#i dont count the eyes as a “face” emoji shut up

[candledotwick]

💥💔👀🐰💞

what is happening

💯🙏💛🟨👍

[wooahaes]

the (not-so-subtle) doting kind

pairing: non-idol!mark lee x fem!reader

genre: fluff. established relationship au.

warnings: food mentions. mark being a very doting bf on his gf's bday.

word count: 2.4k~ dont look at me when u compare this one to all the other bday fics

daisy's notes: what if i want him :(

For whatever reason, your birthday wasn’t a happy day for you… So Mark resolved to treat you normally. And if “normally” involves him doting on you the way he does when you have bad days, then so be it.

He tucked stray strands of hair away from your face when he saw you begin to stir. He’d say one thing to you, just to show you that he remembered. So he leaned in, lips pressing against your own. “Good morning. Happy birthday, baby,” he said, voice still a little hoarse from sleep. “Are we still going to get breakfast?”

“Mmhm.” You drew him back in for another sleepy kiss, only to draw him closer. You snuggled in, eyes fluttering shut as you dropped your head into his shoulder. “Morning…”

He giggled. Most mornings, he’d tease you a little with some sort of “my sleepy girl,” but he settled in instead. He peppered your skin with kisses, just to hear that slightly-annoyed groan as you finally opened your eyes. His lips pressed against yours one final time before drawing back. 

“Good morning,” he said again, thumb grazing the apple of your cheek.

Despite the slight annoyance at being woken up fully now, you sat up and stifled a yawn. The moment you went to move out of bed, you felt Mark’s fingers poke into your sides. You let out a strangled grunt, playfully shoving away at his hands as he giggled. He came up behind you, pressing a long kiss against your neck before moving to search through the closet. It became obvious soon enough what he was doing, always trying to find a way to tease you to make you smile. Eventually you swatted him away from you, and he laughed that goofy laugh before getting dressed, too. He kept waiting around, watching you as you looked through your options before settling on something. Of course, it was one of the things you owned that Mark didn’t have something he could use to match with you… But he could improvise. He stood back, watching you (half-admiring, half-studying) before going into his side of your shared closet. 

When he stepped out in a patterned shirt that mainly featured the same color as the shirt you were wearing, he saw the way you gave him a little once over before going back to packing your things into a bag. “You look cute.”

Mission accomplished. Mentally, he put a little sunglasses emoji guy right next to the thought. 

After a quick breakfast out, the two of you ended up wandering around the mall for the day. He held your hand the entire time, always pointing out something cool or something he thought you’d look good in. Today was your day, which meant he couldn’t play. You wanted something? He was already getting his card out. He’d been saving specifically so that he could spoil you on your birthday, and he was intent on carrying that out.

“Don’t worry, baby,” he said with this cute smile, “I got you.” 

It always earned some sort of playful eye roll or snort as you thanked him, always drawing out the words to tease him. He was obvious, but that was fine with him. What was the point of days like birthdays and holidays if he couldn’t spoil you a little? He carried your bags for you, too, ever the gentleman. Yet he was the one who slowed down, hand holding yours tight enough to tug you back, when the two of you were outside of a toy store. He pointed out two little lion plushies right next to one another.

“Babe. Baby.” He didn’t take his eyes off of them. “It’s us.” 

You’d giggled a little over it. “Pretty sure those are two male lions, Mark.” 

He turned back to you. “What?” Then he looked at them again, fully registering the bright orange manes that both of them wore. “Right. Still… We could still find a lioness. C’mon.” He tugged you toward the entrance, only to stop. “Unless you don’t wanna—”

“We can go places you wanna go, Mark,” you said, already making your way into the store. “Let’s go find a lioness.” 

You’d been insistent on paying for and carrying that bag, and Mark let the issue drop. Gentlemanly as he was, his hand was getting a little tired carrying all your bags… and it’d be rude to turn it into an issue when it wasn’t. You did end up taking the bags from him when you stopped to get lunch, saying you would go get the table while he grabbed the food. When he asked you to pick a place, you’d just shrugged it off.

“You know what I’ll eat,” you said. “Just pick somewhere.” 

Again, he’d almost pushed back on that. Today was your day, even though you weren’t treating it like anything special. But he knew how you felt, and he bit back any disagreement. He looked around the food court, picked two places, and asked you to pick from those under the guise of him being indecisive. You hummed to yourself, genuinely considering the two options before picking, and then left him standing there as you went to snag a table for the two of you. He went off to order your food, and soon enough he was sitting across from you, listening as you rambled on about something that happened at work the other day. Eventually, you pushed the conversation onto him as you nodded along to his own stories… all while sneaking little pictures of him. He smiled for them, and eventually got you to squeeze into frame so he could snap a picture of the two of you together.

The rest of the day was scaled toward him. You would push for him to pick places to go, things to do. The bookstore the two of you frequented became one of your stops, and he saw the quiet way you bought a book he put back alongside with another bookmark for him (sometimes he lost them, but he’d always take extra care when someone gave him one) without saying a word. A few other stores, too: you’d ended up buying him a few things, insistent on carrying his bags for him with this knowing smile that told him you knew exactly what he’d been doing all day. 

Then when you were leaving, Mark saw it. The way you’d been walking a step ahead of him for a minute, talking about finding a place to sit for a few minutes before you actually went back to the car. You’d slowed to a stop outside this chocolate place the two of you had sampled forever ago, watching in the window as a tall, handsome man was making them in view of anyone passing by. The guy looked up, flashed you a smile, and then went back to his work. Mark slowly made his way over to you, watching the magic happen for himself.

“We should get a box,” he said after a moment. He looked at you, practically glowing with excitement. “We can split it, if you want?”

For a few seconds longer, you just watched the man on the other side of the glass continue to work. Then you met Mark’s gaze, genuinely smiling that same smile he fell in love with years ago, and nodded. “I’d love that.” 

The two of you went into the shop, picking out flavors for your big box of chocolates. When Mark paid this time, you didn’t push back or question or tease him. You just leaned against him, still smiling that pretty smile, and thanked him in a soft voice that felt so genuine this time around. He tucked the box into one of the bags he was carrying, pressed a kiss against your cheek, and took your hand again as you left.

By the time the two of you got home and started sorting through everything you’d bought, it was late. When Mark looked up, asking if you felt like going back out for dinner, you’d shaken your head. You had sprawled out along the couch at that point, visibly sleepy from the long day as you abandoned the work of sorting out new clothes to be washed. He just crawled over to you, pressing his lips against yours.

“You wanna go take a bath? I’ll order dinner when we get out.” He pressed another kiss against your lips. “We can watch movies,” another kiss, “and then bust into those chocolates,” and another, “and it’ll be fuckin’ great, baby.” 

You agreed to it all too easily. The two of you ended up snuggling in the hot water for a while, talking about whatever came to mind. By the time the two of you were cuddled up on the couch again, dressed in matching pajamas (“Because we’re cheesy like that, you know?” was what Mark said to you when he bought them forever ago), he’d decided to apparently kill you with a thousand more soft kisses. The jerk was giggling the entire time, too, squeezing you in his arms and he peppered said kisses alongside the side of your neck—right where you were tickling, he’d learned back when the two of you were first dating.

“Mark!” You’d squealed at one point, nose crinkling as he mumbled something about how cute he found you. “You can stop. I know what you were doing today.” 

“What?” He played dumb. “Appreciated you? I’m always appreciating you, baby,” he giggled, kissing the spot where your neck met your jaw. “I’m lucky to have you, y’know?”

With a sigh, you pulled away from him. Ah. Shit. You’d been planning for a serious talk, then. “I mean it,” you said, taking one of his hands within your own. “I know what you were doing. And… I think it was really sweet.”

Wait, what? His voice grew softer now, heart racing in his chest. “So you aren’t mad?”

“I…”  You trailed off, turning away. “I thought I would have been. But… I dunno. I think when you walked up to me and said something about buying that box of chocolates, it just kinda hit me that you weren’t just spoiling me today because it’s my birthday. You were doing it because you love me.” For a moment, you tried to blink back tears. “I mean… I know you love me. And I knew that on the birthdays before—but I always kinda pushed people away because I felt like I wasn’t worth it.”

“You are, though.” The words fell from his lips before he could even think twice. Maybe if he did, he would have apologized for interrupting you, but some things were just too vital to hold back. “You’ll always be worth it, y’know?”

The tears you’d been fighting finally ran down your cheeks, and you nodded. “You made me feel special,” you said. “And not just because it’s my birthday, but because you actually care.” 

Something ached deep within his chest at that. Did that mean you had people who didn’t…? Yet he left the question unsaid. How long had he been dating you, and he still didn’t know everything he thought he should? Not because you were supposed to bare your soul to him—never that. But because he was your boyfriend, he felt that he should have noticed sooner. You told him that your birthday hadn’t been a happy day for you in a long time, and he’d accepted it at face value without pushing. If you wanted to tell him, you would, and he would listen the same way you always cared and listened to his problems. The same way you did today when you pushed him to open up, to talk, to share the day with you so it wasn’t just him doting on you endlessly. 

“Hey…” He reached up, wiping your tears away. “I’m sorry I went behind your back to try and spoil you today.”

You stared at him. “Mark, it’s okay—”

He shook his head. “I should have asked you first,” he said. “But I like celebrating you. You know I was kind of a mess when we first met, but I wanted to be better for you. Chenle can tell you how bad this place used to be,” he chuckled, hoping that you would laugh or giggle or something too. “So I like getting the chance to celebrate how much I love you. You still make me wanna be a better guy, y’know?”

Sniffling, you dove forward to hide your face in his shoulder. He just laughed softly, rubbing circles onto your back as you cried. He loved you, and he knew how easily you could get emotional in vulnerable moments like this. Always diving forward and hiding your face because no matter how many times he told you it was okay, you’d be embarrassed that you were crying on him when you were supposed to be happy. 

“We can have more days out like this, if you want,” he said, hand cradling the back of your head. He drew you back, just so he could see your face, watery eyes and all. “Today just needed to be perfect because I think you’re perfect, even with all the imperfections we both know we have, we’re kinda perfect together.” He paused, wondering if he’d talked himself in a circle again before settling on something simpler: “I just think you’re really cool.”

That had finally earned a laugh out of you, so endeared to him and the way he spoke. “Yeah?”

He nodded eagerly. “Yeah!” He smiled at you. “You’re pretty sick. I love being your boyfriend, y’know?”

You just drew him in for a quick kiss after wiping your face with your sleeve. When you pulled back, you just smiled at him. “You’re pretty cool, too, y’know.” With a clumsy kiss against the side of his mouth, you finally drew back and out of his lap. “Thank you for a really fun day, by the way.” Snuggling a little closer to him, you rested your head against his shoulder. “I had fun. I always do when I’m with you, but you know what I mean.”

He just chuckled, turning his head so that he could kiss the top of yours. “Yeah, of course. Happy birthday, baby.” He snuggled in for a cozy night with you, head resting against your own. “I love you a lot. Let’s do something cool next year, alright?”

You just let out a soft chuckle, too. “Alright.” You shut your eyes. “If it’s with you… I’ll always be happy.”

taglist: @twancingyunhao

[averycutesalamander]

HELLO my first fic is finally done!!!! im posting some of the intro under the cut, but the whole thing is up on AO3!! (pls dont look at the word count it's really embarrassing)

It’s days like this that make Boothill consider giving up on his hunt.

Well, consider is too strong a word; it’s only ever a passing fancy, a brief flicker of doubt that he discards immediately. He’s a man on a mission, after all, and he’s nothing if not determined. He's proud of his ruthless optimism in the face of adversity; it's kept him going this long. Still, he’s willing to admit that work like his isn’t all sunshine, and certainly has its rainy days – this one definitely included. 

He’s finally on his way home after an exceptionally long and frustrating job, one that seemed engineered to piss him off, one that he failed, and he’s eager to get back to your shared apartment, clean up, recharge, and spend some desperately needed time with you. He’d sent you a message to let you know he was on his way back a few system hours ago, and you’d excitedly responded with a string of emojis so long it filled his entire phone screen. The hour is rather late for you to be up – not terribly late, but enough that he's lucky you're awake.

He’s exhausted and frustrated and filthy and he absolutely reeks; he didn’t have the time to clean up before heading back, and frankly, even if he did, he thinks he might’ve combusted on the spot if he spent another second on that god-forsaken bog of a planet. As he climbs the stairs up to the apartment, he's nearly tempted to collapse on them and pass out for a few hours, but the urge to see you keeps him moving.

“I’m home, sweetpea,” he calls as the door shuts behind him. He retracts the spurs on his ankles and sluggishly wipes his feet on the mat – a habit you’d been sure to instill in him the moment the two of you started living together. (“You always track in so much dirt! And no, just because you technically don't wear boots doesn't mean you don't have to wipe off the mud,” you scolded him. “Maybe I should start making you clean it up.” That straightened him out real quick.) His hat is hung in its designated spot next to your favorite jacket, looking exceptionally out of place considering the grime that coats it.

He slumps against the door, utterly drained, then tilts his head at your lack of response. You’re home and awake, he knows that much; your usual shoes are by the door, and he can hear movement in the kitchen. A tantalizing smell radiates into the entryway, and he’s willing to bet it’s some kind of stew; you always make it on days that you know he’s coming home.

He turns the corner around the kitchen and finds you with your back to him, busy with something on the stove, then sees why you hadn't answered him; you've got your headphones on, moving to a beat he can just barely hear, muttering along to it under your breath. His lips quirk, fondness unfurling in his chest; a little spark of mischief arrives on its coattails, chasing away his exhaustion for the moment. He steps lightly onto the tile, quieter than he needs to be, eyes glimmering. Closer, closer, closer he creeps, until he's towering behind you, just within reach. With a glance, he makes sure you aren't holding anything too important, and then– 

You squeal in surprise as his arms snake around your waist, hauling you back against his chest with unyielding strength. With a mighty squirm, you whip around to identify your attacker, and your face lights up so perfectly that if he wasn't grinning before, he certainly is now. You laugh in delight, rushing to shake off your headphones and shove them onto the counter. The moment your hands are free, you leap against him in earnest, hard enough that he'd stumble if he weren't made of metal. 

You curl your arms tightly around his shoulders, wrapping your legs around his hips in a death grip like you’re trying to crush him, as you always do. His hands slip down beneath your thighs to support you in your efforts, as he always does. 

Either you don't notice how filthy he is (very hard to believe) or you don't care, because you pepper his face with kisses relentlessly. By the time you're done with your assault, he's chuckling, all dazed and giddy, his weariness melting away at your touch. Cupping your hands around his face, you beam at him, eyes shining.

“Hi, honeybee,” you say, a little breathless.

“Hey there, buttercup,” he answers with a squeeze on your thighs. He resists the urge to rub his cheek against yours as he usually does, conscious of the grime that coats him like a second skin. “Did ya miss me that much?”

You scoff and roll your eyes as dramatically as you can manage. “Like you even need to ask. Feels like it’s been forever.” You pinch his cheeks, then laugh as he nips at your fingers. “How was the mission?”

He groans, and he isn't even exaggerating. 

(read more on ao3 !!)

[shurisneakers]

harmless (iv)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, guns, mention of war, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader

Word count: 1.5k

A/N: good evening i’ve never been to any of the places i mention in this series so dont come @ me

if you have any ideas for future inventions/evil plans, lemme know! i might actually end up using them 

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Series Masterlist

He spends the weekend doing nothing. It’s supposed to be relaxing. He finds it nauseatingly boring.

“No mini mission this week?” Steve asks him from across the couch. 

They’re supposed to be catching up on Star Wars but two prequels in and Bucky could feel himself lose his sanity. Anyone could present him with a random assortment of alphabets, call it a Star Wars species and he would have no reason not to believe them.

It’s not like he doesn’t like space. It’s just that he’s had enough of it and everything and everyone who came from it for the foreseeable future.

“No. Someone else is taking care of it.”

“Didn’t you volunteer for this?”

“I pulled myself out of the case.”

“I thought you were having fun.” 

Bucky’s head slowly turns to look at him. “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know,” Steve shrugged. “Looked like you were.”

Well, he wasn’t. He likes it here at home, glued to the TV. Popcorn beside him, sweatpants on. Refreshing, calming, slow, mundane, and Jesus Christ, so fucking boring-

His spiralling is interrupted by the dinging of the elevator to the common floor. No one was allowed up there unless it was extremely urgent. Guests were barely allowed into the Tower as it was. 

It reveals the receptionist from downstairs, Marie. She’s always a little reserved, a little shy. But Bucky had seen her chew and spit out trespassers or anyone who dared to get on her nerve. He adores her.

“Hey, Marie,” Steve says while Bucky sends her a friendly wave in greeting. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a hostage situation downtown,” she informs them. 

“Okay...” Steve drawls, waiting for a reason why this was an Avengers level threat.

“They’ve asked for Mr. Barnes by name.” She makes a mention towards him.

Bucky sits up straight. Bits of popcorn fall off his chest. 

“What?”

“They said, and I quote-” she looks down at her notepad. “‘Tell that grumpy motherfucker that I’m waiting for him and that he’s not getting out of this so easily because we have come too far.’ End quote. They’ve also told me to include a kissing emoji. And a skull.”

Steve and he look at each other.

“Well?” Steve prods. 

Bucky sighs and gets up to go get ready.

The entrance of Chuck E. Cheese is more crowded than he’d ever seen. He wasn’t even sure he’d seen people in the store before. If there were, they probably only came up till his waist. 

There are a few journalists, a few policemen standing together outside. Whispers of confusion and curiosity reigned free. 

Bucky gently pushes his way to the front. He gets a nod from a police officer who opens the door for him after a quick briefing. 

The place is darker than it usually would be. A trademark, it seemed. The blinds are drawn shut and most of the light is coming through whatever sneaks in through the crack. 

“Hey, Barnes.” Your voice is muffled by a mask that looks suspiciously like it was made out of classroom craft supplies.

There’s a person in a loose chokehold in your hand with a gun pressed against his head. Once again it looks straight out of a cartoon, purple with round disks lining its barrel. 

“What’s all this now?” He gestures around monotonously. 

“A hostage situation. Didn’t you get the memo?”

“Got that part down, genius,” he bites back. “But why?”

“Fucker kept harassing me when I was walkin’ down the street.” 

The guy’s helpless gaze met Bucky. 

“Catcalling me, stalking me.” You tighten the grip you have on him. “Call me darlin’ one more time, you son of a bitch. I dare you.”

He wasn’t impressed with his pleading eyes. He kinda felt like he deserved it. 

“Why’d you do it here?” The bright colours were starting to give him a heading. “And where are the staff?”

“It’s symbolic, Bucky,” you emphasise, “He deserves to be among other rat bastards.”

Of course.

“The staff?” he asks again. 

“Gave them thirty bucks and told them to leave. I’m not a monster.”

“Right.” He doesn’t bother refuting you. “Why’d you call me here?”

“Dunno.” You shrug. “Thought it’d be fun. You having fun yet?”

You shake the guy you’re holding. He gives a small whimper. 

Bucky doesn’t want to stop you. He had chugged enough Respect Juice in his lifetime to know that this guy probably deserved a threat or two.

Hell, he’d even help but you were more than capable of handling this on your own.

“Listen,” he sighed. “As much as I’m sure he deserves it, this is technically illegal and I’m required to stop you.”

“Sorry sarge, I thought you weren’t interested in playing this stupid game with me,” you mock, voice dropping to imitate him.

“I’m not.” It wasn’t entirely true. One Saturday with Jar Jar Binks had convinced him otherwise.

“Okay, so before you leave, do me a favour and call Hawkeye. I hear he looks mighty fine when he’s annoyed.”

His face involuntarily scrunched up. You were going to replace him with Clint? Clint?

He probably took it more as an insult than he should have.

“I’m not doing that.” Bless his foul mouthed friend, but he was a little shit who was too sarcastic for his own good. At least twice a week he’d say something stupid to Bucky and then take out his hearing aids when he tried to argue back. 

“You’re leavin’ me with no options here,” you groaned, using your thumb to flip a switch. The gun looks like it powered up, lights along the side turning red.

If he let you have this, it’d be a bad look for the Avengers.

New York man dies in Chuck E. Cheese lone hostage situation, unable to be saved by same superhero who tried to fight Thanos with a machine gun.

“Tell ya what,” he says instead, “If you kill him, there won’t even be a slight chance that you’ll see me again.”

Your grip on the gun falters.

“If I let him go...”

“I might consider coming back next week.” He’s trying to spin it, make it look like he’s the one with the upper hand here. “But you gotta let him go.”

You search his face for any signs of dishonesty.

“Let him go or you’ll never see me again.” It sounds too much like Clint’s arguments with his dog who brought a live squirrel into the house. 

“Fine,” you relent, a glint in your eye. “but say goodbye to this fuckface.”

Before Bucky can open his mouth to shout in protest, you pull the trigger. The man clenches his eyes shut, face red.

He expects blood to be splatter across his face.

Nothing happens.

A barrage of bubbles floats into the room.

“I meant it literally,” you say, pushing him off you. “Say goodbye. He’s leaving.”

The man stumbles to the ground and Bucky doesn’t make any attempt to catch him. He scrambles to his knees, picking himself up and scurrying out the door to a hoard of reporters.

The door shuts behind him with the chime of a bell.

“You’re annoying,” Bucky states, giving a small sigh.

“I’m well aware of that.” You pull off the mask, wiping the sweat off your brow.

“Where is the agent assigned to your case?” 

“Dunno. Last I saw he was crying on the driveway of my lair. I just figured he’d pick himself up later so I left him there.”

Bucky’s nose twitches. 

“You weren’t actually going to kill him, were you.” He shrugs with his shoulder towards the door. It wasn’t a question, more a statement. He knew you wouldn’t. 

“I could have.”

“But you weren’t going to,” he repeats. 

“No,” you admit. “I wasn’t. But I’m glad to see you showed up.”

“You held someone hostage as leverage.”

“No, no. I held someone hostage and then asked to see you. They were completely unrelated.”

“You’re evil.”

“You jumped to conclusions,” you point out. “Would you like a trampoline next time? Maybe a pogo stick, you clown?”

He has a very real gun in his holster. His very real metal death arm aches to use it. 

“No one else agreed to come,” he deflects. 

“We both know that’s a lie. You were going to come back anyway.” You stuff the bubble gun back into the bag. “I’m deliciously irresistible.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Then beg.” You give him a smirk and he rolls his eyes. “Don’t worry, you win this round, sarge.”

He doesn’t say anything. He watches you remove your heist gear, revealing normal civilian clothes underneath.

You walk casually to the kitchen, intending to leave through the back door.

“But I can’t say I lost either.” You send him a wink before swiftly pushing open the door and leaving him behind.

He only watches you leave.

It doesn’t hit him until a few seconds later that he let a criminal out of his hands when there were several policemen and journalists outside.

He entertains the idea of chasing you down and handing you over. 

It takes him only a few seconds to decide that if they wanted you, they’d have to try themselves.

Next part 

[bratkook]

like you used to. jjk

“So kill me like you used to...”

part two.

pairing. ex boyfriend!jungkook x reader genre. angst, mentions of smut, toxic exes warnings. very toxic depictions of relationships, hints at infidelity, drunken mistakes, they’re both very toxic for each other and just can’t stay away, brief mentions of smut word count. 2.9k note. this is just a lump of angst that my mind conjured at 1am last night, i just love angst and messy relationships that are destined to fail 😌(its not edited so if u see a typo no u dont)

It always started with a phone call. 

Whether it was from you or him always changed. Sometimes he’d get the call at two in the morning, vision blurry as he brought the phone to his face and saw your name illuminated on the screen, that old goofy selfie you had together still set as your contact photo. He’d hesitate for a moment just to keep you on your toes before pressing accept, already getting up and putting pants on because he knew just what you were calling for. 

Tonight was your turn to be on the receiving end, laying in bed comfortably as you scrolled through random posts to try to help you sleep, the flash of his face fills your phone, it’s a random close up photo of his eyes staring right into the camera, crinkled up in a smile. Even though his name is changed in your contacts, no longer having the cute bunny emoji tacked to the end, you know you’ll still pick up in a heartbeat. And you do. 

The second you press accept you’re met with the familiar sound of his voice, slurred and thick as he speaks so jumbled up you would barely be able to understand him if you didn’t already know what he was saying. It was the same things he always said whenever he got like this, proclamations of love that only cut up your freshly scabbed over wounds, salt rubbing into them when he cries about how he misses you, promises to change. 

They get cut off when the phone is yanked away from his grasp, the second familiar voice belonging to his buddy Yugyeom now speaking into the receiver. “You gotta pick him up Y/N.”

The annoyance is evident in his voice, the babbling of Jungkook still heard in the background along with the dull beat of whatever place they were outside of. 

“He’s not my responsibility Yugyeom.”

He simply sighs into the phone, staring at his mess of a friend before rubbing his jaw, sore and aching from where he had just been socked after attempting to force him into an uber. “Yeah well he won’t let anyone else take him home, he’s drunk as fuck. I’ll send you the location.”

Not waiting for a response he hangs up and sends you a pin of where they’re at, thrusting the phone back into his friend’s hands before getting into that uber and leaving Jungkook alone while he whines against the dirty bar wall, crouching down onto the filthy sidewalk as the car drove off. 

Yugyeom knew you would come to his rescue like you always did, never once saying no and letting Jungkook fend for himself because on the rare occasions where you’d call him drunk and crying he’d do the same. 

Getting into the car still dressed in your pajamas, shoes thrown on without being laced up, hair still messy, it felt like routine now from how often it happened. Jungkook called you sober, text you while in a sane state of mind, but without fail at least once a month he’d get absolutely shit faced and call you, leaving you what he thought were heartfelt voicemails if by some chance you didn’t answer. 

It was the same bar every time, a bar you used to frequent with him, knowing the location and all the small side streets to get you there without needing directions. Doing this felt like such a normal part of your life it almost made you forget that you and Jungkook weren’t together anymore. It’s been a year since you split and you still find yourself thinking if things could be different. 

Would it have been best if you never confessed to each other, never admitted to the small inkling of a crush before it was able to fully blossom? It was hard not to wonder how different life would be now if you had walked away the first time things went south, if he had walked away after the first argument. 

Whenever he called you, pulled you in with those drunken promises it was easy to convince yourself that your relationship was perfect, that it was worth all of the struggles. Your brain morphed each fight, each time you cried alone, twisted it around and molded it to make it easier to consume, easier to believe you were meant to be. 

You thought you were soulmates, and maybe you were, two people destined to be together, meeting at the wrong time, under the wrong circumstances. What was meant to be perfect puzzle pieces connected had slowly turned into jagged edges that no longer clicked regardless of how hard you tried to jam them together, foolishly thinking you could spill your love into the gaps to mend the spaces, making the pieces whole once more. 

Love was never enough. 

Love made you stupid, made you blind and gullible, smiling through lies to avoid arguments, going to bed angry until he was hovering over you, coaxing you into forgiveness with soft kisses and gentle touches. It always went this way, regardless of who’s fault it was without fail he’d end up slot between your legs, the only time the puzzle pieces connected perfectly, allowing him to fuck you as if he’d never see you again. Murmurs of love and adoration were passed between panting breaths, sloppy kisses, shared moans to mask the empty promises you made every time.

Staying away from each other was a hard habit to kick, the two of you stuck on an endless game of seesaw, neither of you having the guts to get off and move on. All it took was a simple drunk phone call for you to go his way, the slur of his voice as he cries into the receiver about how much he loved you, missed you, needed you next to him, wanted to try again. It reeled you in so easily, winding you up until you were hauling your sloppy ex boyfriend off the dirty floor and into your small car. 

He remembers none of this, he never did, not fully anyways. Small tidbits of words he said flash in his mind as he comes to, drool on his cheek and neck sore from the unfortunate position he had slept in, groggy and unaware of his surroundings. 

He knew your apartment too well, recognized the green wall he had helped you paint, now holding endless pictures of you and your friends. None of Jungkook anymore. 

All of those photos were gone now, not burned or shredded in some ritual to get over him, simply tucked into a box and shoved so far into your closet you hoped you would forget it. You never did of course, the way the box laid dust free made it clear how often you pulled it out and sorted through the photos whenever you had too much wine, whenever you had off days where you just felt so alone and wished you could go back to the times you had convinced yourself were better. They weren’t, you knew they weren’t once you sobered up and balanced out your emotions.

Jungkook doesn’t feel bothered that not a trace of him remained visible in your home, he knew his presence lingered in the cracks, buried so deep in the crevices of your mind he knew you would always think of him. 

He groans softly as his eyes roam the interior of your home, the throbbing in his temples making him stop and shut his lids, not needing to analyze the place he was at less than two weeks ago when you had called him over. Jungkook briefly wonders if he should sneak his way out, not used to waking up on the couch instead of in your bed right beside you, maybe he had said something last night that crossed the line and landed him on the couch as a punishment. 

As you finally emerge from your room his plan of escape is put to a stop, his eyes gravitating towards your bedroom door, seeing the way you cautiously step out. Having heard Jungkook wake up since you had already been awake for the past hour, your body not allowing you to sleep while knowing he was in the other room, it took a few minutes of courage before you were able to face him. 

Spotting him on your couch shows how much he doesn’t belong, the pinned leather jacket he wore looking so harsh against the light coloring of your furniture, his dark disheveled hair contrasting with the tidy way you organized your apartment. He senses it, the skin crawling sensation that spreads the longer you stare at him, how he felt so out of place somewhere he used to call home at one point. 

