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buckymorelikefuckme · 2 years ago

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a pirate's life for me

pirate king wanda x fem reader

words: 2k

warnings: **18+ ONLY** thar be smut ahead!!!!! boot worship/riding, masturbation, mentions of flushed cheeks. if i missed anything pls let me know!

a/n: i'm on a roll today waow... this is NOT proofread btw but i hope you like it!! any and all mistakes are mine. feedback is encouraged & welcomed :) xoxo

part 1 ❀ part 3 ❀ part 4

Life aboard the Scarlet Pearl was unlike anything you imagined. You'd heard all the stories of the crew and their captain, of how they were ruthless and fearsome, in strength as well as in numbers. Yet, for as cunning as they were said to be, they were just as commendable.

Pirate King Maximoff and their crew were said to ravage their way through the richest cities and take as much as possible. The government did everything in their power to stop them, but the pirates were always five steps ahead. On top of that, weeks later after the pillaging, the lower class people were suddenly able to afford better meals, to keep the fires in their hearths going all night. They could finally afford to live comfortably.

There was no way for the government to question it without looking greedy or heartless, so to save the shame of having someone else take better care of their people, they kept quiet. They'd soon find that people who lived in better conditions were happier to do labor.

You'd admired Pirate King Wanda ever since.

Growing up with a silver spoon in your mouth made it so you never even had a moment to question where your next meal would come from, or if you'd freeze to death during winter. When you were young, you'd never thought to question it. As you grew older, however, it became more and more obvious to you that something was not right.

On the nights you'd sneak out of the Manor, dressed in one of your lady’s maids' old dresses and worn out boots, you'd head down to the pub and eavesdrop on the stories people would tell. It didn't take long to learn of the famous Pirate King, even less time to learn of how desperately the townspeople longed for them to show up here. You had no one to tell, but you wished the same.

So, the fateful night they finally arrived, you knew you had to join their crew and set sail with them. You couldn't bear another minute of being around people who looked down their nose at others who had less than they did.

Which leads you to the present, elbows resting on the ledge of the ship, reminiscing on the months that have passed since you arrived.

You'd been utterly shocked and embarrassed to find out the very pirate you so brazenly spoke to in the Manor was the Pirate King Maximoff herself. She'd had a good laugh about it, but ultimately didn't hold it against you. She didn't want anyone to know she was a woman, anyway. As much as it annoyed her to admit, people were more likely to be afraid of her if they thought she was a man. She always made sure those people regretted that, though.

The setting sun kisses your cheeks as you breathe in the salty air of the surrounding sea. You've worked hard to prove your worth, and you have the callouses to show for it. The crew were rightfully wary of you at first, but thankfully, it wasn't long before they welcomed you with open arms.

Pirate King Maximoff, while never rude or hateful, still kept somewhat of a distance from you, always watching you work from her place at the helm. Her chief mate, Natasha, is never far, ready and waiting for new orders to pass along. She was the hardest to crack, but you'd recently had a breakthrough that left you smiling in your bunk later that night.

The wind whips through your hair and you sigh. You couldn't imagine yourself anywhere else now.

“Shouldn't you be getting some grub with the rest of the crew?”

You spin around quickly, startled at her voice. Captain Maximoff stands a few feet away, her eyes calculating as they usually are. Her tan skin glows in the sunlight and you're reminded, once again, of how utterly… handsome she is.

“Captain,” you acknowledge with a tip of your head. “I… I just wanted to have a moment to myself first.”

“I see,” she replies, “then don't let me keep you.”

“No!”

She stops, turning to you with an eyebrow cocked. You hope the flush along your cheeks can pass as being under the sun for too long.

“I mean, um. You don't have to leave.”

She tilts her head, quiet for a moment as she reads your expression. She's very good at it. You'd learned that quickly.

Whatever she finds must be enough to convince her to stay, because a few seconds later she takes the spot beside you, clasping her hands behind her back as she stares into the water.

“Do you do this often?” she asks curiously.

You tear your eyes away from her profile and back to the horizon. “Sometimes,” you confess.

“What for?” she prods.

“I’m not entirely sure,” you say. “I guess to remind myself how small I am, how minuscule my existence is in this vast world. That what I’m doing and have done is right and for the betterment of others more important than I.”

The captain doesn't immediately reply, contemplating your words. When she does speak, it's quiet.

“You are important, though. You are not minuscule. What you have done is important, I cannot deny that, but you must know it is for your betterment as well.”

You turn your gaze to her, frowning. You find her already looking at you and her stare is hard, willing you to believe what she is saying.

“I would not have agreed to let you on my ship if I thought you were not a good person. You've more than paid your dues. I will not hear another self-deprecating word from you.”

You swallow past the lump in your throat. “Thank you, Captain.”

Her eyes flit back and forth between yours. Without a word, she grabs your wrist and begins walking away, leaving you no choice but to follow. You're smart enough not to question her.

She takes you to her quarters, and when she shuts the door behind you, the locking clicking into place with finality, your heart begins to race. She walks around you until she stands in front of you. You try to hold her stare, but soon find your eyes dropping to the hollow point of her neck.

You've longed to touch her golden skin for ages now, knowing you shouldn't, but unable to fight the desire. There have been times, fleeting moments, where you thought your Pirate King felt the same, thought you’d caught her looking at you with hunger rather than inquisitiveness. Like the way she's looking at you now.

Feeling bold, you raise your shaky hands to trace the exposed skin along her open collar.

“If you still feel you have debts to be repaid,” she starts, her hands coming up to your hips, “you may repay them directly to me.”

You finally meet her eyes again. Now, you wonder how you could have missed the yearning, the equal desire burning there. You grip her collar in your fists and pull her into a kiss. Like a dam being broken, the Captain presses closer into your body, now cupping your cheeks as she deepens the kiss, flicking her tongue along your bottom lip. You open for her with a gasp, groaning when she licks the roof of your mouth. Your head is spinning, eagerness turning the kiss sloppy, yet no less heated.

She begins moving backwards, tugging you with her as her lips trail down your neck, licking and sucking marks into the skin there that have you whining and begging for more. The back of her knees hit the edge of her bed and she falls easily onto it, taking you with her. She's got you on her lap, hands bunching up the skirts of your dress around your hips.

“I thought you were crazy for refusing to wear trousers on deck, but I must confess it's much better access this way,” she teases.

You smile, cheeks pinking. “I'd hoped you'd find me prettier than the others,” you admit.

“Trust me, from the moment I saw you, you were the most beautiful creature I'd ever had the pleasure of seeing.”

You have to kiss her again for that, tongue sliding against hers in a way that has you shivering and throbbing for more. You pull away, shifting back until you can kneel on the floor in front of her, holding her heavy-lidded stare.

“May I try something I've thought about, night after night since joining your crew?” you ask.

She nods with an interested quirk to her brows. You pull one of her legs forward so her boot is easier to get to. Biting your lip, you lift your skirts and yourself, shuffling forward and hovering for just a moment. When you lower yourself to sit atop her well-worn leather boot, it's still warm from the summer sun.

You see when it registers with her, what you're doing. Miraculously, the unflappable Pirate King’s cheeks begin flushing as you slowly grind your wet core on her boot.

“Christ,” she whispers.

You moan, clutching her thigh, your hips rolling your clit into the firm pressure of the leather. It feels far better than you expected. You rest your cheek on her knee, panting hotly against her trousers as you continue riding her boot. Movement out of the corner of your eye catches your attention. You moan when you realize she's unbuttoned her trousers and stuff her hand down them. You can see the way she's circling her fingers and it makes you grind faster.

She moans above you and your eyes snap to hers. She pushes your hair out of your face, tugging on your bottom lip. You suck her thumb into your mouth and she curses, eyes going glassy as her concentration splits between rubbing her own clit, watching your lips around her thumb, and the way your hips roll sinfully.

“You're either an angel or the devil,” she decides.

You pull off her thumb to mutter, “I'm whoever you want me to be,” then suck it right back into your mouth.

“What if I said I wanted you to be mine?” she whispers.

You whimper, squeezing your eyes shut before opening them, sending her a pleading look as your hips pick up pace. Your pussy glides across her boot smoothly now, your wetness doing more than enough to help you along.

“Yeah? Wanna be the Pirate King’s kept woman? Want the rest of the crew to know you belong to me? I think you'd look even more stunning with my marks upon your beautiful neck.”

You can only nod, muffled moans slipping past her thumb in your mouth. Her hand quickens in her trousers and you stare, transfixed, your orgasm so close you can taste it.

“Come, my love. Come for me,” she pleads.

Your eyes roll back, the endearment going straight to your core. You grind harder, faster, until finally the building pleasure crests and swells and overwhelms you, coursing through your veins like wildfire. You moan and whimper, twitching as you ride out the high.

“You too,” you beg, breathless, pawing at her trousers until you can get your hand next to hers.

She cries out, then grits her teeth as your fingers help her reach climax. She throws her head back, mouth falling open on a silent moan as she comes, hips bucking into your hand.

“So beautiful, so handsome,” you praise and she groans, yanking your hand out of her trousers and tugging you back into her lap.

She kisses you fiercely, passion coating every second as the two of you come down. When you've both caught your breath, she kisses the tip of your nose, tipping both of you over to lie fully on the bed. She wipes her hand on her already soiled trousers, but you bite your lip, hesitating. Meeting her eyes once again, you lift your fingers, wet with her desire, to your mouth.

“A demon is what you are,” she accuses as you lick your fingers clean.

You smile. “You can't return me now. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid.”

She sighs dramatically. “Whatever shall I do with you?”

“I may have a few ideas, my Captain,” you tease.

She pushes you onto your back, kissing away your giggles until they turn into gasping moans.

(The crew hoot and holler when they see you next, your neck littered with bites, and a proud Pirate King smirking at your side.)

#avengers fic #marvel fic #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff fic #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you

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chrisevansonly · 1 year ago

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Missing Violet (harry’s angel au)

pairing: harry styles x female reader (angel)

summary: harry knew being away from you and violet would be hard, but he didn’t know it would be this hard…

warnings: slight angst?? nothing major <3

a/n: slowly but surely getting back on the writing juice, thought i’d get this cute little idea out before working on some more stuff that’s soon to come💜

It was just past 8:30 in the morning when your phone buzzed quietly beside you, Violet was sound asleep on your chest as you sat propped up in the living room. Your favourite show playing softly on the tv, the outside world was already bustling, people travelling to work, but inside all was quiet, almost as if you weren’t London.

You reached over slowly, careful not to wake your little girl, quickly swiping to answer Harry’s facetime call, an hourly ritual almost as he was away finishing his tour. You smiled seeing his face pop up, the Portugal sun doing wonders for the tan he was getting

“good morning H”

He smiled

“morning darling, how’d you sleep last night?”

“not too bad honestly, gem is here with us so she helped with the little one last night, how about you?”

Harry found a shady spot to sit, returning his attention to you two

“not too bad I suppose, m’really missing home though, i hate being away from you two”

You knew being away from Harry this early after having Violet would be hard on him, and you could see it now when he took his sunglasses off, the bags under his eyes prominent: he just looked so tired

“im sorry my love, only a little longer and then you’ll be back to us…”

Bringing the camera down so Violet was now in the frame, he could see her tiny hands grasping onto your cashmere sweater, her eyes closed, her back moving up and down ever so softly as she slept away

“how come you’re always sleeping with daddy calls hmm?”

You laughed a little

“she just had a very big breakfast so I guess she’s in a food coma”

“what a life”

Harry laughed, taking a few live photos of her before she stirred slightly, a little squeak like noise escaping her

“oh did daddy wake you up? he was taking some cute photos of you”

You placed your phone down propped up with pillows so you could readjust her, a smile on your face noticing the green in her eyes

“did you get any good ones baby?”

A few moments passed with no answer, when you turned back to see the screen Harry had a sad look on his face, tears lining his eyes, that alone broke your heart

“harry what’s wrong? hey please don’t cry…”

He shook his head as you picked the phone up bringing it closer to you and violet

“i should be there a-and i’m not…i feel like i’m failing you both-”

Cutting him off before he could continue you shook your head

“harry, no, we aren’t doing that. don’t you ever think you’re failing us, you’re the best father to violet and the best husband to me, you are in no way failing us.”

Taking a breath you paused

“you’re working your hardest and putting on shows for so many people who love you, we knew it was a possibility bee would come sooner than the tour ended and that’s okay! i know being away from us is hard, and i wish i could be there with you, but don’t you ever think you’re failing me, because you’re not”

After a few minutes he nodded

“I mean fucking hell harry you sent me a continental breakfast from another country with my favourite cherry almond latte…i’d say you’re far from failing”

Harry finally let out a laugh, bringing a smile to your face

“I love you so much you know that? you take such good care of us even from miles away, I know Vi loves you just as much”

“I love you girls too, so much..i’ll be home soon”

Smiling you brought the phone down so Harry could spend some more time with Violet, talking to her softly, telling her stories all while she blinked, not really knowing what was going on, but Harry liked to think she was paying attention. Little did he know you’d been missing him just as terribly, and you couldn’t help but smile knowing you’d be flying to Italy for the final show of love on tour.

The last show was going to be special, but surprising H to be there as a family, would make it that much more incredible.

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ch4rryc0smos · 2 months ago

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YOUR MOUTH IS VICIOUS AND YOU'RE PROUD OF THE SOUND YOU MAKE EVERY SECOND I'M AWAKE / EVERY SECOND I'M AROUND ! — NOW IT'S OVER | DOGPARK.

── . ✶ ❝ B L A I R E F L O R E N C E C A L L A H A N . ❞

☼ — xvii | cancer | infj | british-australian 🪐

appearance ; slightly tanned skin on exposed parts with freckles over shoulders and face, mole under the right corner of her bottom lip, forest green eyes, 5'10 [177 cm], athletic [or sleeper] build with thinner legs, barely noticeable scars over arms, thighs and back, scars over most of her body, dimples when she smiles hard. dimples on her lower back when she stretches. ombre [brown-blonde] hair, prefers her hair short [in a jellyfish cut], but isn't allowed.

beliefs ; materialistic wealth doesn't define anything but your worth in the eyes of capitalism. humans are made to express individuality, not succumb to capitalistic beliefs and submit to slave-like treatment.

⋆ ─ living isn't a linear experience, take it with grace, give it time, and maybe it'll learn to love you too. so, live. ⋆ ─ good and bad don't truly exist, the world is not black and white, it's grey, it's a canvas, and you're the artist.

personality ; gentle, intuitive, charismatic, vigilant, observant, meticulous, boisterous, collected, diligent, loving, realist, nurturing.

positive traits ; compassionate, selfless, empathetic, kind, accountable, notices other's emotions & fluctuations in behaviour[s].

negative traits ; anxious, bottles up her emotions, skeptic [has trust issues], struggles with boundaries, overworks, cares too hard, thinks she has to always be the one to rely on, can't accept her negative emotions, has unhealthy coping mechanisms.

likes ; nature, psychology, sociology, anthropology, freedom of speech, anarchy, deep conversations, late-night car rides, coffee, biology [many branches of it], museums, gardens, aquariums, deers, red pandas, art of living, knowledge, economics, connor murphy & evan hansen.

dislikes ; arthropods, heights, loud noises, narrow-mindedness, extreme temperatures, snobby people, arrogance, dishonesty, being under pressure, confrontation, disorganised places, normalising shitty behaviour and attributing it to mental illness.

deepest secrets ; wants to be seen for her true self, wishes her worth wasn't determined by productivity, wishes her parents would've seen her as more than a trophy daughter.

⋆ ─ she just wants actual connections, the one thing she somehow barely has. ⋆ ─ she doesn't want expectations to be placed on her, she doesn't want to be a prodigy, she wants peace, and calm, and people who actually care.

── . ✶ ❝ B A C K S T O R Y . ❞

ONE of australia's greatest kids, a prodigy made to wow the southern hemisphere, when blaire callahan moves to us, a whole world and hemisphere away, she doesn't know what to do, where to start. living in an esteemed society, high art culture surrounds her everywhere she goes. she's never truly known what friendship is because status is what determines who she is, what she is, even.

she hates how stuffy her life feels, how lonely she always feels, and how she lets her worth be decided on whether she performs well or not, what is this, a circus? she feels like the clown, that's for sure.

primary and middle school pass by as breezes, decent enough as long as she doesn't engage with anyone, ignores the one kid that goes to a nearby school and apparently threw a printer at his teacher in second grade. little blaire didn't know that mentioning that would just be the start of her meeting the murphy family.

one faithful day, she makes the mistake of mentioning this unknown kid to her ever nosy mother, and she somehow finds out it's connor murphy. some guy she'll have to meet now because his family is apparently rich! and oh, they're nice too, but it doesn't matter. and did she mention connor has a sister?

when she finally meets the family, the first time, it's awkward, zoe, connor's sister is a lively kid, she clings onto blaire the second they meet, and connor is, to say the least, out of it. he doesn't want to be there.

blaire resonates with it. and that's how they bond. the two run from the snobby dinner party, they sit outside, on the porch. they're awkward kids, don't speak, but they do know that they understand each other better than the adults ever could.

and that's how it started, few visits occasionally, until blaire moves to connor's school. it's the most public school-esque school she's ever done so much as seen. but connor is okay with it, well, as okay as he can be while hating it viscerally.

he gets bullied, blaire finds out. she hates it, she doesn't care who these people are, she doesn't like them. she spends a while defending connor, and then she meets evan. an anxious wreck, someone who doesn't want to be noticed, but of course she notices him.

so does connor, well, he notices before she does. but she's quick to follow. connor isn't big on befriending him, but she is. she wants him to feel seen, because she never has, not until him. she gives evan the best version of herself, and they form a friend group, a little trio, just them. and no one can hurt them, or can they?

── . ✶ ❝ C U R R E N T . ❞

LAST year of high school, on the path to be valedictorian, or whatever it is in american's high school, blaire callahan is looking to do what she was meant to do when she was younger, back at australia. she's friends with alana beck, a prodigy, but no one knows what these two go through. only connor and evan know blaire better than she seems to know herself.

but connor has been falling apart recently, and even if he acts "rad" and says it's just the usual, she knows. she always will, and evan does too. he's much more observant than he lets off. and blaire likes it. these two are scared for connor, they're worried, but blaire feels empathy. she's been here before, and it hurts.

it hurts bad to see him like this. it hurts so bad to see him like this, and have zoe be so angry. she's always been friends with zoe, and she doesn't like what connor has done to her, but now she's torn. and evan has to help her steer this ship away from this path, the one that'll lead them to their demise.

she's torn between two people, no, three, and three worlds that she'll have to navigate. and her parents too, and it's just so draining, so draining. she has to learn how to live, with herself, and with them, and with everything.

she hates high school, she says.

but she doesn't, she just hates how everyone she seems to care about is struggling, but she's ambitious, she will do anything to keep them afloat. and she will, no matter what, she doesn't care what happens to her, she's going to do it, for herself, for, connor, for evan.

she's been close with cynthia and heidi, connor and evan's mothers (respectively), but she doesn't know if she should tell them, maybe not yet, she thinks. the time will come.

and the universe will let her know, she believes in it. she believes in time, or does she? she hopes she does.

it doesn't matter though, she's going to figure out. this is blaire callahan the world is talking about. she's going to rock it.

── . ✶ appears in to be seen is to be loved [wip].

★ ; decided to make this post before actually putting the fic up (i haven't even finished the fic, i'm sick). i fell ill so i'm much slower, but it's okay, meet blaire everyone! another one of my girls <3 i've got some works with her in it in the plans, so!

#⤿ ✎ hazel's self inserts ⸝⸝#s/i #dear even hansen self insert #dear evan hansen s/i #self shipping community #deh #self ship community #selfship #self shipping #self shipper #self ship blog #selfshipping #selfshipping community #connor murphy #evan hansen #🌑 connor murphy <3 #🖊️ evan hansen <3 #self insert #◎ blaire florence callahan ៸៸ ★ ﹒

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a-small-batch-of-dragons · 1 year ago

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lies are only as good as the person who tells them (and you've never claimed to be)

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none

Pairings: sarah black | the bishop/john hartley | also the bishop, pining from our dear nolan here

Word Count: 3086

The first rule about running a con is that if you ever find yourself believing your own lies, it’s time to get out.

