#i helped a guy choose between two pairs of sunglasses today | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

woniepop · 4 years ago

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TYPES OF DATES ENHYPEN WOULD TAKE YOU ON!

Pairings: Enhypen x Gender Neutral! Reader

Warnings: cursing and mentions of alcohol if you squint

Word Count: about 300 - 400 per member

a/n: this is my first enhypen work if it sucks pls tell me LOL I ALSO LEFT HEESUNGS ON A SAD NOTE OOPS. Also I wrote some of this at 2 am and it is raining so hard. I live in SoCal and I feel like I can’t function when it rains so I had to blast music in my headphones but it’s okay Iz*one’s Fiesta is top tier. I did not mean for it to turn out this long lol.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Lee Heesung

- Karaoke

Sitting on the couch of the private karaoke room, exhausted having just sung and danced all of I Can’t Stop Me, Heesung reaches out to take some of the kimbap you had made together before karaoke happened, kind of like two dates in one day. Since he was always busy, he wanted to spend the most amount of time he could with you this weekend, in case he couldn’t meet you the next. Heesung always did a great job of making you feel loved and appreciated, and today he especially wanted to give all his love and attention to you.

“We should rap all of Canceled in one breathe” Heesung suggests, knowing it was a whole three minute song. Although you know you’d die, you nod excitedly, ready to shout at the top of your lungs “THIS YOU?” because Tana definitely gets canceled every 5-7 business days. He starts off the song, both screaming at the top of your lungs, starting off with Bryce Hall 😼. The song goes very swimmingly actually, definitely taking more than one or two breathes.

Taking a call from your phone, you step outside so as to not disturb the caller with Shake it Off. Your mother wanted you home soon, but you desperately wanted to spend more time with Heesung. Stepping back into the room, you decide one more song is short enough to catch the last train home, you grab the remote and pick your last song, Perfect. It was definitely slower paced than the songs you had sang before but you wanted to have at least one moment of romance before it’s completely dead. Taking your hands, he wraps them around his neck and places his hands on your hips and sways side to side as he sings every word beautifully. Even if you could sing as good as him, he was always so hypnotizing when he sang to you. Ending the song with a kiss, you guys both pull away, very sad at the fact that the night has come to an end.

THE REST ARE UNDER THE CUT!!

༑ ࿐ྂ。Jay Park

- Aquarium

Walking through the hallways hand in hand, you enjoy each other’s presence while admiring all the children excited about the stingray that just swam by. Watching Jay’s face light up when he had finally found the sea otters, you giggle at how cute it was. “Look at all the baby sea otters, Y/n, they’re so cute ahhhh'' He says eagerly. Pulling out your phone to take a picture of him, he grabs your hand and takes your phone. “No, Y/n, we have to take this picture togetherrrr.” he whines. Sighing, you agree and wait for him to find someone to help take the picture for him, obviously right next to the sea otters.

Continuing down the aquarium building, you find the automatic sliding door leading to the outside. Knowing exactly what lies beyond those doors, you pull Jay’s hand and rush out. As a kid, you loved coming to the aquarium to spend time at the petting tank, and now you got to experience it with Jay. Finding a spot at the tank, you dip your hand in and touch the bamboo sharks. You sigh in relief at the nostalgia of it, and turn your head to Jay. “Don’t you want to touch them too?” You ask innocently. Faced flushed, he frantically shakes his head, giving you a blatant no.

Laying your head on his shoulder, you bask in his presence, exhausted by the exciting day you had. Turning on his phone to check the time, you notice he’d set his lockscreen to you. “Did you take that while I was petting the sharks?” Embarrassed, he turns away and avoids the question. “HEY, I could take a picture of you alone for my wallpaper but you could??? Why is this so unfair???” you ask.

“Because…” He says with a sheepish smile on his face. You quickly take out your phone and snap a picture. After a moment of playful fighting and begging to delete the photo on Jay’s end, he ultimately gave up and let you save it as your lock screen as well.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Jake Sim

- Laser tag

Having Jake as a partner, he’d always taken you on more high energy, adrenaline rushing dates, and today was no different. This date, however, he decided to take you to play laser tag, something you had never done before. Entering the lobby, you both decide to be on the same team for the first round, which helped you feel a bit of relief. Choosing a vest to put on, you get very very tangled in it, which causes Jake to laugh a bit but he eventually helps you out.

During your first round, Jake helps you out, staying by your side the entire time and even holding your hand to lead you through the room. It felt really nice, seeing him so protective of you in the moment, but you knew better than to like the thought of it too much, because the next round was going to be a lot different. Unexpectedly, your team lost, which made Jake feel even more competitive and pumped up for the next round.

The next round starts, and surprise!!!!! You and Jake are on opposing teams. It starts off very well actually :D. As soon as you enter the room, your heart starts beating out of your chest and you’re so nervous to be alone. Cautiously maneuvering through the hallways, you scan the premises thoroughly, knowing if Jake ever sees you throughout the game you’d be screwed. Surprisingly enough, you go a bit of time before you hear your vest’s alarm go off, signalling to you that someone has gotten you. You look all around you taking some time before finding Jake crouching on the other side of the wall. You run to the other side of the same wall, and decide to scare him before he could shoot you again. It works out very well, because the next time you see him, he screams and drops to the floor in shock. Taking this chance, you shoot his vest and run away, leaving him no time to get you back.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Park Sunghoon

- Birthday Party

Laying on the floor of your living room with Sunghoon, you lie on your back, trying to cool your body down as much as possible. The hot and humid Korean summers were definitely always fun, but not when you were craving cuddles. Thinking of activities the both of you could do without overheating, you think back to how refreshing all the ice cream was at your friend’s recent birthday party. Although it wasn’t even close to your guys’ birthdays, it gave you a great idea. You shoot up and rush to get dressed, leaving Sunghoon very confused.

