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violetarks · 7 months ago

Text

“baby keep talking, but nobody’s listening!”

anime: jujutsu kaisen

characters: gojo satoru, choso, fushiguro toji

summary: they find you on a date with someone they've never seen before, but they don't need to look for long to see how bored you were. deciding for you that it would be the first and only date you ever went on with that man, they come to your rescue.

warnings: afab! reader, she/her pronouns used, reader is on a date with a man, said date sucks ass (trying to regulate what y/n eats, snarky comments, egotistical, rude to hospitality workers), shoko/itadori/shiu help set you up on a date but they suck at it

↣ gojo satoru

"satoru, you have to get out," you huff at him, crossed arms over your chest. he sat on your cough, flicking through tv channels. "my date is coming here in ten minutes!"

"you mean the stranger that shoko met at the mall and said would 'totally be your type'?" he says, looking over his shoulder to you. you raise a brow. "c'mon, blow him off. we need to finish 'the last of us'!"

"don't you dare watch it while i'm gone, satoru, or god so help me—" your phone rings, interrupting your threat. you answer when you see the number of your date. "hello? oh, yes, this is y/n."

you begin to walk to grab your keys and your bag, satoru following after you when you suddenly stop.

"oh, uh... you want to meet there?" you say, tilting your head, "no, that's fine, i'll leave now. see you—..."

"he's not coming to pick you up?" satoru questions, watching as you take out your car keys.

"he's actually already there. and he's ordered for me." you say with a bit of doubt in your voice. satoru can hear it. "it's fine, i should go now. don't you dare watch that show, i will kill you. see you, satoru."

the whole time you're gone, he can’t do anything. he’s sitting in silence for an hour, not even looking at his phone. he felt angry at himself.

so he followed you, obviously.

he looked up the restaurant you had mentioned to him before and saw the pictures posted online. it looked like such a nice first date place. and that boiled even more jealousy in him. of course he had to follow you.

and luckily he did; you looked miserable.

he takes out his phone as soon as possible.

“you know how many calories are in that meal?” your date said after the waiter left your table, “way better for you than what you wanted.”

you had just told him your favourite dish in the menu. and he told you he ordered you just a salad. while he got two meals because he was ‘bulking’.

when shoko showed you his instagram, you had to admit that he was cute. he was fit too, and you did your fair share of exercise. he had a nice smile and he also posted photos of his dog. but that couldn’t shield you from what was right in front of you.

you found out he was a model for a magazine you’ve never heard of, and while that was impressive, it was his whole personality. you asked about his pet, and he somehow turned it back to his career and how he did a fireman themed calendar last year. you’d think he was surely more than that, but it didn’t seem it. you had barely talked about yourself. it didn’t look like he was interested anyway.

“hm, what did i do today?” he thought out. you cringed at the way he tapped his chin, pretending to think. “i hit the gym at 5am, walked my pet for an hour and a half, took some photos for my resume since i’ve got a new deal coming up, and spent time from then to now just at the studio.”

you were waiting for him to ask about your day. he doesn’t.

“and you know, i’m actually the most valued model at my studio. they always call me for shoots, i’m always first on their list. you’d think i could catch a break every so often,” he chuckles out, rubbing up and down his arms. you hold back from rolling your eyes as you sip your water. “but it’s hard being so… handsome.”

you stare at him and fight the urge to roll your eyes once again.

"what about you?" the moment you've waited for comes a little too late. you're not even interested in speaking about yourself.

"well, i did some grocery shopping this morning—"

"what did you buy?"

"me and my friends are having a movie tomorrow, so i just bought some snacks for us," you explained for some reason, "chocolates, popcorn, chips—"

"junk food?" he scoffs back, "no, no, you don't need all that. you oughta' bring it back and get some fruit. way better for you."

you down the rest of your alcoholic drink you had ordered (the one thing he did let you choose) and look away.

that is when you feel a hand rest on your upper back.

"excuse me, ma'am," you look up and widen your eyes when you see satoru standing before you. he's wearing a white button-up, black slacks, dress shoes and a black waist apron. you freeze up. "the gentleman over there asked me to give you this, already paid for."

you look over to where he was pointing. nanami sits in his own suit as he waves his hand at you, pained smile. satoru places a mojito in front of you. your date stands up.

"the hell? doesn't he see that i'm here?" he scoffs as he stands up. his chair screeches against the floor, which collects everyone's attention in the restaurant. "he's insulting me! what a prick! i'm gonna fuck him up!"

"hey!" you stand up as he begins trudging over. satoru places a hand on your shoulder to stop you, and you see nanami roll his eyes and stand up as well, ready for the fight. "what are you two doing here? and why are you dressed like that?"

"i'm the ultimate undercover agent, of course," he replies. he begins pulling off his apron and dropping it on your seat. he hooks his arm with yours and smiles. "let's get outta' here."

"but my date—"

"he's fine," you watch as nanami dodges one of his punches with and irritated face. "nanami will take care of him."

you let him whisk you out of the restaurant while everyone is watching the two men fight (not really). satoru walks you to his car and starts the engine. you see nanami's car behind his.

"did you seriously bring him along to get me out of that date?" you chuckle as you stare at him. satoru purses his lips and looks away. "thank you, satoru. you didn't have to."

"you're welcome, gorgeous," he responds to you, "i could tell from the phone call that he wasn't all that. wonder what barrel they fished him out of."

you let out a small sigh and look out the window. you were embarrassed; this was the first date you've ever been set up on, and it went horribly. you knew you should've left earlier, not wait until satoru came along. he was your saviour for today, you had to admit.

but what was even worse, you seemingly let than man talk to you like that. you could chalk it up to just being friendly and giving him the best benefit of the doubt, but deep down you know you would never have let that slide with people you know. hell, yaga could speak to you that way and you would still give him an earful.

"don't be sad, y/n, now we can go to yours and watch our show," satoru attempts to cheer you up. he flashes you a smile. "i promise, i won't eat all your food."

"you're a liar, satoru." you laugh back.

"seriously though, that guy was a wreck. why did he keep talking about calories and stuff?" he mumbles out with a disapproving shake of his head, "i had to shut him up somehow. i should've just spilt the drink over him."

"oh god, what about the food? i didn't pay for my meal."

"you mean the salad you didn't want? i cancelled it for ya'."

"why aren't you this nice all the time? you usually bully me." you claim in a joking matter. satoru pouts at you. "i appreciate this, a lot. i guess guys who only ever think about themselves aren't my type."

there's a quietness in the car as he turns on his indicator. you enjoy the little noise coming from the radio, a song that you've heard quite a lot.

"you know, yuuji, nobara and megumi?" he clears his throat.

"yeah?" you respond to him in confusion.

"yeah," he hums with a nod of his head, "i think 'bout them a lot. they're good kids."

"they are," you agree with him. it takes you a few seconds before you look at him again. "satoru, that's not what i meant."

"so am i your type?"

"oh my god."

"answer the question, y/n."

↣ choso

"yuuji?"

"yeah?"

"do you know who this is?" choso shoves his phone into his brother's face.

"uh, that's y/n." yuuji responds in a bit of confusion. the two of them were sitting in a new restaurant with ramen on their tables. choso’s sat nearly untouched for the past ten minutes as he flicked through some pictures you sent to a groupchat with him in it. yuuji was halfway through chewing noodles when choso asked him about the photo you sent a few minutes ago. “why? she looks good.”

“no doubt,” choso mutters in response as he zooms in on the other figure in the picture you took of your reflections in the window, “i mean him.”

“oh, that’s the guy who me, nobara and y/n saw last week at the movies,” yuuji responds, “he asked y/n for her number, so i think they’re out together right now.”

he looks at yuuji in disbelief as the pink-haired boy starts slurping on the soup. it takes him a few seconds to properly react.

“are you serious?” choso says a little loudly. people turn to stare at the pair. “you let him get her number?”

“what? he seemed cool and y/n didn’t seem to mind that i gave it to him.” yuuji holds his hands up in defense as choso angrily glares at the photos on his phone screen. “you said you weren’t gonna’ make a move on her anyway!”

“that doesn’t—” a groan leaves his lips as choso holds his head. he lets in a deep breath. “okay, it’s fine.”

“i’m sorry, choso.”

“no, it’s my fault, i did say i wasn’t going to ask her out,” he tells yuuji, who slowly goes back to eating, “i… i missed out, i guess.”

yuuji frowns as the guy in front of him sadly eats his food.

“you know…” he begins with a small smile. choso looks up to him. “they’re just out for lunch nearby. y/n told me where they were going. we could—”

“yuuji! hurry up!” choso has grabbed his jacket and is rushing to the door before yuuji can reply, “we might miss them!”

yuuji scurries out of restaurant after he gobbles down his ramen. it isn’t too far of a drive, actually. it took about 15 minutes to get there and choso had easily spotted your car in front of a cozy cafe. he parks next to it and almost ducks when be notices you in the chair facing the window, facing the two of them, with your date sitting in the booth — your favourite spot. choso always let you sit in the booth side.

choso clutched onto the steering wheel with gritted teeth. yuuji looked towards you to get a better view.

“huh… she looks annoyed.” yuuji points out.

“this guy…” choso grunts.

inside the cafe, you had taken a few photos of your food and your drink. you’re glad yuuji suggested this place, you loved the service and the food here. the servers were always so nice and helpful and quick, and the food was amazing too.

it was obvious to you that your date didn’t think the same.

“god, everything in here is so…” he begins as he examines the design on his waffles. he cringes a little. “girly.”

“it’s just a bunny design,” you point out as you sadly stir the cat-shaped foam into your hot drink, “it’s cute.”

“it’s embarrassing,” he reiterates. you purse your lips and sip your drink. the delicious taste was enough to make you forget his sour tone. until he speaks up again. “can’t believe your friend told us to go here.”

“i love this cafe,” you state, “everyone here is so nice.”

“the service is slow and they gave me the blueberry waffles instead of the normal ones like i said,” he complains. you set your drink down and hold back from rolling your eyes. “i don’t care how busy you are, you always check five times that the order is correct.”

you don’t even reply to him after that, only trying to enjoy your meal that you paid for. he wasn't helping at all. you thought that because he was so charismatic when talking to yuuji that he was probably a good catch, but you couldn't have been more wrong. maybe he was just putting up a front in order to score you. you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover anymore.

"hey. over here," he begins to snap his fingers and nodding at a server with four full plates of food. the guy looks over frantically, obviously under pressure. "i wanna' ask you something."

"ah, right, give me a second, sir—" the guy was trying to distribute the food with the customers who he was serving.

"i told you, slow service," your date scowls towards you. could you be any more embarrassed right now? the server finishes off his task before coming over to you two. before he can even ask, your date is holding up a nearly empty cup of coffee. "this is the most bitter coffee i have ever had in my whole entire life."

"oh, well, you ordered an americano, sir," the poor server explains, "they tend to be bitter."

"what? no, no, no," the guy in the booth starts shaking his head, "i ordered a flat white."

"you..." the server begins. he was the one who had taken your order too.

"you ordered the americano, actually," you pointed out. the guy raised a brow at you, unamused. "it's okay, you can just order a flat white—"

"god, i did not order an americano." he claims.

but you distinctly remember him saying 'americano' for his drink. and the server repeated the order back to him before it was confirmed annoyedly. you stare down at his nearly empty cup.

"y'know what? just put the flat white on the tab, i will pay for it." you sigh out as you rub your neck.

your date looks more pissed off as the server leaves.

"he was wrong, you don't have to pay for another drink." he mutters out.

"it's nothing, don't worry." you retort and stare back down at your food. you didn't have an appetite anymore and a few minutes pass in silence.

the flat white comes out after such a long time of waiting. your date drinks it quietly, but you notice that he makes a face to show he doesn't like it. you quickly excuse yourself to go and pay at the counter for your food (he insisted on splitting the bill since he didn't like the place) so that you don't have to hear him bicker about it.

"hey," you turn behind you to see choso standing there in a baggy hoodie, a bit nervous, "fancy seeing you here..."

your eyes flicker to outside, where you see yuuji waving at you from choso's car. a smile lands on your face.

"nice to see you, choso," you mutter back as you fish out your wallet. the cashier rings up your total and you press your card to the reader. "how was your lunch with yuuji?"

"good. we cut it short to save you," he bluntly says. you blink as he glares at your date. "i don't like the guy you're with."

"me neither," you sigh out, "i think this is the last time i'll see him. but i gotta' tough it out for the rest of the date."

"you could just leave now." choso adds. he looks at you with furrowed brows.

"ah... i'm not that confident—"

"a takeaway box and takeaway cup, please," choso asks the cashier. she had been sitting there and silently agreeing with you that the guy you were sitting with was a total jerk. "thank you."

he places them in your hands and pushes you gently towards the table.

"who the hell is this guy?" your date scoffs and glares at choso, who does the same back.

"look, i'm not really having a good time on this date," you say as you play with the takeaway boxes. choso hastily takes them from you and fills it with your food in an organised matter. "i think this is the farthest we go. please enjoy the rest of your food, though."

"you serious? ditching me for some jackass?" he accusingly points at choso who wears a shit-eating grin on his face. "this is bullshit!"

"calm down, god..." you groan and rub your temple, "i just don't like you, you're so rude."

"me? you're the one who dragged me to this shithole!"

"shut your mouth before i drop you right now," choso scowls as he pushes the guy back into the booth seat. everyone was watching now, quietly thanking choso for showing up and dealing with him. "grow up, man. you act like a child."

choso grabs your hand and tugs you out of the cafe. you both thank the service with your takeaway in hand. yuuji gets out of the car with a wide smile once you two get closer.

"so, how did it go?" he asks with wide eyes.

you throw your keys at his chest.

"you're driving my car back to my apartment as punishment for setting me up with that asshole," you say with a small frown. you all knew you didn't really blame him, though. "never giving my number out to anyone ever again."

yuuji apologises thoroughly before getting into your car and driving off in the wrong direction. choso opens your door and gives you the food. once he's inside the car himself, he starts it up and begins driving.

you rest a hand over choso's on the middle console.

"thanks, choso," you sigh out, "i should've done that earlier."

"it's fine, y/n, i just wished i came sooner." he replies.

you stare at the side of his face, how irritated he looked just thinking about your date. a smile settles onto your lips and you brush your thumb over his knuckles. he falters and looks back to you for a second before muttering a 'what'.

"i'll take you out for dinner as a thank you," you state, which makes his ears go red, "you're a sweetheart, choso."

"i... uh, yeah, i'll go out with you," he mutters, "thanks..."

the laugh you let out is worth ruining thousands of your dates.