Did he believe that he really cared about Agent Built-Like-A-Brick-Shit-House Hartley? At first, no, because he was just an angry wall of meat that was always conveniently placed between him and anything he wanted—namely, the eggs—and it was not hard to hate angry walls of meat. Then it became yes, he did actually care about this massive lug hauling himself alongside because hey, more people equals more variables equals more things he has to prepare for when everything goes tits up.

Then…yeah, okay, maybe then.

Maybe.

Like, gun to his testicles he probably wouldn’t say anything but if Hartley was throwing a party, he’d turn up. Maybe. Just to snatch the most expensive bottle of booze, crack a joke, and leave.

No, you know what? This is a dumb place to start. Try again.

He wishes he would’ve just left with the fucking egg.

He wishes he would’ve jumped off the car and onto the other car and rode away on it.

He wishes he would’ve let the Bishop shoot Hartley in his fucking chest.

He wishes he wouldn’t have included him in that prison escape plan. He wishes he’d never told him the long story about his dad. He wishes he’d’ve let that fucking train rip him in half.

He—

Nope. This sucks too. Starting over.

The oldest rule to a con is that it’s got three parts. Hook, line, sinker.

Hook, get your target to admit you’ve got a point. Get them interested. A foot in the door, no matter how gnarled, gross, disfigured, or warty it is. Even if it’s just a single toe. Get it in the door.

Line, feed them something they’ll want to eat. Hint at what you want them to be paying attention to. Get them talking, get them on your side.

Sinker. Ride the gullible sap all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Like dead weight. Reel them in. Make them eat your bait until their little fish mouths are so full they’re gasping before they’re even out of the water.

…yeah, that metaphor fucking sucks. Start over.

Any minute now. He’ll think of something. Don’t you worry.

…it’s really fucking hot out here.

Didn’t even give him any sunblock or sunscreen or sun tan lotion or whatever the hell else people call it. You know how hard it is to be inconspicuous with tan lines? Maybe he should be grateful that he’s getting his vitamin D now since wherever Das is gonna stick him now likely won’t have panoramic views.

Also the cuffs. Hurting like hell, thanks.

He wasn’t lying, not really, when he says he’s got no hard feelings for them. They’re good. Holy shit, they’re good. They fooled him, that’s saying something. And the whole thing with the dramatic build-up and the kiss? Poetic cinema at its finest. Sure, he also wasn’t lying when he said he had notes for Hartley’s performance. A little less of the posturing, yeah, maybe a little less heavy-handed with the I became a cop to get back at my old man who despised the law and everything it stood for bullshit, and maybe a little less of the I’m-going-to-pretend-to-be-asleep-after-you’ve-just-confessed-your-tragic-backstory-since-that-time-with-your-third-therapist, that was a dick move.

But everything else…yeah. Really great. Top notch.

Great performance.

Nolan sniffs and tries to adjust his arms so he’s resting a little more comfortably against the tree. Which is hard, considering he’s standing in the middle of a fucking jungle with his hands cuffed around a branch and his chest is currently doing its very best to fucking explode.

You have to get really good at listening to your body when you do what he does for a living. You have to know when you’re in pain and understand where your limits are. Extends to other things too, knowing when you’re hungry, when you’re tired, any of that stuff. Sure, once you know your limits you can start to push them, can start telling your body to fuck off and all that good stuff, but you’ve got to learn them first.

Nolan Booth is not a fucking rookie. He’s been around the block. Over it, under it, through it, he’s practically circumcised it. He knows what he’s doing.

Which means that it’s probably a good thing he’s handcuffed to the tree right now so he has an excuse for not knowing what the fuck he’s doing.

Is he mad that they got the drop on him? You bet your sweet ass he is, he’s supposed to be the one victorious at the end of all of this, he’s supposed to have his walk-off into the sunset moment. Sure, it’s tempered a little bit by the fact that yeah, okay, game can recognize game and that was good.

Is he mad that he doesn’t get to keep any of the eggs? Again, you bet your fucking ass he is. He did so much of the work to get those eggs, he fucking unearthed deep-seated childhood trauma for this shit, and no payoff? Rude.

Is he mad that the stupidest, easiest lie in the fucking world is the one he fell for?

Does he even need to say it this time?

Nolan clenches his jaw and tries to ignore the press of his forehead against the bark of the tree. It rasps against too-sensitive skin and doesn’t do anything to alleviate the sting of the cool metal cuffs.

He tries to tell himself that this is fine, that the lie isn’t as stupid and entry-level as he thinks it is. Hartley may not have actually worked for the FBI as a profiler, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have the skills. Hell, he’s worked as a circus performer and he didn’t even have to pad out his CV that much. Hartley knew him, better than he’s let most therapists know him, and adjusted the lie accordingly. It was tailored specifically for him, that’s why it worked so well.

Never mind that it’s impossible to get that much stuff without actually talking to someone, never mind that it’s almost insulting how easy it was for him, if that was the case, it means they looked him up and did the job they knew he would fall for.

Of course they did, a traitorous part of his brain whispers, they’re con artists. That’s what you do.

Nolan grits his teeth and tugs at the cuffs again. It’s useless, he knows, he’s actually going to have to work to be free of these blasted things, but his hands aren’t working properly right now and he’s still too distracted by the pain blossoming in his chest.

He wonders if Hartley knowing how badly he wanted to believe the lie was a part of how they came up with it.

Who is he kidding, of course it was.

Hartley��s words still ring in his head. Worthy of your father’s love. That had been the first time he’d conceded to the big hunk and he…he’d honestly thought it might be the last. But it hadn’t.

Not when he’d gotten caught right next to him and found that not only is the man strong, he’s smart.

Not when he’d actually been hurt when he’d heard the fake snore coming from underneath him.

Not when he’d watched him about to handcuff the Bishop only to stop, an actual fond smile coming to his face before sharing what might be the most tender kiss he’s ever seen with the woman who was supposed to be their greatest rival.

His greatest rival.

Nolan resists the urge to slam his head against the branch. Barely.

We. When did this become a ‘we’ thing? When did he start thinking of this operation not as Booth and some agent he’s dragging along, but Booth and Hartley? When did he start to care that someone else was here, to the point where he left the fucking egg?

As with all good cons, the target can’t point out a singular moment where the switch flipped. It’s a slow burn, the kind where you put a frog in water and it doesn’t jump out even when its skin starts to peel off.

How hot was the water when he heard Hartley laugh for the first time? Like, genuinely, I’m-not-shitting-you, you-genuinely-caught-me-off-guard laugh. His whole face had broken out into this smile and Nolan hadn’t been able to look away for a second.

How hot was the water when he’d heard Hartley gasping for breath behind him and his chest had seized, trying to make him spit out the information just so he could get Sotto Voce to stop?

How hot was the water when they’d both been scrabbling around in the dirt like children, their sides pressed together, shoulder to shoulder, until the heat was almost unbearable?

He’d been boiled alive at the bottom of the waterfall.

It doesn’t matter what you do, only what they think you’ve done.

It doesn’t matter that the gasps he heard from Hartley made his throat cry out in agony, only that he lied to Bishop about where the last egg was. It doesn’t matter that his hand shook as he fitted the watch into place on that Nazi bunker, only that it worked to get inside.

It doesn’t matter that his heart feels like it’s tearing itself in two, only that he got them what they wanted.

The cuffs jangle as he yanks on them.

Hartley…with his gruff voice and short sentences and jokes that slid just underneath Nolan’s skin. Even when they’d been fighting, he’d never hurt Nolan, not really, not badly, and the way they just seemed to match each other. Even with their insults and when they’d been squaring up in front of guns and technology and behind enemy lines, they’d been—he could look at Hartley and feel some sort of security.

And Bishop…god, where does he even begin? The attention she’d paid him, the way she said his name, the way she’s crafted the narrative of them together as art thieves, even the way they teased Hartley for being so Johnny Law…

He tries to observe his own flaws with the way he does others, if only to make sure he can account for them when he goes to work. He knows he has a need for validation, for attention, but god had he underestimated how much he’d turned into a fucking lapdog.

The pit in his chest opens a little bit more and two hands twist the knife.

Whoever said that true friends stab you in the front because it’s quick and painless is a filthy liar.

Of course they knew. Of course they knew. They’re too fucking smart not to know. He knew as well, that this was just a game. This was a game of them trying to one-up each other, seeing who could get the other to give up a weakness first. He knows he lost. He knows he’s lost badly and he’s a gracious loser. But that doesn’t mean it’s painless.

He wonders who figured out he was starved for affection first. His money is on Hartley, just because the man is the one who figured out how to walk the line between giving Nolan enough to make him follow the crumbs like a stupid pigeon while still believing it was all his idea. But Bishop…oh, Bishop did so well with toying with him that he has to believe she knew it too. Little boy, perfectly molded into what they needed him to be by a daddy who didn’t talk to him for over a year and there he was, a pawn they moved effortlessly across the board, hand in unlovable hand.

Another lie he told himself, another lie he knows he won’t ever be able to believe.

Thank god he’s tied up in a jungle. The breeze ripples through the trees and insects whine like it’s their job to suck his brain out of his ears and he’s panting as he pulls at the jangling cuffs. It’s not quiet, it won’t ever be, not here, and he’s just a little bit grateful to them for that.

“Do you ever shut up,” Hartley had grumbled on the flight to Argentina, “or am I cursed to just put up with your noise?”

“Aw, don’t complain, sweetheart, I’m sure I’ll make plenty of noise for you if you just ask nicely.” Never mind the fact that he would, he knows he would, if only that shamed and shunned part of him weren’t so buried.

Hartley had glared at him. “I’m sick of you.”

And unbidden, Nolan had laughed. Genuinely laughed. “You think you’re sick of me? I have to listen to me all the time, even when I’m not talking.”

Hartley had given him another look, one that he now knows means he’s filing that information away to be turned into a weapon later, wielded by him or the Bishop, it doesn’t matter. Back then, he’d thought that maybe, just maybe, it’d been something like…regret? Compassion? Something?

Nolan isn’t sure that Hartley knew what he was saying.

I have to listen to me all the time, even when I’m not talking.

The worst thing about prison is the silence. Of seeing so many people and knowing they’re there and no one saying anything. Of being ignored because of course he’s there to be ignored. No one cares, no one will, and he will drown in silence until he can’t hear himself scream.

Maybe he should.

His throat closes up and aches to be let free and he wants to, he wants to, but the lingering fear that someone might hear him keeps a lock on it.

Because he’s under no illusions that he’s saved face, but he has some pride left.

He settles for the most pathetic whine he can think of as he buries his face into the bark of the tree. There’s no one but himself here to lie to, not in the safety of his own head, and he knows better than to try right now.

He thought his legs were going to give out when he realized what had happened. He’d stared at them looking so smug, so perfect, so annoyingly perfect when they revealed what the jig was. And then to see them comforting each other, reassuring each other, apologizing to each other because they cared about each other. Seeing the fake warmth fade to genuine affection and fondness as they proceeded to treat him like a wall. He wasn’t there. He didn’t matter. He never did, he was just the Bishops’ pawn, and he would never be anything more than that.

Nolan’s eyes squeeze tighter. He’s not going to cry alone in this jungle, handcuffed to a tree. He’s not.

He’s not going to think about how stupidly condescending that last speech was. He’s not going to think about the part of him that still yearned to reach for Hartley during that moment when he said they had nothing but respect for him. He’s not going to think about how much he felt like a kid again, begging for scraps of anything from a father that wouldn’t give it to him.

He’s not going to think about how easily they moved around each other. He’s not going to think about how, even when they were still supposedly enemies, they moved around each other as easily and comfortably as only intimate lovers could. He’s not going to think about how well he could see that in how they took turns tearing him apart.

He’s not going to think about where they’re going now. He’s not going to think about the Bishop in some extravagant evening gown with Hartley taking her arm, the power couple they are. He’s not going to think about how much they care for each other, how much they depend on each other, and how little of anything they ever gave him was or could have been real.

Because it wasn’t. It wasn’t real. It won’t be real. They don’t think of him. He is nothing to them, not in the way they could be to him.

So he’s not going to think about it.

He’s not.

Nolan Booth ducks his face between his elbows as tears squeeze themselves from his eyes.

He can’t stay here. Das is going to come looking for him. He’s going to be escorted back to prison and he’s going to have to deal with this. He has to plan.

So he lets himself have this. He slumps against the cuffs and lets them dig into the sensitive skin on the inside of his wrists and he lets the ache in his chest send him almost to his knees. Because the second Das finds him, the game is on and he’s going to need all of his strength for what comes next.

He has to rest now. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how much he wants to scream, he has to rest now.

He’s as silent as he can be in the middle of an abandoned jungle.

He lets Das and her men throw him roughly into the back of a truck. He lets his restraints be fastened so tight his circulation is about to be cut off. He lets himself be shoved into the back of a silent truck that means he can’t hear anything other than his own breathing and the blood rushing in his ears.

He lets the boat spray hit him too hard in the face as he rides it out to the yacht in the middle of the ocean. He lets his shoulders ache and protest as he squeezes himself into a too-small space. He lets the sounds of passionate, real love and affection nestle into some soft part of his brain and stay there.

He lets Hartley look at him like he’s a pest. He lets his words that say I don’t give a single fuck about you and you wish I cared enough to be angrier strike him where Hartley knows it hurts. He lets Bishop persuade her partner—her partner—to take the score because Booth can be a valuable asset and Hartley trusts her, one hundred percent.

And he never again lets himself believe that, even for a second, any affection they show him could possibly be real.

#red notice #nolan booth #john hartley #sarah black #the bishop #fic #dragonbabbles

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prongsmydeer · 2 months ago

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Ayesha Livbelogs Heartstopper S3

I was so thrown off by the first shot of the season being Tori, LOL, I'm used to the school corridor openings

I've missed Nick and Charlie's little 'hi's, they are always so sweet

"I'm gonna cook us a candlelit dinner." "With what cooking skills?" "With the power of romance!" HAHA, I wish that would help me cook too, Tao

"Living with you is like a dream." That's a very optimistic approach to getting kicked out of your house, Darcy

Charlie said: Beach days are not immune to my Dark Imaginings

"Do you have some on?" "No, I don't really burn, I just tan." Charlie said, wearing a full cardigan to the beach. However, everyone gets UV damage, put on some sunscreen

Nick menacingly apply sunscreen to Charlie is my love language, actually:

"We've only been dating for like three weeks but [whistles] it's been a whirlwind." HAHAH I love Tao telling anyone who will listen he's dating Elle

"Girls stick together." "I don't care, I hate gender." Love that for Darcy

Awwww, Isaac coming out to Charlie. I love that so much

I enjoy that every time Charlie goes to his Dark Imaginings Place, Nick is like, "Hey, have you tried curing your mental illness with a leetle kiss on the lips"

"When someone you love's in trouble, you'll do anything to help 'em." Tara and Nick are truly on parallel romantic journeys. It's tough being a support person for someone enduring trauma

OH NOOOO Charlie thinks talking about something is code for "Time to exchange 'I love you's" and Nick think it's code for "Time to talk about your eating disorder!"

Perhaps at the beach, with friends, right before leaving for three weeks was not the best choice of venue for this conversation, Nick

I hope Darcy's gran's nice, because Darcy's mum sucks

Tao's cooking struggle aside, I love how colour-coordinated this shot is, the walls and the lamp, Tao's apron, Yan's shirt, the accents of Elle's dress, they're really leaning into the pink and teal:

"We can have a romantic candlelit Dominos." It'd work on me, Elle

Charlie, sitting in Nick's bedroom where there are literally like 10 photos of him on the wall: I wonder if he loves me back

Charlie telling Nick he loves him through the bathroom door. That's one way to overcome your nerves!

Poor Nick, running through the street shirtless and shoeless. That's love!

"You're still damp." "You're the one who said I love you for the first time when I was in the shower." Charlie's never gone live this down. The grandkids will hear about this

"I saw you peeping at me on the beach." "I was not peeping." It's okay, it's... it's allowed! We're in love!" "So in love that you're gonna walk to my house with no shoes on?" I repeat, that's love

Nick's aunt is HAYLEY ATWELL? Both funny bc they keep watching Marvel movies, and because they love to use a really amazing actress for a short cameo. Olivia Coleman for mum, Hayley Atwell for aunt, Nick's family is incredible

Oh, I appreciate that we've brought back the happy fantasy sequence as well:

"Can you please not undermine me like that in front of him?" The vibes of Charlie's mum have never sat well with me

Can I make a confession? Mr. Ayaji and Mr. Farouk (Nathan and Youssef) are my favourite romantic plotline on this show

Oh, I see a sex warning on the season! Who's fucking on screen!

"You did so well." "Exams mean nothing." Tori proving it's a Spring family trait to be incapable of receiving compliments

If Charlie's eating has extended the point where he can't even be in a Nando's, I think he needs help

"You need a nice poster of a handsome boy up there." "I'm a lesbian, gran." "Your dad never told me that. You need a pretty girl up there, then." This seems like a good sign for Gran <3

"I'm worried. I love you." Oh Tori, I think you should be worried

"I never sat still and posed for them. I wish... I wish I'd sat still. I wish I'd sat still, and I wish I'd posed." There's something about Tao's line that makes me want to cry. It describes grief really well

Thank God for Isaac, Charlie needs his support right now

Gjjgjgjhh at Tori being a tumblr girlie. Relatable!

The "Do I Have An Eating Disorder Quiz" is not as fun as the "Am I Gay Quiz" but I admittedly I've also taken both

It's really good for Charlie to admit he has a problem, to vocalize it to Nick, but I understand it's hard when the people you live with make it hard to trust them. Heartstopper always cuts too close to the bone

"He needs help from a doctor or a therapist. Someone that understands eating disorders and knows how to treat them." I am so, so glad that Nick has Aunt Diane, Hot Hayley Atwell Aunt and Qualified Psychiatrist

I don't know if I've ever cried while watching Heartstopper before, but this episode did get me

"The sixth form boys get to wear trousers, so why can't I?" "You look so... you." I'm becoming more and more certain Darcy is going on a gender arc. We love a nonbinary lesbian

"So we're dating?" "We've been seeing each other all summer, so I hope we are." I love Nathan and Youssef 💘💘💘💘 And also Coach Singh, who completes the gay teachers alliance

I am SHOCKED no one's ever caught Charlie and Nick making out in this supply closet, it's like the third time! Also, unrealistic, blocked, it's too spacious for a school storage place

"This isn't Mr. Ajayi's hippy class, you're representing Farouk right now." Neg your boyfriend to convince students it's platonic

OH MY GOD. NICK'S POSTCARD OF CONCERN IS THE SWEETEST AND SADDESST THING I'VE EVER SEEN

Does Charlie gripping his shoulder have implications that it's the site of his self-harm?

"I'm so alone." "Okay, what are we? Your imaginary friends?" I've missed Charlie's cheeky remarks

Fascinated by Tao's instagram bio being, "Was shorter in a past life." What on earth does that mean??

CACKLING at Charlie walking in on the teacher romance. HA

"I have a lot of rules... It doesn't matter, it's stupid." "Uh, what happens if you break the rules?" Mr. Ajayi is such a good teacher

I know it's important to address, but I do feel like the eating disorder is like, the main plot of the season so far, which does make the show harder to watch

"Yeah, I read a book where there was an aromantic character, and then I thought about what happened with us in Paris and stuff." I do find it funny that they feel the need to justify why (or why or not) people know the term aromantic. Why can't people just know!

[Looking at Sahar and Imogen] "Seems a bit gay to me." Me too, Darcy

"You've just not been a very good friend lately, Tao. All you care about is your relationship." "Well, if you're so sad about being single, what happened to James?" There's a lot to unpack here. Firstly, I don't think it's necessarily fair of Isaac to criticize how people engage with their friends, when he also brings a book to like 95% of his interactions. I get it might be a comfort thing, but I would personally feel like that friend wasn't engaged with me if during every one of our hang-outs they were reading. So like, complaining that Tao cares too much about his girlfriend when he's still there, spending time with you, seems harsh. HOWEVER, dick move from Tao, who already told you he didn't like James back

"I guess I just like the idea of having a cool boyfriend, but when we were actually together, he was pretty boring." Maybe it's too early to call comphet, but have you heard of the lesbian masterdoc, Imogen?