Finished, you come back to the living room. “Sunghoon, get dressed. We’re going to the market.” Without question, he does as you ask and you both head to the market in no time.

Walking hand in hand down the ice cream aisle, you grab all the flavors you enjoy, filling your whole basket with different ice creams, toppings, fruit, drinks, and even a cake. “You’re quite hungry, aren’t you?” Sunghoon teases, earning him a slap to the arm.

As soon as you get home, you send Sunghoon alone to the bedroom, telling him you need time to prepare everything. You had pulled all the stops, whipping out the cheap snoopy shaved ice maker, birthday party hats, streamers, balloons, and banners. It was no one’s birthday in particular, but the fake birthday party put you in a festive and refreshing mood. You had set up a giant ice cream sundae bar, and had even made lemonade.

Calling Sunghoon to come out of the bedroom, he was not surprised but very appreciative. He knew you’d pull sh!t like this Wanting to make it even more fun, he suggests to make sundaes for one another, which you happily agree to. The day was so fun, you had forgotten all about the time you had a few hours earlier, suffering in the heat of your apartment.

Sunghoon on the other hand, was so happy that you planned something like this. He was never one to do anything cute for you unless you asked, begged so this time he wanted to show you how grateful he was to you by giving you one FREE boop on the nose. Scooping some ice cream with his fingertip, he lightly taps your nose, leaving the melted strawberry ice cream to drip off your nose.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Kim Sunoo

- Brunch

Being a foodie yourself, you and Sunoo would always go cafe hopping to try out different desserts and drinks. This Saturday morning in particular, you both decided it was time for a change. This change for the greater good would include brunching for hours like stuck up rich moms and judging everyone in the facility, as you do when you are a brunching mother. Dressing in your finest brunching attire and of course, sunglasses, your waiter leads you to the table and you strut down that walkway like you know the difference between regular and Belgian waffles.

Crossing your legs at the same time and sipping your orange juice, wishing you could have added some champagne. Your orders finally arrive, having ordered the classic avocado toast and eggs benedict. Starting with the avocado toast, as per tradition, you and Sunoo construct the perfect first bite, shove it into your mouths, make eye contact and a disgusted face, even though it was very obvious that you guys thought it was delicious.

“I feel they nailed the seasoning because avocado, egg, and bread are known to be very bland flavors. The poached egg was perfectly runny in the middle, which was so satisfying to me, especially knowing that the chef can actually cook an egg right.” You start off, pretending you were some high status food critic, above Gordon Ramsey almost.

Sunoo takes his spoon and splits apart the poached egg on the eggs benedict. The egg just so happened to be a tad bit overcooked and the yolk didn’t rush out as smoothly as the other one did. You make eye contact with Sunoo, the most disgusted look plastered on your faces. A couple seconds pass by and you burst out laughing, forgetting about the egg yolk and shoving a huge bite straight into your face.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Yang Jungwon

- Zoo

When you first suggested going to the zoo with Jungwon he looked at you with a confused face. He loved spending time with you, but why the zoo? It’s stinky and there are too many children everywhere. Nevertheless, after much convincing, he gave in and went with you. The screams of all the tiny children were giving him a headache, but he kept reminding himself he was here for you. Seeing the alligators first, it was definitely acting up and snapping its mouth very angrily and hissing. Just because he wanted to be nice by coming to the zoo with you, didn’t mean he was going to hold back on his snide remarks.

“That’s you that one time I accidentally ate your pastry.” He comments. Rolling your eyes and smacking him in the arm, you continue on the path looking at all the animals in awe. The whole time you walked around you bickered back and forth, many “That’s you when/cause”s being thrown around mercilessly.

The comment that took the cake and left both of you speechless was one made by you. Walking towards the flamingos, everyone knows them for being notoriously stinky. Pinching your nose to go with the comment you were about to say, you chuckle. “It smells like that one time you accidentally farted in your VLive.” you manage to get out with a straight face. I made that up lol

Jungwon stops in his tracks, looking at you like you had just betrayed him. .He stomps his feet on the floor and whines in the middle of the walkway. “Y/nnnnnn you know I’m sensitive about thatttt.” The time you spend with him after you get home consists of him clinging to you, demanding your undivided attention, cuddles and kissies, and for you to blow dry his hair after he showers.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Nishimura Riki

- eating competition

Watching mukbangs all day and cuddling with Niki definitely got both of you hungry pretty quickly. With Niki being a bit homesick and you wanting to improve your cooking, a great idea pops into your heads. You wanted to cook Japanese food for Niki, hoping to aid his homesickness, and Niki wanted to see how much food he could shove down his face until he explodes. And with that, your whole date had become a food eating competition.

Setting all the food down on the table, you had done a very good job. Working your ass off to make not only omurice with curry, but also yakisoba and fried chicken, you were very ready to start your whole competition. Portioning it out evenly with a scale beforehand, you and Niki countdown together and start scarfing down food like you’ve never eaten before. With a mouth full of rice, Niki manages to get out a “It’s really good.” Knowing he liked your food made you feel so proud even though you had just shoved a whole piece of fried chicken in your mouth.