↣ fushiguro toji

"have you ever been to france?" the conceited finance guy in front of you asks, fixing his tie. he wears this smirk on his face that proves that he just knows how rich he was. he wasn't coy at all. you force a smile and shake your head slowly, trying to enjoy your meal at least. "really? that's a shame. i've been plenty of times before, and i've gotta say, the best part is..."

you begin to zone out, sighing to yourself as you move your pasta around on your plate haphazardly. he had chosen such a nice italian restaurant to absolutely ruin your perception of this guy after the first ten minutes of talking to him. you look to your watch, showing it had been only two hours since your date started.

cursing out shiu in your head, you cautiously look out the window to the sky. it wasn't that dark yet, but it felt like your night had been taken away. your mind wanders to yesterday to your conversation with shiu.

shoe

you're getting picked up at 5 tomorrow

y/n

am or pm?

shoe

???

shoe

don't show him how stupid you are, he's a rich guy. maybe he'll bring you to a yacht

y/n

why would i want to be on a yacht for our first date? is he nice?

shoe

he's rich, y/n. that's all that matters.

sometimes, you wonder how he managed to meet all these people. but then you remember that assholes attract assholes. they move together in flocks.

you stare at your red wine and tap your finger on your cheek.

"what do you think about it?" he questions, getting your attention again. you look up to see his smug face. did he really want to know?

"oh, me?" you asks, sitting up straight. you had no idea what he had been saying for the past 15 minutes.

"well, who else would i be talking to, silly?" he says in this mocking tone.

'yourself, it's who you've been talking to all night', you internally say. you had wasted such a nice outfit too. it was such a shame.

"mmm, well, it's a bit—" you begin, only to get interrupted.

"it's insane, isn't it? how could you lose so much money in only a year?" he barks out a laugh, as obnoxious as he was. the table shakes as he bangs his fist against it, waiters and guests looking towards you two. "it's absolutely preposterous! i would never make such a decision like that."

you chew out an awkward laugh before turning to your wine, sipping it.

unknowingly to you, toji was waiting in the car outside the building, getting a good view of you and your new date. he cursed shiu in a huff; not only did he set you up with someone, but the guy was a total prick. he couldn't have done a worse job, and he was broke. he pulled his seat back, watching him with pointed eyes. that guy's mouth hadn't stopped moving ever since you entered the restaurant.

and you? you looked gorgeous, your dress hugged you just right, so much so that he was jealous. toji knows it should've been him to go and take you somewhere like this.

he snaps when the guy calls the waiter over, complaining about his half-eaten food and causing a scene. you looked so uncomfortable. standing up, you excused yourself to the bathroom. and toji is quick to get out of the car.

"he's such an asshole." toji claims as you exit the ladies room. you freeze, pressing out the creases of your dress before walking closer to him at the end of the hall.

"when did you get here?" you ask, hand on your hip, "and how do you know he's an asshole?"

"been watchin' the whole time from the car," he tells you, watching as you widen your eyes and tilt your head at him, "what? couldn't help myself. shiu said you were on a date with some rich guy, 'n i had to see it."

"yeah, well, remind me to kill shiu. he's got the worst taste in men." you sigh out, crossing your arms as you lean against the wall with him. he peers at you. "you know he asked to try every single wine they had before we ordered? and he complained about the merlot not being darker. not only that, he saw my plate and said 'are you gonna' eat all of that?'. the dickhead!"

"that shit looked good." he commented, shaking his head, "who wouldn't finish that food."

"right? ugh, i hate him so much. and he hasn't even asked me about myself other than my name. he explained to me his 'entrepreneurship' and dropshipping. wanted to clock him in the face." you complained more, only fueling toji's own hate for the man.

he lifts himself off the wall, grabbing your arm and dragging you with him. "go 'n get your things. we're gettin' out of here."

"what? what am i supposed to say to him?" you mumble, stumbling behind him, "where are we going?"

"don't say anything to him. if ya' feel bad, pay for your own food." he explains to you, hand moving to rest on your back, "i'm not lettin' you waste that pretty little dress on someone like that guy."

you stare at the back of his head before falling into step with him, stopping at the table with your date. he does a double take once he sees toji, slowly standing up.

"who's he?" he asks, scanning him up and down.

"none of your business." toji retorts, looking down at him.

you begin to grab your purse when he holds out his hand to you. "where the hell are you going?" your date asks you.

"here. for my food." you say, handing him a fifty. the note flutters onto the table in front of him, which he stares at in awe. tugging on your jacket, you stare back at him with furrowed brows. "good luck in life."

with that, you turn around and begin to walk to the exit. behind you, toji sticks his tongue out at the other man and follows after. his hand finds your back once more and you wait to cross the road, sighing out to him, "thank you, toji. saved me."

"no problem." he replies, opening the door for you.

"how did you get in my car?" you ask, sitting in the driver's seat.

"don't ask." he tosses you the keys, making you wonder even more. he gets into the other side, looking back at you. “we’ll hit up that restaurant downtown. the one you always talk about wanting to go to.”

“but you said you don’t like their cuisine.” you claim, starting the car.

“it’s the only place i know that’s fancy.” he explains, looking out the window.

“sweetheart, i wouldn’t say that’s fancy—”

“do you want to go out or not?”

you laugh, reaching out a hand and holding his. he gives a small smile before looking back at you. “thank you, toji.” you say, stopping at a red light. you glance at him, sincere look in your eyes. “it means a lot that you care.”

“jus’ saving you from being stupid as fuck.” he tells you, making you roll your eyes and snatch your hand back, “could ya’ not tell he was a tool when he didn’t knock at your door? motherfucker waited in his car.”

“my god, you’ve been watching since then? toji!” you jokingly reprimand, looking at him for a split second, "i should've known from the start though... he was on his phone the whole time, in the car ride. on bluetooth speaker too."

"i woulda' jumped out the car." he retorts, shaking his head, "we should jump shiu."

"we really should." you laugh, smiling at him, "maybe for our next date."

toji can't help but roll his eyes. he knows deep down that you were hoping shiu was going to set you up with him instead. he can see it on your face, a smile that is pushing through on your lips. you're secretly happy that it was toji who 'ruined' your 'date'.

"i say that because i know you can't pay for dinner."

"did you think i was paying for this one?"

you scoff back, elbowing him, "you leech."

"you know you love me." he says it teasingly, but he knows better than anyone that you actually do.

#gojo satoru #gojo satoru x reader #gojo #gojo x reader #choso #choso x reader #kamo choso #kamo choso x reader #fushiguro toji #fushiguro toji x reader #toji #toji x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk #jjk x reader

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summerchlds · 7 months ago

Text

I KNOW YOU

Neil Perry x gn! reader

Synopsis: In which you and Neil end up in a vintage photobooth.

An: Hello!! This is my first post on this account so I apologize if this sounds like shit😭 Also!! English is not my first language and I’ve never stepped foot into a Photo Booth so if I wrote something wrong then that’s on me🫡🫡

💌

When you two entered through the curtain and into the booth, You found it to be particularly small, barely big enough for the two of you to fit inside. It was kind of dark, the walls were maroon colored and the only thing there was in there was a built-in camera in the wall and a bench to sit down on so it was kind of empty (besides the scribbles and notes people had written down on the walls that the owners were too lazy to remove). You’ve both never seen or been in a Photo Booth before, not having a single clue on how it exactly worked, fearing that you’d accidentally break something.

“It’s quite cramped in here, isn’t it?” He teased softly, being fully aware of the amount of space you two had. You nodded, breathing out a faint ‘yeah’ under your breath. You tried to make yourself sit comfortably, but it was kind of hard when the side of your body was stuck glued beside his as your other half was against the wall.

Neil leaned down slightly.

“Are you comfortable?” He asked softly, his voice husky as he looked you up and down with a small smile. You once again nodded, not wanting to burden him. It was fine. Afterall, you couldn’t do anything about it. Neil turned his head back to the camera, looking clueless.

“Does it even work?” Neil asked as his brows furrowed.

“I hope so.” You responded, feeling hopeful. There was a button sticking out underneath the camera lens.

“I think this button starts the camera and countdown.” He said, unsure.

Neil reached slightly up to press it, unsure if it was the right thing to do. Thankfully, the lightbulb that hung above us, slowly lit up, triggering the timer countdown for the first picture. As the countdown went, You both realized that you had to act fast if you wanted the pictures to turn out good. You had no idea how many seconds you were given, could’ve been ten seconds or thirty if this machine was nice enough.

“What should we do?” You asked, a little panicky.

“Just smile!” He said quickly, leaning back a little against the wall. You took this opportunity to lean a little closer to the camera as you smiled nervously. You didn’t have that many high hopes for the first picture, just wanting the first picture to show you two smiling as a start. You posed awkwardly for a few seconds before the camera’s flash unexpectedly came on.

The bright flash blinded both of you, causing Neil and you to let out a small groan of discomfort as you both rubbed your eyes. Neil leaned back up beside you as he tried to blink away the spots in his vision, adjusting to the sudden change of light.

Now it was time to think of a new pose to do. Without thinking, you shifted yourself to lean your head towards him as you, again, smiled at the camera. You weren’t expecting for him to do the same though, but he did. Your heads linked together as you both smiled sweetly and the camera clicked once again.

You two pulled apart, feeling the warmthness of his cheek leave yours as you tried to figure out what pose you were going to do next. Neil seemed to have no problem with this whole thing, just freestyling everything. Maybe it was because you knew he would look good in any pose he chose to do.

You suggested to him that you two could make funny faces, just to humorize the photos. He didn’t say anything, let alone move as you got into your position, scrunching up your nose as you smiled mischievously. You awkwardly waited for the photo to be taken as you watched Neil from your peripheral vision. He turned his head towards you and just stayed there, watching you. His gaze seemed to burn a path through you.

You wanted to turn your head to face him but you’d have to wait until the picture would get taken.

When the flash finally covered the whole booth for just a split second before disappearing again, the light above you dimmed, signaling for you two to exit the booth, but you didn't, you stayed there as if you were expecting something more to happen. You turned your head immediately to see what was the problem. You were planning to ask him ‘why didn’t you pose?’ or ‘is there something on my face?’ but when you turned to him, you realized how close your faces were. And suddenly, your mind became blank. He stared down at you with a feeling of undeniable adoration in his brown eyes as he watched you almost hungrily. There was a tender, fond adoration flickering in his eyes, the way it often did in private moments like this. The warmth and affection in his expression made you feel vulnerable and cherized at the same time. His eyes seemed to take in every little detail, capturing it and piercing it into his mind, afraid to lose the memory of how you looked like, in case you two would in the future pull apart and never see each other again. His expression was soft and full of warmth, as if he found every little thing about you utterly mesmerizing.

“What?” You muttered quietly, already feeling yourself getting lost in his eyes. Oh how you could stare into them for hours on end.

“What?” Neil asked in return, his voice low and warm, tinged with a hint of amusement. In the midst of darkness, you could see a speck of light reflecting on his eyes from outside the curtain where the streetlight resided. You felt his breath from his open mouth hit your face as it made you realize how close your faces have gotten.

“May I kiss you?” He softly whispered against your lips, glancing down at them for a split second before returning his gaze up at you.

You opened your mouth, again and again to try and get something out but your voice had given up on you so you just nodded eagerly instead. He leaned down and closed his eyes, pressing his lips gently against yours. His hand travelled to your face, placing it on the back of your head to deepen the kiss. You reciprocated and held his cheek, your thumb grazing his sharp cheekbone. The kiss was short but sweet, only lasting a couple of seconds before he pulled away, exhaling ever so slightly as he looked breathlessly at you. You couldn’t help but let out a cheeky grin that spread over your red face, which caused Neil to laugh at you.

⋆⭒˚.⋆

You walked out of the booth as you watched Neil pick up the pictures that were printed out and examined them. He had a cheeky smile on his face as he looked down on them, making you curious.

“Let me see.” You said and he handed you the strip. Without saying anything, you took it from him and looked at it closely. There were four black & white photos of you two stacked on top of each other, doing various poses for each one. The first photo though, caught your eye. It looked fine at first, you saw yourself smiling and narrowed your eyes to Neil.

His mouth was pulled into a wide smile which showed off his gleaming teeth and dimples. He looked adorable. Though unbeknownst to you, you saw his hand positioned behind your head, creating a bunny ears gesture, making you look like a fool.

When you realized this, you playfully hit his arm as a form of payback. He pulled up his hand to caress the spot where you hit him at, pretending to look hurt as he couldn’t help holding in his laugh.

“I just couldn’t help myself, I had to!” He said between laughs.

You didn’t want to give in but eventually did, giggling along with him.

Besides, you knew you were going to keep these photos in your dorm as a memory, even if they didn’t turn out perfect, they were special.

(After all, no one but you and Neil would fully know what happened after the fourth photo was taken.)

#dps #dps fandom #dps fic #dead poets society #dead poets fanfic #neil perry x reader #neil perry #dead poets society x reader #oneshot #dead poets society oneshot

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causenessus · 6 months ago

Text

love notes

part 0.7. THERE'S LIFE IN THESE WALLS

“and when you talked to me, all i heard was words i couldn’t say a thing, i only made it worse and i know it’s hard when you feel this way in love with my best friend but i can’t say a thing”

from dræm girl by no vacation, left in the nishinari art district, osaka

the first time he’d come into the darkroom with her, she had been nervous. it was still the beginning of their first year in college and the first time they had talked since high school graduation. yet despite how long it had been since she’d last seen him, everything she’d felt for him in high school came rushing back the moment she recognized him wandering around the photography department.

she’d accidentally frozen the moment she saw him. no matter how hard she willed her feet to move, she couldn't seem to move and her panic only increased when he saw her. his face lit up slightly and he approached her and she only stood there like an idiot, clutching onto her bag strap for some kind of emotional support.

“hey, i was looking for you,” he’d said. his voice was enough to make her mind go blank, and his actual words only made her feel like she had short-circuited.

“oh– really? why?” internally, she pointed out every single flaw of her response; how quickly she’d answered, how stupid her words were, and how her voice was so high he probably found it annoying.

“yeah,” he nodded with a small smile, “i heard from akaashi you were going to the darkroom today? i’ve been trying to get him to take me with him because i wanna learn about the process but he’s been busy and he suggested asking you if you’d let me watch.” it’d been a semi-truth, although she didn’t know that. akaashi would have taken him if he'd asked him, but he hadn't. he was interested in how photo processing worked, but only because of her. he wanted to learn about the process from her and he wanted to learn about what her interests were. in short, he was finally doing what he’d avoided doing throughout all of high school; get to know her.

“oh. yes. sure, that’d be fine,” she tried to formulate a lax response but on the inside, she was the complete opposite. the idea of him watching her made her want to curl up in a ball and disappear, but she tried to reason with herself that she knew what she was doing. she’d been doing this for years; she had plenty of practice and knowledge. if there was one thing she excelled at, it was anything about cameras and photos.

‘but that’ll just make it even more embarrassing if i mess up in front of him,’ she’d immediately countered herself and wanted to hit herself. but instead she tried to push down her anxieties and act calm. there was no reason for her to be anxious, and if she didn’t think about messing up, she’d reduce her chances of anything going wrong.

despite her best efforts to make small talk on their way to the dark room, she'd given up when she realized he was better at coming up with questions to fill the awkward silence. “what do you take photos of?” he’d asked after her last failed attempt to start a conversation.

she'd taken a moment to think before answering, “honestly? everything. i take pictures of whatever interests me. i do a lot of portraits for other people and i’ve been trying to get into engagement photography because it makes good money, but it’s definitely not my favorite. street photography is really cool because you can capture so many raw emotions. you never actually know what your picture will look like until you go back to examine it, because no one else knows you're even preserving the moment, you know?” he only nodded silently which made her face warm. “sorry, i rambled without thinking.”

