#i have to be at college for less than 2 hours it is quite literally going to be a much easier first day than middle or high school

[arielluva]

anxiety about something in the near future is so annoying bc at least when i get worried about nothing i can logic myself out of it eventually. being worried about starting college in about a week is a whole different story. i cant calm myself down about it because its still there!! its always looming in the distance!! no matter how much i reassure myself that it probably wont be that bad, its still there.

i think its the anticipation of it all, and the only thing that'll make it go away is just. getting it over with. which sucks bc i cant just get it over with because i still have 9 days to go! so im just left worrying about it for the time being

[queenie-official]

Chapter Five: ‘A royal wedding’ Bridgerton Au!Anakin

part 1, 2, 3, 4

a/n: sorry this took a while to get out guys😅 i was hanging out with my bestie since she was visiting home from college😋😋 anyways i ended up cutting most dialogue from this chapter just to focus on the emotional aspect- i hope you guys still enjoy 💅✨

a royal wedding was never a small affair for any kingdom. regardless of wether it was public or made private to the people, they would celebrate the conjunction of a happy couple. which seemed ironic considering most royal marriages where strictly out of politics rather than love. you of all people where very aware of the fact considering your situation. so here you are precisely three hours before the wedding pacing in your undergarments as poor Eleanora tries to help get you dressed.

Padme sat on a stool watching you work yourself into a frenzy, she’d already tried to get you to stop but it was futile. in the end you had managed to tune her out entirely to consumed in your own thoughts and worries to process the world around you.

“y/n if you don’t stop moving you’re going to have to show up to your wedding in your underwear” Padme tried once more to garner your attention. slowing to a stop you turn to look at her and then to Eleanora who had quickly seized action the moment you stopped and began putting on your pannier, fearing if she missed the opportunity you’d be a pacing mess again.

“sorry it’s just hard to sit still knowing that i’m going to be a married women in a few hours…” you sigh out still fidgeting slightly as you stood in place but at the very least Eleanora could work with that. Traditionally there would be five to ten bridesmaids with you right now but as much as you got along with your other ladies-in-waiting you didn’t exactly trust them, so it was just the two you knew you could count on most.

“it’s okay to be nervous i was nervous when i got married to my husband” Padme said in a attempt to make you feel less alone. “yes but you did not have the weight of two kingdoms relying on your marriage” you feel the weight of the day pull you down along with what felt like the thousands of layers you where now wearing. yet still Eleanora was not done as she continued to dress you, a wave of fear that you may pass out from how heavy the dress was rushed through you but you pushed it away feeling as if that would be one of the better outcomes of the day rather then some of the other scenarios your brain had come up with.

“i’ve been thinking about it all, what today is going to be like- what the rest of my life is going to be like…” you add running a hand through your hair that still has to be done. you honestly just wished for the day to be over, then you could rest and breath properly once more. free of stress even for just a moment.

“perfectly normal thing to do your majesty” Eleanora said as she finished the final touches of basting on your engageantes. “i just can’t help but feel like something is going to go wrong” you sigh looking down to your hand and staring at the ring that now weighed down your finger, it was a pleasant weight in your opinion. something about it brought a comfort to you, even if the only reason Anakin had given it to you was out of his mothers request. clearly he had thought it worth something to choose a diamond so personal to the place he was from- or maybe you where reading into it too much.

“there’s no sense in worrying about something that has yet to happen.” Padme counters as she and Eleanora both begin to work on your hair once you take a seat in front of your vanity, you were sat at a horrible angle. unable to sit properly with how tight the corset was, you quite literally could not bend. “i feel like i’ll be better prepared if i do” you say with a small pout to your lips that makes padme laugh. “it’s yet to help you thus far” she points out as you nervously twist the ring on your finger, the only thing you could really use to occupy yourself without moving too much. “maybe i just find comfort in worrying, that’s strange isn’t it?”

“i wouldn’t say strange but i also wouldn’t say it’s normal” well you certainly could always count on Padme for being honest. your whole body ached from the position you where in as pin after pin is inserted into your hair, ensuring that everything stay in place. “by the end of today i’m going to be a wife. that doesn’t even sound real”

“the sooner you are a wife the council will schedule the coronation and Alderaan will have a queen and king again” Padme says happily probably thinking that would make you feel better since you’d finally have the control over the council you needed but all it really did was make you cringe inwardly. “No pressure” you mumble as they finish and you can stand again, feeling just a smidge of relief not having the corset dig into you as much. looking over yourself in the mirror you did have to admit for as much as it was a pain the outcome was beautiful. the dress itself was a work of art, each layer having intricate lace detailing as well as pearls and ribbons sewn in- it reminded you of the porcelain dolls you played with as a child.

“you’ll do great y/n, and we’ll be by your side through it all” Padme said with a smile and you felt yourself relax. she was right you could do this, and if something did happen you knew you had people to fall back on.

less then any minute now and you would be walking down the isle of the church. You weren’t to be seen by anybody until then, that did little to help settle your nerves. Padme and Eleanora where now waiting with the rest of the ton inside the walls of the church, you had no one to voice your thoughts to. no one to help ease you, and you found yourself growing increasingly more nauseous. the heat of the day mixed with the weight of your gown did not make it any easier for you, the earlier fear of passing out coming back in a brief wave before you pushed it down.

there you stood in one of the private rooms awaiting for the Chancellor who’d be the one to walk you down the aisle. you hated it, that he’d be the one to walk you. it felt like a cruel joke in a way, he’d been the one to convince the rest of the royal council along with Barclay of the rash decision for Anakin to be the one you marry. and now here he was being the one to hand you off to him, as much as it irked you the thing that bothered you the most was solely the fact it wasn’t your father. honestly you’d finally accepted the fact this was truly happening but now there was a grief that surrounded it. mourning the fact your parents would not be there to see you.

twisting the ring on your finger, round and round. over and over- you had to admit this was much better than pacing. less effort for sure, less dizzying since you weren’t the one going in circles. circles that matched your thoughts, round and round. you take a deep breath the door to the room opening, turning round to face the Chancellor. you felt your throat dry as you nod to him.

now walking along the corridors of the church heading to the Nave. you could hear your heartbeat in your ears, and for a moment you thought you may actually pass out. thankfully the sound of trumpets and a piano rang throughout the building pulling you back down to reality. the doors in front of you now opening, you could only hope you didn’t look as sickly as you felt. “your majesty” Chancellor Valorum called your attention to him, glancing him over slightly confused only to notice his extended arm. right, it was time- you take hold and force a smile hoping you looked happy enough for everyone to believe you.

you look ahead of you as you both begin walking down the aisle, finally meeting the eyes of your soon to be husband. he stood tall, and was probably dressed the best you’d ever seen him so far- though it’s not like you saw him much to begin with. you decided it best to focus solely on him, the smile on your face becoming a bit more genuine. you may not know him personally yet but you could still admire his looks- it felt a bit wrong initially like you weren’t supposed to like how he looked. as if it would diminish the fact you didn’t see him as a lover, though you guessed you should probably change that line of thinking anyway.

he was truly handsome, nice jawline. pretty eyes, curls that you felt added a boyish charm to him. and then there was his smile, you hadn’t even realized you focused in on it as you now stood before him. his hand extended for you to take so the ceremony could begin. his smile was warm and soft, it calmed you. gently taking his hand as you stand side by side now, facing one another head on. you move your gaze up meeting his eyes, soft blues that where already staring down at you. selfishly you allow yourself to get lost in them, tuning out the world around you not even listening to what the Archbishop spoke.

the only thing that reminded you of where you were and what you where doing was the sound of Anakins voice. “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” he recited the vows the archbishop had just told him which meant it was now your turn. half listening to what the archbishop said before he gave you the very same vows to repeat, nodding to let you know to go. “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” you say with a surprising confidence, you turn your face away from Anakin’s for the first time since the ceremony began.

now looking towards the archbishop as he closed the ceremony. a new ring added to both of your fingers, a wedding band.

Warmth and music, that’s all you felt as you danced a waltz with Anakin. you were actually having fun, he made it easy in all honesty. conversation between you both was flowing naturally and he made you laugh- you where pretty sure he enjoyed making you laugh. there was of course the voice in the back of your head that reminded you it was all for show. that you where both only acting like two people in love for the hundreds of eyes on you. part of you could only hope that at the very least a little bit of it was real, something small and budding that might have a chance of flourishing.

you refocus on the man in front of you, not wanting to sour a good moment with your concerns. allowing him to dance you both into a stupor, song after song. paying no one else a mind, regardless of the situation this day was about you two. a joyous occasion, and for once you did not need to think about anyone else but yourself and each other- for once you did not feel the weight of a kingdom on your shoulders. instead you felt like a normal girl from the ton dancing with a man who had simply asked for a dance, a dance that lasted for hours. of course all good things have to come to an end, and eventually your endless dance came to a halt.

you both walk hand in hand outside along the carpet preparing to speak to each guest at the ball and bid them their farewells. it was a little chilly but as it happened Anakin ran warm, and with him alongside you the chill of the night bothered you no longer.

part 6

Tag list: @luvvfromme @gatekeepingirlboss

@bimbo-baggins86 @bby-imasociopath

okay loves🤭 i hope you enjoyed this one, i know the ball scene was a bit short but don’t worry this will not be the only Ball, and the next time there is one it will include a lot more 😋 i just wanted to focus mostly on the wedding portion and didn’t want to draw to far away from that 💋💋 anyways have a great day huns Xx

[ethanlvndry]

Title: Fuck you too.

Pairing:Ethan Landry xfem!black!reader

Warnings: mentions of sex, pregnancy, mentions of abortion, death, injury, crying, angst. I haven't seen VI yet, so I might have stuff wrong.

Summary: After the incident with your ex in Woodsboro, Amber Freeman. You find yourself seeking comfort with Chad's roommate. Ethan Landry. What happens when a repeat of Woodsboro starts up in college?

😨🔪ꜱᴄʀᴇᴀᴍ ᴠɪ ꜱᴘᴏɪʟᴇʀꜱ🔪😨

Here I was, drinking at a frat party. I'm trying SO hard to forget about my ex. Amber. The one who would help me cut my hair, the one who would help me get up after a hangover, the one who would help me steal. Oh, Amber...

I can't believe I still think of her like this. As if she didn't literally slit a gash, now a scar, in both my arm and leg. She was older than me by 2 days, but we would celebrate our birthday the day after her's.

While I continue to sulk at the bar in the house, I heart commotion. About 3 voices, 2 of them sounding familiar. Like Chad, and Tara's.

I dump the rest of my drink in the sink and toss my cup into the overflowing trash can.

"Hey partner, Tara's fine down here." You hear as you get closer.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that?" A rando in a white outfit remarks.

"Yeah you did"

"No chad- I want to!" Tara jumps in

"See Chad? She wants to." The rando taunts.

The white clad guy then begins to practically drag Tara up the stairs, ignoring her exclaims of discomfort. Chad acts on instinct and pulls him by the shirt, dragging him back down the stairs.

"Get the fuck off me!" The rando says while shoving Chad back. It starts to just go back and forth with the insults and shoves, while Tara is trying to break them apart, Sam appears. With a taser.

I would've laughed had I not been processing being shoved by her as she came over here.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna tase you in the balls real quick.

She quickly takes him in his..well..balls. Then, she gets pushed back a little as the dude falls to the ground, screaming in pain.

"Fucking bitch!" He exclaims

"Sam, are you fucking kidding me? Are you stalking me now?" Tara asks as she bolts for the exit to leave

I hear people beginning to talk about Sam being a Pshyco, and try my hardest to keep my smirk hidden. Now she knows how it feels.

I mean, I've been suspected of being a secret killer, since Richie was talking about some-

"Your time is coming soon [name], you'll see!"

I get shivers thinking about it.

I'm pulled out my thoughts as I feel a cold hand begin to drag me out the door. I pull it back.

"C'mon [name], we have to go." Anika exclaims

"Why do I have to go? It's not like they trust me enough to want me to be there." I retort back

She gives me a look that has be melt, and just follow her lead out the door.

"Tara! Can you stop?!" I hear Sam say.

"I can't believe you did that! You fucking embarrassed me!"

"That guy was a dick! He was gonna take advice of you!"

"So? If I want to hook up with an asshole that's my decision. It's MY decision. It's not wbout you-I mean, you were out of my life for 5 years - then you can't leave me alone for 5 minutes!"

I try to listen more into their argument, but I'm interrupted by Chad's roommate greeting me with a small hello.

"Hey! Crazy night, huh? I mean, we weren't even there for an hour, and somebody got tased in the balls"

"Yeah! I like your costume, by the way. You're supposed to be Domino from Deadpool, am I right?"

"Yeah, and you're an...uh, a knight?"

"Yeah, I know. I made it in less than an hour. It looks trashy."

You rock trashy really well. I want to say, but, I can't. Not after what happened with Amber. I instead go for a laugh that makes him laugh in return.

"I feel kind of out of place. Wanna go to my dorm?"

He asks. I widened my eyes at how quick the conversation went from that time this. He must've seen my slight discomfort because he began to profusely apologize to me.

"Ethan. HEY! Don't worry. I understand how you feel right now. We can go, but let me tell everyone first."

I see him slightly relax at my confession.

"Hey, you guys! I'm going over to Ethan's dorm if you need me"

I watch as they all kind of ignore me except for Anika, only for a split second when she returns to her conversation with Mindy.