Several minutes, three enhypen members walking past you judgmentally, and 10 napkins later, you and Niki were too stuffed you even have food this close to you. Queue the rest of the enhypen members, they oh so generously gave you their service and finished the food for you guys. Concluding that you and Niki could not in fact eat two family sized meals in one sitting, you lie on the couch about to pass out.

“That was so fun. We should do that again.” Niki says while groaning from stomach pain. “And thank you for thinking about my homesickness and making me Japanese food. I love you so much.” He adds. Ending the day with complaining about being too full, planning the next competition, and even inviting the other members, you both pass out an hour after you had eaten and were punished with the dishes in the morning for being cringely in love out in the open like that.

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peachsayshi · 3 years ago

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Chapter 8 - Heat

Gojo Satoru x Female Reader

Tags: Friends with Benefits, Angst, Tension.

Summary: Rina spots you and Gojo together out in public. Furious that you are keeping a secret from her, she confronts Gojo instead to try and get some answers.

A/N: x

- - -

Goosebumps creeped up Rina’s arms as a weight dropped to the pit of her stomach. She blinked a couple of times, thinking she imagined the scene that played out. Her heart was racing uncontrollably and her response was to dodge behind a tree to try and catch herself.

Rina was working on her day off but she wasn’t too mad about it. In fact, she was glad to spend her time outdoors instead of being confined to her store. What she didn’t expect on her little morning adventure was to find you and Gojo at a park. Without hesitation, Rina stepped her way towards the two of you to say hello but froze when she saw Gojo cup your face in his hand and draw you in for a kiss. His lips lingered for a moment until you lightly pushed him away, cheeks flushed with embarrassment but smiling otherwise. His hand was still pressed against your cheek, his fingers trailing down your neck where his touch stayed as he spoke. Rina couldn’t tell what he was saying, but from the way you reacted she could see that something in his words took your breath away.

Lovers , the two of you were behaving like lovers…

Lifting her back from behind the wooden tree, Rina trudged in the other direction hoping to avoid any confrontation while her thoughts ran rampant.

You were keeping a secret, a first since all these years you have known her. Suddenly your strange behavior started making sense to your dumbfounded best friend. All the secret phone calls and text messages, your constant excuse of not being able to hang out with her, the person who came into your life and somehow uplifted you from this terrible cloud that shrouded you…

There was no “guy at the office” you were dating. Rina swallowed hard when she realised that the person who you have been with this whole time was none other than Gojo.

By the time Rina arrived back home, the hurt began sinking deep in her bones. How long have you been hiding this from her? She could understand keeping things on the low for a while since you have been hesitant about jumping back into a relationship but what possessed you to start getting romantic with Satoru ? You knew better than anyone else that the man could barely commit to a favorite pair of sunglasses let alone an entire relationship!

None of it made any sense…

The two of you talked about everything, it’s been that way since you were teenagers. You weren’t just Rina’s best friend, you were practically her sister. The fact that she found out in this way pained her beyond words. There had to be a reason why you wouldn’t tell her…

Gojo.

This is his fault.

That’s the only explanation.

She clenched her fists together in annoyance. After all this time she thought she could rely on him to keep the one promise he made her but he didn’t.

What else was I expecting? she thought to herself, he’s always been selfish.

***

A few days later, Rina decided she needed to confront the truth head on and get some information. At first she was thinking of speaking to you directly but hesitated. There was a wall that barricaded her from questioning your relationship and she found herself nervous even approaching you to ask. Instead of treading that very awkward path, Rina decided to ask the only other person who could give her some indication on what was happening. That’s how Gojo wound up sitting at the counter of her confectionery shop, drinking lemonade and watching her with curiosity as she tended to her last few customers of the evening.

“Rina-chan,” Gojo said with a big smile, his voice almost sickeningly sweet. “You did well today! I am glad to see your business is so successful!”

Rina nodded her head, forcing herself to return the smile but Gojo could clearly see that she was faking it.

“Thank you.”

Gojo leaned back, folding his arms over his chest while maintaining the happy mask on his face. “I appreciate you asking me to come over to try out some new things but honestly, I don’t think you seem very interested in my feedback,” he paused for a moment, gesturing that he was thinking hard before jokingly adding on, “are you just feeding me to get rid of items you don’t like?”

Rina furrowed her brows, not finding his teasing words amusing at all.

“No.” she replied curtly.

Gojo hooked his thumb underneath his blindfold, lifting it up as he leaned on the counter.

“Rina-chan…” he said softly, “are you mad at me?”

Rina squeezed the apron she was wearing with her hands, unable to look him in the eye.

“Yes.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“ Yes.”

“Huh,” Gojo let go of his blindfold, aware that Rina was completely avoiding his gaze. “Sometimes I don’t realise it. If my criticism was too harsh, please don’t get upset with me! Who am I to tell you what improvements you need to make for you products-”

“It’s not that. I don’t care about that …”, Rina blurted, finally shifting her attention on to him and noticing that her string of words caught him off guard.

“Well, at least you’re saying full sentences now!”

For whatever reason his careless attitude was making her angrier. Rina could feel herself erupting but knew she was being irrational. She needed to explain her feelings calmly so as to not cause a scene. She’s seen Gojo clock out of conversations before when they got too serious. Inhaling slowly, she took her time to remove her apron before standing in front of him.