“no, it’s okay. i asked you because i wanted to know,” he responded with a smile. “i was just curious. i heard you were offered a position as a sports photographer and it’s what you seemed to be doing all throughout high school so i was surprised you didn’t take it. but i’m guessing it wasn’t your thing? street photography sounds really cool, too. i actually do street art with atsumu sometimes, you know.”

“really? i didn’t know that!” the enthusiasm in her voice made his smile grow. he found it cute, he thought, how her nervousness had gradually given away into excitement as she talked about her passions. it was a far cry from how stiff they’d been during their first three years of knowing each other, and he hoped that she continued to grow more comfortable with him. “that’s actually what i’ll be processing in the darkroom today. i think it’s really cool how people can leave their marks on a city. to be honest, i haven't found a lot of graffiti in osaka yet but i like the idea of how even if we move away from here, or especially when we’re long gone, there will still be parts of us left behind through what’s written on these walls. there’s the couples who write about their love, or leave their lockets on bridges to immortalize their love even past the amount of time they'll be together and in the same way caveman left drawings on the wall, or egyptians wrote in hieroglyphics, graffiti is like a modern version of that. there’s so many emotions behind it,” she explained as they neared a door. on the front of it was a sign that read DARKROOM printed in large, capital letters.

“that’s a cool way of looking at it. i don’t think i ever made that connection but i’m gonna be thinking about that the next time we throw something up,” he replied as she unlocked the door, letting him walk in first. “and atsumu and i have seen a lot of art while we’ve been out. you just have to look in the right places. i can take you to some of my favorite spots sometime, if you want.”

“that would be nice,” she says, thankful that it goes dark as she shuts the door behind them, hiding the tint in her cheeks. “i’d really like that– actually. and uh, this is just a sort of buffer room because we want as little light as possible getting into the darkroom. i know it’s small,” she immediately clarifies, seeing how he turns, looking at the cramped space they’re standing in, the only light being a dim red emitting from a corner.

“oh, i get it. when you open the outside door, all the light comes in here but when you go into the actual darkroom, there’s no light entering,” he notes, seeming to find her in the dark. there’s no way he can really see her, and yet she can feel the weight of his gaze.

“exactly. and i usually leave anything i don’t need on this counter. we’re technically not allowed to have phones in the darkroom, but most people keep it on them anyway. and it's kind of becoming an outdated rule because now you can print using your phone but i still leave mine here. just out of habit,” she explains, slinging off her bag and placing everything on the counter. “i promise it’s brighter in the actual darkroom. it’s all red lighting so it feels a little satanic but you get used to it,” she smiles when she hears his huff of laughter as she grabs her roll of film from her bag. “there’s overhead lights, too, but we never know who else might be working in there or if anyone left anything out, so we leave them off unless there’s an emergency. are you ready?”

she sees him shift in the dark. “actually, before we go in, honestly i don’t know anything about the process. do you think it’d be easier to explain it to me beforehand so that i don’t slow you down while you work?”

“oh, sure,” she says, looking at the roll of film in her hand, “i don’t think you’d slow me down, but that’s probably a good idea. just so you have a brief introduction to everything.”

she keeps talking, and he thinks that he can get used to this. it had taken him a talk from osamu at graduation after three years of walking on eggshells around each other to finally open his eyes to the realization that nothing would happen between them if they never talked. he'd worried the entire summer about getting the opportunity to talk to her and how it would actually play out but today had gone better than he could have ever imagined. he’s heard her talk more than he ever has before, and best of all, she’s talking directly to him. it’s just them; no one distracting his attention away from her and no one to tease him for the way he’s looking at her right now, admiring the way her eyes shine even in the dark with life and passion about what she’s talking about, watching the fingers that are pulling at the edges of the roll she’s holding with skilled, steady hands he’s seen so often holding a camera, hiding her face behind it.

“are you even listening?” she’s looking up at him, a forgiving, teasing smile on her red lips. it pulls him out of this thoughts and he finds himself distracted by them instead.

“yeah, totally,” he says, trying to focus on her eyes instead. “something about chemicals?”

she thinks of the moment fondly as she’s approaching the dark room by herself. she’s just split up from akaashi, who walked with her to return some equipment he borrowed. she approaches the door, taking in a deep breath. she loves working by herself in silence, but unsurprisingly, he’s always in her head and she sees him in everything. when she opens the door, she always remembers watching him walk in first, and the way he looked at her while she tried to explain the process of developing photos to him.

and she thinks about him everytime she puts down her bag, she thinks about the roll she took out and developed with him, both the negatives and processed versions of them still hanging on her wall. and when she puts down her phone, thinking about what he texted her this morning, she notices the white plastic bag on the opposite side of the counter.

her curiosity gets the better of her, seeing a small slip of paper in front of the neatly tied bag, and she steps over to read the note in the dim red light above it.

“you’re always holding that camera up to your pretty face. always looking at the world through the lens of a camera. why don’t you stop and appreciate the beauty of it for a second?” ♡ rin

prev. | m.list | next

bokuto came by y/n's apartment to force akaashi to take a break but while they were out for coffee konoha sent akaashi the "i'll vibe with you" meme and just completely broke him

akaashi is really going through it. double majors suck

suna has never used so many smiley faces in his life bc he didn’t know how else to express how texting y/n was making him feel <3

he was also late to practice because when y/n told him she'd be in the darkroom all day he went to buy food for y/n and then had to walk across campus to the arts building to leave it there for her (that's why he said "good to know" and then had to come up with an excuse for what he said <3)

and heads up y/n’s gonna really fight with calling him rin because she’s so worried he’s just trying to appease her so she has this whole kind of what if situation planned out of “if i call him ‘suna’ and he forgets ONE TIME to remind me to call him rin HE DOESN’T ACTUALLY WANT ME TO CALL HIM RIN AND HE HATES ME”

that will come up in like 9 chapters from now

guys i promise if ur not feeling these chapters THE PACE AND EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO KICK IN BEAR W ME

also i thought i was doing well balancing written parts and full smau chapters but i realized all the written parts just came later in the story so forgive me pls

the way i see it, you can basically read this chapter’s song recc as the first one suna left on a wall for y/n <3 since this chapter has to do with a little bit about their first real interactions

this bullet point is specifically for @eggyrocks who has an amazing love notes playlist you should listen to!!! their amazing music taste is responsible for last chapter and today’s song reccs and ALSO the upcoming importance of title fight because they shared with me an amazing album (hyperview) AND I JUST NEED TO SAY EGGY it’s so amazing how your brain works bc the only title fight song you added to your playlist was trace me onto you AND THAT’S THE SPECIFIC TITLE FIGHT SONG THAT WILL COME UP LATER IN LOVE NOTES (i’m sorry if this doesn’t make sense i’m going to try and explain it again, but basically out of the entire album, trace me onto you is the only one i’m actually using in this smau and i just think it’s so cool that it’s the only one you added to your love notes playlist!!! and thank you for your playlist because although i already had a song planned out to go with each chapter, since you made your love notes playlist i’ve changed some of them out for your songs <333 and this song was especially important with it being the "first lyrics" suna left behind or whatever and i think dræm girl fits SO WELL)

taglist: @0moonii @iluvmang @bluebeanbee @wyrcan @oyasumeii @froyaoya @gyuijns @nbcvs @milkteade @guitarstringed-scars @makkir0ll @mylahrins @cherrypieyourface @vivian-555 @sharkerino @r0seandth0rns @staileykout @lunavixia @thvvluvr @elliott0o0 @wolffmaiden @rockleeisbaeeee @toges-cough-syrup @cnnmairoll @ryeyeyer @hibernatinghamster @localgaytrainwreck @lemonocity @bows4life @sereniteav @madiexuberant @eclecticeggknightpsychic @phoenix-eclipses @sonicsolos @httpakkeiji @brkfclub @snail-squasher @starry-magicshop @cr4yolaas @kitnootkat @zzzlevislothzzz @iluv-ace @iluvaquaphor @stayyyyyyyyyyyy21 @applepi25 @twiishaa @girlkissersco @sleepystrwbrryy @encrypta

#suna rintarou #suna rintaro #rintarou suna #suna #sunarin #suna x reader #suna smau #suna x reader smau #haiykuu smau #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #hq #hq x reader #ness' planet ⋆⭒˚.⋆

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discotitsposts · 9 months ago

Text

You’re lucky you’re cute

reader and reid flirting at the party of a mutual friend

she/her pronouns used

some mature themes and choice words used. overall supposed to be lighthearted and silly

i love this photo so much

You were getting ready for a party a good family friend of yours was hosting. You had known David Rossi since you were a little kid and it’s rumored you were somehow related. Rossi treated you like his own and had been there for you your whole life. He had even helped you out of a few legal jams you’d found yourself in high school.

He had seen you first learn to walk, started school, hugged you while you cried on his expensive suit when you went through your first breakup, and graduate high school. Now you were going through academy training to work at the FBI. You wanted to be just like David.

You had never met anyone on his team in the BAU except Hotch. He had told you about everyone though. You were most excited to meet Penelope she sounded like a ray of sunshine. You were very intrigued by the mysterious Dr. Spencer Reid. He sounded very interesting. According to Rossi he could read 20,000 words per minute and had an eidetic memory. How amazing is that? Being a bit of a smarty pants yourself you definitely wanted to talk to him.

You had also learned he was apparently wildly handsome from what some girls at the academy had said. Though you’d never seen a photo of him, he sounded fantastic.

On the drive to Rossi’s mansion you listened to your favorite music. Singing every lyric to kill your nerves. You parked and it seemed everyone else had already arrived.

You ring the doorbell and Rossi opens it. When he sees you he smiles proudly and yells “Principessa! Sei bellissima!” He hugs you and brings you in to meet the team.

“You know Aaron, this is JJ, Emily, this is Derek Morgan.” You shake each persons hand as he says their name.

“Ah, the infamous Derek Morgan.” You say. “Nice to meet you all.”

“Pleasures all mine, gorgeous.” Derek winks at you. Emily punches his arm. “Leave her alone weirdo.” She scolds.

A brightly dressed woman with beautifully styled blonde hair runs into the room carrying two wine glasses and speaking excitedly.

“Is she here yet? Oh hi!!” She pulls you into a big hug.

“You must be Penelope! I’ve heard so much about you. All of you. What about the infamous Dr. Reid? Is he here yet?” You nonchalantly ask.

“She’s developed a little bit of a crush on our good doctor.” Rossi spills.

“I have not!” You pout, embarrassed by this very true fact.

Everyone chuckles. The doorbell chimes loudly through the foyer.

“Uh oh, it’s your future husband.” David teases.

“Keep it up and I’ll pour your vintage scotch down the drain.” You retort. Rossi puts his hands up in defeat and goes to answer the door.

“Here’s the one I want you to meet! Spencer, this is our little star of the FBI academy!” Rossi boasts. Dr. Reid smiles and waves at you. You reach your hand out to shake his and he frowns. They were right. He’s literally so handsome I can barely think. You think. Barely.

“I don’t shake hands. Too many germs. It’s actually safer to kiss.” He tells you.

“Ok, come here then.” You reach out and pucker your lips. Spencer slowly backs away and clears his throat.

“Oh my god, wait no I was joking.” You quickly attempt to retrace what you said. Ever so embarrassed you quickly change the subject. Spencer smiles shyly.

“Anyways, um David told me you have an eidetic memory. I think that’s really fascinating. I actually couldn’t wait to meet you and have a conversation with you. I really really want to get to know more about you! Not that I was obsessed with you before even meeting you, definitely not the case. That would be weird. You’re really cool, I mean you seem cool because how would I know that. I never met you before. Although I was expecting more of a mad scientist look to be honest. You’re really attractive though, I mean your face is scientifically perfect I mean… you know what I’ll be right back” You ramble on and realize you’re embarrassing yourself. It’s not your fault. When you look at Spencer’s face your brain goes to mush.

You excuse yourself and try to run away to the safety of a nearby restroom. Someone grabs hold of your wrist despite the estimated germ count.

“I’d love to get to know you too.” Spencer’s smiling at you.

“You don’t think I’m a crazy rambler?” You ask, worriedly.

“I’m a bit of a rambler myself.” He chuckles and leads you to a nearby couch. You two end up talking for over an hour about everything. He tells you about his mother, his life in Vegas, and how he’s banned from multiple casinos which made you laugh so hard. You tell him stories of Rossi when you were growing up. The time Rossi had choked on some of his pasta when babysitting you and had spat it out through his nose. This makes Spencer crack up.

“Guys look.” Morgan motions to you two talking and laughing. Everyone else at the party looks over.

“I had a feeling they would get along.” Hotch breaks into a smile. Rossi however is scowling.

You leave to refill your root beer and David walks over to Spencer.

“Hey Rossi, she’s really fun to talk to. Thank you for inviting me tonight. I’m having so much fun.” Spencer smiles up at him.

Rossi plasters on a fake smile. “Are you?” Spencer nods happily. Rossi’s face grows serious and he leans in, “Good, because if you hurt her, just remember, I would know exactly how to get away with murder.” Rossi smiles at Spencer and pats his back and walks back to the party. Spencer swallows nervously.

“Wasn’t planning on it.” He whispers to himself.

“Wasn’t planning on what?” You walk back in and hand him an extra root beer.

“Nothing. Thanks.” Spencer smiles and opens his root beer.

“So tell me more about when you got kidnapped by a cult leader?” You ask eagerly.

“Well this guy, his name was Benjamin Cyrus. We infiltrated his cult by pretending to be child protective services. Me and Emily got caught in the middle of crossfire. SWAT shot at them, they shot back, and put us all in danger.” He tells you everything about that case. You watch in awe at the way he talks. “Rossi actually brought them fried chicken with a microphone bug in the bucket.” Spencer laughs recalling the silly detail.

“Mmm sounds delicious.”

Rossi has been keeping his eye on you two. You look really happy but he likes having Spencer terrified of him. Your back is to Rossi and when Spencer makes eye contact. Rossi points at you and then Spencer and makes a cutting motion on his throat. This makes Spencer nervous. You notice him turn pale and turn around. You see Rossi is just playing cards with Aaron.

Penelope goes around passing out liquor to everyone. “Bottles for everyone!” She cheers over and over slurring her words. Morgan wrangles her to sit back down, stumbling, also intoxicated. You down your bottle and Spencer watches in shock.

You get crazier and Spencer goes to put the bottle Penelope had handed him, back in the kitchen. You’re dancing or trying to anyway. Spencer accidentally bumps you and you pull him down with you. The bottle in his hand breaks and splashes all over you both. Rossi hears a loud crash and comes into the kitchen.

