t be upset, Ty, that’s just how the game of uno is sometimes,” you replied, hiding a laugh. 

“Oh, shut up. I think you guys cheated,” Tyler accused. 

“I think you just don’t know how to play uno,” Jamie mumbled.

“Oh, yeah, real funny. I think you all teamed up against me and Jake dealt that way on purpose.”

“And we all think, you just can’t accept a loss in uno,” Roope added. 

“Fine, let’s settle this like men,” Tyler grabbed all the cards, attempting to shuffle them before accepting he couldn’t shuffle and handing them over to you to shuffle, “I’m watching you.”

“Oh, wow, so scared,” quickly shuffling them, doing a little bit more than usual to get Tyler off your case, you handed them back to him, “there you go.”

Another final round of uno, which ended up with you and Roope head to head as far as who would win, while Tyler had ended up with at least 15 cards to which Jamie was the first to speak up, “I think we should end here before someone gets hurt.”

“No, no, we’re fine. It’s fine. y/n, take your turn,” he said, eyes narrowing as he watched from beside you. Even if it was your last card, you dropped the draw 4, which made Tyler draw more cards. 

“Damn, that sucks,” you said, hiding a laugh. 

“What was that, y/n?” Tyler said.

“I said, damn, that sucks,” you repeated, watching Tyler closely as he stood up quickly once again, before practically chasing you. “Tyler, it’s just uno. Stop chasing me.”

“Oh, wow, ‘damn, that sucks’” Tyler mocked. 

As the other three watched, Jamie just grabbed the bowl of popcorn as they watched their friends running around chasing each other. “I see why we don’t play uno much,” Jake said. 

“Yep. Exactly. But no one listened when I advised against it,” Jamie said, taking a drink of his beer. 

“Tyler, watch yourself,” you said, as he stood on the opposite side of the couch. He started running one way, as you ran the other to avoid him, but he quickly sidestepped and caught up to you. Practically throwing you over his shoulder, he made his way out to the pool, “Tyler, let’s not do anything crazy here.”

“Oh, you mean like hold a draw four card until the end of the game,” Tyler said, as he tossed you into the deep end of his pool. 

“Children. Literal children,” Roope said, shaking his head, going to grab you a towel. 

Rising up from the water and quickly moving the hair out of your face, you swam over to where Tyler was, “hey, can you help me out?”

“Nah, I’m not falling for that one,” he stated. 

“Seriously, I won’t do anything right now, I promise,” you said, as you saw him reach his arm out to which you quickly grabbed and stood out of the pool. Walking towards Roope, who had grabbed you a towel, you turned back around to see Tyler still walking near the pool. Using this to your advantage, you ran and pushed Tyler into the pool. “Sorry, bestie,” you said, running to get the towel from Roope and running back in the house. 

After getting changed into one of Tyler’s extra shirts he had lying around, you were just hanging out with the guys when a familiar contact flashed on the screen to FaceTime, Jake who was right next to you immediately noticed, “ooh, better go talk to your man, y/n.”

“Shut the literal fuck up,” you called back, standing up to go the kitchen for privacy. Answering, you noticed that Joel was at Nolan and Kevin’s apartment, “were you that lonely without me, babe?”

“No, well maybe, but I’m helping them set up for the watch party tomorrow,” Joel said, taking a seat at their kitchen island, “how’d podium training go?”

“It went really well actually, I didn’t work the 3.5 just so that way I have something over their heads, you know. But other than that, it was all good. How are things at home?”

“Well, I mean no one is dead, which is always good. Um, debated getting a dog, my mom called, I told her about you. Uh, already told you about the watch party. I don’t think anything else interesting happened,” he said, shrugging as if he hadn’t just mentioned bringing you up to his mom. 

“Wait, you told your mom about me?”

“Well, she does follow me on Instagram, so after seeing the post she texted me asking and then she asked while we were on the phone. She wished you good luck, by the way. She’s  also visiting here with my dad in a few weeks and I’d really love it if you would meet them,” he said, shyly.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, of course,” you rushed out, hoping you didn’t sound as nervous as you were. 

“That sounded very unsure.”

“No, it’s fine. I just have never been at the spot in a relationship where I meet the parents, I’m just nervous. I don’t want to mess it up.”

“Babe, my mom already loves you, she was getting on my case about not telling her, but she already thinks very highly of you and I definitely hyped you up a little bit. You have nothing to worry about,” he reassured you, which made you smile. 

“Hey, y/n/n,” Kevin yelled. 

“Hey, Kev.”

“You were very nice in your interview today, it had all of us worried,” Kevin said, which caused you to roll your eyes in response. 

“Hey, I can be nice sometimes.”

“On very rare occasions, yes,” Joel added. 

“Whatever.” As you talked a little while longer with the guys, eventually Roope and Tyler had come in to say hi to everyone as well, which had you dying laughing as both of them gave the ‘you hurt her, we fly to Philly and hurt you’ talk that almost everyone had given him. 

Telling Joel you would call him back whenever you made it back to your hotel, you stayed with the guys for another couple of hours before heading back to your hotel. Nicole had spent most of the day after podium training resting and had met you in the hotel lobby when you got back.  

“So,- “ she didn’t even have to finish her sentence before you knew what she was saying. 

“Roope is doing good, he said he hopes things are going well,” you said, watching as a small smile crept up her face. 

“Well, good to know. Did you know KD is also staying at this hotel?”

“Well, considering this is the host hotel and most competitors are here, I am not all that shocked.”

“Yeah, but you probably didn’t know she’s legit a few rooms away from us, did ya?”

“No, guess not,” you said, “how’d you find that one out?”

“Well, let me set the scene for you. I go to get ice and then I hear her talking with, uh, whatever her name is, Callie or Carly, it starts with a C. Anyways, they were talking about you and me and how our skills have been less than recently and all this stuff about you not catching up to where you were - which I found so fucking funny because who has won gold at the past few meets? Not her. Anyways, all is fair in the sport of gymnastics, but I’m just excited to see her reaction to you doing the 3.5.”

“Damn, no pressure there, Nic.”

“Okay, but the thing is, you have the skill,” Nicole said, as you got into the elevator. “You have it down. It’s all up here, in your cranium,” she said, pointing to your head. 

“Alright, let’s just go to bed now,” you said, slowly removing her hand and opening the door to your hotel room. 

…..

“Hello everyone and welcome to Day One of the 2021 US Gymnastics Championships. We are very excited to see how today’s competition goes as this competition will decide who makes it onto the National Team and who will qualify for Olympic Trials,” Joel heard the announcer say as he made his way to sit with everyone in the living room. 

“Did you talk to her this morning?” Claude asked from beside him. 

“Yeah, usual pre-comp anxieties. Nolan talked to her and Nicole to give the usual pep talk and then we talked for a while on their way to the arena,” Joel answered, looking back to the TV to see you prepping for bars, “she said podium training went well, but Kathryn was talking shit, so all I know is she better kick her ass.”

“You know she will, it happens everytime. She gets in her head and still does amazing, just a casual Tuesday,” Scott added. 

“It’s not Tuesday?” Travis questioned.

“Yes, I know,” Scott said, confusing everyone. 

“Alright, moving on,” Joel reiterated. 

“And starting on bars, we have y/n y/l/n. Now if you remember, less than a year ago, y/n was injured at another competition doing a beam dismount that she might be competing in today’s competition. She is definitely one to watch as she has a reputation of scoring high in these meets, before and after her return. Her teammate, Nicole Carter, will be following up.”

Joel watched as you stepped away from the chalk box to start your routine, he watched intently as you jumped from the springboard to reach the high bar. He watched intently as you went through your routine. Release skills. Giants. Pirouettes. More release skills. More giants. Dismount. Stuck landing. 

“A great start to Day 1 for y/n, who seems pretty proud of how that routine went,” the announcer said, “rotation two will be beam, where we might see that 3.5 twist, which is currently in the process of being named by Kathryn Davis, who was the first to compete it at a major competition. Now the question everyone is wondering is will we see this skill from y/n today?”

“She’s doing it. Fucking dumbass,” Joel grumbled at the announcer. 

“Damn, Beezer, tell them how you really feel,” Travis replied, as everyone else laughed at Joel’s behavior before watching Nicole compete. Nicole’s routine ended with a stuck landing, the camera following her as she made her way off the platform and hugged you before the two of you did your secret handshake.

Knowing the next event was beam, Joel waited as other competitors did their routines as you were warming up. He knew this moment would make or break how the rest of the meet went and with this only being your second event, it needed to go well. 

Everyone watched anxiously as you saluted the judges, shaking your hands out before you reached to mount the beam. You took a deep breath before actually starting your routine. Starting the beginning choreography, you kept your movements sharp and clean. All the skills in your routine were sharp - doing this so if the dismount didn’t go well, it hopefully wouldn’t affect your score too much. 

Joel had memorized your routines, knowing you were approaching your dismount, he saw your movements become slightly hesitant. Watching as you did a quick pivot on the beam to prep for the dismount, he watched you take a deep breath. 

“C’mon, babe. You got it,” he said, and by whatever power was listening he watched your lips twitch up to a smile as you started your dismount. Going for the round-off and starting the twists, you did the three and a half twists, opening up to find your landing, and stuck your dismount. Joel’s smile grew even more when he saw how happy you were with your routine.

The rest of Day 1 of Championships went well for both you and Nicole; the two of you ending in the first and place spot in all around, with Kathryn following close behind. After the competition, both of you had your media conferences before you made your way back to the hotel. As both of you checked your phone, you saw the multiple notifications from various social medias.

“Dude, did you see what Ryanne posted?” Nicole asked, a look on her face that you couldn’t easily recognize. 

“No, hold on,” you opened Instagram to see she had tagged you in multiple posts on her instagram story: starting off with a picture of all the guys wearing a jersey with your and Nicole’s name on it, a picture of all the guys watching warms ups intently, a video of Joel and Travis debating the name of a skill from Nicole’s routine (Travis was right), a video of Joel watching you do your beam routine and cheering you on right as you go for your dismount, and then a video of everyone cheering as you and Nicole as they announced the end of day 1.

…..

After falling asleep with Joel on FaceTime, you woke up to your 6am alarm to get ready for Day 2 of championship, Joel - who had told you he would wake up with you - was still sound asleep. Getting you and Nicole an apple from the lobby, you talked to a few of your competitors and a few fans before heading back to yours and Nicole’s room. 

“Wake up, bitch, it’s Day 2 of Championships,” you said, jumping to lay next to Nicole on her bed.

“Leave me to die here, I don’t want to go. USAG can suck a homeless man’s dick,” she mumbled into the pillow. 

“That’s truly something, wait til the media teams hear about that one,” you joked, only to get a glare sent your way. 

“You know what? You can suck on one, too,” she responded, pulling the blanket over her head. 

“Well at least, there's less competition,” to which she quickly peaked out of the blanket.

“Oh, you wish. We’re neck and neck this time, so we’ll see who gets bragging rights.”

“Well if you don’t get out of bed, then we’ll never know,” you said, to which she only sent a glare your way. 

“Do we really have to get up and compete today? Do you think we could petition to reschedule?”

“I mean, I’m sure if we talked to people, we’d get a lot of signatures, but I don’t think it would go over well,” you said, grabbing your garment bag that held your leo for today, “I’m going to go get ready because I know if we end up talking to Joel and Nolan first, we won’t be ready in time.”

After you got ready, both you and Nicole got your pep talk from Nolan and Bee. On the way to the arena, both of you got a bunch of good luck messages - not just from your friends and family, but also from teammates and even some from most of the Stars roster. You had a feeling in your gut that today would be a good day. 

….. 

“Alright folks, Day 2 of Championships have been off to a great start and are about to come to a close. With Nicole Carter in first with a 57.605 All-Around score and Kathryn Davis in second with a 57.1, Cassie Riley in third with a 56.2, it comes down to the final rotations. y/n y/l/n is one of the last to go on floor today, who will need a score of at least a 13.5 to get first,” the announcer said. 

“And compared to her average score, this will be easily attainable. If she scores at least a 14.5, she’ll be first overall for both days of competition. She already has a for sure spot at Trials, even when you don’t consider scores. As long as she is able to hit all elements of this routine, she’ll be fine,” another announcer said. 

“Ok, you’re good, you just have to hit this routine and there’s no doubt you’ll make it to where you want to be. Deep breaths, Twinkle Toes,” Marcus said. 

Walking up the platform to get up to the floor, you took your spot at the edge of the floor, ready to salute the judge, and get the last meet of championships out of the way. After anxiously waiting, the judge finally saluted. Entering the floor with a determined walk, you took your spot waiting for the familiar sound of your floor music to ring out.

That familiar feeling of doing the sport you loved, once again, rushed through your veins. Block everything out and complete the routine, that’s all you had to do. Going to your starting pose, the music started. Going through the familiar motions of your routine, you stuck your first tumbling pass. Then came the leaps and jump sequence and all that was in between, with the additional three tumbling passes. 

You didn’t give yourself a chance to overthink about your routine, you knew that it wouldn’t benefit you in any way, but as you stepped off the floor you knew that you did what you could. As soon as you made it back to where Marcus and Nicole were sitting, you waited to see what your score was. 

Joel and everyone watching at home watched as you sat down to see what your score was. He had this dopey grin gracing his features from the amount of pride he felt in that moment. He didn’t care what your score was, he knew you had put whatever you could out on the mat. He listened to Travis for a moment until the announcer started up again for scores and awards, “and y/n y/l/n pulled through with the score that she needed, a 14.9 on floor. She placed first in All-Around, Carter following right behind, and Davis in third. If all goes this well at trials, I’d say we have a lot of good representation for the Olympic Games.”

…..

After the meet and countless amount of interviews both you and Nicole were extremely worn out and had both passed out on the flight back. As you and Nicole stepped out of the terminal, you were met with the familiar faces of your friends and family. You smiled as you saw Bee for the first time in a few days and despite how tired you were, you couldn’t stop yourself from running to him. 

He immediately caught you and did the cliche spin (the one you swore you would never do) before pulling you into a regular hug, “I’m so proud of you, babe. You have no idea.”

“Thank you. I surprisingly missed you,” you joked, laughing harder when Joel pulled you away slightly to catch a glimpse of your face. 

“Wow, aren’t I glad I was blessed with such a nice girlfriend? It’s crazy.”

“Absolutely insane.”

“Preposterous.”

“Can the two of you shut the fuck up?” Kevin asked, coming over to give you a hug, “you did good out there, y/n/n. You also kept all your bones intact, I’m proud.”

“Shut the fuck up, Kev.”

“Okay, aside from you getting onto Kev and Bee, I missed you, too,” Karly said from beside Travis. 

“I kinda did, too. You did amazing though, y/n/n. I’m proud,” Travis said. 

“Thank you, thank you. All in a hard day's work,” you said, shrugging. 

“Dude, you might want to go back to Beezer, he looks like a lost puppy watching you talk to us,” Travis pointed out, nodding in Joel’s direction who smiled when you caught his eye. 

“Yeah, not a shocking development,” you said, before walking back in Joel’s direction, “hey, Bee.”

“Hey, honey,” he said, wrapping his arms around you again, “you ready to go home?”

“Yeah, of course,” you leaned up to kiss his cheek. 

“Ew, guys. Get a room,” Kevin called out, fake gagging. 

[ghstandpucks]

Cutting Edge ~ Nathan MacKinnon Ch. 8

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well! I’m sorry this chapter took so long, but I hope you all like it! After school is done for the semester I will have time to update more frequently! This chapter kind of just feels out their relationship, setting up for the final chapters to come! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate! Be safe and stay healthy!

Prologue Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7

  Monday afternoon found Nate and yourself at the rink after practice was over. The two of you had spent a lazy Sunday together, working out how this relationship was going to work. You both decided to keep it quiet, seeing as neither of you were fond of the media to begin with. Also, you did not think it would look good for you and the program if word got out. The two of you wanted to enjoy the fun that’s supposed to come with the beginning of a relationship and not feel pressured by outside sources. You also decided that the team would find out as they found out, agreeing that it would help to have people on your side if word were to get out to the public.

All of this didn’t matter though as at the moment Nate had picked you up to move you to the side as he shot a puck into the net. “Not fair!” you yelled, laughing as Nate skated back over to you, kissing your forehead with a smirk. “That has to be a foul.”

           “A foul?” Nate questioned you.

           “A flag?” you questioned as he shook his head and chuckled. He was about to correct you when you jumped in. “Oh wait, a penalty! Yup! That has to be a penalty!”

           “Come on Coach, you really should know the terminology better by now,” he grinned, snaking his arms around your waist.

           “Guess you’ll have to do a better job at teaching me,” you smiled up at him, wrapping your hand that was not holding a hockey stick around the back of Nate’s neck.

           “Is that so?” he questioned, leaning in. You nodded your head as he kissed you. You were thankful for your toe picks in that moment, allowing you stand on your tip toes without taking the both of you out. Nate held you tight to him as he deepened the kiss, and you were about to let go of your stick when someone cleared their throat. The both of you jumped away from each other like shrapnel, looking over to see who caught you. Gabe stood at the edge of the rink with his arms crossed.

           “If the two of you are trying to keep this a secret, maybe don’t make out in an open space,” he said, then grinned at you and Nate. He couldn’t help it; he honestly liked the thought of the both of you together. That and both you and Nate were bright red with embarrassment of being caught. “Are you trying to keep this a secret?”

           “I think more just quiet,” you said softly, looking over at Nate. He nodded in agreement.

           “We don’t plan on telling anyone. Just if they find out, then they find out,” Nate clarified for you. Gabe nodded.

           “I won’t say anything. Besides to Mel that is. But seriously guys, hide better if you don’t really want word out about this. I know he’s concerned about your program Coach, so I’m assuming you are too,” Gabe said matter of fact. It was your turn to nod. Nate grabbed your hand and started to skate over to Gabe.

           “Thanks man,” he said once you got closer. Gabe smiled, looking between the two of you.

           “Of course. I’m happy for the both of you. But he better not get any special treatment Coach, or I will call you out,” he tried to act seriously, but you could see the amusement all over his face.

           “Oh please, he’s the only one I’ve made skate extra laps before,” you giggled, bumping your hip into Nate’s, which was more of his thigh at your height difference.

           “I’m going to hold you to that,” Gabe chuckled, and you dramatically saluted him. “I’ll see you tomorrow guys.” After he left, the two of you decided it was time to leave also.

           “Maybe we should be a little more discrete,” you said as you were taking your skates off.

           “I didn’t think anyone else was here. I definitely didn’t think of anyone coming back in,” Nate said, cleaning the ice off of his.

           “It’ll be fine right, if word gets out that we’re dating?” you asked, and Nate could tell you were beginning to overthink. He placed his hand on top of yours and gave it a slight squeeze.

           “We’ll be just fine Y/N. And I’ll be right there beside you,” Nate reassured you and you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your lips. “But, we probably should be a little more aware of our surroundings. So, lunch at your place or mine?”

~ ~ ~

           Later that month the team had just arrived back in Denver after a week-long road trip. You had been more careful in your relationship with Nate, texting more on the road instead of sitting next to each other. Finally being back home though gave you two the privacy you wanted. You were currently sitting crossed legged in the middle of Nate’s bed as he unpacked his clothes, having stolen one of his Avs’ hoodies. After arriving back home, Nate had asked you to come over instead of going home first, as he figured you would pass out the second you hit the couch, or bed in this instance. “Can we take a nap?” you lazily watched him bustle around his room. It wasn’t the first time you had been over, but it was the first time you had been this comfortable. As soon as you had walked through the door of his apartment you changed into a pair of leggings and stole his sweatshirt, the chill of the vacant place getting to you. Nate was about to give you a hard time, until he looked at you and it seemed like his world stopped. He loved seeing you dressed up for games and then skating at the rink, but now he thinks that this is his favorite look on you. He walked over to you and placed a kiss on your forehead, laughing as you gave him your best puppy dog eyes.

           “Aren’t you hungry?” he asked, as you had been complaining about how your stomach was starting to ‘eat itself’ as you put it.

           “Cuddles first, then food.” You responded as Nate sat on the bed and tackled you down, causing you to giggle.

           “You’re so demanding,” he mumbled, tracing the 29 that was on your shoulder.

           “All part of my charm,” you stated, snuggling into his chest as Nate chuckled. Nate started to tell you about the Mile High Dream Gala coming up as you slowly drifted off, feeling warm and content in his arms.

           About an hour later, a phone ringing woke you up. You cuddled into Nate’s side, one of his arms under you and resting on your hip as the other held your hand that was resting on his chest. You grumbled, rolling over as Nate answered his phone. You could hear Andre on the other end. As you started to drift off again, you had the sudden urge to sneeze…and it came out much louder than you anticipated. You stifled a giggle as Nate absentmindedly said “bless you.” Andre must have asked who he was talking to because the next words out of Nate’s mouth were, “Y/N just sneezed,” and both of your eyes went wide. Time to put Andre on the list of people who knew. Nate told him the two of you were keeping it quiet, and he seemed to understand from the look on Nate’s face. Once Nate hung up, you sat up and started to scoot yourself off the bed. “Where are you going?” Nate mumbled, grabbing the fabric at the back of your stolen sweatshirt.

           “I was going to go get those take out menus you have so we could order dinner,” you stated, falling back onto the bed and smiling up at Nate as he trapped you beneath him.

           “Five more minutes,” he whispered, kissing you softly then moving to kiss your neck.

           “Five more minutes,” you hummed.

~ ~ ~

           A week later the Gala had arrived and you were finishing putting on your earrings, staring at the dress Mel had helped you picked out in the mirror. When you told her that you weren’t sure what to wear, she had picked you up and took you shopping. You ended up with a deep blue floor length dress with a slit up the side. Slipping on your nude heels, your phone went off with a text from Mel saying that her and Gabe were there to pick you up. While Mel was gushing about how adorable she thought you and Nate were, you admitted that you didn’t think arriving with him to the Gala would be a good idea. She told you not to worry, then called you the next day to tell you that her and Gabe would pick you up, then have to leave before you and secure you a “ride home” with Nate. You laughed at her scheming, but were also grateful to have someone like Mel on your side.

           “You look amazing!” Mel said as you hopped into the back seat.

           “Thanks! So do you!” you smiled back at her. “Thanks for the ride you guys.”

           “No problem Coach. You do look very nice,” Gabe complimented you, shooting you a smile through the mirror. You thanked him and talked with them the rest of the way to the Gala. Once you were there and about to walk in, Gabe offered you his elbow to hold on to as Mel was at his other side.

           “Are you trying to have two hot dates?” Mel teased her husband as you placed your hand in the crook of his arm.

           “I mean, who doesn’t?” Gabe chuckled. “But I think someone might fight me for this one…” he tilted his head toward you. “…so I guess I’ll stick with you,” he kissed Mel on her cheek and you couldn’t help but smile at the happy couple. Upon entering the hall, the smell of wonderful appetizers filled your nose and chatter filled the air. Looking to the left, Bednar was the first to spot your little group arriving and made his way over, introducing you to his wife. As you exchanged pleasantries, you felt a presence stand next to you and smiled wider as you looked over at Nate. He was in a grey suit that fit him perfectly, and it took everything in you to not wrap your arms around him. His tie was blue, and you laughed at the unintentional match. You hadn’t shown him your dress, or told him the color for that matter because you liked keeping things a surprise every once in a while.

           “MacKinnon, you didn’t bring anyone?” Bednar asked, shaking Nate’s hand.

           “No sir,” he responded with a soft smile.

           “Take this one. Two dates are a handful,” Gabe nudged you into Nate as Mel smacked his arm playfully.

           “Rude,” you laughed, hoping you weren’t blushing too much in front of Bednar. But if Bednar noticed anything, he didn’t say and just chuckled.

           “We have a table Y/N. But if you’d rather sit with them you are more than welcomed to. I know you’ve become friends with some of the players,” Bednar said, motioning to the Landeskog’s and Nate. You opened your mouth to say something that still made your relationship with everyone seem professional, but he cut you off. “Which is a good thing. They trust you more that way. And I trust whatever relations you have you are using your best judgment.” Bednar smiled at you as you nodded.

           “Of course,” was all you could say as Bednar took his leave. You turned to Nate, slightly uneasy. “Does he know?” you whispered.

           “I didn’t think so,” Nate said, looking at where his coach had walked off to. When he turned back to you, he grinned. “You look beautiful.” You ducked your head as you felt your cheeks heat up.

           “Thank you. You clean up nicely as well,” you responded as Nate offered you his arm to walk you over to the table Gabe and Mel had set up at. Mel eyed you as you approached.

           “You guys are disgustingly cute. I can’t with either of you,” she said.

           “I think Bednar knows something,” you said as you sat next to her, Nate sitting on your other side.

           “What did he say?” she questioned you.

           “He said he knew I was becoming friends with the team and that he trusts I am using my best judgment,” you filled her in. Gabe chuckled and you quirked an eyebrow at him.

           “You guys don’t realize it but you kind of gravitate toward each other at practice. It’s not anything too noticeable, but if you are paying attention you can see that at the least the two of you are comfortable in each other’s presence.” Gabe filled you in. You turned to look at Nate and he just shrugged.

           “That’s not a bad thing,” he said, and you agreed. At least Bednar didn’t seem upset by it. As the night continued you had been introduced to many new people and had answered many questions about why integrating figure skating into hockey was useful. You found you way back to your table and sat down, your feet starting to hurt. No one said 3-inch heels was a good idea. You had also lost Nate somewhere in the sea of people. You were about to go looking when Andre slid into the seat next to you.

           “How’s it going Coach?” he asked.

           “Good, exhausting,” you laughed and he nodded in agreement.

           “Has Nate danced with you yet?” Andre questioned, motioning to the dance floor that had many couples dancing on it.

           “No,” you said. “We’re keeping quiet so I don’t think a dance would be good.”

           “It’s just a dance.” Andre said, standing up. “Come on Coach,” he offered you his hand.

           “Andre…” you started to protest but were cut off.

           “Come on. Live a bit Y/N! You look too nice to just be sitting here,” he argued. You rolled your eyes but took his hand and let him lead you to the dance floor. He put one hand on your waist as he held the other; your other hand resting on his shoulder. You were laughing at a stupid joke he made as he spun you around and into Nate. “Lovely dancing with you Coach,” he dramatically bowed, and you did a small curtsy to play along. Nate chuckled as he took the same position Andre had, but holding you closer to him. To anyone else it would look innocent enough, but the way his hand held firmly to your waist as he looked at you adoringly made your heart speed up slightly. Nate deftly tried to spin you, and you laughed as you came crashing back into him.

           “You’re a terrible lead MacKinnon,” you teased.

           “Maybe you just aren’t good at following,” he quipped back. You danced for the next few songs, noticing the evening was winding down. Walking back to the table, you both sat down as Mel and Gabe came over.

           “So, we’re going to go. Nate, can you give Y/N a ride home?” Mel smiled innocently. You tried not to laugh as Gabe sent a wink your way. Nate rolled his eyes but was smiling anyways.

           “Of course. If that’s ok with you,” Nate nudged you. You smiled back at him.

           “Good. Have a good night you guys,” Gabe said, leading Mel out of the room. After making your rounds to say goodbye, you walked out with Nate. He opened the door of his car for you, and held your hand as he started to drive. The two of you were lost in conversation about the night that you hadn’t realized he drove to his place and not yours.

           “Um” you said, looking over at him before you got out.

           “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I can take you home if you don’t want to stay,” Nate said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

           “It’s fine,” you said softly. Though the two of you fell asleep on your couch that first night when you got together, you hadn’t stayed at each other’s places since then. Quite frankly, you had always been so busy with skating that you had never actually spent the night with anyone. Nate was different though, and he made you feel safe. Even if you weren’t ready for that next step, you couldn’t deny that you wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. Finally the two of you were away from prying eyes and you could be yourselves. As you walked into his apartment and he locked the door, Nate grabbed your hand and pulled you back into him. He smiled down at you, dipping his head to bring his lips to yours. You let your arms wrap around his neck, and smiled brightly when he pulled away and rested his forehead against yours. Nate knew you didn’t have much experience with dating, and wasn’t looking to push you. He honestly just didn’t want to let you go for the night.

           “I’ve been waiting all night to do that,” he whispered and you giggled. “Have I told you that you look beautiful?”

           “Yes. But you can always tell me again,” you responded, laughing when Nate bent down and threw you over his shoulder. He walked to his room and tossed you unceremoniously on the bed. You started to take your heels off as he rustled through his drawers.  

           “Here,” he said, tossing some clothes onto the bed.

           “Hey, I’ve been looking for these!” you said as you grabbed the pair of leggings you thought you lost from traveling two weeks ago.

           “I think they fell out of your bag when you changed over here last time after we got back from the road trip. I just washed them with my stuff and kept them here for you,” Nate shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed to take his shoes off.

           “You kept my leggings?”

           “You stole my sweatshirt,” he chirped back, and you laughed. You did indeed take his sweatshirt home with you with no intentions of giving it back. Not that Nate actually minded. You couldn’t wear his jersey to the games like all the other girlfriends and wives, so he liked seeing you in something with his number on it. After changing into said leggings and one of Nate’s Avs shirts, you brushed your teeth with a tooth brush Nate claimed as yours from here on out. Then after washing the make up off your face, you crawled under the covers of Nate’s bed and waited for him to finish up. He came back into the room with just basketball shorts on, and you couldn’t help but stare at his toned body. “Like what you see?” he teased you.

           “Maybe a little,” you blushed at being caught. Nate laughed and got into bed next to you.

           “Is this alright? I can sleep on the couch if you want me to,” he said softly and you shook your head.

           “Stay here,” you whispered back, scooting up to kiss him. The kiss was soft this time, almost like a silent prayer, and you cuddled into him as he wrapped his arm around your waist.

           “This is going to work Y/N. Whether people know or not. We’re going to work this out,” Nate said as you pulled back, running his thumb over your cheek.

           “I really hope so,” you spoke, tucking your head under his chin and letting his strong heartbeat lull you to sleep.

Tags: @bqstqnbruin​ @avsfans95​ @andreiaafaria​ @gravygravygravy​ @comphybiscuit

[onlysarah235678]

A Little Bit Part 2

Pairing: Billie Dean Howard x female reader

A/N:  Here’s part two!  Thanks to those who read the first part, or are just joining! Enjoy! I start work again this week, but I’ll do my best to keep writing ❤.

Warnings:  Slight kitten angst? Gay panic and very brief harassment.

You hear from Billie Dean exactly two days later.

You’re actually at home since you worked the weekend, but you are just hanging out with your dog when the phone buzzed from the coffee table. You had just finished lunch and you were about to fall asleep when Milo’s head jerked up at the annoying sound. You sigh before leaving the comfort of the couch to see who it is. Hopefully it isn’t someone who needs anything from you because you had your Monday planned out already. You were staying at home for the rest of the day trying to relax for once. You might take a long walk with Milo later, but you weren’t so sure.

All thoughts of where to hike left your mind as you grab your phone and see you have a text from an unknown number. You don’t really get out much and only talk to a few friends, but all of their numbers are in your phone. It doesn’t even occur to you that it might be Billie. You honestly just thought she was being nice to you since she’d been super late to her appointment.

Despite the flirting smiles and curious looks she’d shot you during the appointment, you hadn’t wanted to think too much into it. You’d hate to get your hopes up for nothing.

What you were hoping for, well you weren’t going to admit that yet.

Once you managed to find the courage to actually look at what the message said—beyond her name of course, you took a deep breath and sat back on the couch.

Hi Y/N, it’s Billie Dean. Are you busy, sweetheart?

There the nickname was again. You ignored how reading it and of course imagining her saying it made you feel and decided to focus on the question she asked. You looked around your living room where the television was paused on a scene from The Blair Witch Project, and where Milo sat on the couch next to you, his giant paws on your leg. You shook your head muttering something under your breath about being silly before you typed out a quick response.

Not at all.

You contemplated typing more because you supposed you should ask if she needed something. However, once you saw she was already typing a response you had to stop yourself from throwing your phone. You shouldn’t be this flustered. Not by the prospect of answering questions about kittens. That’s all this was going to be. Of course it was. You were just helping -possible helping – a client. A beautiful and charming client.

Don’t be silly.

Billie Dean Howard had worked hard to get where she was. Her career was somewhere she wouldn’t have even dared to imagine just 10 years ago. She was an accomplished woman who used her gift to help people. It wasn’t always easy of course, but as she traveled to random, remote places around the world trying to guide stubborn lost souls, she knew she wouldn’t change a thing. She loved what she did, and she liked to think that she was good at it.

Today, however, she was realizing that despite her best efforts, she may not be good at everything. Try as she might, she couldn’t get a hang of this kitten thing. They were a lot more work than she had anticipated. After leaving the vet’s office on Saturday, she’d gone to the pet store and spent a small fortune on food, toys, litter, and a bed. You had told her that the kittens wouldn’t be using litter for a while and she’d foolishly thought that meant they wouldn’t need to go. How idiotic.