"None of you are helping, but thanks." HAHAH rude, Isaac

"You got angry at Charlie for doing the exact same thing we've doing." Elle's got you there, Tao

"You all make it seem like being in a relationship is the most perfect, magical thing that anyone could hope for." Charlie and Nick, homophobically bullied to the point of self-harm and in consistent mental agony over someone they love having an eating disorder: What up

"What about the ones who don't fall in love with any gender? Do you think they're okay just being on their own?" "I don't think they're on their own. they've got loads of friends." Nick Nelson, man of my heart

"When I first realized I liked Charlie, I cried at an 'Am I Gay?' Quiz." We've all been there, Nick

Nick really said: For my birthday, I'd like to confront your parents about your eating disorder

And Charlie said: Fair play, it's your birthday!

Very, very proud of Charlie (and Nick) for asking for help

So grateful for the next episode cutting to Nick's dog, I am emotionally exhausted by everything so far

"I can't believe it's been two months." I thought for a second I'd missed something but I guess they're just referring to inpatient rehab

"Everyone can journal, Nicholas. It helps you process your emotions. If I didn't journal every day, I'd literally have a breakdown. "Alright, you don't have to give me the whole pitch again." Tara and Nick's friendship is the saving grace of this season

NOT THEM SPEEDRUNNING THE ESCALATION OF EATING DISORDER SYMPTOMS THROUGH A MONTAGE. Crazy storytelling choice, but, honestly, helpful as a viewer

This montage has convinced me that Nick really, really needs to be seeing a therapist also

You know, all this said, this probably has really endeared Nick to Charlie's parents. Getting him to come to them for help

Nick is the CUTEST Captain America, perfect Halloween costume choice

Nick's reaction to Sahar and Imogen kissing is SO FUNNY. This is the opposite of how it was when he saw Tara and Darcy kiss. Instead of Bisexual Comfort, it's Gay Horror

(I did also get a cuter screenshot of the kiss the second time I tried, but it didn't fit the vibes of Nick's expression HAHAH)

Nick every time he sees a sapphic party kiss: I think I have learned something

I love that Tara and Darcy have fulfilled the Shrek and Fiona costume threat they made last season

Tao comforting Nick while he cries at the party. Sometimes love is hugging your crying, tipsy friends on the floor

"Can't I play the mentall illness card now?" "No, the S-word rule still applies to the mentally ill." I love that they can banter about the OCD and anorexia diagnosis

"I hope that when you get back, you don't feel like you have to lie to us anymore." If there's an autism quiz, I think Isaac should take it

I do absolutely adore the home video Tao made for Charlie

Olivia Colman must've been quite busy, because I do think Nick's mum would be a cornerstone of support for him in this

"I hope I get good mental health." "I hope I get a mum who can regulate her emotions." A tall order, my friends

"Can you just shut the fuck up?" GOOD FOR NICK, GET REKT DAVID

Charlie apologizing for abandoning Tori but still leaving anyway is both perserving his peace and such a brother move. <3 Oh, family!

Also, love that they were like, 'we realize it's been a tough season, here's a second, smaller dog'

"I never imagined finding a boyfriend and... and feeling so safe with him that I'd even think about, like, taking my clothes off in front of him." I did figure they were gonna talk about dysphoria and sex with Elle

I'm glad they're finally having a bigger party where no one's crying or experiencing an identity crisis or being kicked out by their mum

"I don't want to be just an experiment to you. Especially when you know you're the reason I realized I was bi in the first place." Oh, the Sahar and Imogen lore deepens

Looks like Charlie immediately spoke Tori finding someone she cares about into existence

Hahahahah the fireworks are a metaphor for whatever Elle and Tao are up to in the bedroom

I also didn't notice until rewatching it, but I do think their headmaster announcer is Stephen Fry. They love a starpowered cameo

Honestly, I think it's nice they're talking about sex. With how frequently Charlie and Nick are on top of each other, I thought it'd come sooner (no pun intended)

[Elle, lighthearted, joking] "Hey, be careful. We'll have another vomit situation." "Just need a night off from everything." Does Tara have an alcohol issue? Bc they've had her say this twice now while holding a drink

"Is he Tori's boyfriend?" "She won't confirm whether they're dating or not." Feels fitting

HAHAHAHA NOT ANTHONY BAILEY BEING THE INTERNET FAMOUS HISTORIAN. BOOKED AND BUSY, BABY! I'D SUBSCRIBE TO HIM TOO

Again, I did figure with an ep title like Body, Elle's radio interview was not going to be kind, but hoo boy

"You'll be hearing from me." YOU GET HER, ELLE'S MUM!

I know that's not at all what they're intending, but if they have sex right now, it will seem like Jonathan Bailey was so hot, they were compelled to have sex about it

What a bizarre season. It's half eating disorder, half sex

I don't know what Charlie just texted Nick, but I hope that it was "i'm ready to have sex" because that would be a VERY funny thing to do to Nick in class

"I should've expected it." Oh Elle, my sweet girl 😭😭😭😭😭

"Do you want to talk about it?" [Elle sighs, shakes head] "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" Tao has become SO GOOD at talking feelings since dating Elle

The cut to Baby Farouk in the classroom when they ask Charlie to apply for Head Boy. Gay teen representation DOES heal your inner child

"Good luck, I hope you do get to have your sex sleepover." Me too, Michael, Tori's Maybe Boyfriend

"You don't have to be the strong one all the time. I learned that the hard way." I'm glad Tara's in a better place now

"I just don't think I would've had the courage to explore being nonbinary if it weren't for you. I mean, I probably would've gotten around to it eventually, but you made it feel so easy....and joyful." Tara and Darcy's relationship is also soooo nice. I love everyone's relationship

HAHAHAH Charlie's Dad looking on to Charlie encouragingly as he asks his mum about staying over. Dad's on board with the sex sleepover

Charlie has decided to ask for forgiveness instead, since permission didn't go that well

The janky projector teetering on a pile of pillows is taking me out, it's so true to life. Also, couple nominated for best jawlines. ALSO ALSO. Making a fanvideo of your loved one is V SWEET

"I'm just scared you won't get it." "But I'll try, I'll always try." THEY 💗

"But when you're not around, I um... I don't know. I guess I feel a bit lost." I'm sooooo glad Nick is finally asking for support 💟

We finally got an answer to who was going to have sex on screen! It was Nick and Charlie, which is reasonable, as they are the protagonists. Not that Tara and Darcy and Elle and Tao didn't, but it was a little less explicit as this time we saw clothes flying. I also like that they acknowledged sex isn't just penetration

I appreciate that Charlie kept his shirt on for sex. King of Knowing His Own Comfort Zones

"She was never very nice to me. She was controlling, and sometimes..." Charlie's Mum said: My parenting style is a product of generational trauma

"I would feel much less worried about you if you waited a few more weeks, just til your GSCE's are over. Can that be our compromise?" Charlie, wearing Nick's clothes after they just had sex: Sure!

"Girls and boys can just be friends." True, however, Imogen did try to get Nick to wear a Halloween couple's costume with her while Charlie was away. So. She's got some stuff going on

"I don't think I've ever liked a boy, actually." YEAHHHH IMOGEN DISCOVERING HER IDENTITY! It was comphet!

HAHAHAH I wonder what this pharmacist assumes about Nick, buying condoms and lube with three girls

"I just don't think I think tell you enough how important you are to me." I love Charlie being soppy with his pals

"What's this song even about, Sahar?" "That's personal." "I thought it was about Imogen." HAHAHAHA Tao

Nick upon learning there's one (1) gay rugby player at Leeds: I am applying to this university forthwith

"I'm afraid of being away from him. I don't know who I am without him." Oh, Nick

I looove Charlie looking at himself in the mirror and seeing the animations but not in a Dark Imaginings way. Body neutrality 💓

"I just figured we should have a conversation about, but now... I wish I hadn't sad anything." [Charlie, gently] "Do you want me to go and find her?" [Michael nods] Baby Brother, Relationship Rescuer

"I wish I was like you. You're... hopeful. You try." That is the moral of Charlie's story

I love that you can see Charlie growing more confident as he plays music for the crowd

I think the Michael and Tori dynamic and Isaac's face is suggesting it's a queerplatonic situation, which admittedly is a term I don't fully feel I understand, but good for them

They've really done well to work around Olivia Colman's absence thoroughout this season, but it is hilarious that Nick and Charlie have had so much alone time in his house

I love the return to the end of season cuddle:

#ayesha says things #ayesha liveblogs heartstopper #heartstopper #liveblogging #disordered eating tw #self harm tw #long post #heartstopper spoilers #heartstopper season 3 spoilers #HAPPY HALLOWEEN/DIWALI/MY BIRTHDAY (tomorrow)

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lizziebolt · 3 months ago

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Yukora AlChemy

Templates made my @ai-kan1 I thank you dearly!

“We are all defined by our actions and NOTHING else.”

The second person to be sorted into Ramshackle dorm. Many see them as a replacement which caused them to have imposter syndrome.

Appearance

Yukora is an androgynous person who loves that fact the people Cannot tell whether they are a boy or girl. They have light tanned skin and is taller than the average woman but shorter than the average man. They have long ruby hair with bangs and tied into two low ponytails. Their eyes are bright aquamarine that seems to glow in dark places.

Personality

Yukora is always keeping people guessing. One minute they can be bright and sunny but the next they will refuse to talk to anyone. But a constant in their personality is their snarky attitude towards everyone. Despite this thought, they genuinely wish to make friends and make up for their past mistakes.

Background

Yukora lived as an orphan for most of their childhood, until a powerful sorcerer found them sitting by a lake and decided to take Yukora with them. This sorcerer gave Yukora a new name and new life which they will forever be grateful for. Unfortunately, the sorcerer is a very busy woman who is always on the move, so she left Yukora with her two children most of the time. This didn’t bother Yukora as they were just happy to be part of a family. Then one day on a stormy night the NRC carriage arrived and refused to leave until Yukora left with it.

Trivia

Yukora has no Disney counterpart

They were technically the first person sorted into Ramshackle but due the unique circumstances of the MC they are called the second

Yukora is not the vice dorm leader

Their name is pronounced You-Kora Al—Kemee

They were considered an alchemy prodigy at their old school and even won a few awards

Due to being an orphan they have serious abandonment issues

They fear loneliness, spiderwebs, poison ivy, and the sorcerer popping up out of nowhere

Basic information

Name: Yukora AlChemy

Nickname: Bloody Jellyfish (from Floyd), Alchimiste Rubis (from Rook), Kora-San (from Vil, Riddle, Lilia), Kemy-Chan (from Kalim, Crewel)

Likes

Candle making

Potion rooms

Rain

The feeling of embroidery

Baggy clothes

Dislikes

Bright sunny days

Show offs

Tight clothes

Spiderwebs

Short hair

Relationships

Deuce Spade

They officially met in class but Deuce had seen them during the entrance ceremony and did not like what he saw. He is one of the students who sees Yukora as a replacement for MC. Despite his resentment towards them he tried being nice but this only made Yukora catch feelings for him. Yukora became very open about this crush much to the dismay of Deuce and so he stopped being nice to them in hopes that they would back off.

Jamil

They met during the entrance ceremony and immediately hit it off as friends. Although, while Yukora sees Jamil as a best friend, Jamil sees them as something more. He’s very good at hiding this from Yukora but not really from everyone else. He is rivaling with Azul for Yukora affection. Yukora takes time off to help Jamil around the Scarabia dorm and with Kalim.

Azul

Yukora thought he was annoying when they first met because he kept trying to sign a contract with them but they soon realized they both had a lot in common and became friends. Azul only started to catch feelings for Yukora after he found out that Jamil had a crush on them. Now the two are constantly competing for who would be the better partner for Yukora.

Vil

Vil and Yukora grew up in the same neighborhood and even attended school together. They used to hate each other because of how similar they were from grades to talent but soon got over their childish rivalry and became friends. They still their snarky attitude towards each other but now in a playful way. Vil is always trying to get Yukora to dress differently and Yukora is always poking fun at Vil’s vanity.

Crewel

Crewel is good friends with the sorcerer who took in Yukora and as such knows Yukora pretty well. They see each other as big brother and little sibling. But this doesn’t mean the Crewel gives them special treatment. In fact, he is harder on them than any other student.

Trein

He sees Yukora as one of his best students. Yukora has what I call a classroom crush in which the crush is never meant to go further than admiration. Trein knows this and doesn’t get bothered by it because at least Yukora doesn’t bother him.

Voice claim

Japanese voice is Tuxam from Fragaria Memories voiced by Ayumu Murase. English voice is Venti from Genshin Impact voiced by Erika Harlacher.

#twisted wonderland #disney twst #twst wonderland #twisted oc #original character #please don’t steal #deuce spade #jamil viper #azul ashengrotto #vil schoenheit #divus crewel #mozus trein

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honeybeewhereartthee · 2 years ago

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Crystal Hearts

Prequel PT3: You and Me

➽───Previous───CH11────Next───❥

»»————-　　————-««

"little haku~ why are you staring at space again?" One of the sister of the Oukawa peak at the youngest whos daze while having his phone open beside him.

"Waiting." He mumble with a soft pout.

"Ehh... Could it be your waiting for your friend to chat?"

" Hmm.."

" But don't you say they stopped chatting months ago?"

"... People would do that too. Being MIA for a few months is normal... Some people are busy with their life after all..." He cross his arms. He look at the beautiful bookmark Love-Swan friend give without Love-Swan telling him before hand-- it's a white flower with aurora edges.

His last package with a note, directly come from them.

[ Thank you for liking my sweets and cakes. And being Friend of ai. This is my gift to you.

You can wish anything to this flower. Just hold it and your wish will granted

- M.H ]

"...eheh." he smile as he hugs the bookmark. His older sister can't help but sigh as she look at how hopeless her younger brother is.

"Sigh, young love." She chuckle as she went to her room, leaving the young one be.

"I want to find you, I wish I can find you, even how far apart we are. I wish I can find you and meet you... Ah.. Love-Swan speak like his from another world. I wish I can find you no matter what place or time... even whatnot the universe have!" He always wish for the same thing. Giving a soft kiss to the book mark.

Drowsiness slowly taken over him as he hugs the bookmark, a single tears fall from his eyes from loneliness that his friend might possibly never come online to chat with him again. Even how much he lied to himself.

The tear fall to the bookmark, causing it to glow and become lively, in his right pinky an invisible string slowly become visible and glow beautiful aurora color, a string connected to the sky

...

"I'm gonna go now, I guess." You give a thumbs up to Aira who is being held back by Hiiro, tatsumi and Mayoi from leeching on your leg. "What if you don't go anymore?"

"(ㆁωㆁ)Cant do that. It's the order of the emperor. Aira should get use to it." You pat aira head. " One day, there's bound to be a day you and I well part. I don't want you to be this attached to me at this point because it would only be harder for me." You whisper the last part to yourself as you help aira to stood up.

" We're always sticking to one another, maybe some distance would put our friendship to a test." You point out as he start wailing his eyes out.

" But mc! I don't want to leave you. What if, what if..." You suddenly won't return.. that it be the last time... You did try to do that years ago... I don't want it to happened again.' aira remember when you planned to sleep again so he would live a peaceful life.

His scared, to take his eyes off you. What if you really do it that time his eyes cannot watch you?

"Come on, aira! It's not like mc going to get married in the human world!" hiiro tried to encourage aira. "Or die. "

" MMMCCCCC!! DON'T LEAVEEE HIIRO IS JINXING THINGS FOR YOU!" too bad for hiiro, aira wailing even more from his words.

"Ahahah~ come on now. Back away, back away. Our dear main character have to set on their journey at some point!" wataru appear before you all and pulled you away from everyone. Before aira can cry, his mouth is shut by Wataru magic.

"Shh. We should say our farewell with a smile and not with tears in our eyes!" The clown says as he guide you to the portal. "Now, MC. Remember what I told you about flying ok...?"

" What? I thought nii-tan would joined--"

" Ahahah. You jest me, my dear cousin. Of course you will not escape your flying training! The only way to learn is through harsh training, to experience the consequences of not being able to fly!" he quickly wave his finger in front of you as a NoNo. Your eyes in widen in realization and horror.

"Remember if you hate flying too much, how would you able to learn it?you most Love itself, to learn and it will come to you!"

" AIRA HELPPPPP " you tried to reach out to your friend but alas, wataru is more close to you. "TARUNII-SAN IS CRAZYYUU"

" off you go!" And you were push to the portal. To the sky below, the beautiful night sky of the human world.

"TARUNII-SAN YOU BOOLY!" You cried hopelessly as the portal close but you saw Aira trying to reach out for you. "MC!!!" was his last words before the portal is no more.

As you fall you keep waving your hand around, you suddenly saw your hand have a weird strings connected to it.

"... TARUNII-SAN DID YOU JUST USE YOUR CUPID MAGIC ON ME!" you suddenly don't know what to felt at this moment as Wataru have mangle with something or someone in the human world and use such magic to tie a string of fate.

As you free fall in the sky, you start to think how to save yourself.

"Welp, I guess Ill die." You mumble accepting your fate. 'man... I hope someone catch me...' you thought as you realize falling from the sky sure take a long time.

A certain someone opened his purple eyes and stared at the twilight sky. He suddenly move from where he is, he decided to go out of his house to find Love-Swan and his friend! His sisters notice him leaving but before they can stop him, he was gone.

"Probably in his rebellious stage." The dad said as he sip his coffee." You don't care?"

The oldest sigh. " I mean he probably back later when his hungry. " The dad shrugged his shoulder. "Let him be. Besides his a young kid, he should have known better. At least he would learn now from his mistake in his first love." He added.

»»————-　NOTE　————-««

- Wataru is part Cupid Fae. A very cheat like fae type. the reason his a matchmaker is because of this too.

(if want to be tagged pls comment or Send mail) Tag List : @valeriele3 @yinenovica

#ensemble stars #ensemble stars x reader #enstar x reader #enstar #aira shiratori x reader #kohaku oukawa x reader #Crystal Hearts AU #Crystal Hearts AU You and me

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amive2567 · 2 years ago

Note

hii, good morning/afternoon/evening! can i request a Haikyuu!! march up?

Im 16 y/o. i use she/her pronouns. my sexuality is heterosexual. i have a my favourite colours are green and black. my mbti is INFP 9w1. i dont believe in star sign im sorry :(. my appearance is short (148cm/ 4'8 ft) with short black hair that reached my shoulder, chubby, tanned skin and i have two moles on my face which are on my nose and under my right eye. i love cats and bunnies even though sometime im scared of them. i also love musics.

my ideal type is someone whos only show their care and love only to me, someone that always give me gifts, someome that didnt judge my musics preference or my appearance. respectful and honest. always listens to me when im talking. i love when hes into music like me too. i find males whos smart attractive. for physical features, i like when he is taller than me and has a short messy hair.

my pet peeves are when im talking to someone and they are not even listen to me, just cut the song when it dont finish yet and forced me to do something i dont want.

some traits i hate is when people who arrogant like they always think they are the best, people that like to show-off, lies and people who disrespectful to other people.

and i would like the match up to be romantic, please. thank you !!

Why?:

His greatest passion besides volleyball is music. He will share every new song he likes with you (his tastes vary, so he doesn't have a favorite genre)

He is pretty quiet and chill, so he likes to listen to your voice

A plain fact, but he is tall af and smart

He seems to be arrogant, but he really is just a bit insecure (this was first a reason that you despised him, but after getting to know him that changed)

He is a big softy with trust issues, so he will be soft with you and only you after some years into your relationship

Your littlle story:

" The popcorn is almost ready!" you shouted into the living room. " Yeah, I am almost finished" yelled Tsukishima back. He opened Netflix and searched for your favorite movie. "Do you want to watch part one or two ?" he asked as you entered the cozy living room. You placed the popcorn and the drinks on the Coffee Table. "Part two," you answered and popped yourself onto the couch. Fortunately, your parents had to work a night shift. You could have a Cozy movie marathon without any distractions. Tsukishima nodded and started the movie. He placed himself behind you and wrapped his arms around you.