“What the hell happened in here!” Rossi shouts noticing the red liquid trickling everywhere and you, in a now-red stained dress.

“We fell.” You and Spencer say at the same time.

You giggle, “Jinx!”

“You know the origin of the jinx was actually-“

“Clean this up brainiac!” Rossi cuts him off and hands Spencer a sponge.

“Yes sir.” Spencer falls to his knees and starts scrubbing. You notice the room felt hotter as he did so. Was it the weather or the sight of Spencer working hard?

“I’m sorry you got red wine all over you. You looked really nice. Not that you don’t look nice anymore. You look beautiful. I just feel bad your clothes got stained now.”

“Of all the days to wear a white dress. You’re lucky you’re cute Dr. Reid.”

You pick up a different sponge and help him clean.

“You don’t need to help.” He starts.

“It was partly my fault. Plus I know he’s gonna come in here and try to see if he can see his reflection in the tile. If he can’t,” You make a cracking sound and air-motion bending something, Spencer presumes to be, his neck if the red wine doesn’t come up.

“The guys so rich he can afford someone to professionally clean.” Spencer laughs at this.

“I know! One time when I was seven I accidentally spilled some jam and he told me if I didn’t clean it, all the jam in the world would disappear and I could never eat it ever again.”

Spencer opens his mouth in shock, “That is so mean!”

“It worked though.” You say while scrubbing the floor harder. He laughs so loud. Something he noticed he hadn’t done in a long time.

You decide to push his buttons a little since practically none of the wine got on him. You flick some water and soap at him.

“Hey!” He splashes you with some water back.

You stand up and discreetly grab the water sprayer on the sink and turn it on full blast. Spencer yells and with no way to defend himself, tries to stop the water with his hands. Penelope and Morgan run in and you spray them. Everyone’s laughing so hard you don’t see Emily come up behind you with a bucket of water. She throws it on you and you scream.

“ITS COLD!”

Hotch and Rossi walk in and shake their heads in disbelief.

“I’m disappointed in you all,” Hotch starts. Everyone stops and fearfully looks at him. “for not including me in the fun!” He grabs the water sprayer from you and splashes Rossi. While you’re all fooling around you notice a groundbreaking discovery. Spencer’s lilac purple shirt is completely see through and soaked. His nipples are even hard from the cold water. Hot damn.

You show up behind him and squeeze his hand and pull him to one of the bedrooms. You both lean in and kiss softly. You attack his lips with kisses and soon the kisses mesh together and become messier. He’s moaning into your mouth while you attempt to rip his shirt off.

“Wait.” He stops you. You pull away confused. “If Rossi’s upset about some red wine won’t he be more upset if we get… you know what on the bed?”

“Cum?” You ask. Spencer makes a disgusted face at your choice of words. “Nah only if he comes through with a black light.”

“No I meant the…stains.” He points at your dress, his face completely red.

“Oh this?” You motion to your now red dress. You reach behind you and untie your dress, letting it fall to the ground. You stand in front of him completely bare. Good thing you chose to not wear anything under it this evening.

You start to hum a song while you stalk towards him. When you push him back on the bed you hear a loud knock at the door.

“AHHHHHHHH” Spencer screams while covering his crotch with a blanket. You simply pick your soaked dress off the ground and sloppily put it back on. Rossi continues pounding his fist on the door.

“Tie me.” You command.

“Huh?” Spencer looks up confused and disoriented. You motion to the back of the dress and Spencer ties a cute bow with the strings. His nimble fingers moving as quickly as they’ll allow. He thinks Rossi’s fist might soon break through the door. You calmly walk to the door and carefully turn the knob.

“Hello.” You smile sweetly.

He simply crosses his arms and glares at Spencer. “Both of you, out. Now. I don’t even want to think about what you were thinking of doing in my guest bedroom young lady.” He wags his finger at you. When Spencer stands up to leave, Rossi stops him with his hand.

“Remember what I said I’d do if you hurt her. She’s like a daughter to me.”

“I-I-I won’t David, I was actually going to ask your permission. If I ma-maybe could take her on a date?” Rossi’s eyebrows raise at Spencer’s request, as if to say, tell me more. “I think she’d enjoy a film fest, they’re playing some old monster movies down at the drive in, some are in Russian, but that’s alright because I could translate to her. I’ll have her home by 11:30 I promise.” Spencer’s stumbling over his words nervously.

Rossi bursts out laughing, “Kid she doesn’t live with me anymore. She’s an adult. You don’t need my permission. Hope you two have fun. I was only worried about my sheets!” He runs to the bed fixing the creases you two had made.

After that he asked you if you’d like to go, of course you said yes. That Saturday night you two had so much fun and fell in love even more.

the end :)

pls pls tell me some of u thought this was even a little bit funny

actually pls tell me if u enjoyed this at all

i’m laughing so hard writing the part about his nipples help

fun fact when i wrote the part about reader wearing a white dress i was listening to this

#ms when i procrastinate #Spotify #criminal minds #spencer reid #mgg #matthewgraygubler #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds fanfic #mgg x reader

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effloradox · 1 year ago

Text

what would you do, if you only knew (that i can see you)

thomas thorne x ghost hunter+fem!reader (set during season 2 episode 1)

synopsis: being able to see ghosts for most of your life almost seemed to force you into being a ghost-hunter of sorts (not that your boss is actually good at his job), it’s only on a trip to button house and a reunion with an old friend from your student days that your ability actually comes into use after a run in with a particularly dashing ghost

a/n: this is massively inspired by the song i can see you by taylor swift, the plot just came into my head after listening to it and here we are, it was meant to fulfil one of the requests i’ve been sent but it went so far from the prompt that i decided to make it a separate fic and do another fic for the prompt

If you’re being honest with yourself, you’re not sure how you ended up in the ghost hunting business. It’s not something you even thought was a real job when you were a kid, it seemed like something you'd see people doing in the cartoons you watched. It was only after a close call when you were a teenager that almost killed you that you realised that you could see ghosts.

It made living in London quite difficult, the sheer amount of people who’s spirit hadn’t moved on was difficult to deal with but you managed to set yourself up with the so-called Ghostmaster General and it gave you a steady stream of work going round the country with him seeing if the buildings were actually haunted or not. You’d never explicitly said you could see ghosts to your employer but you could express enough knowledge that he kept choosing you to go on the trips. When photos of a grey lady surfaced on Facebook and Twitter from a mansion in Hemel Hempstead your boss had called on you immediately to join him on the trip.

Button House didn’t seem to be any different than the countless other manor houses you’d seen over the past few years. It's in a worse state of repairs than you're used to but aside from that it seems like every other fake haunted house you've visited. You’d left your boss to sort out whether you were being allowed inside the house, not wanting to drag the many bags of equipment to the front gates if you were going to have to just bring them back to the van. It’s only when he gives you the go-ahead to go and start setting equipment up inside that you grab a few bags and make your way towards the entrance.

It's with a jolt of surprise that you realise you recognise one of the owners of the house. You’d been friends with Alison at university until the two of you had both finished your degrees and parted ways, keeping in touch only to wish each other a happy birthday or similar milestones.

“Alison, hey!” The woman looked your way at her name, and her face bloomed into a confused smile when her eyes fell on you.

“Hey! Oh my god!” She pulled you into a hug as soon as you were within arms reach and you did your best to reciprocate without hitting her with the equipment bag slung over your shoulder.

“This is your house?”

“Yeah, well it was my great-step-aunt’s house and I inherited it when she died.”

“That’s amazing! Much easier than trying to get lucky with London real estate.”

“So how did you end up doing this?” Alison gestures vaguely to the bag pulled across your shoulder. It’s all you can do to shrug your shoulders lightly, trying to look as blasé as possible as you readjust the strap before it starts to slip down.

“It pays the bills.”

You couldn’t help but notice how nervous Alison was about the whole situation she’d found herself in but you chalked it up to nerves about having so many strangers in her home and didn’t think to push it. She’s kind enough to give you directions up to one of the rooms near the attic that your boss has assigned for the thermal camera currently resting against your shoulder. You agree to a cup of tea and a catch up before making your way to the room.

Everything was going normally with the equipment setup until you suddenly heard a voice shouting down a corridor. It immediately pulled your attention from the camera you were setting up, your eyes trained on the closed door to the room you're in waiting to hear footsteps approaching. When silence lay steady, your focus returned back to the camera.

It takes a great deal of self-control to try not to flinch when a figure suddenly comes through the closed door. You try not to let your eyes flicker away from the camera but can’t help but quickly scan the figure. It’s not the grey ghost you saw in the pictures, the man is dressed like a scout for some reason and the only abnormal thing about him is the arrow sticking out of his neck. You can’t help but wince slightly at that, what a terrible way to go. The ghost is talking to himself apparently in a thick northern accent or that’s what you assumed until another ghost steps through the door.

It takes everything within you to not stare at this ghost. He’s clearly from a few hundred years ago based on his attire but he might be the most beautiful man you’re ever laid eyes on. He was mid-sentence when he walked through the door saying something about finding the others but his voice trailed off when he looked in your direction.

“But, soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and you are the sun.” The way his voice carries the words is nothing short of reverent and you can practically feel the embarrassment rushing through your body. It's not the first time a ghost has found you attractive but normally they're plague victims or half-mad, they don't normally look as though they've just stepped away from a recreation of Pride and Prejudice.

“Thomas! It's not polite to stare.” The scout almost looks apologetic which is quite sweet given that there’s no way he can know that you can see him but his words have done nothing to deter Button House’s version of Mr Darcy.

“And yet we hang the most beautiful paintings ever created in galleries so that the masses may gaze upon their beauty. Would you deny me a similar experience Pat?”

As nice as it is to have someone speak about you like that, you’re aware that it’s going to be very difficult to get through the night if you have a ghost following you and all but swooning over you. Part of you wonders if you could try and feign being sick but also you know how one-track minded your boss will be about this house and there’s no way he’ll be willing to leave to drive you into the nearest town to get a train back to London.

You hear the familiar sounds of the camera as it’s finally finished setting up facing the door and, as you expected, shows no sign of any heat signatures. You decide to leave your other bag in the room for now, choosing instead to go and find Alison. The two ghosts are mid-debate as to whether it’s polite to stare at someone who doesn’t know they’re being stared at as you walk over to the door.

It’s with slightly shaking hands that you twist the handle on the door, opening it as calmly as possible as you try to remember your way out of the house. You can hear the ghosts talking in the room and the voices don’t seem to be getting any further away but the only cohesive thought in your mind is that you have to track down Alison and ask her what she knows about the house.

“Hey, you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost.” Alison laughs nervously at her joke but it does nothing to relax you.

“I need to speak to you.”

“Okay?”

“Outside.” Alison must see something in your expression that worries her because she allows you to take her by the arm and gently leads you to the front door. It's only when the front door is closed behind you and you can't see anyone dead or alive around that you find your anxiety easing. When you stop moving, you make sure to have your back to the front door, if only to put yourself at ease.

“Are you okay?” You’re about to speak when a voice cuts through the silence.

“Alison! You must reveal the name of this fair maiden at once! Her beauty outshines the sun in a way I never believed possible up until this very moment.” You have to give credit to Alison, she's very good at hiding the flinch when a voice suddenly appears from through the front door. It's only from a lifetime of doing something similar that you catch it, and you watch her eyes darting to something behind you before looking back towards you.

“Sorry, did you say something?” To give Alison credit, her voice only wavers slightly after the interruption. Maybe it’s unfair of you but when you speak, you make sure to do so in a quieter tone than you would normally. You have to be sure that she can see and hear him before you say anything and if you can make it harder for her to hear you under the loud gushing of the ghost then you’ll do what you can.

“I think there’s something upstairs.” You try to pay close attention to any reactions that Alison has to your comment but it’s very difficult once the ghost appears by your side. Up close he really is gorgeous. It’s almost a shame he’s dead because if you saw him in public you’d want his number in a heartbeat. It’s very hard to not let your eye wander in his direction, especially when he’s so close to you. He hasn’t stopped talking since he appeared through the door and whilst you’re more than used to a chatty ghost, you can see that Alison is getting more and more distracted by him.

“Alison! I must insist you express how ardently I admire this fair lady immediately or I shall never give you a moment of peace!” The threat, however serious he is about it, seems to be the final breaking point for your friend, whose face shoots in his direction.

“Thomas, stop talking for one second!” Even the ghost seems surprised by her outburst, staring at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. She catches her mistake in an instant, staring at you with an almost mortified expression as she waits for your reaction.

“I’m guessing you have more than two ghosts here then?”

“What?” Alison’s voice is tentative, like she’s waiting for you to either laugh in her face or run away screaming. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

“I can see them too.”

“What?!” You don’t blame Alison for being surprised, it’s not something you ever told her during your time as students, not even when you had both had a bit too much to drink and your secrets spilled easily. You’d learned early into your time seeing ghosts that telling people the truth was a quick way to alienate yourself from friends and peers alike. It was much easier to lie and say you were just an anxious person by nature who startled easily than to explain that you flinched every time you saw a particularly gruesome looking ghost.

“Sorry for not telling you. Pat seems really nice.”

“Oh my god.” A beat passes as the news sinks in, and then another wave of acceptance seems to reach Alison and with it comes another shout. “Oh my god! You can hear him?” She points in Thomas’ direction and the ghost in question has the good grace to look somewhat mortified by the idea you’ve spent the past thirty minutes listening to him regale you with compliments that he thought you couldn’t hear.

“I can.” For a ghost that’s just spent the better part of an hour showering you with compliments, he suddenly seems unable to string a sentence together. It’s easy to put him out of his misery though. “You’re very handsome by the way. I’m very flattered.” His face goes red at the compliment and, for the first time since he appeared in front of you, he seems genuinely speechless. Alison seems to be in a similar state.

“Does your boss know?”

“Absolutely not! I didn’t want to spend most of my adult life being ridiculed for something no one would ever believe to be true. Have you told anyone?”

“Mike knows. Kind of hard not to tell him with so many of them.” Mike is quickly making his way into your good books with everything you hear about him and you make a mental note to buy him a nice bottle of wine for being such a supportive husband.

“How many have you got?”

“Too many.” You let out a soft noise of consideration before turning to the still shocked ghost standing beside you.

“Would you introduce me to your friends?” Thomas seems to snap out of his shock at your request, bowing slightly and extending a hand in your direction. It’s a sweet gesture even though both of you know you can’t physically take his hand.

“It would be my pleasure.”

“I’ll uh, catch up with you later?”

“You might want to worry about the twenty-something ghost hunters running amok in your house first.” Alison pales slightly at the reminder of what situation has brought the three of you to where you currently are.

“Oh god. I need to go and find Mike.” Your friend is quick to dash back inside her house, leaving the door open for you and Thomas to follow her. Manly you, since he could just phase through the door again.

“Shall we Lady-uh…” It’s only in that moment that you realise Alison never actually told Thomas your name and you’re quick to correct that.

“(Y/N).” You supply.

“Lady (Y/N).”