“Do you remember a conversation we had three years ago?”

“You’re mad at me about something I said three years ago? We’ve had quite a few conversations since then, I think I need you to jog my memory…”

Rina looked down at her feet, “the conversation where you promised me something…”

Gojo’s eyes widened, knowing exactly what Rina was talking about. “I never broke my promise…”

“ Liar,” Rina hissed, “I saw you two at the park, Gojo!”

The smile that had been settling on the curve of the sorcerer’s lips finally rested into a straight line. Gojo sensed that he might have seen Rina in the distance that day but second guessed his gut instinct.

“ Oh”

“ Oh?! That’s all you have to say!”

“Well, what do you want me to say?”

“I want to know why you broke your promise! You told me you had no intention of crossing the line with her. You said you wouldn’t!”

“I know what I said…”

Tears brimmed Rina’s eyes, she was clearly visibly frustrated and Gojo wasn’t helping the situation at all. She expected him to confess immediately once she informed him that she knew the truth but he brushed her off like it didn’t mean a thing.

“I never broke my promise,” Gojo explained nonchalantly, casually taking a sip of his drink before placing it on the counter. “I never made a move on her. She approached me.”

“She... what ?” Rina questioned, a wave of confusion running through her and making her slightly nauseous.

“Look, I’m sorry you found out this way. I understand how you feel, nothing hurts more than when the person closest to you keeps secrets from you,” Gojo continued, hoping to diffuse the situation. “In my defence, you didn’t specify that I couldn’t accept her if she were to ask for my company...”

“Then why would you ask her to lie about it?”

Gojo scoffed, “do you really think so little of me? I don’t care if you know. I don’t care if anyone knows! She’s the one who is choosing to keep it from you.”

Rina’s shoulder slumped, realising that hearing those words was definitely worse than proving her initial theory right.

Gojo wasn’t manipulating you into hiding your relationship from Rina because you were doing that yourself. On top of that, you were distancing yourself from her by not revealing the truth. Whatever was going on between you both, you were working damn hard to ensure that Rina wouldn't find out, which was making her worry even more.

Gojo remained stoic, an usual response for his character but he knew he was treading on unstable ground right now. You and Rina were two peas in a pod, and right now he was caught in the middle of an argument. He didn’t want to say anything that would further upset your friend, nor was he willing to disclose any information that might betray your trust.

Tsk, this is annoying, he thought to himself.

Rina placed her hand on the table, her body trembling slightly but she ensured she made full eye contact with Gojo before she said her statement, “I don’t care how handsome you are, or how strong, or powerful...She’s too good for you . She always has been. The only reason she’s with you right now is because she’s hurt . She is convincing herself that dating you will make up for her heartbreak but it won’t…”

“Wait, you think we’re…”

“Once you get bored of her, you’ll toss her aside. You’re just going to end up hurting her! You think I don’t know that you are the reason why her ex broke up with her in the first place?! He told me about the conversation you had with her the night of my Halloween party! He told me that you threatened him! You pathetic excuse for a man. ...”

“Rina…”

“You’ve been trying to get with her since you met! Your immature, selfish nature is the reason why she hasn’t been able to get over her sadness! You don’t care about anyone but yourself!”

Gojo slammed his fist on the counter, the vibration from his strength forcing Rina to jump back in surprise, snapping her out of her anger.

Her emotions began fizzling away, taking her out of the rage that she was in. The words she shot at Gojo were now registering in her head, and her hurt was replaced with guilt. She didn’t mean to yell at him. She couldn’t understand why she was angry to begin with. None of this was her business and frankly if you wanted to start a relationship with Gojo who was she to stop you?

Except, she didn’t trust him.

You were fragile as it is, and he was the last thing you needed.

“Gojo... I …”

“Rina-chan,” Gojo said, softening his words and flashing her a cold grin. “Clearly, you’re upset about this situation. I think the best solution is for the two of you to speak directly with each other. I’m sure she’ll give you a proper explanation that will ease your worries.”

He stood up from his seat, bowing politely in her direction and taking this opportunity to leave.

“I’ll get out of your way now. Thanks for the lemonade.”

“Gojo...wait…” Rina protested, her voice breaking but he merely waved as he walked out the door.

***

Gojo was seeing red.

He paced down the streets, his own irritation brewing within him like a hurricane from the scene that just unfolded. He held his tongue for your sake; most people would think twice before even thinking of speaking to him in that matter.

He didn’t care that Rina was upset. Frankly, that wasn’t any of his business. However, the fact that she threatened him with his own secrets was the reason he couldn’t suppress his growing vexation. Despite what he was feeling, he empathised with Rina; it’s frustrating not being able to speak to the person who mattered to you the most.

The sorcerer understood that more than anybody else.

He would give anything to talk to Suguru again.

When he needed somebody to turn to is when he missed his best friend the most. Even if it was over a petty, meaningless situation like this. The fact that Suguru filled the silence with words was something. Nowadays he suffers with his own thoughts, his dear friend’s voice merely conscious in his mind.

Why are you allowing yourself to get upset over these monkeys? , is what Suguru would probably say. You’re pathetic for letting them twist you in this way.

Then again, there was another side to Suguru, the man he was before he changed. That man would have probably said: “ just tell her the truth, you’re digging a hole for yourself trying to control the situation.”