The opening titles began to play. You both went silent to watch the movie. Especially the music and the atmosphere made you feel like you were there with the avatars. It's your favorite movie for a reason, but then the best thing happened. Neteyam finally showed up, and you began to fangirl. A bit too much for Kei's taste, but he was glad you were happy. "Look at him. He is so perfect. I wish he is real." Now Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. He let it slide for this moment, but as your fangirling became more agitative, he started to growl. He wrapped his arms tighter around your torso and placed gentle kisses on your neck. "What are you doing Kei? It tickles," He didn't answer for now. You were his, and this blue guy wasn't even real. Kei started to pout with each passing second of the movie.

At the end of it, you sighed. "Neteyam is so great, don't you think? And he is so pretty." That was when Kei had enough. "Shut up," he mumbled. "You are mine. This blue idiot doesn’t even exist. I am way better than him.” A wide grin spread across your face as you teased him. "Oh are you jealous, my sweet boy? Well, you are greater than him." You pecked him on his cheek. His eyes lit up, and he started to claim your lips. "I love you so much, and this blue alien can't keep up with the love I feel for you." You nearly had a heart attack from how fast your heart was beating. By now your cheeks were probably as red as Neteyams neck jewelry. As you buried your head in Kei's chest he began to chuckle "You are so cute."

Your special suprise: 🎧 A playlist: Pov your relationship with Tsukishima 🎧

A/N: I hope you enjoy this little story. Sorry it took so long. <3

#ami writes #300 follower event #300 followers #haikyū!!#haikyuu #kei tsukishima

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skiasurveys · 2 years ago

Text

EX SURVEY

About him + Name: davis + Age: 25 + Hair color: brown + Eye color: hazel + Glasses/braces: glasses + Freckles: None + Skin problems: Not really + Tanned or pale: paleish + Best physical quality: he had a cute smile i guess + Worst physical quality: he was too skinny 💀 + Best personality trait: idk he could talk ig Worst personality trait: he was very needy + Family members: i never met any idk + Style: t-shirt and jeans pretty much + Type of music: he liked all tbh ??+ Parents names: idk

Meeting each other + Where did you meet him: online lmaoooo + How old were you: 25 + How old was he: 24 + How long ago did you meet: jan 2022 + Was it at school: No + If yes, were you in the same classes: n/a + Was it love at first sight: i was attracted but no but for him he said it was 💀 + What were your first thoughts: He is cute + Did you think he was boyfriend material: i thought he was cute but i was unsure + Was he single: Yes

Getting together + Could you tell he liked you: yeah he told me Did you flirt: Yes + Did you talk a lot: i guess but he did more talking + Were you good friends before: not really + Did you see each other every day: no ??+ Did you hang out a lot: ^ + Who was the first person to share their feelings: him + Who asked who out: he did.

Early stages + How far into the relationship did you kiss: first date + Hold hands: i think first date ??+ Make out: first date lol + Who put more effort into the relationship: honestly him

First date + Where did you go: we didn’t really do a date we just hung at his place + When was it: feb 2022 + Was it a group date: No ??+ Was it fun: it was okay. + Did you kiss or anything there: yeah + Did he pay: n/a + Was it a good date: it was ok + Rate it out of 10: 4

Random stuff + What did you guys argue about: he was always obsessed with me and felt like we never spent time and sk he would argue abt me seeing him even tho he lived an hour away and didn’t even have a license ??+ Did they use a pickup line when they asked you out: no + What did your friends think of him: they never met him + What did your family think of him: ^ ??+ Did he ever meet your parents: no + What kind of stuff did you guys do together: netflix, gaming , listen to music ??+ Did any of your friends hate him: no + Why: n/a ??+ Did you ever have sex: yes + If yes, how did you feel about it: it was okay + If no, were you planning on it: + What was the longest you had gone without seeing each other: I think a few weeks

Firsts together + Thing shared: my mental health + Thing he bought for you: nothing + Kiss: on his bed + Secret: None + Lie: that i loved him + Inside joke: i dont think we really had any All night talk session: about ourselves and our mental health states. + Talk on the phone: when we matched + Time you said I love you: he told me like a week in and i was like huh,,,

The love part + Did you love him: no + Did he love you: yes + Did he ever say he did: Oh all the time + What did he do to prove he did: nothing he just constantly spammed me + Did you ever think he was the one: No. + Did you put him before friends: never + What about before family: no + Did you not love him at all: i liked him but wasn’t ready + Did you tell him you loved him and not meant it: yup

??Fights & stuff + Have you been through anything tough together (other than breaking up): he was always freaking out abt bills + What was it: ^ + Did you work things out: i tried to reassure him + Were you happy that you did: I wish I’d given up way sooner + Have they seen you cry: yeah + Have you seen him cry: too much lol + Did you make him cry: yes but never intentionally he was just very sensitive and would get sad or upset over anytbing + Has he made you cry: yeah + What did you do to fix your relationship problems: we didn’t i just broke up with him

Breaking up + Who broke up with who: i dumped him + What was said: i don’t remember but i told him i couldn’t do this bc there was so much drama. he threatened suicide a lot + Did anyone cry: he did fs + What was the reason: i couldn’t deal with his problems ??+ Did you do it in person: nope lmao + If yes, was it alone or in front of people: + If no, how did you do it: i had to do it online bc i couldn’t see him and i wanted it over + Were you happy to do it: yes

Right now + Are you still friends: no he was too much + Is he going out with someone right now: idk + Does he still like you: doubt it + Do you still like him: no + Are you shy around him: no ??+ Do you still flirt: I don’t talk to him ??+ Would you take him back: no + Is there anything you would change: i would’ve broke up with him sooner we dated for 4 months + Will you always love him: never did

#survey

0 notes

badassbuchanan · 4 years ago

Text

Making Amends

Plot: Bucky walks back into your life, and with it, your past, along with all the feelings that were there.

Warnings: smut; tfatws!bucky, i never know how to end fics, heartbreak, tension, love making, unprotected sex.

Word Count: 5908

A/N: It’s 12am and I definitely did not proof read this - I take responsibility for any and all mistakes

Okay so with Bucky they used to be together when he was the winter soldier but then he just up and left without a trace so she married into riches but her husband died?! So now she lives alone in a big ol house

“Excuse me, Y/N.” The soft voice caught the woman’s attention as it echoed through the room. Y/N looked up, noticing the petite, older maid standing in the dimly lit wooden frame of the doorway.

“What is it Mary?” Y/N gave her a welcoming smile, looking up at the maid expectantly as she sat up a little straighter in the grand armchair. She delicately folded in the corner of the page of the mystery novel she was reading before neatly placing it down on the side table next to her.

“I do apologise for bothering you at this hour, but you have a visitor.” Y/N noticed the way Mary played nervously with her apron, her unusual jitteriness aroused suspicion in Y/N. Y/N listened intently as she took her reading glasses from her face, placing them on top of her book. “I told him to come back another time, but he’s quite persistent.” She noticed Mary look down the hall to her left as she spoke, as if being intimidated by a figure that was unseen to Y/N. Something definitely wasn’t right.

“He?” Y/N’s ears perked up as a warm flush of both anxiety and excitement washed over her body. She quickly moved to wrap the silk dressing gown tighter around her body, hiding the lace trimmed nightgown she wore underneath. No. It couldn’t be him.

“Yes, he…he said you’d want to-“ The figure of a man emerged in front of Mary, cutting her sentence off. Y/N froze from where she sat, her heart stopping momentarily as she watched a secret part of her past walk into the room. James Buchanan Barnes. The Winter Soldier. Her first lover. Her partner in crime. Her everything. Here. After all this time. After all the heartbreak. She hadn’t seen Bucky since he’d abandoned her late one night while she slept, disappearing without a trace. She searched for him, terrified that one of his enemies had caught up to him. She spent night after night awake hoping that he’d walk back through the door, but he didn’t. He never came back for her.

She had to stop her heart from leaping out of her chest as she sat there, speechless. All of their memories flooded through her mind. Their first kiss. Their first mission. Their first time having sex. The adventures. The soft touches. The sweet nothings. The plans they made. The heartache. The pain. The agonising months spent trying to forget him.

“Bucky.” Her voice cracked as she took in his changed appearance, looking him up and down. He’d cut his hair. His once clean shaven face now covered in stubble. His eyes seemed softer. He looked older.

Bucky’s chest heaved beneath his leather jacket, noticing the pain in Y/N’s eyes. He glanced down at his hands as he slipped off his gloves, a sigh leaving his lips as he second guessed his decision to come here. Damn his therapist and her stupid idea to make peace with his past.

“Thank you.” Bucky nodded towards Mary, signalling for her to leave. Poor Mary looked like she would burst into tears at any moment, terrified of both being told off by Y/N for letting this happen and of being killed by the intimidating visitor. She looked over at Y/N for guidance, not wanting to leave her alone without her consent. Y/N nodded reassuringly with a soft smile at Mary, who’s eyes softened with worry as she quickly moved out of the doorframe, obeying Y/N’s wishes as she shut the door behind her.

Bucky turned his head back towards Y/N, his gorgeous blue eyes making her heart skip a beat. She dropped her head from his gaze, her cheeks heating up as she forced herself to ignore the way he made her stomach flutter with butterflies. “Y/N.” He smiled softly, sensing the trepidation extruding from her as he stepped further into the room, placing his gloves down on the coffee table.

Bucky grumbled to himself as she ignored him, the reality of facing her was a lot harder than he ever imagined it would be. His eye caught view of the teapot sitting on the silver tray, leaning down to pour himself a cup silently to buy himself some time.

Y/N scoffed with a roll of her eyes at his confidence to make himself at home, shaking her head as she felt her eyes getting slightly teary. “Help yourself.” She spat sarcastically as she avoided his gaze, resting her body back against the chair.

Bucky chanced a quick look up at her before lifting the teacup to his lips, sipping the half cold liquid. He chose to ignore her comment, he deserved it, and so much more. “You been keeping well?”

She bit the inside of her cheeks as she kept quiet, keeping up the heartless facade for as long as she could. She refused to let him know how much it pained her to see him, how much she still longed for the kind of love that they’d once shared.

“I think about you a lot, Y/N.” Bucky broke the silence as he placed the teacup onto the table, slumping down onto the couch opposite her, spreading his legs as he adjusted the leather jacket to make himself more comfortable. “My therapist says it actually seems to help with my nightmares.” He continued, a pout on his lips as he cupped his hands together, relaxing into the chair.

“You have a therapist?” She raised her eyebrows accusingly, crossing her arms over her body as she felt her heart beat quicken with anger. Her blood boiled as she watched him sitting there as if he hadn’t broken her heart.

Bucky raised his eyebrow as a response, a subtle nod of his head as he clenched his jaw. “It’s a condition of my pardon.” He spoke matter-of-factly as he shrugged his shoulders. He hated this. He hated how shut off she’d made herself. He hated having to play the part of an asshole, knowing her well enough to know it was the only way to keep her talking.

“She’s got me going through this amends list,” He mumbled with a sigh of exasperation, letting his head rest against the back of the couch. “she’s even given me three rules to to obey in the process.” He let out a chuckle of amusement as he mocked the Doctor’s orders.

Y/N let out a sigh of aggravation, rubbing her fingers against her temple as she closed her eyes. it was too late in the night for her to handle this kind of emotional turmoil. “Bucky, why are you-”

“The first rule is that I can’t do anything illegal.” He cut her off, he didn’t want to have to answer her questions. Questions he didn’t know the answers to. He shifted quickly to sit forward in his seat, picking up the teacup to take another sip of his tea. He noticed her make no effort to cut him off, his plan was working. “The second is that nobody gets hurt.” He smirked as he looked down at the cold liquid, swirling it around in the cup.

Y/N crossed her legs as she sat forward, leaning in to listen to his speech as she kept her eyes focused on her fingers. She noticed the slight tan line on her ring finger, where her wedding band once sat, a million thoughts filling her mind. Bucky wasn’t the only one that had to make amends with his past. He wasn’t the only one that had tried to move on.

Bucky sensed her walls crumbling as she got used to his presence again. He lifted his eyes as he placed his teacup on the table once more, his eyes lifting to her body, admiring her as he always had done. He’d left to protect her. To save her from the inevitable doom they faced as assassins. He was terrified of not being in control of his own mind. He was terrified of hurting her. Something he’d ended up doing anyway.

He never stopped thinking about her. Ever. It didn’t matter where he was or what he was doing, he always thought about her. Like everything else that was going on around him was just noise, a distraction keeping him from her. With everyday that passed the longing to be with her seemed to grow. Without her, all he had was war, assassination, fights, destruction, death. Without her, that’s the only thing he had to focus on.

“Do you remember the first time we went on a mission together?” Bucky smiled softly, feeling his heart thud against his chest as the memories flooded through his mind, bringing back all the emotion.

Y/N’s eyes welled with tears as she swallowed the lump in her throat, the tension in the room rising so high she found it hard to breathe. “I told you I’d die for you.” She relived the memory in her mind, her head spinning as she smiled so subtly that it was unnoticeable to Bucky. After that first mission, she’d seen the worst of Bucky. She’d seen him as the heartless Hydra assassin. She’d seen that he was just as broken as her, and she fell in love with him in that moment.

Bucky’s stomach fluttered with butterflies, a fire of hope igniting inside of him as she slowly started opening up to him. “and I told you that you’d never have to.” He added with a shaky breath, his metal fingers tapping anxiously against his thigh. One wrong move and he’d be shoved from the room and out of her life for good. “Because I’d kill anyone that even looked at you the wrong way.” He chuckled softly at the memory, remembering so vividly how bright she’d made his dark world in that moment.

They sat in silence for a moment, both lost in the memory of each other. In a time where they’d had little control of their minds, with what Hydra was forcing the super soldier’s to do, they found refuge in each other. They found love in the darkest place, a love so rare and beautiful. A love that was impossible to get over.

“And you did,” Y/N’s voice dropped to almost a whisper, clenching her jaw to fight back the tears as she sat there, hurt and angry. How dare he come back into her life without warning, bringing up all of their precious memories that it had taken her a lifetime to forget. “Until you left.”

Bucky closed his eyes as he fought off the reminder. He’d woken up from a nightmare, his body glistening with sweat, his metal hand tightly wrapped around her throat. She was sleeping peacefully next to him, as she always did. It wasn’t the first time he’d choked her in her sleep. But there was a fear in his eyes, born from the lack of control that caused him to never want to hurt her again. He couldn’t help his nightmares, he couldn’t stop the lack of control he had over his mind. The only thing he could do was leave. To let her carry on with her life, without him.

“Do you miss me?” Bucky asked suddenly, his eyes opening to watch her intently. He had spent the last few years fighting to find a way to get back control of his mind, a small glimmer of hope alive in his heart that they’d find their way back to each other somehow, and he’d be fixed when they did.

She shook her head, a small ironic chuckle passed her lips as his words cut through her like a knife. “Don’t.” She whispered sadly, the loneliness of the last few years engulfing her body. He’d been on her mind everyday. She’d always hoped he’d somehow find her, that he’d bring back the love he ripped from her. “Don’t do that.” She sighed softly, blinking rapidly to stop her tears from flowing down her face. Even when she’d tried to move on, live a normal life, marry a wealthy man who adored her, she felt nothing. When her husband passed away suddenly, leaving to her his whole estate, she felt nothing. She’d never been able to feel anything, apart from when she was with Bucky. “Don’t come here, after all these years, acting like nothing hap-”

“Answer the question.” He demanded with a tone of frustration as his metal fist slammed against the coffee table, desperate to hear her say it. He’d lived without her for long enough, the fear of losing her again was too much to bare. He could tell she was losing control by the way her lips pursed together, trying to maintain her strong appearance.

“What do you want from me?” She sighed in defeat, hesitant to opening herself back up to being hurt again. She felt his warmth from across the table, the familiarity of him was something that brought her comfort, and something she desperately craved more of.

“Yes or no, Y/N, do you miss me?” He kept his eyes focused on her intensely, his jaw clenching as he watched her break. Bucky knew exactly what he was doing. He knew he was her weakness. He knew that she couldn’t say no to him. “Because if it’s a no, I will walk out that door and never come back.”

“Yes.” She whispered shakily, the fear of him leaving proved too much as the room fell completely silent. “I miss you, okay. I’ve always missed you. It took me a lifetime try and get over you leaving, to forget you and to be honest Buck, I’m still not sure it worked. I miss you every single day and it kills me inside. Are you happy now?”

“No,” Bucky spoke back instantly, his face as straight as an arrow as he rested his back against the chair. He watched single a tear slowly roll down her cheek, her eyes closing as her head dropped in defeat. “Come and whisper it to me.”

If there was one thing she knew about Bucky, it was that he wouldn’t stop until he got his way. She sighed as a sign of surrender, standing to her feet as she self consciously adjusted her dressing gown to cover her body.

She slowly padded over to stand in front of him, her heart racing as she chanced a glance up at his face. His features looked even more beautiful up close, her hands itching to reach out and touch him. She fiddled with her fingers nervously, cautiously leaning towards him, breathing in his intoxicating scent as her lips gently brushed against his ear lobe. “I still miss you, James.” I whispered.

She let her lips linger close to his skin for longer than necessary. She knew she was playing a dangerous game, but yet she still made no effort to move. Bucky’s hot breath tickled her neck as she closed her eyes, her head spinning in a euphoria of his presence. It was something she could never tire of, something that made her drunk, something that left her addicted.

She riskily turned her head to face his, their breathing the only sound breaking the silence as her hand slid up to hold onto the metal of his shoulder outside of his leather jacket. Bucky tested the boundaries, following her movements as he turned his head to face her, their lips almost brushing.

Y/N gulped as her tongue brushed over her lips, her eyebrows arching in anticipation as her eyes flickered between his lips and his eyes. She needed him. All of him.

“Don’t take it away from me now.” Y/N begged in a whisper against his lips, her fingers digging into his shoulder as she felt him shuffle to the edge of the seat. His eyes didn’t leave hers as he moved, his metal hand lifting cautiously to rest gently on her hip. Bucky’s heart fluttered with happiness, her longing for his love and affection making him feel euphoric. He’d longed for the day to have her wrapped up in his arms again, to have her soft skin on his.

“I miss you, doll.” Bucky whispered against her lips, causing her heart and tummy to flutter as she admired him with doe eyes, like he was the only thing in the world. His words marked the tipping point, her self control demolished as she nudged her face against his, connecting their lips for what felt like the first time.

Bucky wasted no time in kissing her back gently, both of them lost in the desperation of making the most of every second. He naturally took control, his flesh hand lifting to cup her cheek as she let her hand drift to the back of his neck. All of their memories came flooding like a tidal wave through their minds, their passion just as intense as when they were together, almost as though nothing had changed, as if he’d never left.

Bucky pulled her down into his lap as he sat back against the couch, tilting his head to deepen the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her body, feeling as much of her body as he could get his hands on. She adjusted her thighs to straddle his lap, ignoring the way her nightie rode up her thighs, revealing more of her silky flesh to the super soldier. The sudden intimacy didn’t scare her, it didn’t make her feel vulnerable or exposed. With Bucky, she felt safe. She felt loved. She felt like nothing could ever bring her harm.

Bucky’s breathing hitched as she bravely rocked her hips down to meet his, feeling his bulge rub against her thinly clothed pussy. Y/N let out a soft moan, feeling herself already coming apart for him, only ever getting so aroused for Bucky.

Bucky reacted to every slight movement of her body, using his grip on her hips to pull her even closer to him. Their chests pressed together as her hands cupped the sides of his neck, a hum of satisfaction erupted from her lips as they continued to softly kiss.

Y/N felt her arousal drench onto her panties from the familiar feeling of his big cock pressing achingly against her core. Their tongues played as they desperately grabbed at each other’s bodies, both craving the raw love they could only get from each other.

Y/N slid her hands down his chest as she pulled back from the kiss, her pupils glazed over with lust as they both caught their breaths. Bucky stared her down, his lips parted, his chest heaving as he panted. He was slightly nervous that she’d changed her mind until he watched her tug on the rope of her dressing gown, letting it slip off of her body and onto the floor. Bucky groaned softly, feeling his cock twitch, desperate the feel her wet walls clenching around him. He used the opportunity to admire her body, running his hands over her thighs and up under her nightie. His flesh fingertips burned into her bare skin, his metal digits like ice as she rocked her hips back and forth slowly, keeping her eyes locked on his.