We split off from the group, now on our way to Ethan, and Chad's dorm. When we get there it's awkward. Us not really knowing why it got to this point. Then all of a sudden.

"You wanna fuck?"

Shit. Way to make somebody uncomfortable [name].

"Y-yeah, but we have to stay on my side. Otherwise, Chad will kill me."

I walk over to him and straddle his hips as we start locking lips. Oh, this was gonna be a good night.

♡♡♡

It's been a couple of days since Ethan and I slept together. Tara and Sam were being attacked while Ethan and I were lying down with each other. Well, we were lying down with each other. I had woken up a few times finding that he wasn't next to me anymore. I was so tired that I just lied right back down.

I've been feeling a little sick since we slept together, though. I at first blamed it on the food from the party. But as time went by, I started thinking of other reasons. Pregnancy being one of them. We didn't bring a condom since neither of us thought we would be doing stuff like that, but we ended up just being so into it, I'm not even sure if he pulled out. Everything that happened was a blur.

This morning before I came over to The sister's, and Quinn's dorm. I went to the convenience store to buy some tests.

I planned to take them at Sam house, but now we're sitting around the table getting ready to eat, and all I can think about is Ethan, I tried calling him, but it went straight to voice-mail. I was beginning to get worried. But then Sam snatched my phone, implying that I was trying to contact the killer.

I roll my eyes at her obviously hesitant behavior and the fact none of the "core four" was standing up for me, but push my anger back down.

Then we all hear a ding come from our phones simultaneously. We all open them up to see an image of a dead Quinn. We look at Quinn's door, hearing struggling, and then silence. The door is suddenly banged open, with Quinn's body hurling on top of Anika and I. We push her off of us, and we all scatter across the apartment.

I run towards the table to get the unopened bottle of whiskey and smash it on the Ghostface's head. They then turn towards me, sticking their knife up and impaling me through the shoulder. I screech as they twist it inside, rubbing the pain in.

Mindy then gets a knife block and hits them on the head, causing them to pull out the knife and fall on the floor. We run into Quinn's bedroom and see that her fling is dead in the tub. Of course, Mindy has to announce it as dramatically as possible.

We then push the storage shelf in front of the door to keep the killer out. As I'm holding the shelf to the door, Mindy points out how much blood Anika is losing. Sam then opens up the window, and I almost laugh at the idea I know she's conjuring up.

The ladder.

I see Tara, Chad, and Sam's new love interest across the window, urging her to cross. She masters up a sigh before beginning her trek across the buildings. As she's making it over, I see Mindy and Anika having one last kiss before Mindy crosses the ladder. When she crosses, I tilt my head at Anika's reluctance in crossing before me.

"Go [name], you have more of a chance of making it across!" She says

" There's no way in hell I'm leaving you! Somebody has to hold the door, plus they actually like you!"

"GO, AND HURRY" She yells

I quickly let go and climb through the window onto the ladder. The adrenaline starts to wear off as I realize how far above ground I am. I make it before it completely wears off. Now, it was Anika's turn.

She limps over to the window, starting to steady herself, when she starts to panic. Not only from the height, but from the stab wound she received minutes ago.

"I can't do it!" She cries

We all urge her to come holding our hands out, and then we see movement behind her. Seeing Ghostface broke into the bathroom.

"What?" She asks

"Anika, you have to move right now!" Mindy exclaims.

Anika looks back to see how close Ghostface is and sees how he stabs his knife into the sill.

She cries no as he starts to tilt and shake the ladder whilst she's crossing. I reach further out the window to pull her over and feel somebody's pulling me back by my sweater.

" Take my hand Anika!"

She inches her hand closer to mine, our fingertips now brushing, I push myself out further, to the point I'm partially on the ladder. I grip her sweatshirt and pull her into me, her leg getting stuck, then a Crack sounding out. She screams. I keep on pulling until she falls through the window on top of me.

"You're okay Anika, you're okay."

I say while patting her head as she sniffles and sobs into my wounded shoulder. I grimace at the way her leg is bent but choose to ignore it as I let her cry out to her hearts content. I then hear police sirens and look out the window only to see Gjostface gone, along with their knife.

I purse my lips at another loss for us. We have severe wounds that could and would affect us physically and mentally.

♡♡♡

We all sit in the back of an ambulance in blankets as I see someone getting closer to us.

Ethan.

"Hey! Where the fuck were you?! You're gone and my sister almost dies!"

"I was at Econ, ask the hundreds of people I was there with."

I bite my lips at the apparent possibility that Ethan might be the killer. I don't wanna believe it, but I know better than to let feelings get in the way of my logic.

"It's always Econ with you! The same excuse with you over and over again!"

"[name], back me up here, please."

I go to open my mouth, but close it as I realize I'm at a loss of words.

Ethan scoffs before walking off, not before muttering a cold, curt "thanks a lot" towards me.

I call out his name, but the distance between us starts to increase. Him now appearing as a tiny dot.

A nurse comes over to give me my vitals.

"We scanned over your torso and shoulder, it appears you have a broken rib and a dislocated shoulder. Nothing to severe. I suppose you already know?"

"Know what?"

"You're pregnant! With twins at that!"

My mouth, along with the rest of the groups, hangs wide open.

"Hm. I Guess I should leave you to have a chit chat with your friends about it since they seem involved with you?"

She then scurried away to go deal with the casts getting prepared for Anika and I.

"Who's the father?"

A few seconds go by before she repeats herself. A little firmer this time.

"They're...Ethan's"

The group then makes worried faces at my suddenly outburst of sobs as I realize what I got myself into.

♡♡♡

I try to text Ethan only to find out he blocked me. I've thrown up about 3 times in the past half an hour from how much I've been crying. I can't raise two babies by myself. I've been thinking about an abortion ever since I found out. I don't believe either of us would be willing to step up and take care of them.

I tried to call Ethan through Snapchat because he hasn't blocked me through there yet. But my call gets declined faster than I can blink, leaving me there to sulk and cry about the predicament I got myself in.

♡♡♡

We're now at a weird shrine for the stab movies, actual stuff from the murders in the abandoned theater. Gale showed us this place. Her now being in the ER from a Ghostface attack. We are all wandering around looking at things when all of a sudden, a Ghostface pops up slashing at Tara and I.

We both run into Chad and Sam who are running away from another Ghostface as we go down a hallway, Chad begins to do stuff to get them of of our trail. That however, ends up with him having his flesh audibly ripped by the knives of the killers.

Tara's screaming, piercing everyone's ears as she watches him tell her to leave, like a hero. Sam grabs Tara so she doesn't run towards them, and I follow them. We run into Kirby, her having blood on her head. Detective Bailey then appeared, gun instantly pointed at Kirby. A shot sounds out Kirby on the floor.

The Ghostfaces then take their places by Deetective. One of them revealing themselves as the father of the twins inside of you. Ethan Landry. And the other as Quinn who appeantly faked her death.

As they reveal themselves as relatives of Richie. I can feel Ethans gazs on me, I quickly look at him only to find that he's smirking.

This fucking asshole is smirking.

Bet he won't be smirking when I tell him that he's a father.

Quinn charges towards us, Tara shutting her down with a brick. Her losing some teeth. She then tries to go for me, but I say-

"Not so fast, Quinn, wouldn't wanna hurt your little Nieces, or Nephews, right?"

She let's the information settle into her brain before she realized that you told her you're pregnant with her brother's children.

While she's distracted, I angle the sharp side of the knife towards her shoulder. A screech coming from her bloodied mouth. Giving me enough time to get away.

As I'm running. I hear footsteps behind me, causing me to speed up and take harsh turns that could confuse whoever behind me.

I crouch behind a couch, only to be met face to face with Ethan. He grins sadistically pushing on my healing shoulder wound. My eyes widened at how he knew where it was when I didn't tell him anything about my wounds.

"Y'know, it was me at the apartment. I felt bad after I got you, but I mean, you did help kill my fucking brother with that bitch Sam"

My eyes begin to well up with tears from how quick his personality changed. From shy nerd to crazy creep. I then feel a pain in my abdomen as I was about to tell him to fuck off.

As my vision starts to darken, I mutter out my confession about being pregnant and chuckle at the still apparent way his face changed.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

I got lazy at the end if you didn't notice, by the way part 2, or should I leave it alone.

[sendpseuds]

15 questions

Thank you to @sky-kenobye @yourfavoritefridge and @ladylucksrogue for the tag!

1. Are you named after anyone?

Not really? I’m sorta named after a liqueur….

2. When was the last time you cried?

Literally, like, a few hours ago.

3. Do you have kids?

Nope, and very unlikely to do so.

4. What sports do you play/ have you played?

I swam throughout high school while doing the school musicals at the same time. I also played lacrosse for several years and played water polo for a bit in college which is always gets a great reaction.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Hahahahaha

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

I don’t want to just say “vibe” because that doesn't feel quite right, but it’s really difficult to explain…

I feel like, when I meet someone, I can tell pretty quickly if we’re going to get along, but I think it’s less about assessing their overall aura [or whatever], and more that I can almost immediately tell who someone else wants me to be. What they want out of the interaction. It’s like I can feel their expectation of me before anyone has even opened their mouth.

This is 100% a trauma response, I am totally aware of that, but it can still be a really useful tool for someone like me who, often comes off as being a little too much.

7. What's your eye colour?

Green

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both

9. Any talents?

I’ve gotten pretty good at twirling a lightsaber!

10. Where were you born?

Western New York

11. What are your hobbies?

Oh boy. Obviously, writing and drawing, but I also love to cook, enjoy watching sports [so excited for baseball to be back], I dig camping and hiking [nothing extreme], absolutely adore the water, and can often be found making mushrooms out of clay.

12. Do you have any pets?

Yes! An adorably evil cat named Ricky [whose real name is Maverick, but I’m way more likely to call him Richard] and a very sweet pup named Pepper [who will be your best friend whether you want her to or not]

13. How tall are you?

5’5’’

14. Favourite subject in school?

Uh. Art? I don’t know. High School was not my favorite time.

15. Dream job?

No, thank you.

I don’t know. I’ve been struggling with the concept of work for a really long time.

I really hate the feeling of being commodified. Whenever I show someone a piece of art, or tell them I write, there’s inevitably a moment where they say something to the effect of “You could totally sell that,” and to me, it always sounds like they’re saying “Sell your soul. It’s worth less than the money you’d get back.”

Artist. Designer. Writer. I am already all of these things, I don’t need someone else’s money for that to be true.

x

[pretense-pence]

Remake Platinum Run: Part 2

I swear I’ll start getting through this run quicker. It’s just hard to find time as a college student. I’m literally always busy. And I swear I’ll start posting more too. This semester has been killing me. Anyways, time for an update about how the run is going.

Trophies Achieved:

Escape Artist

Music Collector

Gotta Start Somewhere

Trophies That I’m Working On:

Best In The Business

Disc Jockey

Intelligence Agent

Weapons Expert

I played Remake on September 29th from about 2ish hours, from like 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm. I completed Chapter 2 and am part way through Chapter 3. The run is going pretty well so far. All the battles are easy and don’t take much effort on my part. I didn’t even realize I fought the sorta boss of Chapter 2 and didn’t even realize it. At least, I think The Huntsman is the boss of Chapter 2.

I forgot how much I love the scene of Barret yelling at the Shinra Middle Manager. He’s so real for that. And, of course, I love Tifa. She’s trying her best. Also, admittingly, I don’t like Chadley. I avoided him during my first playthroughs of Remake and Rebirth when I could. I don’t know why, I just don’t like him. I always found him annoying. Though, I’m finding him less annoying during this playthrough.

Overall, Chapter 2 is a pretty solid chapter. It introduces Aerith, Sephiroth, and the Whispers. It begins setting up the main plot. It’s a little boring after the introduction of those characters but not bad. And it has the scene of Barret yelling at the Shinra Middle Manager so that’s a bonus. 

Chapter 3 starts good as well. I like how simple it is. It does a good job at showing what life is like in the Slums. It also introduces Tifa, who I love. And I really like the scene where Cloud attacks Marco. I always get so excited when it flashes to the scene in the North Crater. Everything that takes place at North Crater is some of my favorite parts of the original Final Fantasy VII.

Escape Artist: This is the trophy that you get when you complete Chapter 2. Another easy trophy. Chapter 2 isn’t difficult at all so getting this trophy was really easy.

Music Collector: This is the trophy that you get when you collect 3 music discs. It’s an easy enough trophy but does actually involve a bit of research. I had to look up where the music discs are in this game. That’s basically it. The discs I collected were The Prelude, Tifa’s Theme, and Barret’s theme. 

Gotta Start Somewhere: This is the trophy that you get when you complete 1 Odd Job Sidequest. The Sidequest I completed was Chadley’s Report since that gave me access to the Battle Intel Reports, which I’ll need for a later trophy. Chadley’s Report is really easy to complete so this wasn’t a hard trophy to achieve. 

Now, onto the trophies that I’m working on.

Best In The Business: This is the trophy that you get when you complete all 26 of the Odd Job Sidequests. So far, I’ve only completed Chadley’s Report and am about to get started on the rest of the Sidequests in Chapter 3. I have 5 more to complete. I’m also planning on doing the Discovery Quest for Chapter 3, just for fun. And, of course, I have the sidequests in later chapters to worry about but that’s a future worry.

Disc Jockey: This is the trophy that you get when you collect all of the Music Collection music discs. The music discs I’ve collected so far are The Prelude, Tifa’s Theme, and Barret’s Theme. I only have 1 more music disc to collect, which is Hip Hop de Chocobo. After that, I don’t have to worry about music discs until Chapter 5 once I get Hip Hop de Chocobo.