As she found out the moment she got home, after the kittens had gotten a meal from Bit, they had all needed to go. She spent a good twenty minutes cleaning out the carrier and each kitten that had gotten themselves dirty. She had set everything up in the house, placed all of the clean kittens on their bed in a nice quiet room, only to have Bit take each one of them into a different room. The laundry room of all places. Billie had let her because she really didn’t want to fight with her, but she’d been constantly checking on them to make sure everything was okay.

She had to make sure they were all warm enough and that Bit was doing her job feeding and grooming them. It was exhausting and Billie was definitely reconsidering this whole fostering thing.

By the time Monday rolled around, she was already stressing about work. She had found someone in the neighborhood who agreed to watch the kittens while she left to do some promotional work for her show, but she quickly found she couldn’t focus. She rushed through work and was home by noon checking on the kittens again.

They all seemed fine at first glance, but then she recounted them and realized that one was missing. She did her best not to panic immediately. She moved Bit a little, earning a hiss of annoyance, to see if the last kitten was hiding underneath her.

No such luck.

Next, Billie looked around the laundry room before moving to the closest room to start a wider search. It wasn’t until she checked her bedroom that she found the kitten just sitting on the comforter. She cursed under her breath as she hurried to check on the little furball.

He, Billie had decided the runt was a boy, was cold to the touch and she panicked. She thought about her options before she ran back downstairs to where she’d abandoned her purse. She held the little kitten close as she found her phone.

When you responded to her first text, Billie considered sending another one, but decided against it. She ended up just calling you, and the urge to curse was strong, but instead you took a deep breath before answering.

“Hi Billie.”

“Hi, Y/N. I’m sorry to bother you. You’re not at work, are you?”

You smile at the concern in Billie’s voice until it occurs to you it may not be for the reasons you think. Still, you shook your head before explaining that you had the day off and that you were at home. She didn’t say anything immediately, but when Billie did speak up, you could tell she was a little stressed.

“Oh. I don’t mean to interrupt your day off, but I had a kitten question.”

So Billie tells you about what’s going on. That she found the kitten away from Bit and the others, cold and just randomly in her room. You ask a few questions, and Billie’s answers are more concerning than reassuring. You decide to focus on the matter at hand before asking anything else.

“Do you have an electric blanket or something you could use to warm him up?”

Billie nearly laughs at the thought, but she stops herself just in time. She simply shakes her head as she heads up the stairs to the linen closet.

“In LA? I’m afraid not.”

You nearly roll your eyes at your stupidity. You had forgotten the fact that it rarely reached freezing in this city. You had moved from a state of unpredictable weather where you needed to be prepared for ice storms and heat waves, and you sometimes forgot that wasn’t normal. You nodded in acknowledgment before you went to the next suggestion you had.

“Right. What about towels?”

You stay on the phone with Billie while she puts some towels in the dryer to warm them up. Surprisingly Bit and her other kittens don’t seem to care despite being right next to it. She then goes to her bedroom and grabs the first blanket she sees that coincidentally already has cat hair on it. She had forgotten about that part of having a pet.

“Be honest. Should I be worried?”

You hold back a sigh as you stand up and begin to wander aimlessly around the room. You don’t want to lie to Billie, but at the same time you remember how on Saturday she’d already claimed that the runt, the boy, they’d decided was her favorite. You would hate for her to be upset by his loss. That said, you couldn’t really give her an honest assessment over the phone.

“Has he been nursing today?

Billie shook her head at this as she put her phone on the bed so she can wrap the kitten in the blanket. She speaks a little louder as she works on making a kitten burrito.

“I’m not sure about today. I had someone watch them while I worked, but yesterday he seemed fine. Normal at least.”

You thought about this before considering your options. Billie had already told you that other than the fact that he was a little cold, he seemed fine. You decided to go with your gut on this one.

“He could get worse, but if you can just keep him warm today and see that he eats, he’ll improve. Let me know if anything else changes though.”

I’ll be back at work tomorrow.

You almost say this, but decide against it because you don’t want it to sound like you wouldn’t be willing to…No. Would you? Of course you would. It was your job. You couldn’t just not see a kitten who was sick. You could of course just tell her to go to work and see another doctor, but you secretly wanted to see her yourself.

Your musing is cut off by the sound of the blonde sighing in what you realize is relief. You smile slightly as she thanks you, but don’t really know what to say in response.

“Thank you so much, Y/N. I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing before I freaked out on you.”

You laugh slightly as you shake your head and turn back toward where Milo was still sitting on the couch. He was waiting for you to return so you both could go back to the movie you’ve honestly seen too many times. You didn’t realize you’d said this until it was too late. Fortunately, you didn’t get time to cringe at your word vomit before you heard Billie laugh.

You weren’t sure you’d ever heard something sound quite so nice.

“Don’t worry about it. I was just watching the Blair Witch Project which I’ve already seen about a dozen times.”

“You like stories about the supernatural?”

You don’t answer immediately because you can’t help but feel like this is a trick question. You do in fact like a good ghost story, but the question seems to be more about whether or not you believe in them. At least that’s where you see this going. So you jump the gun a little with a small smile as you plop back down next to Milo.

“I definitely like them. Good ones at least, but do I believe in them? It depends.”

At this point, Billie was seated on her bed with the kitten that she definitely hadn’t named Mickey on her lap. She could practically see you shrugging and she couldn’t help but ask.

“Depends on what?”

You’re not sure what possesses you to answer the way you do, but you’re smirking and speaking before you can stop yourself.

“Maybe I’ll tell you sometime.”

You barely resist the frantic urge to start screaming at yourself for your out of character display of courage. You’re not usually the one to instigate things. You’ve been accused of being a wallflower in the past by many of your friends and a few people you’ve dated. However, there’s something inexplicably appealing about the idea of getting to see Billie Dean again.

It doesn’t occur to you until too late that your statement could be taken as flirting. Only after you hear her chuckle in amusement do you realize what you’ve done.

“Is that an invitation?”

Despite your initial hesitance about flirting with a client, you decide to throw caution to the wind and just see where this goes. The worst you could do was embarrass yourself, right? It’s not like you were at work now anyway. Not like last time.

“That depends. Would you be interested?”

You and Billie Dean agree to meet later that week. With both of your work schedules full until the weekend, you have a whole 4 days until you’ll see her again, but you’d manage. Somehow.

Well, she did agree to send you updates on the kittens, but that would most likely be by text. You wouldn’t get the perk of hearing her voice.

That thought made you pause. After hanging up the phone, you’d returned to your movie with Milo, but you paused it again before reaching for your computer. You tried not to feel like a creep as you opened your browser and searched Billie’s name.

You figured that you should know at least the basics about her and her show so you didn’t put your foot in your mouth when you saw her on Saturday. The first thing you see when you look is her award-winning smile, literally with some information written underneath it. You disregard the details about where to watch her show for now and go to her website.

For the next hour or so you read a lot about how she got started as a medium and what she’d been doing for the past ten years. You watched a few interviews and started an episode of her show when Milo reminded you of how late it was.

You decided to take a break from being too curious and take Milo on a walk like you’d originally planned. He jumped up at the word ‘walk’ and ran to grab his leash while you ran upstairs to change. On your way back down the stairs you grab your phone and keys before heading to the parking lot. You’re determined to enjoy your day off, so you follow Milo out to the car and do your best to ignore the growing anxiety associated with seeing Billie again. You’re excited of course, but you don’t know what to expect from the medium. Perhaps you just shouldn’t have any expectations for this…get together. You hadn’t called it anything in particular. You were just going to get lunch.

You still hadn’t convinced yourself not to worry by the time you got Milo buckled in the backseat.

Billie Dean hadn’t really given much thought to the idea of having children. Since her career had taken off, she’d convinced herself that she was too busy. She wouldn’t have the time for them and she honestly wasn’t sure she wanted them. She’d never really thought she’d be a good mother.

That said, if raising children was anything like taking care of kittens, then she was definitely right. This experience was very humbling.  

Since she’d hung up with you, she’d been multitasking like a pro. She’d been spending time with the kittens, and making sure that Mickey had nursed and was cuddled up to Bit like the rest of his siblings. Billie had noticed quickly that Bit didn’t pay as much attention to the runt of her litter as she did to everyone else. This observation made her worry and as a result, she spent a lot more time caring for him to make up for it. She was getting a hang of this, but it was exhausting.

Between going over the rest of her week with her assistant and responding to emails from her producer, she was checking on the cats to the point that Bit was probably annoyed.

She hadn’t decided what she was going to do with the cats once they were old enough to adopt out. She knew with her work she couldn’t keep them. Not without changing her schedule significantly. She didn’t want to keep them just to have them stay with other people.

Unfortunately, no one had responded to the found posters she’d had her assistant print out and post around her neighborhood. This made her think that Bit really had been a stray, or at the very least no one wanted her. She sighed as she looked down at her watch again. She’d been checking on them about every half hour which seemed excessive, but she’d found that if she waited any longer, she’d just get antsy and not get any work done. She put out her cigarette in an ash tray, she’d only been smoking when she was away from the cats, and headed upstairs.

When Billie arrived to the laundry room, she saw Bit getting situated again onto the bed with all of her kittens. Or at least 5 of them. She sighed in annoyance before she confirmed who was missing, and immediately left the room in search for him.

This was the third time the Bit had moved Mickey to her room. She found him exactly where he’d been last time, on her pillow. She moved to pick him up and he stirred slightly before making the cutest little noise. Billie smiled before taking him back to the laundry room where Bit was busy grooming herself. She put him back among the other kittens, and after checking on them she headed back downstairs.

It was only a few minutes later when she heard the sound of quiet footsteps upstairs. She listened carefully and waited until she heard Bit jump up onto something to go investigate. She reached the top of the stairs at the same time that Bit was leaving her room and darting back to the laundry room. She groaned loudly as she saw Mickey lying on her pillow again shifting and mewling from being jostled once again.

“For the love of…”

You were still hiking at one of your favorite spots when Billie was struggling to deal with her cats. It wasn’t too crowded at the park you’d chosen because it was the middle of the day on a Monday. That said, there were still plenty of people and dogs around to keep your mind from wandering too much to Billie.

You had to be a little careful with Milo when out in public. Not because he was aggressive, but because it was easy for him to get overwhelmed.  He was blind in one eye due to an injury he’d suffered when he was a puppy, and it was sometimes difficult for him to keep track of everything around him. That said, even though parts of this park were designated off-leash areas, Milo usually preferred to stay by your side. He could be a little anxious when surrounded, but he was getting a lot better from going to work with you every day.

For this reason, you weren’t too concerned when you saw a family with several children approaching you on the trail. Milo loved children.

After Milo got his fill of pets from the children, the two of you continued on your path toward the park. Your mind started to wander as Milo dragged you toward the wide-open space with at least a dozen dogs. The two of you were only half way through your walk, but you had a feeling you’d be stopping for a while to make friends.

At the end of the walk when you arrived back to your car, you realized that you had been without cell service for most of the walk. You had a couple of text messages from Billie Dean, one of which included a picture. That made you smile until you read the message that came with the picture of Mickey sleeping in Billie’s arms.

Why does Bit keep moving him out of bed and dumping him in my room?

You frowned at the thought of this happening, but before you could respond Milo barked and reminded you that you hadn’t opened the door for him. You sighed before getting him settled in the backseat before leaning against the car to type a quick response.

I’m not sure, but Bit may just not want to take care of him.

You consider how that might make Billie feel, but realize that you can’t really sugar coat it. Sometimes a mother abandoned their runts because she didn’t think they’d survive. You hoped that this wasn’t the case for Mickey, but hearing what Bit’s been doing doesn’t make you feel very optimistic. You realize that Billie had sent this message over an hour ago so you send another quick message before heading home.

Sorry I didn’t respond earlier. I’m out hiking with Milo.

The drive home takes a little longer than it usually would because you take a detour at the pet store. You made the mistake of making Milo wait too long in the backseat by himself and he’d chewed his leash in half out of spite. At least that’s what you told yourself. So you led him on a short leash into the pet store to find a replacement. You find one in a few minutes and are headed to the register when you hear someone behind you say your name.

“Dr. Y/L/N.”

You turn to see an employee that you had honestly hoped wasn’t working today. She wasn’t at the register like she’d been last time and you’d foolishly hoped that meant she wasn’t in. You tried not to sigh in annoyance as you turned around with a tight smile, waving the leash in your hand slightly.

“Hey. How are you?”

You ask as a courtesy because you honestly don’t want to spend any more time talking to this woman. You didn’t have anything against the brunette, except that she couldn’t take a hint. She was persistent to the point that it made you a little uncomfortable. The first time you were in here she’d asked you way too many personal questions, and since then you’d called the vet clinic here a few times and whenever she answered she’d flirt some more.

You hoped that this wouldn’t happen again, but when you noticed Claire’s smile you realized it was wishful thinking.

“Oh I’ve been fine. Just bored silly around here. You haven’t called much.”

You didn’t really know how to respond to this, so you shrugged before gesturing to Milo who seemed to remember the brunette. He tried to move forward to sniff her, but his leash wasn’t long enough.

“Well, I’m not at work today, as you can see. I just needed a new leash for Milo.”

Saying this was a mistake because Milo heard his name and his tail started wagging which was the only invitation Claire needed. She moved forward and knelt down to pet him making the same mistake a lot of people do. She reached for him on his blind side and he jerked back a little before turning his head so he could see the hand petting him. He panted happily once Claire took the hint before his tail resumed wagging. You tried not to glare at him for being a traitor. It wasn’t his fault.

“Aw did you eat your leash? Handsome boy.”

You were glad that at least Milo was having fun. You just nod before shifting slightly so you could look around you for an excuse to leave.

“Yeah, he wasn’t too happy with me.”

You pause as you spot the food aisle a little bit away before adding. “You’ll be lucky to get dinner after doing that, Milo.”

Your bluff had its intended effect and Milo pulled away from Claire and started pawing at you. You just rolled your eyes before leading him toward the end of the aisle. To your escape.

“Yeah, I know. Dinner time. We can go.”

Milo tugs you to toward the front door but you stop by the register first, not failing to notice that the brunette followed you. You went to the first open register and put the leash on the conveyor belt before shooting the person behind the counter a pleading look. She was on your side.

“Hi Emma.”

Help me.

The blonde looked between you and her coworker with a frown, quickly understanding what had happened. It wasn’t like Claire was subtle. She’d ask about you almost every day she was working in the clinic, not that she’d told you that.

“Hey, doc. What’s up?”

You offer the blonde a smile before you open your mouth to respond when you’re cut off. You watch Claire move so she’s standing right next to Emma, practically pushing her out of the way as she eyed you curiously.

“Yeah, if you’re not working you must be free tonight.”

There are a lot of different ways you’d like to respond to this, but you choose to do your best to hide how annoyed you are as you shake your head. You’re free as a bird tonight, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to tell her that.

The lie you come up with though isn’t one you had intended on using.

“Actually, I’m not. I’m going out with my girlfriend.”

Luckily it doesn’t seem like Claire’s prepared a response for this, and you just breathe a sigh of relief as Emma hands you your bag with a smile.

“Thanks. Good to see you two.”

You leave quickly and curse yourself the whole way to the car. What an idiot. Why would you say that?

You’re ticked at Claire for being so aggressive, again. You slammed the door shut behind Milo, without meaning to, and you hurried to get in the car to scratch him behind his ears. You shoot him an apologetic look before sighing in defeat. You hate that you’d lied and that your self-esteem took a hit as well, but what could you do? It’s not like you were going to agree to going anywhere with Claire.

“Sorry, buddy. Let’s get you home for some dinner, hmm? Then we can watch whatever you want.” 

Part 3

[nayutai]

The Task At Hand

Pairing Mingyu x Female OC

Word Count 15.1k

Warnings mentions of infidelity, mentions of racism, foul language, anxiety, insecurities, therapy sessions, dumbasses in love, light choking, dry humping

Summary The first year of marriage is always the hardest. Unfortunately for Mingyu and Kamile, the first year as husband and wife may also be their last. 

Notes This absolute behemoth of a fic is my contribution to The Intimacy Anthology where I, along with many other fantastic writers, have explored intimacy in all of its many forms. This fic is incredibly close to my heart and I hope that you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please check out the other stories featured in the project here as well! 

Mingyu fumbles with his keys in the dark as he searches for the one that’ll get him into his house. The alcohol coursing through his system is making this very simple task a lot harder than it needs to be. He shouts victoriously when he finally manages to unlock the front door to stumble inside. He freezes when he hears someone clapping slowly off to his right.

“Two minutes and forty seven seconds. That didn’t take you as long as I thought it would but then again you have been good at finishing quickly these days.” Mingyu groans deep in his throat at the scathing words from the woman staring him down from the love seat in the living room. She lifts a glass of what he can only assume is white wine to her lips, draining it quickly. 

“I’m too drunk for your bullshit tonight, Kamile.” Mingyu grunts as he leans back against the door to steady himself while he toes his sneakers off. All he wants to do is crawl up the stairs to the guest room he’s been sleeping in so that he can go to sleep. He rolls his eyes when he hears Kamile clear her throat from across the room. If he knows anything about his wife, nothing good is about to come out of her mouth. 

“If you didn’t want to hear my bullshit then maybe you should’ve shown up for dinner with my parents tonight.” The venom in her voice makes Mingyu’s blood run cold. He’d totally forgotten about her mother’s birthday dinner tonight. Fuck. As much as he hates to hear her nagging him, even he has to admit that he deserves it this time. This dinner has been planned for months and he should’ve been there. 

He forces his eyes to focus when he looks back over at the brooding woman shooting daggers at him from across the room. It’s then he registers the fact that she’s still fully dressed despite the late hour. Kamile is a huge proponent of being comfortable within the walls of her own home and for her to sit in a dress and heels as she waits on his appearance does not bode well for him in the slightest. He’s surprised that she hasn’t launched her wine glass at his head.

“Whatever or whoever you were out doing,” Kamile rises slowly from the couch, impressively steady in her heels despite the bottle of wine she ran through waiting on her neglectful husband to come home. Silence stretches between them interrupted only by the damning clicks of her shoes against the hardwood flooring. Kamile stops to appraise the man she married when she reaches him, wondering where it all went wrong. 

“…I hope it was worth it.” She silences his groveling with a raised hand. She’s tired of the arguing. Tired of the excuses. Just tired in general. 

Most people would have some sort of emotional response to this but her exhaustion leaves nothing but an empty void in its wake. Mingyu may as well be yelling at a brick wall for all the response he gets from Kamile as she slowly climbs the stairs. The sound of the bedroom door clicking shut echoing around the house may as well have been a gunshot.

“One more thing for her to hold over my fucking head.” Mingyu grumbles as he slowly blazes his own trail up the stairs. He pauses before the closed door to the bedroom they once shared, hand gripping the doorknob in his hand as he contemplates going in to apologize. “What’s the use? Not like she’d listen to me now anyway.”

The bed in the guest room welcomes him like an old friend when he flops down on it, draining him of his energy. Thoughts of how he’ll fix things in the morning drift through his head. Sleep evens out his features, lulling him into a peaceful slumber despite the fact that he’s still fully clothed. The perfect cover for the plans being set in motion right down the hall. 

The sun rouses Mingyu from his sleep way before he’s ready. He could’ve sworn that the curtains were pulled closed when he went to bed but it’s hard to know what’s what when you’re three sheets to the wind at god only knows what time. Blindly, he reaches out for his phone where he’d left it on the nightstand but comes up with a piece of paper instead. It takes a minute for his eyes to focus enough to read the words on the page, but when they do he finds himself bolting for the ensuite bathroom. The offensive piece of stationary gently drifting to the ground as if it hasn’t just ruined his life.

He heaves and wretches until he has nothing left to give. His knees buckle several times as he tries to brush his teeth which is an incredibly difficult task to complete when one is sobbing with everything they have. This can’t be happening. He refuses to believe that this is his reality. Mingyu’s heart sinks even lower when he drags himself back to the bedroom and sees Kamile’s  wedding ring on the night stand next to his phone. He retrieves the letter from where it rests on the floor, reading it over until the tears he’d fought back make a reappearance.

Doing this feels incredibly impersonal but I feel like it’s probably better this way. I realized that the flame I thought would burn forever is barely a spark anymore. Tonight was an epiphany for me. I realize that I deserve better and I’ve decided that I will have it. I’ve always wished you joy and light and I will probably never stop doing that despite everything that’s happened but I can’t do it as your wife anymore. 

Take care,

Kamile Dexter

The usage of her maiden name feels like the final nail in his coffin. He calls. He texts. He emails. He even sends her a message on instagram. Every single attempt to reach her goes unanswered. Anyone could see that things hadn’t been the best between them for a while, but never in his most horrific nightmares did Mingyu think that Kamile would actually leave. 

Time is irrelevant to Mingyu in the days that follow Kamile’s departure. He wakes up when his alarm goes off and drifts through the day. His nights are spent calling Kamile despite the fact that she never answers which then leads to him drinking himself into an alcohol-induced sleep complete with all the blessed numbness that it provides until his alarm goes off once more. This is without a doubt the lowest point of his life and he doesn’t know how to fix it. Kamile grew up with Vernon so naturally Mingyu tries to enlist his help. Unfortunately, it seems that she has anticipated that move and stops answering Vernon’s calls and texts as well. 

With all of his other options seemingly exhausted, Mingyu calls the one person that could possibly help him, Sidra Dexter. A woman with many accolades to her name, Sidra considers being Kamile’s mother to be the most important among them. If anyone knows how to get through to his wife, it’s Sidra. Mingyu prays that she still has a soft spot for him as the phone rings in his ear. If this call goes unanswered, then he really will lose all hope in saving his marriage. 

“It’s about damn time you called me, Gyu Bear. My daughter left you a whole week ago tomorrow and you’re just now enlisting my services? Tell me why that is.” Never a woman to beat around the bush, Sidra gets right to the point with the accuracy of a heat-seeking missile. 

“I don’t know what to do, Mama Dee. She won’t talk to me.” Mingyu whines, on the verge of tears for the umpteenth time today.

“Of course she won’t. She’s stubborn just like her ornery ass father.” The aforementioned father pipes up in the background to defend himself but is quickly shut down. “Now back to you, Gyu Bear. You have messed up big time but I love you so I’m going to help you fix it but I have one question first.”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Did you cheat on my daughter? And yes that ‘harmless flirting’ shit you men folk like to do counts as cheating in my book.”

“Of course not! Wait…does Kam think I cheated?” Mingyu is floored and honestly a little angered at the fact that after all these years together Kamile thinks he’s actually capable of infidelity. The alcohol-induced haze clears long enough for his brain to recall a comment she’d made the night she left about whoever he was doing being worth it. 

“She sure does,” Sidra starts up, “but luckily for you, my gut says that you’re telling the truth and it hasn’t steered me wrong in the last 56 years so I don’t see a reason not to trust it now. So here’s what we’re going to do.”

Mingyu listens intently as Sidra outlines her master plan. Not for the first time, he’s in awe of the way her brain functions. The tightness in his chest subsides a little bit with every word she says. For the first time in the six days since Kamile left, Mingyu feels like his life has meaning again. His marriage might not be over after all. 

Despite the fact that Kamile had no intention of answering any of Mingyu’s desperate pleas for attention, the sudden cessation of said pleas only serve to further increase her anguish. She’d originally thought she’d be able to finally find peace when he gave up, but that does not seem to be the case. A part of her didn’t want him to stop trying. Didn’t want him to stop fighting for her.

Did I make the right choice?

The question has haunted her every waking moment as she adjusts to her new normal. She’s been adrift for the last ten days trying to figure out her next plan of action. Should she stay in Korea? Should she go back to America? Should she throw a dart at a map and go wherever it lands? The possibilities are endless but Kamile finds herself unable to fully commit to either option which is how she’s ending up existing on takeout in a hotel for the past week and some change. God, why did she have to be so impulsive? She should’ve made sure that she had a game plan before she just up and left like that. 

Her phone rings on the small night stand, interrupting her self-loathing thoughts. Kamile groans when she sees that it’s her mother. Ever since she’d broken the news to her parents that she’d decided to leave Mingyu, her mom has been giving her grief. Kamile had always had a hunch that her mom loved Mingyu just as much if not more than she loved her, but their break up has made her think that her hunch had been closer to the truth than she’d previously thought.

“Hey, ma.” Kamile greets her mother apprehensively, bracing for the latest round of her mother’s reconciliation efforts. 

“Hello, my lovely daughter. I just landed in Seoul so if you don’t mind coming to get me from the airport that would be great.” Kamile chokes on the mouthful of noodles she’d been munching on. There’s no way in hell that her mother just said that she’s in Seoul. Sure enough, Kamile pulls her phone away from her ear to check her mother’s location and it says that she is in fact at the Incheon Airport. 

“Baby, what did I tell you about making sure you properly chew your food before swallowing. Did you forget what happened to your Uncle Tommy?” Kamile barely hears her mother’s recounting about the uncle who’d died from choking on a fish bone as she rushes around her hotel room gathering her things. She can’t believe her mom really flew halfway across the globe. Thankfully, her hotel isn’t far from the airport so Kamile is helping her mother put her bags in the back of her SUV in no time at all.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you or anything, but what are you doing here?” Kamile questions as she eases her car into the steady stream of traffic bound for the exit. 

“You just left your husband and you didn’t come home to me so I don’t know what made you think that I wasn’t coming out here. A friend of mine is letting me stay with her since I know how you are about your space.” 

Kamile is more than a little thankful for that. Her mother can be overbearing when she’s on a mission and the fact that she’ll still be able to maintain some personal space is comforting. She’s only too happy to let the gps in her guide her to this friend’s house. The closer they get to their destination though the more unsettled she becomes. She has no idea why her gut is telling her to be suspicious, but she’s definitely not about to ignore it. Kamile’s sense are on high alert when she turns into the driveway of a nondescript home in one of the more affluent suburbs of the city. 

“Mom, what’s this friend’s name?” Kamile eyes the structure in front of her as if it could possibly grow teeth and bite her. Something is not right here and if there’s one thing her mother taught her, it’s to trust her gut instinct and right now her gut is telling her to throw her car in reverse and get the hell out of dodge. The only thing keeping her from running for the hills is the fact her mother seems so at ease as she hops out of the car to grab her bags. 

“Her name is Bae Yeojin. She studied abroad at Villanova her junior year and we were roommates. She’s got a pretty successful business now.” Kamile hums in acknowledgement. She vaguely recalls her mom telling her about a girl named Yeojin from college, but that does nothing to assuage the uneasiness in her gut. 

Kamile waits at the bottom of the steps as her mother knocks on the front door. Her fingers are drumming on banister, eyes glancing back and forth from the ornate door and her car. She clutches her keys like a lifeline. At the slightest provocation, she’s ready to bolt. The two women squeal like school children and not the established professionals they are at the first sight of each other. Kamile wonders briefly how long it’s been since they last saw each other.

“Kamile Danielle Kim get your ass up here and say hi.” Not one to disobey a direct order, especially one accompanied by her full name, Kamile reluctantly climbs the short staircase.

“Jesus, Sid, you really spit this one right out. She’s practically your twin.” Yeojin exclaims. She pulls Kamile into a quick hug before ushering the both of them inside. 

One deep breath and Kamile instantly realizes why she felt so uneasy. There’s candles burning in the foyer, but they do nothing to mask the familiar scent she’s spent the last six years smelling. Mingyu is in this house somewhere. She spins around to fix the two women with what she hopes is a threatening glare. Unfortunately, neither one of them appears to be phased by it in the slightest.

“What the hell is going on here?” Kamile’s quickly starting to realize that not trusting her gut has landed her in a situation she most definitely has no interest being in. Her eyes quickly dart back and forth between the two scam artists in front of her.

“I told you she’d figure it out. Pay up.” Yeojin doesn’t take her eyes off Kamile as she holds her hand out to Sidra who is grumbling while she digs in her purse to hand over a few bills.

“Dammit, Kam, did I really raise you to be this observant? You’re costing me money.”

“Yes, now what in the fresh hell do y’all have going on?” The answer to her question comes in the form of timid footsteps sounding off behind her. Her spine stiffens. She doesn’t have to turn around to know who it is. She can sense him. “Fuck this. I’m leaving.”

“No, you’re not. Now turn your little narrow butt around and have a seat.” Sidra adopts the tone she’d frequently used when Kamile was growing up and even now as an adult Kamile knows that disobeying this direct order is not the right choice to make. 

It’s with a grimace, that she pivots on her heel to face her husband for the first time since she walked out on him. The satisfaction she feels when she sees just how awful he looks is cancelled out by the fact that she probably looks just as bad. It would be a lie to say that she hasn’t missed the comfort and solace his presence used to bring her. That she doesn’t want to let the outside world fade away as she hides away in his embrace. She wants that back. Craves it even, but enough is enough.

Curse words flow like running water through Kamile’s mind as her mother situates her on a love seat in the living room with Mingyu sat right next to her. His large frame dwarfs the slightly undersized piece of furniture. She can feel the body heat radiating off of him and it’s a battle of wills to keep from leaning into him. 

“First things first…” Sidra claps her hands as she and Yeojin take a seat on the sofa opposite the troubled couple, “I think now is a good time to mention that Ms. Yeojin here is actually a therapist who specializes in couples therapy.”

Of course she is.

Kamile rolls her eyes as the puzzle pieces start clicking into place. She could be buried under her blankets, binging on The Golden Girls right now, but no, her meddling ass mother has scammed her into marriage counseling instead. She should’ve ran when she had the chance.

“Based on what Sid has told me, the two of you are exactly one week shy of your first wedding anniversary and already on the verge of divorce. So, who would like to dump their emotional baggage on the floor first?” Yeojin glances between Kamile and Mingyu looking for a crack in their demeanor that she can exploit. Mingyu looks like he wants to hurl while Kamile’s face is a carefully constructed mask of indifference. She makes her choice easily.

“Mingyu, thank you for volunteering. Let’s hear it.” 

Put on the spot, Mingyu chances a glance sideways at Kamile before clearing his throat. Yeojin sits at the ready with her notebook and pen. She listens intently as Mingyu tells the fiasco as he sees it.

“I know I forget things sometimes. I try not to, but I’m an idol. I have a lot going on but that’s no different from when we first started dating so I don’t know why it’s suddenly such a big issue now.” Mingyu seems to find his voice as he speaks up on how he believes that he’s been wronged. The timid nervousness he’d felt before quickly getting pushed down so that his frustration can take over.

“When we first started dating, I wasn’t being abandoned in a house all day with nothing to do.” Kamile may have been grumbling under her breath but Mingyu hears her loud and clear. His head whips around so fas that the two mothers across from him silently worry about the neck pain that may cause him later. 

“You have nothing to do because you’ve turned down every opportunity that’s come your way.” Thoughts of the numerous job and consulting offers from Pledis and other entertainment companies like them that she turned down come flying to the forefront of his memory. Human resource agents have practically been beating down their door for the chance to work with Kamile, a creative visionary in her own right, but she’s rejected them one after another without a moment’s hesitation.

“You mean every opportunity that you have sent my way. Like why would I want to work at that entertainment company and be forced to watch that bitch Miyeon flirt with you every day like you’re not married?” Mingyu is forced to concede to her point with that one. Miyeon is one of the stylists at the company and, despite his repeated rejection, is too flirtatious for his liking as well. Unfortunately, she’s deeply entrenched in the corporate hierarchy and nothing short of murder would make the higher ups get rid of her even if all of the members have lodged complaints against her. 

“Is that the simple hoe you come home smelling like every time you’re ‘out with the boys’?” Kamile adds on as if she’s finally started connecting some dots in her overactive imagination. The fact that she has even entertained the thought of Mingyu not only cheating on her but cheating on her with Miyeon of all people makes his blood boil.  

“Why do you think I’m cheating on you? Why do you always just assume the worst about me? Do you think Vernon would ever let me even think about cheating on you? The man hates violence but he would beat my ass over you and we all know that.” The frown on Kamile’s face falters at the mention of her oldest friend. Mingyu is correct in saying that he would absolutely fight him, but there are still some thing that aren’t adding up. Yeojin attempts to halt the conversation so that they can delve deeper into what Mingyu just said but Kamile beats her to the punch. 

“You come home smelling like warm vanilla sugar every night when everybody knows that I am a Japanese cherry blossom supremacist. What am I supposed to think, Mingyu?” She can’t believe that he has the audacity to sit next to her and still lie. The palms of her hands itch with the urge to throw things but she’s done enough of that plus this isn’t exactly her house either.

“Seokmin always sprays us down with some random perfume because he says it keeps the women away and honestly, it actually works like a charm so I’m always first in line to get sprayed.” Kamile’s anger deflates almost immediately. To anyone that doesn’t know Lee Seokmin that would sound like a crock of shit, but it’s perfectly on brand for him.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?”