Bucky breathed out shakily, leaning up to reconnect their lips as he ran his hands over the round of her ass, pulling her harder against him as he grew needier with every second. She arched her back into his touch, pressing her chest back against his as she felt the strap of her nightie drops to her shoulder, revealing a little more of her chest.

She sucked sensually on Bucky’s tongue as he let her hands roam over his sides teasingly, feeling him smile at the loving gesture. His fingers hooked into her panties, her hips jolting in response as she assisted him in making quick work to tug them down her legs.

“Not here.” She quickly moved to grab hold of his wrist, her breath shaky against his lips as her eyelids fluttered in weakness. Bucky watched curiously as she leaned back, shuffling off of his lap to stand up, holding her hand out for Bucky to take. Drunk in each other’s presence, they felt complete in a broken world, Bucky took her hand as stood up, admiring the innocent look in her eyes. Y/N used his hand to balance as she stepped out of her panties, licking her lips to conceal a cheeky smile as a thought crossed her mind. She bent down to pick up her discarded underwear, stepping closer to him as she kept her eyes on his. Bucky smirked deviously in amusement as she shoved the panties into the pocket of his leather jacket, rolling his eyes as he tried to contain how desperate he was for her.

His smile didn’t fade as he watched her turn around, following close behind her as she lead them out of the room and down the hallway.

Bucky’s hands wrapped around her waist as they reached the bottom of the stairs, forcing her to turn around and face him. “I miss you.” He whispered softly as she noticed the way his chest rose and fell rapidly, the long lost feeling of love proved overwhelming for the metal armed soldier as he pressed his lips desperately against hers, his strength making it easy for him to lift her up.

She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, whimpering into the kiss as he walked them up the grand staircase on the house. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers massaging the back of his head as she sucked on his lip seductively.

She gasped as her back hit the door, Bucky’s strength momentarily faltering as his head spun with pleasure. His hand fiddled with the handle, twisting it to open the door as he kept her wrapped around his body.

Bucky walked them over to the neatly made bed in the middle of the room, throwing her down onto the mattress as he moved to stand between her open legs.

Y/N watched as he took off his coat, his eyes focused on her body as he threw the leather jacket carelessly onto the floor. She bit her lip, her pussy clenching in need as she slowly lifted her legs to press her heels flat against the mattress. Bucky’s eyes glanced between her legs, his pupils displaying as he caught an unobstructed view of her silky, wet pussy.

“You got a new arm.” She whispered softly as her eyes ran over his metal arm, it wasn’t the same as the one she remembered. This one was black, with gold detailing, much more subtle than the red starred, silver arm she knew. She licked her lips with anticipation, mesmerised with the sleek style of his upgraded metal appendage.

Bucky’s eyes stayed glued between her legs, pressing his lips together in a hard line as he watched her mound move with every clench of her needy cunt. He hummed in response to her comment, too turned on to focus on her words as he tugged his t-shirt over his head.

Bucky’s jaw clenched as he watched her sit up, her legs staying in place as she snaked her nightie up her body at a teasingly slow pace. Bucky dropped his hands to his belt buckle, their eyes glued to each other as they removed the last of their clothing, leaving them both naked.

She reached forward, her fingers delicately tracing the part of his shoulder where his flesh fused with the metal of his arm. Bucky’s chest heaved at the delicate nature of her touch, his emotions overwhelming him as he cupped her wrist in his hand. His eyes caught her gaze as she used his grip on her arm to tug him towards her, leaning in to press her lips against his abs with delicate kisses. Bucky’s eyes fluttered shut at the feeling, his breath hitching in his throat as her lips travelled lower.

Y/N hummed against his skin, her clit throbbing for attention as Bucky took the hint, pushing her back down onto the mattress as he climbed on top of her. He cupped her jaw as he pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss, his hard cock pressing against her slick.

Her nails dug into his skin as her hands explored his bare flesh, whimpering into the kiss as she lifted her hips to meet his. The movement of their hips rubbing together caused a friction that caused both of them to gasp out in pleasure, hungry for more.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, bucking her hips desperately to meet his as Bucky let out a weak moan. He leaned up to press his metal hand into the mattress next to her head, his flesh hand sliding up her waist to cup her boobs, squeezing them gently.

“Bucky,” Her eyes fluttered closed as she let herself sink back into the mattress, overwhelmed with pleasure and need as she squeezed her thighs around his hips. “I need you inside of me.”

“You’ve got me.” Bucky reassured her sweetly as he restrained himself from completely letting go and fucking her hard into the mattress. There would be time for that later, but right now, they both needed to take their time, to feel each other’s love.

He let his thick cock slide up and down her folds, drenching his length in her wetness. He dropped his head to her neck, kissing her soft skin delicately as his tip nudged between her folds.

Bucky’s eyebrows arched as he tried to stay in control of his primal instincts, his hand fisting into the mattress as he let out a guttural moan. He slowly moved his hips forward, pressing his thick length into her as she gasped under him.

Her hand flew up to grip his bicep, her lips parting as her back arched from the mattress, her walls pulsing around his length. “Bucky.” She moaned out his name breathlessly as he slid deeper inside of her, his lips sloppily kissing her shoulder as he moved to thrust his cock in and out of her slowly.

His tongue swiped along her collarbone before his lips moved lower, leaving gentle kisses over her chest. “I’m no longer the winter soldier.” Bucky mumbled against her chest, licking over her nipples which sent an overwhelming wave of pleasure through her body. He lifted his head back to hers, their lips colliding as she traced every detail of his chest with her delicate fingers.

She remembered every detail of his body. Every muscle, every scar, ever definition of his perfect skin. She felt his cock buried deep inside of her, filling her up as Bucky let out a groan, his hand moving up to cup her chin as he forced her to look up at him.

Bucky stopped his movements, gazing deep into her eyes as their souls connected, an intense feeling of satisfaction filling their bodies as his lips came crashing down onto hers again. She whimpered as she pulled him closer, their chests pressing against each other as Bucky let out a desperate groan, moving his hips to fuck her.

Y/N let out a shaky cry as her fingers dug into his skin, she’d forgotten just how big his cock was. He filled her up with every thrust, breathing heavily against her lips as little moans erupted from within his throat.

Her legs wrapped around his hips as her pussy clenched around his length, trying to accommodate his size. Y/N pecked his lips over and over soothingly as he fucked into her, the sounds of their bodies slapping together with every thrust. She poured out her love for him, the love that never went away, and he felt it, with every kiss.

Bucky’s stomach clenched as his tip nudged against her cervix, his cock throbbing as he felt how her body reacted to every one of his movements. Her tits bounced with every hard thrust of his hips, her clit rubbing against his skin as she hugged his body tight against hers.

He growled between kisses, thrusting into her so deep that the bed hit the wall with a bang every time he fucked into her. She tried to roll her hips, her body weakening under his as she chased her release that was already building in her stomach.

Bucky’s balls tightened as he slid easily in and out of her drenched pussy, in awe of the way her body was clinging to him as though she’d never let him go. He was already close to his climax, he hadn’t been with anyone since her, his cock marvelling in the feeling of being back inside of her.

“My name is James Bucky Barnes.” His balls slapped against her as he grunted the words through gritted teeth, the sound filling the room as Y/N’s mouth dropped open with a gasp of pleasure. Their breaths mixed together as Bucky’s hips stuttered, his eyes squeezing shut at the overwhelming amount of pleasure coursing through his veins.

Bucky groaned weakly as he brought his knees up to rest under hers, keeping her impaled on his cock as he dropped his mouth to her chest. Y/N bit down on her lip as her eyes mirrored the weakness of her body, watching him fuck up into her at a slower pace.

She moaned at the feeling of his lips sucking at her sensitive nubs, her eyes almost rolling back in pleasure as his tongue swirled around her hardened nipples.

“And you’re part of my efforts to make amends.” Bucky moaned at the feeling of the deeper angle, cuddling her against his chest as he fucked into her. The pair were blinded by the sheer feeling of ecstasy, nothing on earth had ever felt as good as making love to each other.

Bucky moaned as he felt his orgasm approaching, his hips jolting automatically as his metal hand flew forward to grip the wooden headboard. Y/N’s back fell against the mattress again as Bucky held her down by her hip, giving him more leverage to thrust into her with such depth she thought her legs would split in two.

“Bucky.” She breathed out shakily, arching her body into his as her head flew back to press into the pillow. Bucky’s head fell softly into the crook of her neck, his little grunts intensified by his lips on the shell of her ear.

Her hand pressed against his tummy as he pounded into her, a shiver shooting down her spine as she tried to control her impending orgasm, not wanting the night with him to end. She tugged on his hair roughly, desperately trying to feel every part of him.

Her eyes were forced open as Bucky suddenly stopped all of his movements, a look of panic washing over her face as Bucky looked down at her breathlessly. He slid his hand between her body at the mattress, supporting her back as he moved to sit back on his knees, lifting her up to keep her against his chest, his cock still deeply buried inside of her.

Y/N let out a moan at the pleasure of the new angle, clinging tightly to his body as her wetness dripped down onto his balls. Bucky pressed his lips against hers, slowly thrusting up into her as he fucked her deeper in the new position. Soft grunts left Bucky’s lips as he felt her pussy twitching around him, her clit overstimulated from the way it was rubbing against his skin.

“Bucky,” Y/N whimpered his name as a warning, her fingers digging into his skin as she looks up at him helplessly, feeling her orgasm taking over. “Hold me,” She begged softly, her eyes glazing over as wave upon wave of pleasure crashed over her body. “I’m gunna cum.” She cried loudly as her head flew back, her lips parted as her moans flowed freely for him.

Her pussy fluttered around his cock as her tits bounced with each of his thrusts, his hands holding her hips tightly to fuck her down onto him.

Waves of pleasure hit her one after the other, his eyes glued to watching her face come undone as he guided her to ride him. She felt herself tighten around him, moments away from her peak as Bucky lost control, jolting his hips erratically inside of her.

Y/N cried out in pleasure as her orgasm took over her body, her tight pussy pulsating on him as she rode out her mind blowing high. She kissed him deeply, their tongues fighting for dominance as Bucky held her in place as he fucked her through her orgasm. Bucky’s face fell into her neck with a loud moan, the feeling of her pussy throbbing around his cock proving too good as he felt his warm cum spurting deep inside of her. She sighed in relief as Bucky grunted, satisfied with the loaded waves of his cum that was filling her hole.

He dropped her back onto the bed, collapsing on top of her, both of them an exhausted, fucked out mess. Bucky moaned at the euphoric feeling, keeping her close as he spun them over so that his back was lying on the mattress with her on his chest.

She turned her head to face him as they both tried to catch their breaths, smiling sweetly as she kissed his swollen lips. She cupped his sharp jaw, pecking his lips over and over, his dick still buried deep inside of her sensitive pussy.

“Was that all this was?” She whispered after a moment of silence, her fingers tracing the metal infused skin of his shoulder as she pressed her lips to his once more. “Just part of your therapeutic methods of making amends?”

Bucky’s heart ached at the thought of her thinking he’d just used her like that, he hated himself for ever making her think he was capable of such a thing. “No. That’s not all it was.” Bucky mumbled against her lips as he sighed sadly, his eyes softening as he cupped her jaw. “I love you, Y/N.” Bucky whispered shakily with a hopeful smile, his words causing her to freeze. She’d never expected to hear him say that, not even after what they just did. “I always have and I always will.” His thumb rubbed soothingly over her cheek, taking the time to admire her beauty.

“I love you too.” She admitted vulnerably, swallowing the lump in her throat she hadn’t even known was there. She didn’t know why he’d left her, she didn’t know why he’d been so hard to forget. She didn’t know why he’d waited all this time to come back, she didn’t know if he was telling the truth or feeding her lies. In a world of disaster and uncertainty all she did know was that she loved him.

“I just have one question, Bucky.” She spoke with a curious tone, shuffling to rest her head on his chest as her fingers traced over his metal shoulder, admiring the intricate beauty. “How did you know which room was my bedroom?”

Bucky’s heart sunk into his stomach, a shy blush of pink hitting his cheeks as he gave her a guilty smile. Y/N couldn’t help but watch with amusement, his shy side was rare to see, and something that she never took for granted. “I may have stopped by your house once or twice before, just to make sure you were safe.”

taglist:

@harrysthiccthighss @annestine @bestofbucky @velvetcardiganbucky @sexwithhiddlesbatch @be-patient-be-good @codyl-angdon @marveljunkieee @melchills-j @krislhurt @patzammit

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messers-moony · 4 years ago

Text

Serene | F.H

Paring: Five Hargreeves X Fem!Reader

Summary: Five’s wife has a room in their apartment for her own safe keeping. But Diego’s daughter accidentally reveals her biggest secret.

Her scent was heavenly—a beautiful desired mix of coffee, chocolate, and old books. Waking up beside her was like waking up in a coffee shop during sunrise. Her scent resembled her nature and her personality to a tea.

She was calm, collective, resourceful, and quiet. Much different than he himself. Number Five was just as innovative as her. But he found himself more different than similar. He often acted upon impulse and unable to rest. To his siblings, they were bewildered at how the two of them spent a multitude of years together in an apocalypse.

Nevertheless, opposites attract.

Regardless, she didn’t speak up. Instead, she hid in a corner with a book agreeing with the other person instead of saying her point of view. She hated conflict more than anything. Five, on the other hand, would only make conflict when necessary. He always stood up for himself and his opinions.

It was a communication issue they both had to solve. While in the apocalypse, she didn’t speak for the first month. He was lucky if he even got some form of communication other than a nod or a shake of the head. Eventually, he learned her name was Y/n. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. She looked like her name.

She moved so delicately and smoothly it drove Five crazy. This woman he met was so opposite to him it drove him up the wall. The conflict between the two usually ended up in her quietly leaving the shared apartment and returning later than expected. Which left Five to pull at the tuffs of his brown hair in frustration.

Five overthought everything. This woman was the light of his life, but she couldn’t deal with conflict to save her life, and it made him wonder. Maybe she went through a dark time before the apocalypse. Perhaps the scars on her arms weren’t from accidental burns on the fire. He paced in their main room for hours. It seemed before a knock on the door caught his attention.

The boy opened the door to see his brother, “ Hey, Diego. “

“ Um, hey, Five. “ Regardless of Diego’s nervous greeting, Five gave a reassuring smile, “ Artemis wanted to know if she could stay here for the time being while I’m at work. “

The little girl was Y/n’s pride and joy. The two were so highly similar. Even Artemis found herself cowering at Five sometimes. Five was just a ticking time bomb no one ever knew when it would explode, and it made people nervous. Henceforth Diego was hoping Y/n would answer the door with her soothing nature.

“ Yeah, she can stay here for as long as she wants. “ Five replied softly, looking at the ten-year-old girl, “ Is Y/n here? “ Diego queried.

Five shook his head, “ She went out. I’m sure she’ll be back later. “

“ Alright, well, thank you for taking care of her. “ Diego sighed as Artemis went inside Five’s apartment, “ It’s no problem. “

Diego gave another nervous smile and walked away. The brunet male shut the door and locked it afterward. The little girl never really got along with Five. He didn’t know what to do. Children didn’t mix well with Five, especially an introverted, antisocial ten-year-old girl.

Artemis was gorgeous for her age. Long brown hair that resembled Vanya’s at her age with bangs across her forehead. Striking blue eyes like no other. A pale complexion compared to Diego’s naturally tan one. Her name was almost a contradiction to who she was. This little girl was no independent, strong, brave goddess. Instead, she was intelligent, quiet, and careful.

There was one room in the apartment Y/n didn’t really let anyone into. It was the ‘spare’ bedroom that wasn’t really a bedroom anymore. Five had only been in there a handful of times. It was known as her safe space, so Five respected that. But Artemis seemed to walk right inside. To say it made Five uneasy was an understatement. He didn’t know if she was allowed inside or not.

Five walked into the room and was greeted with bookshelves. It looked much different than the last time he saw it. The room wasn’t huge, maybe the average size of a square bedroom. Black bookshelves covered the walls with a desk sitting in the middle of the room planted on a rug. The only wall space not covered was a window with a tiny navy blue couch placed in front of it.

That’s where Artemis sat with a book in hand; she giggled at her uncle’s lost complexion, “ You haven’t been in here before, have you? “

“ I- I haven’t been in here a lot. “ Five replied in awe of the room, “ Aunt Y/n says she doesn’t let a lot of people in here. “ Artemis’ voice was soft and serene.

“ Yeah, it’s been a couple of months since I’ve been allowed in this room. “ He reminisced, “ Is this where you two talk? “

Artemis nodded, “ We talk a lot in here. This is where she works, and she shows me all her drafts. “

“ She works in here? “ Five queried, completely baffled, “ Mhm! You didn’t know? “ The young girl asked.

“ No, I- I didn’t know. “ He muttered, “ She’s not just an English teacher. She writes books in her spare time. “ Artemis smiled.

“ She does? “ Five spoke, “ Like how Vanya wrote her autobiography? “

“ Kind of. “ Artemis answered, “ She writes fiction novels. “

Five spun around the room, “ Can you show me? “

The young girl didn’t reply. Instead, she looked at Y/n’s desk sitting in the middle of the room. Under the rug laid a key which she picked up. Carefully she unlocked the bottom drawer on the left side of the desk, which held multiple different notebooks full of drafts and notes.

Artemis picked up a navy blue-bound notebook and handed it to him, “ This is her most recent stuff. “

Shocked and astonished at what his wife was hiding from him, he took the navy blue book. He took a spot on the rug sitting next to the open drawer while Artemis went back to reading on the couch. Her handwriting was elegant cursive that she taught herself how to do. The notebook was as messy as Five’s lesson plans for his college students. Nonetheless, he read on.

Life is a journey and full of different surprises. People from all around the world meet in the center for one leading cause. What occurs when tomorrow doesn’t happen? What is indeed on the other side? People tend to believe there’s an afterlife. Others think that it’s game over.

Brooklyn James takes a path into the unknown. A scared adolescent. She takes a brave step to find the answers for everyone. But at what cost? Prophecies advise and warn. People intrigued and fascinated.

When happens when both ends meet?

Five sat on the floor, entranced in her writing. He couldn’t believe his eyes. How has he never seen this before? How was she doing this without him noticing? Eventually, he closed the book and looked inside the drawer. Inside was an envelope with his name on it. Curiosity peaked, he took the envelope and opened it. Inside he found more writings, but all addressed to him. It even went back to the apocalypse.

It’s been about a month now. I was able to find some parchment and ink in an old book store. I can imagine they were selling for the aesthetic of old ways of writing. Thankfully I learned how to write with a quill, or perhaps this note would look like one big black blob. Five seems to be adjusting to me better. I’m scared of him. He’s terrifying.

We’re so different it hurts. He likes to express everything, and I don’t know how to feel about it. My entire life, I’ve been shut down to the point where talking feels like a fruitless effort. Maybe talking to him will help me. But I’m scared. What if he shuts me out as everyone else did.

This is so surreal. We’re stuck in an apocalyptic future—stupid healing powers. I wish I never healed myself sometimes. I didn’t know that after climbing out of my burnt house, this is what the world would look like. Five’s been a great help, though. Sometimes he takes my mind off things. At night he’ll ramble about the constellations, and I like learning about them.

Maybe he thinks I’m asleep or not listening because I don’t talk much, but I’ve learned a lot from him. He makes me want to be a teacher, step out of my comfort zone. I hope he becomes a teacher. He’d be a fantastic math professor.

He continued to read through until a voice made him jump, “ So, you’ve found my locked drawer. “

“ I- I didn’t- I didn’t mean- “ Five suddenly became a stuttering mess, “ I showed him. “ Artemis admitted.

Although Y/n wasn’t mad, Artemis cowered with her head, looking at the floor. Y/n’s voice never held anger, even when she was angry. Her voice was calming, soothing, and laced with honey. It was one of the reasons Five fell so in love with her.

“ Artemis, can you step out to the living room, please? “ She knelt before the girl giving her a tiny smile, “ You aren’t in trouble, my princess. I just want to talk to Five, okay? “

“ I’m- I'm sorry. “ The girl whimpered, and Y/n kissed her cheek gently, “ It’s okay, you aren’t in trouble. I’m not mad. I just need you to sit in the living room for a moment. “ Five stared in wonder at his wife comforting the tiny girl.