Intelligence Agent: This is the trophy that you get when you complete all of the Battle Intel reports. So far, the only ones I’ve completed are Monster Bio Pt. 1 and Magic Elementals Pt. 1. I don’t have the strongest ideas on how I’m going to get through all of these quite yet but I’ll figure it out eventually. I didn’t do basically any other than Monster Bio Pt. 1 in my first playthrough so I’m not the most informed when it comes to these.

Weapons Expert: This is the trophy that you get when you learn all of the weapon abilities. So far, the only one I’ve gotten is Focused Thrust, which you get from gaining proficiency with the Buster Sword. This is really easy to do because it is done automatically at some point in Chapter 3. I have no idea if this counts for the My First Ability trophy but I’m not going to count it just in case. I have a lot of work to do to complete this trophy. 

I completed what I wanted to for this part of the playthrough. My next goal is to achieve all of the trophies I can in Chapter 3. 

[pinkeyfreak]

The Keyboard That Started My Collection

Geezer 84-Key (75%) Wireless Cat Keyboard + Mouse | Wireless 2.4Ghz connection | Cost: $27-40

Full Review Below ⬇

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

I truly did not intend to start a keyboard collection. I just knew I wanted to take writing seriously this year and needed a new keyboard I could use with my iPad. Around this same time I got to experience using a mechanical keyboard for the first time in years and I knew I wanted more than another simple iPad + flat keyboard combo case. Little did I know this keyboard would end up being what sparked my desire to collect them.

I was hesitant to jump straight to a full blown custom built mechanical keyboard and was unsure if I'd even truly commit to writing so I decided to get a simple budget keyboard to start. I also decided to buy a keyboard that was cute and bright under the assumption that it would make me want to use it more (spoiler: it worked).

Things I Love I About This Keyboard Set:

The aesthetic: cat themed, various shades of pink, purposely cute; what's not to love? It's a delight to look at. I quite literally smile every time I see it.

Portability: this keyboard is sturdy for its price yet is portable enough to take on the go, meaning I can leave my PC at home and take my iPad with me instead.

Simplicity: As excited as I am to build my own custom keyboard and experiment with different components like switches, etc. I am also grateful for the simplicity of this keyboard.

Key shape: When I began to type more than essays worth of content I began to realize how awkward it was to type on rigidly square keys (both flat and raised/dynamic); so these slightly rounded keys were a welcome change.

Inclusion of mouse: other budget keyboards of the same quality as this one sell without the addition of a matching mouse at the same price and higher. The fact that I get the option of using a mouse as well (the keyboard and mouse can both also be used separately) is a wonderful perk.

Things I'd Improve/Change:

Overall I have very few complaints about this set especially given the price. The spacing of the keys was a small learning curve for me but once I got used to typing on it I completely forgot I had initially found it awkward. Of course, it isn't without its flaw or features that I'd change if possible.

Connectivity: This keyboard doesn't have bluetooth functionality which meant I had to drop a surprise $30 on an adapter dongle so that I could use it with my iPad (definitely could've gotten one for cheaper but I didn't want to wait for shipping) and I even have to use an adapter to use it with my MacBook Air.

Battery: requires 2 AAA batteries for the keyboard & 1 AA battery for the mouse. I had to change the battery fairly quickly after purchase but I did use it for hours daily for over 2 weeks. Either way I prefer rechargeable electronics for frugality reasons.

Functionality of keys (or lack thereof): This keyboard may by 84-key but even when using it with my MacBook only about 74 total keys have a function. The others simply don't work (and it's even less on my iPad); despite this it doesn't effect basic use.

Type -> Non-Mechanical: This is honestly a nitpick because again: I know what I paid for. But I secretly wish I could add switches to this board for a slightly better sound than the somewhat heavy and creaky plastic one that comes from the very basic design. (I am a bit more sensitive to stimuli like sounds and other things than the average person)

Summary:

An aesthetically pleasing simple and decently portable keyboard for the moderately active cat loving user. While not mechanical, rechargeable or highly customizable; it will get the job done for near daily use. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this keyboard for a heavy user (like an author) but think the average person (like a college student or office worker) looking for a budget keyboard and mouse set would be pleased.

[starlightkun]

the dragon's happily ever after ❧ jisung [teaser]

❧ teaser word count: 818

❧ warnings: just some cursing for the teaser!

❧ genre: fluff, modern magical creatures au, fantasy au, college au, dragon jisung, human reader, ft. various other magical dreamies & human renjun, fake not dating/secret dating trope, same universe as strawberry sunday

❧ extra info: this work is set in the same universe as strawberry sunday but can be read as a standalone! there is no continuing plotline between fics in this universe, they simply take place in the same world/magic system and may have overlapping characters (neos may pop up in more than one work!)

❧ estimated release: saturday, august 12, 2023 2:00 p.m. eastern time

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ explore the strawberry sunday universe more here!

“Come on Jisung, I’ll drive,” Chenle called for his roommate, spinning his keys around his finger.

“Sure, hold on!” Jisung said back, waiting up to say goodbye to you.

“Renjun, you still up for ramen and ranting?” You clasped your hands together hopefully as you looked at your friend. It was ritual for you and Renjun to get together and rant over extra-spicy ramen whenever some drama had gone down within your department at the school. There’d been some going on this past week, and you and Renjun decided that late-night after studying was the perfect time to talk shit.

Except, he and Chenle seemed to lock eyes for a brief moment. And then, Renjun was checking his phone, throwing up his other hand, and sighing.

“Ah, Y/N, you know what,” he clicked his tongue. “I am so sorry, but I got a text from my dad while we were in that study session and he says the cat is sick. I’ve really got to go.”

“Your parents live three hours away—”

“Uh, Jisung! You like ramen!” Renjun gestured at the dragon that was still waiting next to you. “Why don’t you take Y/N for some ramen? Just- just you two?”

“That’s it! You’re taking too long, Jisung! I’m leaving you!” Chenle yelled dramatically from the front, giving his keys one last jangle before he quite literally ran off through campus.

You were too distracted watching Chenle incredulously to notice that Renjun had escaped too until you turned back around to talk to him. Then you realized that all of your friends had mysteriously dispersed.

“What just happened?” Jisung asked, looking around confused.

“I think… I think they set us up,” you scratched at your head.

“Like, a date? Don’t they…”

“I think they think they’re plotting to make us date.”

He blinked at you. You grabbed his arm to start walking down the sidewalks. “Come on, we can at least talk about this over some ramen.”

“Didn’t you tell them?” Jisung’s face seemed as though it was permanently stuck in the same bewildered expression. You two were side by side at your favorite 24-hour ramen bar by the university, and you had finally filled him in on what he missed in the study room.

You slurped up a noodle. “I thought you did.”

“I thought you were going to!”

“They were your friends first!” You retorted indignantly.

“Hey, I only claim Chenle,” he held up his chopsticks and spoon defensively. “The others just came along.”

It was true that Jisung had befriended Chenle first, and the others just sort of came with the fairy. After all, dragons did tend to be solitary creatures, and on top of that, you’d be hard-pressed to find one hanging out with a dryad on purpose, much less two.

“Speaking of Chenle, how did you not even mention it to him? You live with him!”

“Well, every time I was going somewhere with you I’d be like ‘Oh, I’m going to wherever with Y/N’ or ‘I’m going to Y/N’s place.’ It’s not like I could call you something else.”

You tilted your head curiously. “Something else?”

“Like… you know… my girlfriend,” Jisung mumbled, very focused on stirring up some of his broth.

“Well… you could.” You were getting warm, and not from the spicy ramen.

He looked up at you, a smile growing on his face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah…”

“Okay, on one condition.” He set down both his utensils, holding up the number one.

“What’s that?”

“You call me your boyfriend.”

“God you’re dumb sometimes,” you shook your head, but still had fondness in your tone and your actions as you brought your hand up, all five fingers up. “Yes, duh.”

Jisung got the idea, opening the rest of his hand back up to lace all of his fingers with yours. You squeezed his hand, your stomach doing flips at the softness in his eyes as he looked at you.

The two of you brought your hands back down to keep eating, and your boyfriend circled your conversation back around to the entire reason you were here in the first place.

“Anyway, our friends.”

“Our friends,” you repeated unenthusiastically. “So… how are we going do it? They’re going to be annoying no matter how we go about it.”

“Good point. You know… they’re going to keep meddling if we don’t say anything. What if we just… let them?” He suggested.

“You’re proposing we fake not date and let them all run themselves in circles trying to connive us into dating?”

“How long do you think it’ll take them to notice?”

“A month,” you snorted.

“A month?” He scoffed. “Come on, they’re a bit dumb but they’re not that bad. Like, two weeks.”

“I think part of it’s going to depend on how stupid they think we are.”

That looked like it changed Jisung’s mind. “You’re so right, a month at least.”

⤷ blog masterlist  ⤷ anthology masterlist

[beastblade69]

also my classmate bought one of my college projects I drew in less than 2 hours for 80 uah (cheap af ik but the starter price was 50 uah since yk a fucking 2 hour comic?? b fr. I named this price myself because 'twas quite literally an artwork for giggles and fun). I also drew her a mini sketch of sevika from arcane (can't tell if it was a good one since I don't have a photo but she seemed to like it). now I'm almost sure I'll buy a bottle of cider for this money which I FIND FUNNY AF. drawing for a bottle of cider, anybody?

[princesscolumbia]

Pride Month - Day 2

For this one, we're getting a bit spicy for my first major breakout hit of the MLP community...which was an authorized spin-off of someone else's work entirely. 😅

So to get to my stuff, you gotta start here:

Bad Decisions Make Better Stories

Sunset Shimmer's Very Respectable Class Reuinion

From there, the narrative splits between Sporktacles' Sunset Shimmer's Sexy Sapphic Sacrilege Surprise and my own entry:

It started out innocently enough; Canterlot High's boldest and brightest working on a special Senior Project as one last feather in their cap and improving relations between the human and pony worlds. "Relations" wasn't supposed to be quite this literal, though, and that everyone ended up where they were in her office with the best of intentions only brought to mind the old phrase, "The road to Hell..."

It's raunchy, it's lewd, it's suggestive, it implies SO much without ever being explicit, and I wrote it in about 20 minutes late one night when I was supposed to be asleep and getting ready for work the next day. Imagine my surprise when Sporktacles suggested I post it as a sequel!

Also imagine my surprise when someone wrote a sequel to my sequel:

Sunset Shimmer has been here before and will be here again. It's almost becoming a habit. The mind altering substances and carnal relations during an event in Equestria got out of hand, and now Celestia is extremely pissed off at her. But this time it's Principal Celestia, and maybe that will make all the difference. Maybe this time she can come out on top. Sure, she's in the principal's office with her six closest friends and their inter-dimensional duplicates, sure this time there were five people, three humans and two ponies, left pregnant, sure all of these bombs are being dropped one week away from graduation, but this time is Sunset Shimmers moment to shine.

Written by chris the cynic and fully authorized by both me and Sporktacles, this entry is far less 'naughty' than any other entry in the series but still fits in nicely with the theme.

Getting back to "Consequences" for a moment; there was a comment left on the story very shortly after I published it out, Noctis Prism left the following comment:

Discord probably wants to adopt Sunset at this point.

And that kinda lodged in my brain, like a horse keeping me in college, and a year later this fell out:

In which a certain draconaquus discovers that there is, indeed, a point at which it is possible to take chaos too far.

Once again raunchy, once again edging (heh) so close to explicit the old citrus scale would have this in the "limon" category, it nonetheless was wildly popular and rocketted up into the feature box within 24 hours of being published.

(Oh, if you're not familiar with FiMFiction.net, it has a 'Feature Box' where noteable stories pop up. It's algorithmically generated and the secret sauce has been explained but still remains somewhat opaque how you get there. You have to have a certain number of new readers with a certain number of "thumbs up" and a certain number of "added to shelf" actions happen to your story in a certain time period, and if that doesn't happen within 24 hours, your story is likely to never see the feature box. I've had 7 of my 11 stories on FiMFiction hit the feature box. It's glorious when it happens!)

Naturally, you should go check out Sunset Shimmer's Sexy Sapphic Sacrilege Surprise to finish out the hextet that makes up the DSP-verse stories once you're done with "Whom Gods Deflower..." and be sure to follow Sporktacles on FimFiction.net!

(Oh, and go read Rainbow Dash Wants to Spank the Monkey, it has nothing to do with the DSP-verse, but is FUNNY AS HELL!!!)

Whither AO3

Oh, you betcha!