“We’re fucking married, Kamile. You could’ve just asked. Better yet you could have come with me to these events like I’ve asked you to do a million times.” 

“You know I hate those things.”

“Everyone hates them, but I would hate them a lot less if I had you there with me. I just feel like I’ve been trying to make an effort but you’re not meeting me halfway.”

“I knew my Gyu Bear wasn’t a cheater!” Sidra, who hasn’t set a word since things had started to get heated, pipes up.

“God, Mom could you at least pretend that you love me more than him?” Kamile throws her hands up in frustration. Her mother’s obvious favoritism is really starting to get to her right now.

“Not until you start giving me less grief.”

“Now, now, Sid. Let’s not derail the progress we’re making here. Kamile, is there anything you’d like to bring to the table?” Yeojin pats her dear friend on the back of her hand to reign her back in. She’d hate to ruin the momentum they got going by having Kamile suddenly switch gears to argue with her mother.

Kamile is only too happy to tell her side of the story as she recounts the events of the night that she decided to leave Mingyu and how it was the tipping point for her. Yeojin listens intently, taking note of the fact that none of the issues that Kamile has with her husband are particularly heinous aside from the debunked cheating suspicions. Each transgression on it’s own wouldn’t be enough to end in divorce, but rather it’s the heaping pile of them that overwhelmed Kamile to the point that she felt she needed to get out.

The more she listens, the clearer it becomes to Yeojin that their marriage is suffering not because they don’t love one another but because they’ve forgotten how to talk to each other which has lead to an unfortunate disconnect. The biggest obstacle is definitely going to be Kamile’s determination to end things. She’s made up her mind and getting her to change her mind is not going to be easy.

“I think I’ve heard everything that I need to hear for today.” Yeojin sets her notepad down on her coffee table, relaxing in her chair a bit before she continues. “The first year in a marriage is usually the hardest, but that seems to have been exacerbated by the fact that the two of you have never lived together before now plus Kamile here has uprooted her entire life and moved to a new country.”

“Saving this marriage is going to take considerable effort on both sides in order to restore the balance you had before you said your vows. Here is what I recommend.”

Yeojin challenges the young couple to separate themselves from their daily lives for the next week and go somewhere remote. A place where it’s just the two of them without any outside influences. Of course, this won’t be just some run of the mill vacation. They’ll have “homework” of sorts that Yeojin will be checking to make sure they complete. Mingyu is all for it but Kamile is much more hesitant. All they’ve done is argue for the past few months and she’d rather not be stuck in a house arguing for two weeks straight. 

“I’ve spent the past year stuck in a house with no outside influences and look at where that’s gotten me. On the verge of a fucking divorce!” Mingyu looks like he has something to say, but Yeojin thankfully stops him before he can rile his wife up any more than she already is. 

“You’re not just going to be ‘stuck in a house’. Think of it like a game of Among Us. The two of you are crewmates and this wall that’s been built between you is the imposter.” Kamile looks at Yeojin as if she’s grown three extra heads. There’s no way she just related this counseling session to a freaking video game. 

“I will also stop bugging you about grandkids for six months if you go.” 

“You should’ve just started there. I’ll go.”

Yeojin claps her hands excitedly. She sounds way too happy to be shipping them off to self-guided marriage boot camp, but Kamile stays silent though that becomes increasingly difficult as her mother’s friends lists out the “tasks” she expects them to complete.

“So here’s the game plan, I want you two to be totally and completely honest with each other as much as possible for the entire time you’re gone. Often times in relationships, both parties will censor themselves as a way to keep the peace but that can be detrimental as it has been for you guys.” Mingyu and Kamile don’t realize it but they both frown simultaneously at the proposal of this honesty idea. Yeojin takes it as a positive sign that they are still in sync on some level. 

“If the thought of doing it all day is too daunting, then start with just one hour. This doesn’t mean that you have to sit and stare at each other for a whole hour and trade statements just act normally but speak honestly. Okay so far?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Mingyu casts a glance in Kamile’s direction, fingers twitching with the urge to reach out to her. He’s had to stop himself several times since she arrived and it’s not getting any easier.

While Kamile’s mind is running wild with all of the potential for disaster that an hour of honesty could result in, Yeojin powers on with the rest of her required tasks. On top of separating themselves from society and this so called honest hour, Yeojin has mandated that they share at least one meal together every day with one of them being dinner on their wedding anniversary. Just when Kamile thought that Yeojin couldn’t possibly pile more on, she brings up the “activity days”. Each of them will have to plan some sort of activity for the two of them to do together while they’re away. It could be as big or as small as they want, but it has to be meaningful. Mingyu draws Kamile’s attention when he pulls his phone out of his back pocket to start tapping away on the screen like a mad man.

“You guys have a lot of preparing to do in order to be ready to leave tomorrow so we’ll stop here for today. I’ll be checking in on you daily to assess your progress and offer any guidance you may need.” 

Kamile is out of her chair and halfway to the door before anyone can blink. The room suddenly feels too small as the gravity of what’s about to happen sinks in. She’d convinced herself that she no longer wanted to be married to Mingyu. She was so sure that her run as Mrs. Kim, albeit short as it was, had come to an end, but now she’s been confronted that her main reason for ending things was baseless. This is not how she thought things would go.

Day 1

The drive from the hotel to the home she’s shared with Mingyu for the past year goes way too quickly for Kamile’s liking. Mingyu had texted her about having to go gas up the rental car so he’s nowhere to be seen when Kamile arrives. She sits in the driveway for a few minutes thinking of the memories saturated into the home that looms before her. The memories she had hoped to create. A stray tear slips down her cheek and she swipes at it furiously. She swore that she was done shedding tears over this but they just keep on coming.

Her pity party is interrupted by an unfamiliar SUV pulling into the driveway behind her. Kamile looks in the mirror to see Mingyu getting out of the driver’s seat. She does her best to erase the evidence of her tears, but the look on his face when she opens her own door says that she wasn’t very successful. 

“Are you-”

“I’m fine.” Kamile cuts him off before he can even finish his question. She stalks to the back of her car to start transferring her bags from her car to the behemoth of an SUV behind her.

“I’ll get them.” Mingyu takes the bag she’d already grabbed from Kamile’s hands, motioning to the passenger’s seat. Kamile, no longer in the mood to speak, wordlessly follows his directive and climbs into the SUV.

It takes Mingyu no time at all to load Kamile’s bags into the back with his own. 

“Obviously this is a sign that we should just leave.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to let a lost set of keys stand between me and keeping my marriage.”

“Why do you even care? Why are we even doing this?” Kamile screams. She’s been holding this in for far too long and she can’t take it anymore. 

“For better or for worse.” Mingyu’s face is a mask of carefully controlled fury and it’s giving Kamile pause. She’s never seen him like this before. “We promised each other for better or for worse and yet you’re ready to run for the hills at the first sign of trouble. I’ll admit that I’m not perfect and certainly played a role in why we’re here but I’m willing to put in the work to make it better because those vows meant something to me. I thought they meant something to you too.”

Kamile is incredibly taken aback at Mingyu’s fervent desire to stay married. She didn’t think that he cared that much anymore. Without any further protest, she joins him in the hunt for the elusive key to the front door. Fifteen minutes pass and they are no closer to gaining entry than they were when they first arrived. A rep with the rental company calls as they’re checking the bottom of the flower pots that line the front porch and tells them that the keys were mistakenly put in the mailbox. The same mailbox that sits at the end of the mile long driveway. Kamile makes to get back in the car to drive to the end of the driveway but Mingyu suggests walking it.

“It would be faster in the car.”

“You heard that therapist lady. We’re supposed to be spending time together. What better way to do it than by walking two miles?” Kamile walks back and forth as she considers her options. She can resist which will probably lead to yet another fight or she can just suck it up and walk to the mailbox. With a groan, she makes her decision.

“Fine, but if I get tired you’re carrying me.”

“Anything for you, my lady.” He bows deeply which almost makes Kamile crack a smile. She steels her resolve quickly though and reminds herself not to get caught up in his antics. He’s going to have to do a lot more than make her laugh in order to get out of the dog house.

The walk to the mailbox and back is quiet for the most part. Their footfalls join the hum of the wildlife in the woods that line the driveway on either side, but the jokes and playful jabs that used to fill the air between them is noticeably absent. Neither one is sure of what to say or do around the other anymore. Thankfully, the key is hanging on a hook inside the rather large mailbox.

Mingyu fully expected for Kamile to ask to be carried on the way back. She’s never been a huge fan of physical activity so it doesn’t come as a surprised to him when she starts whining halfway back to the cabin.

“I can’t do it just leave me here with my flower friends. I’ll become one with the forest.” Mingyu wordlessly moves to crouch down in front of her. He’s thankful that she can’t see his face to save himself the embarrassment of having to explain why he’s so excited to carry her for the last half mile to the end of the driveway.

Kamile doesn’t hesitate a single second to climb onto his back, clinging to him like a koala. It’s not lost on either one of them that this is the most physical contact they’ve had with each other in months. She’s wrapped around him tight enough that he doesn’t need to support her thighs, but he does it anyway. No way in hell is going to let this moment pass by without taking full advantage. 

They opt to spend the rest of the day just getting settled in. Yeojin had encouraged them to share a bedroom but Kamile is not down with that. Mingyu is disappointed when she wheels her suitcase into one of the guest bedrooms but he takes solace in the fact that she’s chosen the one right across the master where he’d dropped his things hoping she’d follow. He hopes that at some point in the next few days she’ll finally share a bed with him again. 

Dinner ends up being Thai takeout. Kamile has to admit that she’s impressed when Mingyu is able to rattle off her usual order with practiced ease. There once was a time when they’d get Thai food together all the time, but they’re so far removed from that time that she was sure he’d have forgotten by now. They eat without a single word exchanged before going their separate ways to bed.

Day 2

Mingyu wakes up before the sun despite the fact that he slept all of two hours the night before. His hands are on the verge of trembling from all of the nervous energy coursing through his body. Today is the official first day of marriage bootcamp and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. It’s barely seven so there’s no way that Kamile has even attempted to get out of bed yet. Like a thief in the night, Mingyu creeps down the hall to peek into the bedroom that she had claimed as her own. A small smile graces his face at the cute way she hugs one of the throw pillows to her chest. It falters a little when his brain reminds him that she used to hug him close to her like that and not a pillow, but he shoves that depressing thought away for now. He has work to do.

The smell of bacon rouses Kamile from sleep, luring her down the stairs. She grunts a greeting at the man currently tending to a pan of scrambled eggs as she reaches for the stack of bacon on the counter to his left. Mingyu is quick to swat her hand away before she can secure her bounty.

“The eggs are almost done. Be patient.” Kamile whines at being chastised, scowling at the back of Mingyu’s head with disdain.

In the midst of her grumbling, she finally takes notice of his attire or the lack thereof. Saliva pools in her mouth at the sight of his muscles flexing as he cooks the eggs. Her gaze moves lower to his trim waist and the pair of gray sweatpants hanging from said waist in a way that has no business being as attractive as it is. Her fingers twitch with the urge to slide her hands beneath the waistband of those sweatpants to get at that prize she knows is there but she keeps them to herself.

“Earth to Kamile.” Mingyu chants as he waves a spatula in front of her face. She blinks rapidly, doing her best to clear the thick fog of arousal from her mind. The uncomfortable sensation of her panties sticking to her skin is quickly forgotten when Mingyu holds up a plate peeled high with bacon, eggs, and blueberry pancakes.

“Thanks, Gyu.” Kamile murmurs as she takes the proffered plate and heads for the table. She falters half a step when she realizes that she’s let his nickname slip. She prays that he didn’t notice and if he did, she prays he doesn’t say anything about it.

“Gyu? Haven’t heard that one in a while.” Looks like that prayer went unanswered. The shit eating grin on Mingyu’s face makes her itch. 

“I’m hungry and thankful. Don’t push it.” 

They eat in silence. The only sounds are their forks as they make contact with their plates.  Mingyu is kicking himself in the ass for not saying anything but his brain is short circuiting. Thankfully, the buzzing from the intercom by the front door signaling that someone is at the front gate. It’s the special grocery delivery he’d requested for the first of their planned activity days. 

“What’s all this for?” Kamile asks curiously. She pokes through a few of the bags to see fresh strawberries and a variety of other fruits along with a very large bag of rice cakes.

“I was thinking we could have a picnic today for our first planned activity.” His heart races as he waits for Kamile’s reaction to his idea. She munches on a piece of bacon as she continues to pull things out of bags.

“I dig it.” Mingyu feels weak with relief at his idea being well-received. “Why so many rice cakes though?”

“You’ve been a tteokbeokki fiend since we met. Didn’t see the point in depriving you while we’re here if I could just make it for you.” Kamile groans at the thought. She’s more than capable of feeding her own addiction with the spicy rice cake dish, but she’s never been able to make it as good as Mingyu. Despite the fact that she just ate, she contemplating requesting that he make a batch of it right now.

Mingyu grabs a knife to start chopping up some of the fruit. Kamile takes a seat at the island across from him, propping her chin in her hand as she watches him work. She’s always loved watching him cook almost as much as eating the food he makes. She can’t even remember the last time that she was able to do this. It feels like a lifetime ago. Her eyes with sparkle with fascination watching him prepare the food for their picnic. 

“Open up.” Mingyu holds a strawberry up to her lips and Kamile opens her mouth without hesitation. The berry is perfectly ripe and so juicy that a stream of it runs down her chin. Mingyu reaches out to swipe it away, licking the liquid from his thumb. 

“Tasty.” Kamile squirms in her seat at the way his lips wrap around his thumb. Time for her to make an escape before she does something crazy like fuck her husband in someone else’s kitchen. 

Mingyu watches Kamile hastily retreat with barely concealed glee. He’d thought that she’d stopped being attracted to him, but that is incorrect if the results of the little experiment he’d decided to conduct are to be believed. He smiles to himself as he continues cutting up fruit. There might be hope for them yet.

After agonizing longer than he should have over the best spot to set up their little picnic, Mingyu finally picks a spot. He’s so focused on how best to arrange everything on the blanket that he doesn’t even notice Kamile creeping up behind him. He nearly jumps out of his own skin when she clears her throat much to Kamile’s amusement.

“Did I scare you?” It’s clear to her that she did, but making him admit it is too good for her to pass up. 

“No…maybe.” Kamile hums in response, kneeling across from him on the blanket. “That dress is really pretty on you.”

“Thank you.” She mumbles in response. It’s been so long since she’s heard any sort of praise or compliment from Mingyu that she doesn’t even know how to respond anymore. It almost feels brand new. 

Eager to rid herself of the awkwardness blooming in her chest, Kamile grabs a fork and shoves what she thinks is a potato straight in her mouth. In her haste, she fails to realize that the potato she thought she had is actually an onion. Mingyu doubles over with laughter at the pure disgust painted across Kamile’s face. She desperately wants to spit it out but she was raised to believe that spitting out perfectly good food is only a half step below a sin so she powers through. She chugs one of the glasses of fresh squeezed lemonade on the small tray to her right as Mingyu continues to cackle at her plight. 

“You set me up for failure.” Kamile has hated onions from the womb according to the stories her mother told about the smell of onions making her nauseous for her entire pregnancy. Mingyu must pay for this. 

“I purposely cut them big enough for you to easily pick them out. You weren’t supposed to eat them.” Mingyu defends himself breathily as he tries desperately to stop laughing. Kamile reaches out to punch him in the arm which only serves to make him laugh harder.

Silence falls over them again although, unlike breakfast this morning, they’re able to exchange some small talk here and there. The awkwardness that they’d started off with wanes and wanes until they’re left comfortably enjoying each other’s presence for the first time in a long time. 

Mingyu finds himself unable to take his eyes off of Kamile. He’d meant it when he’d said that the yellow sundress she’s wearing looked pretty on her. It compliments the rich mahogany of her skin as if it was made especially for her. The plethora of curls that he’s always loved are full of life as she bobs her head side to side, one of her many habits that Mingyu has always adored. His chest feels tight with the weight of his love for her. He can’t believe that he nearly let her slip away.

“You’re staring, Mingyu.” Kamile says between bites of the strawberry she’d grabbed. Mingyu opens his mouth to answer when a distant rumble beats him to the punch. 

“Oh shit.” 

The two of them hastily toss the near empty dishes back into the picnic basket. Dark clouds are steadily rolling in with the speed of a bullet train. Just when they think they might be able to make it back into the house, their luck runs out. The rain comes down in sheets, drenching them in seconds. Kamile is so thankful that the lack of pockets on her dress lead to her choosing to leave her phone inside.

Kamile is the worst mood when they finally reach the safety of the house. She just went through the stress and physical exhaustion of wash day two days ago and now she has to do it all over again five days ahead of schedule. 

“Did you not check the fucking weather before you decided to turn us into sitting ducks outside?” She seethes. Mingyu arches a brow in confusion at her sudden mood swing.

“Of course I did. It was supposed to be nothing but sunshine all week.”

“Well, clearly that was a lie but I’ve grown to accept that from you. Now I’ve got to go suffer through wash day ahead of schedule.” Mingyu winces at her words, but he’s nothing if not an opportunist so he chooses to ignore it in favor of jumping on the more important statement Kamile just made. 

“Can I help you with your hair?” He asks as he follows his grumpy wife up the staircase. She pauses outside her room to fix him with a glare.

“Absolutely not.”

“Why? I’ve always helped you with your hair.” In his mind, this isn’t a huge request. The Kamile he knew used to be only too happy to allow him to hand over her hair products for him to do her extensive wash day routine for her. He’d actually gotten so good at it that he’d even started doing her younger sisters’ hair whenever he was in the states to visit.

“I barely know who you are anymore and you expect me to let you touch my hair? Not a chance in hell.” Kamile’s voice climbs in volume until she’s practically yelling. 

The last thing Mingyu wants to do today is fight, but enough is enough. Their screams echo through the spacious house as they go back and forth over Kamile’s mistrust of Mingyu. He doesn’t get it and she thinks it’s incredibly shocking that he doesn’t. Kamile’s phone rings somewhere in the bedroom she has yet to enter, effectively interrupting their spat. She leaves Mingyu in the hallway in favor of answering it and groans out loud when she sees that it’s a FaceTime call from Yeojin. She’d forgotten all about the daily check-ins that the therapist had mentioned she’d be conducting. She goes back out to the hallway and drags Mingyu with her to the staircase so they can get this call over with without ruining the carpet in her room. 

“Hello, love birds! How’s everything going?” Yeojin chirps once the call connects. Her hopeful smile falters slightly when she sees the sour looks on her clients’ faces.

Mingyu is only too happy to give the attentive marriage counselor a full rundown of what was happening before she called. Kamile scowls at him the entire time. To hear him tell it, she’s the bad guy but anyone with common sense would’ve left her alone after she’d made it perfectly clear that she was not in the mood to have a conversation. She can’t wait for Yeojin to drag him therapeutically for not picking up on that. 

“Kamile, what do you think lead to you lashing out like that? The rain was not his fault.” The woman in question is thrown off when the outcome she was expecting doesn’t come to fruition.

“He should’ve checked the weather before deciding to have a picnic outside but that’s neither here nor there. I feel like I made it very clear that I didn’t want to talk to him and yet he kept pressing the issue.” Kamile can’t believe that she has to defend herself. Mingyu is so hasty with responding that it sounds like a keyboard smash is coming out of his mouth.

“I would like to make it known that I did not say one word to you when we came back inside until you started yelling at me.” He looks incredibly smug as he watches Kamile’s mouth open and close as she tries to think of a way to refute his statement. “I would also like to make it known that I have been obsessive about every detail of this picnic and I would have never had it outside if there was even a slight chance that it might rain. Maybe if you had a little more faith in me you could see that.”

“And that brings me to my next point.” Yeojin begins. “We’ve established that the infidelity was a myth, so why do you continue to hold on to that mistrust, Kamile? I want you to really think about it and be completely honest with both us and yourself. I’m not saying that whatever you’re feeling is wrong because you are entitled to feel that way but I think it would be good for the both of you if why you feel that way is better understood.”

The theme of the day continues to be silence as Kamile ponders the question put before her. She’s mature enough to admit that not trusting Mingyu while also admitting that she believes him when he says that he didn’t cheat is contradictory. The root of that contradiction is something she’s been trying to avoid ever since she got roped into that surprise therapy session. Mingyu’s alleged infidelity had been her out. Her escape. She had cut and run on the back of a false truth and that reality is something that’s been hard for her to process. Tears well up in Kamile's eyes as she thinks back to Mingyu’s rant about their wedding vows when they’d first arrived. She’d thought that everything was his fault and being forced to face the truth is difficult. Mingyu’s harsh glare softens as he reaches out to wipe the tears from her face as they start to fall. He sighs when she pulls away from him.

“I can see that I’ve found a sore spot so I won’t press this any further today. We’ll revisit this in the future.” Yeojin gives them some tips on how to better communicate before she ends the call.

Kamile is only too happy to end the call so she can lock herself in her room. She doesn’t even come back out for dinner despite Mingyu all but begging outside of her door. He’s not sure what mental dots she connected when they were talking to Yeojin, but whatever it was seems to have upset her more than he’d originally thought.

A weather alert comes through on Mingyu’s phone as he watches TV downstairs. Apparently the storm that had snuck up on them earlier is part of a much larger system of severe weather that changed course and is expected to hang around the area for the next day or two. His first thought is Kamile. She’s terrified of thunderstorms. Always has been. 

He thinks back to a time before they started dating when Kamile was just Vernon’s pretty American friend that he had a huge crush on. She had come to Korea to visit and insisted on sleeping on the couch despite the fact that everyone tried to give up their room for her. Much like today, a nasty storm rolled in and in her panicked state she had accidentally ended up in his room instead of Vernon’s. The realization had been comical and she’d tried to leave to go to the right room, but a sudden clap of thunder that seemed to shake the whole building sent her diving into his arms where she stayed for the rest of the night. She slept through a thunderstorm for the first time in her life that night. A selfish part of him hopes that this storm brings him the same luck he had all those years ago.

Day 3

Heavy rain beats against the window like a prize fighter while thunder rattles Kamile’s brain until she feels like screaming. There aren’t many things that strike true fear in her heart, but thunderstorms are definitely somewhere in the top five things on that list. She’s got her headphones in and her music blasting, but it does very little to drown out the war going on outside. She rips the blankets from her body and makes for the bedroom door to go get in bed with Mingyu but like the fifty other times she’s attempted to do that she stops herself in the hallway. The door shuts with a soft click as she seals herself back in her own personal hell. 

Kamile jolts awake not even aware of when she had even managed to fall asleep. Sweat has glued her clothes to her skin and it’s making her skin crawl the longer she lays there. She groans aloud when she hears the rain still beating against the window pane. The alarm clock on the nightstand says that it’s just barely six in the morning which means it’s been exactly one hour since she apparently passed out from exhaustion. A rumble off in the distance lets her know that she probably won’t be getting more sleep any time soon so she drags herself to the bathroom for a shower. 

Freshly showered and in desperate need of caffeine, Kamile makes for the kitchen. Mingyu’s bare back comes into view for the second consecutive morning when she rounds the corner. His hair is sticking up in odd directions and he looks to be five seconds from falling asleep standing up as he stabs at the buttons on the coffee maker.

“Why are you up so early?”

“You need coffee.” He replies with a yawn.

“Yeah, but I can make it myself. You didn’t need to lose sleep to make me coffee.” She protests. Mingyu turns to glare at her until Kamile raises her hands in surrender.

“If you’re up, I’m up.” Kamile shakes her head at him as she pulls two mugs out of the cabinet. No sense in arguing with him when he’s clearly made up his mind about suffering.

The two of them sit in silence side by side, sipping their coffee, and staring out the window watching Mother Nature do her thing. Out of habit, Kamile leans over to rest her head on MIngyu’s shoulder. She stiffens when she realizes what she’s doing. Mingyu holds his breath. Scared that if he makes any sudden movements the bubble will burst and she’ll move away from him. She surprises the both of them when she lets the tension drain from her shoulders instead, relaxing into him.

“I’m sorry.” Kamile whispers into the void. If Mingyu wasn’t so acutely focused on her every move, he probably wouldn’t have even heard it over the wind. 

“Me too.” He turns his head to softly kiss the top of her head, taking a moment to inhale the familiar scent of her hair products. He never knew it was possible to miss a singular smell so much.

They’ve exchanged exactly four words since they sat down at the table, but they mean so much. There’s a near palpable shift in the air. Like a switch has flipped. An unspoken truce between them that they are in this together. Kamile lifts her head to finish her coffee and Mingyu immediately misses the weight of her head on his shoulder.

“Did you ever finish watching The Originals?” Kamile asks before downing the last of her coffee.

“No, it was kind of our thing so I haven’t watched it since we stopped watching it together.” She hums in response.

“Well, it looks like we’re going to be stuck in this house all day so we may as well pick up where we left off.” Mingyu nearly chokes on his coffee. He can’t even remember the last time Kamile willingly suggested that they spend time together. He pinches himself to make sure he’s not dreaming which she rolls her eyes at. 

“Come on. You’re in charge of snacks.”

For the next eight hours, their butts are glued to the couch. They only get up to use the bathroom and replenish their snack pile. They’ve spent so much of their time arguing that Kamile had forgotten how much she loved just being with Mingyu. Klaus is about to rain down hellfire on some of his enemies when Mingyu’s phone vibrates in the pocket of his sweatpants. Kamile can feel it against her own thigh and it’s only then that she realizes the way that they’ve gravitated towards each other over the course of the day. If she were to get any closer to him, she’d be sitting in his lap. Mingyu had intended to ignore the call, thinking it might be someone from the company despite his strict instructions not to contact him, but he answers it instead when he sees that it’s Yeojin. 

“Well don’t you two look cozy. I was planning to pick up where we left off yesterday, but I’d rather talk about this first.” Yeojin looks entirely too smug as she brings attention to the lack of space between the two of them. Mingyu half expects Kamile to scoot away from him now that it’s been pointed out just how close they are, but she stays put. 

“Can’t a girl just sit next to her husband without being questioned to death?” Kamile asks playfully. Yeojin chuckles and moves on with their daily check in. 

“Fine, fine I’ll leave it alone. Let’s get down to business. Mingyu we didn’t get to hear from you a lot yesterday so I’d like to get into how you felt when Kamile left. What was that like for you?” Yeojin rests her chin on her hand as she waits to see what’s going to come out of the box of emotions she just opened. 

Mingyu briefly realizes that this is the first time he’s talked about that day to anyone as he recounts that dark morning like the nightmare it was. Kamile listens in stunned silence while he tells his story. After seeing the bags under his eyes at Yeojin’s house, she’d figured that he’d suffered just like she had, but she’d never imagined that waking up to find her rings and the note she’d left had affected him to the extent that it did. The guilt that’s been festering in her gut increases tenfold at the thought of him heaving into the toilet.

“I knew things weren’t the greatest but I truly did believe that we were strong enough to get through whatever. Divorce never crossed my mind even once so it killed me to know that it had not only crossed her mind but became a viable option that she ran with. I get why she thought that was the best option now, but then it felt like I’d been blindsided.” Mingyu explains. His words are laced with the hurt that he’s been keeping to himself. Kamile picks at the words screen printed down one of the legs of her sweatpants wishing that a hold would open beneath her and swallow her up. She’s never felt so low.

“Kamile, I see you’re getting emotional. What are you feeling right now?” Yeojin gently pries. Mingyu pulls Kamile into him as his own emotions start getting the better of him. Yeojin is pleased to note that, unlike yesterday, Kamile doesn’t snatch away from him. 

“I was so focused on how unhappy I was that I didn’t consider anything else. It was all about me, me, me.” Kamile stares off into space as she opens up. She’s never talked about this with anyone but her best friends. In hindsight, they might not be sitting where they are right if she’d just talked to Mingyu about it ages ago but then again hindsight is always 20/20. “I visited Korea plenty of times when we were dating, but living here as the black wife of an idol has been so hard. Being from America, I’m used to people treating me different because of my skin color but when people feel entitled to be so invasive about it because of who I’m married to…it’s different.”

Mingyu’s jaw is on the floor as he listens to the struggles that his wife was having right under his nose and he never knew. He noticed that she’d become more withdrawn and hostile but he could never figure out why and she wouldn’t tell him when he asked. It comes as no surprise to him now that she stopped going outside. He can’t exactly blame her. Seventeen is going on their eighth year so Mingyu is a seasoned veteran at ignoring the things people say on the internet. Unfortunately, Kamile didn’t have that luxury. His stomach turns at the tales of her being approached on the street by people who wrongly called themselves fans thinking they were protecting him. The racist comments made about her online. She was suffering and he just let it go on thinking that she was just being moody.

“Do you think that caused you to develop a little resentment for Mingyu and his idol status?” 

Kamile’s first instinct is to say no, but given that they are supposed to be as honest possible she tamps down the lie before it can slip out. She did resent that she’d fallen for someone with such great public notoriety sometimes. It was different when she was just one of Vernon’s childhood friends. The general public didn’t really care what she did from day to day, but now one wrong move turns her into a trending topic and she doesn’t know how to handle it. There are days that she wishes that Mingyu was just a normal person, but then they would have never met and that’s not a reality she truly wants to live in despite her feelings towards him when she walked out. 

“Maybe a little bit but I know we’d have never met if he wasn’t Mingyu from Seventeen so it’s pointless really.” 

They talk with Yeojin a little while longer before she has to go to her next appointment. The air between them is heavy with the weight of the secrets that have come to light. It’s a stifling atmosphere and it’s beginning to drive Kamile insane. She reaches for the remote to restart their show, but Mingyu takes it from her.

“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?” His eyes are misty as he struggles to hold himself back from crying once more. He could kick himself for not doing his best to shield her from the people that had killed her spirit.

“You’re already so busy and the last thing I wanted to do was add to everything else on your plate.” Mingyu wants to scream. She means more to him than being an idol. She always has. He cups her face in his hands, pressing his forehead to hers. 

“Promise me that you won’t hold stuff inside like that anymore and I promise to be better at not letting you. Deal?”

“Deal.” Kamile’s eyes flutter closed as Mingyu pulls away to press his lips to her forehead. 

He clears his throat before grabbing the remote to resume their show. For the next few hours, conversation is limited to the messy lives of the supernatural beings on the screen before them. The wind still howls. The rain is unceasing. Yet in the little bubble of Netflix and snacks that they’ve created, it may as well not even exist. 

Until bedtime that is.

“You know,” Mingyu says as they file up the stairs. The seemingly ever present bad weather still continues, “…you don’t have to sleep alone. I know you don’t like storms.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” It would be so easy to take him up on his offer. She could finally get some sleep, but for whatever reason she can’t bring herself to do it.

“Well you know where I am if you change your mind. Good night, Kamile.”

“Good night, Mingyu.”

Kamile stares at the ceiling in despair. She didn’t think it was possible for the storm to get worse but apparently Mother Nature took that as a challenge. She’s starting to genuinely concerned about whether or not the window by her bed can withstand the force of the weather it’s being forced to deal with. Kamile contemplates running to Mingyu’s room but shuts that idea down for the millionth time. Things feel...different between them after today’s call with Yeojin but she’s not sure if they’ve been different enough to justify hopping into bed with him quite yet. 

“This is fine. I don’t need to sleep.” She whispers into the void. 

She’s accepted her fate and made peace with it. Or at least that’s what she thought she’d done. A crack of lighting illuminates the room despite the blackout curtains over the window followed by a thunderous boom so loud it seems to vibrate her very being. Kamile is across the hall before she even has the time to process what she’s doing. Mingyu is out cold when she bursts into the room. Her brain chooses that moment to catch up to what she’s doing and flips on the switch of self-consciousness. Another loud boom has her throwing caution to the wind once more, sliding beneath the blanket to get as close to him as possible without waking him up. 

Kamile lays next to him a trembling anxious mess as the storm rages on. She’s so consumed by her own fear that she doesn’t even notice the man next to her has roused from sleep until he’s wrapped both of his arms around her to pull her into his warm chest. It’s as if the environmental warfare outside ceases to exist the second Kamile’s cheek makes contact with Mingyu’s skin. His presence drowns everything out just like it did all those years ago. The sleep that had been evading her comes quickly in his embrace. 

Day 4

A ray of sunlight shines perfectly through a crack in the curtain to hit Kamile square in the face. She squirms around trying to escape it and gets a frustrated groan in response. It’s then that she registers the weight of the arm that rests loosely across her midsection. The memory of running to Mingyu’s bed in the middle of the night comes rushing back to her. Her first instinct is to bolt, but she’s so touch starved that she finds herself turning in his hold in a bid to get closer. 

“Good morning.” Mingyu grunts something in response that she’s sure he thought sounded like good morning.