The young girl got the message and padded to the living room. Y/n stood up from her spot and stared at her guilty husband. His green eyes looked everywhere except for her e/c ones. He wanted her to yell or be angry with him, but she never was. No matter what, he couldn’t ever make her mad. Her patience were infinite.

“ I suppose you found what I’ve been working on. “ She stated, and Five nodded, “ And you saw my parchment from the apocalypse. “

“ I really didn’t mean to. “ He murmured, and she chuckled, “ You were going to have to find out sooner rather than later. “ Y/n replied.

Without warning, he was embraced. Her arms were wrapped around his torso while her head rested on his heart. The scent of her shampoo reached his nose, a glorious mix of honey and coconut he couldn’t ever get enough of. His arms gently wrapped themselves around her shorter frame while his chin perched on top of her head.

He kissed her hair gently, “ I didn’t mean to snoop. I’m sorry, love. “

“ Well, do you like it? “ She asked, “ Like what? “

“ My drafts, my room, my notes? “ Y/n listed, “ I love it because it’s who you are. “ Five replied softly.

He pulled away to meet her soft e/c eyes, “ This room is who you are as a person. If I had to describe you in one room, it’d be something along these lines. “

“ You aren’t mad I didn’t tell you? “ She whispered, and he shook his head, “ Never. We spent forty-five years together with no privacy because we didn’t have that. When you said you wanted this room to yourself, I didn’t hesitate to agree with you. “ His voice was soft like silk.

His green eyes glittered like gems, “ This is your private room, your safe place, and I shouldn’t be mad at you for wanting privacy. “

She kissed his cheek gratefully, “ Thank you. “

“ Anytime, darling. Anytime. “

#five hargreeves x y/n #five fluff #five fanfiction #five x y/n #five hargreeves fluff #five hargreeves x reader #five hargreeves #five x reader #number five x reader #number five #five hargreeves x you #tua #tua fanfic #tua au #tua x reader #tua five #the umbrella academy #the sparrow academy

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beautiful-songbird · 3 years ago

Text

Sweet Talker

Pairing: Jin x OC

Genre: fluff, angst

Word count: 9.8k

Warnings: drinking, lots of shirtless dudes, brief mention of skinny dipping? (does that need a warning?)

Lyrics: Sometimes all I think about is you…late nights in the middle of June. - Heat Waves by Glass Animals

Summary: Isabelle is stuck working on a beach this summer, which wouldn’t be so bad, but everything about it reminds her of her first love. To make matters worse…it seems he decided to take a trip to said beach this summer.

A/N: special thanks to @jiminie-and-his-pinky-finger for the banner ^^

I opened the minifridge in the back of the snack bar. The beach was hotter today than it usually was, and everyone was running to the snack bar in search of cold drinks. I just wanted to be on the beach. Working on the beach was a pretty good alternate if I couldn’t be swimming, though. I could’ve been stuck stocking shelves at a grocery store today instead, which was definitely not something I wanted to be doing.

Once I’d rang up the customer, I leaned against the counter. As much as I loved the beach, I really didn’t want to be here. I’d seen it every year, time and time again, but it always reminded me of the boy I’d met the year I was fourteen. And to be frank, I hated remembering him.

My family lived less than a mile from the beach, so we’d spent nearly every day of the summer at the beach when I was younger. I hadn’t minded much. I’d loved the beach back then. This particular summer, a certain teenage boy and his family had come to spend a whole month at the beach. Being fourteen, I had been more outgoing than I was now, so I’d taken my chances and spoken to the boy, and of course, we’d spent the rest of the month together.

That had been six years ago, but I foolishly still wished to see him again. Because of it, I tended to avoid the beach now. As much as I loved it, I felt strange knowing I still liked a guy I’d known for a month many, many years ago. I was an adult now. I should’ve been able to get over a silly crush I had as a kid long ago.

I sighed and tugged off my apron after noticing what time it was. My break had started. I pulled the little palm tree pin out of my bun and set it down on top of my apron. In my opinion, they tried a little too hard to sell the beach aesthetic to travelers. The whole place was littered with pictures of palm trees and coconuts, and we didn’t even grow coconuts here!

Once I was outside the snack bar, I pulled my phone out to find about sixty texts from my best friend, Ellie.

“Isa. How’s the snack bar? I can’t believe you’re enjoying the beach without me! Save me a pineapple slushie. Mateo is working today. And he is (hot). Why did you never tell me? Did you know that the music store has whole pianos? Like, big, big ones! Isa answer your texts pleaseeeee.”

Ellie was spending her summer working at the music shop, so I wasn’t quite sure how she hadn’t known they sold pianos until now. I laughed as I scrolled through the flurry of emojis Ellie had sent before I finally responded.

“You already knew Mateo was hot. You’ve been pining over him since we were in high school.”

“Oh, look, Isabelle is alive!”

I rolled my eyes.

“Yes, I have a ten-minute break. We’ve had lots of customers today because of how hot it is.”

“You better get a tan for me since I can’t spend my summer on the beach.”

“I’m not in the sun much.”

“I don’t care. Get a tan.”

I laughed, looking up from my phone for a moment to glance around at the beach. I watched as people played on the shore and swam in the ocean. There was a game of volleyball going on, and there were a few people surfing. I paused as I came across one particular young man standing on the beach. He looked oddly familiar. He turned around then, and my eyes widened. Jin. I glanced back down at my phone for just long enough to type out a text to Ellie.

“I’ve gotta go. Text you after work.”

I didn’t bother waiting for Ellie’s response before I bolted back into the snack bar. What on earth was Jin doing here? He hadn’t been here for six years, so why was he here the one year I was working on the beach?

It would be ok. I could survive the next four hours and just hope he wouldn’t wander over here, and then I could go home. Surely he wouldn’t be here the next day, right? His grandparents lived here, so maybe they wanted to do something with him other than hang out on the beach?

Sadly, the world was against me, and Jin was at the beach the next morning. Not only that, but he also decided to come over the snack bar. As he approached, I realized that there was really no way he wouldn’t recognize me. I looked almost exactly the same as I had six years ago, just a bit more mature. And it wasn’t like I could escape and leave the work to someone else, either. No one else was working with me today.

I was mentally planning about five different ways to bury myself in the ground when Jin walked up to the stand.

“Hi, Isabelle! It’s been a while!”

Well, dang it. I wasn’t getting out of this now.

“Hi!” I said a bit too enthusiastically. “Jin, right?”

“Uh…yeah. We hung out together that one summer? Remember?”

“Oh,” I laughed nervously. “Yes, of course. I remember.”

He smiled. “Well, it’s nice to see you. It’s been a long while. You look…gorgeous.”

I glanced down at my work clothes and considered the bun I’d sloppily put in my hair that morning. “Sure, buddy.” Out of all the things I could’ve said in response, why had I said that?

He cleared his throat, and I had to keep herself from looking down at his bare chest. The last time we’d seen each other, he’d preferred to wear swim shirts. He clearly wasn’t fifteen anymore.

“Is there anything you’d like to order?” I asked.

“Do you guys have beer?”

Beer? Who did he think he was, an adult? Oh, wait, he was twenty-one. He was an adult….

“Yeah, we have three different kinds,” I informed him, taking one of each out of the minifridge and placing them all in front of him.

“Do you have an opinion on them?”

“Um. Jin, I can’t drink yet.”

He snapped his fingers. “Right. You’re a year younger than I am.” He picked up the one on the right. “I’ll just take this one, then. How much do I owe you?”

“Three bucks.”

“For the little thing? Wow!” he placed three dollars on the counter and popped the can open.

“Yeah, we have to stay in business somehow,” I told him as I put the money in the cash register.

“That’s true,” he nodded. “Well, see you around!”

I nodded, secretly hoping that I could save myself the embarrassment and never, ever have to see him again.

Ellie was beyond enthused when I told her what had happened that evening.

“This is the Jin? Like Jin who wore his swim trunks inside out at the beach Jin?”

I thought about this for a few seconds. I didn’t recall such a thing happening. “Do we know more than one Jin?”

“You don’t remember that? It was on your birthday!”

“Was it?”

“Yeah. Your mom made him walk all the way back to his grandparents’ house to change.”

“I suppose I may remember this vaguely.” I took a deep breath. “What do I do?”

“You ask him on a date, silly!”

I looked at Ellie like she was crazy. “No.”

Ellie sighed. “Are you ever going to go on a date? You’ve never been on a date with anyone. And Jin’s not even from here, so if the date goes badly, he’s leaving in a month! You’ll never have to see him again!”

Part of me wondered just what would happen if the date went well, though. He would be leaving then too, and I’d be left adrift after spending a summer with a guy I’d fallen in love with. Again.

“Yeah, and if the date goes bad, the two of us will still be spending every day on the same beach together. I can’t risk it.”

“Why not?”

Ellie clearly wasn’t understanding, so I pulled out the only card I knew to play in this situation.

“Are you going to ask Mateo out?”

Ellie considered this for a few moments. Then she shrugged. “Maybe.”

“See? You’re not sure either! So how about we both just not ask them out at move on with life? We don’t need men to fulfill our lives.”

Ellie took this as an invitation to ask Mateo out and use her success as an excuse for me to ask Jin out, though, so that card didn’t work the way I’d expected it to. No matter what she said, I wouldn’t cave. I wouldn’t go on a date with Jin. I wouldn’t. I just needed to get over this dumb crush before the summer was over so that I could go back to my normal life once university started up again in the fall. I could live the rest of my life without Jin. There were plenty of nice guys at the university anyways. I was sure I could date one of them and be far happier than I’d be in a long-distance relationship.

Every day at the snack bar was excruciatingly long as I tried my best to avoid Jin. I just knew I’d say something stupid to him if I was given the chance, so I wasn’t going to give myself that chance.

Part of me really wanted him to return and talk to me again, though. I felt like that silly fourteen-year-old all over again who swooned at just about anything he said. I didn’t like that feeling. It made me feel out of control, and I preferred to have control over everything in my life. Every time my heart jumped in my chest when I saw him, I reminded myself that this would all be over in four weeks. He wasn’t staying, and I wasn’t going to let him take my heart with him. Not if I had anything to say about it.

The bad thing was that it seemed the beach was not the only place I had to avoid him. He was everywhere I went. He shopped at the same supermarket as me, he was eating at my favorite restaurant, and he was even using the same gym as me. Who went to the gym in this town, anyways? You could walk everywhere in town, and the beach gave you more of a workout than the gym ever could. Walking through sand was definitely more of a workout than walking the track. Saying this makes me sound like a hypocrite for having a gym membership, though, so I’ll explain myself: the gym was supposed to be my safe haven from Jin. I also still hated the beach even in the off season, so it was more reasonable to go there than to the beach. No one needs a winter tan, right?

I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but I had stopped for more than a few seconds to watch him lift weights one morning at the gym. It didn’t mean anything, though. He just had nice biceps. Other than that, I was avoiding him. At least, that was what I told myself. I wasn’t exactly doing everything I could to avoid him. I definitely didn’t stop in the chips aisle at the store to stare at him. And I didn’t sit three booths down from him at the burger place and watched him eat. I also hadn’t bought a pair of binoculars to watch him at the beach.

Ok, so admittedly, Jin was making me do crazy things. I blamed it on the fourteen-year-old inside of me who was floored at the thought of possibly dating her crush. He wasn’t my crush, though. Definitely not.

“I made a really good call on that beer last week. It was actually pretty good.”

“Oh, really?” I asked, leaning against the counter like I hadn’t been watching him playing volleyball with a few other guys just three minutes earlier. “Would you like to buy another one?”

“Actually, can I buy four? One of my friends kept stealing the last one I bought, so I’m just going to get one for each of us.”

I laughed. “Of course. I’ll get you four of them. That’s twelve dollars.”

He pulled out a few bills and handed them to me before picking the drinks up off the counter. “Thanks! I’ll be back for something else later,” he said with a wink.

I wanted to punch my heart for beating faster at that small motion. He was just a guy. A really hot guy, but just a guy. There wasn’t really anything that made him stand out from all the other guys on the beach this summer. He was just a guy I’d known for a month in high school and never seen again.

Ok, so I was doing a really bad job at convincing myself I didn’t have a crush on him anymore. Maybe I needed to get away. We were about a half an hour drive from the mainland, and I could totally take a day or two off work for some time to myself.

So, that’s exactly what I did. I took Friday off that week so that I could have three whole days on the mainland. A vacation was just what I needed. Jin would be off my mind, and I wouldn’t be sweating through my clothes for hours on end. Come to think of it, I should’ve gotten a different summer job. Staring at shirtless guys for hours on end was someone’s cup of tea, but that someone was not me.

Ellie wanted to join me on my little trip, but I was convinced I needed some time to myself, so I left her with her new boyfriend. That was ok. The two of them could spend a lot of time together while I wasn’t there. They didn’t get to spend a lot of time together outside the music store because Ellie spent all her free time with me.

I packed a little bag. I wouldn’t need much for two nights, right? Generally, I had a tendency to overpack, but I wasn’t giving in this time. I was packing light, and I was leaving my dog with my parents. I could spend two nights without him.

The drive to the mainland was far more insane than I’d expected it to be. There were so, so many cars on the road. How had I not realized this many people visited our tiny island during the summer? Sure, I saw many unfamiliar faces every day, but it had never occurred to me that there were this many unfamiliar faces.

By the time I arrived on the mainland, it was nearly noon. I hadn’t gotten out of the house until ten, and the traffic had been horrendous. I was ready for some lunch.

I found a little surf n’ turf shop near my hotel, and just about everything on the menu looked tasty. I was pretty wiped out from all the driving. I always was. It wasn’t often I drove more than a mile, so being in a car for two hours had been really exhausting.

It was only when I sat down to eat that I spotted Jin sitting at one of the tables. I recognized two of the guys sitting with him as guys who lived in town, and there was one guy I didn’t recognize. I blinked slowly as I plopped down into my seat. I’d come here to escape Jin, and he was sitting three tables down from me! I wanted to scream. Then, my worst nightmare happened. One of the guys patted Jin on the shoulder and pointed my way. Jin turned around and smiled as he waved at me.

“Isabelle! Come sit with us!”

I would’ve said no, but I was too socially awkward to stand up for myself, so I crossed the room and sat between Jin and one of the other guys.

“You’re the snack stand girl, right?” the guy sitting to my right asked.

I smiled at him. “Yeah, I work at the snack bar.”

He grinned. “How have I never had that beer before? I swear I’ve shopped at your snack stand.”

I shrugged. I briefly remembered this guy’s name as Yoongi or something, but I couldn’t be sure it was the same person. There were quite a few young men living on the island, and I certainly didn’t know all of them.

“Hey, you got the crab?” Jin asked. “Awesome. Is it good?”

I didn’t want to admit to him that I hadn’t even tried it yet, so I shoved a hushpuppy in my mouth as I broke one of the crab legs.

“What are you doing up here, Isabelle?” Yoongi asked. “Your name is Isabelle, right? I’m remembering that correctly?”

I nodded. “I’m on a vacation,” I mumbled around a bite of food.

“Are you gonna be back in town by Sunday night? One of my friends is throwing a party on the beach that night. You should come.”

“Ohh. Sounds fun.”

“Yoongi’s right. You should come with us,” Jin nodded.

“Oh?” I asked with a mumble.

Now all four guys were staring at me expectantly, and I didn’t have the courage to say no.

“I suppose I could come.”

“Great!” Jin grinned. “Do you still live where you used to? I could pick you up.”

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

“Yeah, she still lives there,” Yoongi assured him, nodding.

How on earth did he know where I lived? Sure, the town was small, but I didn’t know where he lived. Then again, I hadn’t even really seen him until today, and if Jin was talking about me, he probably knew who I was. I didn’t ask questions and instead elected to just eat my crab.

“Isabelle, have you ever been to pier?” Jin asked a few minutes later.

I looked up at him. “We have a pier?”

So, I found myself on the pier with four guys I barely knew. Maybe that wasn’t the smartest idea, but I didn’t care. They all had to be ok guys if they knew Jin. At least, if Jin was still the same guy I’d known six years ago. Ok, so maybe this was still a bad idea. It was ok, though. Jin and Yoongi both seemed to really enjoy fishing, and their friends were fine with watching while getting their occasional turns.

“Have you ever tried fishing?” Jin asked as he threw his line out again.

“Me? Nope.”

“You should try it.” He reeled the line back in and handed me the pole.

I stared at it for a few moments. “Um…so, what do I do?”

“Here,” he stepped behind me and reached for the pole. “May I?”

Truthfully, if it had been anyone else, I would’ve said no, but this was Jin, and the fourteen-year-old inside me was absolutely ecstatic at the thought of Jin pressing his chest to my back to help me fish. My heart was jumping in my chest too, and I momentarily wondered if he’d be able to feel it.

“Yeah. Please.”

He wrapped his hands around mine and guided me through casting the line. I had to admit that I wasn’t sure I could do this by myself if he let me.

“See? You’ve got it.”

I shook my head. “I really don’t.”

He laughed. “Ok. I’ll stay here.”

I felt a tug on the pole a few moments later, and I grinned. “Oh my gosh! Did we catch something?”

I was holding a little tiny fish a few moments later.

“Look at it! It’s so adorable!”

Jin smiled. “Yeah, it is.”

I looked around. “Hey…where did the boys go?”

“We’d had enough of watching you two being all lovey-dovey,” Yoongi informed us when we found the three of them way down at the other end of pier a few minutes later.

I laughed awkwardly as I realized what he was implying. “Well, I had some other things I planned to do today, so…. I’m going to head out now. It was awesome fishing with you guys, although I have to admit I was so awful at it I’m not sure I’ll do it again. Um…yeah. See you guys Sunday!”

Then I ran off before I had another chance to embarrass myself.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing whatever I could find on the mainland. I had to admit, there really wasn’t much to do here. Our little island had more interesting things to do than this place did. And it had my favorite snow cone shop, which was arguably the most important thing to have in your day-to-day life. Especially when you lived on an island off South Carolina. Nothing was more important than snow cones and surfing. Or shark fishing, if you were Ellie’s dad.

I headed back home as soon as I checked out of my hotel on Sunday. I’d planned on staying longer, but I couldn’t really think of anything else to do.

As soon as I got back into town, I headed straight for the music store. Ellie was working today, and I figured she could use some company. Except that she clearly didn’t, considering she and Mateo were making out behind the counter when I walked in.

“Whoa, lovebirds, not during office hours,” I complained, announcing my presence.

Ellie shoved her boyfriend away and spun around. “Ohhh heyyyyy. What are you doing here? I thought you were in Bluffton until this evening?”

“Uh, yeah, I was supposed to be. That place was awfully boring, I have to admit. There was nearly nothing to do besides go to Walmart!”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“When you have nothing to do but shop at Walmart for two days, it’s pretty bad. And, you won’t believe this, Jin was there with three of his friends.”

“He was at Walmart?”

“No, Ellie! I-” I shook my head. “He was in Bluffton on Friday.”

Ellie grinned. “Awesome. Did you say hi to him?”

“Yeah. I ate dinner with them and then we went to a fishing pier and fished for a while.”

“Ooo. Did you guys do anything?”

“…we fished.” I squinted. I could see where she was going with this. “Ok, actually, I’m going to go home. I have a party to get ready for anyways.”

I could faintly hear Ellie asking what party, but it didn’t matter, because I was already out the door.

When I got home, I practically overturned my closet looking for an outfit. I had no idea what to wear. What was the dress code for beach parties? I’d lived on an island my entire life, but I’d never gone to a beach party. That sounded absolutely ridiculous, but it was the truth. Unless you counted the birthday party my aunt threw for my cousin when he turned six. That didn’t seem like the same thing, though.

I finally settled on a tank top and some skimpy shorts over my bathing suit. Considering this was by the beach, we were definitely going to be swimming. And if not, I could always just look hot in a bathing suit. My body wasn’t exactly what the locals called a beach body, but who cares?

Jin picked me up at five-thirty on the dot. I liked that a little too much. Punctuality tickled some part of my brain that was most likely feeding my want for perfection at all times. As I slid into the sports car, something occurred to me.

“Is this your car?”

“Yeah. I live upstate now, so I drove down here. Taking a plane would’ve taken just as much time out of my day.”