DSP-verse Series on AO3

[town-darling]

oh my god this is EXACTLY my experience with gamestop circa April - October of this year. quit despite having high numbers because the conditions were so horrible.

some background: got this job to support me and my partner as we went through a big life transition which would leave me effectively jobless (i had another source of income, but hours for the summer were cut down to like. 12 a week at most). gamestop seemed like a pretty cool thing at first! generally fine and fun to talk to people about stuff i love!

nope! here's my big list, inspired by yours. thank you for giving me the motivation to share how fucking atrocious this experience was

customers

my store leader lied about what my wage would be when i got hired. she called a supervisor during my setup who said that i needed to be hired for $1/hr less than was agreed upon in the interview. because that was a verbal agreement, i don't have legal action on this

mall customers in a conservative college town are not the people that should be going to gamestop. constant misgendering, glares from parents down at my name badge with my pronouns while they shuffle their kids out, and so much more. god.

when you get a job in gaming retail, you expect a high number of people that you'll have to explain things to (i had to explain the 3 different switch models about 30000 times). what you *don't* expect are the number of people that are CONFIDENTLY wrong about what you know. "no bro i know that game's on the switch"

mall teens. when we got slow during the summer, we'd have kids that'd do nothing around the mall except heckle me for my pronouns and throw merchandise on the floor. i have never wanted to punch someone so bad.

the kids are adorable. they sometimes had promotional pokemon cards when new sets came out, and i would purposely avoid telling collectors we had them so i could give them to more kids, who were always so happy about them. best part of the job :P

MOST of the time, people didn't smell. but sometimes #gamers would come in and you'd be able to tell *immediately* that they don't regularly shower. one guy came in and just being next to him literally made my nose get inflamed and my sinuses to be set on fucking fire. I've never had that reaction to literally any smell, but had to keep going into the back to have coughing fits. dude was trading in a console and buying another one, so i had to deal with him for like half an hour.

metrics

your manager not getting you into the system proper was a *blessing in fucking disguise*. the moment you have to start ringing people up is the moment you have to start selling:

PRO MEMBERSHIPS: this fucking membership. bane of my fucking existence. when i started, it was pretty okay: $15/year, but you get a $5 credit every month, more trade credit, and $10 for signing up. most people used it to get a bunch of gift cards throughout the year, which makes sense bc you only have to come back a couple times to get your money back. they raised it to $25/yr, rolled back the benefits, and INCREASED THE NUMBER we had to hit per day. i cannot tell you the amount of times my manager wrote "10 PRO" on the metrics pad for me. laughed every time.

WARRANTIES: $3-5 on games, $12-30 on hardware. not insanely bad policies (though IIRC they did change it to require employees to replace new products with preowned products last month so it's worse now) but the fact that you're asking people this after asking them for $25 makes people unbelievably annoyed at you

HARDWARE ATTACH: if i didn't sell at least 2 other things with a console, my manager would get upset with me. idk man sometimes people just want to buy a console, trying to sell them on another controller ("nah this is just for me, nobody else will play it") or a gift card ("can't i just hook up my credit card to this thing?") or a game ("i'm all digital now") is impossible if they didn't come up to the register with it. obviously.

there's a bunch of other metrics but i didn't even bother. did i mention that we literally don't get paid differently if we hit these metrics? it's a sales job without incentives. i started to have panic attacks and nightmares about this job, mostly because of how i had to keep asking people questions that they obviously didn't care about. that's hell on my "please everyone" autism brain

a bunch of other shit (some good some bad)

my manager went to a conference and got a then-unannounced sonic switch controller, then gave it to me. this was the best day at the job.

the employee discount was not bad, and combined with some ridiculous trade offers going on at the same time as some employee offers, i got my ps5 for $60 after trading in like 6 games, 2 weeks after getting hired. i should've quit right there lol

i successfully stole the resident evil 4 remake by forgetting to return it after my employee rental ended. nice

old guy came in every week to buy $300 in steam cards (the maximum we can sell in one day) for his "grandkids". obviously he was being scammed but my manager told me to ring him up no matter what

days that weren't of the "fri" or sat" variety never had more than one person scheduled at any given moment. crowds, however, were mostly the same regardless during my timeslot, so i consistently had to deal with lines of people without any help.

this was compounded when people came in to trade games and *especially* consoles. consoles require you to test every component, and it consistently took ~20 minutes and held up the store no matter what.

people also have no perception of value. yes, you bought madden 17 for $60. no, we will not give you $60 for it. we will give you $2.50.

online orders were the bane of my existence. gamestop only has a couple real warehouses - most of the games shipped when you buy them from the website are packaged by a minimum wage employee at a retail store.

my coworkers did not care about my pronouns but used me to call themselves a diverse workplace

i think that's most of it. i lasted a few months - i needed that money - but it was horrendous from day 1. IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW ARE CONSIDERING WORKING FOR GAMESTOP, RUN. IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW CURRENTLY WORK AT GAMESTOP, RUN FASTER. Gamestop will chew you up and spit you out summarily.

local grocery stores usually pay quite well (comparatively) and can give you positions that don't require you to sell people on things. gamestop preys on people thinking "oh i like talking about games" to completely destroy their mental health. anyways don't work there

My Day at GameStop ~(Black Friday Edition!)~

(Part 1)

I had to work on the sales floor all day, the manager still has not put me in the system so I still can't ring customers up

A kid like a decade younger than me haughtily explained the PlayStation Portal to me because I got confused when someone asked me about the "Portal PlayStation" (I thought they were talking about the video game "Portal")

A wide-eyed white woman tried to give me tips on managing the sales lines like I was a toddler

A different wide-eyed white woman lurked outside the store while her children shopped, often by peering through the glass or staring at the doorway from a distance. She talked to her kids through the windows

My manager and a separate higher up openly talked about how Best Buy has better deals than us, right in front of the door, potentially scaring off customers by accident

I was asked how much controllers cost by a third wide-eyed white woman. When I said I didn't know she asked again.

A delivery man jumpscared me on purpose for no reason

I didn't clock out for my lunch break and everyone was too busy to notice

I found out my charger was unplugged so my phone did not charge overnight, it was at 21%

I bought a portable charger during my lunch break out of hope to charge phone. Was charged $60 for the tiny charger and a USB-C cable. I was probably scammed

I found out that the portable charger has no battery. Fuck.

The mall had ports I could plug the USB-C into while I ate, crisis averted

But now I'm certain I wasted $60

[milkhoney531]

Personal rant

I just realized something. Growing up, I never had my needs met. Most of my life, I never had a bed frame. The only reason I had one after starting kindergarten is because I bought one last year.

The only reason I had clothes that fit me was from old job uniforms, christmas gifts from outside the family, or buying them myself when I got a job. Fuck, I once had a principal buy me an entire outfit because she noticed I wore the same outfits every week.

I haven't been to a doctor since middle school. I don't have a primary care doctor. I had to pay for one of those health clinics after being unable to walk for two years without pain, I let it get so bad that I didn't try to get care until I couldn't stand for 4 hours without vomiting from the pain, and even then it was hell just getting a ride.

I still haven't learned to drive, gotten a state ID, or even been to the dentist since around 2nd grade. I had to beg my Aunt for money just so I can buy a toothbrush and other essentials tomorrow. Hell, she is paying for my drivers lessons on saturday.

I'm going to be 22 next month. I'm moving in July. I own very little, but everything I own right now, I bought. I learned how to sew, self taught, out of necessity. I learned how to fix things for the same reason. A skill none of my siblings have, so they turn to me for help.

Most of what I own is hsnd me down clothes that never fit, so I'm going to be going through them and giving them away. After I move, my aunt is taking me in to help me out with paying for college, I'll have to save up for a new mattress. My current one is a gand me up from my little brothers, who got brand new beds, mine was in a flood and is older than me. More than half if the springs are collapsed and every night I have 1-2 springs trying to stab me in the back.

I don't think this is normal. Why do my siblings always have new, fitting clothes and such? At first I thought it was because I kept helping out financially. But, then I kept thinking back. Even before I had a job or was helping out so much, their needs were always met. Why weren't mine?

I was always expected to just, figure it out. To provide for myself somehow. I mean, I managed, but I was just a kid. I was in kindergarten when I started babysitting my siblings. Literally woken up in the middle of the night to do so. It might have started before kindergarten.

I was always expected to be a parent to my siblings. Always. I would sneak home food from school when they were sick so they could eat. I would skip meals so they had more. I would sell what little I had to pay for food and bills. Hell, I managed to strike a deal with my last period teacher to leave school early in middle school so I could be home to take care if the pets, do chores, help my siblings with homework, and make dinner. Then when I finally went to college the first time, my mom got cancer so I dropped out and came home to help. I worked two jobs, one job had me come in for 10hr shifts every morning, the other for 5hr shifts every night. When it got worse I quit the less paying job and spent my afternoons tending to my mom and trying to keep everyone in one piece.

I've spent my entire life ignoring my needs and wants to make sure everyone else's were met. I wanted desperately for my siblings to have the childhood I never had. I don't want them to ever go through what I do. And I succeeded.

And I think my dad realised that even though I'm helpful and all with everything, he knows that if I stay living with him and my siblings, I'll never be able to get my needs met or become truly independent. So he's kicking me out to go live with my aunt so I can go back to college and save up enough to move out. As scary as it is, I'm thankful for that. But I can't help but worry about my siblings, despite knowing they're in good hands and that they are nearly adults.

It's going to be really weird. I know it'll be good for me, but I can't help but worry.

[absolutewhore101]

A Hug Is All It Takes

A/N: sorry it's been a hot minute. i just finished my first year of college, so moving home was a process :)

Pairing: Calum Hood x GN!Reader

Summary: you just really need a hug.

Warnings: bad ending, slight mention of mental health (nothing serious)

Word Count: 846

Minors DNI (no smut, just not comfortable with you interacting)!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something was on your mind, and the boys were starting to get concerned.

Usually, you were one the most lively people they knew. Lately, you’d been the opposite. You weren’t constantly cracking jokes, or talking to anyone who even glanced in your direction, weren’t smiling and laughing every second.

Instead, you were quiet, shy, introverted - not yourself, in short. 

No one knew what triggered it. All they knew is that one day you were you, and the next, you weren’t. 

It could have been any number of factors. Your job, your family, your friends, anything really. The boys initially tried not to make a big deal of it, choosing to try to cheer you up as subtly as possible. 

They brought you snacks throughout the day, and that put a smile on your face, for a few minutes at least. 

They told you every joke they could think of, but never got more than a small chuckle. 

After 3 weeks, they were starting to get very concerned. 

You were stressed. You had gotten some not so great news from your mom, your sister had picked another fight with you and wasn’t talking to you at the moment. Your boss had given your promised promotion to an employee who’d been working there for less than 2 months. Two of your friends were caught up in their own petty drama that you somehow got dragged into.

And your mental health was taking a serious hit. You usually tried to keep everyone around you happy because that kept you happy, but lately, that hasn't been enough. 

No matter how much the boys tried, your mood just couldn’t be improved.

There was one thing you could think of, but you wouldn’t bother. 

You weren’t a super touchy person, preferring to stay in your own personal space and out of others’.

However, the only thing that had been on your mind for the last few weeks, was a hug. The simplest thing, something you hadn’t had in quite some time, would quite literally solve all of your problems. 

But considering you hadn’t had much personal contact with the boys besides a quick high five, you weren’t sure how to ask any of them for a hug. 

One day was exceptionally bad. You were supposed to meet the boys at the studio at 9, but when you spilled your coffee down your shirt at 8:45, you knew that likely wasn’t going to happen. 

And then when you got in your car at 8:49 and discovered that you wouldn’t have enough gas to even make it to the studio, you knew it wasn’t happening. 

At 9:05, when you finally left the gas station, you realized you’d left your laptop at home and would have to make the trip back. 

It was 9:14 when the first text message lit up your phone, a crabby text from Luke asking where you were and why you were so late. 

By 9:27 you were pulling into the studio parking lot, realizing then that you had amassed 7 more text messages from the boys, all wondering why you were running nearly half an hour late. 

You stood outside your car for a minute, collecting yourself. After a few deep breaths and a pep talk, you were walking inside. 

You made your way through the studio to where the boys were, greeting them with an apology, only to be met with silence. 

Were they seriously that mad at you? Lovely. 

A few hours later, around noon, the five of you decided it was time for a lunch break. You were the first to leave the room. 

You made your way through the building to the break room, hoping to sit in there by yourself for a few minutes before you would leave to go get food. 

10 minutes later, Calum walked in, stopping in the doorway as he took in your mood. He regarded you for a few seconds before he spoke up. 

“I know you don’t like them, but you look like you could use a hug.”

Your eyes immediately welled up in tears. He had no idea how right he was. 

When he noticed this, he took a few steps towards you. You stood up and closed the distance, wrapping your arms tightly around his waist as his wrapped around your shoulders. 

For a few minutes, you just stood there, tears silently falling from your eyes as you took in the feeling of being held for the first time in however long. Too long.

Eventually, Calum pulled away from you, giving you a worried look. 

“Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”

You shook your head, burying your head back against his chest. He allowed you to do so, not pushing the subject. 

After a few minutes, you realized how hungry you were, and pulled away. 

He held your eye contact for a few seconds before you spoke up. 

“Thank you.” You said. “You have no idea how much I needed that.”

He gave you a warm smile. 

“Anytime.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tell me your thoughts! Thank you for reading :)

[andypantsx3]

Hii can I request a deleted scene for "if I could keep cool" that tells chapter 2 from Shouto's POV? I would absolutely love to c what was going through Shouto's head when he figured out that Y/N was just a cleaning lady and what was the moment that made him want to ask her out when he saw her at his house afterwards! Thank u!!

I accidentally got carried away, so this bad boy is 1.9k!! My apologies lol. I hope you like it!!

It wasn’t every day that someone told Shouto Todoroki to go fuck himself. 

Particularly not quirkless civilians, and never those he’d rescued. 

There was usually a lot more breathless gratitude, some bowing and scraping, and—mystifyingly—a lot of phone numbers, handkerchiefs, and very unsubtle attempts to get a hand or two around his biceps. Shouto didn’t really know what his biceps had to do with it, but he’d seen the same thing happen to Midoriya and Kirishima as well—and Bakugou once, before he’d nearly gnawed the woman’s hands off—so he assumed it was just another social cue he’d never understand.