“Thank you for picking me up.” He chooses to break the silence, voice raspy, his internal self screaming at him for always doing this. His eyes are sincere, genuinely meaning it, knowing just how messy he got when he had too much to drink, how his friends could never handle him when he crossed the line and began to call for you. 

Like always his words were routine so he expects it when you huff and say, “You need better friends Jungkook.”

“I know.” Because he did, he knew his friends enabled him, riled him up and once he became too much they pushed him onto you, knowing Jungkook’s grip on you was still too strong for you to ever say no. 

“What if I hadn’t picked you up? Would they have left you on the side of the bar to fend for yourself?”

“Probably,” he shrugs, from past experiences he knows very well they would have. His friends had dealt with Jungkook crying over you far too much, their patience fully stamped out, no longer able to tolerate him when he became like this. 

Not even realizing when he begins to smile as he thought of the nights you didn’t pick up, how he had ended up in the most random locations because he refused to go home to a place you weren’t, he snaps out of it when you scoff. “It’s not funny Jungkook, you could have gotten hurt or something.”

There it was, the reason you were upset. Not because he had called you and spewed the same bullshit he always did, no that you could tolerate. You were upset, and worried, that you’d get a following call from someone stating he had injured himself while calling for you. 

“I know.”

You pause to breathe, his short responses not irking you like it should, arms crossed over your chest as you observe your ex boyfriend still sitting on the couch, looking like a scolded child. 

“You can’t call me anymore Jungkook.” How you have the nerve to say that to him is funny, acting as if ten days ago you weren’t the one doing this to him, telling him you missed him, securing your anchor around his foot and dragging him back under with you. 

This is the checklist you needed to go down, a formality of the morning after so he doesn’t mind it. Instead he frowns at the way you continue to say his name, the way it rolls off your tongue makes him wince, missing the way you’d call him Kookie, playful pet names like Bunny, something he swore he hated but secretly loved. Jungkook wished he could hear you say it again, humor you with that damned bunny eared headband he’d wear to hear you laugh, squeal as he posed and dance for whatever silly video you recorded as you shouted out the ridiculous nickname. 

The last time he heard those words spill out of your mouth had been too long ago. 

“I’m sorry.” he admits, he knew he had to stop, couldn’t continue to hold onto the past, knowing how wrong you were for each other but he wasn’t the only one. Those were the same words you told him ten days ago, apologizing with guilty eyes for asking him to come over when you were lonely, needing a familiar body to occupy the space next to you, wanting his hands to soothe you, make you feel whole again just for a night. 

Once the sun came up it was back to normal, the two of you having the repeat conversation you had every time, the exact one you were having now. A formality. Nothing more, just mindless words that you would both agree to just to move along, to make you both feel better, more secure with yourself until the next time the phone rang. 

Your heart twists in your chest as you look at him, the same toxic love you had for him brewing in your heart, spilling over and burning you but you ignore the pain, convince yourself you don’t feel it as you breathe in. That same rope latches around Jungkook’s ankle as you avert your eyes for a brief second before looking back at him with a small sigh. “Do you want breakfast? I know how you get when you have a hangover.”

He smiles for the first time, charming as always, looking up at you through the subtle waves in his hair. “I probably shouldn’t.”

You know this. He definitely shouldn’t because breakfast will turn into words exchanged, civil at first, flirty the next, a coin flipped to decide if a petty argument would begin or if you’d reminisce about the good times. Regardless of the outcome, what always followed ended with you moaning out his name as he rocked into you, those same empty promises spilling through his lips that you swallowed with a kiss. 

A brief moment of bliss, a small dose of the past that only serves to hurt you further but you crave it, loving the small rush that came with arguing, the roughness of his hands as he pushed you around before sliding home, burying his face into your neck as he broke you down all over again. 

Normally you’d try to convince him further, but as your mouth opens to protest you get flashes of the night before, how you had carried Jungkook up your flight of stairs, hearing him ramble about nonsense so slurred together you paid it no mind. You would have had him sleep in your bed beside you like you always did but when you fish his phone out and begin to slide his jacket off it buzzes to life. 

Always being nosey you type in his password, smiling when you realize it was still your old anniversary but when you unlock it and see a flood of messages from a girl named Natalie, calling him babe, asking where he was, the smile falls from your face as you start to snoop. 

It doesn’t take much scrolling through their thread of messages to easily discover she was his girlfriend, blissfully unaware that he was shit faced and calling you, confessing to his love for you while she laid at home and wondered if he was having fun with his friends. She reminded you of yourself, of the way you used to be with him and it left a sour feeling on your tongue. 

“Yeah you probably shouldn’t.” 

He stands up now, following you slowly as you approach the door, heavy boots thumping on the hardwood as he reluctantly steps closer to the exit. He doesn’t want to leave, wants you to try to convince him to stay, not knowing that you knew the dirty secret he was hiding buried in his phone. 

You don’t decide to tell him you know, it was pointless. That was just how Jungkook was wired, so much love to give he had to spread it out, give everyone a fair share of it, choosing to pretend he wasn’t being selfish. It was naive to believe it, to think all the love he held was strictly for you, it was why he was able to pull the hood over your eyes so easily. 

Even when you pull the door open and give him a tightlipped smile he knows you’ll still call him, forget all about Natalie when you’re lonely once more. So when you look him in the eyes and sigh, “Goodbye Jungkook.” He knows it’s not for long, maybe a week or so, maybe less. 

He simply smiles, stuffing his hands into his jeans as he shuffles out, turning to face you as he steps backwards. “See you later Y/N.” And his words sting in a way he doesn’t mean, knowing just how right he was. 

Jungkook would never mind how heavy the anchor you hooked on his ankle was because he knew you would forever be a sucker for him. 

As you shut the door behind you it feels like a small weight starts to hang from your shoulders, the same tug starting from your chest, guiding you into your room until you’re pulling out the cursed box and sorting through those damned photos. With stinging eyes you flip through them for a moment, focusing on all the laughs captured on film, blurry vision moving to your phone beside you, hands already itching to call him again. 

It’s as if he knows, still inside your building, lingering in the lobby to give you a moment and it doesn’t take long. Once his phone starts to vibrate he smiles, staring at the photo of you as you call him like clockwork. With a clear of his throat he answers the phone, barely saying hello before he hears a small sniffle through the speaker. 

“I miss you Kookie.” 

Jungkook lets his eyes shut as he presses the elevator button, loving the feeling of being needed by you, already knowing to head back up because this was routine. 

“I know you do baby, I’ll be right up.”

And just like that you’re once again desperately trying to make those stupid puzzle pieces fit together, hoping that maybe this time love would be enough.

[spectracully]

crash the crush.

pairings : senior student!xiaojun x sophomore student!reader warnings : profanity, underage drinking, mentions of drugs genre : fluff, a bit of crack? highschool!au word count : 4.3k

summary : what are the odds of crashing into your crush during the neighborhood-friendly run and mutual friends party?

You were pissed off when your mum said you need to work your lazy ass off. Well, if it's on the summer break, you'll most likely agree with her. But it's only the weekend, and you've been studying your ass off these days. A lazy weekend is something you earned, but your mum decided to rain on your lazy parade.

With all those groans and deep sighs, you storm off your house wearing your workout gear. Not much, only a windbreaker jacket paired with shorts and running shoes. Popping your airpods on both of your ears to blast some jams, you take some light jogging steps on your neighborhood. It's only 4.30 pm, and kinda windy, why the fuck are you doing this? That's right, because mum literally compared you to your neighbor's daughter, Giselle, who recently won a karate tournament. Now mum won't even shut up how much she wants an active daughter, not the lazy one. Yikes.

Back to the streets by Saweetie & Jhene Aiko plays, and you hear a message notification on your airpods. Still on your light jogs, you glance at the notification.

yeri<3 : yo yeri<3 : wyd

You stop jogging for a while to write your bestfriend back. It's saturday, she's probably asking you to hangout along with the gang. Yeri gets easily bored at home and in constant need of hanging out.

y/n : running  💃 💃 💃 y/n : mum said i need to be giselle

You continue your pace while waiting for her reply. You can see your neighborhood clearly now, seeing the details, since you always go to school in a sleepy state, not really noticing the environment, and also going home from school mostly sleeping in your brother's car.

The notification rings again. It must be Yeri.

yeri<3 : bitch thats a dancing emoji yeri<3 : running in a weather like this? yeri<3 : damn straight u wanna be giselle

You chuckle as you’re about to type the messages once more, the weather is fine, what the hell is she talking about? But then Yeri is still typing. 

yeri<3 : n e ways yeri<3 : party at lucas' 8pm yeri<3 : be there or be fucking square 💀 💀 💀

You sigh. There she goes. No other option than tag along with her, but it's not like you hate it anyway. Lucas' party is always awesome, you and your friends also will get a VIP pass because he's a good friend of yours too, despite the fact that you're not even in the same grade as him, he's one year above you and Yeri.

y/n : weather is nice dont jinx it y/n : fine but pick me up y/n : cuz doyoung won't let me drive his car

You send the messages to Yeri to prove her the weather is fine, and indicates that you agree to go to Lucas' house tonight, it's a great night to probably get wasted after all those tiring run mum decided to toss on you. It's gonna be fun, anyways. But the thing about hanging out with Lucas and his senior friends.. You might've developed a big fat crush with one of Lucas' closest friends, Xiaojun. 

You barely had an interaction with him, though, because he's usually the quiet and calm one in Lucas' closest friends group. Lucas himself is already so fucking loud, not to mention Hendery, the good-looking clown and moodmaker. There's also Jungwoo, the one who looks very calm but actually won't shut up once you talk to him. Mark too, the giggly one with some lame jokes. Well, going to Lucas' party tonight means you can see Xiaojun, probably getting the chances that you'll have some interaction over some boozes or something is also quite high.

After feeling all warmed up, you decide to give yourself a run around the block. Yeri's right, it's a funny weather to run. It's windy, but the more you stay outside, the cloud is getting darker and darker. You also knew that you're not really alone, who's doing this athletic bullshit in this kind of weather, you noticed that a boy is also doing this silly run when you were typing messages to Yeri. Probably just another neighbor's child being scolded by his mum of how Giselle is so athletic that his mum also wants an active son? Welp, you didn't see his face anyway, you were glued to the phone when you saw the figure running from the side.

It's not even a minute after you started running, Yeri already replied again. Is she really that bored that she doesn't have anything to do?

yeri<3 : ok i'll pick u up at 7 yeri<3 : um.. its fucking raining, y/n yeri<3 : go home and take a shower yeri<3 : pick ur clothes and put on some makeup instead yeri<3 : its saturday night, activate your hoe protocol yeri<3 : mr xiaojun is going to be there tonight

You stop running and stare at her messages. Raining? Is she drunk or what? It's not even 5pm yet and here she is, hallucinating-

Oop. There it goes. You feel some water drops on your head. Your hand. It was slow at first, but then the raindrops are getting harder and harder, it's pouring. 

"Motherfu-" you let out a curse, you should've trusted Yeri on this. As an intuitive homo sapiens with XX chromosomes, you scan through the streets, looking for some shelter to wait the rain to stop. Spotting a bus stop with a large steel canopy, you run like your life depended on it, avoiding the rain.

Finally arriving, you sigh and sit on the installed chair, typing messages to Yeri.

y/n : omg bitch ur right its raining y/n : should've pretended im dead in my room so mum wont bug me y/n : u know what after the rain ends im gonna sprint back home and take a fucking shower y/n : the universe doesnt like it when im trying to be giselle, it gave me rain instead

You sigh as you shuffle through your playlist, looking for some fun jams to pass your time through the rain, when somebody suddenly approaches you.

"Hi, do you mind if I take a seat here?" a boy asks, pointing to the chair next to you. You look up, and suddenly the next thing you wanna do is ascend your soul the fuck out of your body to the sky. 

Oh boy. It's Xiaojun. The boy you won't shut up about. He’s wearing a white loose tank and grey sweatpants, drenched in his own sweat. Oh god. This is truly an attack for you. What the fuck is he doing here? And why must you meet him at your mess like being all salty because of those running fiasco and the rain? While wearing your not-so-fashionable workout gear and not-so-tidy ponytails? Oh god.

You can feel your heart is about to explode when you realize that he is actually the person who is also doing the stupid running at this very weather, you just didn't notice it sooner because you were on your damn phone. Damn, mum was right, everything happened because you were always on your damn phone.

"No, of course! Take a seat!" you answer him, trying your best to crack your sweetest smile although it's more like sweatiest not sweetest.

He smiles back at you, taking a seat next to you, then his eyes get back to his phone, completely glued. Damn this is the only cardio that is worth it, no running, no jumping, no huff that huff this, only sitting next to Xiaojun on a rainy day on a bus stop. Wonderful.

You quickly whip up the messaging app to type all kinds of gibberish and send it to Yeri. She knows what shit is about to go down when you speak gibberish to her.

y/n : FUCKJSHSJJSKSJK YERI y/n : OH MY FUCKING GOD SJSGSJSHSKJSK

Lucky you, Yeri has nothing to do than respond to your messages, she stays put on the chat room.

yeri<3 : OMG BITCH WHAT yeri<3 : SKSHSJJSKS YOU SCARED ME

y/n : HE's FUCKING HERE AHSJSHSJEK

yeri<3 : OMG WHOS HE?? yeri<3 : THE DEVIL??? IS HE GONNA TAKE UR SOUL? SKEJSJKSKSK

y/n : XIAOJUN y/n : TURNS OUT HE ALSO LIVES IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD

yeri<3 : ASKJSJSKSK WHAT yeri<3 : HOW

y/n : KAHSKSJKS omg bitch y/n : i was sheltering myself from the goddamn rain y/n : im in bus stop rn y/n : this angel came to accompany me y/n : HE WAS RUNNING TOO OMG y/n : omg yeri just so u know if im not there when u pick me up y/n : its bc im in church getting married with my man xiaojun

yeri<3 : BITCH OMG SKSKSKSKK yeri<3 : GET MARRIED RN yeri<3 : WAIT dont waste the chance yeri<3 : talk to him rn!!!

You swear you're about to scream when Yeri sends that. She was actually right, this is your chance to talk to him, considering that you didn't really interact that much with him. But really? He didn't even say a word when he sat, probably didn't even remember your name? The disappointment slowly gets into your head.

You freeze on the spot. torn between wanting to talk to him and just let it slide, you'll see him again tonight as Lucas' house, right?

Just when you decide to give up and not say a word, he turns his head to you.

"Hey, I didn't know you live in this neighborhood too," he starts.

Oh god. If every time your heart beats fast you get a dollar, you'd probably have your own private island by now.

You try to play it cool when actually on the inside you wanna scream I LIKE YOU to his face rn. "Oh? Oh yes, my house is number 13." you answer calmly,

He cracks a smile, “13? You’re Doyoung’s little sister?”

Oh god. What the fuck is this clownery? He knows Doyoung? Why and how? At this rate you just wanna evaporate to the rain, what if Doyoung actually knows that you liked Xiaojun and he spills it? Oh god. 

You smile back at him, holding the panic you’ve been keeping since he mentioned Doyoung’s name. “Yep. I’m his sister.”

“Oh god, why didn’t I notice that earlier? I could’ve taken care of you at school!” he exclaims, and you sure you just wanna evaporate to the rain. Him? Taking care of you at school? YES PLEASE!

You let out a small giggle, trying to be as calm as possible when in reality you’re very sure you just wanna melt like a goddamn popsicle on a hot summer day. “So, how do you know my brother, actually?”

He laughs a bit, wiping away the sweat on his forehead. Oh god, he’s just so beautiful. “Well.. Doyoung and I used to be a dynamic duo in the school's choir, until he graduated.”

Oh, that. Doyoung is pretty serious about his career in the school’s choir, but you did not expect that Xiaojun is actually a part of it. Of course, he has the face of an angel, the voice is included.

“Now I know why Doyoung never let me come to his house. Turns out he has a cute- I mean, h-he has a sister, and that’s you! M-Maybe he’s afraid I’ll bother you or s-something.” he continues, stuttering a bit, and letting out an awkward laugh. You laugh again, feeling the blood rushing to your cheeks that you can’t hide no more. DID HE JUST SAY DOYOUNG HAS A CUTE SISTER? DID HE JUST SAY YOU’RE CUTE? DID HE-

But then, good things always come to an end. The goddamn rain stops. Oh fuck, no more chitter chatter with the dear crush. Just when it is the fucking time you need to hear the goddamn wedding bells, the rain decided to stop on your rain parade. Fuck.

He looks up, and seems like noticing the rain has stopped. “Well, Y/n. Lucas is having a party tonight, are you coming?”

You can feel your cheeks are still heating from his words, you shyly nod to him. Welp, maybe the rain has stopped, but this stupid crush? No. It goes on. Very much.

He stands up, straightening his white loose tank, getting ready to probably sprint back home. “Okay. See you tonight then, I’m going home. Have a good run!” he says as he walks away from the bus stop, leaving you dumbfounded. And lovestruck. That’s a win, alright.

Xiaojun slowly fades away from your view, and you’re still drowning on your pool of love. Yep, that’s it. You can’t even hold it, you quickly dial Yeri’s number to break out the news.

“What is it, Y/n? You literally left me on read for like 14 minutes straight and now you-”

“YERI LISTEN I’M GETTING MARRIED TONIGHT AND THAT’S A FUCKING FACT!” you shout to the phone, you can picture Yeri is probably goggling out her eyes right now.

“Girl, just because Xiaojun just asked you why the fuck were you running at times like this it doesn’t mean-”

“HE CALLED ME CUTE!” you blurted out,cutting her sentences for the second time,

“-you’re getting married- WHAT?? HE CALLED YOU WHAT?” Yeri yelled from the phone, now it’s pretty clear that Yeri is probably jumping her ass off right now.

You sprint your way to home, while holding your phone to your ears, continuing to give Yeri the details about the bus stop conversation you had earlier. Now she’s just yelling at you to pick the right dress and pamper yourself up, the probability you’ll marry Xiaojun at Lucas’ party is increasing. Sure it does.

-------

It’s 11.28 PM, 3 hours and a half since you and Yeri just arrived at Lucas’ house, escaping from Doyoung’s warning to you, to get back in one piece, and most importantly, sober. As if you’re gonna leave Lucas’ house sober, that’s funny, alright. You and Yeri were greeted by Yangyang and Donghyuck, who are currently setting up the table for snacks and drinks. That was probably the first time you saw Donghyuck ever setting up something, because if not, Jungwoo would’ve set his ass on fire.

The party madness has started, seems like everybody already has enough alcohol running on their system. Lucas is already losing his shirt and starts twerking in the middle of his house along with Jaemin and Jungwoo. Ah yes, the thot trio already started their thing, and all you have to do is just stay back and avoid getting dragged to the dance mess, because the chance of Jungwoo and Jaemin will start grinding at you is kinda high right now.. Considering their.. Twerking fiasco.

You sit back on the couch and watch your friends getting crazy over the playlist Yangyang made just for this event, sipping on your cocktails that Donghyuck put god-knows-what in it, he said it’s just cherry juice mixed with gin and brandy, but somehow it tastes kinda citrusy. You glance to the right, only to see Yeri making out with some random guy (probably one of Lucas’ friends named Changbin but oh well, that’s Yeri’s business).

Slightly grossed out and sad because apparently you’re not making out with Xiaojun right now, you make your way to the patio, and find the crowd that circle around a spinning bottle. Interested, you join Jeno, Mark, Renjun, Yeji, Hyunjin, Sungchan, Karina, Vernon, Hendery, and of course, the (hottest) most important person right now, Xiaojun.

“Welcome! As a newly joined member.. Truth or dare?” Jeno greets you as you take a seat between Mark and Sungchan. Well, you’d love to sit beside Xiaojun, but apparently, that seat is already taken by Hendery and Vernon.

You silently glance at Xiaojun, who is wearing a denim jacket with light-yellow knit top underneath, paired with white trousers. Damn, he looks so damn good that you wanna cry a river.

Your head comes back to the question Jeno asked. Today’s your day, be bold or bald. It’s time. “Well, I’m not gonna put my drunk antics to waste. Dare then.” you answer boldly, earning a few ‘ooooh’s from your friends.

Jeno snickers. Well, fuck. Guess you’re a bit too damn bold tonight, the realization suddenly hits you like a fucking trainwreck, Jeno is kinda extreme for games like this. Wrong choice, y/n. You gulp as you wait for Jeno to come up with something.

“I dare you to kiss Xiaojun!” Jeno exclaims, clapping both of his hands like a goddamn happy seal. Mark and Hendery are high-fiving right now, throwing whistles around Xiaojun, who is silent as a fucking rock.

Oh god. Things you’ve said about not putting your drunk antics to waste should’ve stayed in that goddamn draft. This is where Jeno takes you, even though you’re secretly happy that you finally get to kiss your goddamn crush, that shit is EMBARRASSING. If you wanna evaporate to the waters, then it’s probably the right time to do it.

But why Xiaojun though? Is your big fat crush on him too obvious?

You freeze on the spot as you awkwardly smile and stare at Jeno. This shit can’t be real. Jeno is goddamn crazy. You can feel the air is getting hot, whether it’s because the alcohol starts kicking in, or just because the blood is rushing through your head.

“Scared, aren’t you?” Jeno taunts you, sipping his beer as the rest of the group laugh except you and Xiaojun, who is currently staring at you with a questionable expression. Is he pleased? Or is he pissed? Oh god.

“I-I’m not!” you answer him, leaning to Xiaojun, gulping once more before asking him, “You’re okay with this though?”

Xiaojun smirks, “How can I say no to you?” he asks back, accompanied by a few ‘ayyy~’ from the boys, sending butterflies to your stomach. Your face is probably as red as a tomato by now.

Good god. Is this the same Xiaojun who is quiet, calm, and collected among his friends? Why suddenly he is so bold? Oh, he’s probably just drunk and won’t remember this kiss anyway.. You lean closer to him, closing the gap between his face and yours by sealing the kiss. His lips are soft yet firm, almost like a grape jelly you had earlier this afternoon, with a hint of vodka, of course.

After a few seconds, you finally pull out and linger your eyes on him. It’s beautiful, and mesmerizing. You just wish that you can see it again, and only for you, no one else. As you get back to your seat, you take one more last glance at him, that is currently also glancing at you, with his cheeks red.

Okay. You definitely heard the wedding bells, thanks Jeno. That’s probably one of your dreams, and thanks to Jeno, it came true. But unfortunately, Xiaojun probably won’t feel the same, or worse, he’ll probably forget about it tomorrow.

Everyone claps, exchanging happy exclaims and cheers as if you just said ‘I do’ to Xiaojun lol, when in reality, you were just doing the dare Jeno gave you. You gulp bitterly as the game goes on and on.

-----

It’s an hour past midnight, 1.12 AM to be exact. Thank god you’re not that shitfaced, but Yeri is. She is not even capable of doing anything anymore except being all smiley and shit, Changbin already drove her home like fifteen minutes ago, leaving you behind in Lucas’ lair. You suddenly felt the urge to thank god that Yeri made a fantastic decision last minute before picking you up, she used a taxi instead of driving. If she hadn’t, you’re probably stuck driving her home right now.

You scan through the house while leaning through the stair railings, looking for an easy target to get a free ride. Finally spotted your friends, you now have 3 choices : Donghyuck (who is currently seducing some random girl), Yangyang (who is now playing mobile games with Jaemin and Chenle), or Mark (who recently just hit a goddamn blunt, but he’s very capable to drive).

You sip your glass of water, making up your mind for your ride home. But then, suddenly someone taps on your shoulder.

“Do you wanna go home? Like, right now? I can drive you- I mean, our house is like, near.” you hear Xiaojun speaking to you, holding his car keys on his left hand.

Good gracious, is this even real? Like, Xiaojun, is actually asking you to go home with him? Is this real? Or are you just hallucinating from the goddamn weed you take 10 minutes ago from Lucas?

You stare at him blankly. He bit his lip, “I mean- If you wanna stay longer- or probably-”

“Yes, of course! Let’s go.” you smile at him, cutting off his words.

3 times in a day. Good job, Y/n! The wedding is up ahead!

He smiles and gives you a gesture, “Ladies first.”

-

The drive is not as awkward as you thought. Turns out, Xiaojun is full of surprise though, you nearly choked when he said he once formally apologized to Doyoung before he stood up to defend the dignity of Mint Chocolate Chip flavored ice cream. It’s delightful to find out that he has similar tastes as you, from ice cream flavor to music and school subjects.

Xiaojun also told you the reason why he was on the run earlier, he was bored. Damn, look at it, the difference between a forced daughter whose mum wants an active child, and a bored model-student. He said he didn’t expect to see you because he was embarrassed, he was drenched in sweat.

You can feel the butterflies on your stomach grow wilder and wilder from every word he said, or maybe it’s just the way he smiles when he talks to you? Welp, if it’s anything to do with Xiaojun, you’ll most likely get butterflies.

Just when you thought he was drunk, he is not. He’s capable of driving you home and carrying on some fun convos, also remembering little things. So.. perhaps, he is not going to forget the kiss you shared because of Jeno’s dare?

As you keep on exchanging conversation with him, suddenly it’s time to get off his car and get back to your house, get ready to deal with Doyoung’s nags and scolds for getting home this late.

You giggle as you take the seat belt off, smiling at the brown haired boy.

“Thank you for driving me home, Xiaojun. It was fun.” you say to him, waving him goodbye as you open the door. He smiles and waves back at you.

Just when you’re about to open the gate of your house, you hear the sound of slamming car doors. You turn around and see Xiaojun standing in front of you, eyes sparkling like a goddamn star. Unfortunately, it’s not Christmas.. If it is, all you want for Christmas is to stare at Xiaojun’s beautiful eyes all day, and probably get married to him.

“Um.. Y/n.. I don’t know how to say this but.. The kiss you gave me earlier, it’s kinda..” he starts, smiling sheepishly.

Oh god, what now? It’s kinda what? Gross? You swear you’ll kill Jeno if you hear that from Xiaojun.

You gaze at him as you wait for him to complete his sentences.

“It’s kinda.. Making me feel.. Things.” he finally continues, rubbing the back of his neck while looking away from you, flustered. It’s pretty cute.

You giggle at him a little, the butterflies come back, or maybe they never even left?

“Don’t laugh, Y/n. I’m being honest, I was pretty embarrassed to run into you during sheltering, and now you’re laughing at me for-”

You let out a big laugh before you pull him to another kiss. This one is a bit longer, more passionate and intimate, unlike the one you had before. He cups your cheek as you feel him smiling during the kiss.

“I’m sorry if I invaded your privacy- but your fast typing was very.. Intriguing.. I might’ve seen you texting Yeri at the bus stop.” he giggles after you pull out from the kiss.

Yikes. You feel like you’re about to burst now. He saw you texting Yeri? What kind of clownery is this? Did he see you typing- oh god, that’s too embarrassing to remember.

“No! That’s too embarrassing!” you cover your face, he laughs once more.

“Now, which church are we going to? I’m pretty sure you said we’re getting married tonight, right?” he takes your hands off your face, grinning widely.

You pout and lightly hit him, only to be attacked by his hugs a second later. Aww, finally, dreams do come true. You stay on his embrace for a few more minutes, no talking, just comfortable silence and realization that you’re on Xiaojun’s arms right now.

You glance at your watch, Doyoung would be furious by now. Telling him that you really have to go before Doyoung can rise from his sleep and beat your ass, you finally wave goodbye to him as he gets back to his car.

Finally entering the house, you’re greeted by Doyoung who’s standing in front of you, holding a bowl of salad on his right hand.

“So, kissing Xiaojun in front of my salad?” he raises his eyebrow.

You stick out your tongue as you make your way upstairs. Technically, not in front of Doyoung’s salad, because the door was closed. He’s probably looking through the window, such a nosy brother. You laugh at the thought of Doyoung getting furious while eating his salad as you get a message.

Xiaojun : so, see you at school? Xiaojun : can’t wait to hold your hand on monday ;)

[writingsbychlo]

to fix a broken promise | stuart twombly

word count; 8919

summary; stuart makes a pretty big mistake and breaks a promise to you, and now he has to try and make it up.

notes; this is the first of two parts in a little tribute for my best gal @stylesharrys​ and her birthday. happy birthday, babey, you deserve it, just for putting up with my dumbass. the second part is the actual happy birthday bit, this just leads up to it.

warnings; smut, pretty tame to be fair, that’s about it.

Throwing his bag down onto his desk, he rubbed at his eyes, a headache forming at his temples as he tried to shake the unsettling feeling that he was forgetting something. He had his laptop charger, he had his laptop, he had a mug of coffee, he had his wallet, his phone, his house keys, he had everything, so why did he feel like something was off?

Chalking up to stress form the project they were currently working on, he flopped down onto his seat, spinning slightly in the office chair before tucking himself under his desk, humming happily as he took a deep gulp of the hot and bitter liquid. Not that it was bitter anymore, after he’d put plenty of milk and sugar into it. Opening the lid of his laptop, he pressed down on the ‘on’ button, a soft sound filling the room as the device began it’s boot up, and he sent a small nod to his coworker as she all but skipped into the room, plopping down into own seat at the desk opposite his as she got herself started up for the day as a much faster speed than he was doing.

“So, you must be excited, then?”