I laughed. “South Carolina is a long way from Arizona.”

“That it is,” he nodded. “My parents got tired of the weather being in the hundreds so often, and my dad got a new job a few years ago.”

“I see,” I nodded. “My parents still rent out beach houses for a living. And my mom works at that jewelry shop.”

“Awesome. You’ll have to take me down there and pick out some earrings for me.” He flicked his earlobe, and for the first time ever I noticed the earrings in his ears.

I gasped. “When did you get your ears pierced?”

“Tenth grade. All the boys from drama club made a pact and we got our ears pierced together,” he laughed. “I haven’t had a clip-on fall off my ear since.”

“Wow, are you sure you’re the Jin I met six years ago?”

He shrugged. “I always imagined you working at the Piggly Wiggly instead of on the beach, so I’m not sure I know you either.”

I snapped my fingers. “Actually, I did apply there. Working on the beach is nice, though.”

“Do you think we’ll get to see the stars tonight?”

“Oh yeah. The beach is the best place to see stars as long as the vacationers aren’t using strobe lights on their decks.”

“Strobe lights?” he asked in shock.

I nodded. “You’d be surprised what goes on. One time, I saw a drunk couple in their forties skinny dipping at one am. I was horrified. I haven’t been to the beach past ten since.”

Jin laughed. “Remind me to never get drunk by a body of water.”

I nodded. “If you do, I’m driving you straight home.”

It wasn’t long before we were parking near the beach, and the two of us walked the rest of the way to the party. One of Yoongi’s friends had parents who owned a beach house, and he was hosting the party there tonight. The bad thing was that his driveway had room for about three cars, so the rest of us had to park about a mile away.

“Yooooo, Tin Jin! You made it!” a tall guy with blond hair exclaimed as he hugged Jin.

“I told you not to call me that,” Jin grimaced as the guy crushed him.

“I told you it was because of the bucket you had on your head last week.”

Jin shook his head. “Still don’t call me that. Jin is fine, though.”

The guy nodded, seeming to get the memo this time. “Yoongi’s in the kitchen.”

There turned out to be a very large stash of snacks in the kitchen, so the three of us ate as Yoongi and Jin chatted.

“Hey, Isabelle, your birthday is soon, right?” Jin asked eventually.

I smiled. “Yeah, next week, actually.”

“You’re turning twenty-one, right? We’ve gotta get you some alcohol.”

I laughed and shook my head. “That’s ok. You don’t need to do that.”

“Come on,” Yoongi nudged my shoulder. “There’s got to be something you want to try. Beer? Wine? Whiskey?”

“Actually, wine sounds good.” I shrugged. “Maybe champagne too.”

“Ah, the lady does have demands,” Jin teased. “Anything in particular? Or should we just choose something random?”

“Hey, whatever you find is fine. I don’t plan on getting too drunk, so just don’t go wild with your options.”

“All right. Is there anything else you’d like to do? The last time I was at your party was when you were fifteen, so I’m sure you’re not too interested in everything rainbow themed anymore.”

I glared at him. “We don’t talk about that.”

“So…the answer is yes, then?”

“You’re mean.”

“You were at her fifteenth?” Yoongi asked.

Jin nodded. “I was here in June.”

“You didn’t come to my fifteenth!”

“Yeah, cause it was in March,” Jin stated matter-of-factly. “I had school.”

“It was over spring break.”

“And I lived on the other side of the country. It’s ok. I was here for your twenty-first.”

Yoongi shook his head. Then he looked at me. “Look, he was already more committed to you than he was to me at fifteen.”

I glanced between the two of them. “I beg to differ. You two know each other far better than I know either of you.”

“You didn’t tell her about the great meltdown of 2018?”

Jin reached across the counter to shove Yoongi’s arm.

“What? What are you talking about?” I asked.

Jin laughed. “It’s nothing.”

Yoongi blew out a long breath. “I wouldn’t say that visiting every house in that neighborhood was nothing.”

“Yoongi!”

Yoongi looked at me. “Did you really never find out?”

I was still confused. Did he mean Jin had been looking for my house? If so, why? The two of us had made no point of keeping in contact after we were fifteen, but he’d come looking for me two years later?

“Yeah. You guys were out of town that week. Did the neighbors never tell you?”

I shook my head. I’d never heard anything of this.

“Yoongi,” Jin said through gritted teeth. “Shut up.”

Yoongi leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms before smiling. “Ok. I’ll shut up.”

I shoved about five more grapes into my mouth so that I didn’t say something stupid. Had Jin spent the past six years missing me too? Was I not totally insane for being in love with a guy I’d known for a month? The thought of him reciprocating my feelings made me feel even more insane. There was no way he did. Yoongi had to be lying. Except…Jin was rather mad at him for saying all of that.

“You said there’s a pool out back?” I asked after I’d swallowed all those grapes.

Yoongi nodded, so I abandoned the two of them and left my clothes on one of the beach chairs before jumping in the pool. Most of the guests had decided the beach was better than the pool, apparently, because there was one other person in this pool.

After completely soaking myself in water, I sat in the hot tub for probably longer than was healthy. When the hot tub didn’t feel hot anymore, I jumped back into the pool, which now felt ice cold. I squeaked as the water soaked through my swimsuit. I shouldn’t have come tonight. I was headed back to Columbia in two months, so the two of us would be split up regardless of whether he was here or home with his parents.

Eventually I found myself soaking wet and laying on a pool chair as I stared up at the stars. I had been right. The stars looked great from here, especially where there weren’t streetlights blocking my view. Why didn’t we take advantage of our beach houses more often? Sure, we rented them out to people, but there were the occasional nights that no one was staying there.

It was only then that I realized how late it really was. One check of my phone confirmed that it was already nine. How long had I spent in the pool, exactly?

That night, I laid in my bed wide awake after successfully washing and combing all the chlorine from the pool out of my hair. Jin had come looking for me years ago. I’d never even tried. His grandparents had lived down the block from me this whole time, and not once had I thought to go over there and ask for his contact information. How stupid was I?

I rolled around in bed, considering everything that had happened in the past few days. Jin had to like me. Why else would Yoongi be making all these random comments otherwise? I didn’t know how to feel about this. On the one hand, I wanted to date Jin. On the other hand…were long-distance relationships during university really the best idea? I picked up my pillow and screamed into it. Maybe I should never have gotten that job at the snack bar.

Work started again the next day, but it wasn’t for about a week that I discovered Jin hadn’t gotten tired of the beach yet. This was the first time I’d really seen him swimming in the ocean. I couldn’t really tell what he was doing from where I was standing, but he was definitely in the water. He’d spent most of the time I’d watched him either making sandcastles or playing volleyball.

It was around noon when he finally wandered over towards me.

“Hey, have you ever seen the seashells here?”

I didn’t want to tell him that I’d gone searching for seashells many, many times since I was little. I glanced up to find him holding a huge shell in his hand, and my eyes widened.

“Wow! I’ve never pulled one that big!”

“Really? It took me about three hours to find one this big. One of the boys found some huge sand dollars. You’ll have to come out later so I can show you.”

“Well, I get off at four. Maybe I can run home and get my bathing suit then.”

“Cool! We’re doing barbeque at Yoongi’s house tonight. Wanna come?”

“Sure! When is it?”

“We’re gonna head over there at five to get the grill started. One of his friends bought a bunch of steak and shrimp and other stuff.”

“Ok, I’ll tell my parents that I won’t be joining them for dinner.”

I had to admit that it was a little weird to be spending so much time with a group of people I didn’t know, but it was worth it to spend time with Jin. It seemed that he didn’t know many of the people at these gatherings either, so I was good company to him. Although, did we really know each other any better than the other people there?

After I’d run home to get my bathing suit, Jin and I waded out to where the water was deeper to search for sand dollars.

“Have you ever done this? Yoongi said you need to dig around with your toes…”

It was much easier to do that now that the water was reaching my shoulders.

“Oh! I found one!”

I used my toes to pull it out of the sand, and then I grabbed it and pulled it out of the water.

“Well, would you look at that,” he laughed. “You’re good at this. Ooo! I think I got one!”

Once his was out of the water, the two of us compared them.

“Yours is bigger,” I laughed. “Probably because my toes are smaller.”

He took this as an invitation to pull his foot out of the water and wiggle his toes in my face. “These are bigger than yours?”

Before I could even shove him, he lost his balance and fell into the water. He resurfaced a few seconds later, coughing out water.

“I lost the sand dollar!” he exclaimed. “We have to make sure they’re put down on the floor or they won’t survive!”

I quickly placed my sand dollar back in the sand using my foot, and then the two of us swam around for a few minutes looking for Jin’s sand dollar.

“How big was it?” I asked.

He made a circle with his hands to imitate the sand dollar’s size. “It was about this big!”

I held up a sand dollar. “Is this it?”

He swam over to me and examined the sand dollar in my hand.

“Probably. Let’s put it back. I think it’s about time to head to Yoongi’s place.”

Once we got back into the shallow water, I went off running.

“Try to catch me!”

“Hey! That’s not fair! You got a head start!”

“Your legs are longer than mine!”

Yoongi’s house wasn’t too far from where we’d been, so we walked. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing to walk in sand-coated sandals, but I’d deal until we were on solid concrete.

“You know, I could get used to living on the beach like this,” Jin admitted.

“Do your parents live out west?”

He nodded. “Just about as west as you can get in this state. My grandparents wanted them to move closer, but my dad’s job took them to Greenville. I could always move down here if I wanted to. It’s nice to be with my parents, though.”

“Should we go to the jewelry store this weekend? You’ve gotta get some earrings before you leave, right?”

He laughed. “That’s right! We should go around and see if we can find some good alcohol while we’re at it. Your birthday is Monday, right?”

“Hey, you remembered!” I grinned. “I’m taking the day off. My parents wanted to take me canoeing, and then we’re doing a dolphin boat tour in the afternoon.”

“That sounds cool! Is there a time we can get together?”

“I’m sure we can do something for dinner. The dolphin tour ends around seven.” I paused. “Do you want to come on the dolphin tour with us? The guy taking us is one of my dad’s friends, so he’s just taking the three of us. I think we could cram one more in.”

Jin laughed. “Sure, I’d love to come! You think your parents remember me?”

“Well, Ellie sure remembers you.”

“Is she the one who wore nothing but braids the whole summer?”

“That’s her!”

“I’m just memorable,” he nodded with a wink.

Yoongi’s place was a lot smaller than I’d expected it to be. Despite the fact that there were about four bedrooms in the house, there weren’t a bunch of open floors like the house we’d been at last weekend. He had a modest little living room and a kitchen, and the back yard was pretty small and grassy.

“Jin, can you watch the grill for a few minutes? I need to go check on the potatoes.” Yoongi asked – informed, more like – the moment he saw Jin. He was already inside before Jin could respond.

“Hey, did you get to see the stars on Sunday?” I asked. “They were pretty bright from the pool.”

“I don’t think I did, no,” Jin shook his head. “I didn’t go outside much while we were there.”

“You’ll have to see them tonight.”

“Will I?”

“Of course!”

Surprisingly, Yoongi’s barbeque was a lot more peaceful than the party we’d had on Sunday. Granted, there was much more food and far less talking, but there was no drama, and Yoongi wasn’t spilling Jin’s secrets today.

A few of the guys offered me beer, but I insisted that I was waiting until Monday. If I didn’t have the experience of trying alcohol on my twenty-first birthday, was it even a special day?

The next morning, Jin and I headed over to see my mom. Morning meaning more like afternoon, because I wasn’t even awake until eleven.

“Did your mom work here before?” Jin asked as we walked down the street. “I don’t recall.”

I shook my head. “She wanted something else to do besides taking care of our beach houses.”

I backed into the door and listened as the bell jingled over my head.

“Wow, this place is tiny!” Jin exclaimed.

“Isabelle! Is this Jin? My goodness, he’d gotten tall!”

I laughed. “Yeah, Mom, this is Jin. He wanted to come find some earrings.”

“Oh, we have a lot of those,” Mom laughed as she walked around the counter. “Anything in particular you were looking for?”

“Not really. I just wanted to look around. Most of my earrings look the same,” Jin admitted.

“You should get some dangles!” I encouraged him.

He picked up a pair of huge earrings. “These?”

I cringed. “No.”

“Ok, you tell me what you’d pick for me, then.”

I walked a few laps around the shop as I looked. What should I choose for him? I didn’t know him all that well, but I knew he did look good in the earrings he was wearing now. There was definitely a reason he always wore those.

I noticed Jin watching me out of the corner of my eye. This made me a bit embarrassed, but it didn’t matter. I had to be particular about what I chose. These would be one of the few things he remembered me by when we parted ways, that was for sure.

Eventually, I found a pair of earrings I thought would fit him well. I pulled them out and held them up.

“What do you think of these?”

“Chains?”

I nodded. “They’d look good on you, don’t you think?”

“I’m not sure,” he laughed. “I’ve never worn anything like that, not even in theater.”

“Great! Something new for your collection, then!”

“I supposed so.” He took the earrings from me and held one of them up next to his ear. “What do you think?”

“It looks awesome! We should definitely get those!”

He nodded. “All right, we’ll get these ones. Should we head to the liquor store now?”

“In a few minutes. I need to talk to my mom real quick and pay for these. We should get some snow cones on our way out. What do you think?”

“That’s a great idea! I’ll wander around outside while I wait for you, ok?”

I nodded, and he left the shop. I walked over to the counter and paid my mom for the earrings.

“Do you like him?” she asked.

“What? Where would you get an idea like that?”

She gave me her all-knowing look, and I sighed.

“Ok, maybe I like him a little bit.” I was quick to change the subject. “There’s something I wanted to ask. Jin wanted to spend my birthday with me, and I was wondering if it was ok if I bring him with me to the dolphin tour?”

She laughed. “Of course! It’s your birthday. As long as he’s not joining us for canoeing. It’s too late to add him now.”

I shook my head. “I know that. Besides, I do want to spend some time with just you and Dad on my birthday.”

“Of course. Did he say you were going to the liquor store?”

I nodded. “He and Yoongi said that I should try a few kinds of alcohol on my birthday.”

“Oh, did they? Be safe, whatever you do.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

After Jin and I got our snow cones, we headed over to the liquor store.

“It is legal for me to go in here, right?” I asked.

“Yeah. You just can’t buy anything.”

The two of us browsed the different wines and champagnes as we ate our snow cones.

“Have you ever had any of these?” I asked as I looked at a bottle of wine.

“Not most of them, no. I haven’t drunk much, to be honest. I’ve had beer here and there, but that’s about it.” He pulled out his phone as it chimed. “My mom suggests rosé.”

I nodded. “I guess we’ll get that and some champagne, then. But…which one?”

He ran his hands over a few bottles. “Maybe this one?”

“I suppose that should be fine. Does Yoongi have any suggestions?”

“I’m sure he’ll already have bought them if he has any,” Jin laughed.

I smiled.

As we walked around the liquor store, I considered how long it had been since I’d really spoken to Ellie. Maybe a week wasn’t that long to go without talking to your friend, but it was definitely a long time for us. Usually, we spent a day around each of our birthdays together, but she hadn’t even asked what I was doing for the day. I would’ve invited her to hang out with me when I went over to Yoongi’s, but she wasn’t old enough to drink yet, so she would’ve probably just felt left out. It felt strange not talking to her. Sure, we’d both been busy, but even when we’d been in college, we’d taken time to text each other at least once a day.

I texted her that night when I got home. The response I got was short.

“Teo and I have been hanging out. Sorry. Maybe we can get together next week.”

Well. I guess that told me where we stood.

I ended up walking over to Yoongi’s by myself come Monday. I’d headed home for a quick change of clothing before I headed over, so Jin had gone by himself. As I walked, I realized that I was feeling pretty out of it. My best friend had abandoned me. On my birthday, of all days. It wasn’t like I had other friends to see either. Sure, I had Jin and Yoongi, but as sweet as they were, it wasn’t the same. They were two people I’d barely known for three weeks. I’d known Ellie since third grade.

Maybe this was my fault. I hadn’t really made the effort to talk to her since I’d gotten back in town, so maybe she was mad at me about that. Our conversation at the music store hadn’t ended all that well since I’d run out of there, so it would be reasonable if she was mad at me. That didn’t mean it felt good to be ignored on my birthday, though.

I was just going to let it go. Tonight, I was going to have a good time with Jin and Yoongi and a few bottles of alcohol. We had a little over a month until school started up again, so I was going to make the most out of these next few weeks, with or without Ellie. I knocked on Yoongi’s door.

“It’s open,” I heard him call from inside.

I stepped inside and headed to the living room. Suddenly, all the lights turned on.

“Surprise!”

My eyes widened. “What?”

I glanced around. There weren’t that many people here, but it was more than I’d been expecting. Jin, Yoongi, my parents, Jin’s grandparents, Ellie, and Mateo were all here. There was a cake on the kitchen counter, and there was a banner hanging over the fireplace that read ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ISABELLE!’ It was clearly handmade, and I’d recognize Ellie’s handwriting anywhere. She hadn’t been mad at me.

“We decided to surprise you,” Jin smiled. “What do you think?”

“I think this is awesome!” I hugged him. “Thank you!” I turned to Ellie. “And you! Get over here!”

She laughed and crossed the room to hug me. “We surprised you, right?”

“You sure did! I thought you were mad at me!”

She scoffed. “Mad at you? I could never be mad at you!” She paused. “Actually, I am a little mad that you’re drinking without me tonight.”

“Don’t worry. We can do it on your birthday too.”

“I’m lucky school doesn’t start before my birthday this year.”

It turned out that Jin and Yoongi bought a few more bottles than I’d picked out on Saturday. We didn’t need much for eight people, though.

“Can I at least smell yours?” Ellie asked as I poured a glass of wine.

“You can smell it,” I nodded with a laugh.

She leaned in close to me. “So, any progress with the boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Ok, fine. Any progress with Jin?”

“What kind of progress?”

“Have you guys…” she lowered her voice even further. “Kissed?”

I scoffed. “No.”

“What? What do you mean you haven’t kissed? You guys have been hanging out for a whole week!”

“Yeah, well, we’re not you and Mateo.”

She shook her head. “You guys have to kiss at least once before he goes home.”

“No, we don’t. In fact, I’d rather we not kiss.”

“Why?”

“I can’t be in a relationship with him, El. He lives up in Greenville.”

“Which is what, an hour from Columbia? Don’t be dramatic. You two could totally date. I’m gonna be down in Florida, and Mateo and I are still going to find a way to make it work. Relationships aren’t just kissing, you know. You can have a meaningful conversation over the phone.”

“All I’ve seen you and Mateo do is kiss. Are you sure you’re the person who should be telling me this?”

Ellie slapped my shoulder. “Oh, shush. Just listen to me.”

“I don’t think I will.”

It was hours before the party ended. The vast majority of us had clearly drunken. Mateo took Jin’s grandparents home, and that left the rest of us to clean up.

“That was the best birthday party I’ve ever had,” I laughed as I stacked the paper plates we’d used. “Yoongi, that wine you bought was awesome.”

“I’m glad you liked it. That’s one of my favorite ones.”

Jin tugged on my sleeve. “Let’s go outside. The stars are bright tonight.”

I followed him out to the backyard eagerly. Yoongi’s place was completely dark, so if we laid on the ground, we could see the stars pretty well. Jin sat down in the grass and tugged my hand, beckoning me to sit down with him. I joined him, and the two of us looked up at the sky together.

“There’s not many constellations.”

I hummed. Regardless, the stars were pretty. My own yard wasn’t really a great place for viewing stars. I lay down in the grass. This was a moment I’d put in my back pocket and keep forever. If I wasn’t too drunk to remember it, that was. I couldn’t remember how much I’d had to drink.

“Hey, Isa?”

“Yes, Jin?”

“Can I kiss you?”

He was still sitting up, so it didn’t take much effort for me to look at him. My logical mind would’ve told him no, but I had at least three glasses of various kinds of alcohol in me, so I wasn’t thinking straight.

“Yeah. Kiss me, Jin.”

He looked conflicted for a second, but then he leaned over me and kissed me. I grinned like a fool against his lips.

“This is my first kiss,” I mumbled.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you while we’re drunk,” he decided. It was too late now.