Although Gojo was calculative with his decision, his mind was volatile. Sometimes he would act then settle the aftermath of his choices later. As a result he had a habit of not thinking things through. He had no clue what your ex-boyfriend told Rina but she had a picture perfect idea on who the villain was in the scenario. Gojo, on the other hand, would argue his case if you were to ever find out what really happened.

She has to believe I was looking out for her, he thought.

Were you looking out for her? Or was her friend right about your intentions? Suguru’s voice replied back.

With nowhere else to go, Gojo decided to make his way over to your place. The two of you were always busy and rarely planned surprise visits, but right now he was desperate to see you and all he wanted to do was blow off some steam.

By the time Gojo arrived at your door it was dark outside. He waited patiently for you to open it for him, his heart racing slightly as he heard the patter of your footsteps from behind the frame.

“ Satoru…” you said, greeting him in a pair of fleece shorts and an oversized tee, your voice soft and gentle as always. “What are you doing here?”

Gojo leaned against the frame, peeking into your apartment for a second. He caught a glimpse of your table, your laptop was open and documents surrounded your entire set up. He could hear the sound of some music playing from your computer, and could smell the coffee that you had resting on the coaster next to it.

“Are you busy right now or working?”

“I’m working but I can stop for a couple of hours if there’s something you need.”

He passed the threshold, stepping around you before shutting the door on your behalf. He was positioned behind you, one of his large hands planted on the door as he looked down at you with desperation.

“Is there something wrong?” you asked, squinting your eyes at him with confusion.

There’s no way she would hate me, Gojo thought, finally answering the question Suguru posed in his mind. If I was looking out for her, who cares what my intentions were?

The sorcerer bent down to pick you up from your thighs, carrying you in his arms before pinning you against your front door. He felt you grab onto him for support before crashing his lips onto yours and proceeding to kiss you with sheer intensity. Your lips were soft against his and he could tell you weren’t anticipating his reaction, but the two of you have made kissing such a habit it was easy for you to find your rhythm with him the minute you settled yourself. Your legs were wrapped around his stomach, and he felt your thighs clench against his waist as he slid his tongue on yours. One of his hands gripped tightly around your leg, while the other snaked its way underneath your shirt.

Gojo groaned into your mouth, realising that you weren’t wearing a bra and his thumb stroked your nipple, feeling it perk up at his touch. One of your arms was draped lazily over his shoulder, the other tangled in his white hair which you tugged at before pulling away from him. You pressed your forehead against his, the two of you breathing heavily as you finally managed to open your eyes to face him. Your cheeks were flushed, your heart racing so hard that Gojo could feel it beating against his chest.

“Is-is everything alright?” you asked, panting heavily and only fueling Gojo’s growing desire.

“I don’t really feel like talking,” he replied through gritted teeth, squeezing your breast as he brought his lips back down to yours, wanting nothing more than to suffocate himself with your lips.

- CHAPTER 9: INTIMATE (1) -

#Gojo Satoru x reader #Gojo x reader #Gojo Satoru x ofc #Gojo x ofc #Gojo fan fiction #Gojo Satoru fan fiction #Gojo smut #Gojo fluff #Gojo angst #Gojo Satoru #jjk fic #jjk fan fiction #jujutsu kaisen fan fiction #gojo

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maddiwrites · 4 years ago

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Secrets of the Shore

Pairing: Pogues x OC, eventually JJ x OC

Summary: This is just my rewrite of the show Outer Banks with my own twist by adding another main character which also happens to be John B’s twin sister.

Note: Thank you so much for all the nice things you guys have said about chapter one! A couple people have asked to be tagged for every update so I started a tag list. If you would like to be tagged, please message me! I hope I got everyone who asked and if I didn’t please let me know. Next chapter, you’ll learn more about Marleigh and her personality so bare with me (: Gonna post updates every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday (:

Another Note: Apparently my hashtags didn’t work the last time so I’m reposting this. I don’t know what happened. Sorry! Let me know if they worked this time (:

Word Count: 7.9k

Warnings: None

Chapter One

I wake up to the rustling of John B walking through the Chateau, kicking over empty beer cans and muttering to himself. He mentions something about service, but I can barely understand through the fog in my own head that's still heavy with sleep.

"Yo, JJ," He says and I hear a slap against bare skin. "You been outside?"

"I have polio, bro," JJ grumbles into his pillow. "I can't walk."

I peek one eye open. The sunlight coming in through the window blinds me for a second. I'm curled into myself with my back to JJ. He's sleeping on his stomach, his left arm slung over my side.

I groan as I pull myself up and lean against the back of the couch. Stretching my arms, I turn to look out the window. Even with just a quick glimpse, I can see the mess in our back yard Hurricane Agatha made. A wash of frustration runs through me when I think about all the work we're going to have to do to clean it up. Not just here but on Figure Eight too. No way those Kooks get their hands dirty for this.

I swing my legs over the mattress and follow my brother outside after hearing JJ mumble something about me leaving. His morning voice sends a rush of warmth to my chest and I have to hold back the grin that's fighting it's way on my lips.

The first thing I see is the giant tree that now lays across our yard, ripped out of its roots. Had the wind been blowing the other way, it would have landed on our house and we would have been screwed.

"Damn," I whistle, still scanning the damage. John B's pulling branches out of the HMS Pogue. Somehow our small boat has managed to survive the storm. I look over to the chicken coop that's to the side of our home. The roosters are crowing which means they're alive too.