Stuart’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her, arranging all her trinkets and photos around her perfectly as she typed in her password, looking up over the edge of the computer to him, brows raised as she waited for an answer. Excited wasn’t exactly the word he would use, more like relieved. This project had been killing him for the last few weeks, he’d been throwing everything he had into it in hopes of getting a subtly promised promotion and pay rise in the outcome. Simply sending her a nod, he hummed, and she seemed to accept that answer as she grinned, and he tuned her out as she began to go off into a description of a dress she was going to wear for some kind of event as some point.

Typing in his password, he ran a hand over his face, taking a deep breath as he set off on a long days work of polishing up and perfecting the project he’d been putting his everything into for the last couple of months. He’d been pulling long nights in the office, often not going home until the sun had sunken behind the horizon, and sometimes even arriving before it had risen again in the morning.

He knew he probably should have balanced his time in a more effective way, but this way important to him, it was the first truly solo project he had been given and he wanted it to be flawless, he wanted to know he could produce something of merit and worth, and he knew he could if he put in all the work, and he had. He’d cancelled twice on his monthly visits to see his mom for it, promising that he’d come down for a whole weekend to make up for it once it was over. He’d denied every chance his friends had invited him out, opting to work on his project, and you had supported him. You’d brought him coffee and meals to his home office when he was working on the weekends, and you’d forced him to go to bed, no matter how much he’d huffed and puffed about it, only to ass out as soon as his head had hit the pillow.

The day had flown by, his stomach rumbling when lunch had rolled around and he’d actually smiled - genuinely - at Billy when the man brought him back a grilled cheese and chocolate muffin for him, a bottle of water on the side. He’d made a mental note to do something nice for the man in return, enjoying the large hand that had patted down on his shoulder as the taller colleague left him to it.

He hadn't quite realised how late it had gotten until he looked around and noticed that he was now alone in the office, his eyes glancing down to the clock in the bottom corner of his computer. Almost eight PM. He shook his head, his neck and back aching from his work and he stretched his arms up above his head, unable to hold back the grin on his lips as he hit save on his project, finished and ready to send it off. As soon as the small ‘whoosh’ sound of the email being delivered sounded out from his laptop, he cheered to himself quietly, shutting down the device and leaning his head back, letting his eyes slide closed for a moment.

He took a second, in his own solitude and joy, basking in the success of finishing his first project to the best of his ability, before rubbing at his eyes and standing up to pack away slowly. The lights in the corridor had gone off with the little movement, and so when they all began to flick on one by one, a single pair of footsteps echoing along the marble tiles, his head flicked up, meeting those of his boss as Stuart stood up straight, tugging his coat up his arms and fastening it as Chetty pushed the office door open, leaning on the glass panel as his brows furrowed.

“Twombly. What are you still doing here?”

Stuart cleared his throat, packing his bag and zipping it up as he licked over his lips, processing his words as his mind chugged slowly with his exhaustion. “Finishing up my project, sir. I just sent it over to you, I didn’t think you’d still be here.”

“I didn’t think you would still be here, isn’t tonight a special night?” The man chuckled out his words, and Stuart rubbed his hands in front of himself, brows furrowing as he rolled on the balls of his feet.

“Uh, what do you mean?”

“Isn’t tonight the night of your girlfriend’s charity event thing? Your whole office booked it off weeks ago, I had to approve all their day-off requests.” Stuart’s stomach dropped, and he felt like his blood was running cold, turning to cement in his veins as his heart just stopped beating.

That had been the feeling of something off. It had been so many months since you’d excitedly told him about it. Your work was throwing a charity event, hoping to raise some money to replace some of the equipment and get better facilities to help the residents in your care, and perhaps even take them all on a day trip out to cheer up some of those who needed it. You were giving a speech, a speech he was supposed to have helped you write and he’d been so busy with his own work that he’d completely forgotten.

He excused himself quickly, Chetty wishing him luck as he dashed outside to his car, the cold of the night hitting him at once as he made the quick walk across the campus to the car park, his feet stumbling under him as he tried to pull his phone out of his pocket. He had turned it off to stop it from distracting him, and he tapped his fingers against his leg anxiously as he watched the notifications suddenly become pouring in.

He had two missed calls and three texts from you, and a range of calls and texts from his team, before it had all gone silent around about an hour ago, and he swallowed thickly, opening a new message to you and nervously swiping his fingers over the electronic keys.

I’m on my way, baby! I’m so sorry! Be there soon! xxxx

He hopped into his car, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath as he thought about what he had to do. Firstly, he had to go home and change into his suit. He knew how formal this event was, and suddenly he realised why Neha had been droning on for almost thirty minutes this morning about her favourite types of formal dresses.

[Baby 🌹]

dont bother. already did my speech.

He felt sick to his stomach as he read the message, you had blatantly told him not to come, and the normal slew of kisses and emojis you normal gave him were absent, his heart clenching painfully as he made his way home slowly, cursing to himself under his breath.

Stuart had actually collapsed on the couch from how much pacing he had done, his legs aching and he was certain the carpet actually looked a little worn down from all the walking back and forth he had done. His leg would not stop jittering, no matter what he did, and his dinner had long since been cleared away, half-eaten as he gave up, worry gnawing at his insides as he awaited your arrival home.

He was just pulling out his phone to text you, to find out where you were as the late hours of the night dragged on, when he finally heard the screech of tires on the sidewalk outside the house, and he peered through the curtains, watching as you got out of the cab, waving to Neha and the others as they handed you your shoes, your body stumbling up the garden as the car pulled away, and he dashed to the front door, uncoding the latch and swinging it open to look at you.

You were paused, your key half-way to the door as you paused to look up at him, and he worried his bottom lip between his teeth, his brow furrowed as you burst out in a fit of giggles, falling forward slightly and his hands came down to grip at your hips as he guided you into the house, your heels being thrown haphazardly to the floor.

Raking his eyes along you, he swallowed thickly as he took in your makeup, hair done to perfection and a beautiful dress hanging on your body, and he recognised the colour, your dress the same shade as the tie you’d asked him if he liked a few weeks back, the one still sitting out on the counter below the mirror in your shared room. Your hands pushed his away from you, a giggled mumble of ‘I got it’ being provided as you made your way through the corridors, stumbling along happily in your steps as he followed behind you.

“Baby, I’m really sorry. I haven’t been there for you lately, and I was supposed to help you write your speech for tonight, I really fucked up.” His hands were wringing in front of his body as he watched you make your way through the one-story home to your bedroom, hands tugging idly at the zipper on the back of your dress and he reached in, undoing it for you carefully as you stripped down, leaving it in a heap on the floor.

“Doesn’t matter. I wrote my speech myself, and it was fuckin’ ace!” Your arms flew up as you spoke, a wide smile shining on your lips and he scooped your dress up, folding it delicately and placing it on your dresser as you ran your fingers through your hair, pulling out all the clips that held it up in it’s pretty style, building up a small collection on your nightstand.

“I know, but I’m still sorry. Work has just been crazy lately, an-”

“Funny, you couldn’t make it because work had been ‘oh so crazy’, but all the rest of your team did. Every single one of them showed up, but nobody knew where you were.” it was the first bit of venom you had held to him so far, and his blood ran cold, watching as you shrugged and turned away from him, laying your pyjamas out before you as you looked at them carefully, saying in your spot slightly from the alcohol in your blood and he gaped at you, unsure what to say as more apologies began to fly from his mouth, and you held your hand up to silence him, a small smile on your lips. “Don’t worry about it, Stu. I get it.”

“You.. get it?”

You giggled, deciding you wanted a shower as you kicked off your panties and undid the clasp of your bra, dropping the items into the laundry hamper as you padded across the room. “Yeah, I get it. Work is more important than relationships to some people, you’re married to your job, or whatever. It’s cool. It’s good to know. You’re one of those people, you can’t help it.”

You patted his chest as you walked past, a slight skip in your step as you made your way through the house to get to the bathroom, and he watched you go, his mind blank and ears ringing as he thought about your statement. He stumbled over his own feet as he followed after you, your hand under the water as you checked it’s temperature, waiting for it to warm up and you glanced at him over your shoulder, his shoulders sagging and a frown on his lips.

You simply offered him a smile, deciding the water was warm enough, and you turned to him before stepping under the stream, clearing your throat. “Will you make us a snack? I’m super hungry, and if I don’t eat, I’ll throw up in the morning.” You punctuated the statement with a small laugh as you fumbled for the body wash, a dopey grin on your face as you groaned out at the sensation of the warm water cascading over your head.

He simply smiled, guilt swelling in his gut as he moved from the bathroom and clicked the door shut softly behind him, pressing his forehead to the cool wood as he cursed under his breath, no idea how he could have let it get to the point that you thought he prioritized his job over you, and yet he could understand exactly why you thought that. He moved around the kitchen quietly, choking down his sadness as he tried to make you both something to eat, something that would help soak up all the drinks you’d consumed tonight so you wouldn't feel so bad in the morning, and he was just finishing up by the time you came downstairs.

Your wet hair was hanging behind you as you moved around in the space, leaving a slight damp patch on the back of the oversized shirt you were wearing over a pair of sleep shorts, a happy gasp on your lips as he placed the steaming plate of food before you. “A cheeseburger! Fuck, yeah!” He chuckled at your enthusiasm, sitting down to eat his own food as he watched you took in happily, sipping at the cold glass of water he’d provided for you between bites, small hums of satisfaction leaving you as you ate.

“Did it, um.. did it go well then?” He wasn’t sure how his question would be taken, and your eyes ficked up form your plate to look at him, stilling momentraily, before you licked the ketchup from he edge of your mouth and nodded at him, taking off into a detailed description of everything you had done during the night. You spoke about everything from the socialising to the donations to the pictures you had taken, and while he was overjoyed to see that you’d had such a good time, it only made it feel even worse for not being there. His team, his friends had all been there to support you, no matter how busy they had all been with their own work and lives, and as you showed him the picture of you all in front of one of the screens, wide smiles on all of your faces, he felt his gut twist as he noticed himself being the only face missing from the joyful lineup.

Leaving the plates in the sink to be washed in the morning, you seemed to have sobered up a little thanks to your food and the water, your footsteps more steady as you made your way to the bathroom to clean your teeth. He followed behind you shortly after, having checked that all the doors were locked and that the lights were all switched off, and you were just finishing when he arrived.

He took his time, changing into his pyjamas and getting himself ready for bed, your body curled around one of your pillows as you hugged it to your chest, your back facing his side of the bed when he finally came to crawl under the sheets. It felt unusual to sleep on his side, he was so used to sleeping on his back as you curled into his side, and yet now, he threw an arm over your waist, holding you gently and sighing out under his breath when you didn’t move back into him in the dark, instead choosing to remain where you were.

Nuzzling into his pillow, he decided that he would definitely make it up to you, and he would call into work tomorrow to book the day off and spend it with you. There was a small smile on his lips as he thought about how he would make it up to you as he drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

When Stuart awoke in the morning, he was filled with a whole new kind of energy as he set his mind toward making up for the mess he’d made. Your side of the bed was empty when he woke up, the sheets cold as he stretched, listening out to see if he could hear your movements around the house.

Rolling out of the bed, he rubbed at his eyes and fumbled for his glasses as he made his way through the home, the corridors and rooms silent, and he let out a low groan under his breath as he noticed your work shoes missing from the space they normally occupied on the rack by the door. Upon seeing the folded paper sitting on the kitchen counter, he already anticipated the words written on the paper, and yet he looked at it anyway, his body deflating as his plan to fix things all came crashing down around him once again.

‘picked up an extra shift, home at the usual time. x’

He ran a hand over his face, glancing at the clock and deciding that with nothing better to do, he may as well go to work and see Neha. If anyone could tell him how to fix a fuck-up this collosal, it was her.

He felt especially lonely while he was getting ready to go to work, the word now having a bitter taste in his mouth as he thought about the place that had consumed so much of his time that he’d completely forgotten about all the things that really mattered. The car journey was boring, and he made a quick stop at the store on his way, knowing that he may well have to bribe Neha into helping him.

His feet dragged along the floor as he neared his team office, his body riddled with anxiety and he felt weighed down, the tension making him swallow thickly as he finally pushed the door open, and the chatter in the office fell silent as he entered, all eyes on him curiously, and he offered them a tight lipped smile, letting the door shut behind him as he entered the room.

Neha was the first to approach, as he’d expected, slapping the back off his head as she tutted at him, wandering off to the kitchen, and he didn’t even bother to complain. Lyle quickly made himself busy, heading off to his desk, and Yoyo refused to meet his eyes as he spun around in his desk chair, typing at his computer. Both Billy and Nick were fixing him with looks he didn’t quite understand, and he sighed out, holding up the box in his arms.

“I brought you guys donuts.” He waved the box, dropping it down onto the central table and pushing it toward the middle as everyone looked on curiously, and Billy and Nick shared a look, cracking open the box each as they seperated on the couch, Nick patting at the space between them.

“Grab a ring and take a seat, my man.” Stuart did as he was told, taking a plain glazed donut and making his way towards them, Billy’s eyebrows shooting up as he watched Stuart move, mumbling under his breath at his surprise at not getting fought on the request, and he didn’t even have it in him to fight. He really could use the advice right now.

Collapsing down into the space, his fingers nudged his glasse sup as he ran a hand over his face, adjusting the specs back on his nose properly as he stared down at the treat in his hand, not really feeling entirely deserving of it and he leaned over, placing it down on the table as the two men either side of him chomped happily on theirs. “What happened, kid?”

“I don’t know. I forgot.”

The blond hummed, licking the icing from his fingers as he thought about it, and Billy clasped his free hand down on his shoulder. “Well, first of all, I think you should know that she was a superstar last night. She did her speech - very moving, by the way - and then talked to pretty much everyone. I think they did really well, she was on fire, really.” Nick smacked Billy behind him as Stuart bit his lower lip, nodding at the words.

“I’m glad, really. I wish I’d been there. I really fucked up. Thank you for looking after her, and for bringing her home.” Stuart whispered, sinking further into the seat and rubbing his sweaty palms on his jeans. He felt a large hand muss up his hair in a playful movement, and he couldn’t even form a glare for the tall man who had done it, instead just letting his head roll back on the edge of the couch so he could stare at the ceiling.

“You really feel bad, huh?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how to fix this, guys. She thinks I care more about work than her, and can you even blame her?” Tears were welling in his eyes and he scrunched them up, growling under his breath as he refused the emotions, choosing instead to just huff out his thoughts. “I love her so fucking much, and now, she thinks I’m never going to care about her as much as I care about my job.”

Silence sat over the room at his confession, and he sniffed lightly, not even resisting the comforting pat that was placed on his arm, and not even the clicking of keyboard tiles could be heard as they all listened in on his exclamation.

“So, just show her she’s more important than work is?” It was Lyle that eventually spoke, and Stuart lifted his head, cracking his eyes open to look at the man and his brows furrowed, eyes squinting for a second as he willed away the sting of tears that hadn't been released.

“Any suggestions on how to do that would be greatly appreciated.”

All eyes turned to Neha, who was stirring her coffee, the spoon clinking against the edges of the mug as she pointedly avoided all the males’ gazes, before letting out something between a sigh and a groan, fixing Stuart with a glare as she gave in. “For the record, I’m only helping you because your girlfriend is awesome and deserves something great.”

“I could not agree more.” He muttered, and she pursed her lips, glancing at the open box of pastries on the table and Stuart offered her a grin as he sat forwards, pushing it towards her temptingly.

“And you brought donuts, so fine. I’ll help you.” The men either side of him cheered loudly, whooping and hollering as Stuart beamed, his cheeks flushing red as relief flooded his system, and Nick pointed at the sweet-treat he had abandoned at the beginning of the conversation.

“Eat your donut. We have a lot of work to do.

Nick had been right, there really was a lot of work to do. He had spent the day running around the office building to gather donations from every team he could think off, not backing down until he had checks written out just to get rid of him, a proud sum of money in a stacked collection of paper slips that he had placed into an envelope, sealing it tightly and tucking it into his bag.

It had taken hours for Neha to warm back up to him, but when she eventually had, she’d brainstormed ideas one how to fix things, and show that he really cared. He’d had to practically beg Chetty for the time off work two weeks from now, and the hour he had spent being chastised by your protective coworker on the phone had been the longest and most intimidating of his life, and he was almost afraid to show up at your work to collect you anymore.

The team had throw idea after idea at him, his mind spinning as he tried to process everything he could do, and that was exactly how he found himself standing nervously in the middle of the kitchen, his fingers drumming on the counter as she waited for you. The smell of your favourite freshly cooked dinner was hanging in the air, a bottle of wine sitting out on the perfectly laid candles flickering quietly as one of your playlists played low tunes in the background, two envelopes sitting on the table, one small and thick, the other large and flat.

Finally, the clicking of keys sounded in the doorway, your tired sigh following it as Stuart made his way into the corridor, awarding you a soft smile as he watched you toe off your shoes, wiggling your toes for relief as you hung up your coat.

“Smells good in here.”

He grinned, taking a step forward and lacing your fingers with his, raising your hand up until he could place small kisses to your knuckles, pushing his glasses back up his nose as you laughed gently at his actions. “I cooked.”

“Oh, good, I’m starving. I didn’t get a chance to grab breakfast this morning before they were calling me in and I had to go.” You chatted, brushing off the events of the previous night entirely as he guided you through to the kitchen, pulling your chair out for you as you looked around at his attempt at a romantic setting. “You know it’s not my birthday for like.. three weeks yet, right?”

“I know. But I wanted to do something nice for you. Show you how much you matter to me.” You fixed him with a curious look, your brows raised, but you took the seat he was offering, letting him tuck you under the table before taking the food from the oven where it had been keeping warm and quickly serving you both up a plate, handing it over to your waiting hands as you grinned at him.

He put his own food down in his place, before popping the cork on the bottle of wine, holding it up to you in a silent offer and you nodded, letting him pour you a glass, repeating it for himself as he moved to sit down, and your hand found a fistful of his shirt, pulling him down until you could place your lips on his gently, a sigh leaving him as he eagerly returned the sweet kiss. His hands cupped your cheeks delicately, and he smiled against your mouth, pulling away and placing a final kiss to your lips as he sat down. “This looks so good, Stu.”

“Well, I’ve made it enough times that I’m almost certain I got it right, so, here’s hoping.” You raised your glass at his joke, tapping it against his before lifting your fork, taking a bite of the food and taking a few test chews, before you were moaning out happily at the taste and placing another forkful between your lips, your eyes sliding shut. “This is exactly what I needed.”

He grinned, tucking into his own food as the two of you ate quietly, sipping at your wine and simply enjoying the music, occasionally humming along to the tunes as you ate. It was at least half way through your meal before you spoke up again, licking the sauce from your lips before guiding your gaze up to him, his gaze fixed on you as he waited for you to finish your mouthful before speaking up.

“So, how was work?”

He grimaced placing his knife and fork down as he shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “Fine. Nothing exciting happened. How was your day?”

Your brows rose as he dismissed the question, the forkful of pasta halfway to your mouth as you looked at him, your eyes narrowing slightly. “What? That can’t be true. You always want to talk about your day at work, or your big project, what’s going on?”

“None of that really matters, I’d much rather talk about you.” He confessed, and you chewed slowly as you looked at him, awarding him with a simple hum as you considered his words, and he ate anxiously as he watched you sip your wine to wash down to food, swilling it around your glass before finally speaking again.

“What did I say last night that’s making you act so different?”

His gut churned, his mouth dropping open and his cheeks flushed, his shoulders slumping as he looked at you and he let out a sigh under your gaze. “Is it really that obvious?”

“No, it’s just that you’ve been so preoccupied lately that something must have happened that made you suddenly take a night off work to cook and light candles and do all this. Seeing as you couldn't even make it to my charity event last night, something big must have happened. I’m assuming I said something about it to you last night when I got home. I’d had a fair amount to drink.” You shrugged, like it was the simplest thing in the world to say, and you continued eating as the man put down his knife and fork, watching you longingly.

“That’s just it, you didn’t say anything last night that isn’t true, that you haven’t said now.” He reached out across the table, taking one of your hands in both of his and smoothing his thumbs over your knuckles as he thought about his next words. “You said that you think I care more about my job than I care about you, and that it was okay because that’s just who I am, but it’s not okay, and that’s not who I want to be.”

“Oh, Stuart, I was dru-”

“No, don’t say it was because you were drunk, because I know that I’ve been a really shitty boyfriend lately. I just don’t want you to ever think that you aren’t the most important thing in my life, okay?” He paused, glancing up at you as you watched him carefully, giving him a small smile of encouragement. “I love you, so much.”

“I love you too, you know that.”

“I know, but I love you so much that you're all I want, you’re everything to me and I feel awful that I didn’t help with your speech and I wasn’t there to see you and support you. I feel so guilty, and I know one stupid dinner doesn’t make up for how I’ve been treating you lately, but I’m kinda’ hoping these will.”

He took one hand out of yours, handing you the small envelope and you opened it curiously, your jaw dropping as you laughed unbelievingly, flicking through all the slips in the envelope as you looked at them, all donations to your cause for getting better equipment and healthcare for the residents in your care. “Holy shit, Stuart! What did you do, go door to door at Google?” Your words were joking, but he scratched at the back of his neck, chuckling under his breath.

“Yes, actually. I was very persistent and incredibly annoying. Unlocked my secret ability to be a door-to-door salesman, apparently.” You merely rolled your eyes, placing the envelope back down as he grinned, and you pushed your chair back, rounding the table and standing before him, hands on his cheek as you pulled his face in towards you for another kiss, but he moved at the last minute, head twisting in your arms as he reached for the other envelope, and your hands moved down to loop around his neck. “That one was for making it up to you for not being at your event yesterday. This one is for making it up to you for being such a crappy boyfriend lately. It’s also a birthday present.”

You cooed at him, taking the envelope and pushing his hands out from where they were covering the front of his body, and you seated yourself happily across his lap, one of his arms coming to fasten around your waist, his chin resting on your shoulder as he watched you skim your thumb under the seal of the envelope to open it. Pulling out the collection of papers, you scanned your eyes over the front page of it, laughing lightly under your breath.

“I’m taking a week off work?”

“Keep looking.” He grinned, and you moved the page that had the details of you week off from work printed on to the back of the stack, the familiar bright colours of the google insignia standing out on the crisp white paper as you read quietly, the words mumbled from your lips as he watched you carefully, pulling back to press a kiss to your shoulder, before balancing his chin there once again.

“We’re taking a week off work?”

“Mhm. There’s more, you haven’t even seen the best part yet.” Your brows raised, and you twisted in his arms to press a kiss to his lips, a happy hum sounding from him before he pulled back, lips still puckered and a whine in his throat. “No, no, read first. Kiss me after.”

“Okay, okay!” You chuckled at his enthusiasm, flicking the paper over and shaking your head fondly as you turned to look at the papers. Your eyes moved over the page once, twice, three times before your jaw dropped, your face turning to Stuart’s as your eyes searched his. It was silent for a moment, the papers in your hands being placed down as you turned to look at him fully, your hands holding his face firmly between your hands as he beamed at you, a wide and toothy grin on his face. “Why am I looking at plane tickets to Rome?”

Your voice was uncertain and shaky, and his smile only widened as he looked at you. “What reason could we possibly have for plane tickets?” He moved the seat reservations from your sights to show you the final paper, the hotel room tickets and details on the final one. “I can’t possibly imagine why we would have a hotel booked too, b-”

“We’re going to Italy?”

“We’re going to Italy!” He watched your reaction, a loud squeal leaving you as you jumped up from his lap, cheering loudly as you shook the papers, practically bouncing up and down on the spot as you cheered happily. He stood up, his hands finding your hips as he pulled you toward him, taking the papers from your hands and placing them down on the table, your chest pressed flush up to his as his arms wound around your waist. “So, forgiven?”

“Hm, I think so.” You teased, your nose bumping against his and he let the weight from his shoulders fall away as he relaxed under your touch.

“Kisses now?”

“Oh, I’m going to do a lot more than kiss you, Stuart Twombly.” Your hand around his neck pulled him down, your mouths meeting in a heated embrace and he groaned into your mouth, licking along your lower lip as his fingers dug into your hips. He dipped you backwards a little, your body arching into his as he leaned down, your tongues tangling together happily, your fingers moving to play with the shorter hairs at the nape of his neck.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Stuart.” You mumbled the words into his mouth and he growled, nipping at your lower lip as he hummed, pressing a few more long kisses to your lips. “Now, are you going to take me to bed or not?” He nodded, smirking down at you as he guiding you backwards in slow steps, navigating you through the halls of your home, your feet moving in slow steps as he moved you, until you were standing in the middle of your bedroom, soft smacking sounds of your kisses echoing from the walls. Your hands smoothed up into his hair to tug on the soft chocolate strands, his own palms sliding down from your hips until he was squeezing at your ass roughly, your soft pants being swallowed by him as he kissed your hungrily, tongue dragging against your own.

“What do you want, sweetheart? Tell me how to make you happy.” You pulled back, peppering kisses along the smooth skin of his jaw as he tipped his head back for you, his breathing shallow as you did and he held you close to him.

“You do make me happy, Stuart.”

“Then tell me how to make you moan.” His voice was husky, and you took your lower lip between your teeth, whimpering under your breath as he dipped his own head, sucking on the sweet spot he knew so well as he licked over your skin, kissing and nibbling as he worked to leave a mark that wouldn't fade for days to come.

“Just show me how much you love me.”

“I can do that.” His fingers moved up, dancing along your waist as he pulled up the hem of your shirt, tugging the cotton item up and over your head, dropping it to the floor. He kissed along your neck, sinking lower and lower until he was dropping to his knees. He left open mouthed kisses along the skin of your stomach, nimble fingers popping open the button on your jeans as he inched them down and along your thighs, your hands on his shoulders as you stepped out of the restrictive material, kicking them away.

His hand smoothed up and over your thighs, massaging at the muscles tenderly before standing back to his full height, hands on your cheeks to pull your lips back to his. You didn’t even realise he was walking you backwards until your legs met the edge of the mattress, his fingers toying with the clasp of your bra, getting it undone and stripping it from your body, large and calloused palms cupping your tits and squeezing them lightly between his fingers.

Your mewls reached his ears only seconds later, your nails raking over his chest and you tugged idly on on his t-shirt, whining into his mouth.

“I want this off.” You whispered, and he chuckled deeply, stepping away from you to discard the shirt, his bare skin reflecting the dull lighting of the room, your eyes tracing each individual mole and freckle marked on his skin, the dark marks standing out prominently on his pale flesh and you swallowed thickly, licking over your lips as you took in the shirtless sight of the man you loved.

Catching your fingers in the belt loops of his khakis, you tugged his hips toward you, your lips pressings sweet kisses along his shoulders, and his rough hands rubbed up and down your sides, your skin erupting in goosebumps as heat flooded your body, leaving your skin flushed under your boyfriend’s lustful gaze. “These too?”

Two of his own fingers hooked under the waistband of his pants, tugging them away from his body a little and snapping them against his skin, your head moving before you could stop it, lips parted and mouth dry and you shivered under the look he was giving you. “Yes, please.”

“Anything for you, sweetheart.”

He winked at you, his smirk never fading as he undid the front of his pants, his eyes locked with yours as he pushed them down his thighs, kicking them from his feet until the two of you were just standing before one another in your underwear; you in your panties and him in his boxers. You could feel your slick running through the thin and flimsy material of your underwear, and the wet patch forming on the tented front of Stuart’s boxers told you he was feeling the exact same way.

“You’re so beautiful.” His words could barely be heard, but you caught them, your heart swelling with pride and love as you nodded, taking his hand in yours and guiding the two of you down onto the sheets, crawling backwards up the bed as he followed above you, leaning you down until your head was buried in the pillows. His breath was fanning over your cheeks, hot and panted as the two of you watched one another, eyes locked in loving embrace.

Your hand slipped between you both, along your front and down to palm at the straining cock in his boxers, a low grunt leaving him as you did, your nails tracing the outline of his hard cock, even through the wet cotton. “Condom. Now. I need you.” You gestured to the bedside table on his side, and his jaw fell open, his eyes wide as he nodded quickly.

“Okay. Okay, I got it.” He pulled away, reaching over just far enough to grab one of the thin silver packets from the box within the drawer, the wood slamming shut soon after as he pulled back. Pulling away from your body, he dropped his boxers to the floor, foil packet held delicately between his teeth as he pumped himself slowly, moving back to kneel over you on the bed, precum leaving his red and taut skin shining as he toyed, finger pushing up underneath the head of his cock as he let out strangled sounds as he pleased himself.

Seconds later, he was tearing the packet open, rolling the rubber onto his cock and humming at the stimulation of the action, his hands finding the lace on either side of your body, your hips lifting up as he eased the material away, no longer hiding your soaked core from his views. With a hand on each knee, he parted your thighs, his body settling between them as he left wet kisses along your collarbones, moving down until he could wrap his lips around one stiff standing nipple, your back arching as a hand wove into his locks, holding his head to your chest.

Swirling his tongue around the taut bud, you whined out, hips rolling up onto his leg, a thigh clenched as you ground your dripping core onto his skin, a growl leaving him and he left wet and shiny trails on your skin as he dragged his tongue along your flesh to give the other mound the same attention. Your walls were clenching around nothing, flooding with arousal as your body thrummed with need.

He pushed two fingers through your folds, swirling them in the wetness that had gathered and pushing against your clit, and a shake ran over your body, your eyes closing and your head pushing back into the pillows, a loud cry of his name leaving your lips the second his lips wrapped around your clit. Sucking gently, he pushed a single skinny digit into you, your walls fluttering around his finger and sucking it into you deeper as the pad smoothed along your walls.

