#i have faith the ending will deliver (maybe something hopeful but sad and bittersweet like happiness)

[penrose-quinn]

How does one recover after reading Chi no Wadachi? 🥲

[lady-divine-writes]

Kurtbastian one-shot “A Less Lonely Echo” (Rated PG13)

Sebastian wakes Kurt up at three in the morning to go on a hike in search of the perfect sunrise to photograph. Kurt is a little less than thrilled. (1733 words)

Part of the Deliver Me verse

Read on AO3.

Kurt sighed. Once again, they were trekking their tired asses up another impossible incline, searching out the perfect spot to watch the sun rise. Kurt didn’t want to admit that secretly he found it extremely romantic. It reminded him of that first sunrise he and Sebastian caught together on the hillside overlooking his little yellow house. Actually, Kurt wouldn’t mind these quests for the perfect sunrise so much if they didn’t end with the two of them covered in three inches of dirt.

At least he managed to talk Sebastian out of riding a burro down the canyon. Not only were those poor animals worked to death (Kurt had made a note to contact PETA or whomever with regard to saving them from their lifetime of servitude), he’d ridden donkeys before.

There would be no getting that smell out of his jeans.

Sebastian said it was fine with him, that there was only one ass he had been looking forward to riding that day, and as much as Kurt was eagerly receptive to more fucking in a tent tonight, the thought of it made him feel sticky all over.

Kurt had brought his skin and hair care products on this adventure, but the only showers available were a freezing cold trickle of water spitting out a rusty pipe in a wall on the far end of a nearby RV park. Kurt couldn’t wait until they ended to camping trip, packed it in, and found themselves a nice, gold-star rated hotel. He was going to climb into the shower, turn on the hot water, and stand underneath the spray for a week and a half since it was going to take that long to work the grime out from under his fingernails.

Sebastian could work him, too, while they were at it.

“You do remember that I’m afraid of heights, right?” Kurt groaned as they reached the peak.

“You?” Sebastian teased. “Afraid of heights? Never. Not my gorgeous, bungee jumping fanatic.”

“Yeah, well, at least when we jumped off that bridge, there was a harness and a cable around us. I mean, what do I do if I slip off the top of this thing?”

With ironic timing, Kurt took a wrong step, slipping and sending a shower of pebbles down the path they had come up. Sebastian quickly grabbed hold of Kurt’s arm before he could slide back down completely and hauled him to firmer ground.

“My guess is fall,” Sebastian said, helping Kurt the rest of the way up the rise. When they were almost at the top, Sebastian pulled Kurt against his body, holding him tight in his arms.

“Just hold on to me,” he whispered, lips ghosting over Kurt’s flushed cheeks. “I won’t let you fall.”

Kurt scoffed. Sebastian frowned.

“Don’t you trust me?” he asked.

“Oh, I trust you,” Kurt replied. “It’s gravity I don’t have much faith in.”

Kurt wanted to add that Sebastian wouldn’t be able to help him while he was plummeting hundreds of feet to his death, but he couldn’t. With Sebastian so close, his lips brushing Kurt’s skin, each touch filling him with incredible heat, he ceased to be able to speak. Besides, Kurt believed in his heart that Sebastian would never let him fall, no matter how much his clumsy body wanted to test that theory.

With a hand beneath his chin, Sebastian raised Kurt’s mouth to his and kissed him. The wind at this height whipped around them, cutting along Kurt’s skin as the early morning rays crested the horizon. Kurt was blind to all of it, caught up in the rapture that was Sebastian’s warm mouth and his silky tongue caressing Kurt’s gently. Sebastian pulled away as the first touch of sunlight hit his cheek, laughing when Kurt’s lips chased his. Sebastian glanced over his shoulder and smiled.

“Here it is, gorgeous,” he whispered. “We don’t want to miss it.”

Kurt followed Sebastian the rest of the way, hand grasping his securely, to a flat area of rock where they could watch the sun rise. Sebastian maneuvered Kurt’s body in front of his. He unzipped his heavy jacket and wrapped it around Kurt, holding him close. Kurt exhaled a long breath of relaxation and contentment as he melted against his boyfriend’s body.

Sebastian was right. The vista stretching out before them was breathtaking. The rising sun spread golden fingers along the horizon, and everywhere they touched, the landscape came to vibrant and spectacular life.