As little as he cared for social cues, however, he was certain that there was usually a lot more thank you and a little less go fuck yourself involved in the whole rescuing process.

But then, he’d also never told off a civilian for having been kidnapped before. 

A civilian who, he’d come to realize almost immediately afterward, hadn’t deserved it.

When he’d asked his mother her advice over the phone, she’d told him the best thing to do was to be honest and try to start fresh. “White flowers mean forgiveness—tulips new beginnings,” she’d advised him.

So Shouto had ducked into the nearest florist and brought back an apology in hopes that you would accept it. 

He might have known, however, that you’d manage to turn even a simple apology completely on its head.

The clatter of cleaning supplies in his kitchen on Thursday afternoon told Shouto you’d let yourself in for your usual shift. He followed the sound, only for it to halt at his approach, the kitchen seemingly empty as he drew nearer.

He stopped short, fighting down a surprised swell of amusement when he realized you’d ducked down, hiding yourself behind his counters as if anyone, especially a pro hero, might be fooled by that.

“I know you’re there,” he said, keeping his tone even.

He heard a muttered swear word, and then you were rising slowly to your feet, wearing a sheepish expression, and clutching a bottle of windex like a weapon.

You looked just as you had the day of your rescue, though obviously a little less harrowed by a kidnapping. You were dressed casually in jeans and a simple shirt, no indicator that you were an employee of a cleaning service—Shouto felt at least a little justified in his mistake from last week.

You were clearly a college student, the backpack dumped at his kitchen island was evidence of that much, overflowing with textbooks and notes as it was, and you looked just slightly disheveled, like you might have come straight from class.

It was part of some nebulous, unassuming appeal to you, now that he had occasion to notice. He’d remembered your features twisted up in disdain, but they were open in surprise now, your eyes wide, fixed on him. His own eyes were drawn to the scrunch of your nose, a little curl of embarrassment that he suddenly found himself unable to tear his gaze away from.

“I, uh, thought you weren’t supposed to be here,” you admitted to him with a visible cringe.

Shouto almost laughed. He didn’t know much about you, but it was clear to him now that you weren’t anything like a crazy fan. You looked like you’d rather be anywhere but here at the moment. In fact, you looked rather like you might bolt any second.

A strange feeling shifted in his chest, and Shouto cut right to the chase.

“I owe you an apology,” he said simply.

You startled so violently that you dropped the windex. “W-what?”

Shouto sighed, admitting, “My manager schedules the cleaning days. I didn’t realize that you were—that is to say, I thought you were a fan who had broken in and managed to get kidnapped while you were at it.”

You gaped, another confused little expression that Shouto found himself fixating on with an intensity that surprised him. The weird feeling in his chest shifted, burning a little hotter. 

He wondered absently what other expressions he could get you to make.

“Oh, I, um...nope. Not a fan,” you said, and the feeling grew more insistent. 

He paused over the phrasing—not a fan. 

It had never bothered him before, when someone was a bigger fan of a classmate than they were of him, or weren’t really a hero fan at all. Shouto honestly did not quite understand why hero work was so tied up in fandom in the first place, and only attended fan events because his manager’s temper was not a thing to be trifled with. 

He wanted to be a hero who put people at ease, but ease was the last thing he felt with people clamoring all over him. Fighting villains was infinitely more preferable.

So why did your admission that you weren’t a fan of his niggle at his brain, like a particularly insistent parasite?

Who were you a fan of, if not him? 

“...Well, glad that’s cleared up now. I’ll just, uh, go then,” you said, grabbing an armful of the cleaning supplies and shoving it back under the sink hastily.

Shouto had moved before he knew what he was doing, getting himself in between you and the door out to the hallway. 

“Wait,” he said, feeling uncomfortable. “I want to make up for what I said to you. You...didn’t deserve that, especially not right after you’d been kidnapped by a villain.”

He watched you eye the space between his hip and the counter, like you were considering making a break for it. As he watched your face, he felt some strange hope that you might try it, a certainty he would catch you. 

...Why did he want to catch you?

You waved a hand. “It’s fine. You saved me, we can call it even.”

Shouto’s mouth turned down minutely. He’d behaved badly, but surely you’d credit him better manners than that. “It’s my fault you were taken in the first place. I’d like to apologize properly.”

Your face did something weird, then, another distracting little curl of the nose. “You don’t actually have to go fuck yourself,” you blurted.

Shouto stared at you, caught off guard.

“Uh, I mean. You saved my life,” you babbled suddenly. “And yeah what you said to me was super rude, but what I said to you was also super rude. So, um, I’m sorry too. And I really would just like to call it even and forget about it because it’s super embarrassing for both of us and I could literally die thinking about it.”

You stopped suddenly, looking self-conscious like you’d realized you’d been rambling. Shouto almost wished you hadn’t.

“I hadn’t really planned on it,” he said quickly.

“Hadn’t planned on what?”

“Fucking myself,” he clarified. You choked on a shocked laugh, and he let a small smile tug at his mouth—there.

Finally.

Finally you looked a little more comfortable with him. 

Shouto tried hard not to look too pleased with himself.

“Oh, well that’s good, then," you said. Then you puffed up a little, adding, "That’s probably a job for your actual secret lover.”

Good lord. “Not you, too.”

You threw him a smile, and Shouto’s heartbeat tripped over itself. “But I have evidence. I saw that homemade soup in your fridge once with the love note attached.”

It took him a moment to focus on what you were saying, but Shouto recalled the soup in question. It had been quite good, even if Bakugou had spent almost a half an hour ranting about what a weak ass little bitch he was for catching a cold. It had almost been worth it, the soup was that delicious. “Ah yes. That secret lover.”

“Cute pet name, too,” you said.

Shouto let out a low laugh, recalling the note. “You fucking fuck, was it?”

You laughed too, tension easing from your shoulders. Shouto’s eyes hungrily traced even that small movement.

A dawning sense of what was happening finally settled over him as he pronounced, “As it happens, however, I did already plan more of an apology.”

You looked up at him, your brow furrowing. “You planned...more of an apology?”

He gestured to a tall vase of white tulips on the kitchen counter. Your eyes went a little rounder as you observed them. You looked like you weren’t sure if they were for you, as if there were another previously kidnapped cleaning girl lurking about, who might be in need of an apology.

What a fascinating thing you were.

“I’ve been told that they mean forgiveness and new beginnings. I had hoped that we might...start over,” Shouto explained. He couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.

“I didn’t bring you any flowers,” you blurted.

He covered up a surprised laugh with a cough, the feeling in his stomach burning hotter. “I hadn’t expected them.”

He watched you turn back thoughtfully to the bouquet, certain now.

Over the phone, his mother had also said white flowers carried connotations of honor and purity. Two notions, Shouto realized with a growing sense of curiosity, that may be entirely inapplicable to his feelings about you.

He didn’t know much about you, but he knew for certain that he’d like to know more. And as he watched you reach out to pluck at a petal, wearing a shy little smile, he thought that yes, honor and purity had very little to do with his intentions at the moment.

You thanked him for the flowers, and Shouto made it clear to you that he hadn’t meant what he’d said about you being unwelcome here. He wanted—no, desired your return now. 

“That’s good to hear, thank you,” you said. Then your smile went a little mischievous. “As you can see, though, it didn’t really deter me.”

Shouto let himself smirk. “If I hadn’t seen the cleaning supplies already on the counter, I would be concerned that you’d come back for revenge.”

“There’s still time,” you joked. “Maybe I was going to play the long game and fill all the bottles with Sprite.”

The mulish statement surprised him into another laugh. “I hope the flowers are enough of a deterrent.”

You looked over the flowers again, then smiled up at him. His eyes caught on your mouth.

“The bribe has been accepted. Your countertops are safe from me.” You paused, then added, “For now.”

The hot feeling was everywhere now, simmering just underneath Shouto’s skin. He left himself lean towards you, relishing in the way your breath caught in a tiny hitch. “Be warned that I will do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of my countertops.”

You complained that he hardly used them, but complied nevertheless. Then you bullied him out of the kitchen, that tiny little scrunch back on your nose.

Shouto let you have your way, making his way over to the couch and settling on it with a book he had absolutely no intention of reading. Instead, as he watched you clean, he considered things.

He had always been straightforward about his goals. Once he’d chosen heroism as his dream, he’d let nothing stand in his way, working diligently all through UA, shooting nonstop through the ranks before breaking into the top five this year, one of the youngest to have ever done it. 

He was deliberate about what he wanted. He worked hard for what he wanted.

And as he wandered back towards the kitchen, questions ready in his mouth, he knew what else he wanted.

He wanted to know more about you.

He wanted to spend more time with you.

He wanted…

Well, he rather thought he wanted you.

I was going to edit this but every time I went to touch it, I made it worse. I hope you liked it anyway!

Garbage Fest masterlist & schedule.

[runawayballista]

hey if ur a student at a college/university in the US and things on the administrative end seem to be running slow or hmmm, poorly: the answer is probably because (like in many, many industries) staffing shortages have been a problem in higher education since the start of the pandemic. part of this is because higher education generally pays less than the private sector with the tradeoff being better benefits but in the case of the university i work at, now that the pandemic is ""over"" (lmao) leadership has been extremely reluctant to let most staff work from home more than one day a week, if at all, and suddenly those benefits don't feel as worth it in favor of a job that 1) pays better 2) lets you work from home. it means that in some departments, people are quitting at a higher rate than they can train new people (and as anyone in higher ed will tell you, most jobs take about a year - a full admission cycle - to really learn). in the case of the department i currently work in, we had a complete turnover of academic advising staff, meaning that when myself & my coworkers started this summer, there was literally no one in our program left to pass on institutional knowledge. this unfortunately creates a cyclical problem where departments are constantly understaffed and overworked, and people are quitting because they're not being given very flexible work options and they're suffering from burnout. one of my coworkers just got saddled with another entire program's worth of work, because the coordinator running it left and they're still looking for someone new, and after a certain point, there simply are not enough hours in the day to get to everyone and everything in a timely manner

i see it happening all over the university i work at. this is by no means a problem unique to this school OR higher ed but if ur a college student and you interact with administrative staff at all: ask how theyre doing. maybe offer them a treat. they are probably dealing with more work than they can handle at the moment

[jkstompers]

just to study | jjk

pairing: jeon jungkook x female reader

summary: your seat partner asks if you’re free after class, just to study.

genre: fluff, college!au, established friendship, flirtationship, mutual pining, they go to a ‘frat’ party together, also yugyeom! a sweetheart<3 we love him.

warnings: mature!!, mentions of alcohol + alcohol consumption, mentions of sex, strong language, SEXUAL TENSION, mentions of dick sucking??, hints of a wet dream on oc’s end, very strong urges to kiss each other but no kisses today </3, that’s pretty much it!

word count: 7.4k (i...kinda went overboard)

authors’ note: hello!! this is a pt. 2 to sleepyhead! it’s based a few weeks after so yeah <3 also the pacing is kind of weird but… i don’t really know how being drunk is so............(＞人＜) i’m sorry about that! one scene was inspired by this post haha it was just so cute to think about i had to do it. ALSO i literally haven’t taken anatomy since high school so i just used random terms from quizlet T_T pls excuse that as well! but otherwise, enjoy!!!!!!!!! (っ^_^)っ

(if u see any typos...ignore them pls T_T)

side note: imagine jk looking like this when he goes to the party lmao classic fboy look with the camo bomber and his piercings ugh <3

banner pic creds here ! <3

you made it to class on time today, woke to your alarm and even had enough time to eat breakfast before you came. in a particularly good mood, you made your way up the stairs to the row jungkook was sitting in, hoping that the seat next to him was empty (you didn’t have to hope, jungkook always saved the seat next to him for you, no matter what.)

“good morning, ___!” jungkook’s voice greets you the same as always as soon as you appear next to him. he moves his bag out of the way for you to sit down.

he looks especially cute today. his long floppy hair framing his face, his sweet smile beaming up to you. you wonder how dumb you looked drooling over him for a minute before you replied, “hi jungkook, how are you?” with the same smile on your face that you show him every time he sees you. it never changes, but it never fails to make jungkook’s heart skip a beat.

“i’m doing okay, you?” he answers while you pull out your laptop.

you didn’t have a chance to reply before your professor starts talking. informing the class about the test that’s planned at the end of the month, finals in two months, and then dropping the bomb that there’s a quiz tomorrow about the things you’ve learned in the past week. a slight panic takes over you, although you didn’t know why, you understood what he was teaching and you were retaining all of the information well. but when the professor pulls up all the information on the screen to review it all, all of the words and pictures overwhelm you.

to make things worse, jungkook is to your left, not paying attention to a word your professor is saying. instead, playing some game where he has to click his touchpad an obnoxious amount of times. your attention is split between jungkook’s erratic tapping and the notes that the professor projects onto the screen, even though his computer barely made any noise, his incessant movement was distracting you.

“jungkook, you’re taking notes and playing a game?” your voice comes out as a rushed whisper. there’s a snort that comes from him before he nods. you couldn’t be mad at him. “there’s a quiz on all of this tomorrow, you know?”