Pulling it out slowly, the nail scratched just enough to make your hips jump up, the pressure of his movements on the pulsing bud between your legs only getting quicker and rougher, his tongue joining the mix as he lapped at your core. A thin sheen of sweat covered your skin, his eyes watching as your face scrunched up in pleasure and your jaw hung open, calling his name out as he brought you waves of bliss, even just from the simple touch.

Setting a fast rhythm, he prodded a second finger at your entrance, soon allowing it to join the first, the tips of his fingers brushing your spot each time he plunged into you deeply, and he scissored his fingers, opening you up for him as your thighs trembled under his touch. Your own hands lifted up, palming at your tits and he slurped between his fingers, licking up every droplet of wet arousal you let out, drinking you in needily as wet sounds filled the room, filthy and pornographic as he moaned into your body.

The vibrations shot along your spine, and with a hand in his hair, you tugged, dragging his face back up to yours, his chin glistening with your juices as you looked at him, eyes wide and filled with lust glasses sitting askew on his face and you reached up, taking them from his face carefully and placing them on the set of drawers beside the bed. Yourhands held his face, thumbs running over his cheekbones softly as you pulled his mouth down to yours. The taste of you spread from his mouth to your own, and he groaned softly as you sucked on his lower lip, the tip of his cock prodding at your heat and he could feel the wet warmth coming from you, even through the rubber.

“I’m ready. Just fuck me, I need it. I need you.” He nodded, lips still puckered as you pulled away and he lifted one of your legs up to sit on his hip, his hand lining him up between you both and his eyes locked with yours as he sunk forward, filling you slowly, inch by inch until your hot walls were hugging around his cock tightly, your hips pressed together as he mumbled profanities and praises for only you to hear.

He gave you a moment to adjust, your walls stretching to accommodate his size and you let out a deep breath, rolling your hips up into him to give him the signal that you were ready, and he took it, moaning out your name as he pulled back slowly, feeling every dip and inch of your tight passage as he moved slowly. When he was almost all the way out of you, he snapped his hips back forward, your back arching up into his chest as he filled you up deeply once again.

Your nipples rubbed against his chest, the stimulation jolting through your body and you could feel every throb and vein of his member, your eyes fluttering shut as he held you close. One hand was sitting on your thigh as he set off in his thrusts, fingertips digging so tightly into your skin that there would be fingerprint bruises on your skin in the morning, the other holding him up above you as his movements picked up speed. “Harder, baby.”

“I got you.” His words were strained, and he gripped onto your body with more force, the hand beside your head tightening in the sheets, his thrusts hitting deep each time and he was pressing to your special spot, your vision flashing with colours as they rolled back, bliss coursing through your veins. He lifted your leg up higher, balancing it on his shoulder and a scream was torn from you at the new angle, and you only tightened around him.

“Fuck, sweetehart, you’re so tight for me.” His words were practically growled out, sweatlining his forehead as he rammed into you in touch thrusts, the bed slamming back into the wall each time he rocked his hips down, his shaft slipping in and out of you with some of the dirtiest sounds you had ever heard.

“Oh, God, I love it. I love you. Oh, fuck! Stuart!”

“That’s right, baby, scream my name.” He pulled out of you quickly, hands on your hips spinning you around until you were popped up on your knees, your face buried in the sheets, muffling the scream you let out as he slammed back into you in one swift movement. Your nails clawed at the bedding beneath you, your body jolting with every deep thrust he gave you and you felt the spring in your guts beginning to wind up tight, your eyes rolling back in your head as you pushed yourself up on shaky arms.

His hand laced in your hair, pulling your head back so that your sounds were free to echo around the room, clear and loud as you begged and pleaded for him, your back arching up closer to him, and you slammed your hips back to meet his as your thrusts were sloppy, the way he was moving making your head spin.

“Fuck, you gonna’ cum for me, sweetheart? Scream my name, tell everyone who’s making you feel this good? Tell everyone who loves you?” You nodded, gasping breathlessly for him and he leaned over you, his chest almost meeting your back as his movements became uncoordinated and sloppy.

Two of his fingers dipped into your mouth, your tongue swirling around them and soaking them with spit, and he moaned loudly in your ear at the feeling, your cheeks following around his fingers and you could still faintly taste your own essence on his skin, the thought only making you flood with wetness, soaking his cock and he slid easily in and out of you. Trailing the fingers along your skin, lines of saliva connected the tips of his fingers to your lips, until he moved them down to your clit, rubbing rapid circles onto the abused bead.

You threw your head back, letting out a near animalistic sound as your climax crashed over you like a rush. Wave after wave of pure bliss raced through your body, and he could barely move as you shook in his arms, and he held you tightly to his chest, fucking you through your climax as he reached the edge himself. He let out a deep growl into your ear as he came, teeth nibbling on your earlobe and kissing at your jaw as he rode you both through the high.

His skin slid against yours, sweaty and shining as he pulled back, your exhausted body collapsing down onto the sheets as you twitched and quivered, a dopey smile on your face as your eyes closed, a high and deep sigh leaving you as you squirmed in the sheets. Stepping back, he pulled the condom from his cock, his dick already softening as he tied it and discarded it to the bin in the corner, his muscles aching as he dropped down onto the mattress beside you.

You rolled over and lifted his arm as he chuckled tiredly at you, letting you tuck yourself under his arm and nuzzle your nose into his neck, your bodies curling up together to cuddle and he ran his fingers over your skin, tracing indiscernible patterns as you calmed your racing hearts.

“I missed cuddling with you last night. I’m glad you’re back.”

“We don’t cuddle?” You mumbled, yawning through your words and he hummed, nodding and pressing a series of kisses to the top of your head as he relaxed, his own eyes sliding closed as the two of you relaxed.

“No, you cuddled your pillow and we spooned a little.”

“When I woke up, we were curled up together. Guess my unconscious missed you too much to ignore.” He placed a hand over your face, scoffing and pushing you away from him as he teased you for your cheesy statement, and you merely giggled as a reply, squeezing your arms around him tighter as you pulled yourself back into his body, your front pressed up to his side.

“You’re sickeningly cheesy, I can’t stand it.”

“Says the one who booked a romantic trip to Rome.” You joked, and he rolled his eyes, a blush crawling up his cheek as you kissed lazily at the skin you could reach, before pulling back to tug at the sheets, trying to ease them out from under his body, and he shuffled lazily to allow you to, many groans and complaints being thrown in. However, when the covers were draped over his body, he snuggled down into them happily, your eyes rolling fondly as you looked at your half-sleeping boyfriend. “So, how did you get the time off work for both of us?”

“Oh, a lot of begging was done.” He joked, silence settling over the room, and he turned his head toward you, puckering his lips for a slow and deep kiss, which you happily granted you as the two of you adjusted yourselves under the covers. “I love you, and I promise I’ll be better.”

“You’re perfect as you are, Stuart. I love you too.” You muttered, a yawn covering your lips, and he nodded, squeezing you in a silent response. “It’s going to be a very happy birthday for me.”

“Yes. Yes it is.”

[kaen-ace-of-diamonds]

Walking Space Heater

Word Count: 2700+ (oneshot) 

[AO3]

Genre: Fluff/Hurt/Comfort

Characters: Cinder Fall, Neopolitan, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black

Pairing: Cinder Fall/Neopolitan

Summary: Written (late) for Day 4 of @spice-cream-week 2021, “There Was Only One Bed.”

With the heat of both her Semblance and the Maiden powers, Cinder's body is much warmer than the average person's. So long as she's still by her side, Neo intends to take full advantage of that.

~0~

This is definitely a step down from the Haven dorms. Neo’s thumbs moved lightning-fast over the keyboard of her Scroll. Don’t they have ANY concept of personal space here? 

She could say something about Roman’s excessive use of emojis. But looking at his messages, she could hear his laughter clearly in her head, and she had no problem with that.

wtm? you got stuck with a shitty roommate? I’ll come and get her for you idgaf

That elicited the breathy noises that were the closest Neo got to laughter. Truthfully, she probably wouldn’t have minded sharing a room much in and of itself. It might even have been fun to mess with Emerald and Mercury in their own space. 

But no, she’d ended up with the only one that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Cinder Fall was calm, collected, and incredibly competent. Neo didn’t necessarily dislike her. She thought that they got along fairly well, in fact. But that didn’t mean that she trusted her.

Roman was content to stay in the dark about what exactly her ultimate design was beyond Beacon’s destruction, having already accepted the fact that they would be overwhelmed by it. It still gnawed at Neo, though. Thus far her only clues had been the couple private calls that Cinder had taken, and the way Haven’s headmaster cringed like a kicked puppy whenever he caught sight of her. 

Sure, the man was jumpy enough in general, but Cinder — or, more accurately, whatever force had moved Cinder to the Academies — made him cower. Even Neo’s most devilish smile couldn’t do that.

She’s...not bad. She definitely likes me more than she likes you.

Now, did that really require five laughing emojis after I can live with that lol?

And

Neo’s thumb hovered over the screen. For the first time in several minutes, she glanced up from where she was curled up tightly on the covers of her bed. 

Cinder was perfectly at ease on her own bed, leaning back against a stack of pillows with her Scroll open in front of her face. Still rifling through the records of all the Academy students, no doubt. Casting her great and bloody show, for which every little thing had to be perfect. It wasn’t enough that she was sending Emerald and Mercury out to run recon and collect as many relevant details about their players as possible. No, she had to study up herself for hours on end.

Neo was willing to play her own part, but it all seemed very boring to her. Certainly her interim leader could use a break. She returned her attention for one moment more to her Scroll:

I think she would be fun to play with.

Ignoring the several question marks sent in reply, Neo pocketed her Scroll and slipped off her bed. Moving soundlessly was one of the first skills she had ever had to master, and she still considered it her most important. 

Cinder was still too engrossed in her research to notice as she crept across the carpet and climbed onto the other bed. Or maybe she just didn’t care enough to acknowledge her. She certainly didn’t look surprised when Neo’s head poked through the hole between her arms and her Scroll.

“Oh,” she said, smirking, in a tone that she might use with a stray cat that had come up to her in the street. “Hello there. Looking for some entertainment?”

Neo gave her her best strawberry-ice-cream smile, and scooted closer. From the meager rations of physical contact she meted out to Emerald, she wasn’t sure how much Cinder liked being touched, so she proceeded with care, little by little. It seemed to be acceptable: she stayed very still, but allowed Neo to settle down on her chest, resting her head against her shoulder.

“Or are you just lonely?”

Neo hummed thoughtfully, letting herself relax: not all the way, but just enough. This was nicer than she had expected, she had to admit. Cinder was dressed like she had been in the first round of the Vytal Festival: sleeveless jacket, long pants, and sarashi. Neo’s cheek rested mostly on bare skin, and though of course she had seen Cinder’s Semblance before (as well as the flames that didn’t quite seem to fit with it), it was much warmer than she had thought it would feel. Softer, too, with the scents of wood smoke and spicy perfume clinging to it.

“Well?”

Neo rolled lazily over onto her back, looking up at Cinder’s Scroll to see what she had been so busy scrutinizing. Hm. Several pictures of that Mistrali girl from the cereal commercials, accompanied by a passage about her Semblance which had been highlighted in a few places. There was one more tab open with an acronym on it, but that was it. 

Nothing that could tell Neo anything about their situation that she hadn’t already guessed at. And what was more, absolutely nothing that could be more interesting to her temporary partner than her.

Clearly, Cinder could use a lesson on how to properly spend an evening. Dastardly planning, which seemed to be her only form of recreation, just wasn’t going to cut it. 

So Neo helpfully reached up, laid her hands over Cinder’s, and pushed the Scroll shut for her. She put her pointer finger to the outside of her nose; her new teammates might not be picking up Valerian Sign Language particularly well, but she hoped the long, exaggerated twist away from her face coupled with a dramatic sigh got the message across equally well: Cinder, I am bored to tears.

Cinder tilted her head, puzzled but smiling. She slipped her Scroll into her pocket and wrapped an arm around Neo’s waist. 

“Well, in that case, I’d be happy to give you some attention.”

Neo made as pleased a sound as she could muster up, and snuggled up to Cinder, as close as she could get. It might have been dark and cool outside, but she felt as if she were napping on a sunbeam. Rolling over to lay her head on Cinder’s chest, she could imagine that there was a powerfully burning fire inside it in place of a beating heart, whose heat was palpable, just beneath the skin. 

She tried to look more sweetly smug than actually impressed, but gods, she had never felt anything like this. 

Cinder held her tightly in both arms now, fingertips scratching lightly between her shoulder blades, and Neo nearly purred. Years of pulling back bowstrings had turned those arms wiry and oh so strong. All at once, she completely understood why Emerald was always trying to earn one of these rare hugs.

And speaking of which...

Neo wasn’t sure how long she spent in the lap of luxury, only that she felt like she might actually fall asleep in it, as toasty warm as it was. Cinder had switched from rubbing her back to stroking and playing with her hair, which, in her experience with other people, was a welcome first. But she was jolted back to full awareness when their dorm room door slammed angrily open.

Blinking, Neo lifted her head. She caught the lingering scents of jungle juice and sweat incoming, before she saw Emerald stalking inside, barely hanging onto her last scrap of patience. Mercury stumbled in after her, wearing a huge grin and mirrored shades that Neo was fairly certain did not belong to him.

Cinder smirked. “I was wondering when you two would be back. How did it go?”

Emerald forced a halfway convincing smile for her leader. “It was...interesting. Though not quite as informative as I was h—”

The smile froze on her face when she turned to look directly at Cinder, and saw Neo lounging in her lap like a spoiled cat. 

Neo smirked, and signed, Party fun? With the reputation Vytal Festival house parties had, hopefully Emerald had gotten some attention as well.

“Oh, it was great!” Mercury shrugged off his jacket and pitched it into his and Emerald’s room, littering their carpet with brownie crumbs. “We saw a lot of everybody, didn’t we, Emmy?”

While Emerald tried to take a cue from Cinder and set him on fire with her eyes, Cinder herself just closed her Scroll with a soft laugh. 

“Well, you can tell us all about it in the morning. We should all get some rest now.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You got it, boss...”

Neo watched them slink into their room, where muffled bickering started up as soon as the door closed, but did not move until she felt a gentle pat on her thigh. 

“You too, dear. Go on.”

Though she made a show of huffing about it, Neo got up off Cinder’s bed and went back across the room. 

Her own bed felt cold and uninviting now. Catching up on the several missed texts from Roman (including but not limited to what do you mean by that lmao, hey Neo dont leave me out of the loop :), Neo tf are you doing to her O_o, NEO) did make her smile, but as she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help but wish that she didn’t have to return to being alone just yet.

~0~

This was not at all the solution to that problem that she had envisioned, but Neo knew very well how to deal with whatever life threw at her.

She had never been to Atlas, and while she had to roll her eyes at its decadence, she couldn’t say she hated the place. Cinder, on the other hand, never answered outright when Neo tried to ask if she had ever been here before, but every bitter hiss from her about Atlas elites that had not been asked for gave her a general idea. It had taken them a while to find a vacant apartment to squat in, especially considering that there was an entire chunk of the city that Cinder refused to even go near. 

But now here they were, and it was empty around them and quiet outside. The blackout curtains shielded them from the city lights. In pitch darkness the two of them were curled up together in the place’s one bed.

Cinder had initially balked at the idea of sharing it, insisting that Neo take an extra blanket and find somewhere else to curl up. So barky with her orders these days, and so on edge, too. Neo was beginning to wonder how she had ever thought of this woman as calm and collected.

In any case, she didn’t see what her once-again partner’s problem was. She had invited Neo into her bed with her before, hadn’t she? Maybe not to sleep, but still. And she was far from squeamish; she wouldn’t make a fuss about the scarring and empty eye socket on full display. As such, she ignored the demand, and simply undressed, got under the covers, and gestured for Cinder to join her. 

After some indignant spluttering, Cinder threw up her hands and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She didn’t come out until Neo had turned the lights off and laid there long enough that she might reasonably have fallen asleep. Even then, she slipped in quietly, gingerly, and stuck close to the edge of the bed. 

Now, that just would not do. Atlas was much too cold for that kind of nonsense. 

Neo rolled over under the blankets, feeling just as bold as last time, but exercising even more care, Cinder being so volatile lately. She went out of her way to be heard, so it wouldn’t startle Cinder to be touched. She knew her bedmate was awake: though she lay very still, her breathing was nowhere near relaxed enough for her to be asleep. 

Cinder didn’t jump when she felt Neo wrap her arms around her waist, but she did go still as a statue.

“Neo,” she growled, low in her throat, “what are you doing? I’m not in the mood for—”

Neo nuzzled her bare shoulder in a way she hoped was reassuring, as she pressed up against her back. Fortunately for her, Cinder’s new arm was tightly bandaged up for the night, so she didn’t have to risk touching the awful thing. Only human skin, just as fiery warm as before. Even the wood smoke smell remained. 

As had happened so often since the Fall of Beacon, Neo caught herself writing a text to Roman in her head, wryly telling him that he was right, she shouldn’t have thought so hard about where Cinder’s flames came from, because she would never in a million years have hit on the right answer.

She gave her head a shake, and resisted the urge to glance back at the bowler hat perched neatly on a bedpost. If she started thinking too hard about that, she would never get to sleep either. There would be time, when the sun came up, to consider some more whether the woman in her arms was the key to her revenge, or its target all along. 

Right now, the darkness was peaceful and the blankets thick and soft around them, and the heat of their bodies grew more soporific every moment. Comfort was a rarity in both of their lives. They ought to savor it whenever it came their way. 

Cinder let out a long, exasperated huff, clearly not sharing the opinion. 

“Couldn’t you just hug a pillow?” she grumbled. But there was no bite in her voice. 

Neo smiled against her skin, entwining her legs with Cinder’s. Now, she would have said, were her hands not occupied, where would be the fun in that?

“...Fine. Just don’t think you’re going to make this a regular thing.”

Oh, she absolutely was, so long as they were staying in the coldest part of the world and she was in the company of a walking space heater. 

As such, Neo ignored the question and snuggled closer. She was trying her best to communicate “calm down and go to sleep” through body language alone, so to feel Cinder slowly but surely relaxing in her arms, eventually going limp, was deeply gratifying. Almost fascinating.

From nights spent in the Beacon dorm room and Mistrali inns, Neo already knew that Cinder talked in her sleep. Most of what she said was sluggish and toneless as well as nonsensical, but sometimes it was a series of fierce snaps or pained moans. It came as no surprise to Neo that when, just as she was starting to doze off herself, she was woken back up by her partner’s twitching and yelping. 

“No...don’t take...I’m...!”

Neo sighed drowsily, and tightened her embrace, humming as soothingly as she could. Her inability to speak never really bothered her, but there were times like this when it didn’t exactly help her, either. At least she could keep Cinder from thrashing around and hurting one of them: if that arm decided to act up while its host was in distress, she had zero faith in the bandages to hold those claws back.

It’s okay, she thought, hoping that somehow it would get across, just relax, you’re all right...

Nightmares never lasted forever. Neo had woken with her stomach still in free fall from enough dreams of plummeting wildly through a Grimm-infested sky to know that. Still, she hoped that her attempts at calming had helped this one pass quickly. Cinder’s mumbling devolved into moans, then to frantic whimpers, then finally to something close to the restful breathing that Neo had almost fallen asleep to before.

Neo took a deep breath of her own. She was too tired to smile, but leaned in to press a kiss to the back of Cinder’s neck, the ends of her short hair tickling her nose. To her surprise, she felt a burn scar here, too: thin and faded, but winding around her neck like garrote wire. Somehow she didn't think that Ruby had done this. But she certainly wasn't going to ask who had. They weren't going to discuss any part of this in the morning.

So she kissed her neck once more, soft and just a bit more sincere, before closing her eyes again.

Good night.

[sambergscott]

a peralta guarantee

“I promise I’ll come home safe, Ames. That’s a Peralta Guarantee.”

(missing scenes from 7x08 - amy worrying about jake)

hUge thanks to johanna for inspiring this fic and helping when i had a lil breakdown halfway through

When he approaches her desk mid-afternoon with a decaf coffee and the white chocolate chip cookies she’s been craving from the bakery across town, she knows he’s either a) broken something, b) wants something or c) has bad news. She narrows her eyes suspiciously, detecting an excited bounce in his step which can only mean it’s b and c; he wants something she’s not going to like.

“Hey, babe,” he tries to play it cool, clearing a butt-sized space on her desk on which to sit. “I come bearing gifts.”

“What do you want, Peralta?” She cuts to the chase.

“Damn it, you know me too well,” he mutters. “OK, so, here’s the thing: Doug Judy’s gettin’ married. He invited me to his Bachelor Party this weekend and I know he’s a criminal, Ames, but I really wanna go. Like, so bad. Would you be cool with that?”

She conjures up a mental pro and con list. On one hand, Doug Judy is The Pontiac Bandit, known felon, committer of God knows how many crimes, an overall bad dude. On the other, he’s Jake’s friend, singer of the smush songs CD in the glove box of their car that they always forget to take out, giver of the Le Creuset pot she adores. He’s always been nice to her and—.

“Sarge?” Gary interrupts her decision-making process with a quick question about a perp he just brought in, snapping her back to reality. She’s a Police Sergeant, her job is to serve and protect the city they call home and as much as she loves cooking her mom’s beef casserole recipe in Judy’s awesome wedding gift, she has a responsibility to bring him in.

“I’m sorry, babe. I just think it’s a bad idea.”

His face falls, his disappointment coming through loud and clear.

“What were you expecting me to say? Ignore the million arrest warrants out on this guy, many of them submitted by you, so you can drink beer and go to strip clubs?”

“You’re right,” he sighs. “You’re obviously right. Man, being good at your job sucks.”

She nods in agreement. “Remember last month when I had to shut that binder store down for running a secret drug dealing operation out back?”

“How could I forget? You cried for three days straight.”

“They had the best binder collection I’ve ever seen!”

(It was actually what was so fishy about it. In four trips to buy pregnancy binders, she hadn’t seen any of the founding members of the Brooklyn Binder Babes blog — Mary Sue, Catherine, Margaret or Jane — once. And there’s no way a stationery start-up would attract such long queues without their recommendation. It was a pretty easy solve from there).

“The point is, you can’t go to a criminal’s Bachelor Party.” She pats his hand. “You’ll just have to come maternity clothes shopping with me instead. None of my jeans fit me anymore.”

“As much as I would love to, you can take Kylie. I’m going to the party.”

“What?” She double-takes. “Jake, did you not listen to what I literally just said? We’re cops. We cannot be friends with criminals.”

“But we can be friends with informants who have helped us catch numerous, even bigger, more dangerous criminals,” he says with that look on his face, the one he gets when he finds a loophole that he can use to his advantage. She recognises it from home videos Karen has shown her where, instead of tidying his room like she asked him to, seven year old Jake shoves everything under his bed and carries on enacting a police chase with his race cars. “Captain Holt has given him immunity before, so technically I should be able to go party it up with him in Miami!”

“Wait... It’s in Miami? Miami... Florida?”

It’s a stupid question, she knows. Of course he means Miami, Florida. It’s just... they both promised on the flight home that they would never, ever go back there. After everything that happened with Figgis and not knowing if they’d ever see each other again, a statewide travel ban seemed a good way to put it all behind them, focus on all their future moments together, not on all the moments they missed.

“This isn’t like last time,” he reassures her. “It’s only for a weekend and then I’ll be coming straight home for snuggles with you and —,” he lowers his voice to a whisper because they haven’t told anyone she’s pregnant yet, “the baby.”

Her eyes fill with tears and she bites her lip so hard to stop them overflowing in front of all her uniformed officers. It’s pretty clear that he wants to go and she never wants to be one of them wives who control their husbands’ every move. All she wants is for him to be happy. And if going to Doug Judy’s Bachelor Party makes him happy, he should go, no matter how much she hates the entire state of Florida. She agrees, on one condition: “You have to text me hourly updates to let me know that you’re still alive.”

“Don’t I text you constantly anyway?”

“I guess so,” she sniffs.

He lifts her chin so she’s looking him in the eyes. “I promise I’ll come home safe, Ames. That’s a Peralta guarantee.”

“You better,” she warns, tears suddenly flowing down her face at the thought of him not coming home, not being there to watch Property Brothers with her, not raising their baby and proving to everyone what a great dad he will be.

Used to her extra strength pregnancy hormones shifting her emotions from 0 to 100 faster than John McClane can say “Yippie-Ki-Yay, motherfucker”, he pulls her into a tight hug, careful not to crush the precious cargo that is behind said mood swings.

He strokes her hair and whispers that he’ll be home before she knows it and that nothing, not even the worst state in the country, will tear him away from her.

When it’s time for him to leave, she follows him out to the street and, after a brief argument over the fact he packed his bag before he OK’ed the trip with her and another hormone-induced cry when his cab shows up, reluctantly waves goodbye.

True to his word, he texts her before the car is even out of sight. Miss you already 😘.

--

Her phone buzzes periodically throughout the rest of the day.

In a meeting with Holt and Terry: flying on mark cuban’s dope ass private plane!!!!! ✈️

Cooking dinner: florida is HOT (not as hot as u babe, dont worry)

Doing her crossword in bed: g’night ames, g’night baby, love u both SO MUCH

She smiles, tells him she loves him too and braces herself for the barrage of drunk texts and selfies coming her way.

--

Sleeping without him sucks. The bed is cold, her pregnancy pillow is not as good of a cuddle buddy and she tosses and turns all night worrying about him, where he is, what he’s doing, whether he’s safe.

Her eyes finally slip shut around 1 am when her phone buzzes. Again. And again. And again.

She tries to ignore him, bury her head under her pillow and go back to sleep, but the messages keep coming thick and fast. She groans, giving up and unlocking her phone.

There are 47 new messages from him.

Forty-seven.

Her initial annoyance at being woken up quickly disappears as she scrolls through the thread. He’s mostly sent her random, meaningless emojis and keysmashes, interspersed with the odd “I love you”, “you’re my best friend” and “I’m thinking about you” that warm her heart. He mentions something about their proposal, about crying with Doug Judy, which obviously makes her cry too.

(Dumb pregnancy hormones).

By the time she reaches the bottom, he’s sent her 10 more.

She decides for her sake — and the sake of all of her officers who would have to deal with a tired, emotional pregnant lady — to turn off her phone and reply to him in the morning.

She returns her phone to her nightstand, settles back into a comfortable position and closes her eyes.

She lies motionless for what feels like hours, unable to fall asleep. She tries the breathing technique her brother David brags about constantly, counting sheep like little Matthew, even reciting police codes like Teddy used to go to sleep after sex. Nothing works. She’s still awake.

She turns her phone back on to see what Jake’s up to now, only to see his messages ended abruptly with a caterpillar emoji over an hour ago.  

She immediately panics, dialling 911 into her phone.

Her thumb hovers over the green call button.

She’s heard thousands of crazy operator call stories, frequently reminded the general population to only call in a genuine emergency and watched the YouTube compilations for fun. She deletes the number, positive that if she told an operator her husband was missing because she hadn’t heard from him while he’s at a Bachelor Party, she’s positive she would be added to those videos.

In an attempt to stop her spiral, she contemplates the possible scenarios in which his constant texts would cease.

Scenario 1: He’s living in the moment and has put his phone away (something she has been encouraging him to do lately to reduce his screen time)

Scenario 2: He’s very drunk and has completely forgotten about his promise

Scenario 3: He used up all his battery texting her and his phone has died

Scenario 4: He’s fallen asleep (although a quick check of Trudy Judy’s insta reveals the party is very much still in full flow)

Scenario 5: Judy’s criminal buddies have killed him and thrown his body into the ocean

Once the thought pops into her head, no amount of squeezing her eyes shut will make the image go away.

Holt giving an emotional eulogy about wearing ties and being an amazing detective/genius.  

Some rookie taking over his desk.  

The sympathetic looks when she tells all the other moms in baby group that her husband died.  

Usually Jake is there to hold her when her nightmares get bad. She rolls over, expecting to see his kind eyes and soft smile, the untouched side of his bed only serving to make her cry harder.

She can’t lose him. Not yet. Not until they’re old and grey, and maybe not even then. She spent so long denying her feelings for her dorky partner, rueing every missed opportunity to be together, and when they finally, finally took the plunge, she had never been happier. She can’t lose him yet. They have so much more life left to live.

She can’t lose him because he promised her he would come home safe. He guaranteed it.

She clings onto the tiny grain of hope like one might cling onto a raft in the middle of the ocean.

He would never break a Peralta guarantee.

--

Her phone finally buzzes again an hour later.

From: Unknown

Ames, it’s me, Jake. Judy’s buddies found out I’m a cop + destroyed my phone. So sorry I couldn’t text before. Hope you didn’t worry too much, although I know you probably haven’t slept. You can stop worrying now. I’m safe. Love you + see you tomorrow.  

Love you too, she responds, yawning as she places the phone back on the side table.

Relieved that he’s OK, and exhausted from all the worrying, she falls into the easiest sleep she’s ever had.

--

Before she knows it, it’s the next afternoon, Jake’s keys are turning in the lock, he’s dropping his holdall on the floor and rushing to her side to kiss her all over her face.

“I missed you too,” she laughs, kissing him properly.

“Sorry it took so long — Doug and Trudy made me fly commercial —.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re home now. That’s all that matters.”