He slots one of his legs between hers and unintentionally allows her to feel the morning wood barely contained by his boxer briefs. Mingyu’s even breathing indicates that he’s fallen back asleep. Kamile would love to do the same but all of her attention is laser focused on the hardened appendage intimately pressed against her upper thigh. A damp spot has already started forming in her panties. She needs to get out of this bed now. Kamile squirms and wiggles around trying to get away, but it would seem that her efforts are having the opposite effect. A throaty groan slips from Mingyu’s lips.

“Stop moving.” He mumbles still half asleep. Kamile does her best to stop fidgeting and focus her attention elsewhere, but it’s not working. Her inner muscles clench around nothing as thoughts of what Mingyu could do to her dance dangerously through her mind. 

“I have to pee.” Mingyu cracks one eye open. It doesn’t take a genius to tell that he doesn’t believe her for a second but he releases her anyway. He sighs as he watches her run off to the en suite bathroom. 

Mingyu is noticeably absent when Kamile emerges from the bathroom fresh off a rushed orgasm though hardly sated. She follows the scent of coffee downstairs to find Mingyu bent over digging through one of the crisper drawers in the refrigerator. Back before everything went to shit she would’ve slapped his ass with glee and run away before he could exact his revenge. Good times.

“Did you hear what I said?” Kamile was so focused on his ass that she hadn’t even registered the fact that Mingyu had said anything.

“Huh?”

“I said do you want to get in the hot tub later since we can go outside now?” He repeats as he hands over a cup of coffee already milky and sweet the way she likes it.

“It’s almost 80 degrees outside and you want to get in a hot tub?” She questions slowly to which Mingyu responds with an emphatic yes. “Be honest. Are you just trying to see me in a bikini?”

“Absolutely.” He giggles when Kamile reaches out to smack him on the arm. “Why are you attacking me? Yeojin said we have to be honest at all times.” 

“I don’t think that included being a horny little shit.”

“I’m a man with eyes and a hot wife. I can’t help.” Despite the compliment, Kamile’s mood sours at his words. Mingyu’s freshly honed observation skills picks up on it immediately.

“Uh oh, did I say something wrong?”

“If I’m so hot, then why haven’t we had sex in four months? We used to go at it like rabbits and then one day you just stopped initiating things.” 

Mingyu is quick to point out that he did try to have sex with her plenty of times, but she pushed him away. Eventually, he gave up. It’s almost funny when the dots start connecting in her head. Her personal struggles had originally been why she denied him sex, but then he’d started coming home doused in perfume so she really didn’t want anything to do with him then. Mingyu has never been a very pushy person so he figured he’d just wait her out. He didn’t think that he’d end up in a four month dry spell (and counting), but he was also not about to look for satisfaction outside of his marriage either. 

“How about we save this sex talk until after I’m finished cooking? All of the blood in my body is rushing south and these rice cakes are starting to look like nipples.” Kamile nearly chokes on the water she’d just taken a sip of. Tears pour from her eyes as her body can’t decide if it wants to laugh or die of asphyxiation. 

“Woah, woah! When we said till death do us part I was hoping we’d be farting dust not barely 26.” Kamile is sure that he wants her dead now as her internal war between laughing and choking only gets worse. 

Despite her earlier protests, Kamile finds herself seated across from Mingyu in the hot tub later that evening as they watch the sun set. She fully expects him to try something from the way his eyes keep drifting south to stare at her chest, but he’s on his best behavior the entire time. 

Day 5

“Hello, love birds! I missed you two yesterday. What happened?” Yeojin looks hesitant almost as if she’s scared of their answer. She looks downright relieved to hear that they missed her call because they fell asleep cuddling on the couch. After getting a run down of everything that’s happened since they last spoke, she encourages them to continue sleeping in the same bed together. 

“Couples often downplay the amount of good that just being physically close to your partner can be. If you’re both comfortable sleeping next to each other without a thunderstorm being the driving force, please keep doing it.” Yeojin pleads before ending the call to go to her next appointment. 

Her words hang in the air even after she’s gone. Mingyu looks over at Kamile with a questioning look on his face. It’s clear that he’s after her opinion on this whole shared bed situation, but Kamile doesn’t have much to say on the matter. The two of them have been pretty much inseparable during the day now, but she’s still nervous about sleeping in the same bed together and she doesn’t know how to shake that feeling. She was too scared to think about it last night but without the weather to distract her she’s not so sure if sit’s a good idea.

“What’s going on in there?” Mingyu taps a finger against Kamile’s temple to get her attention. She shakes her head but he’s got a feeling it’s about what Yeojin’s bed sharing idea.

“If this is about sharing a bed, don’t worry about. You’ve got the rest of the day to decide.” She nods in acknowledgement of his point but Mingyu can tell that the gears in her head are turning even faster than before. Her overthinking is going to give her a headache.

Night time comes entirely too quickly for Kamile’s liking. Mingyu has kept her so busy that she hasn’t had the time to sit down to sort through her thoughts. Knowing him, he probably did that on purpose. He always hated her habit of overthinking everything, preferring to live in the moment and make decisions as they arose. Kamile has never had much success doing that which is why they work so well together. He balances her out and helps her weed out the important aspects of the topic at hand to make faster decisions. 

Her mind is racing as they climb the stairs on their way to bed. Mingyu stops at the door to his bedroom and looks at her with such hope on his face that she almost feels guilty for what she’s about to say. His face falls when Kamile tells him that she thinks it’s better for them to sleep in their own respective rooms tonight. Mingyu is a good sport about it, bidding her good night with a lingering kiss to her forehead. 

Falling asleep has never been a problem for Mingyu which is why he’s utterly confused when he’s still wide awake three hours after getting into bed. He’s in danger of pulling the sheets off of the mattress on one side from how much he’s been tossing and turning. 

This is bullshit. I’ve been sleeping fine every night. What’s the difference now?

Mingyu sits up to fluff his pillows. It doesn’t help. He kicks the ceiling fan up a notch. That doesn’t help either. He counts sheep, ducks, and even cows, but nothing is working. The longer he tries to avoid the obvious the more awake he seems to be. Sleeping in the guest room most nights to avoid arguing had taught him to sleep alone. Now that he knows what it’s like to hold her again, he’s ruined. He wonders briefly if Kamile is awake too. Is she just as restless too? 

He tosses and turns for the better part of another hour. The clock on his phone says that 3 a.m is quickly approaching and Mingyu caves. It takes less than ten seconds to cross the hall to her room, but practicing his explanation as to why he’s in her room at ass o’clock in the morning takes much longer. He knocks twice and pokes his head in.

“Kam?”

“You can’t sleep either, huh?” She asks without even turning to look at the man poking his head into her bedroom. 

Mingyu nearly collapses from sheer relief when Kamile simply reaches behind herself to lift the blankets after he confirms that he’s been unable to fall asleep just like her. He wastes no time sliding in behind her. Before he can even get it out of his mouth to ask, Kamile reaches back to find his arm, pulling it across her waist. 

“Good night, Gyu.” Kamile whispers. Her words are slurred as if she’s already half asleep. Mingyu kisses her shoulder, letting his lips linger against her skin.

“Good night, Kam.”

Day 6

A feather light touch to her lower lip is what prompts Kamile to open her eyes long before she’s ready. She pulls back slightly once her vision clears and she realizes just how close Mingyu’s face is to her own. He even has the audacity to laugh at her surprise.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d wake up.” He’s not sure how long he’s been watching her sleep, but he’d do it for the rest of his days. The pesky organ in his chest skips a beat as he holds Kamile’s gaze like a lifeline. He mulls over his next words very carefully, preparing for a possible rejection just as he did when he came to her room in the middle of night. “Can I kiss you?”

“Please do.” She whispers into the inch of space that separates them. 

Mingyu closed the gap slowly as if he’s giving her time to change her mind. Kamile sighs when his lips finally touch hers. One of his hands comes up to untie the silk scarf tied protectively around her head so that he can bury his hand in the curls he’s always been obsessed with. He uses his grip on her to guide her head as he deepens the kiss. 

She rolls onto her back and pulls him with her so that his much larger frame nearly covers hers entirely. Mingyu lets his primal instincts take over. Too lost in the way her lips are moving against his own. A groan rattles his chest when she squirms beneath him until his hips are situated between her thighs. The thin fabric of their respective underwear are the only barriers separating his aching erection from the place she needs him most. He can’t resist the urge to grind himself against her. If his brain wasn’t so clouded in lust, he’d probably have the mental capacity to feel a little embarrassed at just how quickly he’s risen to full mast. Kamile is floating somewhere beyond cloud nine when Mingyu’s hand that had been cradling her head moves to lightly grip her throat instead while the other rhythmically squeezes and pushes at her ass in time with his thrusts. Her head is tipped back in ecstasy as he kisses along her jaw.

It takes a herculean effort that he wasn’t totally sure he was even capable of, but Mingyu separates himself from the panting woman in his arms. He rocks back on his heels and Kamile’s eyes are immediately drawn to the tantalizing bulge at the apex of his shapely thighs. She reaches for him but Mingyu grabs her wrist before she can get her hands on him. He lifts her hand to his lips, pressing kisses to the back of it.

“Trust me when I say that I would love nothing more than to ravage you right now but if I’m going to be inside you again, I want you to have my ring on your finger.” Kamile starts to speak but stops when Mingyu presses his index finger to her lips. He traces the outline of her kiss swollen lips almost as if he’s in a trance. “I don’t want you to make a decision that you’re not totally comfortable with just because you’re horny. I want you to really want it. I want you to really want us. Now get up so I can feed you.”

A vulgar comment about what she really wants him to feed her crosses Kamile’s mind as Mingyu playfully swats at her thighs to get her moving. She respects his resolve and keeps it to herself but only barely. 

“It’s super nice outside. Wanna go for a walk?” Kamile would actually rather stay inside and enjoy the comforts of the air-conditioning, but Mingyu looks so excited that she finds herself giving in. She disappears upstairs to put on her sneakers mentally kicking herself for being so whipped for the man waiting for her by the patio door.

Mingyu laces his fingers between Kamile’s

They happen across a small stream during their casual stroll around the property. Kamile stops to look at Mingyu to see if he’s on the same wavelength as her. 

“Let’s do it.” 

Their shoes are abandoned under a tree near the creek before running full speed into the water.  The cooler temperature of the water feels like heaven. Kamile squeals when Mingyu splashes her with water. Mingyu suddenly lifts her over his shoulder, using the hand that’s not holding on to her to splash Kamile with more water. She’s out of breath from laughing when he finally lets her down only to steal the rest of her breath away when he surprises her with a kiss. 

“What was that for?” She’s slightly dazed both from the lack of oxygen and the searing kiss he’s just laid on her.

“Because.” He smirks at her before swooping in for yet another kiss.

“And that one?”

“Because part two.” Kamile giggles at his corniness even though she does her best not to give him the satisfaction of knowing it gets to her. Mingyu’s smile somehow gets even bigger at the sound of her laughter. He digs his fingers into his sides to prolong her laughter for his own enjoyment. 

They spend a little longer frolicking around before finally heading back to the house to shower and start on dinner. Kamile unsuccessfully lobbies to shower together but Mingyu is adamant in his refusal. He’s positive that the self-control he exhibited earlier that morning used up all the restraint he could’ve ever hoped to have for the next six months. There’s no way he’d be able to deny her. He kisses her quickly before running off to his own bathroom. 

Mingyu is totally and completely in love. He absentmindedly pushes his food around with his fork as he listens to Kamile rant about the mistreatment and near erasure of some X-Men character named Darwin. He’s got absolutely no idea what she’s talking about but she’s so passionate about it that he can’t help being fascinated. 

“Darwin’s whole entire superpower was that he could adapt to anything and you mean to tell me that robots designed to adapt to and counteract the powers of mutants were built off of Mystique’s DNA? Absolutely not. I might be a little-” Her rant is cut short by her phone ringing on the kitchen counter where she’d left it. She grumbles about being interrupted as she gets up to go get it. It’s Yeojin. 

Kamile returns to the table with her phone, choosing to sit in Mingyu’s lap for their daily check-in. The marriage counselor should get a kick out of that one. Sure enough, their seating arrangement is the first thing that Yeojin comments on. They take turns updating her on everything that’s occurred since they last spoke with her though they leave out some of the more sordid details. 

“This is what I like to hear!” She exclaims with an excited clap of her hands. “It seems that everything is going well right now. Is there anything we haven’t talked about this week that one of you wants to go over? If not, I’m comfortable ending the call here.” They say their goodbyes after confirming that they feel like they’re in a good place right now. Yeojin makes them swear to call her the moment they think they need her but she doubts that she’ll be hearing from them  until their follow-up appointment in a few days. 

Kamile makes to get up to return to her own chair but Mingyu stops her. She shrugs and reaches across the table to grab her own bowl. He smiles to himself as she resumes the rant that she’d been in the middle of before Yeojin’s call. He still has no idea what she’s going on about but he’s content to just listen to her vent. 

Day 7

Anxiety twisting her gut into knots is what eventually pulls Kamile from the bliss of sleep. Mingyu’s side of the bed is empty and she’s thankful for that to a certain extent. She heads for the shower, taking extra care with everything she does until she realizes how cowardly it is to stall like this. Deciding against putting on actual clothes, Kamile opts to just pull on one of oversized hoodies.

“Good morning!” Mingyu leans over to kiss her sweetly before turning back to the pan he’s tending to on the stove. He’s been doing that a lot since yesterday. Just randomly stealing kisses like he’s making up for lost time. 

“Just so you don’t get freaked out when they show up, I’ve got a private chef coming to cook us dinner tonight.” Mingyu mentions as they sit down to eat breakfast. She’s pleasantly surprised that he’s put in so much thought into their anniversary even though he’s yet to directly mention the fact that today is their anniversary. 

Today is their last day in their little safe haven away from the world and the status of their marriage is still technically up in the air. They both know that a decision needs to be made before they leave in the morning, but neither of them has brought it up. It’s like they’ve been tip toeing around the giant elephant in the room and expecting for it to just disappear on its own. 

Other than Mingyu making tteokbeokki, extra spicy and extra cheesy just the way Kamile likes it, they don’t really do much throughout the day. A majority of their time is spent tangled in each other on the couch just talking. They reminisce on the days when they’d first started dating. Kamile nearly falls off of the couch in a fit of laughter at Mingyu’s spot on impression of Vernon’s face when he’d caught them sneaking a few kisses in the dorm kitchen one day. Each memory is sweeter than the last and Kamile is overcome with the urge to make more of those memories. Now that she’s been able to let go of the anger and misplaced resentment that had made her bitter, she actually has hope in that possibility.

The heels of the platform pumps she’d decided on for the night click with every step as Kamile slowly descends the staircase. She’s determined not to let her natural clumsiness send her to the hospital on such an important day. Mingyu holds his hand out to her when she reaches the last few steps. He looks every bit the international superstar that he’s known to be.

“You look absolutely stunning.” Warmth spreads across her face at the whispered compliment. She barely manages to return the favor. Kamile’s nerves are starting to get the better of her and she hopes and prays that there’s wine on the table so that she can drink them away.

Thankfully, Kamile notices a bottle of white wine chilling in an ice bucket next to the table when Mingyu leads her into the dim dining room. The dinner prepared by the chef looks delicious and she’s can’t wait to taste it but wine is her first priority if she expects to make it through dinner without bolting. Her first glass is tipped down her throat in record time much to Mingyu’s amusement. He refills without hesitation though she chooses to actually sip that one as intended.

Conversation flows easily between them as they eat. However, the topic that deserves their attention the most continues to stew on the back burner as they talk about literally anything else. As nervous as Kamile was when she first came downstairs, Mingyu is doubly so. He’s done his almighty best to convince Kamile that their marriage is worth saving without outright begging her. Based on the past few days, he’s incredibly hopeful that she’ll come back home with him tomorrow and stay there but she’s always been a wildcard. You never truly knew what move she was going to make until she made it. The small velvet box in his pocket feels like a stone. During a lull in the conversation, Mingyu makes his move.

“Kamile,” He reaches across the table to grab both of her hands, “Four years ago you agreed to be my girlfriend and I thought that surely that was the happiest day of my life but then you said yes to being my wife and I knew then that I was wrong. You’re the most precious part of my life and I was a fool for not making sure that you knew that every day for the last year.”

Mingyu pauses to get down on one knee next to Kamile, pulling the ring box from his pocket. Her ring is nestled in the tiny velvet box. It sparkles brilliantly even in the dim lighting. “Kamile Kim, will you do me the honor of staying my wife?” 

Tears well up in Kamile’s eyes as she nods her head yes. She’d made countless lists and weighed her options, but in that moment she throws all of that logic to the wind. At the end of the day, Mingyu is the one. He always has been and he always will be. She can’t believe that she almost threw everything away over her own assumptions and insecurities. Mingyu doesn’t hesitate to slide the piece of jewelry onto her trembling hand when she holds it out to him. He stands, pulling her with him so that he can kiss her senseless. 

“I’ve been waiting to say this until I knew where we stood but….happy anniversary, babe.”

“Happy anniversary, Gyu.” She whispers against his lips before kissing him deeply once more. “Now take me upstairs.”

“Your wish is my command, my lady.” 

[numba99]

The Lies Between Us

A/N: I have no idea where this came form I just started writing and this came out LMFAO honestly I don’t know how much I love this but uhh there’s not enough Quinn content for me and I needed to fill that void so I hope y’all enjoy either way. Word count: 2.7k

Warnings: smut

You shouldn’t care. You shouldn’t be jealous.You weren’t his girlfriend, you weren’t his anything, not really. Yet see his hands on her waist stung in a way you never anticipated it would. His hands used to hold you like that, she was in your spot. It was like a white hot knife to the heart, searing, unrelenting.

You were gripping your drink so hard you wondered if the glass might shatter in your hand. It would hurt less, you thought, than watching this. Watching him kiss the side of her neck, the spot he knew you loved so much. It shocked you how much hatred you could harbor for this nameless woman. It wasn’t her fault, how could she know? How could she know she was standing in your spot, with the man you’d fallen for? It wasn’t rational to hate her, but the alcohol flowing through your veins was making it difficult to see anything other than red. It wasn’t just her, though, you hated him too. Or you wanted to.

“Uh, is everything okay y/n?” your best friend Brock questioned. You quickly looked away from Quinn and the girl, fearing if he followed your eyes he’d see what was upsetting you. He’d put two and two together.

“I don’t feel great,” you lied, not looking at him. You hated lying to Brock, you really did, but that’s all you’ve been doing lately. He didn’t know about you and Quinn. When the two of you started hooking up a few months ago, you both agreed it would be better to keep things secret. You were in the same friend group, things would get complicated if other people got involved. Neither of you wanted to deal with the unsolicited opinions, about how it was a bad idea. Of course you knew that. When was it ever a good idea just to fuck someone? When did friends with benefits ever work? 

It had been dumb, you absolutely knew it. But when Quinn looked at you, when he touched, when you felt his lips on you, well, all reasoning left you. He evoked something in you that no else did. It was primal, almost, the need you felt for him. It drove you wild to just be in the same room with him, and you knew he felt the same way. Some things you just can’t fake.

“Looks like you wanna kill someone,” Brock noted, sipping his drink. You could feel he wasn’t buying it. He knew you long enough to know something was up. Part of you wanted to come clean, to finally let it all be out in the open. But you were scared Brock would be mad, and you wouldn’t blame him. You’d been lying to him for months, sneaking around to fuck his best friend. He'd be furious with you, you were sure of it. You couldn’t deal with that right now, it would be too much.

“Just some stupid boy,” you lied.

“Do I know him?” he asked casually. He was used to hearing you vent about the shitty men you came in contact with.

“No.” Another lie. God you hated yourself. Since when were you the person who lied? To their best friend no less. You wanted to blame Quinn for making you keep this all a secret, but even through your anger you knew that was not fair. It was as much your idea as it was his. 

You hated how much you enjoyed it in the beginning. It had been fun, sneaking around, the fear of getting caught, the absolute thrill of not. It was intoxicating. You thought of all the places you’d managed to fuck without anyone knowing, how each time had been better than the last. One of those times happened to be in the very club you sat in tonight. You thought that if you saw Quinn pulling the girl he was with to the bathroom where he’d had you... well you just might kill someone then.

“Whoever he is, he’s a loser. You deserve better than some asshole who’s gonna get you so upset,” Brock tried to comfort you. It just made you feel more guilty. Would he be saying the same thing if he knew who you were upset with?

“Thanks,” you replied flatly. You were about to open you mouth to say something, but Quinn caught your eye again. He was kissing her, this time on the lips. You felt sick to your stomach, and not because of the alcohol you drank. You couldn’t do this, you couldn’t be here anymore. 

“I have to go,” you jumped up suddenly, nearly teetering over.

Brock’s hand found your arm, keeping you from falling. “Y/n, are you sure you’re okay? Something seems really wrong,” he was studying your face now. You’d have to put on your best act. Your best lies.

“I’m fine, just had too much to drink,” you started. It really wasn't a lie, it was hard for you think straight with the mixture of alcohol and pain swimming through your body. “It’s not a big deal, I'll be over it tomorrow, I just need to get some rest.” You definitely would not be over this tomorrow, but you needed Brock to believe you were okay. You needed to get somewhere that you could be alone.

“Let me take you home,” Brock replied.

You forced a laugh. “I’m not a child I don’t need an escort. I’ll make it home fine.”

“Stay at my place tonight then? So I can check on you when I get home,” Brock insisted. He was worried about you, and you knew he wasn’t going to drop it. It pained you how much he cared about you in that moment, you didn’t think you deserved it. But you also knew fighting it wasn’t going to work. You figured you could just slip into the guest room and have a melt down before he got home. You could be asleep by then, or at least pretend to be asleep.

“Alright, yeah,” you nodded, “But I just want some time to myself. Stay and have fun, okay? I’ll be okay I promise.” Brock agreed, slipping you the key to his place. You forced another smile, saying you’d see him later before heading out. Tears were already pressing at the back of your eyes as you slipped into the car you called.

You wanted to be mad at Quinn, well you were, but really you were more mad at yourself. You brought on this shit storm. Of course you caught feelings for him, who were you kidding? From the first time you kissed, you knew, you felt the sweetest spark in the pit of your stomach. It wasn't lust, it was love. You loved Quinn. As much as you hated to admit it, you did. You didn’t want to be his secret, you didn’t want to hide anymore. But he didn’t feel the same, at least you didn’t think so. It always seemed to be about sex for him. You couldn't tell him you loved him, it would ruin everything.

So you ruined things differently. You cut him off completely. No texts, no calls, nothing. It was wrong, you knew that, but you'd be lying for months now what was one final shitty act? You avoided him for awhile, making up excuses to Brock why you couldn’t come out. Working late. Friend needed you. Whatever worked.

Until Quinn showed up at your door, demanding answers. The words spilled from you venomously, shocking yourself. You told him he wasn’t worth it, that you didn’t want anything to do with him. More lies. A part of you wanted him to fight for you, to ask you to stay or try to talk things out. For a second, there was a flash in his eyes that made you think he would. But he left without a word, leaving you all alone.

That encounter had been a few weeks ago. You were running short on excuses to tell Brock, which is why you came out tonight. You convinced yourself you didn’t care, that you could handle seeing him. And maybe you could have, if it was just him, but seeing him with someone else stung. It confirmed to you that he never felt anything more for you than just a hook up buddy. How else could he have moved on so quickly?

Tears were slowly freely be the time you hit the guest bed in Brock’s place. You didn’t bother getting undressed, just kicking off your shoes and curling into a ball. You felt ridiculous, but you needed to get it all out. Maybe then you would feel better.

You’re not sure how much time had passed, but you knew it couldn't have been that long when you heard the front door open. Fuck, you should have known Brock would come back early to check on you. There was no way you could hide that you’d been crying, so you turned away from the door, hoping you could pretend to be sleeping and he'd leave you be.

“Y/n?” asked a familiar voice. But it wasn’t Brock’s.

“Quinn?” you gasped. He was the last person you were expecting. “What are you doing here?”

“Brock said you left in a rush, that you seemed upset. I wanted to check on you,” he told you, hovering awkwardly in the door way.

“Why do you care?” you asked. You intended for it to sound cold and uncaring, but you sounded more sad than anything else.

“Because I-” Quinn paused, as if he was stopping himself from saying what he wanted. “I don’t understand what happened between us,” he said finally.

“Us? Was there ever really and us?” you questioned.

He looked hurt. “I mean I thought...” his voice trailed off.

“You could just call me whenever you wanted to fuck and I'd come running?” you filled in the blanks.

“Is that what you think of me? Of how I felt?” Quinn questioned. You don't know how you were expecting him to respond, but it was like that.

“You couldn’t have felt much if you were making out with some random girl,” you huffed.

“That random girl was my shitty attempt to get over you,” Quinn replied, “And it didn’t work.” You stared at him, feeling like you couldn’t possibly have heard him right. If he was trying to get over you did that mean...

“Fuck,” you said, because you didn't know what else to say.

“What?”

“I think I made a big mistake,” you began, “By pushing you away.”

“You mean...”

“I liked you,” you replied, “I still like you, who am I kidding? I just thought you didn’t feel the same and it was all getting to be too much. I don't know, god it sounds so stupid now.” You shook your head at yourself. 

“I like you too,” Quinn replied. It made your heart flutter. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I shoulda said something, I was just scared it might fuck everything up.”

“Apparently fucking everything up is my specialty,” you sighed, both of you laughing a bit. “I am sorry though, seriously. I shouldn’t have said what I did and treated you like that. I’m really sorry.”

It was then you realized Quinn had made his way over to you during the course of your conversation. He put his arm around you, giving you a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay, I’m just glad I know what it was all about now,” Quinn replied. You were really looking in his eyes for the first time since he arrived and that pull of desire started to bubble up in you.

“Quinn... would it be crazy if we tried this? Us? Like no hiding, no secrets? Be together like normal people,” you asked, your heart hammering. Just because he forgave you, didn’t mean hed want to be with you.

Quinn didn’t leave much time for you to wonder, though. “There’s nothing I’d want more.” His lips found yours and in an instant all the pain you’d felt in the past few weeks disappeared. Everything about him kissing you and touching you felt so right. It was impossible to feel anything but bliss when he held you, his lips moving perfectly against yours.

Before you knew it, Quinn was pressing you into the mattress. You savored the familiar heaviness of his body on top of yours. You missed it so much. You missed him so much. Clothing peeled off between kisses and nipping at skin. Quinn slid his hand between your legs, running his finger over your already wet core.

“God I missed this,” Quinn groaned, stealing the words right out of your mouth. He slipped his middle in ring finger into you, just as you liked it. No one knew what you liked like Quinn did. They curled inside you, pressing your most sensitive spot.

“Quinn,” you gasped as his lips found your boobs. His tongue sliding across your nipple, making you shiver in the best way. It had been so long since you felt him like this, you were going to last long.

Quinn seemed as eager as you; you could feel him hardening against you. It only drove you crazier. When Quinn’s thumb found your clit, it was over for you. It took just a few moment of the extra stimulation to send you over the edge, moaning his name as your hand tangled through his hair. He always loved when you pulled it.

Quinn smirked up at you as he always did when he made you cum. It never got old to him, and you loved that. “Come here,” you purred, pulling him back to your lips. As you kissed, you looped your fingers into his boxers, pulling off the one piece of clothing that separated the two of you.

“Need.. you.. now,” Quinn murmured between kisses. You weren't about to object. Quinn pressed into you easily, as you were slick form your first orgasm and he knew exactly how fast he could go with you. He found his pace right away, building your second orgasm quickly.

Quinn was peppering kisses all over, something that gave you butterflies even now. Sex with Quinn was always good, but this was different. It was more than just sex now, which made it so much better than you ever thought it could be.

“Quinn I’m gonna-” you lost your breath in your second orgasm before you could get the words out. Quinn let out a low curse, feeling you tighten around him. He only managed a few more thrusts before he was cumming along with you.

Quinn was smiling again, though this time it was less pride and more joy. He was happy to be with you, really with you. Before either of you could say a word, the front door opening broke the silence between the two of you. Your eyes widened at each other, knowing there was no way out of this. You had no time to even get your clothes on, so you just scrambled to get under the covers.

“Well would you look at what we have here,” Brock was biting back a smirk in the doorway.

“We can explain,” you responded quickly, feeling a blush tint your cheeks.

“What that the two of you have been fucking for months? Yeah we knew that,” Petey piped up from behind Brock. They both looked thoroughly amused.

“You guys knew? How come you didn't say anything?” Quinn asked incredulously.

“How come you didn’t say anything?” Petey shot back, brow raised. Fair.

“You’re not mad?” you asked.

“Not at all,” Brock shook his head, “Just glad you two idiots figured it out.”

“Thanks Brock,” you smiled at your best friend, feeling the weight of the last few months lift from your shoulders.

“Of course. Now you two lovebirds enjoy yourselves... just don’t stain my sheets,” Brock closed the door behind him. Even in the dark you could see Quinn’s cheeks were just as red as yours. However, embarrassment quickly gave way to joy as he planted a quick kiss on your lips before pulling you on to his chest. You and Quinn finally had each other, in the way you truly want, and that was all that matter. 

[minghaocouture]

Fearless: Chapter 6

Pairing: Werewolf!Jeon Wonwoo x Vampire!Reader Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Non-Idol Au Warnings: Language, Descriptions of violence Rating: T WC: 4.2K AU Lore:   Vampire Coven Info/Wolf Pack Info/Lore Info

A/N: This chapter def did not go the way it was originally planned lol. But i really like how it turned out.

Chapter List: Chapter 1/Chapter 2/Chapter 3/Chapter 4/Chapter 5/Chapter 6/Chapter 7/Chapter 8/Chapter 9/Chapter 10/Chapter 11/Chapter 12/Chapter 13/Chapter 14

Tag List: @moon-asia​

It was official. Wonwoo was in big trouble. 

After his chat with Sojung and his meeting with on the beach, there was no way he could deny that what he was feeling wasn’t the mate pull. Which was why he was currently sitting out on the patio, phone in hand and attempting to not text her. [Y/N], the name he had finally gotten, to check and make sure she hadn’t gotten into any more trouble with her Coven. From what little information she had given him, she was in pretty big trouble for their fight.

Thinking about that he lifted a hand to his face, the scars weren’t as bad as hers would be...that is if she could get scars. He knew Vampires healed better than most of the other species but he wasn’t sure to what extent. He would have to ask her later. Though with how closed off she was it would probably be a while before she actually was willing to answer his questions. Which Wonwoo completely understood, technically they were still on opposite sides.

The back door sliding open snapped Wonwoo out of his thoughts, and he quickly shoved his phone back into his pocket. Glancing over at the door, he watched as Vernon exited and joined him. The younger man taking the seat next to him. The male seemed just as chill as he normally did, Wonwoo wondered if his nature came from the fact that he was born right at the end of the seventies. It would make sense. Vernon didn’t say anything for a while, content with just sitting outside watching the snow softly fall.

As the two sat in silence, Wonwoo pondered for a moment about telling Vernon about everything that had happened over the past 3 days. Out of the whole Pack, Vernon and Sojung were the only two that Wonwoo couldn’t see blowing up or telling Seungcheol. He felt he needed to talk to someone about it though, this was his mate after all. Besides, if he wanted to stop the plan for the Full Moon then he would need help. Wonwoo wasn’t dumb enough to think he could do everything on his own. 

Clearing his throat to break the silence, Wonwoo pushed himself forward slightly and placed his elbows on his knees.

“Vernon?” he was met with a small grunt, an acknowledgement that the younger was listening. “What would you do if you found your mate?” The question was innocent enough. Wonwoo wondered if Vernon had even really thought about it before, considering the male had only been ageless for about 19 years where Wonwoo had been stuck looking like a 20 year old for more than 70. 

Back when he was younger, Wonwoo had always assumed that his mate would be human or another wolf. That his romance would be a simple one, like his parents before him. He hadn’t been anticipating...whatever this was turning out to be. 

Vernon shrugged in response. “I mean, I guess I’d just tell them that they’re my mate? Maybe go on a few dates? It’s not really something I think about too much.” Vernon wasn’t exactly known for being a person who thinks ahead, more of a go with the flow type of guy. Wonwoo honestly had expected this kind of answer from him. What he hadn’t been expecting was the follow up.

“What about you? I mean, you found them right? That’s why you’ve been sneaking off late at night recently, and being all weird?” Wonwoo simply blinked at the younger male, a bit amazed that he had been so obvious about his situation. Vernon took his silence as an invitation to continue.

“I mean, everyone’s kind of noticed. Especially since you ran off by yourself after the meeting tonight and didn’t come home til like 1.” He’d need to be more careful about that from now on. Having her number would definitely help out with seeming less suspicious when leaving. Now he’d just message her if he would be late to their meetings. 