“i know,” he continues to tap and click, the motion growing incredibly annoying. you didn’t know why you couldn’t have just tried to block it out, but he was just so close to you and admittedly, you looked at his hands, a lot. the way that his fingers tapped against his keyboard and his veins that accentuate his already beautiful hands, it was free art you could look at, how could you not? at this point, you’re contemplating holding his hand to make him stop tapping.

you were in the middle of typing when he finally stops, leaning back and stretching his arms up into the air. you let out a sigh of relief, until he starts again. apparently he reached the next level on his game, tapping even faster, if that was even fucking possible.

quietly, you groan. turning your attention solely on him. you place your hand on top of his, the tapping ceasing almost immediately. “please, jungkook, you’re distracting me.”

he looks at your hand before he looks at you, his chocolate doe eyes wide to the action. he gulps, “sorry.”

you remove your hand, focusing back to the presentation. jungkook feels the heat from his cheeks travel to his hand. the feeling of your hand on his wasn’t something he was expecting to experience today, but he wants nothing more than for you to do it again. he exits the game tab and changes his focus to the lecture.

or moreso, you focusing on the lecture.

you look so cute. your cheek pressed up against your fist. he stares at the way that your forehead creases in concentration. he taps on your arm that’s resting on the table, “hey, you look like you’re stressed out.”

you turn your head slightly to look over to him. “that’s because i am,” you send him a quick smile before you go back to looking at the projection.

he furrows his eyebrows, “why? you’re smart, there’s no need to worry about what you get on this.” you were an a+ student, never anything less than that. jungkook knows that you ace every test that you take, so he doesn’t quite understand why you’re so stressed.

“because jungkook,” you groan. you expected a lot from yourself, sure b’s were okay, but a’s and a+’s were what you wanted and what you thought would make you feel satisfied. there was no way you could explain this without sounding like an overachiever. so you just sigh, “i’m just not really prepared.”

jungkook thinks of the perfect way to spend more time with you, snapping his fingers before suggesting, “we should study together after class, studies show that studying with someone else will give you an a+, guaranteed.” the confidence in his voice makes you smile, and helps you ease up a little bit.

you raise an eyebrow, a laugh creeping up from your lungs. “source for that statistic, sir?”

he taps his right temple, the gesture making you snort. “no but seriously, i’ll help you out,” he assures. his laptop turns towards you to show you all the notes he took, different words highlighted and colored differently.

you act like you think about it, staying quiet for a minute or so. but you know the answer was yes no matter what. “just to study?” you tease. jungkook raises his eyebrows in surprise, an amused smile on his face, “just kidding, we can go to mine? i owe you for the ride you gave me like two weeks ago.” you tap your fingers against your laptop nervously, your teeth taking in your bottom lip as you ask. you haven’t had a guy over to your apartment, not since you’ve moved in. there’s a certain anxiousness that comes with the suggestion.

jungkook nods, “sounds good.”

“okay, again.” you brush your hair behind your ears, preparing yourself once more for another pass of the flashcards. the two of you have been at it with these cards for the past hour or so, you were determined to get these right no matter how long it took. jungkook knew you were gonna get it down, you only had three more cards, these ones specifically stumping you.

“aponeuroses,” he looks at the card and then to you.

“connective tissue that forms a broad sheet which attach muscle to bone or muscle to other muscles,” you speak confidently. jungkook nods, moving onto the next card of the set of three.

“endomysium,” he reads the card. you hesitate on this one for a second, he plays with the corner of the card until you snap your fingers.

“that’s the connective tissue surrounding the… the— uh, oh! muscle fiber?” your brain works extra hard. jungkook rewards you with another nod, flipping to the last card.

“fascia.”

“dense connective tissue,” you begin, pausing to think of the rest of the answer. you start biting your thumb nail, knowing there’s more to it but it’s not coming to your brain quick enough.

jungkook just stares, watching your facial expressions as you search for the answer in your brain. this could be the worst crush he’s ever had, he thinks you’re cute when you’re just sitting there, thinking. he doesn’t remember ever liking someone this much, most of the time his crushes went away after a few weeks or so. but it’s almost been an entire year since he’s started crushing on you, and it still hasn’t stopped. you still manage to find a way to make his thoughts surround you.

“separates and holds individual tissues? it’s the one that extends into the tendons, right?” you perk up after a minute or so. your brain finally coming up with the answer. you blame jungkook’s presence for slowing you down. maybe you shouldn’t have accepted this offer to study together, because how could you focus when jeon jungkook is sitting right in front of you?

“you’re amazing,” he praises, setting the flashcards down onto the table. you blush at the compliment, jungkook takes notice, but he doesn’t mind, he thinks pink is pretty on you. he’s never wanted to kiss your cheeks as much as he did now, and trust, he’s thought about it many, many times. “all done?” he asks after staring at you for the longest time.

you nod, “just gonna highlight these terms to review them later so i can get it down 100%.”

jungkook watches as you diligently reread your notes and highlight them. an apple on the table taking his attention away for a second when he realizes he hasn’t eaten at all today. he takes a bite, the loud crunch noise seemingly startling the both of you. it makes you turn your head and raise an eyebrow towards him.

“sorry,” he chews, “hungry.”

your stare lingers a little longer than you wanted it to. his cheeks are full of apple, you can’t help but laugh a little. “there’s still the sticker on it,” you point out.

he turns the apple around to see the blue sticker. peeling it off, he holds it on his fingertip, an idea sprouting in his mind to see that sweet smile of yours again. so he places the sticker on your cheek, your gaze moving from your screen to him and then to the fruit sticker now stuck onto your cheek. “get it? ‘cause you’re sweet like this apple is,” he smiles.

oh my god. you blush embarrassingly, your entire face flushed pink as you hide your cheeks behind your hands. he laughs at your reaction. jungkook was feeling bold today, so he moves forward, gently taking your hands away from your face to see the cute pink tint he caused. he sits back, admiring your pretty face.

you feel yourself burning hotter and hotter the longer he stares, looking everywhere but his face, too scared to make eye contact. you look back to your computer screen, “um— there’s pasta in the fridge— if you’re hungry, i made it last night.” you offer, but he declines politely, telling you that he has to leave pretty soon because his friends are expecting him to join them today.

begrudgingly, you watch as jungkook packs his things up. he thinks about how content he felt hanging out with you today, and how he wanted to do it again, as soon as possible. a thought pops into his head before he opens the door to leave. he turns on his heel.

you weren’t expecting the sudden turn, accidentally bumping into his chest. “oof! sorry.”

“it’s alright,” he laughs, helping you steady yourself by holding your shoulders. “i just wanted to ask— uh, my friends are throwing a party tomorrow night, do you— do you wanna come?” his words come out jumbled, jungkook never fails to trip on his words whenever he’s near you.

tomorrow night...it’s a friday tomorrow, the quiz is tomorrow, why the fuck not? a stress reliever from all the studying you’ve done. “sure,” you answer after a minute or so of deliberation. you look up at him with a smile, suddenly realizing how close the two of you are.

your eyes flicker between his eyes and his lips, the close proximity makes you hold your breath. “great! i can pick you up? be your DD?” he quirks his head, a smile that matches yours on his face.

you nod, “yeah, i’d like that.” with that, jungkook takes a step back, widening the space between you both as his right hand goes to hold the strap of his bag.

“okay, i’ll text you the details.” before he turns around, turning the knob of your front door and letting himself out. before the door closes, he sends you a wave, one which you reflect as he pulls the door closed. you move up and lock the door, your forehead resting against the cold metal slab.

you wonder if this crush will ever advance into something more. neither of you really push the agenda, most of the time just cutely flirting with each other and only talking to each other during class. maybe this party will be a chance to further the bond the two of you have. you could only wish that you could drop this nervous shield that pops up everytime you’re around him, but jungkook is just so cool. the campus heartthrob, everyone wants to be him or be with him.

for the rest of the day, jungkook seems to occupy your mind, as he always does. when you get to sleep, the fantasies of jungkook’s lips on yours drift you into a deep sleep, one that eventually leads to a dream that has you rubbing your thighs together. his hands were all over your body, his cologne that you were so familiar with tormenting your nose, it all felt too real. so when you woke up to the sound of your alarm, sweat beaded at your hairline. you took deep breaths, cementing the fact that he isn’t here, and he certainly isn’t doing those things with you right now.

it was not helping that you dreamt of him sexually on the day of your quiz, the one that you were immensely stressing over. now, you’re gonna have to walk into class, act normal around jungkook even though your brain produced pornographic images of him, (it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time you’ve had to face him right after it happened) and ace this quiz.

you tried almost everything you could to have cleared your brain of your dream sequence. taking a shower, eating breakfast, studying once more, etc. but when you’re walking into the lecture hall, flashes of the dream and the sound of his imagined moan echo in your mind.

you walk up the stairs with your eyes down, not sure if you could make eye contact with jungkook without turning red. “hey, ___, good morning!” the familiar voice greets you.

“morning,” you reply, dryly. taking the seat next to him and silently taking your laptop out, waiting for the professor to start the quiz. jungkook seemed a bit taken aback by your cold answer, but he took into account that you’re probably just super nervous and stressed out because of the quiz, so he doesn’t take it too personally. instead, just sitting back in his chair and waiting patiently to take the quiz as well.

at this point, you were psyching yourself out, swearing that you already forgot all of the terms. if you were quizzed on the parts of male anatomy, specifically jungkook’s, then maybe you could ace it, but the terms that you were working oh so hard to memorize yesterday slip from your mind. when the professor tells you to separate and start the quiz, you start to bite your thumb nail again.

jungkook takes a look over at you, noticing the bad habit of yours. he gently takes a hold of your arm, pulling your thumb away from your teeth. the action causing you to make eye contact with him and his big doe eyes that hold so much love and light. you find yourself a bit speechless then, too many thoughts running around in your mind.

he whispers, “you’ll do great, okay?” the statement soothing your nerves. his voice somehow makes your body relax, even though you thought you would freak out if you made any sort of contact with him.

“you— you too, good luck,” you mutter. a half smile on your face. you were grateful that jungkook broke you out of your trance, his words of encouragement suddenly placing you in the testing state of mind. the images from last night's dream seem to put themselves away for now.

the next twenty minutes are complete silence. everyone focused on the questions before them. of course, you zoomed through the quiz, prepared for the trick questions and the harder ones that come up. jungkook finishes after you. it wasn’t a surprise, jungkook didn’t even have to try, you swear you’ve never seen him stress out before. nobody was perfect, you believed that, but jeon jungkook was the closest to it.

“okay, class! the quiz will be graded by tonight hopefully, you’re free to leave,” your professor alerts the class. jungkook waits patiently until you’re standing, following you down the stairs and out the door.

you decide to speak first, since you greeted him with such a dry response this morning. it wasn’t his fault that you dreamed of him on top of you, so why were you punishing him for it? “how’d you think you did?” you asked, turning to look at him.

he shrugs, “good i guess, i think i fucked up on one or two questions.”

“was it the striation part? i think i messed up on that one too.”

he shakes his head, “you know you aced that, don’t lie.”

you stay silent, the two of you walking to the campus parking lot. neither of you engage in conversation as you usually do. the images of last night’s dream slipping into your consciousness once again. you try to shake your head, to rid yourself of the thoughts. nothing else to distract you from them because jungkook was oddly silent the entire walk. you fear that he can actually read your mind and see all of your thoughts. if he could, he doesn’t mention it. not saying one word to you until he walks you to your car, greeting you with a ‘see you next class!’ before leaving to go to his car. not even mentioning the party to you, you start to wonder if he regrets inviting you. up until you heard your phone ring when you parked in the lot of your apartment complex.

[10:24 am] jungkook: hey! forgot to remind u about the party 😫

[10:24 am] jungkook: ur still down to come, right?

[10:28 am] you: hi! yeah :)

[10:28 am] you: is there a dress code or smth? haha

[10:29 am] jungkook: not that i know of 😂

[10:30 am] jungkook: u can wear anything u want

[10:30 am] jungkook: ur cute whatever u wear

[10:31 am] you: oh stop it jeon ur making me blush

[10:32 am] you: but tell me :( should i wear something casual? pants? a dress?

[10:34 am] jungkook: 😂

[10:34 am] jungkook: it’s kind of like a frat party…

[10:35 am] jungkook: so anything is okay

[10:37 am] you: ah okay

[10:37 am] you: i’ll surprise u then ;)

[10:40 am] jungkook: alright :)

[10:41 am] jungkook: i’ll come by around 9 to pick u up? sound good?

[10:42 am] you: yeah! gives me enough time to nap and get ready lol

[10:44 am] jungkook: great :) see u then cutie

you wake up from your nap around one, you had more than enough time for you to get ready for a party. so you decide to clean your apartment first, little chores to waste time before you get yourself dolled up. when you finished, it was around seven thirty. you washed your face, brushed your teeth, all that good stuff before sliding on a simple black bodycon that you got last summer. styling your hair and spraying on your favorite perfume before looking at yourself in the mirror. this wasn’t too much, right? lots of people wear stuff like this to frat parties, so you didn’t find it too fancy. the notification sound from your phone goes off, you move to check and see if it was who you were expecting.

[8:54 pm] jungkook: i’m here :)

[8:54 pm] you: ahh gimme a sec i need to pee haha

[8:55 pm] jungkook: take ur time cutie

[8:56 pm] jungkook: i’m right in front

jungkook only really had to wait about five minutes. the visual of you walking out of your apartment doors, looking the way you did, was breathtaking. his jaw drops, mouth slightly agape as he watches you walk up to his car through the passenger window. you are so gorgeous. it’s probably the first time jungkook’s seen you in clothes that really compliment your figure, most of the time you show up to class in hoodies and sweaters. so greedily, he takes in the way the dress hugs your curves deliciously. he shakes the thoughts from his head to get out of the car and open the door for you.