“I’m never leaving you two again,” he swears.

“You’ll have to leave us eventually to go to the bathroom and stuff,” she points out, raking her fingers through the unruly curls that she so hopes their baby will inherit. “Just don’t go back there.”

A solemn understanding passes over his face and he nods. “Never again. Not even if our kid wants to go to Disney World. We’ll take them to the California one instead.”

“Smort,” she says, stealing his line and in an instant, that familiar grin is back.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

A dozen memories flood back, of oldies in short shorts and shuffleboard and Doug Judy getting away again. Of noice and smort and saying “I love you” for the very first time. Her eyes fill with tears — dumb pregnancy hormones strike again — as she buries her face in his shoulder.

“Let’s go to bed,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and lifting her bridal style to carry her to their room. He places her carefully onto the mattress and flops down next to her.

She snuggles into him, eyes closing once more. “Did we even get an invite to the wedding?”

“Not even close,” he sighs.

“Damn it. I would’ve loved to see that trainwreck.”

“You and me both, babe. You and me both.”

[hazbincalifornia]

Something Very Special

Chapter 4:  A few moments of reflection.

Likes, replies, and reblogs are all appreciated, both here and on ao3!

Warnings: Mpreg

Ao3 link

Blitzo prodded at his stomach in front of the full-length mirror in his room while wearing only his pants. It was a bit more obvious without a shirt and coat on that there was a slight bump, especially considering his slender physique. It had been a few hours since the visit with Stolas, and he could still almost feel the owl-demon’s hand against him. 

Before leaving, Stolas had insisting on getting to feel his stomach again- it wasn’t sexual, as promised, but it made Blitzo shiver, the gentle way Stolas moved his fingertips over the skin and how he cooed with his eyes glowing brighter than usual.

“They’ll be perfect. I’m so glad you decided to keep them. This will all be worth it, Blitzy- you’re doing something very special.” 

He was almost a month through, and there hadn’t been any real side effects yet. None that he’d actively noticed, anyway- he’d been a bit queasy while drinking coffee a time or two and had puked in the bushes on the way home from the bar after work once, but that could have just been the cheap, shitty booze and the fact that he’d been more ‘spinning’ than ‘dancing’ by the end of the night. Loona had pretty much dragged him back to the apartment when he almost passed out anyway- not his fault that the snacks weren’t good enough to waste money on so he ended up drunk way too fast. Ugh, he'd probably have to drop drinking, wouldn't he? Greeeeeeat.

In the other room, Loona was listening to some punk band he couldn’t recognize. He liked the fast, loud sound it had to it though, all the lyrics fuzzed through the walls so it was just the beat. Blitzo drummed his fingers over the bump.

“You’d better not be any trouble, you hear me? The most I want to deal with is people calling me fat or some shit. Maybe I can get something tailored? Might have to ask Stolas about that. I’d hate to be just popping out of everything in my wardrobe, I’ve got too good of a sense of fashion for that and I can’t deny the world me at my best.” He’d need to make a list of things he wanted before but hadn’t been willing to push his luck with Stolas on.

Actually, now that he thought of it... he’d been kind of pushing his luck the last few days, hadn’t he? He’d even insulted Stolas to his face earlier, but the owl had barely even flinched, too swept up in the fact that Blitzo was agreeing to keep the baby. If it meant he could loosen his lips a little outside of the bedroom, Blitzo’d count this as a double success for a while. Maybe that was another side effect- hormones? The inhibitions to not tiptoe around the dude who knocked you up? The one who knocked you up being more lenient himself? Who fuckin’ knew! He’d never exactly asked Mom about what it was like having him and his sisters, he figured nobody who wasn’t about to have kids did shit like that who wasn’t a pervert.

Blitzo’d been playing ball with Stolas for... geez, at least six months at this point? He’d never written it down or anything. It always felt like pins and needles until he either said some dumbshit thing Stolas didn’t find funny that he had to fumble over a half-assed apology for, or Stolas just started getting raunchy right in the middle of the calls he insisted on at least twice a week. At least when the guy got started, most of the time he just burnt himself out with an occasional ‘mhm’ or ‘oh yeah’ from Blitzo, who was getting pretty good at tuning it out. Horny bastard was probably jacking off during half of them too, from the squelches and moaning noises. Weirdo. It was like he didn’t know about porn or something.

But! But, he’d offered to leave actual sex off the table for five full months with the baby thing. It really said how much he wanted this, and it also said that Blitzo was probably going to be able to get away with a lot more than usual if Stolas was willing to forgo their ‘fornication’ (seriously, who used words like that, just say ‘fucking’ like a normal person) for the entire time. Maybe Blitzo could actually get lucky with someone else for once, if he wanted to.

“What do you think about all of this? I figure the weight will be worth not having to worry about him just scooping me up and running off during work hours. And that’s on top of actually having some real good stuff out of our little relationship besides him just not taking the book back.” He paused. “And the sex when we get around to it. That’s usually pretty good.” He turned to Spirit Jr, who was propped up on the bed. The stuffed horse just stared up at him, but he felt fairly sure that the emotion given off was approval. “Very helpful. Thank you.”

“Yo, Blitzo.” Loona rapped her knuckles on the doorframe before pushing the door open, and grimaced before slamming it shut again. “Geez, get dressed first!”

“I’m in my room, just ask first!” He tugged a hoodie on, the oversized fabric completely smothering his frame when he looked down before opening the door again, meeting her eyes. “What is it, honey?”

“Just making sure you were still keeping it.” She held up her phone. “Millie asked and the notifications are getting annoying.”

Blitzo squinted at the screen, and could see that Millie had sent a picture of Moxxie pacing with his fingers laced behind his back.

“Geez, he’s acting like it’s his baby or something. Priss. Yeah, I’m keeping it.” He rubbed an idle circle over the pocket of the hoodie, fingers criss-crossing a star on the inside of it. Of course, it didn’t have much power without the book in the other room.

“I know, just making sure you weren’t changing your mind and trying to cut it out in there.” She raised an eyebrow. “I’m only asking because this was the fourth text and she was worried you’d done something stupid. Did you check your phone?”

“Yeah, of course!” He blinked before heading back to where he’d hung up his coat, digging into the pocket before pulling out his phone that was currently flashing with several missed texts. Four long rambling ones from Moxxie, three slightly shorter ones from Millie, and then one each from Loona and Stolas. (Stolas’s was just a series of emojis that Blitzo didn’t really feel up to interpreting, including for some reason several leaves.)

He shot back a text to the IMP groupchat.

Im fine u gyus, dont worry aboutme. Its all good nd im keepingit.

He flopped down on the bed to start scrolling through Voxtagram, and Loona firmly snapped the door shut at the same moment the bed creaked from his weight. 

“G’night, Blitzo.”

“G’night, Loonie! See you tomorrow bright and early!” he called back at the sound of her plodding down the hall. “We’ve got another job lined up!”

If he was lucky, maybe nothing else would even have to change.

[dearyams]

wanted to send you a prompt i was gonna do but i am too lazy prompt: mike and will have been dating but havent said i love you, mike is going on some trip for a week where cell phones dont work (obv future fic) and so Byeler is having a phone convo before mike arrives at his destination and they wont be able to talk to each other a week and will says tells mike he loves him but before mike can respond the phone disconnects as Mike arrives at the destinationn

[ crossposted on AO3 ]

“Finished packing yet?”

Mike turns from his suitcase and the clothes piles spread about the floor in his room and grins when he spots Will leaning on the doorframe a few feet away. He’s got two iced coffee cups in hand, indicative of finishing his part-time hours at the local coffee shop a few blocks north from the Byers residence. Mike wonders if Will biked his way over or took a lift with his brother to come visit before the Wheelers make their way on an impromptu trip to upstate New York at a cabin his dad had recently inherited.

The kneeling boy waves his hands at the disorderly state surrounding him and shrugs. “I’m trying and failing at packing the right clothes for this venture, I’ll say that.”

Will chuckles and walks fully into the room. He passes along Mike’s coffee, shoving around haphazardly folded pants to find a seat on the floor beside the other boy. Mike watches him grab a sweater and toss it aside. “It’s summer so you don’t need to pack heavy. Just grab some t-shirts and jeans; that should do. Shorts too if you’d like.”

“Sure,” sighs Mike before sipping from his cup. “I don’t want to make the visit miserable if I’m wearing the wrong clothes. Wrong for the weather and wrong for looking tolerable in the photos I know Mom is gonna force on me.”

Will laughs, a gentle breeze in the summer’s heat. “You’ll look good in whatever you put on.”

“As my boyfriend, you’re kind of obligated to say that.”

“Not really.” the brunette leans in to kiss Mike’s cheek. “I’ll let you know when you look bad if only for the sake of my own eyes.”

“And when you won’t be next to me, how will you judge my outfits properly?”

Will checks his watch and hums. “When’s your departure? If you have time, you can try out some of the outfits and I’ll let you know what works.”

Mike grins as he reaches over Will’s lap and snags a band t-shirt. “Sneaky aren’t you; tryna get me undressed.”

“I’ll cover my eyes.” Will places his unoccupied hand over his eyes but spreads his fingers between his middle and ring fingers to peek through the opening. Mike scoffs, tossing a stray pair of shorts at his face which makes the brunette laugh heartily. Mike already misses Will, the knowledge that they’ll be separated for a week squeezing his heart dry with romantic despair. He wishes Will could come with but the trip was pretty unplanned and though Mike's “job” as a blog writer and editor doesn’t require a remote location, Will’s job doesn’t allow the same ease when taking off work.

(Though Mike thinks he’ll probably still be working offline on an article if his mom doesn’t steal his laptop for “family bonding in the forest” time.)

Mike’s sudden fashion show lasts for about an hour and while Will does offer good input, most of that hour is spent playing around and Mike sneaking in as many kisses as they can get away with whenever Mike peels off a shirt and struggles to get his head through the tight collar of another. Afterwards, Will helps finish packing and when completed, they lounge about on Mike’s bed as Will discusses the customers he met earlier in the day.

Though he knows packing just mere hours before departure isn’t a habit he should develop, especially when the plans for his career require frequent traveling, he spent the night before editing a movie review scheduled for posting during the drive. Mike doesn’t regret his momentary time mismanagement if it means he spends more time with Will before the trip. The article can wait—he’s posting it early anyway—but time spent with his boyfriend is always coveted.

When Mike’s mom knocks on the door, Will pulls away from Mike’s chest where he rested his head as they page through Mike’s hard copy of The Golden Compass which he wanted to review in line with the show’s release. Shaking his head and straightening his hair as best as possible, Mike struts to his door and opens it with raised eyebrows. His mom looks up from checking her phone and offers Mike a tight smile before looking past him to wave at Will.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you two,” she starts warmly, “but Mike, we have to get going soon. The traffic through the city is getting dense thanks to an accident on the 70.”

“Got it,” replies Mike as he turns back to Will, who walks to his side with both their empty cups in hand. “I’ll see you in a few days, Byers.”

“‘Course.” Will grins and leans up to press a gentle kiss to Mike’s cheek. “Call me when you’re getting close to your destination.”

“Sure, worrywart,” he teases but turns his face to kiss Will’s lips one last time before he has to depart. He watches Will nod bashfully at his mom and give her a short goodbye before making his way downstairs. Mike doesn’t look away until he hears the front door closing and then he casts his gaze on his mom. “Are Dad, Nancy, and Holly waiting outside?”

“Yes,” she nods toward the front of the house. “We’ll all just waiting on you now.”

It doesn’t take long for Mike to join his family at the car, and as his dad pulls out the driveway, Mike turns in the direction of the Byers and smiles when he sees Will on his bike a little ways down the road watching. He sticks his hand out the window, his wave only growing more frantic when Will waves back. Holly giggles and Nancy makes a side comment about love sick teenagers as if she wasn’t one herself during her escapades with Steve, Jonathan, and now Robin. The first hour and a half fills with Holly saying “moo” every time they pass a cow on the way to the interstate and Mike feels like smashing his head against his window when they pass a farm and Holly moos until she nearly passes out. Pulling out his phone, Mike shoots Will a selfie of himself despondently looking out the window and groans when his cell service takes its sweet time sending the message along. Mike gets a reply a reply twenty minutes later: Will laughing at his misery with a short additional, “you’ll be there before you know it,” and a bunch of kiss emojis.

The next hour passes with Mike flipping through his ever growing Will gallery, a digital photo album filled with selfies and candid shots of Will, both solo and with Mike. He’s not one for being in photos himself but Will manages to drag him into a few selfies here and there. He doesn’t mind snapping a selfie either by himself or together—cheeks squished as they both attempt to fit in the frame as Mike holds the phone up and out—because Will always asks him to send the photo along and then makes it his lock screen until the next time he convinces Mike it’s photo time.

After settling on a candid shot Mike snapped when he and Will visited Lovers’ Lake and the sun framed Will like a bright halo of fire, Mike settles on playing a mobile game for about another two hours before staring out the window until the trees blend together and his eyes find themselves sliding shut. He wakes up a few times here and there when the family stops at gas stations and picks up snacks—he definitely remembers his mom arguing with his dad about stopping at a hotel which they ultimately don’t do—but he wakes up for the final time to his phone buzzing in his lap, startling him out of a dream he quickly forgets upon waking. Caller ID tags the number as Will and he immediately answers as he scrambles for his headphones in his pocket.

“Hey,” he begins, shoving the headphone plug into the slot at the bottom of the device, “Is everything okay back home?”

“Everything’s great,” Will’s voice crackles on the line and Mike peaks outside in the darkness to notice the forest surrounding him. They must be close to the cabin destination already. He didn’t think he had slept for that long. “Just checking in since it’s about time you’ve arrived if your dad didn’t take a rest.”

Mike laughs. “You’re cute, you know, checking up on me like this.” He hears Nancy snorting and reaches over Holly to pinch her bare arm. She glares at him and covers Holly’s eyes to flip him off. “Nancy says hello by the way.”

“Hello back to her.” Mike can hear Will’s grin and his heart clenches in sorrow at the current distance between them. “Are you doing okay there?”

“Yeah, peachy.” Mike yawns and covers his mouth. “Is it too cheesy to say I already miss you?”

“Maybe, but I miss you, too, so you don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”

A sleepy smile curls itself on Mike’s lips. “One week, Byers; one week and then I’m back.”

“Yeah, but don’t spend your time counting down the days, alright? I’ll do that for us both; you just have a great time at the cabin.”

Mike would kiss him if he could. “I’ll try my best but you know how my brain works.”

“Are you telling me it actually does work?”

“I’m breaking up with you.” Will laughs heartily. “Why are you laughing; I’m serious this time.”

“Sure, Wheeler.” Mike frowns as the last bit of his name gets caught in static. “Hey, I know this is probably something that should wait until you’re back but this separation made me realize I should tell you either way.”

“This sounds pretty important.”

“Yeah. I, uh, you probably already know this though but,” and Will takes a deep breath and releases it, though Mike hears it in short, split crackles. “Mike, I love you.”

The clarity in those four words stuns Mike into speechlessness and his mouth dries as his heart thumps speedily in his chest. Will is right, Mike already knows Will loves him, but this is the first time Will has ever said the fact out loud. I love you echoes in Mike’s head at the reverb levels of a rock guitarist. It takes far too long for his brain to come back online, but by the time it does, the car speeds past a brush of trees and the call suddenly drops. Mike looks down at his phone screen as the loud call dropped tone passes through his headphones. His home screen—a playfully disgruntled selfie as Will kisses his cheek—stares him back in the face as Will’s voice continues to bounce about in his head.

Mike, I love you.

Mike quickly calls back but his phone spits back the message that he has no service. “Nancy,” he hisses even though the entire car heard his part of his conversation with Will anyway, “do you have any service on your phone? I need to call Will back and my phone is being homophobic.”

Nancy raises her eyebrows but checks phone and shakes her head. “Looks like you’re straight out of luck.”

“Ha; you’re quite the comedian, aren’t you.” Mike reaches forward to tap his mom’s arm. “Mom, can I borrow your phone to finish a call?”

“Sorry, sweetie, I’ve lost service, too. I don’t think any of us can use internet on our phones.”

“Does the cabin at least have wifi?”

“Nope,” snorts Mike’s dad as he drives the car down a dirt road further into the forest. “You kids these days need to learn what life is like without cell phones anyway.”

Mike rolls his eyes and mumbles under his breath, “Okay, boomer.”

“What was that, young man?”

“Okay, bummer.” Nancy bites on her bottom lip and Mike sends her a grin before settling in his seat.

Their mom reaches a hand back to rest on Mike’s knee. “It’s only 7 days, Michael. I’m sure both you and Will can last that long without contact.”

He told me he loves me, Mom, he wants to explain but Will’s words are too fresh and far too private to blurt out in front of the whole family. He crosses his arms silently and turns to stare out the window, hoping that Will can wait out these next few days and hoping he doesn’t think Mike hung up on him after such an important conversation. I love you, too, he thinks to himself, smiling as he presses his hand against the chilly window and imagines Will on the other side as if the car window is the window in Will’s room and Will’s inside watching Mike with that ever so lovestruck grin filled with appreciation that Mike came over despite the cold night to comfort Will from the nightmares that occasionally plague him to this day.

I love you, Will, he repeats inwardly, wait for me.

[berriebun]

Spontaneous Coincidence

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia Pairing: Shinsou x Uraraka Character(s): Uraraka Ochako, Shinsou Hitoshi Rating: SFW Word count: 2,159

A/N: @shinchakoweek​ prompt - 02. Coffee & Tea. Quirkless AU, College setting! I have so many ideas for this one, let's see which one fits better~

A few weeks passed since the encounter at the Night club... It feels like forever ago now. Ochako had gone back to that bar a couple of times throughout the month, hoping to maybe find the familiar head of dusty lavender hair but she either just kept missing him or he just hadn’t been back. And given the fact that she had found him at the bar looking like he didn’t want to be in the first place, she felt a little stupid in hoping to see him there again. It would have been by pure luck that he’d be there again if only his friends dragged him back and she wasn’t sure that it would happen so soon.

School continued to demand most of her attention as she worked as hard as she could on finishing assignments and passing tests- all of which was draining her mentally. College education was important, especially if you have a specific goal in mind for your future, but it was so demanding that Ochako felt like it was sucking her soul out of her little by little. And she still had three more years of this! ‘I’m going to be a husk of a person by the time I graduate. IF I even get that far!!’ She groaned to herself as she slumped at her desk, pressing her face against the cool pages of her textbook.

As she stared off, her thoughts wandered to give herself a bit of a break as she looked around her room from where she was planted in her book. Quite a few thoughts filtered through in rapid secession. She needed to water her plants, had she gone shopping yet? Was there something ready-made in the mini-fridge all ready to eat, or did she need to get up and make something? Should she go to the commons? Maybe he’d be there- No, stop it, he probably doesn’t go to this Uni. But still... No! She needed to focus on her work, not some cute boy she spent a couple of hours with at random. 

She peeled her face off the weird plastic-y paper of her textbook and shook her head at herself, patting her cheeks. “Come on, Ocha. Get yourself together.” And then she just sat there for a few minutes, staring at the words on the page. It felt like minutes, but just a couple seconds had gone by before she pushed the book away. “Screw this.” She huffed, pulling away from her desk and getting up.

She didn’t know where she was going, but getting out of the dorm was her top priority, so when she ended up on the sidewalk heading into town she wasn’t at all surprised. Her feet were carrying her back towards the club, but she realized that pretty quickly and on a whim decided to head into the coffee shop she was standing next to instead. She needed to stop chasing her thoughts. For all she knew, Mr. Art Major was probably from a different city altogether and was just spending the weekend with his friends. ‘It would explain why he got dragged to the club when he clearly didn’t want to be there.’  

She tried to distract herself while she waited in line, scrolling on her phone and texting Mina if she wanted anything. It was doing a decent enough job. Until she got to the front of the line.

“Welcome to Coffee House, what can I get you... today.”

That voice. She quickly looked up from her phone; where Mina had just texted her what she wanted, to see Mr. Art Major. She didn’t react right away, and he didn’t seem to mind all that much since he seemed to be caught in the same situation. After a beat, her eyes dart down for a name- Hitoshi... ‘Oh no, it’s a cute name too. Fuck!’ 

“Hi. Um....” She blinks for a minute before mentally shaking herself out of this weird stupor she was stuck in. “Yeah. Um. Can I get a, uh, large Matcha Latte please?” Welp, so much for ordering something for Mina. She’ll worry about it later... Well. Mina would understand, right? 

“Sure, and what’s your name?” He asked, holding up the cardboard cup with a permanent marker- in purple.

“Ochako.” She smiled a little as she put her phone in her pocket and pulled out her wallet instead.

“Alright, and would you like anything else with your order?” A standard question, sure, but with the irrational fear of possibly never seeing him again (he works here Ochako, you can stop in whenever, omg), she spoke before she could properly think. 

“Your phone number?” She froze slightly, sure that she had a mild look of panic on her face as Hitoshi raised an eyebrow in surprise. Her entire face lit up as she covered her mouth. “Wait, I- I’m sorry, that-!” She stammered a little as Hitoshi’s look of surprise turned to one of amusement as he picked up her cup again and proceeded to scribble on the side of it.

“If that will be all, ma’am, then your total will be four dollars and sixty-five cents.” He sounded amused as he handed the cup off to a simple looking blond boy next to him. 

Instead of responding properly she just pulled out her card and handed it over. That was so embarrassing! How did she do that- WHY did she do that??? She had no clue what had come over her at that moment. And when motioned to, she moved out of line and went to find a table to sit at while she waited for her drink. The noise of the coffee shop dulled around the pounding her ears- sure that her heartbeat was attempting to deafen her. She 

As she sat down, Ochako pulled out her phone again and started spam texting Mina while she waited. As she had expected, her friend both congratulated her and spammed her with key smashes over the whole situation.

‘u wouldnt shut up about him! & now ure getting his number!!!’ ‘shut up! i dont know that for sure??? wat if he wrote -dont come back-???????’ ‘OMG ure brainless he totally wrote his number shut up’

The continued to bicker through text as Ochako pressed her face against her phone and lightly stomped her feet. Her nerves were killing her at this point and she just wished that they’d call her name so she could grab her drink and leave.

What she didn’t expect was for Hitoshi to take his lunch break at the same time, since he slightly startled her when he brought over her drink; with a bagel in hand. She jumped a little with a start, as her cheeks regained their rosy hue from before.

“Sorry. I should have said something.” He laughs awkwardly, hesitating for a moment before sitting across from her.

“No!” She squeaked. “No, it’s okay. I just. I was distracted, you’re fine.” She just wanted to disappear, this was so embarrassing... At least the slight pink to his face was a small comfort in the fact that she wasn’t the only one.

They both sat there for a moment, both a bit awkward and unprepared for the meeting- especially given the fact that they have both been unknowingly going through the same thing these last few weeks. They shared a couple anxious looks every once in a while before shying away from the other’s attention to focus too much on what was in front of them; Hitoshi awkwardly eating his bagel by tearing small chunks off little by little, while Ochako carefully sipped her latte and tapped her phone.

“So um... How did that- the exam? How’d that go?” It was Hitoshi to break the silence, startling Ochako into paying attention again as she fidgets with her pop socket. 

“Exam...? Oh! Oh that exam, yeah! I uh, I just barely passed it, but I scraped by at least. No thanks to my friends of course. It wasn’t super awful, but I think I was just distracted... I could have probably done better.” She shrugs, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ear. And left with nothing more to really say, they lulled for a moment before Ochako awkwardly spoke up again. “I hope um, that your friends came and got you that night- shortly after we left. I can only guess how sucky it would have been if they forgot to find you before they left since the club was closing.”

He chuckles a bit and shakes his head as he picks at his bagel. “Yeah, no worries. Denki spammed my phone shortly after you left with your friends. The guy’s an idiot but he’s not forgetful. Even when drunk.” She nods for a moment before she tilts her head- That name was way too familiar to her.

“Denki? As in, Denki Kaminari? That Denki?”

“Idiot blond, wears a ridiculous black zig-zag hair clip in his bangs for no other reason than ‘aesthetic’?” He asked slowly, seemingly unsure if he really wanted to know her answer.

“Oh my god. I could--hmmmm.” She groans, covering her face as she grips her phone tightly and shakes it like she wants to yeet it across the cafe.

“I’m missing something.”

“Uuugh. My best friend and roommate is Mina. She’s dating Eijirou, who’s friends with Denki- Who they tried to set me up with for a double date!” She ranted. “Like!! He’s not a bad guy or anything!! Just!!!” She made a squeaky ‘reeee’ noise. “This is so Stupid.” She continued on as she pulled her phone up and spammed Mina with a bunch of anger emojis.

“What’s-” He seemed a bit off, and had she known him for longer than maybe half a day in total, then maybe she would have picked up his tone as a more exhausting annoyance than confusion. She watched him from the corner of her vision as he ran a hand through his wildly fluffy hair and pull out his own phone. 

“I agree. This is dumb.” He grumbled quietly, probably mostly to himself as he then dropped his phone on the table. 

“I’m sorry about how I reacted, just... This is so frustrating. And I hope this doesn’t come off as creepy or anything, but I’ve been trying to... Find you again. Ever since that weekend.” She sighed, slouching a little back into her chair, tugging on her hair a little. 

Her statement was followed by silence for a moment as she watched him pick at his bagel for a moment. “It’s not creepy. I’ve been trying too. And with all the times I talked to those morons about you, you would have thought that-”

“They would have realized.” She continued with him, nodding as she crossed her arms. “Yeah, you would think. I can’t believe this.” 

They both sat quietly for a moment as Hitoshi pushed his half-finished bagel away with a huff. A couple minutes after, he picks up his phone and frowns. “Well... It has been nice to actually sit and talk with you again. Maybe we can catch up later?” He asked, nodding towards her cup. She tilts her head to the side for a moment before picking up the cup again and turning it around, smiling weakly. He had written his number on the side.

“I don’t even know how I got the courage to say that. It was such a spur of the moment thing, and I totally forgot to look when you brought it to me.” She laughs, pulling up her contacts to put his number in and sends him a quick ‘Hey’ text. “But yeah. We can catch up later. I’m glad I decided to stop in, because who would have guessed huh?” She laughs, standing up as she pocketed her phone and picked up her cup- And being the way she was she eyed his bagel.

“Yeah, that was pretty damn smooth though. I was thoroughly impressed.” He laughs, ruffling up his hair as he too follows suit and stands up. He watches her eye his half-eaten lunch. “You can have it.” He grins, she was sure he was planning to save it for later since he had partially reached for it, but apparently, he didn’t seem to mind her side-eying it. 

“Awesome!” She smiles, scooping up the bagel and taking a bite out of it before realizing she still needed to say good-bye. “Oh.” She lifted a hand to cover her mouth. “I’ll see you around then, Mr. Barista.” She teased as she swallowed the bite.

“See you around, Matcha Latte.” He jokes back, walking past her to seemingly head back to work.

Feeling lighter than she had, going through a damn emotional rollercoaster ride just from stepping into a coffee shop, Ochako couldn’t help her smile as she shouldered her way out of the Coffee House and made her way back to the dorms.

[bratkook]

clairvoyant. (m) part seven.

masterlist.

pairing: taehyung x reader (briefly) jungkook x reader 

word count: 15k+ damn my bad

warnings: nsfw, spanking, dirty talk, unprotected sex (dont do this) but otherwise pretty tame at the end

authors note: i know i said this would go up monday but im clearly a liar i stayed up late last night writing this and it’s partially edited so if something looks fucked up dont come for me :( ill edit it later i just wanted to get it up lmfao im thinking another chapter left, maybe 2 anyways lmk what u think

Its Monday afternoon and you’re sat at your desk at work, your fingers mindlessly tapping on your mousepad as you retouch a portrait on your desktop. To be honest, you weren’t really paying it any attention, your mind kept drifting over to the text Jungkook had sent you the other night while he was drunk. Sure he had asked you to help him get his dick wet and a part of you knows he meant help as in_ help me find someone new_ but the perverted side of you hoped he meant help as in let me fuck you.

“Okay, unless you’re trying to make her skin look like plastic you need to ease off.”

Your hands jump at Yoongi’s voice and you realize the monstrosity you created on the models face, wincing as you delete the layer entirely to start over.

“Oops, thanks.” Yoongi just laughs, resting his arm on your shoulder and slouching over your seated frame as you resume editing with a slightly clearer head.

“Did you sleep okay last night?” He had been watching you during your entire shift together, today was an easier day, only slight organizing and retouching being the things on the to-do list but you had been very spacey. You were misnaming files and not being able to find them on the desktop, forgetting basic commands on photoshop that were second nature to you and you had mistakenly put coffee grounds instead of instant coffee in Yoongis morning cup and hadn’t realized.

Your hand came up to scratch your temple as you thought back to yesterday, waking up at three in the afternoon hungover as fuck in Jimin’s bedroom. Both of you had managed to go to sleep in the same exact clothes you went out in and your body was stiff which lead you to believe whatever sleeping position you chose had been very unfortunate.

Both of your phones had died in the middle of the night since the pair of you had been way to drunk to even think of plugging them in and when Jimin finally waltzed in from the bathroom, his hair damp from the shower, he suggested going out to eat so you let your phone remain dead in your pocket as you went about your day. You were blissfully unaware of Jungkook’s text sitting pretty in your inbox.