"Agatha did some work, huh?" JJ says from the porch door. He already has a beer in his hand as he studies our yard. I know he's already thinking about the labor he'll have to put into other people's yards too.

"Yeah, she did," My brother says, looking out into the water.

"What you thinking?"

John B looks back with a smirk on his lips. "I'm thinking that storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze. All those drum are gonna chase the crab."

"What about the DCS? Wasn't that today?" JJ asks, looking between my brother and I.

He shakes his head. "Nah, they're not getting on a ferry." He hops down from the boat and approaches us. "Come on, think about it. It's God tellin' us to fish."

JJ smirks back at him. "Yeah."

"Let me get changed first," I tell them before turning back into my house.

No lights turn on when I flick the switch on my bedroom wall. Now I know what John B was muttering about when he first woke up. I pull up the blinds on my windows to let some kind of light through my room. Then I hold up two bathing suits in my mirror, trying to pick between the blue one or the floral one.

"I like the blue one," JJ says, welcoming himself into my room. I swivel around in surprise. I thought I locked my door. I glare at the intrusion but he ignores it, his smirk only growing. "Matches your eyes and if I remember correctly, the bottoms are more cheeky than the other ones."

I throw the floral bikini top in his direction, which he skillfully dodges. I don't know if it was JJ's opinion or if I was already leaning towards the blue bathing suit, but that's the one I choose.

As JJ ruffles through his duffel bag on my dresser, I go to the bathroom to change. I throw on another pair of jean shorts and a T shirt and follow the boys out to the dock where they're already getting the boat ready.

Its kind of routine when the Pogues have a boat day. We make our way through the marsh, first picking up Pope and then Kie, who will more than likely have a cooler packed with drinks and snacks. We'll stay on the water for hours, getting sunburnt and drunk until the sun goes down or one of us wants to go back to surf.

I look over the damage that Hurricane Agatha as tortured onto our side of the island. Everyone's yard looks just like mine. Fallen trees and branches litter their back yards. Some boats have sunken into the water, and not a single house looks like they have power.

"Good morning!" John B yells to the residents as we drive by. Always the friendly face he is.

"Sure hope Guffy's boat didn't sink," JJ says, standing on the front of the boat, looking into the yards. "He doesn't have insurance."

"Yeah."

"Hi, Miss Amy!" I wave to the woman raking the leaves and picking up sticks. She looks up at us and waves back, taking a break from the yard work. "You guys get through it?"

She motions to her yard and shrugs her shoulders. "Still here!"

She goes back to her yard work and JJ immediately turns around and looks at John B with a proud smile. "She totally looked at me."

"I saw it." John B smirks back, playing along.

I roll my eyes and lean further back into the boat, pulling my sunglasses over my eyes and muttering the word 'idiot.'

"Dude look at this place." JJ whistles. "Agatha what did you do?"

"She is a crazy lady."

"Hard-core Hurricane surge. We'll be cleaning this all summer."

"That's my nightmare."

"Well, look who we have here," JJ says, making me look up at the dock we're closely approaching.

I make my way to the front of the boat to stand next to JJ as we get closer to Pope's dock where he is standing with his father already on clean up duty.

John B talks into his shoulder like a cop radios his partners and changes his voice to sound like he's speaking through a megaphone. "We have a safety meeting. Attendance mandatory." He even mimics the static noise those horns make.

Pope looks at us defeated. "I can't. My pop's got me on lockdown."

"Come on, Pope!" I groan.

JJ does the same thing as John B and talks into his shoulder, using the same voice. "Your dad's a pussy. Over."

Heyward approaches the railing of his deck and points at JJ with a glare. "Oh, I heard that, you little bastard."

I can't help but laugh at the interaction.

"We need your son!" I add.

"Yeah, and island rule. Day after a hurricane's a free day," JJ says.

"Who made that up?" Heyward continues to glare at him.

"Uh, Pentagon, I think. We have security clearance." JJ pretends to check his pockets. "I have a card."

"Think I'm stupid?"

Pope turns to his father with pleading eyes. "I'll do it tomorrow. I promise. Tomorrow."

Immediately his father shakes his head. "You think - no. No." Pope looks at us, silently conflicted. "Hell no," His dad says, reading his son's face. "You doin' it right now."

Pope looks back at us. When he finds my eyes I nod my head and wave him closer to me. "Come on. Get in the boat."

"Make a run for it," JJ says too.

Heyward glares at us. "Boy if you get in that boat -"

Pope doesn't wait to hear the rest of that sentence. He's already taking off towards us. JJ's there, ready to help him in before his dad can catch up to him. I clap my hands and wrap my arms around his neck in a tight hug when he makes it in. John B immediately starts driving away.

"How does that feel?" JJ says.

Pope can't even enjoy the moment completely. His dad yells at us as we float away and he's waving to John B to drive faster. "Go, go, go, go."

"Bring your ass back up here!" Heyward continues to yell at us.

Pope turns to yell back at his dad. "I promise I'll do it tomorrow, Dad."

"You're gonna clean shrimp, clean fish -"

"Love you pops!"

"Love you pops!" I repeat, falling back in my seat at the end of the boat and laughing up at the sky.

"We'll bring him back in one piece!" John B yells. "I promise."

"And I don't like your friends!" Is the last thing we hear from him.

A couple minutes later, we're driving down Kook land. Kie is already at the edge of her dock, holding a cooler like I knew she would. Her curly brunette hair falls behind her shoulders. I wish I had hair like her's.