“We shall.” Thomas walks towards the house first, waiting just beyond the door for you to follow him. Your only thought as you walk through the door is that you hope you don’t run into your boss for the next thirty minutes or so otherwise you might have some explaining to do.

#my writing #fics #thomas thorne x reader #bbc ghosts x reader #fem!reader

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plutoccult · 10 months ago

Text

BEAUTIFUL STRANGER

pairing: hwang hyunjin x gender neutral reader

description: a beautiful stranger shakes up your once boring and repetitive morning commute on the train.

word count: 3.4k

also available to read on my ao3 here

author’s note: hello! i’m no stranger to writing, but i’m definitely a stranger when it comes to writing for idols. this is the first time i’ve ever done so, and who better to write for than my ultimate bias hyunjin? stray kids is my favorite group, so i’d like to write more content for them in the future. thank you to my pookie wookie lills (YES, we unironically call each other pookie, it’s our thing) for beta reading, and i hope you enjoy <3

soundtrack: beautiful stranger, enchanted

tags: @solefleurs @heavenfilm @5sos-wdw @todorokiskitten @rylea08 @br3anna-nels0n @hyunjinloverrrr

taglist form here

you always found an array of characters during your morning commute on the paris metro. there’d always be locals, some on their way to work or home just like you. amongst the locals were tourists decked out in overpriced souvenirs specifically curated for suckers like them. at night, there were drunks who thankfully were smart enough not to drive. the reek of alcohol on them wasn’t that amusing, you must admit.

despite the variety of people you could see passing by on your commutes, it grew boring. always the same thing every single day. not even the music playing in your headphones or the book you brought with you that day could make time go faster. it’s not like it would be any better once you got off the train either. your life was incredibly dull and repetitive. if only something could serve as a change of pace.

to think that your life had become boring in a place like paris of all places. it’s the city of love, is it not? even if you were created out of love and born in a city all about that concept, you had none of it. maybe that’s why you felt this way. no matter how many times you pass the same streets or enter the same train station, you had yet to find the one thing everyone seemed to look for so easily here.

you had basically given up at this point, committed to living an empty life where all you did was work, eat, sleep, then repeat. it’s what most people do in other countries anyway, might as well join the party. the second you had fully lost all hope, however, was when you saw the most beautiful stranger on the train. you almost wanted to slap yourself for being so pessimistic before.

you walked onto the train with the expectation of just sitting around until you got to your stop. as you walked to your usual seat, that’s where you found your beautiful stranger, sitting in the seat right across from the one you sat in every single day without fail.

you knew you had never seen him before. you take this train almost every damn day, so who was he? had he just moved here? was he a tourist? where’s the “i love paris” shirt and the eiffel tower keychain made of shitty plastic? instead, he was dressed like someone meant to be on billboards and magazines. surely had the face to fit the bill too. he was undoubtedly breathtaking, and he ultimately captivated you upon first sight.

it was pathetic how you hesitated to sit down. he didn’t seem to waver, looking down at his phone. from the reflection of his sunglasses—yes, you were that curious—he seemed to be swiping through photos. you assumed they were ones he had taken around the city. paris was definitely filled with photo opportunities, so you couldn’t blame him for that one. it’ll look good on anyone’s instagram feed.

you try your best to make yourself look occupied. shuffling through your bag to find a book, the rummaging sounds catch the attention of your beautiful stranger. your eyes meet for a brief moment when you turn your body to lean back in your seat with a book in hand. despite how quick the moment was, you swore your heart dropped the second you caught his gaze.

oh god, was this the excitement you had been waiting for? you couldn’t mistake it as anything else. leave it up to you to fall for a stranger upon first sight, but who cares? finally, finally, your life had begun to be painted in color. even if it was just for a moment, you’d savor this one train ride that actually seemed worthwhile for once in your life.

you steal glances at him every so often, praying he wouldn’t catch you and make you feel embarrassed for staring. you just couldn’t help yourself, he was like a walking renaissance painting. actually, you don’t even think da vinci would be capable of capturing the essence of someone who looked like a real-life prince.

the moment you knew you had reached your stop, you wished you could glue yourself to your seat so you had no choice but to stay on the train with your beautiful stranger a little longer. as much as you wanted to, you simply couldn’t, having no choice but to say goodbye without actually saying a word at all.

it was silly to think a stranger on the train could change your life in an instant. still, you were grateful for the temporary change of pace. if only you could thank him somehow, but alas, you knew you had no chance of seeing him again.

•••

the next day, you found your beautiful stranger again, this time sketching down something in a sketchbook. you caught him looking at everyone who walked onto the train, and when it was finally your turn to step on, he actually smiled once he laid eyes on you. it all felt like you were dreaming. if this was cloud nine, then you had finally reached it.

when you walked over to your seat across from his, you noticed he clutched the sketchbook close to his chest, almost like he didn’t want you to see what he was drawing. you were too shy to speak up and spark a conversation with him anyway, so it wasn’t like you would pry. still, you were curious to know what was on the page.

it pained you knowing you lacked any courage. you found you were better off acting like you were interested in your book, on a random page as you were too in your head to actually start from where you left off and completely ignored the folded page that indicated that. what would happen if you said hello? would he say hi back? ask if you’d like to see what he’s drawing or ask about what you’re reading? the possibilities seemed to be endless, but the possibilities seemed safer as thoughts in your head rather than facing reality if you were to take a chance.

you can’t help but watch intently as his face scrunched from focusing on his sketch, his only tool a wooden pencil. did he plan to color it later? you can imagine trying to avoid rattling colored pencils leaving his possession due to the bumpiness of the train. he was quite brave for trying to draw in a place like this, you thought.

unnoticed by you, your beautiful stranger’s cheeks flushed and ears burned red as he could feel you watching him draw. the subject of his drawing still remained a mystery to you, however. tempting to spark up a conversation, yet so debilitatingly scary at the same time.

it seemed rude to stare for so long, so you put a stop to it immediately and busied yourself with your phone, catching up with texts you had missed since getting up for work. your phone was always blown up with texts from your friends, today being no different. if you didn’t silence your phone at night, you would never get any sleep.

they had been informed about your current saga, and the update would certainly excite them. it was hard to resist a smile as you texted them about the latest scoop, especially as the subject of said scoop was only a few meters away from you. maybe this should wait until later, otherwise they’d trying forcing you out of your comfort zone by talking to who was still a total stranger at the end of the day.

who knows though? for all you know, he could be a murderer. a stinking gorgeous one too. as if you need to be on the evening news. even so, those were just silly thoughts, all just an excuse to stop yourself from taking a chance at something for once in your life out of fear.

the second you reached your stop, you instantly regretted being so silent. would it have killed you to try? it felt like it would’ve, but you figured this morning was the last chance you’d have. if only you weren’t such a scaredy cat.

•••

after your shift, an unexpected reunion occurred on the evening commute. the train was quite crowded at this time of day, majority of the aboard trying to get home after a long day’s work, including you. the surplus of people made it quite difficult to find seating, but luckily for you, your beautiful stranger had a seat occupied by his bag, perfect for you to sit.

this was the extra chance you craved the second you got off the train earlier, cursing yourself throughout the day for not even attempting to just say hello. you were so thankful to see him again, it was almost like the universe blessed you for this very purpose. you were such a wuss this morning, but you refused to allow that reputation to continue now.

once you took a deep breath, you walked to where your beautiful stranger sat, trying to keep your balance as the train moved at rapid speed. in the midst of your struggle, the sound of your footsteps thumping on the ground caught his attention. he looked up in surprise, not expecting to see you, but thrilled nonetheless.

“hi.” you miraculously manage to speak out, your accent making an appearance during your pathetic english. it was agonizing how your heart raced a mile a minute just by uttering one word, so you tried your very best to calm yourself down. “is this seat taken?”

“no, no…” he replied to your question, picking up his bag and moving it to the floor by his feet so you could sit. “here.”

“thank you.” you say before taking the seat next to him.

god, your heart was thumping like the loudest drum ever created. to sit across from his was one thing, but right next to each other, shoulders brushing due to the lack of room? if only you could put a stop to this rapid percussion inside you. at least the sounds of the train rumbling against the tracks could serve as buffer for the unspoken tension between you and your beautiful stranger.

his sketchbook rested unopened on his lap. you recognized it as the one he had earlier, previously held close to his chest as if he were hiding secrets. what could someone as dashing as him be hiding in there, you wonder?

almost as if he were reading your mind, he suddenly opened up the sketchbook, flipping the pages—which revealed beautiful drawings in the split second you saw them—until he landed on a page of a finished sketch, one that you swore looked like you sitting on the train yesterday.

you look up and catch his eye. “is that me?”

“mhm.” he nodded with a soft grin.

his art style was something to be proud of, meant to be showcased in somewhere exquisite like the louvre. could this guy be any more perfect? drop dead gorgeous and talented? to see yourself captured in such a bewitching way was truly the greatest compliment one could ever receive.

the sound of the page ripping away from the binding of the sketchbook startled you. what was he doing? it was so perfect! why mess it all up? you couldn’t help but say something about it.

“what are you—”

“you can have it.” he interrupted you, holding the page in his hands, waiting for you to take it.

“oh…” your cheeks flush as your fingers accidentally grazed over his upon grabbing the sketch. “thank you.”

you almost felt bad holding this in your hands, afraid of ruining it just by the touch of your hand. how could he just let you have this without hesitation? even if this was a drawing of you, it felt like you didn’t deserve to have it.

you examine the drawing down to the details of the clouds behind you. you look for some sort of signature, assuming every artist had one in hopes to find a name. in the bottom corner, you see the name “hyunjin” written in cursive. you had finally put a name to your beautiful stranger.

“hyunjin?” you attempt to pronounce his name. your accent did you no favors, but you tried your best regardless. he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion until you pointed to where his signature was, then receiving a nod confirming that was his name.

“hwang hyunjin.” he said slowly. you repeat his name in full, speaking slower than him to make sure you were saying it correctly as you desperately didn’t want to screw it up. hyunjin, as you’ve now learned, gave you a nod of approval once you’ve won the battle with your accent.

“i’m y/n l/n.” you tell him. it would be awfully rude if he didn’t learn your name, after all. it seemed hyunjin didn’t seem to struggle at all when it came to pronouncing your name. his english was far better than yours, which wasn’t a shock as he seemed to be so insanely perfect in every aspect possible.

“are you an artist?” you ask, making an assumption based on the clues given to you the past two days. if he were anything else, you’d be surprised.

“i sing and dance.” hyunjin replied. you couldn’t believe his perfection could get any greater, but it just did. it would shock you if you learned your once beautiful stranger was a world famous one.

“well, your art is lovely.” you say.

“thank you.” he blushed shyly. to hyunjin, it felt so nice being treated like a normal person, appreciated for his art above all else. while there was no denying you found him to be the most breathtaking person you’d ever seen, there was more beneath the surface, and hyunjin was grateful to be seen for what he loves to do.

“is this your first time in paris?” you question, a chuckle escaping hyunjin’s lips over your pronunciation of your homeland. you were trying to get as much information out of him as possible before you were tortured with reaching your stop and leaving him once more. you had to take this chance while the universe let you have it.

“this is one of my favorite places to visit.” hyunjin said. truth be told, he always loved paris for its scenery and art, but yesterday he found one more reason to love it. is there any other place to love better than a city known all about that?

a visitor’s perspective was certainly different than the perspective of someone who’s lived here their whole life. there were so many reasons to love paris when you didn’t experience the greatest things about it everyday. to you, it was the same old thing. but to hyunjin, it was like a brand new experience each time in the rare event that he visited. but meeting each other allowed the both of you the ability to find something new to appreciate about this city.

“the eiffel tower gets old after a while.” you joke. hyunjin burst into a fit laughter, one more obnoxious than his calm chuckle from before. it infected you instantly, and you craved more of his laugh now that you’ve fully heard it.

hyunjin calmed himself down, letting out a sigh as he leaned his head back with his eyes closed and a grin on his face. he was truly the most beautiful person you had ever seen. “i hope i never get sick of this place.”

“i hope you never do.” you tell him, looking at his face as if he were a sculpture in a museum. “don’t wear it out.”

“i won’t.” he opened his eyes and responded to you, his smile not going away as you gazed into each other’s eyes.

you can’t help but stare at one another, almost like magnets pulling you together. was it normal to feel like this about someone you barely know? even so, it felt like you knew hyunjin before you ever met. such a thought would seem like insanity to someone else, but not to you, at least not in the moment.

your once unwavering stare was unfortunately interrupted by the sudden thrash of the train stopping. you look out the window and recognize it as your stop. if you were crazy enough, you’d stay on the train until they kicked you out, but you weren’t all that brave enough to try your luck. maybe you were better off savoring this moment for what it was; just a moment with a beautiful man who was once a stranger to you.

“ah, that’s my stop.” you say with a frown. hyunjin’s smile from before faded too. it was clear neither of you wanted this to end.

“oh, alright.” he replied. hyunjin watched as you quickly collected your things, not forgetting the drawing he gave you when you first sat next to him. you would cherish it as long as you could, and he could only hope that’s what you’ll do.

“maybe i’ll see you on the stage here someday, yeah?” you force a smile. you were actually sad to see this end, but if you keep a grin on your face, then maybe it’ll hurt a little less.

“yeah…” hyunjin nodded. “i hope you do.”

“bye, hyunjin.” you wave goodbye, hyunjin doing the same.

“thank you for making the train less boring for me.” you get those final words out before following the line of people exiting the train. hyunjin kept his eye on you for as long as he could, even staring out the window as you disappeared into the sea of people. if only he could have went with you.

“bye, y/n.” he said to himself, clutching the sketchbook that once held his masterpiece; a drawing of you, his beautiful stranger.

•••

on the third day, hyunjin was nowhere to be seen. you saw it coming, really. you knew last night was probably your final chance to ever see him again. still, a part of you hoped he’d magically appear on the train when you went to work the next morning.

the thrill you once had was no more. the spark lit aflame in your heart all gone. you weren’t sure if anyone would make you feel the same way hyunjin did. maybe meeting him was a lesson, something to teach you what the city of love was truly about, what you’ve failed at your entire life. at least now you were able to succeed, even if such a success was temporary.

you were thankful that your once black and white world finally had some saturation in it for once. if you were to meet hyunjin once again, no matter what the circumstance may be, the world would be in full bloom. you would look for him in everything you see, down to the bakeries you’ll eat at and sceneries you’d visit, for as long your thoughts echoed his name.

while your routine became repetitive once more, at least you had hyunjin’s image in your brain and his drawing in a picture frame on your shelf. if you were as talented as him, you’d try your hand at drawing him too, but you knew you wouldn’t be able to capture him like your eyes ever did. at least you have the memories.

hyunjin dreaded watching you leave, and he hated it even more when he left for the airport in the morning. he wondered if you thought about where he went, hoping you thought about him like he did now with you. you’d remain ingrained in his mind. whenever hyunjin thought about paris, a place he loved just as much as his hometown, he would think about you too.

he couldn’t explain this sadness inside him to anyone else. hyunjin couldn’t fathom anybody understanding the feeling of love at first sight like he did. a true romantic at heart, maybe you were the only one to be just as foolish as him when it came to romance. after all, you were instantly captivated by one another.

maybe, just maybe, hyunjin could write a song about this and sing it to the thousands of people he performed for like clockwork. but no matter what the days ahead held, hwang hyunjin, your beautiful stranger, was all that he would ever remain, and you would remain as his.