In turn Jungkook was sat in his own bed, a massive headache pounding so hard he swore his eyes were vibrating from the force. He remembered the text, hell he remembered jacking off in the shower before sending said text. So when he was finally able to sit up without wanting to vomit he was expecting his phone to have a notification from you, your typical response backed with a handful of suggestive emojis because you knew it made him blush.

But when there was nothing he felt his eyebrows furrow together, his finger locking his phone and tossing it beside him in bed as he lay back down. Had he crossed a line? His message was tame enough to leave it open to interpretation but Jungkook knew how he meant it when he sent it, he may have been high off his orgasm but he knew.

He continued to lay in bed for the majority of the day, only leaving to go to the cafeteria with Taehyung once he finally awoke, equally as hungover. He ate as much as he could stomach, not accustomed to hangovers that left his stomach feeling queasy. Unlike you who was currently stuffing as many breadsticks in your mouth as you could in the restaurant you and Jimin occupied, only leaving once your stomach was at capacity. You didn’t get a chance to see Jungkook’s text until eight o’clock that night and when you did see it your mind first went to sex. Jungkook was asking you for sex.

Sort of.

Slapping perverted thoughts from your head you responded with a simple of course i’ll help you. Leaving it at that, you knew he had sent you the first text while wasted so you were giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Those cursed perverted thoughts haunted your dreams though, images of you riding a shy Jungkook on your bed until he came noisily playing over and over and over you were surprised you hadn’t woken up with your underwear covered in remnants of an orgasm.

You hadn’t slept well at all.

You tell Yoongi this with a tight lipped smile and he nods sympathetically, “What are you doing after this?”

Looking at the clock you see there is twenty minutes left before the end of your shift, Taehyung had already messaged you earlier in the day asking to hang out and whether that meant actually hanging out or hanging out you weren’t sure but either way was fine with you. You needed a distraction to help you stop seeing the image of Jungkook cumming replaying in your mind.

“I’m seeing Tae.”

You don’t look up to see Yoongi’s reaction, not wanting to see any facial expression of judgment when you mention Taehyung’s name. Thankfully he only hums in response, watching you save your current file and start to shut down the computer and going to his own workstation to start doing the same.

When the time comes to leave you say your goodbyes, Yoongi getting into an uber to head to Jimin’s, telling you if you wanted to join them after you were done with Taehyung you were more than welcome. You hug him and tell him you’ll think about it before hopping onto the bus and heading back to campus.

The weather was getting colder in the day, its nearing the end of the first week of October and the fallen leaves decorating the sidewalks made that obvious. Once you hop off on campus you take note of the flyers plastered on bulletin boards, big posters taped on the sides of the buildings to announce the various Halloween themed events going on and you grin at all the activities that you love. This was always your favorite time of year.

As you trek your way into the boys dorm you greet Baekhyun at the front desk before entering the elevator with your phone in your hand. Your eyes are downcast as you scroll through your campus portal, skimming through the various assignments you had due this month and starting to feel the small tingles of stress creep up on you.

The elevator dings and you step out, your fingers tapping on an assignment due later tonight. Your eyes are glued to your device so you don’t notice Jungkook stood a few feet away, frozen in spot as he sees you. It’s not until you’re about to run into him that his shadow snaps you out of your daze, your eyes flicking up, “Oh, Jungkook!” You throw him a charming smile as you wrap your arms around him in greeting.

Jungkook relaxes when he feels your embrace, the nerves he’s felt since sending you that text vanish, his own arms wrapping around your body with a gentle squeeze. “Hey Y/N, what are you doing here?”

In retrospect he knows what you’re doing here but he needs to hear you say it. He needs to remind himself that you’re not here to see him to fulfill any sick desires he has.

You pull back still smiling, slipping your phone into your back pocket to give him your full attention. “Taehyung text me wanting to hang out so,” you spread your arms out widely, “here I am.”

He can only grin at that, of course you weren’t here to see him. You were here to see Taehyung. The man you fucked. Constantly. Not him.

You take note of his appearance, a giant black hoodie swallowing his frame and his school bag draped over his shoulder, “Are you heading out somewhere?” You speak again when he says nothing in response.

“Yeah, just to a study group at the library.” His eyes give you another once over, he wants to keep talking to you but it’s clear you have other things to get to, “I don’t want you to keep Tae waiting so I’ll be off.” He shoves his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie with a small smile and steps around you awkwardly.

You can only mutter out a small okay because he’s acting a little strange but thats typically how Jungkook acts. He’s relatively shy, only speaking when spoken to and whenever he has bouts of confidence where he jokes and laughs and says things you’d never imagine him saying it only lasts for a moment before he’s back to shy Jungkook.

You wave at him and continue walking down the hallway to Taehyung’s room. Jungkook manages to take two steps towards the elevator before stopping and turning back around, “Y/N!” He shouts, flinching a little at his own voice and cringing when he sees you jump for a second, turning around with a curious face. “Do you think we could hang out soon? Like…” he rummages in his brain as he thinks of something else to say, “maybe after all our classes tomorrow?”

You think for a moment, you have a few classes after the creative writing class you share with him and another work shift right after so that won’t work. “I can’t tomorrow but after classes on Friday I’m free.” Jungkook doesn’t even think about his schedule, shouting out that Friday works for him as well and now your beaming smile is back and Jungkook can feel his stupid heart skip a beat at the sight.

Now he can finally leave in peace, a small pep in his step as he enters the elevator but that doesn’t stop him from aggressively jabbing his finger against the close door button so he doesn’t have to see you walk into Tae’s room.

Luckily the week passes by quickly, Jungkook had nerves bubbling up in his stomach the entire time. It wasn’t like he had never hung out with you one on one, you guys usually hung out during the free period you had after your shared class but it was something that was sort of routine. This time he had explicitly asked to hang out, he wasn’t sure why that felt so different but it did so as his professor recites his final sentences Jungkook is totally zoned out, only coming back when he hears he’s dismissed. And then hes shooting up out of his seat, throwing his backpack over his shoulders and speed walking out of the building and onto the quad.

He passes the stupid cafe and ducks his head, walking even faster to avoid the possibility of Jisoo spotting him through the giant windows. When he feels he can no longer be spotted he lets out a breath, his shoulders relaxing and his pace slowing down. That gross feeling he had in his chest after Jisoo had slammed the door in his face hadn’t gone away, he still felt like he had done something horrible even though he knows he hadn’t but the small glares Jisoo would send him whenever she would spot him on campus just made that feeling linger.

He was counting down the days she would graduate, or at least until she’d set her eyes on someone else because he wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take. She hadn’t resorted to shouting things at him or anything too out of pocket but it was clear to Jungkook that she was telling her circle of friends that he had done something despicable and they were telling their friends. The whispers and small huddling that would happen when he would pass them on campus or in the rare occurrence that they shared a class made that obvious. He hated it.

Once he finally makes it into the girl’s dorm Joy greets him with a smile and he tries his best to return it. Letting her simple question erase the worries in his mind, “Are you going to the bonfire tonight?”

He grabs his id back from her and looks up with a nod, that was actually what he was going to suggest the two of you do. He had seen the abundance of posters around campus advertising the event and it sounded like fun. “Yeah actually, I’ve never been.”

Joy smiles with a clap of her hands, knowing it’s his first year at this school, “It’s a good time, lots of snacks and someone always finds a way to sneak booze in. You guys will like it.” She refers to you when she says that, already knowing thats who Jungkook was here to see. Jungkook can feel someone behind him so he shuffles away to let the person sign in, waving at Joy as he makes his way up to your room.

The hallways of your floor are covered in fake spiderwebs, skeletons draped over some girl’s doors while others had plastered colored paper and drawn up their own version of spooky designs that reminded him of his years in elementary school. It was cute and honestly the boy’s dorms could take some notes because the only decoration they currently had was a skeleton sitting on one of the toilets in the bathroom.

As he stands in front of your door he takes note of the white board you and Wendy have hung up and he laughs softly when he sees whats written on it. In red marker it says *dracula voice* we want to suck your blood with some poorly drawn fangs underneath it and in the corner beside it the word dick is written with an obnoxious arrow coming up to point at the word blood to replace it.

His knuckles knock on your room door, hearing shuffling from behind it and some laughter before it’s thrown open and you’re greeting him with a smile, “Hey Jungkook.” Your lips shimmer back thanks to the clear lipgloss you’re currently wearing and his eyes zero in on them.

“Hey.” He mumbles out and you catch his eyes giving you a once over, finally making eye contact when you step to the side to let him in. He steps into the room and notices that you and your roommate must really love this holiday because you both have decked it out in halloween decorations. There’s a giant spiderweb rug in the center of the floor between your beds and a string of bat fairy lights hung behind your beds where you pinned more polaroids onto it. Theres a soft orange glow that fills the room and he notices you two have even gone as far as sticking led tape to the ceiling for the ambiance.

“Love the commitment.”

You chuckle, pointing over to your roommate with a smile, “She’s a slut for halloween and so am I so we had to. It’s not fully finished yet, we gotta grab some more stuff don’t we?”

When he looks over at Wendy’s side he spots her sat on her bed as she ties her shoes, “You bet your ass we do, I’m thinking we need different curtains or maybe a full on skeleton like Yeri has hung on her door.”

Jungkook can’t imagine how much more effort you two could put into your room but the determination set on Wendy’s face shows that she’s not joking. “Alright I’m off to go be a slave to the systems of education, pray I make it through this four hour lecture.” You laugh and clasp your hands in faux prayer, laughing harder when she rolls her eyes at you with a smile, telling you and Jungkook goodbye and dragging her feet like a child as she leaves.

“What did you wanna do today?” You ask him as you go back to your mirror to finish fixing your hair up. Jungkook sets his bag on the floor beside your bed, rolling his shoulders as he sits on it and shuffles backwards until he feels the cool of the wall against his back.

“There’s that rooftop bonfire happening later on, I was thinking maybe we could go to that?”

Your face perks up when he mentions that, immediately saying it was a good idea. That yearly bonfire was always the best, last year they had managed to bring up a giant blow up projector and played some classic halloween movies while everyone sat around the bonfire and made s’mores. Jin had snuck in a few flasks full of vodka so you and your group had been nice and drunk, bundled up in blankets while Hocus Pocus played.

“That actually sounds perfect, did you wanna head down to the store to grab some stuff?” Your attention was back on the mirror, your fingers coming to wipe at the corners of your mouth to fix any smudges of your gloss so Jungkook felt like he could stare at you and not get caught. You had your hair in messy waves, one side tucked behind your ear as you leaned forward and the cropped grey crewneck you had on wasn’t going to do much to protect you from the cold but it was obvious the outfit was for purely aesthetic purposes.

“Sure, lets go.”

The both of you head back out onto campus, two reusable bags in your hand to help you carry whatever you decide to buy. The bonfire usually had enough snacks for everyone but it was always good to go out and buy stuff you knew you liked as a safety net. The walk was nice, the sun had finally set, the last remaining hues of purple peeking away behind the buildings, allowing the floor lights to illuminate the path you were walking on.

Jungkook seemed to be out of his usual shy shell, his hands flailing around as he talked to you about the project he was working on in his intro to ceramics class. He swore he had no talent in it and was only taking it since he needed the units the class came with but you found it hard to believe since the photos he would post online said otherwise.

“You’re so full of shit.”

His mouth dropped open, his arms freezing in the position they were currently in as he tried to show you the motions of making a mug, “I swear. I’m gonna make you a mug and it’s gonna be the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen and you’re gonna have to love it because you doubted me.”

That just makes you laugh and he smiles down at you, “I’d love that, make it extra big too. Big enough so I can pour two cups of coffee in it and I’ll treasure it forever, no matter how ugly it is.”

He nods in thought, his lips pursed together because he was definitely gonna do that now. He really wasn’t the worst at ceramics but now he was determined to make you a half decent mug to drink your morning coffee. “Deal, give me a week.” He pulled the door open for the store and let you slip in first, the bells dinging up ahead to notify the worker of your presence.

You went for the chips, stuffing two bags of spicy tteokbokki chips into your bag as your first choice. Jungkook roams over to the sweets, grabbing a few of the chocopie for himself, calling your name out as he holds one up and when you nod he grabs a few more for you as well. It takes you both a few minutes to raid the shelves, huddling in a corner with the bag pulled apart to inspect the damage, “Is this enough?”

Jungkook hums as his eyes scan the contents, spicy chips, seaweed crisps, chocopies, some sausages, two small containers of banana milk for himself and a few cans of sparkling soju crammed at the bottom for you two to conceal. This seemed like enough, and you kept saying there would be more options once you got there so he didn’t think you should load up on too much. “Yeah, I think we’re good.”

Satisfied, you pay for your goods and make your way back to your building where the event would take place. You hop into the elevator and click the very top floor, he could see your big smile in the reflection, your feet tapping excitedly and he feels a smile spreading on his own face, happy that he chose an activity that made you this giddy.

When the doors open to the roof you step out onto the hallway and walk up three steps through the doors that lead to roof access. Jungkook had no idea either of the dorm buildings even had roof access so he’s amazed at that fact alone. The entire perimeter is blocked up by a cement border to prevent anyone from falling off, a plethora of plants covering it up to make it look more pleasing to the eye. Right in the middle of it all was the bonfire, thin and long and already lit up with people sat on the surrounding couch.

Besides that were a handful of bean bags and comfy chairs in case there wasn’t enough seating on the couch and if that wasn’t enough either there was a giant space open up in front of the blow up projector for anyone to lay a comfy blanket down to chill.

The snack and beverage table was placed to the left which was where you were currently dragging Jungkook to. You pulled out a few of the treats you had bought to leave them for anyone to enjoy and Jungkook couldn’t resist grabbing a piece of chocolate that was meant for the s’mores, letting the candy melt in his mouth as his eyes roamed the place some more.

“Hey, isn’t that Jimin?” He spoke slowly, not wanting the melted candy to drool out of his mouth. You were munching on a cinnamon cracker, your head turning to where he was pointing and low and behold it was Jimin. He was currently sat on the grey couch in front of the fire right next to a girl you recognized as Chaeyoung, she was holding a marshmallow on top of the fire, laughing as Jimin surely teased her for burning it.

“Yeah it is.” You smiled to yourself, seeing your best friend behaving uncharacteristically flirty, accepting a bite of the slightly burnt marshmallow smushed between the chocolate and crackers in Chaeyoung’s hands, licking his lips and plucking the snack out of her grasp to feed her the rest of it.

Jungkook walked towards them, seeing a few empty spots to their left on the smaller couch by the fire, he noticed the metal basket by the couch containing blankets so he snagged one out before he took a seat, handing it to you when you sat beside him.

“Y/N, Jungkook!” Jimin notices you two the second you sit down, popping the tip of his finger into his mouth to lick away the sticky residue from it.

“Hey, I didn’t think you’d be here.” You tease him, setting your bag in front of you and Jungkook and draping the blanket over the both of your laps for some added warmth.

“I wasn’t going to but this one,” he drapes his arm over Chaeyoung and she blushes at his display of affection, covering up a side of her face, “convinced me to come. Something about them playing The Lost Boys.”

She looked up at him and smiled, “It’s my all time favorite movie, I can’t believe you’ve never seen it.” Jimin just shrugs, a teasing smirk on his face and you wanna scream at how cute hes acting but you really don’t want to embarrass him. Park Jimim was not one for dates or romantics so seeing him on what could arguably be described as a date blind sided you.

“Oh, I’m Chaeyoung by the way.” She leans out of his embrace and reaches over with an extended hand. You lean over Jungkook to reach it, a giggly handshake being exchanged between you two, “Y/N. You’re a third year right? Political science major?”

“Yes, I am! I saw your photography exhibit by the way, super amazing.” Your hands come up to cup your cheeks at her compliment, suddenly feeling like you two are drunk strangers at a bar ready to spit compliment after compliment at each other.

“And you’re Jungkook right?” She speaks again, sitting back in her seat as she stares at him with an unreadable expression and you can feel Jungkook tense up slightly at being recognized because how the fuck would a third year know who he was. He wasn’t a social butterfly at all, he only knew you and your group and his other small group of friends that he studied with.

“Oh, yeah I am.” Jungkook reaches his own hand out to greet her and she does the same. Pulling her hand back after a moment and crossing her leg over the other in thought, “Weren’t you just dating Jisoo?”

There it is. Of course thats how she would know who he was. And that only proved his suspicion that Jisoo was spreading his name around.

She had a defensive cast over her gaze, her eyes boring into Jungkook to analyze him. It clicked instantly that Chaeyoung and Jisoo were best friends so theres no doubt that right now Chaeyoung is ready to chew Jungkook out for being what she thinks is a dirtbag.

You can see how wide Jungkooks eyes get at her question, readjusting himself on the couch while his mind sorts through any possible answer he can give her. How could he clear his name without sounding like the jerk she thinks he currently is?

“Uhm,” his eyes drift over to her for a moment and when he sees her unwavering gaze he looks at Jimin instead, seeing him with his lips pressed in a firm line, “we just went to dinner and the art exhibit. We weren’t dating.”

Chaeyoung’s look softens at that, his answer being a stark contrast to what Jisoo had told her. She had said Jungkook had made her his girlfriend and went on this amazing date and when she didn’t put out he told her they weren’t dating.

Jungkook continues to ramble, thinking that answer doesn’t satisfy her, “Jisoo’s a sweet girl, don’t get me wrong. We just weren’t compatible so it was best if we…moved on?”

Your hand comes up to pat his thigh on top of the blanket, comforting him slightly because you can see how nervous he got. His own hand comes down on top of yours, fingers gently wrapping around it and giving it a squeeze.

“Totally fair,” Chaeyoung finally speaks, “just wanted to make sure you didn’t dump my friend and quickly moved on with Y/N.” Her eyes flicker over to your hands and then up to you with a smile. Jimin cleared his throat beside her, his own hands coming up to rub together to try to clear any awkward tension.

“Okay,” he starts, eyes coming down to look at the plastic bag set by your feet, “please tell me you brought any sort of alcohol.”

You lift your hand off Jungkook’s thigh, leaning forward to rummage through the bottom of your bag and pulling out colorful cans of soju. You wave two of them in your hands in offering, tossing them both to Jimin when he cheers obnoxiously, pulling out another two for you and Jungkook to enjoy.

The four of you crack open the cans, bringing them together in cheers to prepare to down the entire thing as fast as you could before anyone could possibly rat you out. You manage half of it before having to pull back, the carbonation in the drink burning your nose and throat more than the soju in it, “Fuck, why did you get these?” Jimin coughs, fingers coming up to rub at his nose.

“They look like soda cans, I was trying to be inconspicuous.” Jungkook laughs at your pained expression, setting his drink on the floor to get up and grab some of the snacks to make s’mores.

Chaeyoung raises her finished can in the air in victory, licking her lips with a slight grimace, “Done!” She crumples up the can for dramatic effect, you and Jimin staring at her in shock and then looking at each other to see who could finish the rest of their drink faster.

Jimin manages three more gulps until he pulls back again, “Nope,” he coughs, letting out a burp as he pounds onto his chest, “can’t do it.” You finish your own can, tossing it into the second reusable bag you brought thats not being occupied. Chaeyoung jokingly calls Jimin a baby, taking his own can to finish off herself.

When Jungkook returns with his snacks & two metal skewers they fall into their own conversation and Jungkook is thankful because even though Chaeyoung seems okay with him he still feels like if he says the wrong thing she’ll turn and call him a fuck boy or something of that nature.

You reach for a skewer, popping a fluffy marshmallow onto the top of it and leaning forward to reach the fire. He mimics your actions, the both of you giggling when he drops his hand too low and his marshmallow burns a little too hot for a moment.

“Do you like your marshmallows well done?” He asks you as he looks at your fluffy snack hovering over the fire way too low since you were focused on staring at his, a teasing grin on his face, “‘Cause that shit is charred.”

You gasp as you pull back your now black marshmallow, frantically blowing on it when you notice its now entirely burnt and Jungkook cant help but laugh at the frown on your face. He pulls his own perfectly toasted marshmallow up towards your face to mock you, only laughing harder when you bring your own burnt one up beside it to compare them.

“I can still salvage it.” You try to convince yourself, your fingers trying to scrape and pluck away the burnt edges but Jungkook knows as well as you do that it’s beyond repair. While you focus on your failed attempt Jungkook prepares his own s’more, putting two pieces of chocolate around the gooey marshmallow and sandwiching it between the cinnamon crackers.

When he brings it up to your face with a sweet smile the frown on your face deepens at the nice motion, you take a small bite of it and let out a sound of satisfaction when the sweetness hits your tongue, “So good!”

He motions for you to finish it but you just take it from him and force feed it back to him, your hand cupping his cheek to push his lips open and its not until he lets out another laugh that you’re able to pop the rest of the treat into his mouth with no resistance. His cheeks are puffed up and he has a bit of chocolate smeared around his lips, looking absolutely adorable and you really can’t stop yourself from cupping both of his cheeks like an annoying auntie and cooing at him which only makes his cheeks warm up, his mouth coming to life to munch away to get his cheeks to deflate again.

“Cute.”

The following week goes on like normal except for the fact that now you’re slammed with work and school, barely getting a moment to see any of your friends between the chaos of it all. Jungkook has a small moment where he thinks he did something wrong since you seemed to drop off the face of the earth after the bonfire. You had both had a great time, a small buzz coursing through you from the soju and you had convinced him to cram with you on the oversized bean bags to watch the movie playing but your lack of communication even after your shared class has him slightly worried.

He’s currently sat at his desk, fingers tapping on his laptops keyboard as he tried to finish the last 300 words needed for this essay. Taehyung is sat at his own desk and it’s not until he starts to groan and furiously key smash that Jungkook stops what he’s doing to turn around and check on his roommates mental health. “You okay?”

Taehyung groans with his cheek pressed against the buttons on his keyboard, a constant string of the letter f being typed onto his own essay, “Sorry.” He apologizes when he realizes how loud he’s being, “If this is way more information than you were looking for I don’t care, but I haven’t gotten laid in over a week so I’m dying.”

Jungkook just laughs at the vulgar behavior that just comes naturally to Taehyung, until he realizes that his roommates statement of recent celibacy means he hasn’t seen you either. Taehyung lifts his head up, his fingers coming up to scratch as his faded red hair, deciding he should get to work and stop distracting his roommate with information on his personal life.

The tapping continues and Jungkook slides his phone out to send you a text to see if you were doing okay since he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t seen you recently. He sets his phone down after pressing send, letting the screen stay lit up as he goes back to his work, his eyes constantly darting back to check for any sign of life on your end.

When it vibrates against the desk he peers over to read your response, saying that work and school were ending your social life along with a photo of your current view at work being a desktop lined up with photos you were sorting through, a few textbooks to the left of it to show you trying your best to multitask.

Yoongi looks up from his own spot, peering over his computer to watch you stop whatever it is you’re doing to grab your phone the second it vibrates, small giggles leaving your body as you banter back and forth with Jungkook for the remainder of your shift. Yoongi knows you’re a sucker, he’s just waiting for you to realize it too.

It’s not until nearly a week and a half later that you have a minute to spare, your time already being occupied by Taehyung since he had begged and pleaded for you to help him with his hair dilemma. He’s determined to be Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul and desperately needs to bleach out the faded ass red form his hair while also tackling his roots.

You’re sat on his desk chair while he sits on the floor between your legs with a bowl of bleach being held in his hands. You have teeny tiny foils in his hair to focus on the red ends first, your hands coming down to dip the tint brush into the thick bleach to coat onto his hair and then securely fold up the foils. “I really hope this comes out.” You mumble out as you fold up the final piece of foil, placing the brush into the remaining bleach for later.

“Me too, that costume is the only thing holding my life together.”

He reaches over to set the bowl onto the desk beside the two of you, coming back to get comfortable again between your legs, “Whys that?”

He whips around dramatically, an exasperated look on his face, “Whys that?” He mocks, his fingers coming up to grip your thighs, “I haven’t fucked you in ages.” He whines out, fingers digging into the flesh of your thighs harder. The foils on his head crinkle as he drops his face onto your stomach and you just roll your eyes at how he’s acting because it’s only been two weeks.

“You have a hand Taehyung.”

“It’s not the same!”

“Wow,” you laugh out, your hand coming up to awkwardly pat his tinfoil head, “I’ve just been overwhelmed with my current work load.” You explain your current situation, how all your professors were assigning massive projects back to back combined with the extra work at your job, it was taking its toll on you. You enjoy your classes and love your new job but you haven’t been able to catch a break lately.

“Let me help you ease your stress.” He mumbles out against the fabric of your shirt, his hands trailing up from their spot on your thighs up towards your center.

“I’m not fucking you while you have that shit in your hair.”

And just like that he deflates, his arms dropping like deadweight as he crumbles back to the floor like a child. “Fine.”

He stays in that same position, letting you pat your hand on his head as you both scrolled through your phones, only standing up after you had applied the bleach to his roots and deemed it ready to wash.

You make your way to the boys restroom, Taehyung shoving his head underneath the weak stream of water coming from the sink as you help him rinse the bleach from his hair. He stays with his head bowed forward, his eyes squeezed shut as you applied the purple toner you had mixed.

When you step away to rinse your hands he stands back up to stare at his reflection in the mirror, the skin around his hairline is red from irritation thanks to the bleach and the toner had turned a very scary shade of purple but he trusts you so he doesn’t panic.

“Just fifteen minutes max and then you’re good to go baby.” His eyes move to stare at you from the reflection, seeing you staring at him with a smile, he looks so cute with his hair balled up on top of his head, his eyes wide and curious.

“Then we can fuck?” Yup, and that cute innocent look is gone, but that tiny smile spreading on his face makes you crack, “Yes Tae, then we can fuck.”

So when the timer goes off Taehyung rips off his clothes, surely staining his shirt with the dye on his head but thats a problem for a later date, the shirt laying forgotten on the floor in the corner as he approaches the showers with his hand wrapped around your arm. “In here?” You shout out, your voice bouncing off the tiled room. It’s currently not occupied but you’re not sure how long that’s gonna last for.

“Why not? I don’t wanna wait any longer.” He shrugs, throwing open the shower curtain and letting out a loud scream when he comes face to face with that cursed skeleton everyone on his floor keeps moving around. You burst into laughter and he joins in, his hand clutching his chest to try to slow his heart beat. “Okay, that one’s occupied.” He closes the curtain and moves to the very last one instead.

You pick up his shirt and ball it up to toss it on the bench in front of the shower stall he chose. Your eyes roam the room again, seeing the coast was clear as Taehyung fidgets with the water temperature. He peeks back out to slip out of his sweats and boxers, wiggling his eyebrows as he kicks them to lay beneath the same bench his shirt was on. Your mind was made up, your hands lifting your shirt up and off of you, sliding down the comfy lounging shorts you have on and Taehyung groans when he notices you don’t have any underwear on.

“You knew this was gonna happen didn’t you?”

You kick your clothing over to join his, “Wishful thinking?” You respond with a smirk, squealing loudly when his arm wraps around your waist to drag you into the awaiting stall.

“Wash that off first!” You warn him, pushing his face away from yours. He sighs and crouches down, tilting his head back so you can help him rinse the toner out of his hair. When he’s all clean you pat his cheek, letting him stand up properly and tower over you. He’s giving you that half smirk, his body backing you up against the shower wall, his back successfully blocking the stream of the shower from you because he knows you’re really not trying to get your hair wet.

“You know, you look kinda hot with silver hair.” His eyebrows raise up at your statement, his head tilting slightly, “Kinda like-” You gasp when his fingers make contact with your waist, starting to trail them down, that teasing smirk still on his face as he waits for you to finish your sentence, “like a real life anime character.”

He hums, “Oh? Does that turn you on?”

You just nod, your teeth chewing on your bottom lip as you stared up at him. When his fingers pass your hips and dip down to part your lips his mouth opens up in fake shock, “Messy baby, you weren’t lying. You’re so wet already.”

The groan you let out hardly gets muffled by the noise of the shower but thats the last of your worries right now, your mind too focused on the feeling of his fingers gathering up your arousal, trailing up and down your slit teasingly, “I can’t help it, it’s been too long.” And he knows this, stepping even closer to lock your lips in a heated kiss, it’s been way too long.

He starts to circle his fingers around your entrance but you shake your head, your lips pulling back from his with a small gasp, “No, just fuck me please.” He rests his forehead against yours, his cock throbbing at how desperate your voice sounds. Something about how eager and hungry you always were for sex fueled him, always kept him wanting more.

“Whatever you want baby.” He plants a small kiss on your forehead as he places his hands on your waist, twirling you around and pressing your chest against the cold tile. Then theres a loud wet smack echoing from his palm connecting against your ass, another squeal being heard as a giggly but hushed sound of his name leaves your lips.

And as Jungkook stands at the sink, washing his hands after using the bathroom, he feels his heart stop. He had walked in a minute or so ago, hearing the sounds of a couple talking with the shower running and he knew they were gonna fuck because thats honestly a common occurrence but he didn’t know it was you.

The tap keeps running, his hands still stuck under it as his neck cranes to look to the far left where the shower section was. He sees the ball of clothes you two must have kicked off to the side. The white shower curtain being short enough to see the two pairs of feet in the shower and the position they were currently in made it glaringly obvious that Taehyung was pounding into you from behind and as if he needed more confirmation, you just moaned out for him to fuck you harder.

It was when another loud smack echoed out, mixed in with a grunt from Taehyung that he decided he needed to get the fuck out of there. So he did, not bothering to wipe his hands dry as he scurried away, his cheeks burning up and a mysterious feeling in his chest that he could feel spreading to the rest of his body. He never let you guys know what he had witnessed, not even when you both walked back into the room with your clothes clinging on to your still damp body.