But of course, alcohol had taken all reason out of our heads, so we kissed under the stars for a few moments.

“I think I need to go home, Jin,” I giggled. “I can’t keep my eyes open.”

“You could sleep in one of Yoongi’s spare rooms.”

I hummed. “Why does he have so many spare rooms, anyways? He’s twenty-one. He can’t be rich enough to own a whole house.”

“Yeah…it’s one of his dad’s houses.” Jin’s eyes widened, and he smacked his palm over his mouth. “Don’t tell him I told you.”

I laughed stupidly, like a drunk person would. I wouldn’t remember this in the morning. I wouldn’t remember any of this. I wouldn’t remember who owned Yoongi’s house…and I wouldn’t remember my first kiss….

I woke up on my own bed the next morning with about four blankets piled on top of me. Had I walked home? I couldn’t recall. As I blinked at my wall, I remembered what had happened the previous night.

I flew out of bed and ran to my bathroom before staring at myself in the mirror. I’d kissed Jin! Was I an idiot? This was going to ruin my life forever!

I ran back into my room and dug through my sheets, finally coming across my phone. I had a few texts from Jin.

“Good morning! Yoongi’s dragging me out for breakfast. He said food is good for hangovers or something. I don’t know how to tell him I don’t have a hangover. Would you like to meet up later today? Maybe I could take you on an official date.”

I threw my phone down on my bed. This was not supposed to happen! Dating Jin was supposed to just be some wild dream I had to carry me through the summer, and then real life would resume when I went back to university. I picked up my phone and replied to him.

“Sorry, I have work! Maybe we can meet up later?”

I didn’t wait for his response before jumping in the shower. Even if Jin didn’t have a hangover, it appeared that I did. Hopefully I could make it through work today without any issues.

I hated how my heart jumped when I saw Jin’s response of a few hearts and a kissing emoji. I was supposed to be immune to him by now. I’d lived this long without him, so surely I could live the rest of my life without him. University wasn’t the place to be in a relationship, especially one that was long distance.

I shoved my phone deep into the pocket of my shorts, and then I headed to work. I didn’t know when Jin was leaving, but I hoped it was soon. The sooner he left, the less it would hurt to let him go.

I met up with Ellie for dinner that evening, and I could tell she wanted to rip out every last hair on my head after I told her what had happened.

“You idiot! He’s clearly whipped for you, and you won’t even give it a chance?”

“I can’t let myself get attached, El.” I frowned as I felt tears flood my eyes. “I got attached the first time, and it hurt so bad when he left.”

“But, Isa, this isn’t the same as last time. You’re both adults now. The world is so much smaller than it used to be. You guys are so close you could drive to see each other during the school year.”

I shrugged. “I just can’t.”

“Is there anything that could make you?”

“Well, if we lived in the same town or something, maybe we could make it work, but….”

Ellie sighed. “Come on, Isa. This is silly. You should go talk to him.”

I shook my head. “I’m not going to. I’m just going to have to let him go.”

It was clear Ellie was having none of my sulking, so I sulked at the snack bar instead. As much as I really didn’t feel like working, it gave me something to do during the day. Jin hadn’t been around on the beach, either, so I didn’t really have a reason to avoid my job. He was probably fishing with Yoongi. I vaguely remembered them talking about going shark fishing at some point, and a place with a bunch of little kids really wasn’t the place to do that. Thankfully.

My luck ran out on Friday, though. Jin came walking up to the stand just like he had the first day he’d been here. Once again, I was trying to find all the ways I could bury myself in the sand.

“Hey, Isa,” he smiled at me. “You haven’t been answering my texts. What’s up?”

“Uh, I can’t really date you. I’m sorry if I mislead you.”

“Oh.”

That pretty smile he’d had on his face before disappeared now, and I felt guilty for making him feel so.

“That’s ok. I’m headed back to Greenville next week.”

“You are?” I asked in distress. I shouldn’t have been upset, really. This was what I’d been saving myself from by ignoring him.

He nodded. “My parents wanted to see me for a little while before I have to head back to school. I’ll see you next summer, I guess?”

I offered him a small smile. “Right. Next summer.”

I didn’t let myself be disappointed when he left the next week. Ellie dragged me out to say goodbye to him, but all I could offer him was a wave as he drove away. I was letting all this go.

It wasn’t until Ellie’s birthday party that I finally let it all out. Three glasses of wine was clearly too much for me. It kept me saying things I’d never intended to reach the world.

“I shouldn’t have said no to him, El. He’s the sweetest man alive, and I let him go all because he lives too far away,” I cried. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Yeah, you are.”

Man, she could’ve at least softened the blow.

“I should call him,” I decided.

Ellie was too quick for me, though. She whipped my phone out of my hand before I could even unlock it.

“We don’t make hasty decisions while drunk, Isa. Remember what happened last time?”

“Yes, I kissed Jin. Now give me my phone.”

Except that alcohol also seemed to take away my coordination and strength as well, so getting my phone away from Ellie was a lost cause. I finally gave in and laid across her lap.

“Tell me I’ll forget about him when I go back to university, El.”

“You’ll forget about him when you go back to university.”

“I know you don’t mean it.”

She laughed. “I know you know.”

School started not too long after that. I had to admit that the two-hour drive up to Columbia felt even longer than it was supposed to. Sitting in a car for more than ten minutes felt like torture.

By the time I’d unpacked my car, I was starving. It wasn’t near dinnertime yet, but I was going to eat anyways. There were about fifteen fast food places within a mile of the school, so I settled for some pizza. Granted, no one besides a professional football player needed an entire pizza to themselves, but I didn’t care. I was going to eat as much of this pizza as I pleased without anyone judging me. Ok, my roommate would probably be judging me. But it wasn’t any of her business how much pizza I ate.

I was happily walking out of the pizza place with my dinner when I looked up at the man who was holding the door for me.

“Jin? What are you doing here?”

He pointed a thumb back to my university. “I go to the UofSC?”

I ended up sharing my pizza with him as we sat at a nearby park and chatted.

“You’ve gone here for two years? How have I never seen you?”

He laughed. “I have no clue.”

“I’m so sorry about what happened after my birthday. I just couldn’t handle long-distance.”

He nodded. “It’s ok. I understand. I just wish we’d actually talked about it. Maybe we wouldn’t have been upset at each other?”

I smiled.

“So, what do you say? Now that we’re in the same place all year…can I take you on a date?”

I had to admit, I’d never expected things to turn out this way. I’d never even considered him being at the same school as me, but I’d gotten that miracle after all.

If we shared a few kisses under the sunset that evening, no one but us knew. It was pretty amazing that we had the assurance of spending the next two years together.

The Fate of the Lyrics m.list

Main m.list

A/N: I decided to change the point of view like 2000 words into this so hopefully this was edited well enough that you can't tell. Not really sure how on earth I got this plot from the lyrics but you know 😂

It would be greatly appreciated if you reblogged the story if you liked it!

Taglist: @jiminie-and-his-pinky-finger @jinnie-forthe-winnie @fly-you-dam-fools @aianloveseven @thornedswan @kookstempo

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mcmansionhell · 4 years ago

Text

Underground, Part 1

[Author’s Note: A year ago, when waiting for the DC Metro, I came up with an idea for a short story involving two realtors and the infamous Las Vegas Underground House, typed up an outline, and shoved it away in my documents where it sat neglected until this month. The house recently resurfaced on Twitter, and combined with almost a year of quarantine, the story quickly materialized. Though I rarely write fiction, I decided I’d give it a shot as a kind of novelty McMansion Hell post. I’ve peppered the story with photos from the house to break up the walls of text. Hopefully you find it entertaining. I look forward to returning next month with the second installment of this as well as our regularly scheduled McMansion content. Happy New Year!

Warning: there’s lots of swearing in this.]

Underground

Back in 1997, Mathieu Rino, the son of two Finnish mechanical engineers who may or may not have worked intimately with the US State Department, changed his name to Jay Renault in order to sell more houses. It worked wonders.

He gets out of the car, shuts the door harder than he should. Renault wrinkles his nose. It’s a miserable Las Vegas afternoon - a sizzling, dry heat pools in ripples above the asphalt. The desert is a place that is full of interesting and diverse forms of life, but Jay’s the kind of American who sees it all as empty square-footage. He frowns at the dirt dusting up his alligator-skin loafers but then remembers that every lot, after all, has potential. Renault wipes the sweat from his leathery face, slicks back his stringy blond hair and adjusts the aviators on the bridge of his nose. The Breitling diving watch crowding his wrist looks especially big in the afternoon glare. He glances at it.

“Shit,” he says. The door on the other side of the car closes, as though in response.

If Jay Renault is the consummate rich, out-of-touch Gen-Xer trying to sell houses to other rich, out-of-touch Gen-Xers, then Robert Little is his millennial counterpart. Both are very good at their jobs. Robert adjusts his tie in the reflection of the Porsche window, purses his lips. He’s Vegas-showman attractive, with dark hair, a decent tan, and a too-bright smile - the kind of attractive that ruins marriages but makes for an excellent divorcee. Mildly sleazy.

“Help me with these platters, will you?” Renault gestures, popping the trunk. Robert does not want to sweat too much before an open house, but he obliges anyway. They’re both wearing suits. The heat is unbearable. A spread of charcuterie in one hand, Jay double-checks his pockets for the house keys, presses the button that locks his car.

Both men sigh, and their eyes slowly trail up to the little stucco house sitting smack dab in the center of an enormous lot, a sea of gravel punctuated by a few sickly palms. The house has the distinct appearance of being made of cardboard, ticky-tacky, a show prop. Burnt orange awnings don its narrow windows, which somehow makes it look even more fake.

“Here we go again,” Jay mutters, fishing the keys out of his pocket. He jiggles them until the splintered plywood door opens with a croak, revealing a dark and drab interior – dusty, even though the cleaners were here yesterday. Robert kicks the door shut with his foot behind him.

“Christ,” he swears, eyes trailing over the terrible ecru sponge paint adorning the walls. “This shit is so bleak.”

The surface-level house is mostly empty. There’s nothing for them to see or attend to there, and so the men step through a narrow hallway at the end of which is an elevator. They could take the stairs, but don’t want to risk it with the platters. After all, they were quite expensive. Renault elbows the button and the doors part.

“Let’s just get this over with,” he says as they step inside. The fluorescent lights above them buzz something awful. A cheery metal sign welcomes them to “Tex’s Hideaway.” Beneath it is an eldritch image of a cave, foreboding. Robert’s stomach’s in knots. Ever since the company assigned him to this property, he’s been terrified of it. He tells himself that the house is, in fact, creepy, that it is completely normal for him to be ill at ease. The elevator’s ding is harsh and mechanical. They step out. Jay flips a switch and the basement is flooded with eerie light.

It’s famous, this house - The Las Vegas Underground House. The two realtors refer to it simply as “the bunker.” Built by an eccentric millionaire at the height of Cold War hysteria, it’s six-thousand square feet of paranoid, aspirational fantasy. The first thing anyone notices is the carpet – too-green, meant to resemble grass, sprawling out lawn-like, bookmarked by fake trees, each a front for a steel beam. Nothing can grow here. It imitates life, unable to sustain it. The leaves of the ficuses seem particularly plastic.

Bistro sets scatter the ‘yard’ (if one can call it that), and there’s plenty of outdoor activities – a parquet dance floor complete with pole and disco ball, a putt putt course, an outdoor grill made to look like it’s nestled in a rock, but in reality better resembles a baked potato. The pool and hot tub, both sculpted in concrete and fiberglass mimicking a natural rock formation, are less Playboy grotto and more Fred Flintstone. It’s a very seventies idea of fun.

Then, of course, there’s the house. That fucking house.

A house built underground in 1978 was always meant to be a mansard – the mansard roof was a historical inevitability. The only other option was International Style modernism, but the millionaire and his wife were red-blooded anti-Communists. Hence, the mansard. Robert thinks the house looks like a fast-food restaurant. Jay thinks it looks like a lawn and tennis club he once attended as a child where he took badminton lessons from a swarthy Czech man named Jan. It’s drab and squat, made more open by big floor-to-ceiling windows nestled under fresh-looking cedar shingles. There’s no weather down here to shrivel them up.

“Shall we?” Jay drawls. The two make their way into the kitchen and set the platters down on the white tile countertop. Robert leans up against the island, careful of the oversized hood looming over the electric stovetop. He eyes the white cabinets, accented with Barbie pink trim. The matching linoleum floor squeaks under his Italian loafers.

“I don’t understand why we bother doing this,” Robert complains. “Nobody’s seriously going to buy this shit, and the company’s out a hundred bucks for party platters.”

“It’s the same every time,” Renault agrees. “The only people who show up are Instagram kids and the crazies - you know, the same kind of freaks who’d pay money to see Chernobyl.”

“Dark tourism, they call it.”

Jay checks his watch again. Being in here makes him nervous.

“Still an hour until open house,” he mutters. “I wish we could get drunk.”

Robert exhales deeply. He also wishes he could get drunk, but still, a job’s a job.

“I guess we should check to see if everything’s good to go.”

The men head into the living room. The beamed, slanted ceiling gives it a mid-century vibe, but the staging muddles the aura. Jay remembers making the call to the staging company. “Give us your spares,” he told them, “Whatever it is you’re not gonna miss. Nobody’ll ever buy this house anyway.”

The result is eclectic – a mix of office furniture, neo-Tuscan McMansion garb, and stuffy waiting-room lamps, all scattered atop popcorn-butter shag carpeting. Hideous, Robert thinks. Then there’s the ‘entertaining’ room, which is a particular pain in the ass to them, because the carpet was so disgusting, they had to replace it with that fake wood floor just to be able to stand being in there for more than five minutes. There’s a heady stone fireplace on one wall, the kind they don’t make anymore, a hearth. Next to it, equally hedonistic, a full bar. Through some doors, a red-painted room with a pool table and paintings of girls in fedoras on the wall. It’s all so cheap, really. Jay pulls out a folded piece of paper out of his jacket pocket along with a pen. He ticks some boxes and moves on.

The dining room’s the worst to Robert. Somehow the ugly floral pattern on the curtains stretches up in bloomer-like into a frilly cornice, carried through to the wallpaper and the ceiling, inescapable, suffocating. It smells like mothballs and old fabric. The whole house smells like that.

The master bedroom’s the most normal – if anything in this house could be called normal. Mismatched art and staging furniture crowd blank walls. When someone comes into a house, Jay told Robert all those years ago, they should be able to picture themselves living in it. That’s the goal of staging.

There’s two more bedrooms. The men go through them quickly. The first isn’t so bad – claustrophobic, but acceptable – but the saccharine pink tuille wallpaper of the second gives Renault a sympathetic toothache. The pair return to the kitchen to wait.

Both men are itching to check their phones, but there’s no point – there’s no signal in here, none whatsoever. Renault, cynical to the core, thinks about marketing the house to the anti-5G people. It’s unsettlingly quiet. The two men have no choice but to entertain themselves the old-fashioned way, through small talk.

“It’s really fucked up, when you think about it,” Renault muses.

“What is?”

“The house, Bob.”

Robert hates being called Bob. He’s told Jay that hundreds of times, and yet…

“Yeah,” Robert mutters, annoyed.

“No, really. Like, imagine. You’re rich, you founded a major multinational company marketing hairbrushes to stay-at-home moms, and what do you decide to do with your money? Move to Vegas and build a fucking bunker. Like, imagine thinking the end of the world is just around the corner, forcing your poor wife to live there for ten, fifteen years, and then dying, a paranoid old man.” Renault finds the whole thing rather poetic.

“The Russkies really got to poor ol’ Henderson, didn’t they?” Robert snickers.

“The wife’s more tragic if you ask me,” Renault drawls. “The second that batshit old coot died, she called a guy to build a front house on top of this one, since she already owned the lot. Poor woman probably hadn’t seen sunlight in God knows how long.”

“Surely they had to get groceries.”

Jay frowns. Robert has no sense of drama, he thinks. Bad trait for a realtor.

“Still,” he murmurs. “It’s sad.”

“I would have gotten a divorce, if I were her,” the younger man says, as though it were obvious. It’s Jay’s turn to laugh.

“I’ve had three of those, and trust me, it’s not as easy as you think.”

“You’re seeing some new girl now, aren’t you?” Robert doesn’t really care, he just knows Jay likes to talk about himself, and talking fills the time.

“Yeah. Casino girl. Twenty-six.”

“And how old are you again?”

“None of your business.”

“Did you see the renderings I emailed to you?” Robert asks briskly, not wanting to discuss Jay’s sex life any further.

“What renderings?”

“Of this house, what it could look like.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Jay has not seen the renderings.

“If it were rezoned,” Robert continues, feeling very smart, “It could be a tourist attraction - put a nice visitor’s center on the lot, make it sleek and modern. Sell trinkets. It’s a nice parcel, close to the Strip - some clever investor could make it into a Museum of Ice Cream-type thing, you know?”

“Museum of Ice Cream?”

“In New York. It’s, not, like, educational or anything. Really, it’s just a bunch of colorful rooms where kids come to take pictures of themselves.”

“Instagram,” Jay mutters. “You know, I just sold a penthouse the other week to an Instagram influencer. Takes pictures of herself on the beach to sell face cream or some shit. Eight-point-two million dollars.”

“Jesus,” Robert whistles. “Fat commission.”

“You’re telling me. My oldest daughter turns sixteen this year. She’s getting a Mazda for Christmas.”

“You ever see that show, My Super Sweet Sixteen? On MTV? Where rich kids got, like, rappers to perform at their birthday parties? Every time at the end, some guy would pull up in, like, an Escalade with a big pink bow on it and all the kids would scream.”

“Sounds stupid,” Jay says.

“It was stupid.”

It’s Robert’s turn to check his watch, a dainty gold Rolex.

“Fuck, still thirty minutes.”

“Time really does stand still in here, doesn’t it?” Jay remarks.

“We should have left the office a little later,” Robert complains. “The charcuterie is going to get –“

A deafening sound roars through the house and a violent, explosive tremor throws both men on the ground, shakes the walls and everything between them. The power’s out for a few seconds before there’s a flicker, and light fills the room again. Two backup generators, reads Jay’s description in the listing - an appeal to the prepper demographic, which trends higher in income than non-preppers. For a moment, the only things either are conscious of are the harsh flourescent lighting and the ringing in their ears. Time slows, everything seems muted and too bright. Robert rubs the side of his face, pulls back his hand and sees blood.

“Christ,” he chokes out. “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know,” Jay breathes, looking at his hands, trying to determine if he’s got a concussion. The results are inconclusive – everything’s slow and fuzzy, but after a moment, he thinks it might just be shock.

“It sounded like a fucking 747 just nosedived on top of us.”

“Yeah, Jesus.” Jay’s still staring at his fingers in a daze. “You okay?”

“I think so,” Robert grumbles. Jay gives him a cursory examination.

“Nothing that needs stitches,” he reports bluntly. Robert’s relieved. His face sells a lot of houses to a lot of lonely women and a few lonely men. There’s a muffled whine, which the two men soon recognize as a throng of sirens. Both of them try to calm the panic rising in their chests, to no avail.

“Whatever the fuck happened,” Jay says, trying to make light of the situation, “At least we’re in here. The bunker.”

Fear forms in the whites of Robert’s eyes.

“What if we’re stuck in here,” he whispers, afraid to speak such a thing into the world. The fear spreads to his companion.

“Try the elevator,” Jay urges, and Robert gets up, wobbles a little as his head sorts itself out, and leaves. A moment later, Jay hears him swear a blue streak, and from the kitchen window, sees him standing before the closed metal doors, staring at his feet. His pulse racing, Renault jogs out to see for himself.

“It’s dead,” Robert murmurs.

“Whatever happened,” Jay says cautiously, rubbing the back of his still-sore neck, “It must have been pretty bad. Like, I don’t think we should go up yet. Besides, surely the office knows we’re still down here.”

“Right, right,” the younger man breathes, trying to reassure himself.

“Let’s just wait it out. I’m sure everything’s fine.” The way Jay says it does not make Robert feel any better.

“Okay,” the younger man grumbles. “I’m getting a fucking drink, though.”

“Yeah, Jesus. That’s the best idea you’ve had all day.” Renault shoves his hands in his suit pocket to keep them from trembling.

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