“what a gentleman,” you tease, getting into the car.

he joins you soon after, “you look...gorgeous.” jungkook doesn’t seem so shy now, his eyes taking in your beautiful self.

“thank you,” you blush under his stare. “is it too much?”

“no! no— not at all, all eyes will be on you tonight.” he smiles, turning the car on. now you were able to gawk over him. a simple outfit, all black with a black and white camo bomber. his side profile is perfect, his long hair draping over his face so gracefully and his piercings somehow sparkling in the dark of the car.

he doesn’t drive too far, somewhere in the suburbs where the big houses are. a huge iron gate in the front, seemingly too fancy for a frat party setting. jungkook rolls his window down to greet someone waiting in front of the gate with a couple of other guys.

“jeon! you’re late dude,” one of the guys gives him a handshake through the window.

“sorry man, i’m here now though,” jungkook laughs. the guy giving him the greenlight and opening the gate for him, jungkook parks inside on their stone driveway, decorated with a fountain and a beautiful garden.

“your friend lives here?” you inquire, impressed by the look of the place.

he nods, “fancy right? his parents are ceo’s.” makes sense, and it would also make sense as to why they were throwing a frat party here, rich sons always seem to stir up trouble whenever they’re bored.

he steps out of the car to open the door for you, always a gentleman. he takes your hand and helps you out, the two of you walking to the huge open double doors. as soon as you walk in, the smell of alcohol hits your nose, you try your best not to cringe. the blare of the speakers is the second thing you notice, along with the shouting of jungkook’s friends greeting him. “who’s this?” one of them asks, referring to you.

jungkook seems to hesitate at first, not really knowing how to introduce you. he settles by saying, “this is ___!” not attaching any ‘friend’, ‘classmate’, or anything to the introduction. his friend holds his hand out to shake yours.

you take it with a smile on your face, “i’m yugyeom, it’s nice to meet you!” a smile that reflects yours is on his face, it made you feel welcome. you were never really the type to go to parties, your time is spent working and/or going to school, but this interaction helps you ease up a little more.

“hello, yugyeom!” you reply, shouting over the music.

“do you wanna take a shot?” he asks. pointing to the enormous kitchen where they’re housing all the alcohol, you look to jungkook first who’s paying more attention to his phone rather than the conversation you were just having.

you shrug, “why not?”

yugyeom leads the two of you to the kitchen, jungkook following behind you blindly. he looks up from his phone, done with whatever business he was dealing with to ask, “where are we going?”

“taking a shot,” you answer, pointing to yugyeom who’s already pouring three shots.

“dude, i’m not drinking, don’t pour three.” jungkook tries to stop him before he fills up the third shot glass but his arm knocks yugyeom’s in the process, the bottle spilling the clear liquid into the third shot glass.

“i’ll take two,” you suggest, feeling a bit wild and down to venture out of your comfort zone.

yugyeom smiles at this, “i like her, jeon.” he hands you the two shot glasses full of vodka, jungkook stands next to you and watches as you down the first shot. your face cringing as soon as the alcohol touches your tongue.

“you didn’t even give her a chaser,” jungkook notices, scolding yugyeom who's already downed his shot and is sucking on a lime. “here, suck,” holding a slice of lime up to your lips. his choice of words disorienting you, especially since he was holding the lime up to your mouth instead of just handing it to you. your eyes flicker between the lime and his face, but nevertheless, you suck. sinking your teeth into the sour fruit. jungkook’s eyes zeroed in on how your lips wrap around the slice, slightly grazing his fingers. it’s not long before you’re making a cute scrunched up face from the sourness. “good,” he praises. you don’t deny the slight burn your lower belly felt when he said that to you. you swear he was making sex eyes to you, but you couldn’t tell. he broke eye contact with you soon after, throwing the fruit into the trash below the table that the alcohol was perched on.

yugyeom hands you another lime for your second shot, this time no jungkook to hold the fruit for you. the second shot burning down your throat with the lime chasing after, both yugyeom and jungkook cheer, congratulating you for being a trooper (even though two shots were their warmups).

the next hour or so, jungkook brings you around. he introduces you to his friends and making conversation with them. one certain group, you didn’t really enjoy. a group of five girls, clearly swarming jungkook as soon as he turned around from talking to another one of his friends. the girls ask how he’s been doing, all of the basic conversation starters. when jungkook tries to introduce you, they all turn to you and give you a little head nod before turning their attention back to jungkook. he stands there, conversing with them longer than he had with any of his other friends, and you found yourself getting, hm, jealous.

so you search around the room crowded room, looking for some way out. your eyes spot yugyeom in the backyard through the huge sliding doors, sitting on one of those lawn chairs with the one next to him empty. you decide to leave the group you were currently getting pushed out of and join yugyeom. he notices you when you step onto the grass, trying your best not to sink into the dirt with your heels. “you doing alright? where’s jungkookie?” he asks, sitting up.

you plop down onto the lawn chair next to him. “he’s in there,” you point to the house, “with five girls.”

the last bit of the sentence makes him laugh, a cackle where he holds his stomach because he was laughing so hard. “do you want a shot?” he offers after he recovers from his fit, pulling a tequila bottle out from nowhere.

but you agree, “two, please.” he fills the two shot glasses, but not completely like he did with the vodka earlier. there were no limes, or any type of chaser for you to take around, so you take the two shots like ripping off a band-aid, quick.

“you’re a funny girl,” yugyeom compliments when you’ve downed the shots.

“thanks?” you cough, the feeling of the alcohol still burning your nose and throat, “what did i say that was funny?”

“i think it’s because i’m tipsy, but that joke you made about jungkook being with five girls was hilarious.” he slaps his knee, almost making himself laugh up a storm again, but you weren’t laughing.

you raised an eyebrow, speaking with a serious tone. “it wasn’t a joke, he’s in there with five girls.”

yugyeom tries to collect himself, sitting properly on the lawn chair when he asks you to clarify, “you mean he’s fucking them? or he’s talking to them?”

you’re silent for a second before replying, why did you say it like he was in there fucking them? maybe it’s because he might as well be, so engrossed in whatever the hell they were saying to even notice that you were gone. “just talking to them,” you reply.

“that’s what i thought, jungkook isn’t like that anymore,” yugyeom nods his head, pouring another shot out for you.

“anymore?” you ask. he hands you the shot, you hesitate this time, starting to feel the effects of the first four shots you took. he doesn’t push you to take it. he just leans back onto the lawn chair as he sighs.

“you could say he’s retired,” he shrugs.

the term makes you laugh, “...a retired fuckboy?” you sit back into the lawn chair as well, looking up to the night sky. the shot glass forgotten on the table next to you. your body feels like it’s floating.

“yeah, he hasn’t really been doing stuff like that recently,” yugyeom spills. you stay quiet after he feeds you this information. yugyeom offhandedly telling you that you shouldn’t be jealous makes you feel guilty. why were you even jealous? jungkook was technically still just a friend to you. just because the two of you flirt every now and then doesn’t mean you’re together. of course he would be surrounded by girls, just look at him!

“there you are! i was looking all over for you,” jungkook interrupts your inner monologue. his voice comes from across the lawn, you look up to see him walking over to you and yugyeom.

“hi, jungkookie,” you smile up at him. the alcohol having more of an effect on you the longer you let it sit in your stomach.

he almost freezes up at the nickname, looking over to yugyeom and asking, “did you tell her to call me that?”

yugyeom holds his hands up in innocence, “i didn’t tell her to do anything, she’s like five or six shots deep though.”

you take the shot that was forgotten on the table and down it. “six,” you clarify.

“alright, slow down, iron liver,” jungkook jokes. yugyeom stands from the lawn chair, receiving jungkook’s telepathic signals to get the fuck up to he could talk and hang out with you.

“play beer pong with me later, ___! i’m gonna go look for eunwoo,” yugyeom points to you, giving you a thumbs up before leaving the backyard and moving into the house.

“feeling okay? think you might throw up soon?” jungkook asks, replacing yugyeom in the chair next to you.

“feel like i’m surfing, you know? like wavy,” you answer. the feeling was hard to explain, you weren’t dizzy but at the same time your brain was telling you to stop moving, even though you were completely still.

“ah, you’re getting there,” jungkook snorts. you didn’t have much willpower to answer, so the two of you sit there in a comfortable silence before a group of people coming towards, all greeting jungkook and you. they offer you a red cup, despite your current predicament. leaning against the chair and your droopy eyes, telling them that you’ve taken too many shots. a lightweight at her peak.

jungkook tries to deny it for you, but with a smile, you accept the cup. it was filled with the fancy mixed alcohol juice they had. “thank you,” you place the cup onto the table, “i’ll drink it.... later..” your words begin to draw themselves out. jungkook somehow finding a way to make the entire group leave, making it just the two of you again.

“give it to me, you’re starting to slur your words.” his hand is open, laying on the table and waiting for you to surrender the cup.

your eyes flicker from the red cup, to his face, then to his hand. a smirk on your face when you hold the cup up to your lips, tilting it back and drinking the cursed juice. you weren’t able to down it all, it was too much, you drank maybe ⅔ of it. you cough, taking in a deep breath as you try to steady yourself.

you weren’t sure if it was because you were drunk, but the way that his face looks in the moonlight was so pretty. so you just had to tell him. leaning forward, you speak, almost a whisper, “you’re so handsome.” you drag your finger across the expanse of jungkook’s hand. “did you know i have no gag reflex?” you smile, not your typical sweet smile that he’s used to, but a devilish grin.

jungkook’s eyes widen, his cheeks flushing immediately at your remark. “alright, you drank way too much.” he takes the red cup from your hands, dumping it out onto the grass in front of you both.

“hey, i wasn’t done,” you pout, but jungkook didn’t give you much time to mourn your spilled drink before he was holding your arm, lifting you from the lawn chair you were sitting on. “where are we going?” you ask, trailing behind him with your hand in his.

“gonna get you some water and something to eat,” he answers. the two of you move through the house, jungkook pushes through groups of people and makes sure you’re safe behind him.

“i have to pee.” you tip toe to tell him your emergency in his ear. he stops at the stairs, knowing a bathroom where no one else goes. his friend specifically telling him to use that bathroom when they have parties because the other ones get way too gross.

he brings you up the stairs to the guest bedroom, opening the door to reveal one of the biggest rooms you’ve seen. “the bathroom is there,” jungkook points to the door on the left. you nod, your wobbly legs making their way to the toilet.

jungkook sits on the bed patiently, waiting for you to finish. he hears the flush and the sound of the sink running, the door opens and you’re coming out of the bathroom, pulling your dress down. “are we gonna have sex?” you utter, slurring the end of your sentence. your alcohol poisoned mind taking over your ability to speak.

his eyes widen at the question. “no! no— oh my god, this is just the room with the cleanest bathroom, we’re not—“

you’re next to him now, “you don’t want to?” you pout. glassy eyes looking into his.

“no! i mean, yes, i want to but— fuck, just— just not now, yeah?” jungkook stumbles over his words, his face blushing a blood red. your pretty face peering up at him makes him even more flustered, his hands start to sweat.

“okay,” you nodded. your drunken brain deciding to stop the interrogation of jungkook’s desire for you. to which jungkook lets out a sigh of relief, taking your hand and bringing you out of the room, down the stairs, and out into the driveway. he brings you to his car, opening the passenger door for you. “wait, are we leaving already? yugyeomie wants me to play beer pong with him,” you complain, wiggling your hand from his grasp.

goosebumps appear on your arm when you make it outside of the house. jungkook notices when he turns around to look at you. without a second thought, he takes his jacket off and places it over your shoulders. the newfound warmth shielding you from the cold night. he didn’t mind the breeze, especially since he was still recovering from the stunt you pulled in the guest room.

“we can come back later if you want, let’s just go grab something to eat first so you won’t regret this tomorrow morning.” his explanation is pretty solid according to your drunken brain, so you oblige, moving to sit in his passenger seat.

he joins you in the driver’s seat not long after. “can we get mcdonald’s?” you ask as soon as he sits down.

a smile appears on his face as he starts the car, “sure.”

the drive made you feel a little dizzy, it makes you laugh. “you okay?” jungkook asks, but you nod your head. he’s so sweet, always asking if you’re okay, making sure you weren’t feeling too awful, etc. it only makes sense that you were falling head over heels for him.

“totally fine,” you look over to him with a smile on your face. he’s so fucking pretty, his side profile is something you could rave about for days. as he’s pulling into the mcdonald’s drive through, he’s talking into the intercom, ordering the two of you something to eat when you’re suddenly mumbling, “mcflurry, kookie, oreo mcflurry.”

he looks back to you, an amused smile on his face, “oreo mcflurry?” he repeats. you nod, “okay, anything for you.”

he reiterates the request into the intercom and the server gives him the greenlight. he drives forward and waits until the next car moves up, in the time being, he looks to you. your head laying up against the door and your eyes slowly blinking, warning him that you might fall asleep. so he reaches into his backseat, his arm looking for the water bottles that he usually keeps in his car.