The next time you see Jungkook is a few days later as you’re about to enter the cafe. You don’t speak to him because you spot him a few feet away, walking out of the arts building and in the direction of the schools cafeteria. It takes you a moment to even realize it’s him because his hair is no longer black and you have an inkling that Taehyung is the one that helped him with this.

You decide you’ll find him after you get your coffee and enter the shop. Instantly you spot Jisoo stood behind the cash register and she looks flustered when you make eye contact. Regardless you walk up to her and order a caramel macchiato, adding an americano to the mix since you plan on seeing Jungkook right after this anyways.

Jisoo raises her eyebrows when you order the americano, no doubt knowing its for Jungkook since thats always been his drink of choice here. “Thank you by the way.” She speaks up after you finish telling her your order.

Her comment catches you off guard, “Thank you for what?”

She scribbles on the cups before handing them off to her coworker to get started on. The cafe doesn’t currently have anyone else waiting to order so she stays at the register to chat. “For helping Jungkook with our date.”

You’re about to play stupid but she raised her hand to stop you, “Look, I know you’re the one who suggested both dates to him so thanks.” You’re stunned to silence, not really sure how you should respond but she keeps talking, “It’s just a shame isn’t it?”

“What is?” Your arms are now crossed defensively across your chest.

“That all boys want to do is get in your pants, no one likes romance anymore. I thought Jungkook was nice, goes to show all men are pigs.”

You don’t know why that irritates you as much as it does but you can’t stop yourself from snapping at her, “I’m sorry what exactly did Jungkook do to you that was so horrible?” That wasn’t the reaction she was hoping for, her eyes widening slightly at the sharp tone in your voice, “Because from what I know he took you on two very nice dates and you were the one that cornered him in your hallway, beyond ready to get into his pants without even speaking to him. Sounds like you’re the pig here Jisoo.”

Her face blanks, obviously not thinking you knew the details of the date. She was expecting to be able to spill whatever fake warning she had been telling all of her friends to stay away from Jungkook. “If he was truly as horrible as you’re making everyone believe he is he would’ve slept with you and left the second he got what he wanted.” At that moment her coworker came up with both drinks in hand and a grimace on his face at the interaction he had witnessed. You gripped them both and thanked him before walking out of there as fast as you could so you wouldn’t do something irrational.

Your face felt red, not from embarrassment but from holding in your anger. Jungkook didn’t deserve to have someone talk about him like this, he wasn’t a pig, he was the furthest from that. He was a very sweet gentleman who went out of his way to be as polite as he could. Jungkook was very much boyfriend material and it wasn’t fair that Jisoo could bad mouth him all she wanted because she was salty about being rejected.

You were marching down your campus, some of your drink was sloshing out of the opening in the lid, splashing onto your hand and burning the fuck out of it but it wasn’t processing in your mind as you entered the cafeteria and hoped Jungkook was still here.

You pause at the entryway to scan the room, it was full at this hour since most students came here after their 6pm class to catch a bite for dinner. Eyes roaming over each table you spot the new half blonde and half red hair that belongs to Jungkook, he’s sat next to two other boys all of them laughing and goofing off with their trays in front of them. And now you’re unsure if you should approach him, his back is towards you but one of his friends glances up and makes eye contact, offering you a weird smile. Jungkook notices and cranes around to see what the hell his friend is staring at, noticing you standing awkwardly with your two cups of coffee. You expect him to just give you a half assed greeting before he turns around but his smile gets bigger and he’s waving you over.

You shyly smile and make your way over, slipping between the occupied tables to sit in the spot beside Jungkook. “I uh, I saw you coming this way so I got you a coffee since you know.” You motion with your hands and he understands, he hadn’t had his favorite coffee in weeks because he had been avoiding the cafe like the plague.

“Thank you.” He accepts the cup and takes a gulp, exaggerating a moan to show how much he missed it. That makes his friends and you laugh as you mumble out a no problem, your hands cupping your own drink. At the thought of coffee he pauses, grabbing his bag and sorting through it to pull out the mug he promised you.

You gasp when he hands it over, its a slightly bumpy jumbo mug that he had glazed in black, the inside of the cup being glazed white with a small bat being put on the bottom. You flipped it over to analyze it some more, your thumb grazing over the engraving of his initials he put underneath it, “Oh my god, its perfect!”

Jungkooks friends see the way his ears redden the second he handed you the gift and they want to tease him but theyre scared of the beating they’ll get when you’re gone.

“It’s big enough for two cups.” It definitely is, it was deep and pretty wide. You would be putting it to use tomorrow when you needed a morning cup at work. Jungkook watches the way you stare at the mug like its your newest prized possession and he smiles, picking up his cup of coffee again to take a sip.

“Jisoos a bitch by the way.” You blurt out before you can help yourself and the entire table stays silent, your eyes wide in shock that you even said anything at all.

He holds the coffee cup by his lips, his eyebrows furrowed and the cutest pout on his lips, “What do you mean?”

You push your cup a little bit away from you, tugging your sweaters sleeves over your palms, “I mean she’s a bitch.” Point blank period. “When I ordered these she tried to take that opportunity to talk shit about you to me, called you a pig or something.” You fake disinterest, “So I went off on her.”

His friends holler at that, no doubt knowing what happened between him and Jisoo, one of them offers you a high five which you awkwardly accept. Jungkook just stares at you, in disbelief that Jisoo was trying to make him look bad to you of all people, but he was even more surprised that you had been so quick to defend him.

“You didn’t have to do that, but…I appreciate it.” You shrug, a small smile on your face which he reciprocates.

“Oh,” he puts the coffee down again and gestures towards his friends, “by the way, Y/N this is Mingyu and Eunwoo.” They greet you respectfully, Mingyu whispering something into Eunwoo’s ear before he nods and they both start snickering and then Jungkooks swiftly kicking one of their shins under the table, causing the cheap thing to shake.

You jump at the action and Jungkook glares at his friends before looking at you, “Sorry, weird spasm. Are you hungry?” He quickly changes the subject, desperately trying to get you away from his friends before they say some shit to embarrass him in front of you because he knows they will. They had been the ones subjected to the endless texts in the group chat where Jungkook went on mini rants that switched from trying to convince himself and his group that he did not have a crush on you to asking them for advice on how to best approach you.

At his question you realize you are in fact hungry so you get up with him and follow him to the food options, his now empty tray in hand, you grab a tray from the stack in the corner as you see what catches your eye. Jungkook reaches for the mozzarella sticks, plopping a good handful onto a plate and setting it on his tray with a smile. You copy his actions and grab another plate, putting a regular cheeseburger on it along with some fries. Since Jungkook had already had a burger before you got here he settles for a few chicken wings instead, grabbing a drink for himself and another for you when you motion that you want the same one.

“I like the hair by the way.” You finally speak when you’re both swiping your student cards.

He picks one hand up to ruffle his freshly dyed hair, the red and blonde strands falling slightly over his eyes, “Thanks, it’s for Halloween. I was just gonna spray paint it but Tae convinced me to dye it.”

Just as you figured, “Who are you going as, Todoroki?”

He nods quickly, his face showing his obvious excitement, “Yes! Thats exactly who I’m supposed to be. Have you thought of your costume yet?”

With both trays in hand you start the walk back to the table, “Yeah not as nerdy as yours and Tae’s but close enough.” You tease him, not aware of the stares Jungkooks friends were currently giving you two, “I’m dressing up as Raven from Teen Titans.”

He gulps at that, Raven’s costume wasn’t down right in your face sexy but something about you being in a tight black leotard with your legs bare and a cape covering you up has Jungkook’s weeb ass sweating.

And he didn’t have to wait long to see it since Halloween landed on the upcoming Saturday. All of you were gathered at Jimin’s apartment, all in full nerd gear with shot glasses in hand. The party was being held at one of his friends places which meant expensive booze and a nice house, a drastic change from the dirty parties at the delta fucking whatevers so needless to say you guys were all pumped.

It was currently 10:30 at night and you were about to order a few ubers to head over, your body was buzzing from the two shots you’ve taken, enough to loosen you up.

Jimin is currently dressed in full Joker attire, the new version, his blonde hair is temporarily dyed green with paste, slicked back off of his face and it kills you that hes able to rock any look. “You’re the bane of my existence.”

He has his hand wrapped around you with a smile, raising his eyebrows and making the painted red ones lift up too, “It’s not my fault I was blessed with beautiful genes.” You just roll your eyes, declining the third shot he hands you and he just shrugs and takes it instead, keeping his arm around you as he grimaces and slams the shot glass down on the counter in front of you two.

Jungkook is sat on the couch in the living room beside Yoongi who’s dressed liked Naruto and you finally realize what a giant bunch of losers you and your friends are. Namjoon is stood over by the record player that has music filling up the room, dressed up as Gudetama in a comfortable looking onesie, beside him is Jin and his girlfriend Arang who are dressed in matching pumpkin costumes looking adorable as ever. Hoseok is stood next to Taehyung by the liquor bottle a few feet away from you and Jimin, dressed like an inmate, a pair of handcuffs wrapped around one single wrist for show.

Your eyes move back to Jungkook, he’s decked out in full Todoroki gear, a blue tracksuit on with the white accents and belt, even similar boots and the damn burn on his face to finish it off. The way hes sat on the couch with his legs spread out is like an open invitation to be sat on, you always forget how buff Jungkook is but seeing his thick muscles pulling the fabric taut around his thighs is making your mouth water.

“I knew it.” Jimin whispers in your ear when he catches you staring at the younger boy.

“What are you talking about?”

“You are into him, Yoongi mentioned it to me and I noticed it a while back but I didn’t believe it.”

You trust Jimin, he’s undoubtedly your best friend but you’re not ready to admit to feelings you aren’t even sure you fully have yet so you shrug indifferently, “Honestly, I’m just admiring his juicy ass thighs.”

He peers over and stares at them as well, humming in appreciation, “Well you’re not wrong.”

Taehyung pours himself another shot, letting it overflow a bit as he watches you and Jimin staring at Jungkook. He has his Kaneki face mask partially tugged down to not interfere with his ability to get hammered so the weird grimace he sports is visible for anyone to see. He got it, Jungkook was attractive and muscular and Taehyung had offered to help dye his hair for his costume in hopes that it would land him a chick tonight so he’d back off of you but his plan seems to be backfiring on him.

Taehyung hates that he feels the jealousy blooming in him when he sees you walk over to Jungkook, offering him a shot with a grin, sitting down beside him and laughing at the way he crinkles his nose. He swears he doesn’t feel jealous because he likes you deeper than the current arrangement you both have, its just that stupid territorial mindset he never fully grew out of taking over. He was currently still sober enough which is why he was trying so hard to squish it down, thats all it was.

He knows if you turned around and decided to stop sleeping with him and moved on to Jungkook for that or even a relationship he wouldn’t fight you on it because you could do whatever you wanted but he was hoping what you two had would have lasted longer than a few months and you wouldn’t be setting your sights on his roommate of all people or at least had the decency to tell him. Its not until Hoseok swats his arm, giving him a weird glare, that he snaps him out of blatantly staring at you and Jungkook.

When the ubers finally come you all split up to make yourselves fit into them, Taehyung lucking out and getting stuck in the uber you, Jungkook, and Jimin were in, leaving you sandwiched between him and Jungkook in the back row while Jimin occupied the passengers seat. Taehyung is tense in his seat and you can feel it, his hands clenched and resting on his lap as he stares out the window, counting down the seconds until you all pull up in front of the giant house party.

“It’s my friend Taemin’s house, he’s honestly probably hammered already.” Jimin says once your whole group is gathered on the front lawn. He takes the lead and walks up the path laid out, opening the door to enter the booming house, loud house music being blasted from the giant speakers in the corners.

“Holy shit.” Namjoon speaks out, his eyes taking in how enormous the house was. The ceilings were stupid high, an expensive looking chandelier being the main focus in the current room but it was clear the home owner didn’t pay it much attention considering the shiny diamonds were currently covered in those fake cobwebs.

“How many people are even here?” Arang speaks up as you all make your way deeper into the house. The place is swarming with people, all in their own costumes and you don’t believe that Taemin even knows everyone here.

“Probably a few hundred people, a thousand if he’s fucking insane.” Jimin laughs, his hand coming up to point across the room as he finally spots Taemin in the second living room area he had. He was sat on the couch, looking pretty drunk but the second he spotted Jimin he sprung up and met him halfway in a clumsy hug.

“Thanks for coming out you guys.” He speaks up like he actually knows who you all are even though you’re all strangers, “Feel free to drink whatever you want, theres no rules just please don’t break my shit. Theres also a costume contest happening at midnight with some cash prizes.” When he finishes his little host speech he bows dramatically before someone else calls out for him and he’s gone.

You and your friends don’t need to be told twice, instantly gravitating towards the drinks to get as drunk as everyone else seemed to already be. The array of pricey liquor has you wanting to cry, you absolutely loved the rich for this reason only. The one thing you’re all good at is getting absolutely sauced so it doesn’t take long for you guys to catch up.

Little by little everyone slowly splitting up when the night progresses, there was too much going on in all the different areas of the house, along with who knows what happening in the backyard but you’re pretty sure theres a pool out there, something you would definitely be avoiding because it was freezing.

Hoseok and you end up together as you usually do, being designated party buddies. You’re stood at the back of a room thats currently having a very drunk karaoke concert going on, a very dramatic rendition of Dont Stop Believing being the song of choice and you’re both clapping your hands anc cheering along when the six foot tall Ash Ketchum goes out of his way to make his own adlibs.

You tell Hoseok you’ll be right back as you venture back out of the room to go grab another mixed drink. On your way there you spot Jungkook sat on the couch beside Namjoon, a very pretty girl stood beside him, trying her best to get his attention but he’s either not interested or completely oblivious to her advances because he brushes her off and starts a conversation with Namjoon instead. You’re pouring your drink into your cup when the girl walks away from him with a roll of her eyes, saying something to her waiting group of friends before they all make their way outside.

Just as you’re about to go over to him Taehyung pops up on your left, slinging his arm over you in the sloppy way that lets you know he���s been throwing back way more shots than you have. “Can I ask you something?” He slurs into your ear, choosing to stand in front of you, putting you between him and the counter behind you.

“Sure.” You say as you take a sip of your strong drink, your eyes looking up at him and seeing them glazed over, a hint of uncertainty in them.

He looks down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at you, the three tequila shots he just took minutes ago doing nothing to stop him from squishing down his emotions now, “Are you fucking Jungkook?”

You quickly swallow the liquid in your mouth so you don’t spit it out, your face showing how absurd you think his question is, “What? No?”

Taehyung narrows his eyes at you, not entirely believing you because of how you two have been acting recently, he sees the way Jungkook acts whenever you text him and he knew you two had started to hang out more on your own. And he would’ve thought it was a normal hang out until Jimin had uploaded a video of the bonfire and he had seen you two making cutesy eyes at each other as you fed him a s’more.

You can see the gears turning in his head but you speak up again before he has a chance to say some stupid shit, “How drunk are you?”

“Drunk enough!” He shouts back and thats confirmation enough for you to know that whatever conversation he thinks he wants to have right now will have to wait.

“Okay you weirdo, get a grip please and back off.” His current attitude was getting on your nerves only because it’s something you’re not used to dealing with when it came to him. Even though you’re half kidding at your statement there’s still some truth to it and he hears it loud and clear, stepping back like a toddler and giving you some space. He mumbles something out about going to find Jimin but you don’t pay it any mind, just nodding along as you drink more of your concoction and go back to join Hoseok in the karaoke room again.

Another hour passes, a few minutes shy of midnight so you know the costume contest will be taking place soon. You and Hoseok have drifted away from each other, him deciding to go join the dance floor at the front of the house where as you find yourself watching an intense game of guitar hero being played. The giant flat screen lets any onlooker clearly see the battle happening and you don’t notice Jungkook beside you until he’s nudging you with his hip, a goofy smile on his face when you stumble over slightly.

“You really suit this character.” He’s standing there with his arms crossed and for one of the first times since you’ve known him he has this very confident aura coming from him. Maybe it’s because he’s had too much to drink to care or maybe it’s because he feels like he’s in his element in this dorky costume but confidence looks good on him.

“Should I just live my entire life as Todoroki then?”

His eyes are glassy from the alcohol and his cheeks are pink but he can tell you’ve had a bit more to drink than him, your tongue becoming too loose to hold anything back, “I definitely wouldn’t mind it.” When he notices your eyes raking up his body and back down, stopping at his thighs once more before looking at his eyes again, he just blushes and chooses to uncross his arms to take a sip of his drink.

He’s been noticing your constant eyeing of his thighs, having caught you staring at them at Jimin’s place earlier tonight, and now that you were drunk you were doing a worse job at trying to play it off. “Has anyone ever told you that your thighs are beautiful?” You finally address it.

Jungkook raises both of his eyebrows, looking down at himself, shifting his weight between both legs and stretching one out. “Can’t say they have.”

“Just wanna bite em…” You mumble under your breath and he chuckles, catching your words but not speaking on it. The shots are definitely seeping further into your blood because your hands are coming up and out, grabbing the meaty skin of his right thigh and he’s yelping from the shock, jumping slightly before balancing out so his drink wouldn’t spill.

You’re grinning sweetly as you give his thigh another quick squeeze and retreat back. You only hum in thought, your mind wondering what they look like under the pants he’s currently wearing. Jungkook is still too caught off guard, any words he wants to say getting stuck in his throat as he observes the room to see if anyone saw that.

The reality of what you just did slowly sinks in and he catches the switch, your eyes sharpening up and you take a very small step back, “Are none of these girls good enough for you?”

“What?”

You nervously swallow more of your drink which probably isn’t wise because look at what you had already done with the alcohol already in your system, “I promised you I’d get you laid by the end of this month and i’ve seen like four girls come up to you and you blew them off.”

That was true, he had done that all night but it had been such an automatic response that he wasn’t sure why he had, something about sleeping with a complete stranger in another strangers home felt wrong. That and the fact that he wanted to sleep with you was also getting in the way, but his inner self currently had that thought in a headlock, a very loose and slowly weakening headlock but a headlock nonetheless, so he was ignoring it.

“They didn’t even know who I’m supposed to be.” He lies as an excuse and it makes you laugh, tipping your cup up and pouring the rest of its contents down your throat.

“Is that you’re only reason?”

He nods stubbornly, sticking with his horrible excuse until it turns around and bites him in the ass. “Well I know who you’re supposed to be, so what does that mean?”

He blanks at that, really not expecting the turn this would take. You watch him, his big doe eyes only getting bigger at your words. He rolls his lips together in thought, his mind sorting through all the appropriate responses he could say. During his distraction he doesn’t notice his inner self releasing the headlock grip he had on his feelings until it’s too late and they’re spilling out into the open.

“It means I wanna fuck you.”

Yeah. That wasn’t what he wanted to say, at all, but his filter had clearly been lost a few shots back and when you don’t immediately slap him he doesn’t think he fucked up entirely.

“You wanna fuck me?” You repeat slowly, stepping closer to him. You had a feeling he did based on that drunk text he had sent you but you had to make sure he really wanted to and this wasn’t just a nervous response. Jimin and Yoongi were right in their observations of both of you, you wanted to sleep with him, you have ever since that night in your room and the realistic dreams involving him haven’t stopped so maybe once you sleep with him everything will mellow out in your brain.

This isn’t a crush, you try to convince yourself, this is just your hormones talking. It’s not your fault that imaginary Jungkook would moan such sweet praises in your ear while you dreamed, thats why you were stuck wearing i’m horny for jungkook glasses, and once you slept with each other all would be fine.

His eyes look around, he could see Tae and Jimin stood near the kitchen, Tae doubling over in laughter at something being said and when you see who he’s looking up it only annoys you. Taehyung didn’t have this claim on you and you knew Jungkook was just worried because he didn’t fully believe no feelings were involved between you and Tae but you were sick of people thinking you belonged to him.

You raise your hand up to cup his cheek, bringing his attention back to you, “I asked you a question Jungkook.”

He looks back over to you, seeing your own eyes staring up at him and he finds himself nodding his head. Sure you both aren’t sober at all and will he be embarrassed about this once he is, probably, but he knows he’ll regret not being completely honest tomorrow morning if he says no.

At his confirmation you smile, you had spotted the staircase nearby, knowing there would be rooms you two could occupy but when you start to tug him in the direction of it he resists.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, I just don’t feel right using someone’s room to do this.” Jungkook wasn’t a virgin so you knew he wasn’t wanting this to be a certain way for his first time but he’d only ever been intimate with one person and it hadn’t gone the way he wanted at all so if he didn’t feel comfortable sleeping with you in this house it was fine by you.

“Do you want to go back to mine then?” The urgency that usually came with party hook ups was missing, you didn’t feel rushed to get in a room and tear his clothes off without speaking to each other, he wasn’t just a hook up.

When he nods his head you don’t think twice to pull him in the direction towards the front door, a loud tapping noise stopping you both in your tracks. Everyone stops talking, turning towards the source of the noise and seeing Taemin stood on top of his coffee table with a microphone in hand, his finger tapping the top of it to check it.

“Okay, fuck it works dude!” Jimin shouted out, everyones hands coming up to cover their ears when Taemin just laughs loudly into the mic.

It was time for the costume contest and as much as you wouldn’t mind seeing who won or even potentially winning the cash prize yourself, the thought of finally getting to sleep with Jungkook wins. You look back at him, your eyes asking him if he wants to wait but he shakes his head, his fingers giving your palm another squeeze. You choose not to notify your friends that you were leaving, they were all drunk enough and were already planning on sleeping at Jimin’s after this anyways so you had a few hours before they even noticed you had both disappeared.

Jungkook feels oddly calm, the nerves that had overtaken him when he was in this position the very first time not coming up, even the small sense of uncertainty he felt when it came to Jisoo was gone and he likes it. He likes the feel of your hand in his as you wait for the uber. He likes how you rest your clasped hands on your thigh, your thumb rubbing the back of his palm soothingly and when you finally manage to sneak into your building he likes the way you push him against the elevator wall, your lips slotting between his in the first sign of urgency.

When you lick your way into his mouth he tastes the strong tang of tequila that he’s sure you can taste from him as well but he doesn’t mind it. His hands coming up to wrap around your waist, the thin material of your leotard letting you feel his touch as his fingers dig into your waist to pull you closer to him. You’re on your tip toes and he’s leaning over to match your height, the sound of the elevator ding making you both pull apart with heavy sighs.

You twirl back around, your head peaking out of the elevator to make sure the coast was clear since you technically weren’t allowed to have Jungkook over at this time. Once you saw the hallway was clear you wrapped your hand over his wrist, tugging him to your door in a haste to get out of the open. You make it a few feet when the sound of the bathroom door opening makes you both freeze, Jungkook has his eyes screwed shut as he waits for someone to start to scold you both. You’re waiting for it too, especially when you turn around and spot Jihyo, your RA, standing in the middle of the hallway right in front of the bathroom door.

She’s currently rubbing her eyes, tipsy and in a revealing Sailor Mars costume. When she spots you and Jungkook looking just as tipsy and your lips swollen she just sighs, throwing her head back dramatically, “Go, hurry up and get in your room. I didn’t see anything.” You throw her a thankful look and she just shields her eyes as she makes her way back into her room, you don’t waste anymore time as you slide your key card out of your bra and unlock your room.

“Wait, your roommate.” Jungkook whispers, just now realizing that she existed. He’s stood right on the door’s threshold, refusing to come in until you literally force him, your hand tugging him in. His hands grasp your shoulders to not knock you over from the force of your pull, he finally gets a chance to look around when you flick your light on and he notices Wendy is no where to be found.

“She’s went out of town for Halloween, we’re fine, now please kiss me.” The door shuts behind Jungkook, that answer satisfies him, his hands moving off your shoulders to cup your face and bring you in for another kiss. Your mind feels like its floating as he starts to walk, leading you backwards towards your bed.

Your hands slide up his chest as you make your way to your bed, your fingers clasping the zipper of his costume and tugging it down, revealing his bare skin. He had decided not to wear anything underneath his tracksuit, he always got hot and sweaty when he was drunk so he didn’t want to add more layers than necessary, and luckily it worked in his favor.

Your fingertips leave a hot trail on his skin as you work on getting this article of clothing off of him, his hands coming away from your face as you push the sleeves down his arms, the material falling onto the floor in a heap. His lips never part from yours, his actions getting more confident, his kisses getting more urgent because he can’t seem to get enough of you.

His hands trail up to unclasp the cape around your shoulders, letting the crushed velvet garment join his top on the floor, and then its a race of getting the rest of your clothing off. You pull back from him your lips smacking together one final time when you step back, your eyes finally getting to see him shirtless for the first time.

Is he for real? Was he sculpted by the fucking gods themselves because this wasn’t fair. You always knew Jungkook worked out like a madman but you never expected him to look like this. His chest was heaving as he tried to catch his breath, the muscles in his arms rippling as he fidgeted with the stupid belt he had on and when he finally got it off and was able to slide out of his boots and pants your wishes were granted in the form of his thighs.

You had forgotten about sliding out of your leotard and belt, your boots were kicked off to the side but when his thick thighs were exposed you dropped to the floor in front of him. Jungkook wasn’t expecting that, part of him thought you might of passed out or something from how suddenly you collapsed but when your hand come up to trail his thighs he knows you’re fine.

“Are you joking?” You mumble out, your mind acting on it’s own accord, you press open mouth kisses on his thighs, your fingers giving them small squeeze as you kiss your way up to the band of his briefs.

Jungkook had fantasized about this so many times put now that you were sitting right in front of him on your knees, your mouth kissing his dick over the fabric of his briefs, he wasn’t sure he could stop himself from blowing his load the second you put it in your mouth.

“Have you ever had a blowjob Kookie?” The nickname is new but he likes it, especially when he sees how you look at him when you say it, your eyes widening slightly when he shakes his head. No he’s never had a blowjob and as much as he wants to experience his first one from you he won’t ever let himself live it down if he cums before he gets a chance to fuck you.

“Can I be honest?” He mumbles out as your fingers slip underneath the band of his briefs, beginning to tug it down slowly, his legs stepping out of the material as it bunches around his ankles.

His cock springs out without the restraint of his briefs and your mouth salivates at the sight of it. Of course Jeon Jungkook would have a beautiful big dick, its veiny with a slight upward curve, the girth of it making you bite your lip in anticipation of it stretching you open. Your eyes move back up to him and you smile gently, “Yeah of course.”

He moves his own hands to cover your smaller ones, his fingers wrapping around your fingertips to lift them off his skin. “Can we…do that next time,” it slips out before he can catch it, indication of this happening again and you take note of it, the lust clouding your mind not being against that happening, “I just really wanna fuck you.” He confesses, his body bending over, his arms hooking under your arms to scoop you up from the floor with ease.

“Yeah,” you breathe out as he stands you up, his hands cupping your cheeks with care, his thumb tracing your skin as he stares down at you, “we can do that next time.”

You reach out and let your hands touch his waist, the feel of his bare skin making you realize he’s the only one naked right now. You turn him around so his back is facing your bed, your hands gently pushing him back onto it.

He catches himself with his palms, sliding back onto your bed until he’s laying against the pillows you have set up. He watches as you reach back to unclasp the ruby belt you have, letting it fall with a clank as you move on to unbutton the top of your leotard, slipping the skin tight fabric off of your body.

Jungkook can feel his dick twitch against his abs at the sight of you, you crawl onto the bed, your fingers trailing up his thighs as you straddle him in a similar way that brings back memories of a few weeks ago. The feeling of you sat on top of him with no barrier is something he never thought he’d experience and when he feels the slick glide of you grinding down on his cock his stomach caves in, a groan leaving his lips. His fingers come up to grip your hips, your own hands wrapping around his neck as you smile down on him.

“Feel good?” You ask him, a tiny gasp escaping you when you repeat your actions and his cock nudges your clit.

His eyes move down to stare at the spot where you connect, seeing how shiny you’re leaving him as your arousal mixes with his precum makes his mouth drop open in awe. “Yeah, feels good.” He whispers out, his hands gripping your skin tighter to make you rut on him faster.

You can see the desperation growing on him, the shy Jungkook you were so accustomed to nowhere to be found as he rolled his hips up to meet your motions, his head dropping back into the pillows with a moan. With his neck wide open you lean forward, kissing and licking your way up to his jaw, your teeth gently nipping at his skin, making his hips stutter.

Blame mistake number one on you wanting to see Jungkook fully fall apart underneath you but you’re not thinking too much when you reach down and grasp his cock, letting the tip of it nudge your entrance. You know you’re clean and on birth control and unless he’s been lying to you, you assume he should be clean as well.

His head snaps up at the new sensation, and Jungkook may be inexperienced but he’s not stupid, “Wait–“ You think he’s stopping you because you haven’t pulled out a condom so you pause, giving him a curious look but his mind is too full of want that he doesn’t even process the fact that there isn’t a condom “it’s gonna hurt you.” He wants to finger you, stretch you open and let his fingers explore your body until you falling apart.

“It’s okay, I like that.” You admit, giggling when you see his cheeks flush. You go back to nudging the tip of him into you, the feeling of it breaching your entrance has you moaning and Jungkook drops one hand off your hip to clutch your comforter instead, his fingers clenching around the fabric as your walls wrap around the tip of him.