Running a hand through his hair, Wonwoo leaned back into the chair once more. Heavily debating on actually confessing everything to Vernon. It was a risky decision, even if Vernon didn’t freak out. Anxiety filled his gut as he leaned forward once more, casting a glance over to the door that led back into the house. Once he was certain that no one was about to join them outside, or could possibly be listening in, he made his decision.

“I did.” swallowing back his nerves, he was honestly amazed that he had been able to keep his poker face on as he spoke. “I did find her, but it’s a lot more complicated than I expected.” Vernon snorted a bit, pulling on the strings of his hoodie as he listened to his elder.

“Can’t be that hard? You just gotta lay on your...charm.” Vernon gave Wonwoo a once over before nodding firmly. As if needing to confirm that his nerdy pack mate was, in fact, charming. If Wonwoo wasn’t in complete agreement, he probably would have been insulted. “Yeah you’re charming enough, I’m sure you can woo her in no time.” 

“Yeah. It’d probably be easier if we weren’t going to be trying to run her and her family out of town in...3 days now?” Not a great way to say it, but it was better than just saying flat out that she is a Vampire. Not much better but still, he gave himself points for trying. 

“We’re running people out of town in 3 days? I haven’t heard anything happening on the Full Moon...oh” Vernon trailed off, as the realization hit him. Like Wonwoo before him, Vernon turned a bit to get a good look at the back door to make sure no one was coming out or watching them through the glass. Once he was sure, he turned back to Wonwoo and honestly looked concerned. 

“She’s...ya know?” at this, Vernon lifted his hands and mimed Vampire fangs with his index fingers. “I vant to suck your bluuud” He made sure to use his most stereotypical vampire accent he could. Wonwoo just nodded in response before he slouched and rested his head in his hands. It would have been funnier if Wonwoo was less stressed about the whole thing. 

“Well shit.” 

Well shit was right.

“Does she know?” Wonwoo lifted his head a moment, returning his gaze to Vernon. A brow raised in confusion at his friend’s words. 

“Does she know that you two are mates? Does she even know how mates work?” Oh. That was a question that Wonwoo hadn’t thought about. She seemed to have pretty closed minded views when it came to Werewolves so it wouldn’t be too surprising if she had no idea how mates worked for wolves. That was another thing to add to his list of things he needed to talk to her about.

Vernon shook his head at Wonwoo’s lack of response. “You need to talk to her about it. The sooner the better, especially since she might be able to get her people to stop with the bodies. Sana and Jacob found another one on their run tonight.” 

“That’s something else, she says that it isn’t her people doing that.” Wonwoo was quick to give that information. He wanted to make sure that he was clearing that suspicion as soon as he could, with whom he could at least. So at the moment, only Vernon. If he brought it up with anyone else he would have to explain how he knew, which wouldn’t be good.

The distrust was clear on Vernon’s face, not that he distrusted Wonwoo but he definitely distrusted his mate. Which Wonwoo had expected.

“She said she would talk to her Coven about it and make sure, but until she gets back to me I’ll take her word for it.” Wonwoo continued. Not just because of the mate bond, but because she had honestly seemed confused when he had brought it up. “And she said she would believe me when i told her that Hyunwoo and Hoseok didn’t mean to hurt that kid the other day.”

Vernon jutted out his lips a bit and nodded, obviously still not too keen on taking her for her word but he’d trust Wonwoo. This was new territory after all, neither of the men had heard of a wolf being mated with a vampires. So neither male was certain how to approach the subject. 

Now it was time to breach the next conversation topic. 

“Tomorrow night, could you cover for me if I go meet her again?” 

***

The last few days of your life, you had gotten some pretty bad ideas. By far, this was the worst one yet.

Zipping up your jacket all the way to your neck, making sure your gloves tucked nicely under your sleeves and finally making sure your umbrella was open and ready for you to exit the building.

In the daytime.

Which would slowly start to burn you alive if the sun touched you. 

So all in all, this was a terrible idea. But information was needed and the Coven didn’t have anyone that could go out during the day safely, sure there was Keonhee but the second you mentioned the bodies in the forest he panicked and almost started crying. Sure you could have messaged Wonwoo and asked him, but it felt wrong to make him do all the daytime work. Especially since there was that part of you that was still apprehensive of him. So, needless to say, it was up to you to risk your life to try and figure out what the hell was going on in this town.

Thankfully, Minghao had given you the okay for this mission. He even went so far as to make sure it was kept secret from Jun and Soonyoung as well. You were honestly pretty grateful that Minghao seemed to be so willing to help you. When you first started all of this, you were expecting the inner circle to have more issues with it. Minghao was proving you wrong, even mentioning that he feels the hatred between Vampires and Werewolves had gotten dumb and cliche so if this would help stop a war between the two groups in town then he would help.

Now here you were, carefully walking through the town during the day time. It wasn’t too sunny because of the cloud coverage as it snowed, but you were still far too paranoid to close the umbrella.

The day started out with you getting absolutely no information on anything, no one had heard of anyone disappearing and the police station had only released  one or two missing persons reports in the past few months. So while those could definitely have been a few of the victims, it was hard to know. After all, humans were sometimes worse than any creature that the night had to offer. 

As you walked through the town, a yawn left your lips. You weren’t used to being out at this time of day, in fact it had been over a hundred years since the last time you were outside in the daytime. 

“Are you…[y/n]?” The voice snapped you out of your thoughts and had you staring at a young man. He looked around twenty, with hair that reminded you of the red from a sunset. His bright tye-dye hoodie was almost worse than the bright environment you had been having to deal with for the past few hours. 

Adjusting your umbrella once again, you raised a brow at the male. “Who the hell wants to know?” The aura of the male was definitely that of a wolf, but the only wolf who knew your name was Wonwoo. As that thought passed through your head, anxiety began to pool inside of your gut. You were thinking the absolute worst, had Wonwoo been using you to get information on your Coven? You hadn’t given him much, but it would explain why he kept wanting to meet up despite the Full Moon only being 3 days away now.

As if he could tell what you were thinking, the male quickly raised his hands out in front of him. Almost like he was surrendering. “I’m a friend of Wonwoo’s. He told me about you yesterday, said that you were a...ya know.” He lifted his hands to make mock fangs with his index fingers. He then moved a hand out for you to shake. A goofy looking smile on his face, as if he was trying to appear more like a trustworthy person. “I’m Vernon, by the way.”

You simply stared at his hand for a moment, and gave him your best ‘are you kidding me’ look. This just caused him to laugh a bit before dropping his hand, shoving it back inside the pocket of his hoodie. 

“I’m surprised to see you outside during the daytime.” He confessed, “I thought just being outside when the sun was out could kill you. But i’m sure you won’t tell me how it actually works, so I won’t ask.” Well at least he caught on quick.

You didn’t know how to feel about Wonwoo having told this man about your meetings. It felt a little like a betrayal, but at the same time you knew that Wonwoo owed nothing to you. Least of all loyalty. Despite this you were still clenching your teeth in frustration, grip on the umbrella becoming tight enough that you were mildly worried you would break the handle. 

“Wonwoo is about to get off work, do you want to come with me to pick him up? Three people together might have better luck finding things than just one person.” He didn’t wait for your response, and just walked past you as if he expected you to follow him. Blinking in surprise, you turned and watched him walk for a few seconds. Against your better judgement, that’s exactly what you did. 

It was a few minutes of walking in silence before Vernon stopped in front of a small book store. So you would assume that this was where Wonwoo worked. Vernon opened the door and looked back at you, he seemed like he was about to say something when you simply followed in after him. He stared back at you after you entered with a look of surprise etched onto his face. 

“I thought you needed to be invited into places?” His rather silly question caused you to snort in laughter as you breezed past him. Making sure you were far enough away from the glass door before you closed your umbrella. 

“That’s literally only private homes.” you retorted, an amused smirk on your face as you watched him. He nodded in response as if the information was truly valuable. It really wasn’t, which was why you told him at all. If it had been something more important you would have kept your mouth shut like before.

As the two of you walked through the store, you avoided the store front because of the larger windows on that side. He asked you small questions about your people, what you thought was happening, etc. You answered as vaguely as possible, still not fully trusting this wolf. You also hadn’t seen Wonwoo yet, which was a bit concerning since Vernon had said this was where he worked.

Despite the light tension things were going pretty good between the two of you, up until Vernon decided to step on a landmine.

“Why do you hate wolves so much?” His question had you freeze. Wonwoo hadn’t even asked you that yet, but here Vernon was asking this before he even knew you for a full twenty four hours. You were silent for a moment, a hand that had been reaching out to a book just simply stayed on the spine. Not bothering to pull the book out, or to move your hand away. 

Seeming to realize the trigger he had hit, he quickly back tracked. “You don’t have to answer, I’m just a bit curious. Everyone seems to have reasons for hating each other. I just wanted to know yours.” he explained. Vernon had been surprised to see such a look of defeat and anger on your face, an odd mix of emotions that you didn’t see regularly. “I mean, I don’t really hate Vampires. I just got told growing up that they were bad for whatever reason. So I was curious if, you know, Vampires did the same things?”

“It’s fine.” you muttered, pulling your hand away from the shelf at last. You crossed your arms over your chest and turned to face him. “I hate Wolves because they’re the reason I’m like this.” It was something you didn’t like to think about. When you did, you could remember the screams of your little sister as a wolf tore her limb from limb. Your mother sobbing in anguish as she watched your father’s mutilated corpse fall to the floor of your home. The feeling of all the air leaving your lungs as you were thrown harshly through the wall of your home and landing harshly on the ground outside.

Needless to say it was a day that you did not like remembering.

“[y/n]?” Recognizing the familiar voice, you spun around to find yourself almost face to face with Wonwoo. He smiled when he realized that it was in fact you. “What are you doing out during the day time? I thought that could kill you?” He questioned, placing a hand on your shoulder as if that would help convey his worry for you. With a gentleness that you hadn’t been expecting from yourself, you pushed his hand away.

“Couldn’t let you do all the work during the day, now could I?” You muttered, and flashing him an actual smile for what was probably the first time since you had met. The brushing past him and making your way back to the front of the shop and opening your umbrella so you could exit and continue your search.

***

The three of you asked around about anything strange going on. It was about 4pm when eventually you came across a young woman, maybe mid twenties. 

“Minah, you said your name was? Can you tell us exactly what happened?” 

The woman nodded, her soft coils bouncing lightly as she did. Her aura reminded you of Keonhee, of someone that was too kind and too pure for the kind of world they lived in. It was almost sad that she lived in a town as apparently dangerous as this one was. She seemed frightened as she spoke to the three of you, as she was currently wringing her hands together and looking over her shoulder as if someone was going to jump out and grab her.

“Yes, Minah that’s my name. I um...you’re probably going to think i’m crazy. The police did.” she muttered, green eyes casting themselves down toward the snow covered concrete. Vernon flashed her a small smile and shook his head. 

“Believe me, if anyone will believe you it’s us three.”

Taking him for his word she continued. “Well I was coming home from work last night and since it was late, and I wanted to get home quicker so I took the alley. It’s the fastest way to my complex so I take it even if it’s a bit more sketchy.” As she spoke she refused to make eye contact with any of you, her emerald eyes staying glued on her feet.

“I saw this couple, and they looked like they were fighting. But the guy clearly had the advantage and he had shoved the woman harshly against the building wall. I didn’t really know what to do, so I was going to call the police but before I could even get my phone out. He...well he bit her neck, and not in like the sexy way like in the attacking kind of way. I think he was a Vam-”

“A Vampire.” You finished. Minah nodded in agreement with you, her eyes finally meeting yours. You could see the hope that seemed to grow in her eyes. Simply because you believed her. At her confession, Wonwoo glanced over at you. Wordlessly asking if it could have been any member of your Coven. You shook your head immediately, as everyone last night had been partnered up and no one said they got separated. So it had to be a stray, or at least that’s the only conclusion you could come to. 

“Minah, did he see you?” Wonwoo questioned, glancing back at the woman. Your stomach dropped as she nodded again. That was definitely not good, and if he could he would probably go after her next. That was very not good. Pulling your phone out, you shot a quick text to Minghao. Giving him a short summary of what you’d just been told. 

“Am I in trouble? He’s going to find me isn’t he?” Her questions sounded so defeated, as if your reactions had confirmed that the woman was soon to die because of her actions. Vernon instantly began to deny it, but didn’t have any real proof to comfort the woman, who looked as if she was about to start crying.

After receiving a response from Minghao, you slid your phone back into your pocket and approached the woman. Your umbrella now covering the both of you from the light snow that continued to fall, she shivered as she looked up at you.

“Minah. I might have a way to keep you safe but you have to trust me okay?” She nodded slowly, tears still brimming in her eyes. In response you simply opened your mouth slightly, giving her a quick view of her fangs. You were pretty amazed that despite the obvious fear in her eyes she still stood her ground, trusting you as you had asked her to.

“I’m going to take you to a safe place, more people like me can protect you from that guy you saw last night. Will you come with me?” You sighed in relief when she nodded to agree. Asking her to wait there for a moment, you turned back to your companions. Grabbing their arms and pulled them a little further away from Minah, to speak out of range of her.

“Minghao says we can watch her until we figure out what’s going on. I’ll drop her off and...and “ you paused mid sentence to let out a long yawn, obviously the very few hours of sleep you got before coming out was catching up to you. “And then we can meet up at the beach. Can you two see if you find any bodies out in the forest, maybe the woman she saw last night?”  

“What exactly are you going to do?” Wonwoo questioned. He seemed almost concerned, as if he had thought of something you hadn’t. “How are you going to explain to your Coven why you were out during the day?” Well he had in fact thought of something you hadn’t. 

Sure Minghao and Hyunjin knew what you were doing, but everyone would know you were out during the day if you brought Minah back there. It would put you in a very difficult situation. Jun was still upset with you for your recklessness the night you attacked Wonwoo, and Soonyoung...well you hadn’t seen him since that day so who knows how he would react to coming home to a human in the spare room. Chan you weren’t too worried about, sure he was a member of the inner circle but he never really concerned himself with things outside of his job for the night. 

So basically you just had to worry about Jun. It is never good to have to worry about Jun. You didn’t want to let Wonwoo or Vernon know this, especially not Wonwoo. So you simply shrugged in response. 

“I’ll improvise. It’s no biggie, I’m a great liar.” Wonwoo snorted in response, shaking his head at you. The expression on his face showed how little he believed your words. Flashing a small glare in his direction, you jabbed at him with your elbow. A laugh escaped his lips at your actions and he gently pushed you back.

“Guys can you two flirt later? We have stuff we need to do.” Vernon seemed to be the voice of reason today. You almost made an attempt to deny that you were flirting, but before you could Wonwoo spoke up.

“You’re right, we should get going or Seungcheol will get worried.” But he made no effort to deny Vernon’s statement, which would have caused your face to flush if you had been capable of blushing still. Wonwoo turned to you, carefully placing a hand on the shoulder of your uninjured arm. “Make sure you get back safe, and message me if anything happens.” 

With that, the three of you parted ways. The boys headed North towards their home, and you turned back to Minah. Keeping her close as you made your way back South towards the bar. 

This was going to be fun to explain.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Things Not There

Switch AU

A bit of a longer one, all from Schneep’s perspective. Things are tough for the boys right now, and Distorter decides to mess with the hero to make more stress for everyone because he’s awful like that. And Schneep decides not to tell anyone. Read to find out what happens! sahjdkljhk Anyway this one took a while but I really like it. Enjoy!

More of this AU found here

It seemed absurd that, with everything going the way it was, Schneep still had to go to work. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he got up in the morning, worked seven hours at the coffee shop Latte Lake, then came home around one o’clock.

“It’s me, I’m home,” he called, opening the front door of the apartment and strolling in.

Jackie was lounging on the sofa, scrolling mindlessly through something on his phone. He looked up. “Hey, Volt,” he said. “How were things?”

Schneep huffed. “Same as ever. How are things here?”

“Ehhhh...” Jackie looked back down at the phone screen. He was a bit...listless lately, but that was to be understood, what with things being how they were. “Are you going out again tonight?”

“Yes, of course,” Schneep says. He’d been going out every night for the past few days, ever since the kids disappeared. Gone out in costume, searching. Nothing, so far. Though he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Distorter was difficult to find. In fact, they didn’t have any clue where he stayed or hid at all. So maybe the search was impossible, but damn if he was going to just let it happen.

“Hmm...” Jackie put his phone down and buried his face in one of the throw pillows.

“Do you need anything?” Schneep asked tentatively.

“No, I’m just tired.” Jackie’s voice was muffled. “Haven’t been sleeping well. Talking with Rama through FaceTime.”

“Ah. I see.” Schneep wondered if he would be able to hear that, if he was ever home before Jackie fell asleep. After all, his ‘bedroom’ only had a single wall separating it from the rest of the studio apartment. Any noise Jackie made from where he was sleeping on the couch was pretty audible. “Well anyways.” He draped his jacket across the back of the nearest chair and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Just as he stepped inside, the alarm on his phone went off. “Ja, ja,” he muttered, switching it off. He knew what that meant. The bathroom was a bit smaller than the average one, but it was pretty good-sized for an apartment. He leaned over the counter and opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, taking out a small bottle. Idly, he opened it, only to freeze. Since when was it empty? He could have sworn he was good for the next two weeks.

He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number from his contacts. Bouncing in place, he listened to it ring on the other side until it was picked up. “Hello, Dr. Akela speaking.”

“Hello Malcolm?” Schneep said. “It is Henrik. I was just calling to check on if you could, ahhh, send me my next prescription now?”

“Now? Is something wrong?” Malcolm sounded puzzled.

“I just went to take it for today and my medication bottle is empty,” Schneep explained.

“What? Already? Hang on a second, I need to check something.” There was the sound of fabric rustling and keyboard tapping on the other line. Schneep waited patiently. After a while, Malcolm hummed. “Yeah, that should have lasted you a month. It’s only been two weeks.”

“That’s what I was thinking!” Schneep sighed in relief. He’d been worried for a moment there that he’d lost track of time. “I do not know why it’s empty, I’ve only taken one per day.”

“You’re sure it’s only one?” Malcolm asked. “And you haven’t lost any?”

“No, no I am sure.”

“That’s, uh...this is going to sound unprofessional, but if that’s really the case, then that’s weird,” Malcolm said. “I haven’t gotten in your next prescription yet, that was gonna happen on Friday.”

“A week from now?!” Schneep half-shouted.

“Hey, I know it’s frustrating, but there’s nothing I can do about it.” Malcolm paused. “Maybe ask your new roommate if he knows anything about what happened to it.”

Schneep bit back a laugh. Yeah, he was going to ask Jackie about this. Jackie didn’t even know he took medication, let alone what it was for. Still, he said, “Yes, sure.”

“Great. Can you swing by the office on Friday or should I mail it directly to you?”

“I can stop by. Goodbye, Malcolm.”

“See you on Friday.”

Schneep hung up the call, thinking. He really could’ve sworn he still had two weeks’ worth of medication left. What could’ve happened? He glanced around uneasily. Could someone have...done something? Who? Sure, Jackie had the means, but not the motive. He had a niggling feeling that a certain black-eyed smiling creature was behind it, but there was no proof...still, if anyone would want to tamper with this, it was him.

He tried to push the what-ifs away for now and concentrate on the facts. Friday was six days away. Symptoms would certainly be showing up by then, or at least growing into larger problems than just inconveniences. But they wouldn’t be unmanageable. Probably not. He could survive six days.

So he took a deep breath, and headed out of the bathroom.

“Hey have you talked to JJ recently?” Jackie asked.

“Huh?” Schneep startled. “Ah...not since we met up the day before last. Should I talk with him?”

“Maybe,” Jackie said. “I think he needs some cheering up. I would in that situation, you know?”

He nodded slowly. Yes of course. If he’d been injured in a trap by Distorter, unsure if he would ever be able to speak again, he would be feeling a little down, at the very least. Maybe he would text him. But at the same time, he thought that if he did, he’d just dump all his worries about the missing medication on him. After all, JJ and Marvin were the only people he’d told about his condition. And neither of them needed any more pressure right now. So maybe tomorrow, then, when things had settled down just a bit.

——————— 

Schneep had always preferred night to day. Which was partly why he usually went out on patrol after dark. It was also partly because he had work during the day, of course. Had to make time whenever he could.

He sat on the edge of a fire escape, staring up at the sky. Only a few stars could be seen—light pollution, of course—but the moon was bright and close. It was quite peaceful. He sighed, wishing he’d thought to bring a cup of coffee with him. But even if he had, he would have to make sure he was out of sight so he could take his mask off and drink it, and it might be more trouble than it was worth. Not for the first time, he regretted that he designed the suit with the mask covering his mouth. But it was too late now. Well, whatever. It was fine, and kept his face less recognizable.

Stretching, he stood up and jumped down to the street below, landing solidly as his specially-designed boots absorbed most of the impact. Recovering quickly, he headed out, continuing the same search he had the last few days, looking for any sign of the kids, Michelle and William. Of course the patrol wasn’t the only part of the search. He was also scouring the local news and Internet, keeping a devoted track of anything that could’ve been a sign of Distorter or the kids. But going out and actively looking around for anything odd was a key part of this. And he still had to keep a hold on any crime, of course. Though luckily, it had been quiet lately.

There wasn’t anyone out on the streets right now. His eyes darted about, looking for anything odd.

“Hellooooo!”

Schneep gasped, and whirled around. No, it couldn’t be that easy. But it was. Distorter was standing in front of him, right in the middle of the sidewalk. His ever-present grin seemed more genuinely cheerful than usual, and that made him uneasy. He immediately raised his hands, fists clenched.

Distorter laughed. “No, calm down, I’m not here for a fight today.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Schneep growled. The last time he’d run into Distorter out on his own, the creature had stabbed him with some poison blade, almost killing him, and took Jackie in the resulting chaos. And now he’d taken others...“Where are the kids, you motherfucker?!”

“Not here to talk about that, either, but if it’ll help you feel better, they’re fine,” Distorter said. “They’re safe! What kind of monster do you think I am, to hurt kids?”

Schneep didn’t respond to that. He wasn’t about to trust anything he said. Instead, his eyes scanned Distorter up and down, trying to anticipate an attack.

“On edge, huh? Wonder why that is.” Distorter held up his hand, fingers clenched into a fist. “Could it be because of...this?” He opened his hands, and a few small white things fell, dropping onto the ground.

“What do you—” His eyes widened. No, he’d recognize that anywhere. “I knew it!” He lunged forward.

“Nope!” Distorter laughed, and before Schneep even got close, he threw a fistful of the pills—because that’s what they were, of course—into the nearest storm drain. Schneep stumbled to a stop, gaping. He looked down, seeing a few left on the sidewalk below. Before he could even think about if it was embarrassing to do so, he fell to the ground and scrambled about to try and pick up the pills left. Only for them to fade away, mere illusions. Distorter laughed harder. “Wonder what others would say to see that. It’s hilarious. Aren’t you supposed to be a self-proclaimed hero? Crawling on the ground?”

Schneep shot up and swung a fist. It connected with Distoter’s chin with a crack! and a discharge of electricity, making him stagger backwards. He honestly hadn’t expected it to make contact, so he stumbled as well. “Son of a bitch,” he growled. “Why?! What did you do with them?!”

“Your pills? Uh, I just threw it in the sewer, thought that was obvious.” Distorter rolled his shoulders in what could have been a shrug, but it was a bit too...flexible. “And as for why? Well, you’re alive, unfortunately. So I’ve decided to stop trying for the moment. And instead of killing you, what if I just make you as miserable as possible?” His grinned widened. “How long would it take for you to give up?”

For a moment, Schneep was speechless. Then, he laughed. “You think that anything you could do would wear me down? You are wrong! So fucking wrong! I have lived through worse than what you can do to me!”

“Hmmm are you sure?” Distorter tapped his fingernails on his arm. “Why are you so concerned about the others knowing, then?”

Schneep stiffened. “I...I am not going into details with you.”

“It’s because you’re scared.” Distorter took a step forward. The air seemed to shiver around him, making it hard to focus on him. “Scared of what they’ll think of you. You know how most people react hearing about this condition of yours, hmm? You’ve experienced it enough times. The last thing you want is for your friends to think of you that way, think of you as out of control or even dangerous.” He laughed. “It’ll be harder for you to keep it from them now, won’t it? Now that dear Jackie is staying with you. I wonder—”

“Shut the fuck up!” He tried to swing another punch, but the world shimmered and shifted, and Distorter was now standing to his left, watching him stumble. He regained his balance, then whirled on him. “They would not care. They are different.”

“Then why haven’t you said anything yet?” Distorter tilted his head. “It’s been, what, five years since you met them? Plenty of opportunities.”

And despite his desire to shout at Distorter, to profess his trust in his friends, Schneep still hesitated.

“Exactly.” Distorter giggled a bit, and then disappeared. Schneep balked for a second, but of course it was another illusion. Distorter’s voice still echoed from the same spot. “Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. Good luck for the next...six days, was it? I’ll be watching.”

For a long moment, Schneep kept standing there. He knew that he should probably be trying to follow Distorter, finding out where he lived—or...lurked, or whatever—and where he’d taken the kids. But he was just frozen.

Eventually, he pushed it out of his mind. Distorter was messing with him, as he was messing with all of them. He wouldn’t let him get to him. It was just six days. It would be fine. And with that, he continued on.

——————— 

He went to work again the next morning, because he, unfortunately, needed money. And just like the previous day, he entered the apartment, announcing “It’s me, I’m home.”

Jackie was on the phone. He waved at Schneep as he entered, then returned to whatever conversation he was having. “No, I can’t think of anyone. You already asked Rama, right?” He paused. “Well...yes, it’s a possibility. But the, um...other thing is also a possibility.”

Schneep paused, listening curiously for a moment. Then the alarm on his phone went off. He swore softly, hurrying to turn it off. For some reason, even though he’d scheduled it for the same time every day after work, he hadn’t been expecting it. Giving Jackie an apologetic look, he headed over to the kitchen area and grabbed a bag of pretzels.

“Alright, let me know, of course,” Jackie said. “Yeah. Yeah. Okay, goodbye.” He hung up, and sighed.

“What was that?” Schneep asked, curious.

“It was one of those detectives, Kikelomo,” Jackie explained. “I told you those two were assigned to Michelle and William’s case, right?”

“Yes.”

“She was wondering if there was anyone who, uh...didn’t like me, I guess? She explained it like having any enemies, but I dunno, that’s a strong word.” He paused. “You know...because there’s no sign of who we know actually took them, so the police are looking for other possible leads.”

“Hmm.” Schneep nodded silently, opening up the bag of pretzels. “I...unfortunately, I have not found anything.”

“I don’t expect you to,” Jackie said softly. “I think...I think that we must start looking in that...place. But to be honest, I...don’t even know where that is.”

Schneep paused. “The...place where he kept you?”

Jackie nodded. “I don’t remember getting there. And when I finally got out, I was...wasn’t really paying attention to where I was. So I have no idea where...you know.”

“What about...that Stacy lady?” Schneep asked. “She found you, so wherever that was, it was probably nearby to that place.”

Jackie looked over at him, eyes wide. “I...hadn’t even thought of that. I-I guess I could ask her where that was. But how would I bring that up?”

“Just ask, it will be fine,” Schneep said reassuringly. “Or if you want, one of us could ask her.”

“No, I can do it. God, why haven’t any of us thought of that before?”

Schneep shrugged. Jackie looked down, and he recognized the way his eyes were starting to glaze over. Quickly, he changed the subject. “Do you want a pretzel?”

Jackie laughed. “Yeah, sure.”

———————

Things started to go downhill on the second day after losing his medication. At work, he snapped at his coworker Jennifer to stop whispering to herself, it was very distracting. Jennifer had been startled, and denied any whispering. Hearing that, Schneep’s heart sunk, pulled down with dreadful anticipation. Already? He thought it would be another couple days...Though if the symptoms were manifesting now, it could possibly explain the listless feeling he’d had that morning, which had been dragging at him throughout his shift.

He tried not to show how shaken he was once coming home, and Jackie didn’t seem to notice. So he prepared to go out that night again, as normal.

Luckily, it was another uneventful night. Because he wasn’t sure how much he’d be able to concentrate on stopping any crime with the constant background noise that he couldn’t escape. He could barely make himself patrol, and found nothing in his search.

He was tired. Not physically, though he knew his sleep schedule had much to be desired. No, this was a mental sort of worn-down, and he just knew it would get worse throughout the next few days.

———————

He had a day off, and naturally ended up sleeping in. But he woke up to the sound of people talking. What was it, a whole crowd? Or was he even really hearing it? He stood up, stretched, and peeked around the wall separating his sleeping area from the front room. “Oh. Hello, Anti.”

Anti and Jackie were sitting and talking, Jackie on the sofa and Anti curled up on a chair nearby. “Hey Volt,” Anti said, waving.

“Oh, was I not supposed to let him in?” Jackie asked, a note of anxiety in his voice. “He just showed up at the door—wait, we woke you up didn’t we? Sorry, super sorry.”

“Is fine, you didn’t wake me up,” Schneep assured him, even though they really did. “What are you doing here, Anti?”

“Thought I’d stop by,” Anti shrugged. He didn’t look too good, in all honesty, with dark bags under his eyes and wearing wrinkled clothes. “I dunno. Anyway, Sam is here, too, because they won’t leave me alone.” A green eyeball popped up into the air, bouncing a couple times.

“Ah!” Schneep jumped a bit, taking a few steps back.

“You okay?” Jackie asked.

“Yes, that just...startled me, that is all.” Schneep let out a breath. “Anyway. You two keep going, talking about...whatever you were talking about.” He headed over to the kitchen area, getting ready to start the coffeemaker.

Jackie hesitated. “Well...we were just talking about the kids,” he said carefully. “Nothing...serious, just...talking about them.”

“Oh.” Schneep blinked. “Yes, that...makes sense. I suppose that is what most parents do.”

“If you had kids, would you want to talk about them?” Jackie asked.

“I...probably, yes.” Schneep hadn’t really thought of it before. He liked kids, yes, but he wasn’t really looking for them yet. He didn’t even have a partner. Well, he’d leave them to it. He turned on the coffeemaker, letting the sound fill the room. And he leaned a bit closer. The noise was drowning out the wordless conversation going on in the background of his head. That was...worrying, that he was hearing that. He’d have to tell Dr. Akela about that.

“Volt!”

He gasped and straightened. “Ah—yes, yes? I am here?”

“God, you must be pretty tired,” Anti said. “We’ve been trying to talk to you for like five minutes. Your coffee’s done.”

Schneep looked over at the coffeemaker and realized it was no longer making noise. When had that happened? “Ah. Thank you.”

Anti narrowed his eyes. “You know I can leave or something if you want to go back to sleep.”

“No, it is fine, I insist.” Schneep grabbed a mug from the nearest cupboard, and was about to pour the coffee in when a sudden glowing green orb shoved itself into his face. “Aack! Sam!” He carefully batted them away. “What is wrong with you?” They stayed around his head, shoving against his cheek like a pet begging for attention. “Anti, control your...strange...eyeball...pet.”

“Hey, they’re not mine!” Anti protested. “And they’re a lot smarter than a pet! I think. I dunno, I never really had a proper pet.”

“Really? Not even as a kid?” Jackie asked.

“Not a real one,” Anti emphasized. “I tried to kidnap a couple of birds as pets, some squirrels, a badger once—that was a bad idea.”

“Jesus, didn’t your mom ever say no?” Jackie said, shocked.

“Nah, she didn’t really care,” Anti leaned back against the chair. “I’d go out into the woods around town and just bring back animals and as long as they didn’t destroy anything, she didn’t care. Didn’t really care about much at all, really.” Suddenly, he stiffened, clamping his mouth shut. He reached into his jacket pocket, where he seemed to be grabbing something. A pocket knife, most likely, knowing him.

“My parents would have murdered me if I brought any animal home,” Schneep muttered. “Always on about keeping the carpets clean. And looking presentable.” There was a distinct note of bitterness in his voice as he continued. “All the image, all the time. Always their word the end of everything, because clearly they knew what was best. Do not even bother to ask.” He finished pouring the coffee, taking a sip of the hot, hot liquid. Honestly, he was glad they had no idea where he was. Not like they were actually upset when he first left. It was more about the idea of having their son get away than it was about his well being.

Jackie looked between the two of them, eyes sympathetic but saying nothing. “Well...Rama was thinking about getting a dog or something,” he said after a moment. “After Michelle...gets back, we were thinking we’d go adopt one.”

“Big dog?” Anti asked.

“Dunno.”

“You’d probably want an energetic one, to keep up with her. Google good family dogs, or something.”

“Jackie if you get a big dog I am never coming over to your house again,” Schneep warned. “You are on thin ice for getting a dog of any kind.”

“Aw, Volt, I’m sure if you spend time around some dogs, they won’t be as scary,” Jackie said.