“Aren’t you going to take a picture?” Kurt asked, unable to move his eyes away from the glorious sight.

“Another time.” Sebastian inhaled deep, breathing in the crisp, clean morning air along with the invigorating scent of Kurt’s shampoo. When the wind swirled around them again, the enticing scent of vanilla brought him down off the canyon and back to their tent last night - into the seclusion of Kurt’s embrace. “Right now, I just want to hold you. I’ll photograph it another day.”

“But Sebastian … isn’t that why we came up here?” Kurt didn’t know why he was complaining. Being held by Sebastian was becoming first on a long list of things that he loved more than life. “To find the perfect spot and take a picture of the perfect sunrise?” Kurt parroted their conversation from earlier this morning, when Sebastian had the audacity to wake Kurt at three in the morning to go on a hike of all things!

“Kurt, there are going to be a million perfect sunrises, but there’s only one perfect you, and right now, perfect you is winning.”

Kurt bit his lip, dry from the batting wind and the extreme altitude. And as uncomfortably chapped as they were, they were still hoping to be kissed. Never one to disappoint (and always seeming to read Kurt’s mind), Sebastian kissed a path along Kurt’s jawline. Kurt turned his head to seek him out, and when they met, the world around them suddenly filled with light.

Kurt sighed against Sebastian’s mouth, then turned back to catch what was left of the rising sun.

“Do you know I’ve never been here?” Kurt admitted.

“Isn’t it kind of a requirement for young boys?” Sebastian asked, holding Kurt tighter when the wind shifted and Kurt began to shiver. “I mean, Boy Scout troops come up here all the time.”

Kurt looked up at his boyfriend incredulously. “Do I strike you as the Boy Scout type?”

“I don’t know …” Sebastian’s eyes left the beauty of the horizon, opting instead for the beauty of Kurt’s eyes. “You’re smart as a whip, you garden, you work on cars, you write books, you cook, you sew … that’s six merit badges right there.”

“Huh. I never thought of it that way.”

“Besides, I think you’d look hot in the uniform.”

“I would,” Kurt admitted, turning back to the incredible view.

“My mom took us up here when I was around thirteen,” Sebastian said. “You know, that age when you still love your parents but you’re too cool to hang out with them?”

“I know what you mean but I was never that way. I forced my poor dad to have tea parties with me on the front lawn until high school.”

Sebastian chuckled, but he sounded sad. Sebastian loved talking about his mother. Reliving those good times with her was part of what this trip they were taking was all about. But as of late, those conversations tended to get more and more bittersweet. “Yeah. To be honest, that wasn’t me. I’ve been a mama’s boy my entire life. I would rather hand out with her over my best friends. In fact … she was my best friend.”

“What about your dad?” Kurt asked. “Didn’t he go with you?”

Sebastian kissed the crown of Kurt’s head, taking a moment to regroup his thoughts, clear the knot in his chest.

“No. No, he isn’t really the …”

“Please don’t say outdoors type!” Kurt cut in to lighten the mood. “I would rather not know that he and I have anything in common!”

“I was going to say the family type.”

“Oh,” Kurt said, dropping the subject, not wanting to push any farther. He already knew Sebastian had a strained relationship with his father, but only lately was Kurt beginning to realize just how distant Sebastian’s father really was during Sebastian’s formative years.

“Anyway,” Sebastian continued, “my mom, my brother, and I spent hours at this canyon, yelling like lunatics and listening to our voices echo. I think we annoyed, like, dozens of tourists but we couldn’t care less.”

“Echoes always seem kind of sad to me,” Kurt admitted.

“Hmm, I never really thought about it.” Sebastian kissed down the column of Kurt’s neck, seeking out warmth to thaw his now frigid lips. “Why do you think that?”

“I don’t know. It’s almost like you say something to the universe, then those words travel in search of someone who will hear them. But they don’t find anyone, so they just … return …”

“Well, maybe if we both say something at the same time, they’ll travel off together, and that will make them a little less lonely.”

Kurt giggled. “A less lonely echo?”

Sebastian shrugged. “Why not? It can’t be any stranger than the notion that an echo can be lonely to begin with.”

Kurt squeezed Sebastian’s arms around his waist. “Fair enough.”