“Fuck,” you groan out, he was big but the feeling of him stretching you out had another gush of arousal slip out of you, only aiding in letting you slide down another inch or so. Your hands come forward to rest on his stomach as you wait a moment, Jungkook can feel you clenching around the first few inches of him, his eyebrows furrowed together tightly at the feeling of your warmth enveloping him all around.

You relax your muscles, letting the rest of him slide into you, the tip of him just shy of nudging your cervix when you’re fully sat on him. You give him a moment to adjust, waiting until his eyes open up again, “Please move.” He croaks out, his hand coming back up to your hips to get you to do anything because the feeling of you just clenching around him was killing him.

His desperation turns you on and you start to move instantly, grinding on him to let yourself get used to the size of him before you start to lift yourself up, slamming back down, the slap of your skin connecting filling up the dorm room.

As you stare down at him you have to pinch yourself because the visual of him whimpering underneath you is an exact replica of the dreams you’ve been having. A needy Jungkook kneading the flesh of your hips, rutting his own hips up to meet you, his big eyes blown out with lust and adoration in the same damn way you’ve been dreaming about and you know you’re done for.

Jungkook can say the same, the countless times he’s dreamt of you doing this to him has him thinking he’s stuck in a dream, ready to wake up to his roommate tossing a pillow at him but it never comes because you’re actually here. You’re here on top of him, riding him like it’s something you’ve always wanted. His hand trails up from your hip to grasp your bouncing boob, giving it an experimental squeeze, his thumb and index finger tweaking your nipple and enjoying the way you moan from it.

He can feel your arousal dripping down his length every time you lift up, the remnants of it pooling around the base of his cock, he can see it as his eyes are glued to the way your lips part to take his length in. He can feel you start to get tired from the constant motion, your movements slowing down slightly so he takes it upon himself to wrap his arms around you and bring you closer to his chest, successfully flipping you over underneath him.

Your hair fans out around you and you stare up at him in shock, never thinking he’d do something like that but it only lasts a minute before hes sliding back into you. His hands are by your face, caging your body underneath his as he pounds into you.

His jaw is clenched tightly when he feels you wrap your arms around his shoulders, your fingers trying to cling onto his back from the force of his thrusts. “Do you want it harder?” He grunts out, looking down at you to see you nodding frantically, your legs wrapping around his waist to push him deeper into you.

“Please ple–“ you gasp when he slides out before rearing back into you, starting a brutal pace that you didn’t think he was capable of. “Just like that. God Jungkook.” You cry out and he feels his chest fill with pride. You were moaning out his name, he was the one making you feel this way.

You can feel him graze your bundle of nerves every time he thrusts forward, a high pitched moan leaving you and he does another experimental thrust to find the exact spot, angling his hips until you’re gasping and then he’s grinding right into it every time. Determined to get you to cum before him he keeps it up, he can feel his climax creeping in on him, you’re squeezing him so tight its almost impossible to thrust into you but he can tell you’re close when your hand comes down to rub your clit and he almost cums from that sight alone.

Seeing you squirming underneath him as your fingers worked to push yourself over the edge just made him thrust harder into you, a deep groan leaving his mouth when you gasped out, your walls clamping around him even tighter than before as you threw your head back. You had enough sense to clasp a hand over your mouth before you moaned out at as your body twitched from your orgasm, the feeling of Jungkook continuing to pound into you only making more muffled whimpers leave you from the overstimulation.

“Fuck you feel so good.” He mumbles out, his head dropping forward to rest between your neck and shoulder as he starts to rut faster into you. Your toes are curling from the after shocks of your climax, the tingles all over your body being the cause of mistake number two, “Cum inside me Jungkook, please.”

His face lifts back up at your statement, checking to make sure you mean it and when you nod and press your lips against his for another heated kiss he doesn’t hold back. His hips rolling into yours with new found energy, your body being jostled up at his action but you don’t care when all you taste is him, your kisses swallowing the desperate whine that leave him as he nears his end. His thrusts get sloppier until he’s groaning out deeply, his hips stuttering as his cock paints your walls white. You moan again at the feeling of his warm cum inside of you, letting him roll his hips a few more times as you kiss him gently to bring him back down.

His arms fail him, his body flopping on top of you in a heap, his muscles absolutely crushing you but the way he wraps your arms underneath your waist and nuzzles into you makes you forget about your inability to breath. His face is pressed against your neck under your chin, his soft dick is still inside you and he really doesn’t want to pull it out, he’d be perfectly content with going to sleep and waking up in this position.

You keep your legs wrapped around his waist, your fingers gently playing with his damp hair, “I miss your black hair.” You mumble out, breaking the silence that fell over the room.

He hums against your neck, kissing your skin gently in content when you scratch his scalp, “I’ll dye it back for you.”

You don’t know why that statement makes your heart swell but it does, your lips coming down to kiss his hair before laying back down. The both of you catch your breaths like this, Jungkook having his cheek pressed against your skin and you gently massaging his head.

He can feel the sweat on your skin start to get sticky so he decides nows a good time to pull apart, his skin peeling off of you and you’re both grimacing when he finally slides out of you, a small gush of his cum dripping out of your entrance and you squeeze your thighs shut at the feeling.

Jungkook wants to sit there and stare at his cum staining your skin but he can tell you feel icky from your face so he stands up from the bed and looks around your room, spotting your towel by your desk. He picks it up and comes back to you. His fingers gently pry open your thighs as he starts to clean you up, tossing the towel aside and motioning for you to move so you can get comfy in bed.

You shuffle around until you slide your comforter down, letting him adjust himself so you both fit comfortably. The small feelings of being tipsy are gone, your muscles completely relaxed and sleep starts to overtake you as you feel him move behind you, his arm lazily draping over you as you both start to slowly fall asleep.

“You know,” he gently speaks up, “you promised me you’d get me laid by the end of October.”

You hum in acknowledgment, and he’s smirking into your hair, “It’s technically November though so.”

You giggle softly at this, turning around in his grasp to face him, your leg slipping in between his as you get closer, “Oh how could I ever make it up to you for breaking my promise.” He lets out a fake gasp as your sarcastic response, his fingers wasting no time coming up to playfully jab at your sides, succeeded in making you squirm and laugh until his lips are kissing you again, the urgency and heat from before missing but he likes this way better.

He likes the small laughs in between kisses, the shy licks of your tongue and sighs you let out and in that moment Jungkook feels content.

Jungkook doesn’t think of whats going to happen tomorrow morning when you both wake up and the initial lust is gone. He doesn’t think of the conversation that’s gonna have to happen once the sun comes up. No he lets himself enjoy this, lets you wrap your arms around his neck to pull him even closer. He’ll worry about that when it comes.

[hcneysoaked]

💘 eli and seb c:

send me 💘 + A SHIP and i’ll tell you—

where they first met and how iconic meet cute !!!! next door apartment neighbors with seb Nicely asking eli to shut up and eli going “no <3” bc he loves being a menace 

how long their ‘flirting’ phase was before feelings got involved the back and forth went for a while, maybe a month or two which absolutely kills them once they realize its more than just messing around and playful flirting

who fell for who first ( if applicable ) seb……. I Think… bc he was the one making excuses to be around eli but eli definitely indulged it bc he was also very much interested. but like, i think seb was at least more conscious of it first??

where their first date was and what it was like mm first “sort of” date was seb picking eli up after class and taking him out to eat BUT they were still playing their little game so i dont think they count it gbdjkfg i think once they start Officially dating then they probably spend the day out doing that cute couple shit

who asks who out and how ( with a sign? spelled out on a cake? just a simple ‘will you go out with me’? ) officially ask out, probably seb again but mostly bc eli has already assumed they’re dating by that point so its more of a formality/clarification than anything else gkjgdfg

who proposes first seb!!!!! if this is like the Actual proposal and not that spontaneous vegas shit i think eli’s pretty content with not making it formal and all as long as they stay together 

if they keep / kept their relationship secret or let everyone know right away eli tells his friends like Right Away bc theyve probably been on his case abt seb for ages and im not sure seb has anyone he’d like want to tell right away?? It takes eli a while for him to figure out how to tell his siblings, but he definitely tells them way before his parents who probably just end up finding out on their own anyway gbdfkg

where the proposal happens and how ( kiss cam at a baseball game? on a hillside surrounded by ducks? at a disney park? ) honestl y im not sure bgfjkgd i feel like seb would put a Lot of thought into it and have a whole Plan but also i like the idea of it just kinda Happening :(( like has this plan and everything but maybe theyre just together one night and fuc k the plan

if they adopt any pets together im literally dying to give them a cat bgjkdfg partly just bc i know eli really wants one and he’d absolutely just show up one day with one in tow

who’s more dominant eli def has seb wrapped around his finger but we Know seb has big dom energy and is probably one of the few people that can keep eli under control

where their first kiss was and what it was like :((((( i mean they Like hook up before they really start dating some probably around then but like they have that little moment with the confession ™ and that kiss would be a soft lil contrast to how they’ve acted around each other up until then

if they have any matching couples stuff ( mugs? sweaters? pillowcases? ) probabl y bc they’re gross and cheesy kjdgfdgd but i like the matching sweater/clothes idea :(( eli definitely gets that for them bc he likes dressing seb up so much

how into pda they are very!!!! seb can Lie and say he doesn't like pda all he wants but he likes that eli’s all over him even in public we know how clingy eli is already

who holds the umbrella when it rains probably seb bc taller and eli’s a Brat bgjf

where their usual ‘date spot’ is ( if applicable ) mmmmm damn i kinda like the idea of them going to that first date-ish spot every so often, but i'm not sure how many actual dates they go on that would be super consistent? partly cause free time and also just bc eli loves spontaneity and surprises

who’s more protective I think seb seems more protective on a sort of surface level but they’d be super protective of each other? like they’d both be pretty quick to defend the other

how long it is before they sleep together ( can be as in ‘had sex’ or as in ‘shared a bed’ ) i feel like they might’ve fallen asleep together (at least accidentally) during one of those times eli hangs out at seb’s while he’s working but i dont think they really share a bed until they hook up and eli like purposefully stays the night, and that happens a while after their flirting

if they argue about anything oh definitely, especially at first i think. definitely about eli’s recklessness, about the whole parent situation, if eli feels seb’s being too protective, but they work through all of it <3

who leaves more marks ( lipstick, hickeys, scratchmarks etc. ) not 100% about seb but eli definitely likes marking him up gnjddgd he just likes the idea of seb going to work all cleaned up with hickeys and shit under his collar gkjgfdgf

who steals whose clothes and how often eli definitely steals clothes the most, he likes curling up in seb’s shirts and sweaters :(( i'm not sure that seb steals eli’s clothes so much as eli dresses him up in them gkdfgd just bc their styles are pretty different

how they cuddle ( spooning? facing each other? ) lots of spooning for sure, lots of eli sitting in seb’s lap while he works, also probably eli resting on him if they’re on the couch or in bed

what their favourite nonsexual activity is just hanging out together you know :((( like cuddling and resting together

how long they stay mad at each other I don’t think seb likes staying mad at him for too long, but eli definitely likes to hold grudges and all that, though I think he’d be a little more forgiving?? depends on the situation gkdfng but he’s also the type to just get up and leave when mad so I’m sure that doesn’t really help

what their usual coffee / tea orders are seb…. black coffee man, eli’s likes coffee but he likes it really sweet bgjkdgd

if they ever have any children together :(((( i think……. maybe….. at least one gbfdjkgdf especially after like more people around them start having kids?? 

if they have any special pet names for each other definitely the standard babe + baby :(( but aside from that… 

if they ever split up and / or get back together oo f i’m not sure if the family thing is enough to split them up for a bit, but it wouldn’t stay like that for long they’d definitely get back together pretty quickly, regardless of what it is

what their shared living space is like ( messy? clean? what kind of decor? ) they end up spending more time in seb’s apartment, probably gets a little more put together after eli movies in and he definitely tries to decorate it with anything he finds Neat so it's not the most coordinated gbdfkgd

what their first christmas / hanukkah / etc as a couple was like probably just as overboard as their first birthdays are together gkdfg or maybe more lowkey? they might spend the actual day with family but they’d exchange gifts and have a little thing together afterwards i think

what their names are in each other’s phones eli has him in as babe with little heart emojis and i think seb has him in as baby?? 

if they have any ‘couple traditions’ ( buying a new mug for their collection every year? baking every friday evening? ) mmmm i feel like they Absolutely would but i’m blanking now gbdfjkgd 

who falls asleep first and who wakes up first they’re both late sleepers so it’s just whoever passes out first I think but seb tends to wake up earlier bc Work and eli won’t leave bed unless he really has to 

who’s the big spoon / little spoon mmm seb’s probably the big spoon more maybe?? but also wakes up w eli clinging onto him

who hogs the bathroom probably eli?? bc again, Brat, but also i think he’d just take longer getting ready overall

who kills the spiders / takes them outside gbjdkfgd eli feels bad killing spiders so he definitely takes them outside if he comes across them and probably doesn't even mention it to seb

[thewritewolf]

Nino’s Quest Chapter 6: Out of the Woods

The true struggle of DnD - getting the party together for a session. Not at all helped by magic terrorism attacks.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3.  My ko-fi.

--- October 15th ---

Lord DM: Hey dudes, we still on for today? Since its been like two hours I’ll guess that was a no then

Adrien Regreste: sorry dude. Got roped into a last minute photoshoot :(

Marinoodles: same Wait no I mean- last minute bakery stuff Sorry to bail like this! D:

Alya’ll Beware: Don’t worry about it girl I was chasing that akuma that was running around It kept giving lb n cn the slip Got some good footage tho

Lord DM: Bummer dudes Guess thats one of the perks of living in paris We can try again next week, k?

--- October 18 ---

Direct Message From Alya

Alya: These akumas have been crazy, babe. Rain check on dates? At least until hawkbutt tires himself out

Nino: :( Can’t you take a break or two? You don’t have to be on the frontlines of EVERY akuma attack

Alya: …

Nino: [crying emojis, broken hearts, butterflies with red X’s over them]

Alya: alright, alright But just two, okay? People count on me for the latest news

Nino: totally, babe Just hope lb+cn won’t need rr+cara Cuz… you know That’d be rough

Alya: [eye rolling emoji] Yeah yeah I feel bad for them tho Their social life must be wack at this point

---October 22nd---

Lord DM: Hey, bro, we still meeting at your place or what? ??? Come on, dude! Not again! :(

Adrien Regreste: Sorry dude [sobbing emoji]

Alya’ll Beware: Akuma, babe. Can’t miss three in one week!

Lord DM: Yeah… guess so. Let’s just not miss the next sess, okay? I dont want this campaign to end

Alya’ll Beware: We’ve only missed two weeks so far. That’s not too bad We got pretty lucky with getting five in a row Esp considering how busy we usually are

Lord DM: Fair enough Next week sound good?

Alya’ll Beware: Should for me

---October 31st---

Lord DM: Im scared to ask but… DnD today?

Adrien Regreste: [thumbs up] I’ll be going on 4 hours of sleep But I can do it!

Marinoodles: Same here Lack of sleep and all

Alya’ll Beware: Yeah We good

Adrien Regreste: !!! Wait its actually happening Awesome! ...I should probably clean my room.

Marinoodles: XD Probably! :P

Adrien Regreste: :3

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

An hour later and Nino had made the trip over to Adrien’s house, Alya and Marinette in tow. Their chatting had been less energetic than usual, no doubt because there wasn’t a single person among them who didn’t feel exhausted. A fact that wasn’t at all helped by the late hours that they were arriving at. It may have only been nineteen hundred hours, but when you’d only had a few hours of sleep each night for the past week, it made all the difference in the world.

Despite all that, they were determined. The very thought that they were willing to go through all this just to go further in his campaign was thrilling for Nino, and he didn’t want to let them down.

A wicked grin, looking out of place on him, stretched across his face. With the events he had planned for tonight’s session, he was sure they’d be awake in no time.

They entered Adrien’s room and saw the bounty of sugary treats and caffeine that their host had prepared. After some brief chit-chat, Nino got set up quickly and rolled right into the session. The longer he delayed the more likely it was that his players would fall asleep.

“The forest at last thins as you crest the top of a hill. From your vantage point, you can see the capital city on the horizon.” There were sighs of relief around the room.

“Finally! My character could definitely go for a proper bed after a week of roughing it,” Marinette said after taking a drink of pop.

“You’ll have to hurry, then. The sun is going to start sinking below the horizon. Unless you want to be stuck outside the city until morning, you’d better get moving.”

“My bard starts one last travel song as we rush over.” Adrien opened his phone, no doubt to a lyrics site and cleared his throat.

Alya quickly covered his mouth. “I do not have the time or patience to listen to another of your renditions of Take Me Home, Country Roads, Sunshine. Let’s just get to the city, alright?” Adrien’s eyes darted to Nino in a silent plea, but he simply shrugged.

“Sorry, dude. Babe has a point.”

Pouting, he closed his phone. Beside him, Marinette giggled and patted his back consolingly.

“You reach the city gates without any issue - no bandit or monster is stupid enough to get within stones throw of the capital, not with all the guards on patrol. They were a little suspicious to see you guys so late at night, but… two noble sigils, a bardic license, and my holy symbol put those dudes right at ease. There are still a few rooms open at the inn - how are you guys going to divvy up?”

A trio of blank stares looked back at him. He sighed.

“Each room costs money to rent. You don’t have a lot, so while you could get a private room for each of you, it’s probably better to room with someone else. So who is spending the night with who?”

“Dibs on the cleric!” Alya cried. She tapped her chin theatrically, “I guess that leaves you two together, right?”

“I- I guess so?” Adrien blinked, surprised at Alya’s sudden outburst. Marinette paled a little but nodded.

“Since you guys arrived so late, most of the rooms were already filled up and you had to make do with what you can get. When you finally find your rooms, they are across the inn from each other… and there is only one bed in each room.”

A slight blush, but neither Adrien nor Marinette were freaked out. Alya slumped in defeat - there wasn’t any roleplaying involved in sleeping after all. Unless they decided to do some method acting and have a sleepover.

“The four of us drift off to sleep, which was a totally great change of pace from the creepy woods that you’ve been sleeping in for a week now.” Nino punctuated his words with a yawn that proved contagious. “It was way late at night when suddenly… M, Adrien. Roll for perception.”

Adrien, naturally, rolled a one. Just when Nino was scared he’d accidentally killed them off, Marinette pulled through with a high roll. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“With your keen elven hearing, the creaking of the wooden floor boards was enough to jolt you from sleep. There is a glint of metal above you, and you feel a presence in the darkness. You have just a few seconds to react - what do you do?”

“I roll over!” Marinette blurts out, her eyes wide.

Nino nods. “Right, that puts you right on top of Adrien, who is now totally awake too. It was a good move, though - a knife plunges into the mattress, right where your neck had just been.”

All business now, Marinette asks, “What can I see?”

“Not much. Loose cloaks with hoods pulled up. Knives. Two people. The other person has stumbled back, probs spooked by your sudden movement.”

She taps her chin before her eyes widen again. “Wait, what about the others?! We have to go get them! Or at least get their help.” She shuffles through her character sheet. “Okay, um… I whisper to Adrien in Elvish ‘close your eyes’ and then I toss a flash flare thing at the guy.”

Nino rolls some saves - without the warnings, neither of them stood a chance. He looks up to see Marinette watching him with hopeful eyes. “You got ‘em, M. Now what?”

“I roll off the bed and try to take the guy’s knife.”

“You’ve got it and your turn ends there. The dudes are blinded, but it won’t be long before they’ve recovered. Adrien?”

“Can I cast a spell?”

“Not without your lyre, bro.”

“Fine, fine. I grab it off the bedside table.”

“And why do you think it’d be there?”

“...I’m a bard. Gotta be ready to play, first thing in the morning.” Adrien smirked.

Chuckling, Nino replied. “Alright, fair. What do you cast?”

Adrien stuck out a tongue as he thumbed through his spell list. His eyes lit up as he looked at Nino. “I cast summon monster one, and I summon the Good Boy.”

“Right,” Nino said as the others giggled. “So you’ve got your celestial dog next to you. I figure you want it to attack one of the dudes?”

To his surprise, Adrien shook his head. “No, I command him to go wake up the other two. Probably to go sit by their door and bark in a commanding angelic voice.”

The fight didn’t last long from there - the two of them probably would have been enough to deal with the assassins after they lost the element of surprise. But four against two made it a landslide victory.

“Even though you try your hardest, you weren’t able to catch either alive. One got stabbed and bled out and the other, well… hopefully the innkeeper will understand that it wasn’t your fault that the window got broken.”

“Do they have anything on them?” Alya crossed her arms. “I get the feeling someone is after us.”

“You’re immediately proven right when you find a note in the dead guy’s pocket that reads, ‘Information about the Necromancer cannot reach the king. Dispose of the adventurers before they get their audience.’”

The party exchanged looks.

“Spooky,” Adrien said flatly. The others nodded in agreement.

“Do I recognize the handwriting or anything?” Marinette leaned forward, the gears in her head turning. “Remember, I am a court brat.”

“Nope. Looks like it was written deliberately poorly. You don’t know if you’d recognize it normally.”

“Time for the king?” Adrien perked up.

“Yup, it’s time for-” Nino was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

Adrien gulped. “Um… hello?”

Nathalie stepped into the room and narrowed her eyes at the dice and character sheets. Belatedly Nino remembered that Adrien usually claimed they were working on a project or homework during these sessions. “It is late. Your friends need to leave.”

Without a choice in the matter, they packed up and had the door shut behind them.

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

Nino’s fears were confirmed later that night during a discord chat.

Adrien Regreste: Sorry guys. Looks like we won’t be able to play at my house again Not for a while at least. :(

Lord DM: Don’t worry about it bro Had to happen eventually

Marinoodles: I’m so sorry! :( I hope you didn’t get in trouble because of us

Adrien Regreste: Nothing more than usual They aren��t threatening to keep me locked up at home So, you know Better than usual

Alya’ll Beware: That’s something at least R they going to let u hang out again?

Adrien Regreste: *shrugs* Probably. Anyway… Sorry to be a bummer. Night, everybody!

Marinoodles: Sweet dreams!

Alya’ll Beware: Night, kiddos.

Lord DM: Don’t let the assassins bite! ;) [Three thumbs down, one angry emoji]

[bts000things]

Jungkook Imagine #1 ~🦋

   Everything was beautiful. You were snuggled up in your soft pink bed, your fluffed pastel blue and yellow blanket wrapped around you like a cloak. Your boyfriends song “Begin” floating through the air as back ground noise while you worked on one of your essays for class that was due in a few days. You felt at peace in your quant little room. 

  Then you saw the youtube notification pop up on your screen. 

From BigHit : BTS Jungkook And BlackPink Lisa Performe Duet

   “Huh?...” You stared at the screen in confusion. Jungkook, your lover of 3 years, who told you everything, all the way down to when he last took a poop, in which you have always reminded him you didnt need to know about, didnt mention to you once that we was doing a duet, let alone with lisa, a very populare girl form a very popular girl group. You were a bit confused..and a bit hurt that he kept it from you.

   Not that it bothered you all that much...until you licked on the video. 

   The name of the song was “All Of Me” by John Legend. 

    “So it was just a cover...but still..” you mumbled as the video began. It was a dance cover as well, their voices filling the air as they began moving and swaying in synce. Their steps perfectly matched, perfectly timed as if they have done this a hundred times. You started remebering the nights Jungkook would tell you he had to leave early for a dance practice. You just assumed it was with his group members... it didnt even cross your mind that it was actually with her. 

    The longer you watched, the tighter your chest became. With each dance number, they would get closer. There bodys basically crashing and rolling into each other like two waves, effortlessly falling into place...as if they were meant to be this close..as if they were meant to be THE couple instead of you and him. And the longer you gazed at the diosplay of intimacy on your screen, the more your stomach would churn and sink. But despite every last nerve in your body screaming at you to turn away from the site burning your eyes, or were those tears...you kept on watching, wanting to finish the video in which you wish you never saw. 

   You shut the computer in your lap the moment the video count hit 0:00 and set the electronic aside. Did you save your essay? you didnt care..not about some stupid words that will probably get a 98% regardless. The class was simple. But what was difficult right now was trying to comprehend what you just saw. Images of the two idols touching and holding each other to song meant for lovers. but they werent lovers...or were they? Was Jungkook secretly seeing the female idol behind your back?

    “ Oh come on...as if he could hide ANYTHING with out spilling his guts to you a second after...” So you told yourself, but then again, he did manage to hide this sudden duet.

    You were taken from your thoughts again as your phone buzzed, signaling an incoming call. Your eyes glanced, but froze, seeing the familiar bunny emoji with two flexing arm emojis decorating the caller id screen. Your shaky hands reached down and tapped the accept button, instantly hearing the rough yet childish voice of your lover blare threw the speaker.

     “ y/n! did you see it!! The video of my duet with blackpink lisa, wasnt it great?! Were you surprised by how good i performed?!~” the overly excited maknae rambled, somwhat putting you at ease. At least he wasnt intentionally trying to hide anything is what you thought.

     “yeah kookie..it was great!” your voice barely matching the males enthusiams. And jungkook didnt fail to miss the different tone.

     “You okay jagi?...are you not feeling well?”

     “Whats? No silly! Im as peachy as a...peach!” you awkwardly said, giving a small laugh. jungkook just hummed in respones.

      “Hmm...well, okay. Did you like the video though? be honest.” he asked a bit seriously, wanting a true feedback statment from his lover. But you just felt sourness pool in the back of your throat even thinking of saying that you enjoyed watching another woman rub up against him as lisa just did. But this was your boyfriend who loved you and made sure you knew everyday..But also wanted you to be honest and real with him..so thats what you were going to be.

       “ I mean..it was amazing! You did the foot work wonderfuly and your voice was beautiful! ..But did you..have to do it with..lisa? If so..how come you didnt tell me before?” your voice timid and a bit suspicious. You trusted your boyfriend. but it just didnt settle well with you. You guys told each other everything...everything.

       “Oh, well it was supposed to be a surprise..but from what it sounds like, you didnt really enjoy the surprise part...” jungkook said a bit passively, “ And whats wrong with doing a duet with lisa? Do you not like her voice or something?...I think she did pretty well~”. And for some reason, those last few words make your throat tighten. He enjoyed dancing with her, singing to the same tune?...Did he also prefer her company?

     “ No, she wasnt bad or anything, its just..”

     “Just what jagi...tell me.”

      “...Its just...why did it have to be with another female?” you mumble softly, but jungkook heard every word. You felt your heart rate quicken as the deafening silence englufed the call. 

     This was it. Jungkook was upset with you. you knew you shouldnt have opend your mouth. Should have kept it in and moved on. But no, you haaad to be fucking honest. And now you are going to haaave to be single.

     After a minute of quietness, the males voice starts to giggle and go into a full on laugh. You were taken aback by the sudden laughter..and a bit irritated. Was he mocking you or something?

      “Jagi, you are too cute sometimes..if you were going to be jealous, maybe i should have posted it sooner~” He teased and you went into full on pout mode. How could he find your insecurity amusing? The idiot!

      “Hmpf! Sorry for wanting to be the only women to have your body up against yours...maybe i should go do a cover of despacito with your frined from GOT7..whats was his name again, Yugyeom?? Im sure i still have his nuber somewhere in my phone..” you stated a bit aggresivly and the maknae’s voice hitches before getting serious.

       “Dont you dare. You’re mine...m sorry for teasing." jungkook claimed, and then his voice dropped to a soft plead, “Please dont go to him..im positive he could steal you and i rather not fight my friend to the death over the love of my life...” he mused and you felt your cheeks burn a soft pink. You always became weak for him..

        “F-fine..but you better buy me lunch as an apologie...only then will i forgive you..pabo.”

         “Oh, then thats works perfectly..” was all you heard before he hung up. You blink din confusion at the phone before you heard a knock rattle the front door of your apartment. You walked over, reaching for the soft beige collored door’s silver handle and gripping it, oppening slightly before feeling your heart burst at the sight of jungkook holding a bag of take out in his right hand, a bouqe of f/c roses in his left, a shit eating grin plastering his face. He was dressed in a black sweatshirt and white skinny jeans, a pair of converse decorating his feet. He was handsome in your eyes, but when was he never?

         “Surprise! did you miss me-” was all he got out before you flung yourself at the cheesy boy, planting your plump lips against his, feeling the softness engulf you as you clung to him, your arms around his neck, pulling him down slightly to you so you didnt have to strain your self too much. The male kissed you back with tenderness, loving how you helped him feel secure from just this small show of affection. 

        After a few seconds, you both break the kiss, but you stay close and jungkook rest his forhead to yours. Dark eyes staring into e/c orbs, capturing his full attention. “Im still upset..but you are frogiven...silly” you mumbled, a smile tugging at your cheeks and jungkook grinned more, giving you a soft peck before leaning away, walking past you into your apartmet, you following right behind him. 

        “Thats okay, because after tonight, im positive you wont want me to leave..” he gave oyu a sly wink and you just chuckled, a soft blush rising on your cheeks. 

         “I need to have a talk with your hyungs about what they are teaching you~” you retorted and just give the male a soft smile, every doubt from early washing away instantly. And you enjoyed the rest of your night. Now not only with you snuggled in your bed, fluffy blanket encircling you, but your boyfriend, who you wouldnt trade for the world, was right next to you, enjoying his video game while you started typing your essay again, the scent of takeout filling the air, and his song “Begin” softly echoing in the background, giving you both a sense of peace~

~🦋