“hey,” he taps your arm gently, “drink some of this first.” he hands you the water bottle, you blink slowly, trying to figure out what he was handing you. once you realize it was a water bottle, you take it, opening it and gulping some of the water down. jungkook is grabbing the food when you’re screwing the cap back on. he parks somewhere in the parking lot and tells you to start eating.

you grab your mcflurry first, the feeling of the cold ice cream on your tongue soothing your dizzy brain. “yum,” you think out loud.

jungkook laughs, taking out his hamburger while he takes out your chicken nuggets. “make sure to eat some of this, yeah? don’t want you throwing up and hating me.”

the thought makes you smile. jungkook was taking such great care of you. sure, he let you down the alcohol like it was nothing, but you never opposed to it, always taking the shot because you wanted to. now jungkook is here, taking care of you, because he wanted to. you knew that if it were anybody else, they probably would have left you at the party, letting you fend for yourself. the sudden warmth in your chest makes you want to tell jungkook everything.

with his jacket wrapped around you instead of him, you can see the bulge of his arm muscles peek out from the short sleeved shirt he was wearing. even drunk, your brain seems to travel back to the images from your dream. “you know, i had a dream about you, a reeaaaallllllyyyyy dirty dream, jeon jungkook.” you blurt out the confession before your thoughts catch up with you, the alcohol still very much blocking off the common sense part of your brain.

he tries his best not to overreact, but you had a dream about him? a dirty dream at that? it awakens something in jungkook, but he pushes it down, ignoring the feeling as he asks, “you did? what was it about?” he curious as to what you meant and what your dream entailed, but he didn’t want to push too far. especially since you were drunk and most likely just spilling everything because your brain doesn’t have the willpower to hold it back.

you stick your hand into the bag to steal some fries, stuffing them in your mouth. “oh, you don’t wanna know,” you chew.

jungkook quirks a brow, “well, was i good at least?” he jokes.

you scrunch your nose, nodding nevertheless. “too good, couldn’t even focus during the quiz because of it.”

jungkook is silent for a second. the conversation making him hot even though he wasn’t wearing his jacket anymore. so he clears his throat, trying to change the subject in a subtle manner. “is that why you were so mean to me this morning?” he pouts, connecting the dots.

you laugh at the question, “sorry, i didn’t mean to, i swear.”

with that, the rest of the time is spent eating. jungkook makes sure that you ate enough and drank enough water, the empty water bottle in his cupholder as proof. “do you want me to take you home now?” he asks, the two of you finished eating and now a silence takes over the car.

“are you going back?” you ask, fiddling with your fingers. he thinks you’ve started to sober up, or maybe have gotten to the point where you just want to sleep.

he shakes his head to your question, “honestly, i’m kind of tired, but if you want to go back, we can go.”

“no, i’m okay,” you decline the offer. jungkook laughs, starting the car again and driving back to your apartment complex.

you take this time to try to get yourself together. you know you’ll regret confessing to jungkook that you had a wet dream about him in the morning. but in the moment, it felt right to confess, (to your drunken brain of course). you tilt your head back, pushing your head against the headrest, and suddenly, you’re reminded of the stars jungkook has on his ceiling. you were silent as you admired the lights, jungkook takes a look at you when he’s stopped at a red light.

so cute, he thinks, staring up at his ceiling like it’s the real night sky. when he pulls up to your apartment complex, he wishes the night could be longer, that he could spend more time with you. he parks the car in the front, exactly where he picked you up. you’re looking to him now, your hands in your lap and your heart seemingly beating three times as fast as it usually does. it wasn’t the alcohol.

“did you have fun tonight?” he asks. his voice never fails to make you melt.

you nod, “i did.”

“i’m glad,” he smiles. there’s a small silence before he speaks once more, “also, y’know, you don’t have to stress yourself out so much, i know you might have expectations for yourself and stuff, but you should give yourself a break from time to time.”

the alcohol’s effects fading slowly from your brain when you start to realize that the entire reason jungkook invited you out was to help you destress. it makes you fall even harder, he was so thoughtful. even though a party wasn’t your scene, he invited you to give you a glimpse into how he has fun and hoped that it would help you loosen up a bit. you were grateful for the mental break he provided you.

you didn’t reply, purely because you were thinking about how much you want to kiss him right now, but it wouldn’t be right. when he speaks up again, there’s a nervous lilt in his voice, scared that he’s overstepped. “if you need anyone to help you— i don’t know, let loose? you can— you can always call me.” he scratches the back of his neck.

but you try your best to reassure him, smiling at the offer. “i will, thank you for tonight, jungkook, i really enjoyed it, despite being a lightweight.”

he laughs, staring at the way your face cutely scrunches when you giggle. he too, is fighting the urge to kiss you, because right now isn’t a good time. he wants to do it right. he doesn’t want to fuck it up with you. so instead, he hops out of the car and moves to open the door for you. helping you out of the car and walking you to your door, your hand in his.

“i’ll see you in class?” you turn to face him, squeezing his hand.

he nods, “yeah.” his signature bunny smile coming out to greet you a goodnight. “text me before you sleep?” he requests. you give him a thumbs up before he’s letting go of your hand and you’re sticking the key into your door, it’s then that you realize that you’re still wearing his jacket.

“oh!” you exclaim, taking the jacket off and handing it to him. but he holds his hand out to stop you.

“keep it, you can give it to me the next time we hang out, or something,” he suggests. you try to hide the growing smile behind a nod.

you hold onto his jacket, “goodnight, jungkook.”

he sticks his hands in his pockets, sending you another grin, “goodnight, ___.”

jungkook drives home, his empty apartment welcoming him. he plops down onto his bed, not even bothering to change out of the clothes he was in because he was that tired. the events of today running through his mind.

he hopes you don’t think he was doing anything with those five girls. he saw you walk away when you did, he tried his best to escape the conversation, but they kept pulling him back. he gave up after ten tries of trying to get away, standing there for a good fifteen minutes listening to them babble about how much they missed him. jungkook had never rolled his eyes so many times in a conversation.

the talk the two of you had after was another thing taking over his mind. your dirty flirting and your dream you mentioned in the car had his imagination running all over the place. he didn’t want to push you when you explained, but he was very curious as to what he did in your dream, and how good it was for you to have it run through your mind all day.

his phone rings next to him. he turns and opens it, a smile on his face when he reads your message.

[12:32 am] you: hi jungkookieeeeeeeee

[12:33 am] you: im sleeping noww

[12:33 am] jungkook: alright cutie

[12:33 am] jungkook: goodnight! again 😂

[12:34 am] you: goodnight <3

he turns his phone off after that. looking up to his ceiling with a dumb smile on his face. his mind thinking of you and only you.

[m4tthewmurd0ck]

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐄𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 ~ (𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝) 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐱 (𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞) 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫!

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫: 【 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 】

𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 1.5k ( not including the text in the messages. also shorter than normal but the chapters will get a little longer!)

[ click here for the table of contents ]

[ 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 📍 ] 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 ‘𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 ☕️’

10 MINUTES LATER, YOU CHECKED THE DELIVERY APP ON YOUR PHONE. You’d ordered coffee and some pastries to be delivered as soon as Peter said he would be coming over soon. When there was a knock on the door less than a minute after you locked your phone, you sighed in relief. It had been a little too long since you’d done any grocery shopping, and you were a little afraid Peter might think you were rude if you didn’t have anything to offer him besides water, capri suns, and some chips.

“Hi th— Peter??” You smiled and moved aside so that he could enter your apartment.

“Turns out we’re neighbors,” he laughed. “I thought my phone was glitching when you were less than 30 feet away. I’m right next door, when did you move in?”

“Right before I started at the coffee shop, so not even two weeks. You?”

“Not much longer than you actually. Crazy we’ve never run into each other before when coming or going, considering we’re literally right next door to each other.” Peter shrugs off his backpack and puts it on the small dining room table, pulling out a textbook and 2 notebooks.

“Peter, you seriously might be my new hero.”

“I don’t know how much help I’ll be with statistics, but I’m pretty good with calculus. I brought my textbook over and my notes from when I was still going to school.”

“Hey, any help I get will make a huge difference at this point.”

For the next hour and a half, you both focused solely on calculus. The coffee and pastries arrived just 10 minutes into studying, and you paused halfway through for a snack break, but then got right back to work. Whenever you struggled with a problem, Peter was patient and slowly walked you through it step-by-step until you got the correct answer.

If you thought about it, you weren’t sure why you were trying so har with school. What if after this gap year, you liked it so much that you decide you don’t even want to go to college?

But would that be a waste? Near perfect grades, hours and hours and hours of studying, and despite the occasional struggle, you still managed it.

Although, things have been a struggle in pretty much all other areas. Ever since you took on your… night job… life has felt 10 times more exhausting. Quitting wasn’t an option, at least you don’t want it to be. If you weren’t somehow occupied at night, your mind goes to that dark place that it was in when your parents died, and again when you found out they weren’t returning 5 years later.

Distraction is good, and you know without a doubt, you’d rather be a little tired than sit around and be depressed like that again.

“You okay?”

“Huh? Sorry just thinking.” You look up at Peter, embarrassed that he caught you basically staring off into space. In an attempt to seem a little less dumb, you quickly look at the textbook problem in front of you. “Umm, okay, it has to be C, right?”

“Yes! See, you got it!”

The smile on your face disappears after a few seconds. “It only took me nearly ten minutes. Maybe I should just see if I can drop this class and switch to an easier one.”

“I don’t think you should. The fact that you got the answer, even with a little bit of time and my help, means that you can do this stuff. Come on, I bet with a few more study sessions you’ll be good to go when school starts back up.”

You felt relieved hearing that Petter was willing to help you again.

“Okay, so number ten is actually much easier…”

After a total of 2 and a half hours of studying and working through as many problems as possible, you both agreed to be done for the day. You felt a lot more confident in being able to solve the problems, but it also felt like your brain was going to explode.

Peter, there’s a robbery in progress about two blocks from you.

Peter had programmed Karen to send a text to his phone if there was an emergency, since Karen obviously couldn’t say it out loud without setting off a lot of alarms with you. He nearly jumped out of his seat though. He’d felt so normal spending time with you that he somehow forgot that Karen was actively watching out for crimes / emergencies. He glanced at his phone again when you weren’t looking, so that he could pretend someone else text him and that was why he needed to leave.

“Hey, uh, I’m really sorry to rush off like this but I have to go—” He stood up and began hastily shoving things into his backpack.

“Oh I hope everything’s okay. Thank you again for helping me, I’ll probably tell you this a million more times but you’re a lifesaver.”

“It’s no problem! Actually,” he took his notebook out and placed it back on the table, “we’ll see each other again soon so you can just go ahead and hang onto this for now, I’ll get it back from you next time.”

Less than 1 minute later, he was out the door.

“Okay… bye?”

You glanced at the clock and noticed it wasn’t nearly as late as you thought, so you decided to continue being productive and deep-clean your apartment. The entire place was pretty small, so that only took just over an hour.

Taking a step back and looking at everything, you decided that it was enough work for the day, and made yourself some microwaved popcorn before settling down on the couch to binge watch Criminal Minds again for the millionth time.

“You’re getting race results. And every time you do it affects your mood in court and you’re not having a very good day. That’s because you pick horses the same way you practice law, by always taking the long shot.” You said the words along with Hotch, having memorized the entire scene.

After you finished the episode, you looked at your dining table and saw Peter’s notebook. It occurred to you that you should do something to thank him. Eventually you knew you’d make something for him, but for now you just wanted to send him a little something.

.you sent peter ☕️ a $10 gift card to delmar's.

For the second time that day, Peter nearly dropped his phone. Out of all the places to get food in Queen’s, you somehow chose his favorite. It was also the only place that he felt comfortable going to. Sure, no one knew that he was Spider-Man anymore, but that didn’t stop people from hating the webbed ‘hero’ if you could even call him that anymore. Mr. Delmar, however, didn’t seem to be among those people. He still proudly hung up a photo of the 2 of them posing together, right by the register. And when Peter commented on it, Mr. Delmar launched into a story about how Spider-Man saved his life.

Things were different, now, obviously. People forgot the boy behind the mask, but everyone else’s hatred for Spider-Man seemed to only grow. He knew it probably had something to do with the fact that every news channel played Mysterio’s video multiple times a day.

So when he patrolled, it looked very different. He didn’t swing freely, jumping down and running on occasion when the situation called for it. He stuck to rooftops, using his webs from further away, and he only physically stepped in when he absolutely needed to.

When Peter went to Delmar’s for the first time since Dr. Strange made everyone forget, he knew there was no real reason to worry. But he wouldn’t be Peter Parker, if he didn’t worry. What if the shop was crowded and… people somehow suddenly figured it out?

Those worries were quickly put to rest. Mr. Delmar greeted him just like he would any other new customer, and after he left, Peter was feeling comfortable enough that he went back the next day. It wasn’t long before he knew his regular order again.

After swinging into an alley and making sure no one followed him, he headed back out in his normal clothes. When the bell dinged above the door as he entered Delmar’s, he was greeted with a smile.

“Hey kid! Let me guess, number five with extra pickles, and you want it real flat?”

Exiting the shop just 10 minutes later, he paused and took a photo of his sandwich to send to you. Then he deleted it. Was that weird? But you did pay for it after all. After a few minutes of internal debate, he settled for taking a photo of the outside of the shop instead. When you replied just a moment later saying you were happy he went, and hoped everything was okay, he felt guilty. Maybe he worried you when he rushed out earlier. So he asked if you were working tomorrow, and he ignored the feeling he got when you said yes, and he knew he’d be seeing you.

Before he could respond, though, Karen alerted him of another attempted robbery taking place just a couple of blocks away, so he sighed and placed his phone into his backpack before heading back to the same alley.

tags: @silverwindptv (my love i just now saw your comment about being tagged sndjsjdjfjsf but you’re on the list!)