“On the count of three?” Sebastian asked.

“What? You mean now?”

“Yup.”

“Okay. What should we say?”

“I don’t know. Pick something.”

Kurt rolled his eyes up to the sky, thinking. “All right. I know what I’m going to say.”

“You’re not going to tell me?” Sebastian asked.

Kurt shook his head. “Nope.”

“Okay,” Sebastian said nonchalantly. “Fine. Be that way. I’m not telling you mine, either.”

“Okay, then.” Kurt drew himself up to his full height and Sebastian laughed, noting silently that he was still an inch or two taller.

“On the count of three,” Sebastian commanded. “One … two … three!”

Both Kurt and Sebastian yelled into the wind, their voices hitting the canyon at roughly the same time. Kurt laughed at the cacophony of it, waiting for the echo to hit his ear, and when it did, he froze. He turned slowly in his boyfriend’s arms and looked into his smug face. “Wait,” Kurt said, looking ridiculously and adorably confused, “w-what did you just say?”

[prettywordsyouleft]

Too Good To Be Wrong - Part 9

Summary: No matter how much you tried, you couldn’t resist Park Chanyeol, even if you knew it would test everything that you thought family stood for.

Genre: childhood friends & “siblings” to lovers au / forbidden romance / older woman - younger man au

Characters: Park Chanyeol x female reader

A/N: This is a series about falling in love with your “brother” Chanyeol - your family took him in when you were younger. It will contain mature content in later parts, but for the majority of the story it’s about reconnecting as adults and discovering feelings for each other.

I am expecting Too Good to be Wrong to be around 10 parts long, but this could change depending on how the story progresses in further parts.

Too Good To Be Wrong will be posted every Tuesday at 10am NZST.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

You had tried of course. Once you were both calm enough to drive up to your parents’ home, you silently made the trip there, your hands wringing the strap of your bag repeatedly. You struggled to come up with the words you could say, the lines you could utter to make this seem right.

But you just couldn’t make sense of anything.

And when your father let you both inside, you could tell he didn’t have any idea as to why his wife had returned home so frazzled that she claimed to have a migraine and retired to her bed for the day.

“What happened?” he asked as he took you both into the study, sitting down across from you in his favourite armchair and gauging your solemn expressions as you and Chanyeol tried to find the courage to speak up. “Did you both do something to upset your mother?”

Chanyeol nodded and bit at his lip. You sighed heavily and looked up at the man you had first loved in your life. He was fair, rational and had helped you in your most dire situations. You took faith in his astute mannerisms and grabbed at Chanyeol’s hand. “Dad, we kept something from you both. For a long time actually. We wanted to tell you, well, Chanyeol wanted to but I quietened him down every time.”

Your father stared at your hand on Chanyeol’s silently, though you could see the information whizzing by in his mind. He had had his suspicions and your slight grasp on the man you now loved at your side was enough to unsettle him.

“We fell in lo-”

“You’re both sitting across from me about to tell me something that shouldn’t have happened. Chanyeol was only supposed to stay temporarily. Your loneliness must have been a factor that-”

“No,” Chanyeol cut in adamantly and shook his head for effect. “No, I’ve love Y/N since before we lived together.”

“That is a crush, son. You’re confused.”

“We’re not confused, Dad,” you confirmed. “We’ve been dating for almost a year now.”

He didn’t move, frozen by your confession. And then when you thought he was going to say something, anything, he got up swiftly from the chair in front of you both and left the room.

You tried to speak to your mother next but all she could do was sob and avoid you no matter what you attempted, claiming she had no children anymore. It was infuriating, but you knew she was struggling to cope with the sudden news of your relationship and by nightfall, you and Chanyeol were heading back to the city together, the atmosphere between you feeling desperate. You couldn’t tell what Chanyeol was thinking and when you arrived home again, there wasn’t enough time to discuss anything since you both needed to sleep for work the next day.

Or, at least, try to sleep.

The next morning was strained, and even though Chanyeol leaned over to kiss you and tell you to have a good day, it felt awkward. You were distracted at work all day long, staring at your phone and wondering how to make things right with your parents.

“I tried to call Mum today,” Chanyeol told you as he picked at his dinner that evening, a sad smile crossing his lips. “She told me that she couldn’t talk to me right now and to take care of myself.”