JJ walks to the side to help her in. He holds out his hand for her to take. "Oh, top o' the mornin' to ya."

"Good morning," She says, moving to the end of the boat to take a seat next to me.

"Morning," John B and I say.

"Whatcha got?" Pope asks her. "You got some juice boxes?"

"You know, just some yogurts and carrot sticks," She replies sarcastically, using her shoulder to shove me slightly when I scoff.

"How about my kind of juice box?" JJ says, falling on the seat on the other side of me.

"Yeah." Kie pulls out the bottles of beer and hands them out. The three of us cheer when we pop the cap off. I let the carbonated bread water, as I like to call it, slide down my throat. Beer always taste better in the boat in the summer.

John B and Pope switch seats, leaving Pope behind the wheel.

"Brace for impact," Pope says as he picks up speed now that we're past the 'No Wake' zone. My hair flies behind my shoulders as the wind rushes past me.

JJ stands up and holds out his hands in the air, basking in the breeze and morning sun. "Bet you can't do this. Party trick." I narrow my eyes at him, glaring through the beaming sun. "Hey, Pope. Can you go a little faster?"

"Here we go. I'm movin'," Pope says.

John B shakes his and watches JJ hold out the beer in front of his face. "Doesn't work."

"We've tried this like six thousand times," I say through my laugh. I look back down at Kie who is also rolling her eyes playfully.

"I got this. It's gonna work," JJ says.

JJ tilts the beer bottle towards his mouth letting the momentum and the wind pull the beer out of the bottle and splash on his face, barely hitting his open mouth like he intended it to. The excessive beer splashes down on mine and Kie's skin.

"You're getting beer in my hair!" Kie complains, moving to the other side of the boat next to John B.

JJ doesn't stop. He keeps moving his head to catch the liquid but he will never move fast enough to catch the mess he's creating.

"All right. All right. You're done." John B says.

"All right, stop!" Kie says, everyone somewhat annoyed that they're going to smell like beer for the next twelve hours.

Before JJ could even consider listening to any of us, the boat comes to a complete halt, jerking us forward and sending JJ flying off the boat. I slam onto the floor of the boat on my side. A small groan escapes my lips as a dull pain shoots through my hipbone.

"Jesus, Pope!" Kie yells. When I look up, she and John B are also on the floor. The steering wheel broke Pope's fall.

I pull myself up and fall back on my original seat. I twist my body around to look for JJ in the water. John B calls for him, asking if he's okay. His head peeks out from the water's surface and squints back at us with a grimace.

"I think my heels touched the back of my head."

I laugh at the exaggerated statement.

"Kie, Mar, you guys okay?" John B asks.

I look back to see Kie pulling herself off the ground and falling next to John B in the seat next to him. He rubs the skin on her back comfortingly. She smiles at him gratefully and nods her head. I keep my stare there for a few more long seconds. Recently Kie and John B have been hanging out more closely with one another. Obviously, they're best friends like the rest of us, but they're always picking the seat that's next to one another. Touches linger on the other's skin, and even Kie is laughing at John B's not so funny jokes.

"Pope what did you do?" JJ swims back to the boat.

"Sandbar," Pope says, looking out into the water. "Channel changed."

"No shit."

"This is probably gonna mess this whole place up," John B says.

"Hey, I saved the beer, though."

A sarcastic scoff blows past my lips and I shake my head. "Congrats, JJ."

"Guys..." I look back over at Pope who's fixated on something in the water as he stands on the side of the boat, unmoving. Barely blinking. "I think there's a boat down there."

"Shut up. What?"

"No way."

"No, no, guys. I'm serious. There's a boat down there," Pope says.

I follow the others to the side of the boat to find what Pope is staring at. I'm ready to tell Pope he's seeing things and needs to get a couple more hours of sleep, but to my surprise he is right. A couple feet below the murky water is the silhouette of an overturned boat.

"Guys...is this..." John B says slowly.

"It's a boat!" Kie says.

I'm the first one to start stripping out of my clothes, curiosity overwhelming me. I want to see what's down there...if someone is down there.

"Guys, wait up!" I hear Pope yell as soon as I dive into the water next to JJ.

I swim deeper into the water, ignoring the thudding pain in my ears as I sink further into the marsh. The salt water slightly stings my eyes, but it isn't anything I'm not already use to. You kind of get use to it after wiping out in the ocean every time you surf.

The boat's bigger than the water's surface made it out to be. I don't think it's real until I feel the smooth exterior under my fingertips. I push myself a little deeper before I run out of air. I try looking through the open bars into the driver's seat. A part of me is afraid of what I might see, but I have to know. I have to make sure there's no one in here. Trapped and decaying all alone. My biggest fear is that my dad is somewhere in the middle of the ocean submerged in that same position.

However, I'm relieved when I don't see a dead body floating around the steering wheel.

When I feel my chest tighten, I push myself up to the surface. I gasp for air the second the cool breeze hits my face.

"You guys saw that?" JJ pants.

"Yeah!"

"Yeah I did!"

"Yeah!"

We swim back to the boat. John B climbs up first then holds out his hand for me to take. JJ is right behind me and pulls himself up.

"See?" He smirks at me when John B moves to help Pope and Kie up the boat. "Cheeky."

I shove his chest back with two hands. He falls back into the seat I had originally occupied, laughing to himself. I roll my eyes and throw my jean shorts back on when my legs are dry.