“Yeah sure, fine. I will spend time with your new dog. Watching it. From the other side of the room.” Still, Schneep couldn’t help but chuckle. “Get one that is good with cats, too, then Marvin’s cat can be friends with it.”

The conversation continued for a few more minutes before Anti decided he wanted to leave. Sam followed, of course, seemingly attached to him. And by then, Schneep had almost forgotten about the noise in his head. Almost. He appreciated the distraction, at least.

———————

“Jackie, please stop hovering!” Schneep snapped, whirling his desk chair around so he could face the shadow peering over his shoulder. “You are like a helicopter!”

“Uh...what?” Jackie’s voice didn’t come from the figure’s location. Instead, the bathroom door opened, and Jackie poked his head out. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

Schneep visibly paled. “Um...never mind, it is nothing.”

“You said my name, though?” Jackie turned the statement into a question in his confusion.

“No, never mind, go back to...what you were doing. What were you doing?”

Jackie blinked. “I was...going to try to take a shower. I told you that. About two minutes ago. Didn’t you hear me?”

“Oh, uh...no. Sorry.” Schneep looked down, embarrassed.

“Right. Well, uh...I’m gonna try to take a shower. You might want to check on me in, like, ten minutes. Just in case.” He swung the door closed again.

Schneep breathed out, shakily. It was definitely getting worse. Though he now knew Jackie was in the bathroom, and could hear the faint trickling of water (Jackie rarely ever turned the water up to a high pressure), he could also swear there was another version of him, standing behind his shoulder. He could see the familiar figure, though if he tried to look at it directly, it would always stay in the corner of his vision.

It was fine. Just a couple more days. He swiveled back around, facing his computer, where he was...well, he didn’t really know. Just mindlessly refreshing a few different websites. He didn’t want to do anything in particular.

The figure in the corner of his vision seemed to move closer. But he ignored it. Even though his instincts told him there was someone standing right behind him, face close to him, he knew it wasn’t real, and therefore, wasn’t to be acknowledged.

“Stop ignoring me.”

Schneep bit back a shriek as he shot to his feet, whirling around. Familiar laughter echoed through the room, going from one corner to the next. He slowly edged along the wall. The figure still stood by his desk chair, but he didn’t look at it. But maybe he should. Because what if it was really...?

Something appeared, sitting on his kitchen table. He jumped, whirling on it, only for it to immediately disappear. “This is so easy,” the familiar voice said, sounding delighted. “I’m barely putting any effort into my illusions! Can you just stop taking those pills altogether? It would make things much less difficult for me.”

“Shut up,” Schneep hissed. “Shut up shut up shut up shut up—”

And again, laughter. It multiplied upon itself, layers and layers of laughing, and he knew it was laughing at him. He couldn’t help but shrink back against the wall. The figure from before walked up towards him, staying just in his peripheral. And there was another one coming from the other side. He grabbed a pen from his desk and threw it towards the second one, to make sure it was really there. It looked like it passed right through, but was that...really happening?

“Can’t trust your eyes, can you?” Shadows crawled down the walls. “Am I even here right now? Well, you just don’t know.”

There were more figures. They were starting to fill the room. His head twisted on a pivot to try and keep an eye on them—or look away from them—or try to see which ones are there—or something! They looked like his friends. But their eyes were black, bleeding, just like Distorter’s. He had to be here, right? That had to be why he was seeing things in such great numbers.

He sank to the ground, starting to hyperventilate. The shadows on the wall were warping, distorting. He tried to move, staying close to the wall. But he had no idea where he was in the room. Was he even moving at all?

The shadows kept moving, twisting, forming faces and shapes before fading away. He tried not to look at them. Where was the room’s door? Maybe if he left the apartment, this would end—

Something touched him.

He reacted instinctively, lunging forward blindly. Hitting something solid, he tackled it to the ground. Grabbing in a panic, rolling across the ground, he wondered if he should strike, because this was something, something, it had to be Distorter, he was here mocking him—more laughter!—and that had to be stopped, he’d shake it out of him, he had to stop this!

“...Hen...Henrik, it’s me.”

Schneep blinked, and suddenly things seemed clearer without the sudden, intense feelings. It wasn’t Distorter, it was just...Jackie. He’d pinned Jackie to the ground, one hand balled in his hoodie, the other wrapped around one of his wrists. And Jackie stared at him, wide-eyed but otherwise strangely calm. Missing his glasses, and with wet hair from the shower. The shadows on the walls aren’t there anymore, neither are most of the figures. There was nothing really there.

Gasping, he pulled back, standing up. “Jackie! I-I am so sorry, did I hurt you? Oh mein god, I did, I am sorry, sorry, I—”

“I’m fine, Volt,” Jackie said softly, sitting up. “Are...are you?”

“Am I?”

“You were...on the floor, crawling around.” Jackie explained. “I think you were saying something? I don’t know, it might’ve been in German. I just wanted to check on you, but you didn’t say anything when I talked to you, so I thought I could...I dunno. Just that contact would help. But you, uh...freaked out.”

Schneep felt his heart sink with every new word. He took a few steps away from Jackie, shaking his head slightly.

“You...so anyway, are you okay?” Jackie repeated. He reached out, then stopped and pulled back.

“I...am fine,” Schneep said slowly. Unconvincingly.

“Are you sure?”

“I do not want to talk about it.” His tone was firm.

“A-ah—right.” Jackie backed up. “Well, I’m...gonna sit down for a bit.” And he wandered over to the sofa, sat down, closing his eyes. He didn’t move.

Schneep hurried over to the bedroom area. He didn’t want to say he was hiding behind the wall, but there was no other way to describe it. What he’d just done—it was an accident! It was. But that didn’t matter. Jackie was wary of him, he could tell. Unnerved. Freaked out. Scared. Of him. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he buried his face in his hands. One of his best friends was scared of him. 

It was only a matter of time. Soon they’d all think he was dangerous, that he would lash out at any minute. It was an accident! But that excuse never helped. They’d find out what was really going on with him, and then they would say, that explains everything! The last thing he ever, ever wanted was to hurt people, much less his friends. And he couldn’t bear the thought that they’d think he would. But it would happen. They would think the worst of him.

He stayed in the bedroom area for the rest of the day. Jackie never came to check on him.

———————

Thursday morning, he woke up early. He didn’t mean to. It was just that he usually worked this day, so of course his alarm was set and he’d forgotten to turn it off. Even though he’d called in to work and gotten someone else to cover his shift because he just couldn’t handle working with people right now. Groaning, he slapped the button on his phone to stop the annoyingly cheerful jingle. But now he was up. And unlike most people, he was never able to get back to sleep after being awoken by something.

He stared up at the ceiling. The patterns in the plaster shifted into eyes. Watching him.

Shivering, he got out of bed and started to get dressed as quietly as possible. He didn’t want to wake up Jackie, sleeping on the sofa. God...recently he’d been wishing he’d gotten a different style of apartment, one with more...rooms. There wasn’t a lot of privacy in the studio design. Which hadn’t been a problem until Jackie came to stay.

Jackie, luckily, wasn’t awake. They hadn’t...interacted much since that incident.

Schneep stared at him for a while. Then, before he even knew what he was doing, he was leaving the apartment. Heading down to the bus stop. Not getting onto the line he’d take to work, but instead a different one, that would take him to the east side of the city.

It was still some walk to get to where he was going. He still wasn’t exactly sure why he was going there, he just knew that he needed...something.

Soon, he was knocking on a door, bouncing in place while he waited. Slow footsteps on the other side, and then it opened. “Oh hello—no, Mister, stay away from the door! Go back!—hello, Henrik. Anyt’ing I can do for you?” Marvin smiled.

“Hello, Marvin.” Schneep tried to smile. It didn’t work. “Um...may I come inside?”

“O’course.” Marvin stood to the side as Schneep brushed past him, quickly shutting the door behind him as Mr. Fluffington walked up close. “No. No cats outside, Mister.” He waved his cane in the cat’s general direction, and Fluffington responded by trotting away and weaving around Schneep’s legs. “Anyway, y’need somet’ing?”

“I just...” Schneep took a deep breath. “Am having trouble. Lately. With certain...things.”

He didn’t have to explain anything else. Marvin looked confused for a moment, but then nodded. “Well, y’can stay here for a while, I s’pose. Jems is in the parlor if you want t’talk to him.”

Schneep nodded, and ducked inside the other room. JJ was sitting on the sofa, leaning on an arm and scrolling through his phone. Upon hearing the footsteps, he looked up, surprised. Then he picked up a nearby pen and notebook and wrote down. Oh hello Volt. It’s nice to see you! Do you need anything?

“I...need to just...” Another deep breath. “My medication. It...ran out. Unexpectedly. Last week.” He paused. “Can I just...stay with the two of you?”

JJ’s eyes widened, and he glanced over at Marvin standing in the doorway. Yes, of course, he wrote. Is there anything else?

“No, it is fine.” Schneep sat down on the sofa next to Jameson, leaning back and closing his eyes. “Just some time, please.”

The two of them seemed to understand. And so some time passed in silence. It was...comfortable. Staying in the living room while JJ looked through his phone and Marvin read in his usual armchair. After a while Mr. Flufflington jumped onto Schneep’s lap and promptly fell asleep, preventing him from leaving even if he wanted to.

But soon, Schneep felt his phone start to buzz in his pocket. He didn’t look at it, not wanting to ruin the moment. Yet it kept buzzing.

Ding! A text tone went off. Schneep jumped and looked around, unsure if he really heard that or if it was just part of the noise. But then he saw Jameson typing something out and shrugged it off. Until Jameson gave him an odd look. And then a couple more as he continued the text conversation. After a while, he put the phone down and picked up the notebook, writing, Jackie was wondering where you were. Apparently you aren’t responding to his messages.

“Oh.” Schneep squirmed, though that soon got an upset look from Fluffington, so he stopped. “Well...my phone is in my pocket. And there is a cat here.”

Well I told him you were here, and he’s coming over.

“What?!” The sudden startled motion definitely dislodged Fluffington, who jumped off and walked away. “Oh no, sorry kitty!” Schneep looked at JJ. “Why did you say that?!”

He was worried, Jameson explained. He thought you-know-who was behind it. So now he’s coming by, and Anti said he might come too because apparently Jackie sent him a few freaked-out messages before he texted me.

Schneep looked down. Jackie was going to be so upset, knowing he made him worry over nothing. Well, no way to avoid it.

It seemed like only a few minutes later when the doorbell rang. Marvin got up to get it again. Schneep tried to sink further into the sofa cushions, and JJ put a hand on his leg as a show of support. Soon Jackie came bursting into the room. “Henrik! What happened?! Why’d you leave?! I mean I don’t mind if you have somewhere to go but usually you tell me. Is something wrong?”

Anti and Marvin appeared behind him. “Y’know I think something is wrong,” Anti muttered. “Volt, you look like a kid heading to detention after school. What happened?”

Schneep was talking before he was even fully aware of it. “Jackie, I am so sorry, I made you worry for nothing, I do not even know why I came here, probably because these two already know, which would make it easier, and also they have a cat and that makes a lot better, but now I made you worry about nothing and I know I am a bad friend but I promise I would not hurt you ever, I really do, anyway I was on autopilot walking here, feeling sort of out of all sorts of energy and I don’t know, I thought it would help maybe—”

“Jesus fuck, man,” Anti said. “Slow down and breathe, maybe.”

“What are you talking about?” Jackie asked. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me. Is...is this still about the thing that happened yesterday?”

“It is not me!” Schneep stood up. “I promise you, this is not an indication of who I really am, you know who I am, I have not been hiding anything from you—well, yes, I have, but nothing that is any big indication of who I am, it is just that I ran out, and that changes things—”

“Ran out of what?” Jackie asked, baffled.

“My medication!” Schneep blurted out. “I take—it is called Zyprexa, or something like that, I cannot quite remember right now. I will have to ask Malcolm when I see him tomorrow, or I could just check the labelling—”

“Henrik, please, slow down,” Jackie said, laughing a bit. “I can’t keep up. You take something? I didn’t know that. But there’s nothing wrong with that, you know I do, too. And JJ does, right?” He glanced over at JJ, who nodded. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“It is different,” Schneep insisted. “Yours are to regulate your focus and such, this is...it is different.”

Jackie frowned. “It can’t be that different?”

“Uhh...” Anti coughed awkwardly. “I mean, not in principle, but I get the feeling this is...I don’t want to say ‘different’ again cause the two of you have said that enough.” He paused. “Zyprexa is an antipsychotic, and so it, you know, has different effects than your guys’ Dexedrine and Adderall and—”

“Anti, how do you know what I take?” Jackie asked.

“That’s beside the point,” Anti hurriedly said. “The point is that...Schneep is trying to say something.”

Schneep felt his breath shake, coming out shorter. “I—I—I—” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I cannot. Marvin, Jamie, I told you, you tell them.”

“Are you sure?” Marvin asked. He waited for Schneep to nod. “Well...if you know for sure.” And he turned to Jackie and Anti. “Henrik talked to me one day, I t’ink it was last winter. He said he...has a condition. And t’at he sometimes sees t’ings. Not real t’ings, just...in his head. I s’pose there are other symptoms, too.”

Jackie’s eyes slowly widened. His mouth formed a small O shape. Anti didn’t say anything.

Schneep opened his eyes. “I...could not say anything to you two,” he said slowly. “It is different with these ones, I thought...thought Marvin would understand, which he has. And Jamie just stumbled upon it, really. But I was not so bothered, I think, because I have not known them for so long.” Tears started to build. “You two—I-I care for you very much and—and now that you think the worst of me—”

“Wait, what the fuck?!” Anti burst in. “No! I don’t think the worst of you, what the hell?”

“I know how it is,” Schneep mumbled. “People always think, ‘you have this thing, you are dangerous.’ I am a little odd, perhaps, but I would never, ever—”

“Volt, for fuck’s sake.” Anti sounded exasperated, but not in a bad way. “First off, the stigma around psychosis is stupid. Always has been. I blame poorly-researched movies and shit. Second of all, that doesn’t change who you are. You are our friend.”

“But yesterday, I—Jackie, I—”

“That’s why you freaked out,” Jackie whispered. “You were—were seeing things that weren’t there.”

“I did not mean to hurt you,” Schneep said desperately. “And I am so, so sorry, I-I thought—” The tears were actively flowing now. “It was that Distorter, he took it to mess with me—a-and he might have been there, making it worse with his—his fucking illusions—I do not know, I can never tell if he is really there or if I am just—I am sorry—”

Jackie stepped forward and wrapped him in a tight hug.

All words left him. Schneep’s mind went blank. This was not...not what he was expecting at all.

“No, I’m sorry,” Jackie said. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. That you thought I would be anything but one hundred percent supportive. I am so sorry you felt like you had to hide this. You’re one of my best friends, Henrik. I’ll always be here for you.”

His breath hitched in his throat. “But...yes-yesterday, I must have scared you—”

“I won’t lie, I was a bit shocked,” Jackie said, laughing a bit. “But it was a mistake, Hen. I know this. And I forgive you for it. The circumstances weren’t exactly under your control.”

And with that, Schneep absolutely melted into the hug, now sobbing. For so long, he’d kept this to himself. Afraid of what would happen. How they would react. But now, seeing the two of them showing nothing but love and support...he couldn’t handle it.

The others crowded in closer. Jameson and Marvin joined in the hug. Anti opted for just putting a hand on Schneep’s shoulder, but it was essentially his equivalent of a hug. Schneep wasn’t sure how long they stayed there. A few minutes at least. Of course, it couldn’t last forever. Eventually they all pulled away, Marvin handed Schneep a handkerchief, and they moved on.

“Do you feel comfortable sharing details?” Anti asked tentatively. “Or is that too much too soon?”

“Well...” Schneep hesitated. “It feels like...disorienting, much of the time. Thoughts racing, but at the same time, I am very tired. It used to be I could not get out of bed for a few days at a time, then became very active. And of course, there are things and ideas that are not there. Very...unpleasant.”

“Should we, like, do anything for you?” Jackie asked. “Like, do you want us to help?”

“I...have heard a thing about taking a picture of something,” Schneep said slowly. “And sending it to others to see if it is really there.”

Anti suddenly slapped his own forehead. “That’s what you told me to do with Sam! Then you said it was a mean joke when I sent the picture of them! That’s how you knew to do it!”

“Yes,” Schneep said. “Anyway, I may do that sometimes. Usually I am better at telling the difference, but Distorter...his powers are just more hallucinations.”

“Oh my god.” Jackie covered his mouth. “I hadn’t even considered...that must be scary, Hen, I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you, Jackie.” Schneep smiled softly. “Ah...actually, there is another thing. Tomorrow the refill is supposed to come in. I have to go over to my therapist’s office to get it. Could one of you...drive me?”

“I could,” Jackie offered.

And I could if that doesn’t work out, JJ added. By the way, do you still want to stay here for a while longer?

“I...if we all could,” Schneep said.

Everyone smiled, and assured him they’d stay. Jackie leaned close and said gently, “Hey. It’s going to be okay.”

And Schneep believed him.

[austarus]

Harry Wells x Reader Crisis of Infinite Wells (Part 2 of 5)

**A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me. It belongs to @marry-me-harrywells​

Word Count: 4144

Part 1   Part 3    Part 4    Part 5

You brushed your damp hair from any remaining knots, the remnants from the warm shower no longer lingering on your body. Taking in a breath, you smelled freshly of raspberry delight from your shampoo and conditioner combo. Nothing beats getting clean. Placing the hairbrush down, you braided your locks into a French Braid that Jesse had taught you to do. You sighed at the thought, turning to look at the picture frame that remained on your bedside counter. It was just last year that everything was ok. A shiver had gone down your spine.

The frame held a picture of you, Harry, and Jesse at a Christmas Gala back on Earth 2. Your fingers ran over the cool glass when you picked up the fame, taking a seat on your bed. Jesse and you had wide grins, thoroughly enjoying the night, while Harry had a small smile laced onto his face as he stood in between you both with an arm around you and her, a glint of light evident in his deep blue eyes. Harry and Jesse had been making progress on restoring his intelligence, something that Marlize DeVoe hadn’t done a great job of doing Jesse had commented. And much to the dismay of some of Jesse’s hero group, Jesse pushed forward with helping her father. Honestly, you knew Harry wasn’t just going to sit around and be an Average Joe. What was it that Cisco called them? Jesse and the Quicksters? Yeah, that sounds about right. You laughed to yourself a bit, remembering how Harry hated the name your friend had given Jesse and her group.

Vrr, vrr

Your phone vibrated, bringing you out of your thoughts. Lowering the picture frame into your lap, your fingers still danced over the glass pane. Picking up your phone, you saw a text notification from Cisco.

Ciscito: Hey, you still up? (10:45 PM)

You: Yeah, what’s up Vibe? (10:46 PM)

Ciscito: I think Chester and I made the necessary modifications needed to connect the Cerebral Inhibitor to the Mindscape machine. Schematics and diagnostics seem to be running smoothly, but without a test run we can’t be too sure. (10:48 PM)

Ciscito: Have you talked to Cecile? (10:49 PM)

You: Yeah, she said she’s free all of tomorrow, but if something were to come up she’d let me know. Also, I sorta got persuaded into babysitting Jenna next time Cecile and Joe need a date night, but that’s fine with me. (10:51 PM)

You: That’s why I’m going to have Harry and Sherloque, maybe even our salty German Wells be our fresh pairs of eyes for this. (10:54 PM) One wrong calculation and well…

Ciscito: Ugh, please don’t mention said Herr Wolfgang “stick-up-my-ass” Wells (10:55 PM)

Ciscito: You feeling ok? Need me to come over? (10:55 PM)

You: No, I don’t wanna steal you from Kamila. She’s going to need you with what she experienced in the Mirror Dimension. And Eva’s still on the loose. (10:55 PM)

Ciscito: But are you feeling ok? (10:55 PM)

You: Honestly, I’m scared Cisco. What if I’m wrong? What if all of this is wrong? Like I said I’m just a doctor, I don’t know if my thought process even works with the new rules of physics with this new timeline… What if I’m the reason that I don’t get to see Harry again? That we don’t get to see him and Jesse. (10:57 PM)

Ciscito: Hey! No! You listen to me, and you listen to me well. We’ve done this before. We didn’t think it was possible for multiple universes to even exist, but it did. Closing the breaches to trap Zoom, we figured it out with Harry. Nazis from Earth-X crashing the West-Allen Wedding suddenly happened, but then we saved the day with everyone. (10:59 PM)

Ciscito: Hell, we didn’t even know how to perform an exorcism until a couple of weeks ago! Scientifically might I add, despite all the things Cecile brought in. We Expecto Patronum-ed the shit out of Thawne. He’s just lurking around like the pissed off, red-eyed Voldemort that he is now. (11:00 PM)

Ciscito: My point is, have a little faith in yourself. If it’s anything that HR taught me, is that you don’t have to be a genius or a physicist to come up with a plan to save the ones you love.  (11:00 PM)

Ciscito: Remember that. (11:01 PM)

You: Thank you Cisco, I really don’t know what I’d do without you. 11:01 PM)

Ciscito: Yeah, I mean, that’s why I’m here. All in a good day’s work, you know. Doing the Lord’s job, blessing others with my existence and advice.  (11:02 PM)

You: Wow, Ciscito, I can practically feel the narcissism through the texts. (11:03 PM)

Ciscito: Is that what you still have me on your phone as? (11:04 PM)

You: You’ll never know~ (11:05 PM)

You: Goodnight Ciscito~! (11:05 PM)

Ciscito: Wait (11:06 PM)

Ciscito: No, this is serious! (11:06 PM)

Ciscito: CHANGE IT!! (11:06 PM)

***

With hurried footsteps, you entered into the Speed Lab seeing the Mindscape machine all set up with the Cerebral Inhibitor perched on a nearby table. Chester was working on creating some algorithms for Sally and the other STAR Labs Satellites while Cisco tinkered with the Neural Splicer. Nash was already in the room, hovering over them and messing with Cisco. The leather jacket you wore seemed to carry a bit more weight on your shoulders, you made a head nod at each of them. You peeled your jacket off, not being able to stand it against you anymore. Not really registering Chester’s chattering and enthusiasms to Cisco about opening up multiple dimensions and the endless possibilities of technological advancements that could come from such discovery, you took a seat on a mobile stool nearby. Running a hand through your hair, your brain rifled through your doubts. What if I end up frying Nash’s mind? A pang of hurt struck your chest because then not only would he be dead, but so would all the other Wells if your assumptions about due to their existence in his mindscape were correct consistent wavelengths. Their hypothetical blood would be on my hands.

Once Cisco had threatened Nash to leave him to work in peace, you approached the slyly grinning adventurer. “Hey, I just wanted to thank you.” You pocketed your hands in the back pockets of your jeans and gave him a small smile.

“For what?”

“I don’t know. I guess for taking a chance on me and coming back. Even if you didn’t know what was going on.”

Nash pursed his lips for a moment, shaking his head for a bit, “Oddly enough, I had a gut feeling that told me an adventure always comes with your Team’s calls.” A cheeky laugh left him. “You guys just always go out looking for trouble, huh.”

*Speak for yourself,* you deadpanned in your thoughts, but let him continue.

“Lucky for you all, I happened to be available, so why not pop in. If this does work, then…” The dark-haired Wells trailed off, looking over the Speed Lab, “Then you get your Wells back. But-”

“-But?-” You raised a suspicious eyebrow at him, crossing your arms.

“You owe me.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, little lady. You owe me and when the time is right,” he paused in thought, “I’ll cash that favor in.”

You scoffed and unfurled your arms, an incredulous look on your face, “What? Nash, you-”

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Cecile interrupted you, entering the labs with Baby Jenna in her stroller. You rolled your eyes at him, gesturing and mouthing that this conversation wasn’t over. Nash just smirked to himself. Heading over to Cecile, you gave her a hug. “Jenna gave me a bit of a tantrum getting dressed today.”

“No problem, thanks for doing this Cecile.”

“Always here whenever you guys need me.” The metahuman attorney gave Jenna a toy to stay preoccupied until this was over. Cecile turned back to you, a look that’s all too familiar crossing her face. “You couldn’t sleep.” You made a sheepish look before heading over to one of the computers, setting up the software to monitor physiological and psychological functions. Cecile followed close, reading you, “Or more like you didn’t want to sleep.”

You opened your mouth to speak only to be cut off by that motherly look she had on her face. Closing your mouth, you shut your eyes for a moment before reopening them, “I guess I was nervous. I mean, a lot’s at stake here, Cecile.”

“Uh -uh, what did I say about negative attitudes in my labs,” Cisco strode close, handing you the one MAD 2.0 after setting down the Neural Splicer. You stuck your tongue at him, “We want him back just as much as you, all of them, so don’t worry. We’re Team Flash. When have things not gone our way?” You and Cecile just made a face at him as he handed Cecile one MAD 2.0. “Actually, don’t answer that, anyway- Party people, let’s get a move on.”

You and Cecile put on the MAD 2.0’s meanwhile Cisco sedated Nash, who’s currently lying on a gurney and had the MAD 2.0 on already. Caitlin had told him the sedation would last a few hours, but would keep Nash’s body under normal cellular and molecular regulation. Making eye contact with Cecile, you nodded as if to say that you were ready. Your nerves spiked slightly in anticipation, the hairs at the back of your neck sticking up. She held a hand for you which you took, shutting your eyes in focus and allowing her to transport you into Nash’s mind.

***

Opening your eyes, you find Nash right in front of you before looking around. *I guess what you indulge in becomes your mindscape* you thought as your eyes scanned the cold-looking cave walls with lights hung up on them to illuminate the paths.

“Alright, I’ll be monitoring your vitals until Caitlin comes back, but in the meantime Cecile and I will be here in case anything happens,” Cisco voiced out to you and Nash, but you had stopped listening and pushed past Nash. But where? You had no clue, you just needed to start moving.

“Ah, hey-” Nash followed with quick steps until he was beside you. “Shouldn’t you be letting me lead the way? This *is* my mind and everything. I’d know it best.”

“Perhaps, but I didn’t see you moving. The one who’s supposedly quick on his feet as a multi-versal explorer.”

“Snarky, I can see why Harry would like you,” Nash let out a little laugh, his words making you grin slightly. “And it’s geological myth-busting, ah-thank-you-very-much.”

You pursed your lips for a moment and stopped, turning towards him, “Be honest with me Nash, do you think I’m being delusional about this?”

“Delusional? Never. Conflicted? Slightly. But hopeful,” he adjusted his jacket and started walking with you in toe, observing the caves and mentally remembering where he had last seen both Wells doppelgangers. “Even with that shred of doubt within you, I can see that you haven’t let it consume the hope you have left. Hope is important, it gives life meaning. How else would a physician such as yourself come up with a brilliantly thought-out plan?”

He glanced at you with a quirked-up eyebrow, sending you a witty smile that was oddly comforting. Maybe because he wore the face of the man you trusted the most. You smiled to yourself and looked on ahead. Hope, sounds something up Kara’s alley really. You both had passed by a couple of exits or cave-memory outlets actually.

“So, based off what Cisco told me when he exorcised Thawne out of you, each cave outlet has a memory of yours? Whether good or bad. And only you’d be able to get into it?”

“Give or take. Thawne apparently rifled through all my memories, so I’m less keen on having the others do the same.”

“Did you install a little battle droid or something, Solo?” You joked.

“Ha-ha, not exactly. And an adventurer never shares their secrets without getting something in return.”

“Touché, Nash. Touché.”  

You two continued to walk for god knows how long (Cisco checked in to say that 35 minutes had passed since you’ve entered, and that Caitlin had finally returned) until voices reached your ears. Stopping in your tracks, you and Nash were currently on the top part of a slight rocky incline structure within his mind. He stopped beside you, squinting at the sight in front of him. From a good distance you can see a group of Wells, in an enclosed circle, heatedly discussing something with each other as insults and science-y words were thrown around. Very loudly, might you add. They were none-the-wiser about yours and Nash’s appearance. From afar, one wore a dark fedora and the other had platinum white hair while the remaining two had dark hair. One dark-haired Wells had their back facing you. Is… is that one wearing sunglasses inside a cave??? Your eyes widened as one of the voices distinctly made your heart jump: gruff, sarcastic, and full of irritation towards the other men.

“Oh my god,” fell out of your mouth in a shaky whisper, standing stunned in place. Your body refusing to even synthesize tears at this point.

At that same moment, Nash had turned his head towards you, reaching a hand out to stop you, “Ah, hey- (Y/N) don’t-” but you had already started running down the slight incline. Not too steep enough to pick up way too much speed, but good enough for you to keep running.

“Shit,” Nash cursed, yelling out to one of the Wells in the group that he can see clearly just as you had started running. “Sherlock!” Nash made his way down the incline albeit a bit slowly, gauging the forthcoming interaction with the group.

“Hm, its Sherloque,” Sherloque immediately perked up at the sound of the voice calling his name incorrectly, eyes easily spotting you in the dim-ish part of this mind-cave as you were closing in. “Uh, ’arry. ‘arry!”

“What?!”

“Incoming,” the detective quickly altered his doppelganger and pointed a finger behind him. “Incoming très vite!” The other two Wells turned as well with confused looks.

“What?” Those words left Harry’s mouth, turning his body around in one fluid motion only for your body to launch into his arms. Knocking the tall Earth 2 genius back a little, but not enough to have you both fall to the ground. Your arms wrapped around him tightly as your head buried itself in his chest.

Harry had stood there, the shock leaving his body after a second or so. His arms circling around you instantly, a soft expression crossing his face as his eyes shut. The dark-haired man breathed you in. Reopening his beautiful baby blues, he kissed the top of your head before you both pulled away slightly. A hand gently cupped your face while the other held onto your upper arm as if checking if you were an illusion or not. It always blew your mind to pieces and made your heart swell at the way he handled you. How his callous hands can manipulate machinery and tools, yet gently caress you as if you’re made of the most fragile material to ever exist on any earth.

“Hey,” he whispered in that gruff voice of his, eyes filled with such warmth at the sight of you. Your hands rested on his firm chest, a thumb rubbing the material of his black sweater. His thumb brushed your cheek, feeling the growing heat on your skin. Feeling you against him. It was weird. Your psyche self and his interacting like this in Nash’s mindscape, yet feeling utterly and impossibly real to the touch.

“Hi,” you responded with that silly star-struck grin never leaving your face, the heat on your cheeks growing. You might as well had heart eyes popping out of your face. You saw him check over you, seeing if the Crisis had done anything in any way to change you from what would have been something so familiar.

Sherloque had a small smile on his face at the reunion, Sonny had that wide smirk on his features before nudging the uptight German beside him. Said German only rolled his eyes slightly as he adjusted his glasses but knowing deep down that it’s nice to see someone else other than a Harrison Wells doppelganger. Wolfgang won’t admit it because it’s just not his style. Nash had stood a little back behind you, nodding at the three gentlemen as the couple in front of him literally forgot the existence of him and the other Wells men.

Sherloque cleared his throat, “Now is that anyway to say ‘ello to us, good doctor?”

You blinked snapping out of your trance with Harry, looking over to the rest. You and Harry broke apart from the hug with you doing a tiny excited wave, “Hey, sorry about that.” At the same time, Harry’s hand found yours and intertwined your fingers together.

“No problem, Doll,” Sonny responded in that Brooklyn accent of his. Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

Wolfgang was the last Wells you made friendly eye contact with, but you noticed something. “I like-” you gestured to the slight facial hair on his face, “-the goatee thing you’ve got going on . It suits you.”

“Danke,” Wolfgang’s cheeks were dusted a slight pink color. He played with his glasses a bit.

“Now what brings a beautiful dame like you to these dark depths?” Harry shot a glare at Sonny for the pet names, he mistakenly held your hand a bit tighter and it made your heart beat a bit louder. You only raised your eyebrows at this Wells as he had spoken to you. Sonny just shrugged to which Harry narrowed his eyes even more. Oh, if looks could kill.

“We-” Nash started, stepping close to stand beside you while Harry was on the other side, “-have a proposition.” You five now stood in an enclosed circle.

You gulped, licking your lips and criticizing yourself for getting too caught up in the moment when every second should be spent on your theory, “I think I found a way to bring you guys back.” The Wells men froze, their eyes lighting up for a fraction before glancing at one another. Sherloque nodded at you. “Each and every one of you.” You snuck a peek at Harry, who’s eyes met yours instantly.

“Vell,” Wolfgang was the first one to break the silence that had shifted, “let’s hear it. Bitte.”

***

You explained your theory to them about multi-dimensions, the equipment that would be used, and what Team Flash had been doing so far. You couldn’t help but glance at Harry and Sherloque, receiving encouraging nods and a proud smile. “I just wanted to run this down with you guys because rewriting the laws of physics seems to be your area of expertise.”

Each Wells had their minds working through the information you had just given them, the cogs in their brains already turning in order to isolate a critical factor that can ruin it all.

“It shouldn’t be as tricky as multiverse hopping, amiright?” Sonny joked.