You sighed. “At least she took your call; she refused to answer any of mine.”

“With time, they will calm down and allow us to explain ourselves, right?”

“I don’t know,” you admitted quietly, biting at your lip to steady your emotions. You knew it wasn’t looking good. “We can only keep trying though.”

And you did just that. The next weekend you drove back home to attempt to make amends. Your mother refused to see you both, now having fallen ill. You tried to get her to eat some soup, but she wouldn’t even look at you.

“Mum, you’re being ridiculous. There are far worse things in this world than me loving Chanyeol!” you cried in frustration, climbing to your feet and storming out of the house as fast as you could.

The following weekend you tried again, this time approaching your Dad. He told you he was ashamed that you had both done such a thing and it was best to end it so your mother’s health could improve. Even though you had cited this behaviour as a reason not to tell your parents, it didn’t encourage you to have any faith in them either. They were being unreasonable about your happiness and you couldn’t agree.

“I won’t give up on you,” you confirmed with Chanyeol when you slammed your bag down on the table, your emotions flooding from your eyes as he held you close.

You both tried to ignore the guilt that had settled deep within your gut, attempting to pick up your relationship as if your parents still didn’t know about you being together at all. But it wasn’t easy. There was an inexplicable distance that came with continuing to disappoint them, and some nights you both preferred to sleep apart, just to feel like you could breathe properly.

In fact, as you reached your first anniversary of being together, it felt more bittersweet than anything. You had always imagined celebrating this day with excitement and adoration for each other. Instead, it felt like there was an imaginary third wheel tagging along, stemming any of your usual behaviours and stiffening your embraces. You felt awkward and you hated it.

You were both now dating each other just for argument’s sake. They hadn’t given in, and you weren’t prepared to either. But the pain was cutting too deep and the distance grew stronger.

You didn’t know what you were fighting for.

“You know I still love you, right?” Chanyeol told you one night, on a rare occasion where you shared his bed with him. You didn’t move to agree and he rolled onto his side, staring down at you intently. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I felt like there was a but about to follow that,” he said with a sigh and you nodded softly. “But love isn’t enough?”

“Love should be enough, right?”

“We’re not the same,” he admitted in a whisper and you could feel your emotions rising fast. “Why can’t we be the same as we used to?”

“It’s my fault. You were right; we should have told them right from the start.”

“No, I was wrong, they would have pulled us apart then too.”

You nodded sadly, reaching out to caress his damp cheek in your hand. “Mm, but then we wouldn’t have been in this deep and could fall apart more naturally than we are now.”

Chanyeol didn’t answer and you couldn’t bear the expression on his face any longer, rolling over and silently crying into your pillow until you fell asleep.

It was your mother’s birthday and you hadn’t seen her since you had stormed out. Today you had chosen to put your plan into action, one you hadn’t discussed with anyone. It was difficult on the ride to your parents’ home, and more than once you wanted to ask Chanyeol to stop the car so you could run away there and then. But you had to go through with it all, knowing this was the only way forward. You should’ve been this responsible from the get-go. Perhaps your father had been right; your loneliness had driven you to allow Chanyeol in. Yet you knew deep down you wouldn’t ever love someone else like you loved him.

And that was what was breaking you slowly on the inside. He wouldn’t let you go no matter how hard it was on him to keep fighting on.

“What did you just say?” your mother asked as you delivered your speech to everyone at the dinner party, her fork falling from her hand. “Where?”

“Japan. I’ve been asked to assist the company’s partnership over there for the next six months. Maybe longer.”

You could feel Chanyeol’s gaze burning a hole in the side of your head as you looked ahead at nothing in particular. Your father cleared his throat. “It sounds like it might be good for you, to find some clarity.”

You couldn’t avoid the sting his sentence held and gritted through it, nodding softly as you turned back to your meal.

“Is this because of us?” Chanyeol finally asked and ignored your mother’s hiss for him to be quiet. “Is this how you plan to solve the problem everyone has right now? By running away?!”

“It’s for the best,” you managed to say. Chanyeol threw his chair back and left the room, and you began to cry.

Looking up at your parents through your emotions, you attempted to smile. “I hope this is the answer you both wanted.”

_________________

Part 10

All rights reserved © prettywordsyouleft

[EXO Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]