•••

(bonus)

@hynjinnnn: 파리에 있는 동안 기차에서 이 사람의 모습에 반해 그려보기로 결심했습니다. 나는 그들이 그것을 좋아했기를 바랍니다. 언젠가 다시 보고 싶습니다.

i was enthralled by this person on the train while in paris and decided to draw them. i hope they liked it. i'd love to see them again someday.

#stray kids #skz #hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #stray kids x reader #skz x reader #hyunjin x reader #hwang hyunjin x reader #pluto writes 📝

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avastrasposts · 6 months ago

Text

Big Sky Country - ch. 8

There's a lot of things that need to be talked about for Frankie and Ashling in this chapter, but we also finally get to see Frankie in full cowboy mood!

Summery: Cowboy Frankie returns to New York to work things out with his 'maybe girlfriend' Eva. But he also makes a connection with another woman, who makes this lost cowboy feel welcome in her Brooklyn bar.

Series Master List

Warnings for the whole series can be found here

Frankie woke up a bit confused as to why he was on his couch the next morning, then the previous day came back to him while his lower back protested about sleeping on the couch; Aisling turning up, asleep now, only feet away, in his bed. He rolled over onto his side and peered over the edge of the couch to his bedroom door, it was slightly ajar. Pushing himself off the couch, he quietly made his way over to it and peered inside, finding the bed empty. He was a fairly light sleeper, Aisling must’ve been very quiet if she’d snuck out without him waking up. He turned and realized the quilt on the couch was gone and he looked out through the window, spotting Aisling on the porch swing, wrapped in the quilt, watching the morning light over the prairie.

“Morning,” he said, opening the front door, “You like the view?”

“Morning, Frankie,” she said, turning and giving him a bright smile, “it’s gorgeous, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s pretty spectacular, and just wait until you see the sunset.” He thumbed towards the kitchen behind him, “I’m gonna make some coffee, how do you take it?”

“Just milk, thanks, ‘Fish’.”

He chuckled, “Coming right up, Ash.”

He came back a few minutes later with two mugs and handed her one, joining her on the swing with his own. Aisling had pulled up her legs so Frankie gently rocked the swing with his bare foot on the porch.

“This is how I imagined it,” she said, wrapping her hands around the mug, “when you showed me the photos of this place. You sitting on the swing, watching the view and rocking back and forth.”

“It has been known to happen,” Frankie replied, pausing before he continued in a lower voice, “You know I need the silence, and this is as silent as it gets.”

Aisling looked over at him, he was staring out at the prairie, his eyebrows pulled together as if he was working something over in his mind. Then he lifted his hand and rubbed the strong curve of his nose, and sighed.

“Do you wanna know what happened in New York?” he asked, still looking at the prairie.

“Yeah, I think we need to start there,” Aisling replied and he looked over at her, “I won’t walk into something with you again without understanding what happened, Frankie.”

He nodded, “I agree, you should understand. And then…” he paused, glancing down at his hands, something vulnerable shifting in his face before he looked up again, “and then, maybe…you need to decide if you want to stay or not.”

It was Aisling’s turn to nod while Frankie seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment, taking a sip of his coffee and Aisling did the same, looking out over the prairie as he started talking.

“I think you need to know what happened before New York though,” he began, “And I’m not making excuses for anything, just telling you how I ended up where I was.”

“Ok.”

He drew a deep breath and rubbed his nose again, trying to ground himself before he began.

“You know I was in the army, as a pilot. I was in special ops, which means I was in a team of five guys that went on some highly classified missions. I’ve killed people, as a soldier, and many of the things we did, I’m not proud of.”

He paused and glanced over at Aisling to see how she'd react, but she was still looking out over the prairie with the coffee mug resting on her knee.

He took another sip of his coffee, considering how to phrase the next part before deciding to just say it, hoping she’d understand that he’d left it behind now.

“Going back to civilian life wasn’t easy, and I didn’t handle it very well. I started using drugs to numb myself from all the shit in my head. Eventually I got addicted. To cocaine,” he looked over at her again and she was looking back at him this time. “I’ve been clean for almost two years, and I don’t do any other drugs.”

Aisling nodded in response, “The army stuff, is that what’s in your head? That makes you crave silence?”

“Yeah, it’s like my brain can’t sort through the distractions of a busy place and decide what’s an actual potential danger, and what’s just background noise. It forces me to be vigilant for any potential threat, check the exits, check the people around me, make sure I’ve got my friend’s backs covered all the time, like I’m on a never ending mission.”

“Sounds exhausting,” Aisling said, “And explains why New York stressed you out so much.”

Frankie nodded and scratched his beard, “It never fucking shuts up in that city, the only time my head was quiet while I was there was with-”

He cut himself off and glanced over at Aisling who was still looking at him.

“You said I was the only one who made your mind quiet.”

Frankie nodded again, unable to keep looking at her, instead he looked down at his bare feet for a moment before he looked out at the prairie that was slowly filling with sunlight.

“When I was with you in New York, I could focus only on you, the rest faded into the background.”

“Is that why you kept coming back to the bar, even though you had a girlfriend?”

Frankie winced under the directness of her question, but he nodded in response, focusing on the prairie.

“The rest of the story,” he said, “is this; I met Eva when I was addicted, in Florida. It’s where I lived after the army. I’d made some really terrible choices, the worst one left one of my friends dead after we went on a mission we never should’ve touched. I was numbing the pain and the noise with coke every day, and she helped me get clean. She was what I needed then, I suppose, but in reality, she probably should’ve been just a friend, not my girlfriend. I wasn’t in the right place for a serious relationship. But I talked her into moving out here when I realized I needed this kind of space, this kind of life, to get my head straight again. Herb, who runs the ranch, is my NA sponsor, he got me out here.”

Frankie paused and looked over at Aisling again, she was looking at him and when their eyes met, she smiled at him.

“Don’t worry, you haven’t said anything to scare me off yet, just tell me what happened.”

Frankie felt relief flood his chest, a weight lifting, and he nodded as he continued; “I don’t know if Eva hated it out here from the start, but I know she hated it pretty soon after we moved here. She hated how lonely it was, so far from any kind of city, bars, clubs, all the stuff she loved doing. So after a few months, she left me, moved to New York for a job. I went after her, tried living there for about two months, and failed, miserably. I almost started using again. So I came back here.”

Frankie sighed, bracing himself for the most recent part of the story and Aisling noticed he was picking at his cuticles, his fingers restless. Putting down her coffee mug she took one of his large hands in her own and held it still. He gave her a weak smile and inhaled before he continued.

“It was over then, when I came back, we thought we’d try a long distance thing but we didn’t even stay in touch, it was just over. But then she called me a few weeks later and told me she was pregnant, that it was mine, and I went back to New York.”

Frankie looked over at Aisling who was still holding his hand, absentmindedly rubbing her thumb over his small tattoo. If the pregnancy had surprised her, she wasn’t showing it, she just kept her eyes on him as he told her the rest, nodding to keep him going.

“That’s why I was in Brooklyn when I met you, I was waiting for her to get home from work so that we could talk about what we were going to do. I thought maybe the baby would make her want to move back to Montana and we could get a place closer to Big Sky, or even Bozeman. But that wasn’t what she wanted,” Frankie shook his head and rubbed his hand over his face, sighing deeply. “That third time I came back to the bar, when we went back to your place, she’d had an abortion without telling me about it.”

Aisling felt her heart twist, with both anger and with relief, for a few seconds she’d thought Frankie was going to tell her Eva was still pregnant, that he’d be a dad in a few months. Anger filled her heart when she saw Frankie’s eyes shift into grief.

“I know Eva and me having a baby was probably the worst idea in the world,” he said, his voice low as he looked down at his feet again, “I can’t live in New York and she hated living here. And I know she has every right to make the decision on her own, but…” he trailed off, shaking his head and Aisling felt him grip her hand tighter, “She didn’t even let me go to the clinic with her, she wouldn’t even let me help her or tell me what was going on. She told me it was fucking food poisoning...and then the next morning there was blood in the toilet and she told me it was over, just like that.”

“I’m sorry, Frankie,” Aisling murmured, “that was a horrible thing to do.”

“And then you were there, all soft and warm, and I could just lose myself in you,” Frankie said, turning his head to look at Aisling, remembering how good she’d made him feel when he needed it the most that night in Greenpoint. “You made my head go quiet at a time when it was driving me insane. And it was such a fucked up thing to do, I shouldn’t have used you like that and I felt so fucking guilty afterwards.”

“That’s why you went all weird after we had sex,” Aisling said, remembering how he’d almost shut down in her bed, “You were feeling guilty.”

Frankie nodded, and his eyebrows were so tightly knitted together when he looked at her that she had to scoot closer to him on the porch swing and wrap her arms around his wide shoulders. He gratefully hugged her back, holding her tight as he mumbled in her ear.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve stopped myself, it wasn’t fair on you, Aisling. And then I had to leave, I couldn’t drag you into my mess, it just would’ve made it worse and I didn’t want to put that on you.”

“But why did you go back to Eva?” Aisling asked, sitting back so that she could see Frankie properly, “You were with her when we met at Smorgasbord.”

Frankie swallowed and gave a small shake of his head, Aisling had removed her arms from around him and he already missed her touch. But this was the hardest part to explain, he dropped his head and rubbed at his thumb.

“It’s like I was being pulled in two directions, I knew, rationally I fucking knew, staying with her wasn’t a good choice. But the other part of me was saying it was the right thing to do, that it had been good once, and that she’d helped me through so much shit. She put up with me and helped me get clean when everyone else bailed. And when I got back to her apartment that night, she was crying, begging me to stay, saying she needed me and she only realized when she thought I’d left. So I did what I thought was the right thing, and stayed.”

He sighed deeply, “And I know I should’ve told you, but I was just too much of a coward,” he looked up and met Aisling’s eyes, he could see some of the hurt he’d caused her as she was reminded of what he’d done, and it killed him inside. He wanted to make that go away, but he knew he could only hope she would understand on some level, and maybe forgive him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to pull you into my mess, I should’ve stopped things after we first kissed,” he shook his head again, exhaling and looking out over the prairie.

“If you’d told me, I probably would’ve yelled at you anyway,” Aisling said and gave him a crooked smile, “but I would’ve preferred if you’d told me, instead of finding out at Smorgasbord.”

Frankie nodded, “I know, and I have no excuse. I was a coward, I should’ve been honest with you. And I deserved everything you said, I fucked up.”

Aisling wasn’t about to disagree on the deserving thing, he should’ve told her, but she was starting to understand what kind of demons he’d been fighting.

“And after that, you stayed with Eva? She forgave you for having sex with me?” she asked, still sitting close to him, close enough so that she could see the way his eyes seemed to be looking at something else than the prairie. His fingers were picking at his cuticles again, and his foot had started tapping on the porch floor.

“I stayed, but I don’t think she forgave me. She said she did, but then she’d hold it over me when she wanted me to do something. The whole thing sat between us the whole last month and it just got worse. So we had one last fight and broke up, and I left the same night.”

“When you came to see me after closing?” Aisling asked but Frankie ignored her question, he seemed to have lost himself in the spiral of thoughts the memories brought on.

“I always seem to fuck everything up,” he said, not answering her question, “I made so many bad choices, both back in Florida and then in New York…I messed up things for Eva, I hurt you and got you pulled into my fucking mess of a life, I shouldn’ve just stayed away from you, my shitty choices caused you pain and I know I caused Eva so much pain. I just…” he trailed off, sighing deeply as Aisling threaded her fingers through his, stopping him from ripping apart his nails.

“You fucked up, that’s human, Frankie, but at least you’ve realized it and you’re owning it,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze. “I was so fucking mad at you, I’m not going to deny that. I wanted to punch you so badly.”

“I would’ve let you, I had it coming,” Frankie said with a shrug, but Aisling shook her head and Frankie missed the small smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“I got over my anger for you pretty fast. That thing you said, about needing silence? I had a feeling there was a lot more behind that then just ‘can’t stand the noise of the city’,” she rubbed her fingertips over his hand, circling around his bull’s eye tattoo, her touch soothing him as he looked down at the way her fingers moved over his skin, “But then I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And it’s not like you’re the first guy to ghost me, I usually forget them pretty fast.”

Frankie raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked up at her and Aisling couldn’t help laughing, “Please, you’re not that special, ‘Fish’. But you’re the first one who’s apologized for it and then refused to leave my head,” her eyes went soft, still holding his hand, “but I understand why you did it, and where your head was at. I just needed to hear you explain it because you felt special. To me.”

Frankie kept looking at her, her face was serious and she meant what she said, and he believed her.

“What made you come out here?” he asked, “After three months and no word from me?”

“Female intuition,” she said, her mouth quirking up in a quick smile, “That, and a really, really shitty shift at the bar.”

“Female intuition about what?” Frankie questioned, but Aisling just smiled at him.

“Give me breakfast and that tour of the ranch and I might tell you, we’ll do one fucked up story at a time. But I forgive you, Frankie. Thank you for telling me all that. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”

He shook his head, “It’s been on my mind since last night, but I needed to tell you, both for myself and for you.”

“How do you feel now?”

Frankie closed his eyes and took a deep breath, listening to the inside of his mind. It was quiet, light, and he smiled.

“I feel good,” he said, “I told you everything, the worst is over now.”

Aisling smiled at him and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his scruffy cheek.

“The worst is over, Frankie. Now give me breakfast.”

Frankie watched her for a second as she got up and went into the cabin again, while he remained on the porch swing. He really felt lighter, he hadn’t realized how much he’d been holding on to that whole story, and how nervous he’d been about telling her. Now he felt like he could start over, like they could start over, with everything out in the open. His face cracked into a relieved grin and he pushed himself off the swing, following her into the cabin.

“I can’t offer that much for breakfast,” he said, she was pouring herself a second cup of coffee from the pot when he came in, “Eggs and toast, some hot sauce, that’s about it.”

“Sounds good, point me in the right direction and I’ll be a bit more helpful than last night,” she said, folding the throw blanket and leaning down to lay it neatly on the couch where she’d found it. When she turned around Frankie was standing at the counter with an odd expression on his face.

“You ok, Frankie?” she asked and he blinked a couple of times.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I-I’m fine,” it took him a beat too long to respond and Aisling noticed the red blush flaring up on his neck as he abruptly turned back to the counter. “Eggs, toast, I’ll get us sorted.”

She glanced down at the t-shirt she’d slept in, one of Frankie’s, and smiled. She’d taken it from the chair in his bedroom last night, it had smelled clean, and she’d been too tired to ask about it. The sight of her in his t-shirt seemed to have stirred something in him, and she grinned behind his back.