You gave a sheepish smile at the cheery Wells. I can ironically see why they call him Sonny. “I-I know I’m just a doctor, and- Barry and the others said it makes sense. Chester and Cisco are working to manipulate the Cerebral Inhibitor to the Mindscape while adjust the Neural Splicer for the Cerebral Inhibitor in order to return your psyche’s back to your bodies.”

“Aber ein problem,” Wolfgang interjected, gesturing with a hand while he had an arm crossed across his chest. “How are you going to take into account zhe dimensional breaches? Has Team Flash found ein dimension to extract it’s properties in order to make a sufficient extrapolator?”

“No,” you draw out your answer, “but that’s where you all come in.” Sherloque’s eyes held that curious glint as you continued, “All the Wells will be the key-”

“To opening up dimensional breaches to Earth-Prime.” The Frenchman finished. You nodded, biting your lower lip.

“Recording each entrance and cataloging it for future use in case something else were to happen,” Nash interjected, adjusting a gloved hand. Why does he wear those all the time?

“And it’s up to us, all of us to crack this… dimensional code. To solve a new problem,” Harry added on. You turned to him, your thumb rubbing his hand.

“Harry, you figured out how to close the breaches. Without a doubt, I have faith that you and the others can open these dimensions. That all these Earths are just hidden somewhere tricky to make us lose sense and hope of finding the ones we love.”

“But- and excuse my English- there’s a fuck ton of Wells and Earths in here and out there. How would efficiently cataloging even work with that much information and coordinates, my friends?” Sonny brought up an excellent point. One you hadn’t thought about because honestly you didn’t think you were gonna get this far. You were essentially at a loss for words.

Wolfgang cleared his throat, raising a pointer finger, “Ja, vell, before zhis crisis had occurred I created a neural memory chip in vhich I vas able to register every Vells across the multiverse from our strange und large Council. Basically, downloading zhe information into my own memory as vell as my psyche. Vas not easy, but after some time it vas a success.”

“Wolfgang, that’s amazing.” You said, feeling that hope inside you swell up again and taking down the pesky doubt that had been gripping your heart these past couple days.

“Danke, schatz.” The German Wells mumbled the last part to himself, but Sonny and Nash heard him. “I believe zhat a Council meeting ist overdue.”

“I guess, I should leave that to you guys.” You shrug your shoulders a bit, sadly letting go of Harry’s hand.

“Nein, halt-”

“Non, (Y/N)-”

“Hold on, doll-”

“Babe-”

Your eyes widened in confusion at there protest. “What?” Nash only rolled his eyes, crossing his arms because he really didn’t want to attend a stupid Council meeting with all those “idiots”.

“The others are…” Harry pursed his lips and glanced off a bit before looking at you. He didn’t want to say it.

“Stubborn? Irritably hardheaded? Unnerving?” You suggested and crossed your arms at you. “Yeah, I know. I’ve dealt with like four Wells already.” Harry raised an eyebrow at you, but he knows that his flaws were something you’ve grown to love and accept of him. As you’ve told him before obviously.

“Zhe ozhers vill need convincing-”

“-yeah, they’ll actually sit down and listen to ya, doll. Instead of getting at each other’s throats like the last couple of times and having all hell break lose like an all out mafia brawl.”

With confusion laced on your face at this new information regarding the council meetings you can see why Nash hates attending them. Your eyes wondered at Sherloque who had remained quiet in thought then to Harry. Each exchanged looks before Harry spoke up, “I think what this idiot is trying to say is that it’s best for you to propose the idea.” You opened your mouth to say something, but Harry cut you off. “I will be right beside you. Sherloque, Wolfgang, and I have sorta… taken charge of the entire council.”

“Like the Roman Triumvirate?”

“Just without the power-grabbing, backstabbing, and domination.”

“What about Sonny?” You all looked at the Brooklyn-accented Wells.

“Yeah, I actually don’t know why he hangs around us.” Harry deadpanned to which Sonny pouted with an eye roll.

“Hey, I’m your guys faithful secretary and advice guru, basically your hype man.” You had not seen Harry roll his eyes so much and so hard at the New York Wells. It made you want to laugh so much had your situation not been filled with a serious tone. “So, what do you say, doll?”

“I-” Your eyes danced to each Wells, sighing and looking down for a moment before locking your gaze onto Harry. “I don’t want to make a fool of myself,” you whispered.

“You won’t. Babe, I’ve got you,” Harry took your hand in his larger one once again, “Just like you’ve been by my side before.”

“Sherloque?” Calling his name snapped him back to reality, but it did not mean he had not been listening to you.

“100% with you every step of the way, petit fleur.” He tipped his hat at you, a knowing small smile on his face.

“Alright,” you let out a breath and shrugged. Harry grinned widely, especially at the fact that you would be staying longer. “Lead the way.” What else do I have to lose?

French and German Used:

très vite – very fast

danke – thank you

danke, kleine frau – thank you, little lady

bitte – please

und – and

aber ein problem – but one problem

petit fleur – little flower

[sinfullypassionate]

Best Friends Brother - E.D.

summery: y/n’s been best friends with grayson dolan since they were kids. she wasn’t as close with ethan because the two just never seemed to get along, but one night when grayson’s away things change between y/n and ethan.

warning: fluff, smut, daddy!kink, tiny bit of degrading

a/n: i haven’t written smut in a hot minute so please bare with me 🥵 also this is so much longer than i anticipated and i’m sorry in advance phew. 

6:30am. she grumbled when she was disturbed from her rest as her best friend’s alarm went off signaling he needed to get up. she was currently cuddled into his side and clinging onto him when he tried to sit up. “y/n.”

she just grumbled, holding him tighter which caused him to chuckle. “babe, you gotta let me get up.” grayson said softly, kissing her forehead sweetly. “noooo.” she whined, nuzzling her face in his neck. the two had always been close, so close people actually thought they were dating but they weren’t - he was just her person and vise versa. another chuckle left his mouth as he managed to pry himself out of her arms. a simple huff left her lips as she sat up, rubbing her eyes before crossing her arms across her chest.

“y/n, you’re acting like a toddler.” gray rolled his eyes, a smile on his face. He loved the fact she loved spending time with him so much - he really appreciated her friendship. “you’ve been so busy lately.. and now you’re leaving me for a whole ass day to film some survival video. c’mon gray, just let me come with!” she huffed again, staring at her best friend with puppy dog eyes. grayson simply groaned, he hated when she used the puppy dog eyes on him. they usually worked but not this time, “babe, it’s for the channel. i promise i’ll be back bright and early tomorrow okay?” he said sweetly, walking over and pressing a kiss upon her forehead. the girl simply glared at him playfully before leaning back and letting out a dramatic sigh.

grayson chuckled, shaking his head as he walked over to her and hovered over her face. “you’ll be just fine, puffin.” the nickname he’s always called her, rolling off his tongue. he left a small kiss upon her forehead before grabbed his keys off his endtable. “you’re leaving me here... with him.” a growl left her lips, referring to the boy who was still fast asleep down the hall. “y/n, you’ll be fine. he doesn’t bite and it’s just one night. you both will survive.” The younger twin stated, gathering everything he needed for the survival video. the girl sat up, still pouting as her eyes followed his every move. she hated the fact he was leaving her alone with ethan, the two never got along. he was so cocky and thought he was god’s gift to women and she loathed that about him. she honestly had no idea how he was even related to grayson.

“i’ll be back in the morning, puffin. love you.” gray said, kissing her forehead once again before leaving. y/n just threw her body back, cuddling with grayson’s pillow and completely loathing the fact she was alone with ethan. she glanced over at the clock and saw it was only 7:30 so she decided to get some more sleep. rolling over, she got more comfortable and fell back asleep. the next thing she knew, she heard loud music and groaned when she knew he was awake. glancing at the clock again, she was a little surprised it was only noon and Ethan was actually up. getting out of bed, y/n made her way into the living room to see Ethan was out swimming while blaring music. She rolled her eyes and headed towards the kitchen as she was starving, a small smile formed upon her lips as she noticed grayson made her food before he left.

‘enjoy your food, puffin. please try not to murder ethan. love you.

-gray’

y/n simply laughed at the note before folding it up and sticking it in her back pocket before placing the plate in the microwave to reheat. she grabbed her phone and went to text gray when she realized he had zero technology except for his video camera, she let out a groan before setting her phone on the counter once the microwaved beeped signally her food was done. pouring herself a glass of orange juice, she walked to the living room and sat indian style on the couch and turned on Netflix. she put on charmed and happily ate her food until ethan walked in and stood right in front of the tv. “we don’t eat in the living room, y/n.” the older twin growled. “you might not, but gray and I tend to eat in here when we binge watch Netflix which clearly I’m doing right now so fucking move.” She snarled back, throwing a pillow at him.

“this is my house, y/n. i can stand where ever I please.” Ethan shot her a smirk which caused her to groan again, she simply got up and headed into gray’s room to watch Netflix on his laptop. “fucking asshole.” she mumbled under her breath, kicking grayson’s door closed with her foot. “god I can’t fucking stand him!” she growled under her breath before setting the plate of food and glass of juice down on the dresser before pulling her shirt over her head revealing her bare chest. she’d always loathed wearing a bra to bed, it was super uncomfortable for her. she stood in front of gray’s closet, completely topless and just in her panties and gazed at the many shirts to chose from. she always tended to wear one of gray’s shirts when he was away, the smell of him always seemed to calm her. just as she took a white shirt off the hanger, she heard grayson’s door swing open. covering her body, she let out a scream and quickly grabbed the throw blanket that was on the end of the bed. “what the fuck! Ethan!”

the older twin simply just stood there, his mouth agape as he stared at her. she was practically naked and he honestly couldn’t believe it. “hold up.... you’re telling me you wear barely anything to bed when you sleep next to grayson and he doesn’t do anything?” he asked completely and utterly taken back. y/n rolled her eyes and turned around, dropping the blanket and sliding the shirt over her head. “yes because he’s not a pig... like you.” she growled, turning around and crossing her arms over her chest. ethan chuckled, rolling his eyes. “oh please... i’m not a pig. stop being so fucking over dramatic.” y/n just rolled her eyes again, walking over and shoving his chest so he would leave the room. “go away, ethan.” the girl glared. “grayson is so stupid. how can he resist your body?” he simply said, before turning around. “and i repeat, because he’s not a pig.” she called out as he was walking down the hall. ethan halted his actions at her words, “i’m not.... a fucking pig.” he growled darkly, turning around. “i’m just simply saying that grayson has more fucking will power than I would have, you’re fucking sexy and half naked in bed.... i would disappear under the covers and eat you out before we went to sleep every night.” as he spoke, she just stared at him.

“what did you just say?” she asked, her pussy throbbing a little at the thought of ethan between her legs. “you heard me, y/n.” a smirk formed upon his lips as he walked closer to her. “stop fucking with my head, dolan.” the girl glared, her arms still crossed over her chest. “i’m not fucking with your head.... but i could be fucking you.” he whispered in her ear once he was close, “e...” she said softly, unfolding her arms and gently pushing him away. “you hate me... remember. is this just some hate fuck fantasy you wanna have or...” she trailed off, looking at him with a cold look in her eye. she’d be lying if she said she didn’t find ethan attractive, he was fucking beyond sexy and had a body that made her pussy throb but he’s always hated her since they were kids and she wasn’t going to be some hate fuck one night stand just because he was bored since gray was gone. “you know... for someone who claims to be smart, you’re pretty fucking stupid.” he chuckled darkly, “excuse me?” she growled, crossing her arms again. “i never hated you, princess. was just jealous you always seemed to like grayson more.” the older twin stated which caused y/n to tilt her head to the side. “what are you-“ ethan cut her off, “i’ve literally fucking been in love with you since we were sixteen.”

at his confession, her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. she had no idea he felt this way, “you’re fucking kidding right? you literally would torment me and tease me..” she shook her head, “yes at first when i was little i hated the fact you were stealing gray away from me, but as we got older i realized i hated the fact that you didn’t want anything to do with me. remember when colson cheated on you the week before prom and he ended up having a black eye and broken nose? grayson lied, i’m the one who beat the fuck out of him. i told grayson to say it was him because well... you loathed me.” all these confessions were coming at y/n quick and completely out of no where, she had no idea that ethan had any type of romantic feelings towards her. her head was spinning and she felt like she was going to pass out, “wait... so grayson knows that you love me?” she arched an eyebrow and the boy shook his head, “no.. nobody has known about my feelings for you.” ethan ran his fingers through his hair, “except you now. but i get it, i’m a pig and all that other shit you call me. but i’m going out, i’ll be back later.” he said, going to turn around but y/n’s voice stopped him. “kiss me.” he turned around and looked at her, “what?” he asked, not sure if he heard her right. “just fucking kiss me, dolan.” within a second, ethan crashed his lips against her and ran his hands down her body. he gave her ass a gentle smack and squeeze before biting her lower lip, begging for entry. once she parted her lips, he went to town on kissing her passionately.

y/n melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her body. the two made out for what seemed hours but was only a few minutes, pulling away in need of a breath ethan just looked at her. “fuck, i’ve waited so long to kiss you.” he leaned forward and peppered soft kisses against her neck causing the girl to pull her lower lip between her teeth. “yeah? you ever... masturbate thinking about me?” ethan was a bit taken back at her words, y/n was never this bold. “all. the. time.” he growled in her ear. y/n smirked before dropping to her knees, “y/n, what are you-“ the older twin was cut off by y/n tugging off his sweats along with his boxers and stroking his dick in her hand. “oh fuck.” he groaned.

y/n just smirked up at him before leaning forward and kitty licking his tip. “that feel good, baby?” she purred. ethan just nodded, his lower lip between his teeth as he stared down at the girl who’s he’s always been head over heels for. “good.” she smirked before taking him fully in her mouth. ethan let out a throaty groan, his head falling back to rest against the wall in the hallway. he couldn’t believe this was actually happening, the girl of his dreams was sucking his dick in the hallway of the house he shared with his brother. he could already feel himself getting close and he quickly pulled her up and looked at her in the eyes. “why’d you stop me?” she asked, innocently.

“because, i wanna cum inside you baby. let’s go.” he gently grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers and heading into his bedroom. he wasn’t going to fuck her in grayson’s bed so he quickly made his way to his room. once they were finally in his room, y/n laid on his bed after he did and just stared at him. ethan reached over and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear, “so beautiful.” his lips kissed her again as his tongue licked her lower lip almost like asking for entry. his hands slid over her sides and under the fabric of her pants.

at his compliment, y/n’s cheeks flushed a small shade of pink. “you flatter me so much.” she whispered before humming against his lips. once he licked her bottom lip, she opened it wide and moaned into the kiss as she felt his hands slide under her pants. ethan’s tongue dominated hers for a few moments, pulling back he leaned in kissing her neck letting his teeth nip at her gently. slipping her pants off her body he grinned before pulling her on top of him. “i want my babygirl on my face.” he groaned looking up at her while his hands squeezed her breasts through her shirt rubbing his thumb over her nipples.

when he called her his baby girl, y/n felt her heart skip a beat. she didn’t understand why she was feeling the way she was feeling but god she loved it. y/n moaned into the kiss as his tongue dominated hers. when he slipped off her pants, she revealed that she wasn’t wearing any panties. at his words, she giggled before smirking. “as you wish, daddy.” she moaned softly as he rubbed her nipples through her shirt. she slowly made her way up to where she was hovering over the man’s face, biting her bottom lip and moaning as she finally felt his tongue. the second she said daddy, ethan froze. holy fucking shit. how the fuck did she know he had a daddy kink? a growl left his lips as his hands ran over her skin once she was hovered over him. “you’re so fucking sexy and all mine.” he growled again before his tongue glided against her heat slowly, he loved making her flinch as he teased her. his right hand slapped her ass hard then squeezing it. sucking down on her clit his grip on her got tighter encouraging her to slowly grind against his tongue.

y/n flinched when she felt him tease her, she gripped her headboard and moaned as he smacked her ass hard. “fuck.” she soon started slowly gridding her hips against his tongue as she felt his grip tighter around her, “fuuuck, ethan.” the girl whimpered. as she moaned, her mind couldn’t help but think about the fact he said she was all his. but that thought soon left her mind as ethan’s hands smacked her other ass cheek hearing her moan. his thumb slowly found its way to her spot as his tongue slid inside her, ethan was determined to make her cum but only when he wanted. he could feel by her legs shaking she was close, he suddenly stopped and lifted her up. resting her on her back against the pillows he laid in between her legs; smiling up at her he spoke, “gonna squirt for daddy?” he asked raising an eye brow. his tongue glided against her while his eyes locked with hers.

y/n let out another moan as he smacked her ass, ass smacking was always such a huge turn on for her. she knew she was close, her legs were shaking and just as she was about to orgasm damon pulled away and a growl left the girl’s lips. before she could even object, she was on her back and he was between her legs. she instantly grabbed his hands and laced their fingers as they locked eyes. “fuuuuck, yes daddy. i’m gonna... i’m gonna..” and she ended up squirting against his tongue, squeezing his fingers. ethan let a smile form on his face watching her unfold, “that didn’t take long.” he said grinning licking her clean. leaning up he moved forward lining himself up with her entrance, leaning down he left a sloppy kiss on her lips as he slid inside her. ethan went deep inside of y/n as he thrusted, leaning up one arm held him up against the headboard and the other found its way around her throat his fingers closing around her tightly.

y/n blushed, covering her face. “stop. it’s been awhile since i’ve had any type of sex and fuck this is going to make your ego huge but that was the best head i’ve ever gotten.” she admitted before kissing him back for that moment when he leaned down and left a sloppy kiss against her lips. as he thrusted deep, y/n let out a pleasurable moan before it was cut off when he wrapped his fingers around her throat. she could barely breathe and she absolutely loved it, she loved the fact she was seeing this side of ethan. she always had some type of feeling he was a freak in bed and god was she glad she was right. ethan’s thrusts got faster and harder as he went down on her. “fuck baby..” he moaned looking down at her, his fingers putting a bit more pressure against her throat. “so fucking wet for daddy.” he said feeling his cock getting more wet. y/n was trying to moan, but she couldn’t so all she could do was reach her hands back and claw at his back. the girl was beyond soaked and the sound of their skin slapping together was causing her to become even more wet. releasing his grip ethan slid out of her before flipping to her stomach, pulling her up by her hips he rammed inside inside of her. slapping y/n’s ass he smiled as he watched the handprint form. “you daddy’s little slut?” he growled in her ear as he gripped her throat again using his arm to hold them up as he fucked her.

y/n let out a breath once he released his grip from her throat. she whimpered when he pulled out but let a giggle escape her lips when he flipped her over so she was on her stomach. once he slammed into her, y/n let out a pleasurable moan. as he smacked her ass, she hissed as it stung but god she loved it. “yes daddy. i’m your little slut.” the girl moaned out as she gripped the sheets of his bed as he fucked her. each time ethan rammed into her he watched her ass shake and it made him grin. he loved every inch of her but her ass was his weakness. gripping her shoulder he pulled her back against him as he went forward. “good girl, i guess i need to fuck you harder since you’re not loud enough for me.” he groaned as he gripped her hips with his hands and moved faster inside of her. as he slammed into her, y/n squealed out moans as he went quicker and harder. “fuck, daddy! don’t stop!” she screamed out, his headboard hitting the wall since he was fucking her so hard. ethan let out a few low groans, hearing her words he did just that, he didn’t stop. he had a goal to make her cum a few times before he did, seeing her turned on was what got him off. “i want you to ride the fuck out of me babygirl.” he whispered in her ear before sliding out to lay on his back, pulling her over him he lined her up then pushed her down onto him, “fuuuck, such a tight pussy baby.”

y/n was a moaning mess at this point, she was beyond soaked and loved the feeling of his dick slamming into her. when he stopped before she could cum, she growled before he spoke. “yes, daddy.” she simply said, resting her freshly manicured nails on his chest as he pushed her down on his cock. “such a big dick, daddy.” she whimpered, leaning her head back as she started bouncing on him quickly. ethan pinched her nipples between his fingers watching her movements. “mmm, yes baby, just like that.” he groaned not taking his eyes off her. his lower lip fell between his teeth. he bucked his hips a few times as she came down on him. y/n moaned as he pinched her nipples, she gritted her teeth as she turned her attention to him. “fuck, daddy. I love the feeling of your cock deep inside my pussy.” she moaned, digging her nails into his chest. “fuuuck, i’m gonna cum.” she leaned her head back, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. ethan watched her cum as he smiled, “don’t stop baby.” he demanded as he gripped her hips to hold her down. his hand free hand reached up and gripped her throat tight as he felt himself reaching the edge. he felt himself finish inside her and his head fell back against the pillows. y/n moaned loudly as she came, her nails dug deeper into his chest as he held her hips down. the girl kept bouncing at his words, she leaned down and captured his lips in a kiss. “fuck daddy, you gonna cum hmm? you gonna cum for your slut?” she purred seductively as she kept her pace fast. once he filled her up, she let out a soft moan before getting off him and pressing a kiss to his lips. “that was-“ she started before ethan finished her sentence. “fucking perfect.” he let out a breathless chuckle.

“i can’t believe you’ve been in love with me all these years.” y/n spoke quietly, rolling on her side as she traced circles on his bare chest. “i couldn’t help but fall in love with you, baby girl. you’re so fucking perfect.” the older twin leaned forward and captured her lips in a passionate kiss before resting his forehead against hers. “what now?” she whispered. “that is entirely up to you. you know my feelings, y/n. what are yours?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her and gently caressing her back with his fingertips. so many emotions were running through her mind. she’d be lying if she said she didn’t have any feelings for ethan, there was always something there but she just never wanted to admit it in case he didn’t feel the same way and not to mention she had no idea how grayson feel. “grayson, e. what is gray gonna think?” y/n bit her bottom lip. as if on que, they heard the front door open and a very loud grayson coming down the hall. “what the-“ y/n was cut off as she sat straight up in her covering her chest with the sheet as ethan got up.

“y/n?! ethan?! we need to-“ grayson got cut off as he walked into his ethan’s room and shook his head. “gray, what are you doing here?” she asked, biting her bottom lip as she stared at her best friend. “well, my dumb ass forgot to grab the extra battery for the camera and it died so i went back to the car to grab my phone to call ethan and i saw i had a voicemail from him and well.... i heard everything.” y/n’s face went completely sheet white, as if she saw a ghost. “w-what?!” she asked, completely horrified her best friend heard her fucking his twin brother. “my ears will never stop bleeding. i can’t believe you have a daddy kink.” grayson turned to look at his older brother who just had a smirk on his face. “don’t act like you ain’t got one too, gray.” ethan laughed before crawling back in bed with y/n. “honestly? i love this. my puffin and my annoying as big brother are dating and getting along. thank god.” grayson chuckled, “we aren’t-“ ethan started, but y/n caught him off. “i love it too, gray.” she smiled brightly which caused a wide smile to form upon ethan’s lips. “god, i love you.” the older twin sighed before pressing his lips against hers in a soft kiss. with that, grayson took that as his que to leave. who knew him leaving to go make a YouTube video would cause his two favorite people to become a item but he wasn’t mad.

“so.. does this mean you’re gonna eat me out now every night?” y/n smirked before giggling.

“now that you’re my girl? absolutely.” ethan chuckled before smirking right back. “you ready for round two, princess?”

“absolutely, daddy.”

[angelsfalling16]

Just Wanna Be Happy

Read it on ao3 (Chapter 1/5)

Summary: After a night of drunken party games, Baz tries to remember what happened and whose number is on his arm while also dealing with the fact his two best friends aren't talking to each other anymore.

Word Count: 2162

A/N: I wrote this back in November but never got around to posting it, and since I didn't feel like writing today, I thought that it was time to put this out into the world. I hope you all like it!

Title is from the song "Happy" by Leona Lewis

Thank you @ace-of-haerts for beta-reading :)

***

Baz

“I’m going to kiss him.”

“No, you’re not.” Dev puts his arm out to stop me, but I haven’t actually tried to move.

The party has begun to die down, and I can’t remember how much I’ve had to drink, but I think I’m finally ready to make a move. This is my time to finally tell Simon how I feel about him. I’ve been staring at him from our place here against the wall for far too long, watching him from the edge of the party.

I’m not sure why I agreed to come. I don’t know why I’m drinking either. I don’t usually do it this much, but graduation is coming soon, and I’m worried about what comes next. I guess tonight was a chance to forget everything for a little bit and just let go. Doing that with a drunk Simon in the room was probably not the best idea, but it has given me this opportunity to do something about these feelings that I’ve been holding inside of me for years.

“Why not?” I’m pouting, but I can’t get my brain to tell my face to stop doing that.

“Because tomorrow when you wake up, not only will you have a killer headache, but you’ll hate yourself.”

“I already do that.”

He sighs as if he wishes that he was doing anything but standing here having this conversation with me, and I’m pretty sure that I know exactly where he’d rather be.

“Then you’ll hate yourself even more.”

“But at least I’ll have kissed him,” I sigh. The more I say it, the better an idea it sounds.

“Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”

“Nope,” I say, popping the ‘p’. “Apparently, they broke up a few weeks ago.”

“So, you want to be the rebound.”

“No. I want to be the guy who shows him exactly what he’s been missing all this time. Me,” I say, jabbing myself in the chest for emphasis.

“You’re being ridiculous, Baz.”

“You’re the one who hasn’t stopped staring at their best friend since we got here.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he says, lifting his chin defiantly.

“Yeah right. I think that you should do what I’m going to do.”

“Which is?”

“Kiss the guy I’m in love with.”

“Sorry to say that I’m a little too sober for that.”

“Or maybe you’re sober enough to make it perfect.”

Dev opens his mouth to say something else, but we’re distracted by the sudden commotion in the middle of the room. We’re in somebody’s living room - I can’t remember whose - and most of the furniture has been shoved to the side to make room for a makeshift dance floor. Not that anyone here can actually dance. It has been torture to watch people shake their hips and fling their arms around in what is meant to be a dance but is likely to take someone’s eye out. Simon has been the worst.

“Hey, everyone,” someone yells. “I think we should play a game of spin the bottle.”

A few people cheer but I groan. “Spin the bottle is a childish game.”

“Oh, but it provides the perfect opportunity for you to kiss Simon.” I can tell that Dev wasn’t being serious, but I don’t care because he’s right.

“I’m in,” I call, lifting my cup. “But first I need more to drink,” I add, looking down into my empty cup with a frown.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Dev plucks the cup from my hand. “You’re staying over at my house tonight, and I can’t have you throwing up everywhere. My parents will kill me. And you.”

I frown and reach for the cup, but he sets it down on a table and drags me over to the carpet where some of the others are creating a circle.

I’m about to gripe at him for taking my drink when I see Simon take a seat opposite me in the circle, and I get distracted by the messy flop of curls that has grown long enough to fall in his eyes. I imagine pushing it out of his face before carding my fingers through the dense mass of curls atop his head.

I barely notice that Dev has disappeared until he returns, taking a seat next to me and placing a cup in my hand. I sniff it before looking at Dev with a frown, and he shrugs.

“I thought you said I couldn’t drink anymore.”

“You’re going to need it. Plus, watching you drink is fun. It’s going to make this game much more entertaining.”

I’m pretty sure there’s meant to be an insult in there somewhere, but my head is spinning too much for me to be able to find it. Taking a sip of my drink, ignoring the way it burns my throat on the way down, I watch as someone’s hand reaches out to spin the empty soda bottle that somebody procured from the other room, and I feel my heart start to race with anticipation.

I’m finally going to kiss Simon Snow.

***

Dev was right when he said that I’d wake up with a killer headache. I feel like crap, and there is no way that I am ever getting out of this bed. I pull the blankets up over my head and try to fall back asleep.

“Morning, Sunshine,” an irritatingly familiar voice singsongs from nearby. I groan, shoving the blanket back down and opening my eyes. I instantly regret it as the light coming in through the window hits my face.

“Oh, god. What time is it?”

“Almost eleven. Here, I brought you some water.”

He pushes himself away from the wall that he was leaning against near the door and holds out a bottle of water. I take it and unscrew the cap, but it feels like too much effort to sit up and drink it, so I just hold it.

“Check your arm,” Dev says, so I look down at the arm holding the water. There’s nothing there, so I look up at Dev like he’s lost it. He rolls his eyes. “Your other arm.”

I lift my other arm to inspect it, and across the inside are scribbled the words “call me” along with someone’s phone number and a little heart.

“Ugh.” I say, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment. “Who wrote this? Please tell me it wasn’t that girl I kissed.”

“You don’t remember?”

“I don’t remember much of last night,” I say honestly, pushing myself up just enough to drink some water, hoping it will soothe the burning in my throat.

“It wasn’t a girl,” he says. “And you should definitely call the number.”

“Who was it?”

He shakes his head. “I think you should find out for yourself.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

I look at my arm once more, considering it, but I don’t want to call some random person. Especially not with my head pounding this much.

“What were you doing in here by the way? Watching me sleep?”

“Er, not exactly. Niall is in my room.”

“What?” I ask, genuinely surprised. “Why?”

“He was too drunk to go home, so he texted his mom and told her that he was staying here.”

“Did you two…?” I raise my eyebrows at him suggestively.

“No!” He hisses quickly. “He passed out on my floor, and he was still asleep when I woke up. I didn’t want him to wake up to find me watching him, so I came in here to talk to you.”

“Wait, you two kissed last night,” I say, flashes of the game last night coming back to me. “A lot.”

“We did,” Dev says, smiling as a blush spreads across his cheeks.

He looks happy, the really gross kind of happy that makes me want to throw up. Or maybe I’m just feeling nauseated from how much I drank last night. Either way, I need to find something to throw up in before I throw up all over this bed, which is much too comfortable to deserve that.

“Does that mean you two are a couple now?”

“No.” The smile slips from his face. “Just because we kissed, doesn’t mean it meant anything.”

“Are you sure?” I ask dubiously, taking another sip of my water.

“Yeah.” Dev shrugs. “It didn’t mean anything.”

I can see right through the lie, but I don’t press it. I know how much Dev cares for Niall, but I also know what it’s like to be in love with someone who barely notices you and who you are dying to kiss no matter the consequences.

“Oh my god,” I shout, sitting up too fast, some of the water splashing onto my arm. The world begins to spin, but I can’t get the image out of my head. It’s another thing that happened last night that I had forgotten about up until this moment.

“What?” Dev asks, looking far too amused.

“I kissed Simon last night.”

He laughs, and I toss a pillow at him. It isn’t quite as satisfying as I had hoped it would be.

“You sure did. More than once from what I recall.”

“What?” I only remember one kiss, and it didn’t last as long as I would have wanted.

“After the game ended and people were starting to leave, you pressed him against the wall and kissed him one more time.”

“Why did you let me do that?” I groan, my head falling into my hands, my cheeks burning with humiliation.

“You were pretty determined. You said that if it was your only chance to kiss him, you weren’t just going to let him leave.”

“Oh, god. I can’t show my face at school on Monday.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Yes, it is. He probably knows how I feel about him now. Did he say anything to you about me?”

“No, but why would he? We aren’t friends, and the only people I saw him talk to were you and that girl Penny.”

“He talked to me? Like, an actual conversation? We weren’t fighting?”

“Yep.”

“I can’t remember anything that he said.”

“Well, you know what you should do?”

“What?”

“Call that number.”

“Why? I don’t care about whoever it is.”

“You might be surprised.”

“No.” I shake my head determinedly.

“Fine. It’s your choice. Shower and then let’s go get breakfast. I’m going to go wake Niall.”

I groan, not wanting to get up.

“Make sure you write down the number first,” Dev calls as he walks out of the room, and I fall back onto the bed. I don’t get why he’s so obsessed with the number.

After a few minutes, I finally get up. The world seems to spin as I move to the overnight bag that I brought over yesterday before we left for the party.

I flick on the lights in the bathroom, and I cringe. Maybe it’ll be okay if I can keep my eyes shut all day.

When I pull my t-shirt up over my head, I catch sight of the ink on my arm in the mirror and sigh. The handwriting looks vaguely familiar but not enough for me to figure out who wrote it, and I still can’t remember that part of the evening. I don’t remember much of what happened, especially not after the game of spin the bottle broke up.

Did I talk to someone? Dev says I talked to Simon, but it definitely wasn’t him. Someone else I kissed during the game must have gotten the wrong idea, but the other people I kissed are just blurry faces in my mind right now.

Sighing, I grab my phone off the counter and snap a picture of it.

Maybe someday I’ll get over Simon. Perhaps this mystery guy is the key to moving on.

After a long shower, I head out to find Dev and Niall, still feeling a little nauseous but better than I did before.

When I find them in Dev’s room, Dev is sitting at his desk, staring out the window, and Niall is staring hard at the floor. Dev stands up when he hears me enter, and Niall follows suit but won’t look at anyone. Dev is wearing a deep frown as he glances over at him, but neither of them says anything. Something must have gone wrong between them, which doesn’t bode well for me.