“If you’re sure, I’ll just go get changed. But I’ll sort the dishes,” she said, pushing back her giggles and leaving him nodding at the counter.

Frankie was gripping the edge of it, trying to contain the hard on that had sprung into life when he’d turned and seen Aisling, the hem of his old gym shirt rising up over her soft legs. It had been an effort to contain the groan that threatened to escape his throat, he remembered all too well what those legs felt like. And now they were here, disappearing underneath his fucking t-shirt.

“C’mon, pendejo, I know it’s been a while but get a fucking grip,” he muttered to himself as Aisling disappeared. Willing his body to behave and going through the pre-flight checklist for his favorite helicopter model, he grabbed the eggs from the fridge, forcing his hard on to calm down.

Aisling returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, back in her own clothes to his relief, and laid the table.

“So what can I expect to see on this ranch tour?” she asked as they sat down with plates of eggs and toast.

“Herb staring, probably,” Frankie chuckled, “I think he’s been expecting me to become a monk since I got back from New York. And horses, lots of horses. Do you know how to ride?”

“Yeah, sure, we had a pony club between the bodega and Johnson’s Laundromat. Me and my trusty steed Silver would ride out every Saturday, taking in the views over Manhattan from the WNYC Transmitter Park.” She made a sweeping gesture as if she was showing off her expansive land and Frankie rolled his eyes at her sass.

“Smartass,” he growled as she winked at him, “Ok, so then there might be some riding lessons too.”

“Really?” Aisling dropped her smirk as her eyes widened, “You can teach me?”

“Yeah, of course, we’ve got two really calm horses for our inexperienced riders, I’ll let you ride one of them,” Frankie pushed back his chair and picked up the plates as Aisling chewed her lip nervously.

“On my own?”

“No, well, not at first anyway,” Frankie reassured her, “I’ll be leading her while you get used to it and figure it out. I won’t let you fall, don’t worry.”

“Ok…slightly more nervous about the tour now, but also excited, thanks, Frankie,” she said, taking the dishcloth from his hand and shooing him away with her other hand, “Get dressed, I’ll sort this.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Frankie smiled and left her to deal with the dishes.

It was further down to the ranch than Aisling had first thought. Frankie had told her the land it sat on was bigger than all of Greenpoint, and she easily believed him as she saw the prairie spread out around them. He pointed out some of his favorite spots as the truck rumbled down the dirt road, passing in and out of dips in the nearly treeless land. Not until they came closer to the foothills did small thickets of trees appear, framing the ranch that nestled in a small valley next to a river coming down from the Rockies.

Frankie parked the truck next to an almost identical one by the main building and Aisling stepped down. They were greeted by two dogs running at full tilt across the yard, their tails wagging madly as they started twirling around Frankie, only stopping to sniff Aisling for a second, before going back to jumping around his legs.

“Alright, alright, calm down you crazy mutts,” Frankie laughed, “I was here yesterday.”

He managed to grab the collar of the black and white one, giving it an affectionate scratch, “This is Whiskey, he’s the old man even though you’d never believe it. That over energetic golden,” he pointed to the golden retriever who was now spinning in circles around Aisling’s legs, clearly very excited about a new person, “is Benny. Named him after an old friend of mine, they have the same energy.”

Benny the golden did a few more laps and accepted a scratchie from Aisling before he and Whiskey took off, someone calling for them in the distance.

“Cute dogs,” Aisling laughed, trying to wipe Benny’s drool off her hands until Frankie handed her rag from the back of the truck.

“Cute and bat shit crazy, but great company on the trails. The guests love them and spoil them rotten.” He stuffed the rag into his back pocket and grabbed a few apples from a crate in the back before holding out his hand for her, “C’mon, let me introduce you to Herb before he yells at me too.”

Aisling took his hand, it felt so natural, and it wrapped around hers like it was meant to always be there. She wondered if Frankie had even reflected over the gesture, he seemed so at ease here, and he made her feel like she belonged here with him too. With a smile he tugged her along, leading her across the yard and towards what looked like a reception building.

“This is Herb’s office but he lives upstairs in the main building behind us, and the ground floor is for the guests who don’t stay in the cabins. During the busiest season the place is packed with guests and we hire some of the locals to help us out. It’s quiet now in the off-season though.”

Herb turned out to be an older version of Frankie, gray curls sprouting around his Stetson, large hands, warm smile and the same quiet demeanor. Aisling could see why the older man would’ve been able to connect with Frankie and help him towards sobriety.

Frankie introduced her just as ‘Aisling’ and she didn’t miss the quirk of an eyebrow in Frankie’s direction just before Herb shook her hand. Clearly Herb had been told about what happened in New York. After some small talk about the ranch, Frankie told Herb he was showing Aisling the stables, and Herb invited them over for dinner later in the week.

“Miranda, my partner, will be very happy to have someone else to talk to for a change,” he said with another warm smile before waving them off towards the stables.

“Nice guy,” Aisling said as Frankie held open the door to the large barn, the smell of hay and horses hitting her nose.

“He’s been a life saver,” Frankie said, “he knows what to say to get me away from the itch of using, he’s been there himself and he always cuts through all the bullshit. It was what I needed.”

“I guessed, from the way you talk about it, you still feel that itch?” Aisling asked, pausing as Frankie closed the door behind them.

“Not all the time, not anymore, but yeah, sometimes. I think I’ll always feel it on some level,” he’d stopped in front of her, his eyes suddenly worried. “Does it bother you? That I was addicted?”

Aisling shrugged and something flashed over her face, “Before yeah, maybe I would’ve had my doubts,” Frankie saw her frown at a memory as she looked up at him, “I have some history with addicts and I know how it fucks up lives. An ex, years ago, he promised he was clean and then he faked a break in to our apartment. I believed we really had been robbed until the police caught him trying to sell my phone on a street corner, high out of his fucking mind. And there was other shit too, the drugs always took precedent in his life. It took me a while to get away from him and I’ve been kinda weary since. So maybe, if you’d told me before, I would’ve cut my losses.”

“I’m sorry,” Frankie said, “that probably makes you feel differently about me-”

“I know your story now, Frankie, and it’s different,” she cut him off, “I’ve also seen how easily it happens and how hard it is to get out of,” she took his hand again, smoothing out his twitching fingers, he hadn’t even realized he was doing it again, “And I understand why you got addicted. What you did in the army, it must be difficult to just leave that behind when you were suddenly back to civilian life.”

“It was, and I’ve seen people deal with it in different ways, I think mine was one of the worst ways though,” he rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand, looking down at their fingers intertwining.

“At least you’re still here, Frankie,” Aisling said, dipping her head so that she could catch his eyes under the peak of his cap, “I’m glad you’re still here. And the addiction doesn’t make me feel differently about you.”

A soft neighing from further inside interrupted their conversation, a buckskin colored head sticking out from one of the stalls with a curious look at the two of them. Further down the stable other horses poked their heads out, looking at the visitors.

Frankie glanced over at the buckskin horse who was giving him an almost exhortative look, as if to tell him to get a move on.

“Thanks, Ash,” he said, turning back to her and she saw his worried look soften, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, “Now come meet the locals.”

She was still holding on to his hand and now he wrapped his fingers around it and led her towards the horse who gave another impatient whicker. When they got close to the stall, it dipped its head and nudged Frankie’s free hand, looking for treats.

“This is Dolly, she’s my girl,” Frankie said, smiling as the horse nipped at his pockets, “always wanting treats, I may have spoiled her a little bit.”

She’d found the apples he’d stuffed in his pockets and was trying to get at it and Frankie pulled one out and handed it to Aisling.

“Have you ever fed a horse before?”

“Never been this close to a horse before,” she admitted, “I’ve only ever seen the ones that pull the carriages around Central Park.”

“Ok, so hold your hand out flat, like this,” Frankie said and flattened her palm, placing the apple on top, “she won’t bite, but she will slobber a bit on you.”

“That’s alright, it’s already covered in dog drool,” Aisling laughed.

Frankie guided her hand within reach of Dolly’s searching muzzle and Aisling felt the soft lips brush over her palm as she gently took the apple. It crunched in the horse's mouth and frothy, apple scented, drool dripped onto her hand.

“At the risk of sounding like a squeamish city girl, but ‘ewww’,” Aisling giggled, holding her hand as far away from herself as possible as Frankie laughed. He pulled the rag from his back pocket and handed it over.

“We have washing facilities in the stable, luckily, but let's meet the rest of the crew, they’ll expect apples too.”

Giving Dolly a scratch on her golden head, adding promises of coming back soon, Frankie led Aisling down to the next stall where a chestnut horse was waiting for them.

“This is Clover, she’s going to teach you how to ride,” Frankie said and reached up, scratching the red horse behind one of her ears, making her whicker softly and bump up against his arm.

“She’s pretty big…” Aisling said, looking at the rest of the horse’s body and Frankie heard the nerves in her voice.

“Clover is our grand ol’ dame, she will stand stock still until you’re comfortable on her back, and she’ll help you stay on, she has the smoothest gait.”

He gave her hand a small squeeze, “And you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but if you want to try, you’ll never find a teacher as good as her.”

Aisling nodded, holding out her hand for Clover to smell. The large horse gently nudged her hand and she marveled at how soft the touch was.

“Give her an apple and some scratchies, you’ll see what a sweetheart she is,” Frankie said, handing Aisling another apple from his pocket. Clover didn’t move, even as her nostrils flared when she smelled the apple. It was as if she could sense Aisling’s nerves and was staying extra calm. Aisling held her palm flat and offered the apple to Clover who carefully took it between her lips, pulling back a little before she crunched down on it. Unlike Dolly, she didn’t drool at all, the very picture of a refined lady, gently munching on her treat.

“Reach up and rub her forehead, scratch hair between her ears, that’s her favorite spot for scratchies,” Frankie said, patting Clover’s neck affectionately. Aisling did as he said and ran her fingers through the coarse hair, scratching at the roots. Clover whickered softly and dropped her head, her big eyes half closed as she enjoyed the sensation.

“She likes it,” Aisling smiled, as Clover moved her head closer so that Aisling could reach further up between her ears.

“Yeah, she’s enjoying herself for sure,” Frankie replied, giving Clover a pat on the neck.

He loved seeing Aisling in the stable, on the ranch, and he felt his need to make her visit as unforgettable as possible so that she’d come back.

To stay for good.

The thought flashed across his mind as he watched Aisling chat to Clover, telling her what a nice lady she was. It sent a jolt through him, and he suddenly felt panic at the idea of her leaving. They barely knew each other, it was crazy to think of her staying for good so soon. But he couldn’t help it. He wanted her to stay, watching her leave would be the hardest thing he’d ever done, he could already feel the desperation in his bones. He thought he’d lost her, only for her to turn up out of the blue, and he knew he’d been delusional when he thought he could put her in his past. Now that she was here, without the complication of Eva, he desperately wanted her to stay. He needed her.

“Frankie?”

“Huh?”

“I said, I think she wants another apple,” Aisling said, looking at him while Clover nudged his pocket, “You kinda zoned out there for a second.”

“Yeah, sorry, I was miles away,” he said, pulling out a second apple and feeding it to the horse.

“You ok?” she asked, her hand on his arm, warm through the flannel shirt.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about some things,” he replied, smiling at her and coming back to the moment, “Let’s get a saddle on her and we’ll have your first riding lesson, if you’re up for it?”

Aisling stroked Clover’s soft nose and smiled up at the big, gentle horse, “Yeah, I’m up for it. You’re right about Clover, she’s going to take care of me.”

Leaving Clover behind, Frankie showed Aisling the tack room, and they picked up a saddle and a bridle. He walked her through how to saddle Clover and then led her out into the paddock behind the stable. There was a step ladder set up at one end and Frankie led Clover to it while Aisling followed.

“So, we’ll use the step ladder for now, it’s easier until you’re used to the saddle,” he said, taking Aisling’s hand as she stood next to Clover. “Stand on the top step, gather the reins in one hand and hold on to the pommel with the other, put your front leg in the stirrup and swing your back leg over her rump and sit down in the saddle.”

Aisling took a deep breath and climbed to the top of the short ladder, giving Frankie a nervous look as he stood next to Clover, smiling up at her.

“If you feel unsteady, just squeeze your legs around her middle and pull yourself straight with the pommel,” he said, stroking the horse's neck. Clover whickered softly but didn’t move a muscle as Aisling carefully put her leg over the saddle and sank down.

“Oh shit…this is high up,” she muttered, her hands holding the pommel in a death grip.

“Try to relax and sit really heavy in the saddle, like, sink down onto your butt properly and grip her sides with your legs.” Frankie gently put his hand on Aisling’s calf and pushed it towards Clover’s flank.

Aisling nodded nervously and sank down a bit further into the saddle and Frankie felt her leg flex under his hand.

“You’re doing great, and you haven’t fallen off yet,” he grinned up at her and she quickly stuck his tongue out at him.

“You promised I wouldn’t fall,” she reminded him and he chuckled.

“You won’t, you’re doing great. Just hold on to the pommel, keep your legs tight around her and we’ll go for a little walk.”

“Ok,” she nodded, adjusting her grip on the saddle and Frankie saw her clench her jaw, squaring up.

“Relax, hermosa,” he gently reminded her, stroking her leg, “breathe.”

Aisling nodded, but his warm hand sent sparks through her bloodstream and she felt herself clench for other reasons. Taking a deep breath through her nose, she forced herself to relax, but still hold on with her legs around Clover’s round middle.

“Are you ready?” Frankie asked her, squeezing her leg again before he moved to hold Clover’s reins. Aisling nodded and Frankie clicked his tongue, making Clover move forwards. The big horse swayed gently under her and Aisling gasped, gripping the pommel even tighter, as she tried to sit heavy in the saddle. Frankie watched her over his shoulder as he led Clover in a big, slow, circle around the paddock. The horse walked carefully, treading gently as if she was balancing Aisling on her back as much as Aisling was trying to balance herself.

After a full circle, Frankie saw Aisling’s white knuckle grip on the pommel loosen a bit, and she lifted her head, daring to look at the surroundings.

“You’re doing great,” he told her, and she smiled back at him. He kept leading Clover at a slow, steady walk and Aisling felt herself relax properly. The horse was swaying under her in a smooth motion, and it got easier to move her hips in the rhythm of the gait, following along with the motions. She let herself look around the ranch, the wellkept buildings, a few groves of trees and then the mountains climbing up behind the main house. As they circled the paddock, she saw the prairie in the other direction, open and endless, just a few rolling hills in the distance. Somewhere above them a bird screeched and she saw Frankie look up.

“An eagle,” he said, pointing to a tiny black speck high up in the sky, “a bald one, I think. They’re pretty common here.”