If Dev and Niall can’t find a way to get together, there is no chance for me and Simon.

“Let’s go,” I say, slipping on my sunglasses before we even start walking down the stairs.

They both stay silent as they follow me, which is only further proof that something is wrong, but my head is still pounding, and I’m not in the mood to help them work through this right now. Maybe after we eat.

This breakfast is not going to be pleasant, I think. Except, I may have accidentally said it aloud.

[telltheworld-phff]

Chapter 49: Atrévete a soñar

Harry hadn’t anticipated that his girlfriend pregnancy would be hard for him as well. He didn’t want to use this card as he knew that a million thoughts were crossing Carol’s mind, and she might or might not have had the time to go over them and come to terms herself of this big life changing moment of their lives due to her completely packed work schedule... and she was the one growing a tiny human from scratch. It was her body handling all the changes that came with it.

He had made a promise that he’d do everything he possibly could to make everything as comfortable as possible for her. She wouldn’t be in need of anything on his watch; he made sure to keep her refrigerator full of healthy food and lots of snacks that she could pack and take to the office with her – sometimes going to the store himself -, he had asked one of his drivers to be alert to any calls or texts from Carol, as he was now on duty to use Harry’s private car to take her to and from work. She was getting nauseous when using the tube and he promptly suggested this new arrangement – which surprisingly, she had accepted without a fight.

He also made sure he was present on her daily life. Calling every day that they were apart and stopping by her place every other day. Sometimes she’d ask him to stay and sometimes she didn’t. Harry didn’t mind all the work to keep the ball rolling on his duty and job and to take care of his girlfriend and baby, nothing was as hard as to deal with Carol nowadays.

She was picking fights on the silliest stuff and that was driving him completely bonkers. He didn’t seem to win no matter what he tried and that besides being frustrating as fuck, also was tiring and annoying. He had to remember that she wasn’t like this all the time nor she would be after the baby was out, but the Prince was seriously considering that this baby would be their one and only child.

For the time being, he had nothing to do but get used to Carol’s mood swings by each passing day. Every day was a surprise where he didn’t know which Carol he’d get. The sweet one, the teary-eyed one, the bitch one or the wicked witch of the west one. He couldn’t deny that sometimes it was difficult as fuck to keep up with her snappy and bitchy attitude for no reason whatsoever.

The cycle seemed to be: she’d bitch him and then start crying because she didn’t really mean it. Or whenever he did something good for her (God forbid he sent flowers to her office just because!), she’d say that he was way too overbearing and fussy.

“Women get pregnant every day and everywhere in the world without your suffocating habits and they end up just fine without your overwhelming concern and need to keep me under your watch all the time.” she had said once.

Just to start crying right after and say that lots of women also yearned for their partner’s support and most didn’t have it at all during the pregnancy. And that he was just by her side, by choice, taking care of them. Loving and cherishing them, regardless of this being an unplanned pregnancy and that she was a heartless and mean bitch while he had all the best intentions on his heart.

Needless to say the couple were arguing more now than ever and most of the time Harry would take the blame or excuse himself out of the room to take a deep breath and to remember that his Carol wasn’t like this.

It also felt very weird to argue with an overly emotional pregnant lady.

He tried to remember that this was just a very hormonal version of the woman he loved. Also a test to see if what he felt for her would come out stronger after this trying time. It’s easy to love someone when everything is fine, but true love is proved when the wind is blowing hard and you have not choice but hold onto each other to make sure you (and her) are safe.

He knew that she was stressed with her Masters degree, still keeping top grades whilst having a full time job and working a scary amount of hours every week (which he had already asked her to take it a little bit slow) and also travelling with her project.

He did want her to take a break and take it easy. If it was up to him, Carol would spend her days resting and sleeping to her heart’s content – as she always complained about how sleepy and tired she felt – but wouldn’t dare to even think about suggesting about quitting her job. She’d throw a massive fit and say that she would keep earning her own money as she didn’t need or want his thank you very much.

Some days, and those were rare, Harry was lucky enough to get glimpses of his girlfriend – and that’s what helped to take a relieved breath: knowing somewhere deep down that ugly surface was his sweet and loving girlfriend.

She usually would ask for very weird combinations of food – which he’d always go fetch for her; and have an insatiable sex drive — that he’d be more than happy oblige; and apologize non-stop for being a bitch on steroids to him.

He would forgive her – of course, as there wasn’t anything to really forgive her for - and they would get to chat and try to plan their future as her bump would only grow from now on and they needed to strengthen their relationship and become a real team to face, first and foremost, their parents and then the Institution Harry belonged to.

“What do you want to do?” Harry asked in one of the few blissful nights where they hadn’t argued over meaningless things. They were relaxing on his bed, after an afternoon full of amazing sex that left both of them exhausted. He was lying on his back and had his hands leisurely caressing her thighs.

“Obviously I want you around and to keep the baby.” she was eating ice cream straight from the box. “The big question is: what can we do?”

“Well… I don’t even know what our options really are. Everything I think I know is just wishful thinking. We would need to face a meeting with the Firm and its minions to know for sure. I know that my father and grandmother will demand a wedding.” he side-looked at her, half expecting to have a flying spoon over his head.

“I really don’t want to get married on these circumstances.” she replied and he waited for her to finish. “I do want to get married someday but not just because you knocked me up. It’s the 21st century after all.”

“Although I am part of and represent an Institution that is stuck ten centuries behind. But never mind.”

They both laughed at that.

“I will ask permission for you to move in with me. Don’t think gran will oppose much to that as Kate and Will did it. Before you start your feminist rant...” he laughingly cut her speech, knowing that she’d come up with something to refute. “I know that you love your flat and that it is comfortable enough for the two of you and that you can pay all the bills with money to spare but...” he pecked her lips, to distract her – lest she started to yell at him after a perfect day - and stole some of her vanilla ice cream, making sure to avoid the weird toppings she added in there. “It’s not safe. For any of us. And if we would try and make it safe, it’d cost way more than renting a moving truck and a storage unit for your things as obviously we don’t need new furniture here, except for baby things.”

He could actually hear her mind running wild with thoughts and ways to refuse his offer.

“At Kensington we already have the privacy, the security system, bullet-proof windows, armored cars and 24/7 people on call whenever he or she starts screaming in the middle of the night and we need a rest.”

She smacked his shoulder playfully.

“But…” he continued. “If Gran says we can’t stay here, then I would gladly buy us a house. And pay for the security system and features.”

“You’re insane.” she stated.

“Why you say that?” he was confused.

“Buying a house just for this...”

“”This” Carolina” - he pointed his finger between them to emphasize his point - “is my family and I very much intend to be close by even though you seem to not stand to look at me for more than a few seconds these days. You would help me choose somewhere suitable for us, that has everything we need, and then we would move in together and not marry right away as it seems to be your desire.”

“Why do I sense there are other options that you’re hiding from me?”

“Well… The options of what we will be advised to do are endless. If we start playing “what ifs” and imagining scenarios that might be presented to us, we’d be here all night. There are, though, some options that stand out from these possibilities… For example: I might have to renounce my title.”

She had a shocked expression on her face.

“Says that Pa and Gran demand a wedding and we say that we don’t want to marry under pressure. We might be denied the request of you moving in. So then I’d need to move out and with that – no wedding, kicked out – the press will have a field day, change the public’s view on me and as I’d just be the prince who tarnished the name of the family, again mind you…” he laughed and continued. “Thank heavens Will and Kate have already two children to claim the throne and out goes Harry.” he joked.

“I’m sorry.” she said, already drying the tears after what he said.

He talked about it as if it was a joke but being part of royalty were what made Harry who he was. Give up on it because of her wishes was a very hard thing to do. She considered in that moment if she shouldn’t let go of her stubbornness and just get married so he’d get to keep everything that was rightfully his.

“In that scenario our child wouldn’t have a place in the succession line. We would have more freedom. This part is what I like the most of this option.”

“What do you want to do?” she asked him sincerely.

“Honestly I’d like to marry you. Pressure or not, if you were up to it we would go to the town hall tomorrow.” he waited until the shocked expression on her face faded. “We could live somewhere else than Kensington – don’t care much for that part. I don’t want our children to have titles. it’s a fucking burden to bear, but he or she will be upgraded to prince or princess whenever father is King anyway.”

“Do you think our marriage would work? I personally don’t think I’d be able to face a divorce. I want all of ‘until death us do part’.” she finished the ice cream and left the empty box on Harry’s bedside table and turned to look at him.

“Of course it would…” she looked at him pointedly and asked him to think with his mind and not heart. “Ok… thank you for the reality check. I think that we are very good to and for each other. Relationship is something you build and take care of each day. As long as we’re both committed to our success, I do believe we could go forever. We’re both children from divorced parents and I think we agree that we wouldn’t want that for our children. But also we wouldn’t want an unhealthy environment for them to grow up at, just like we did. So if it came to a point where our relationship became toxic, we would need to separate our ways.”

“That’s a more sensible response Mr. Wales.” she pecked his lips again.

“I don’t think it’s healthy for us to keep guessing what might happen. It’s way too many options. It’ll drive us crazy... I would rather think and chose something that is actually given to us to think about.”

“Do you think you can have an appointment with The Queen after my 12th week milestone?” she was biting her lips as a nervous trait.

“I shall see to it.” he answered.

“Then we will be presented with options and decide what’s best for our family.”

“Ok...” he helped her to lie down. She was wearing one of his pajamas shirts and her ten-week bump showing. He caressed it and then placed a soft kiss on it.

“I do want to tell my mom first. Can we?”

“We can do whatever you want, darling.”

“So after we pass that milestone, I will call her and then we will sit with The Queen to discuss.”

“In the meantime I will do my best to keep you hidden.” he said.

“Which won’t work as we have Tommy’s Christening to attend.” she laughed.

“And are you OK with that?” he was still caressing her bump. “I know that you want to go, but don’t you think it’d be better if you stayed home? Or maybe just attended the reception afterwards? There’s a great chance of being spotted. Are you ready for it? Your life as you know it will be forever changed… and for that I am deeply sorry.”

“Well… I don’t want to miss it and sooner or later I will be spotted. We won’t arrive together or sit together during the service. But I do think the press will put 1+1 together and link me to all other photos… As I will be the only unknown person there. And I know what I’ve signed up for upon agreeing to be your girlfriend and carrying your child. No one will ever be ready for that. And I will need to rely on you a lot.” she sighed.

(…)

Carol had asked Hailey to design something for as she had no idea what to wear on a Christening. She had been flattered when Lara had sent an invitation that said “Honorary godmother” for her, she truly wasn’t expecting an invitation to such an intimate and formal event. 

She was at her sister’s studio – which was a spare room at her house – surrounded by lots of fabrics, sketches, pictures and at least three sewing machines. This was the last fitting of the pink dress Hailey had said would work for a morning event.

“You really should stop eating junk food Carolina.” Hailey said when noticed that the dress wasn’t closing as smoothly as it was three weeks before. “You’re getting chubby.”

Concentrating on not laughing or spilling the beans, she simply nodded.

“Thank goodness the Christening is in two days or I’d have to loosen up this dress, again.” Hailey said clearly irritated. “Never show up on time on fitting days and when you do show up, you’ve gained weight. Good Lord.” she mumbled to herself and when finished, she let Carol look at herself in the mirror.

She was in awe. Even barefoot, without her hair done and make up-free she was feeling pretty. Which was a first ever since she learned she was carrying her bundle of joy. The dress had 7/8 sleeves, the front had a draped finish and the skirt that ended just above her knees was made of feathers in the same colour.

“It’s amazing, Hailey. Thank you” Carol said turning around to see. “I think I want you designing my whole wardrobe.”

“Let’s not get carried away, shall we?” Hailey joked. “Now you just need shoes and accessories. Please don’t ruin my creation.” 

“I might stop by at Harrod’s later and see if I can find anything.”

“Maybe go with a big hat to cover your face?” her sister offered knowing that Carol would have her life turned upside down any moment now.

“That’s exactly what I am going for.”

(…)

Carol had asked for a day off on Friday before the christening and packed everything she was going to need for the weekend affair. All godparents (Harry, Skippy’s sister Victoria, Lara’s brother Henry, Eugenie and Jake Warren) were to check in at the luxurious Luton Hoo Hotel for a welcome luncheon and to rehearse (Carol didn’t understand why a Christening would need a rehearsal but didn’t comment on it). Then the other guests would arrive on Saturday at noon for the Service and then attend a brunch afterwards. The godparents were expected to stay at the hotel and enjoy it’s spa, checking out only on Sunday evening after a thank you dinner.

Carol had to pack way too many outfits and right now she was fitting well into only half of her clothes because of her bump. She was accompanying Harry for the three day stay as per Lara’s request. The brunette had bought a small golden bracelet with Tommy’s name engraved as a gift and hoped his parents would like it.

Harry asked Bill to carry Carol’s luggage to the waiting car while he kissed his girlfriend and – when he checked they were truly alone - her bump.

“You both ready to go?” he asked.

“Yes! I need to see that little red headed cherub!” she said happily.

They went to the car, both sitting on the back seats, buckling up and talking animatedly about the party and Harry explaining what was expected of her. This was Carol’s first formal encounter with people he had known his whole life. Most of them were daughters and sons of his parents’ friends and they all have been a tight knit group ever since they were born. 

Skippy and Lara had opted for a small gathering of closest family members and a few selected friends – Carol was so relieved about it, she didn’t think she’d be able to face a big gathering right now. Thankfully she knew some of the guests that would likely attend as she didn’t want to be left alone while Harry was on godfather duty.

“So Eugenie is coming?” she asked.

“Yes… She’s also a godmother, remember?” he replied.

“Oh thank God. I think I only know her and Jack and Jake and Zoe. Are you sure Arthur and Alessandra are not attending?”

“Yes. Alessandra had to do something in California and Arthur went with her.” he traced the worry lines on her forehead. “Don’t stress too much, Carol. I will be by your side most of the time.”

“I know… it’s just…” she started and he waited. “Nevermind.”

“What is it darling?” Harry said holding her hand.

“I can’t help but feel inadequate to attend such an event.”

“It’s the Christening of your friends’ kid. How on earth can you be inadequate?” he was confused.

“Said friends are aristocrats, barons and baronesses... Close enough to the monarchy… and I’m… I’m just… me.” she said, not looking at him.

“Carol, trust me. Your accomplishments are way greater than what any of us will ever have. You fought your way through life to get to where you are now. We all just had it all handed to us on silver spoons, quite literally. If not actually handed, doors were opened because of connections and surnames.” he kissed her temple. “Also, if anyone think any less of you, it’s their loss. You did point out a few days ago that we’re on the 21st century after all.”

“Hopefully I won’t embarrass you. I don’t know a single thing about etiquette.” she said, biting her lower lip.

“I’ve done my share of embarrassment enough. Nothing you do will ever beat my Vegas trip. Don’t worry. If anyone treats you badly, let me know. Or just go find a familiar face to chat, Ok?”

“Ok. Thank you.”

“You’ve got it. Just keep your charming self and you’ll be fine.” he added kissing her knuckles.

She admired the change in the scenery as they left busy central London to the countryside on their way to Luton. Carol was still feeling uneasy, but decided to have some water to try and calm her stomach. Being driven on the “wrong” side of the road still scared her and she was trying to believe in what Harry had said and not what her mind was shouting at her.

The hotel was a newly renewed manor and it’s perfect tended lawn and lakes were quite imposing. Harry offered his hand to help her out of the car and they went to the lobby to check-in. He usually asked Bill to do it, but wanted to give some sense of normalcy to his girlfriend, so decided to do it himself. He obviously understood that Carol knew who he was and knew that he had some privileges and hadn’t to bother with some tasks as everything he could possible need would’ve been taken care of in a matter of seconds.

He also didn’t want to scare her away – or let her think that he was incapable of doing things for himself. He wanted to tone it down a bit, and let her see that they could mix her humble upbringing with his luxurious and privileged one. He was set to make an effort and be more hands-on on tasks that the rest of the world did on a daily basis.

“The rest of the world don’t go to a 5 start hotel for the weekend.” he thought to himself, shaking his head, while signing the paper the receptionist gave to him.

She couldn’t help but notice the clear shift on the staff behaviour when they spotted Harry. They all bowed or curtsied to him, all of them curious – but obviously not asking – as to who she was. Harry intertwined their fingers while he spoke to the attendant at the lobby, to reassure her. Bill and the other bodyguards appearing just seconds later with their luggage and attentively looking around the seemingly empty lobby.

Apparently they had a paparazzi free travel and he was thankful for that. Harry had booked the mansion state suite for them, which was bigger than her whole apartment. Their California king bed was so inviting and she wanted to take a nap so badly but knew that she couldn’t. As she was travelling comfortable – another reason to have been looked upon by the staff -, she knew that she’d have to change for the luncheon.

Soon, some of the hotel staff was unpacking their luggage and organizing everything in the walk in closet in full speed. She didn’t even have the time to ask them to leave it – as fast as they came, they were gone.

Harry was on his phone and she didn’t want to listen to his conversation, opting to go to the bathroom for a quick shower to help her to stay awake. It might have been the car movement that had her so sleepy. The bath robe available was so soft and slightly warmed that it almost made the somewhat “wake up” cold shower ineffective. She styled her hair in a sleek ponytail and opted to wear one of the dresses that concealed her growing belly. She applied make up – making it simple – and went to the bedroom to fetch both Tommy’s gift and her heels.

“You look amazing darling.” Harry said when he spotted her yawning. “Tired, huh?”

“So much...” she whispered.

“I will try to find an excuse for you, and then you both can rest a bit.” He said, kissing her neck while resting his hands on her belly.

“Good luck with that.” she laughed.

He helped her with her shoes and changed clothes as fast as he could to go to one of the banquet halls where the invitation said the luncheon would be held. He had one hand on Carol’s lower back, protectively and also to guide her through the doors. He could hear the footsteps of his bodyguards behind them and made a mental note to ask Bill to increase the distance between them a little bit. This was going to be a stressful event for Carol and he didn’t want her feeling suffocated.

Their heard Tommy crying before they arrived at the hall. Exchanging a concerned look, they hushed to the Victorian styled room. Lara was holding her cherub, pacing the room, making soothing noises while Skippy was searching for something inside the diaper bag until he retrieved a pacifier. Carol went directly to Lara.

“Carol! I’m glad you came.” Lara said, side hugging her friend while rocking the little boy and looking for her husband. “I’m sorry. He’s fussy today.”

“Is he okay?” Harry asked concerned.

“Don’t mention it! Hi Tommy.” Carol said in a sing-song voice, caressing his red locks. “Auntie Carol is here.”

“He’s fine mate. Have just woken up.” Skippy replied when arriving with the pacifier, giving it to his son who stopped crying immediately. He greeted his best friend and Carol, asking them to make themselves comfortable while they waited for some people to arrive to start serving the food.

“Carol” Lara asked after a few pleasantries were exchanged. “Do you mind coming with me?”

“Sure.” Carol handed her clutch to Harry to hold, grabbed Tommy’s diaper bag and followed Lara to the nearest bathroom that smelled like lavender which immediately made her head hurt and her stomach to turn, even before pregnancy she hated the scent to lavender. 

Thankfully she hadn’t eaten much until now. The room was large – like everything in this hotel it seemed -, with marble sinks and stalls, gold details, everything screaming “tastefully luxurious”, it also had two deep burgundy upholstered chairs

“It’s my turn to change this little man’s nappy and I think he’s getting hungry.” Lara said happily undoing his onesie buttons, while Carol handed her the wipes and a clean nappy. “I’m glad you came. We won’t have much time to catch up this weekend, though. But we should go out sometime. Maybe lunch?”

“We’ve been busy, haven’t we?” Tommy smiled melting both women’s hearts. “I wish I was busy with this little man… Office work is so boring.”

Carol disposed of the used diaper and arranged everything back into the bag while Lara sat on one of upholstered chairs and got ready to feed her baby, Carol sat across from her friend. She watched at how lovingly she talked to and looked at her son and how happy the infant latched on.

She noticed in that moment that she wanted that so badly. Her love for her child was already one of the strongest feeling she ever felt. She knew that her baby was her reason to believe in a better tomorrow and to fight for it. She knew she’d move heavens and earth to make this child protected. Her mama bear instinct kicked right in at full force.

Her hand unconsciously went to her bump caressing it. She wanted to be a mum and in that moment she finally figured out that she was going to be a mother in a few months’ time. She wanted to feel the first kicks, she wanted to hold her baby close to her and get to know everything about her little bundle of joy: his or her preferences, mannerisms, personality, dreams...

“Why are you crying?” Lara asked after she looked up at her friend and saw the brunette with tears on her eyes.

“It’s nothing...” Carol said drying her tears.

“Carol… Is anything the matter?” Lara was preoccupied.

Carol got up to fetch a tissue and dry her tears. She took a deep breath and smiled at Lara.

“I’m pregnant.” Carol blurted.

“Beg your pardon?” Lara looked at her with a shocked expression on her face.

“I’m pregnant.” Carol repeated slowly this time.

“What is it with us and bathrooms when it comes announcing pregnancies?” Lara laughed. “How far along? You weren’t planning to tell me, were you?”

“I’m ten weeks along, we found out a couple of weeks ago. And no, no one was supposed to know before the twelve week mark… but seeing you with him, I just realized that I want this so badly and these damn hormones made my mouth talk faster than my brain could think.”

“Don’t worry, your secret is well kept. I’d hug you but master here is hungry.” they smiled and Carol sat down again. “How are you feeling?”

“I didn’t have many symptoms before I found out, but then, I became tired, breasts sore, sleepy and snappy.” they laughed and Lara commented it was very normal.

“And how’s Harry?”

“Over the moon. I think he wants to spread the word like wildfire… He’s wanted this for so long.” Carol smiled caressing her bump. “But he’s into an overprotective mode that is annoying.”

“Expected. He will be like this for the rest of your lives… Stop fighting it and get used to it, Carol. After everything that has happened to his family, it’s quite obvious that he won’t let anything of the sort happen again.” Lara said. “I’m glad for you. They will be close in age!”

“Thank you for not pointing out the out of wedlock implicit in this news.” Carol said when Tommy unlatched and smiled at his mum.

“Well… you’re welcome? What are you guys going to do about it?” she gave the baby to Carol, together with a burp cloth while she clasped her nursing bra and adjusted the dress again. Carol was gently burping the baby.

“We will know for sure in two weeks. I’m trying not to think about it just yet.” she sighed.

“Do try to enjoy the peace while it lasts. We are definitely scheduling a lunch date after you have “The talk” and I will be all ears for you.” she kissed her friend’s temple.

After the baby was properly burped, the ladies made their way back to the hall where Harry had a glass of scotch on one hand, talking to Jake, Skippy and Jack, probably about football. Carol and Lara took their turns to greet the new comers, with Zoe and Eugenie cooing over the baby on Carol’s arms. Harry’s eye twinkled admiring his girlfriend thinking that soon, it’d be their baby on her arms.

Carol stood beside Harry, playing with Tommy only half listening to what people were saying around her.

“I see that Tommy’s stolen my girl.” Harry joked, caressing Carol’s lower back.

“I think it’s the ginger hair.” Eugenie joked.

“Of course it’s the ginger hair – and the cute face. It’s nice to look at one for a change.” Carol joked.

“Ok, gotta keep you too separated. You girls teaming up will be the death of me.” Harry joked.

Reluctantly Carol gave Tommy to his father while Harry introduced her to the people he knew. Basically everyone in the room was a Lord/Lady or Baron and she felt a little intimidated but didn’t let it show. Carol first met Skippy’s parents and his stepmother, she knew his father was one of Prince Charles’ best friend – and he was studying her. Clearly his friend would know that his younger son had a new girlfriend by this evening. She was polite but let Harry do the small talk. Then it was Lara’s side of the family, she was introduced to her father and brother. Skippy’s sister  was the easiest to get along with… she shared the same sense of humor as her brother’s.

Carol was relieved when she found her assigned place at one of the round tables spread against the hall. It had a round floral vase in the centre, cutlery (lots of it) were made of silver and the glasses were crystal. Harry was sitting at her left and Jack at her right, followed by Eugenie, Jake and Zoe. Knowing everyone made things easier for her and Eugenie kindly asked her boyfriend to exchange places so she could sit by Carol’s side. Both of them engaged on a conversation during the first course. Eugenie was discreetly pointing to the right cutlery without anyone noticing and Carol gave her a polite smile as a thank you.

“Don’t need to be nervous, Carol.” Eugenie said at some point. “You’ll get used to it. And thankfully the only members of the Royal family here will be Harry and I. You’ll do just fine.”

(…)

Carol excused herself from the rehearsal. She wouldn’t play an important part during the ceremony anyway and she wanted a nap. Lara, now being even more empathetic with her friend, didn’t fuss about it and Carol went to their luxurious suite and straight to the bed, not even bothering in changing clothes or removing her make up.

She woke up later with feather-like kisses on her face and slowly opened her eyes to a very handsome Harry.

“Hi.” he said smiling to her.

“Hi” she answered back.

“I’ve missed you” he said nuzzling his nose on her neck, giving her the now familiar goosebumps.

“It’s been only a couple of hours.” she caressed his beard.

“It looks like an eternity for me.” he was laying on the bed beside her. “Did you get the rest that you need?”

“I did, yes.” she yawned and stretched. “Fully charged now.”

They shared a laugh and Carol positioned her head on his chest and one of her legs between his. He instantly held her, playing with her hair.

“I’ve asked Lara for you to enter through the back door tomorrow. I think I’m not ready to share you with the world just yet.”

“Thank you.” she whispered.

“My heart almost skipped a beat when I saw you with Tommy today.” he said and she could hear the smile on his voice. “My girl with a ginger baby on her arms… If you weren’t pregnant already you’d be getting tonight.”

They both laughed hard at that.

“Don’t be so cocky.”

“It’s just… you know that you’re giving me something I’ve wanted for a long time. Don’t you?” he said after a while. “A family of my own to protect, to take care of and provide for. A child to teach lots of things – someone to be a better version of myself. Thank you, Carol. I know this is hard for you. But I promise to be there every step of the way.”

She was crying after he finished his speech and he knew it. He didn’t mention or made fun of her because of that, but he only held her tighter and kissed her temple.

(…)

Carol woke up early on Saturday morning. It took her a while to untangle herself from Harry’s arms but she managed it. Putting on the robe to cover her now naked body, she went to the living room space of their suite and asked for breakfast to be delivered for them. She took a quick shower and started setting up her make up and hairdresser station on the bathroom vanity when Harry woke up and went to her, hugging her from behind.

“Morning.” he said trying to open her robe and receiving a playful slap afterwards.

“Morning!” she replied.

“Do you have time for a quickie before you start making yourself even more beautiful?” he asked seductively.

“Now now Mr. Wales… we did have four very “longies” last night. You can’t possibly be still horny.” she said looking at him through the mirror.

“Well… your bigger breasts make me hard. I can’t help it.” he said circling her nipples with his thumb.

“If we start, we are going to be late. So, your Royal Horniness, keep yourself together and we shall deal with it afterwards.” she fastened the robe belt again while he pouted and sat on the counter.

“Why do you need all of this?” he asked pointing to all of the make up she brought, changing the subject and concentrating hard on other things so he’d get rid of the boner he was sporting at the moment.

“It’s not even enough and I want to look nice today.”

“You look nice every day.” he said while watching her washing her face and applying some lotions.

“Thank you.” she said looking at him and pecking his lips.

She started to apply her make up and he didn’t even wanted to ask what all of those things would do, deciding to take a shower before breakfast. She finished faster than he thought, given the amount of things she applied and they enjoyed the perfectly cooked breakfast before changing clothes. 

Harry wanted a picture of Carol wearing that pink dress and noticed that if she placed her hand on her belly, they could see her small bump that seemed to grow by the second. He smiled when mentioned it to her and she said that she would likely have a very big bump.

“You will be a very sexy momma.” he commented while holding her clutch and the present that they had forgotten to give on the day before and went to their friend’s suite.

Skippy opened the door to their suite and informed Carol that Lara was in the bedroom nursing. He and Harry stayed on the living room while Carol went on the search of the baby.

“Morning sunshine.” Lara said when Carol opened the door.

“Good morning!”

Tommy looked around and smiled at Carol before turning and latching once again.

“As soon as he finishes, can you dress him for me, please?” Lara asked and Carol agreed.

“We forgot to give you his present yesterday” Carol gave the small package to her friend. “I hope you like it.”

Lara opened it and thanked her friend for the bracelet. It was very delicate and simple, one that she’d buy herself for her son if she had thought of that and clearly a very well thought present for him.

“I loved it, Carol. Thank you so much.”

After the baby was well fed and burped, Carol dressed him carefully and combed his hair to the side. She then fastened the bracelet on his arms and left Lara alone so she could finish getting ready for them to leave. Upon entering the living room again, with Tommy smiling and happy, Harry’s heart filled with emotion.

“You’re going to kill me.” he whispered to her.

“Why?”

“You with him on your arms, you being so lovely to him and carrying our baby… I can’t wait until it’s our turn.”

(…)

Harry and Carol rode together with Eugenie and Jack to the St. Albans Cathedral. The car stopped first at the back entrance where Carol jumped off and quickly entered the church, finding her assigned place. And then stopped at the front of the church and sure enough, lots of photographers were waiting for them there. Harry and Eugenie waved and entered the church, waiting for Skippy and Lara to arrive. Harry was shifting his weight and looking where Carol was sitting still alone.

“Calm down, Harry. She’s just fine.” Eugenie mentioned.

“I don’t think having her here is a good idea.” He replied.

“Why not?”

“I don’t think she’s ready for what’s to come from the media once they realize who she is.” he sighed.

“It’s not going to be easy, we know that. But you love her and she loves you… and I think she’s a very strong woman. With our support she’ll do just fine.” Eugenie side hugged her cousin.

“Thank you for “our support” part. It means a lot.”

“I really like her…”

“So do I…. Jack, would you mind?” Harry asked.

“Right on it...” he pecked Eugenie’s lips and went to sit beside Carol. It was pretty obvious how she had relaxed after seeing a friendly face and they both started chatting right away.

(…)

The Service was very right to the point but beautiful and moving.

Lara had asked someone to decorate the church with lots of flower arrangements in a mixture of white Casablanca lilies, tulips and Lily of the valley. Tommy was as happy as he could be, trying the eat the program on his mum’s hand and smiling, up until the water touched his head but his daddy soon made him stop crying and cheery again.

Carol was paying attention and making sure she held the best posture as possible, as she knew that some of these people had Prince Charles on speed dial and she wanted to make a good impression.

Even though when you meet him you’re going to announce you’re pregnant… Not the greatest first impression will come out of that.

She shook her head to clear off these thoughts and smiled at her friends when Skippy waved at her from the altar. She was really fighting the urge of placing her hands on her bump and making a mental note of asking Harry how christenings were done in his family. She knew what they shared with the press, but didn’t know how the ceremony was held.

Lara requested everyone present to take a group picture, together with the priest before they left the church. Although Harry had tried to have her beside him, Carol ended up beside Jack on the far right of where he was. After the pictures were taken, Bill appeared signalling it was time to go and Carol left through the back entrance going straight to the waiting car.

At moment, as they had rehearsed, Harry and Eugenie left the church through the front door together with the other attendants and stopped to take a few pictures with his godson as Lara wanted.

Everyone else started to get into their cars to head to the reception whilst Harry, Eugenie and Jack  conveniently stayed behind to stop and wave to the press – just to make sure that Carol’s car would be long gone without anyone following.

Jack was the one driving this car and he could see that the Prince was nervous and he could relate to that… He was the one arriving at the family and even then it was very difficult. As soon as they entered the Hotel’s grounds – out of sight of the paps that began following them - Harry got out of the car before it even fully stopped moving and bolted straight through the corridors until he found the reception room. Carol was there, sipping on some water and he immediately hugged her.

“Are you alright, darling?” he was carefully checking her to make sure she wasn’t going to hide anything.

“Yes, just fine… I think I’m still undercover.” she said. “Bill is a great security man, Harry. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t like the idea of you getting discovered while pregnant...” he confessed.

“I know. I don’t either.” she chastely pecked his lips. “Let’s just not think about it, ok? Everything went fine and the other guests are arriving and you have more pictures to pose for.”

Harry went on godfather mode, still making sure Carol was within his eyesight.

The photographer Lara hired was good, getting all the “must have’ shots as quickly as possible and Harry wanted to have one of him, Carol and Tommy. When he saw the picture on the camera’s display, he knew that it was going straight to the mantle of his fireplace.

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A/N: I hope all of you are keeping safe and sane on this quarantine mode.

Thank you for your continued support! I love to read all of the messages you send me and hopefully you’ll enjoy this quit long chapter.

Xoxo