“Wow, really? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an eagle,” Aisling replied, squinting up at the bright blue sky, the tiny bird circling high above them. She felt her balance shift and she quickly looked back down, gripping onto the pommel. Frankie was still looking at the bird, his head tilted back as he led Clover, and she took a moment to watch him. He looked so comfortable, the reins loosely in one hand, the other shielding his eyes under the peak of his cap and he was matching Clover’s slow pace. It was hard equating the man she saw here with the story he’d told her about his background, a soldier who’d killed enemies, his addiction and how he’d ended up here. It was even hard to see the man she’d met in Brooklyn in him. He’d been so watchful and troubled there, here, he was clearly calm and comfortable. If she didn’t know better, nothing could’ve convinced her that he wasn’t born and raised on this ranch, always a cowboy.

“You really look like you belong here, Frankie,” she said, “I can see why it means so much for you to be in Montana.”

Frankie looked over her shoulder at her and gave her a crooked smile.

“I feel at home here, and it means a lot to hear you say it,” he turned his head and looked forward again, “Eva never understood it or saw it, I think that was a big part of our problems.”

“Do you think you’d still be together if she’d stayed in Montana?”

From behind she saw Frankie shake his head, “No, I don’t think so. We should’ve been just friends from the start. And even though it was good in the beginning, and I think we were happy, at least I was, it wasn’t right in the long run.”

Aislin chewed on her lip while Clover continued to walk slowly around the paddock, not asking anything more and Frankie noticed, glancing back at her over his shoulder. When he caught sight of her face he turned and started walking backwards.

“Whatever it is, you can ask me,” he said, “You’ve earned the right to any answer you want from me.”

Aisling sucked in her lips for a second, meeting his open gaze, before she sighed.

“I wonder about us… I wouldn’t have come all the way out here if I didn’t feel something special about you and…” Aisling trailed off and Frankie stopped, making Clover come to a halt as he stepped closer to Aisling’s leg, putting his hand on it.

“You’re special to me too, Ash,” he said, “I thought I’d blown it, and I’m over the fucking moon that you’re here.”

“But are you ready for a relationship? You’ve been through some heavy shit, I don’t want to be a distraction for the healing you need to do.”

Frankie let go of the reins and put his hands up towards Aisling, “Take your feet out of the stirrups and swing your leg over her back, I’ve got you.”

He motioned for her to trust him and she did as he said, clumsily sliding off Clover’s back into his hands on her waist. Frankie turned her around as she got her feet on the ground and didn’t let go, his large palms warm on her sides as he held her close.

“I’m going to be healing for the rest of my life, I’ll always be dealing with the shit in my head,” he said, his voice low as he moved his hands up to cup her cheeks. “But I know it’ll be easier to handle if you’re my distraction, if you want to be with me too.”

Aisling looked up at those warm, brown eyes, his eyebrows pulled up in his worried little frown under the cap. He was waiting for her answer while his thumbs slid across her cheeks, soft and gentle.

“I really want to be with you, Frankie,” she answered, “But only if you think you’re ready for another relationship.”

“With you? Absolutely,” he said, without hesitation, “I thought I’d lost you, and I was prepared to never find someone like you again because no one has made me feel as calm as you do, and you don’t even try. Just being with you does something to my brain. And now that I have a second chance at that? No way am I letting you walk away without telling you exactly how much I need you, how much you mean to me.”

He leaned his head forward, the bill of his cap pushing up so that he could rest his forehead against hers, “I’m ready, I want this, with you, Ash.”

“I want this too, Frankie,” she whispered, biting back the tears that threatened to push up as he made her feel like the center of his universe, only him and her, standing close together in the warm paddock.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, his voice low and soft as his eyes drifted down to her lips, and she gave him a small nod, closing the last short distance between them.

Feeling his lips on hers again was even better that she remembered. Without hurry he gently kissed her, cradling her face in his palms, the cool tip of his nose brushing against her skin. As his plush bottom lip slipped between hers, he opened his mouth, and his familiar taste flooded her brain. It had been four months since the night they spent together, but it was as if no time had passed at all. His touch, his smell, his taste, it was all so familiar to her as she wrapped her arms around his middle and pulled him closer.

Minutes passed, and Clover waited patiently next to them, shifting her weight as Frankie and Aisling made up for lost time. Eventually she turned her big head and looked back at the two humans wrapped around each other, and gently nudged Frankie’s hip. With a low chuckle, Frankie reluctantly pulled himself away from Aisling’s lips and looked at Clover.

“Are we boring you, ma’am?”

The horse neighed softly and nudged him again and Aisling smiled, resting her head against Frankie’s chest as she watched him scratch Clover. His other arm was wrapped around her shoulders and she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head.

“One lap around the paddock on your own, and then we go back to the cabin,” he said and she looked up at him.

“On my own?”

“You’re ready for it, Clover will take care of you,” he smiled, seeing her frown, “C’mon, I’ll teach you how to get up without the step ladder too.”

“If I fall, I’m blaming you, and not Clover,” Aisling threatened him and he chuckled.

“I’ll accept that, now turn around.”

Aisling quirked her eyebrow at him, “What do you have in mind?”

Frankie’s face split in a grin as he caught the double meaning of what he’d just said, “Many things, but not right now, hermosa, just turn around.”

The wink he gave her made heat rise in her cheeks and he leaned in and gave her another kiss, letting it linger as his tongue nudged her lips apart again. With soft hands on her waist, he turned her around and placed another kiss on the side of her neck.

“Lift this leg,” he murmured, tapping the outside of her right thigh, “and put it in the stirrup.”

He straightened up and she did as he said while he moved her hands to take hold of the saddle.

“Now, pull yourself up until you can swing your left leg over her back and sit back up in the saddle, I’ll help you.”

Her legs felt a bit jelly-like, the mark of his lips on her neck burning hot through her system, and she took a deep breath to stabilize, holding onto the saddle.

“One, two, three and up,” Frankie counted and she pulled herself up, his hands gripping her waist and giving her a boost.

Settling in the saddle was a little bit easier this time and Aisling tightened her legs around Clover’s middle, finding her balance. Frankie watched from the ground and then reached up and adjusted her hold on the reins.

“Hold them like this in your left hand, and you guide her by moving the reins and your hips, she’ll feel it,” he gave her hand a squeeze, “You ready?”

“Yeah, I guess, now or never?” Aisling gave him a nervous laugh and he smiled up at her.

“You’ll do great, you’re already sitting really well in the saddle. Just roll your hips forward and click your tongue, she’ll start walking.”

Aisling gave an experimental click of her tongue and Clover’s ears peaked up, moving back and forth as she started walking. Frankie backed away to the center of the paddock, watching Clover slowly walk as Aisling tentatively raised her hand and moved the reins.

“Breathe, hermosa,” he chuckled, “Relax, just like before, she’s got you.”

“Can’t believe I’m doing this,” Aisling giggled, sinking down deeper in the saddle as Clover moved into a steady walk, making Aisling’s hips sway with the motion.

“When you get to the gate, put a bit of pressure on the left side of her neck with the reins and let her know you want to turn to the center of the paddock,” Frankie said, “and increase the pressure of your left leg too.”

“Ok,” Aisling replied and Frankie smiled as he saw her mentally preparing as they neared the gate. Clover was a smart horse and as soon as Aisling shifted in the saddle she knew what was expected of her and turned left.

“Oh…” Aisling huffed out, surprised, “It worked!”

“Of course it worked, you’re a natural at this,” Frankie smiled, “Try it again, turn her in another direction.”

Aisling guided Clover to the right, back towards the fence and then again towards the gate, her grin widening each time the big horse understood her commands.

“I can’t believe I’m actually riding!” she exclaimed, giggling as Clover turned again, “You’re such a good teacher!”

“Thanks,” Frankie grinned and Aisling smirked, winking at him.

“I was talking to Clover, actually.”

“Oh, oh! I see how it is,” Frankie laughed, “Well, then cowgirl, why don’t you just go ahead and ride on down towards the stable and let Clover show you how to clean her up once you’ve climbed down from up there?”

Aisling stuck her tongue out at him as Clover whickered, as if she’d understood the joke and was laughing along with them. Frankie came up alongside them and patted Clover on the neck, smiling up at Aisling.

“I’ll get the gate behind you, just ride to the stable, and I’ll help you down.”

“Ok,” she replied and moved the reins again, and Clover adjusted her direction.

Frankie waited until they were clear of the gate, then he pulled it close and latched it.

“Frankie!” Aisling called from behind him and he turned around, hurrying to catch up, “How do I stop her? Where’s the brake?”

He chuckled, “She’ll stop when she gets to the stable, don’t worry. But to halt a horse, you pull back gently on the reins and say ‘Whoa….’.”

Clover stopped as they reached the space in front of the stable, turning her head and looking up at Aisling as if to say ‘Here we are, all done.’. Aising patted her neck, and scratched the mane.

“Thank you for not letting me fall, Clover,” she said and the horse whickered and boobed her head up and down a few times as Frankie caught up to them.

“Need a hand down, or do you want to try by yourself?” he asked, coming up to Clover’s side.

“I’ll try, but can you stand there in case I slip?”

“Sure, I’m on stand-by,” he replied, smiling up at her and Aisling felt like she couldn’t get off Clover fast enough so that she could get close to him again. Pulling her feet out of the stirrups she awkwardly swung herself out of the saddle and slid down Clover’s side. Frankie’s hands found her waist and he held her steady as she turned to him.

“You’re a natural,” he smiled, the dimple deep in his cheek, as he pulled her closer.

“Not my first time as a cowgirl,” she winked at him and Frankie raised his eyebrows, his grin widening.

“Really? What other things have you been riding, cowgirl?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she teased and he chuckled, bending his head to hers, the bill of his cap knocking against her head.

“As I remember, you did an excellent job riding me last time,” he said, his voice amused and promising, rumbling in his chest as he gave her a smirk. Aisling wrapped her fingers around his curls and pulled him closer, smiling up at him as he glanced between her eyes and mouth, the pink tip of his tongue coming out to wet his lips.

“Are you offering more lessons?”

“Hermosa, you don’t need ‘em, you’re fucking perfect, all I’ve been thinking about since that night.” His eyes had gone dark and lust blown and Aisling could feel the growing hard length of him firm against her hip. She knew her eyes were just as needy as his and it was a great effort to let go of his soft curls and nod her head at Clover behind her.

“Wanna show me how to clean her up and then take us back to the cabin?”

Frankie pressed his lips against hers, a quick, firm kiss, promising more, and then nodded.

“Yeah, let’s get this lady a rub down and then we’ll head back.”

He grabbed Clover’s reins and handed them to Aisling, “You lead her, I’ll talk you through what needs to be done.”

With Frankie guiding her, Aisling got the tack off Clover and rubbed her down, cleaning her hooves, and led her back to her stall. The grand old lady patiently waited while Aisling fiddled with the straps and struggled to pick up the large hooves, scraping them clean from dirt and any rocks.

Frankie watched her from the sidelines, smiling as Aisling chatted to Clover, and Clover whickered back, fondly nipping at Aisling’s arm as she passed around her head. Clover’s calm demeanor had made Aisling go from nervous and jumpy around the big horse, to calm and comfortable, moving around her as if she’d tended to horses her whole life. Frankie had seen it many times before, all the inexperienced guests who came to the ranch were won over by Clover’s ‘teachings’.”

“We’ll go out on the trail tomorrow, take Dolly and Clover up to the creek and go for a swim,” he said as Aisling slid the bolt closed on Clover’s stall and he came up behind her, putting his hand into hers. “Would you like that?”

“You think I’m ready for that?” Aisling asked, feeding Clover the last apple from Frankie’s pocket and rubbing her nose.

“Yeah, absolutely, we’ll go slow, and Clover will take care of you, just like she did today.”

“Ok, yeah, I’d like that, it sounds really nice,” Aisling replied and Frankie smiled, rubbing Clover’s head a final time before they started walking back towards the exit of the stable.

“You’re lucky, I never take guests to this creek, it’s my special place.”

“Am I getting preferential treatment?”

Frankie slid his arm around her waist as they walked across the yard, “Absolutely, I want you to have the best possible experience here so that you want to come back, Clover was the first trick, the creek is the second one, I think you’ll love it.”

“Hmm….” Aisling said, wrinkling her brow and Frankie glanced over at her.

“What?” he asked and Aisling gave an embarrassed shrug.

“When I left New York, I didn’t actually think any further than getting to Montana, I don’t even have the money for a return ticket….” she confessed, “I was thinking I could find a job in a bar in Big Sky or something.”

Frankie’s heart soared, and Aisling saw the grin that split his face, “You were gonna stay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’d like to, if you want me to? And I don’t mean that I’m gonna move in with you just out of the blue, but maybe I could find something in Big Sky, a small place, a job. And then we’d be closer together than two thousand miles.”

“I’d love that,” Frankie said, squeezing her side, “I’d fucking love that, please stay, Ash. And you can stay with me for as long as you want, we can figure everything else out later.”

“You really want me to stay? It’s not weird as fuck that I just turn up and move in next door?” Aisling was smiling at him, his bright grin was all the answer she needed but she wanted to hear him say it too, to confirm that it was really real, squash that last bit of nagging insecurity.

“Yes, I really want you to stay, the thought of you leaving and going back to New York makes me miserable. Having you here? I’m the happiest man in the world.” He pulled open the door of the truck and held out his hand for her to climb in and she settled in the seat before bending down to press a quick kiss to his smiling lips.

“Thank you, for making this so easy, Frankie.” Happiness was settling in her stomach like a little warm ball, the anxiety finally disappearing as he closed the door and jogged around the truck. He slid into his seat and started up the truck, his hand finding hers as soon as he’d put them on the road back to the cabin.

The ride back was mostly silent, Aisling was looking at the landscape in the afternoon sun with new eyes, looking at it as a place that might be home, memorizing landmarks, a warped tree, the curve of the road and how it dipped just before it started climbing up towards Frankie’s cabin. The silence was peaceful, there was no need to fill it with anything, it just wrapped around them comfortably like the soft breeze through the open windows. Frankie’s hand was warm around hers, she could see how he glanced at her from time to time, one hand on the steering wheel, the other caressing her skin.

“I feel so good about this,” he said as the truck pulled up in front of the cabin, turning to look at Aisling with a smile as he turned the engine off, “Is this even real?”

Aisling chuckled, “I spent two horrible days on a bus and then you took me stargazing on the prairie, let me crash in your bed in the cutest cowboy cabin I’ve ever seen, and I’ve just spent the afternoon learning how to ride. I’m not wholly convinced I’m not still just daydreaming in Greenpoint.”

Frankie tightened his grip on her hand and gently tugged her towards him across the bench seat.

“Come here,” he smiled, pulling her onto his lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck. It was a tight fit with the steering wheel, but his warm body was pressed up against hers, and the smile he gave her made up for the gearshift jabbing into her thigh.

“You’re so fucking perfect, Ash,” he said, “What did I do to deserve you?”

“Buy very expensive beer,” she said with a cheeky grin that he mirrored, his hand cupping her cheek and pulling her down to his lips.

“Pay me back with kisses then,” he chuckled, brushing his mustache over her lips as he felt her breath against his mouth.

“You’re a cheap date, Fish,” she smiled and he caught her bottom lip between his, pulling her closer as she hummed into the kiss.

Chapter 9

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