I both love it and hate it when JJ makes comments like that. It makes my heart flutter every time and fireworks explode in my stomach. But every euphoric feeling I get dissipates within seconds when I remember that the two of us will never happen. Because he's my brother's best friend. Because he's my best friend. And I can't ruin that like I ruin everything else in my life.

JJ turns to the rest of our friends and runs his fingers through his wet and tangled hair. "That's a Grady-White. A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy. That's a primo rig."

"Yeah. That's the boat we saw when we surfed the surge." John B says, catching my attention. "Maybe it hit the jetty or something."

The memory of last night sprints to the front of my brain. The boat. I should have expected it to sink, but shouldn't have someone been behind the wheel? Whoever it was, I hope they made it out alive. I can't help but feel a small sliver of hope for that person since I didn't find them trapped inside the boat. With that sliver of hope came the reminder of my dad's disappearance like a slap in the face. Maybe if something had happened to him, he could have made it out alive too.

No. He is dead, I tell myself.

"You surfed the surge?" Kie's voice brings me out of my head. Her voice is strong and laced with disapproval.

"That's my boy. Pogue style!" JJ cheers.

"Why are you only looking at me? It was Marleigh's idea!" John B points an accusatory finger my way, hoping to take some of the blame off of motherly Kie.

Kie turns to glare at me. "What the heck?"

"Pope was there too!" I follow John B's lead by pointing my finger at someone else. This in return earns Pope a glare from our curly brunette friend.

"They guilted me into it! Said if they didn't have another pair of eyes, they'd probably drown and no one would be there to save them," Pope says with a glare. "They're lucky I was there. I was the one who saw Mar go under."

"I was fine!" I roll my eyes at Pope's dramatized version of events.

"Wait, wait." JJ interrupts the bickering. "Do we know whose boat that is?"

John B shakes his head and walks to the back of the boat where JJ and I are standing. "No, but we're about to find out."

"Dude, it's too deep."

"Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ."

JJ makes his way to the opposite side of boat next to Kie and Pope. He digs into the cooler for another beer and takes a long swig. "Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front."

John B pulls the anchor up and untangles it from the chains. "That's fine." He holds the anchor close to his chest, using the extra weight to drag him down further into the water. He catches Kie's disappointed glare and sighs. "What?"

Pope looks between the two and brings his hand up as a salute to my brother. "Diver down, fool."

John B nods. "Diver down."

JJ walks up to him and shoves him in the water by his chest before he can change his mind. "Yeah, he is."

John B's body disappears behind the muddy water. No one says anything as we wait. Kie bounces anxiously next to me on her toes. Her hands grip the edge of the boat until her knuckles turn white. I want to say something to her, to make her relax, but I don't want to embarrass her in front of the other two idiots on the boat.

"Should we go get him?" Pope asks after it's been a minute.

Before Kie can jump into the water, John B resurfaces, coughing water out of his mouth.

"Oh my God." Kie scowls. "That took forever."

I shake my head with a small smile on my lips and take the anchor from his hands.

"Any dead bodies?" Pope asks.

"Looting potential?" JJ follows up.

John B pulls himself into the boat. I hand him a towel.

"No. No." He shakes his head but holds something small in his hand. "But I found this motel key."

"A key," Pope says with no emotion, clearly not as excited as John B.

"Yeah, a key, Pope."

"Great!" JJ snags the key out of his hand and looks at it. "We salvaged a motel key."

"Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard," Kie says.

I agree with Kie. "Maybe we'll get a finder's fee."

"Yeah and not work all summer," JJ says. "Thanks Agatha, ya batch."

John B drives us back to the shore, but we don't go to the Chateau. We go to the coast guard to report the boat.

I'm not surprised to see the coast guard's post surrounded with people, shouting complaints and concerns. There is no designated line for people to professionally line themselves up. At least, if there is, no one is following the order.

I decide to wait with Pope and Kie in the boat while John B and JJ try to report the sunken boat. I rest my legs on the cooler and bask in the late morning sun with the spare couple of seconds I have in silence.

However those seconds are short-lived when I feel someone kick my legs off the cooler, almost knocking me off my seat.

"What the -"

Then I feel an upward slap to the back of my head. "The surge!"

"Ow, Kie!"

"You could have died out there!"

"But I didn't." I offer a guilty smile. When she doesn't smile back, I sigh and sit myself up straighter. "It's fun, Kie. You'll never know until you try it. You should come out with us next time."

"Your brother would have never let you do it, let alone join you."

Her words make me pause. It's true John B use to be more responsible. Out of the two us, he was always the one to keep us both in line. Sometimes he would be like a second father to me. He always protected me, bandaged me up, and took the fall for mistakes I made. Now he is following in my footsteps. Taking more risks with an act-now-think-later mentality. All of our friends know he's doing this to deal with our dad's disappearance. Unlike Kie, I don't think what he's doing is wrong. He's having more fun, and he's not going to kill himself doing it.

It's better than what I was doing when I tried forgetting about what might of happened to my dad.

The boys return with blank faces. I can already tell that the coast guards couldn't care less about their problem, let alone if they even listened.

"Well, that went well," John B says.

"So what's the plan?" I ask, ignoring Kie's deadly stare on the side of my head.

"I know how we're gonna find the guy who owns that boat." John B holds up the key with a mischievous smirk.

"We don't know who's room that is." Pope is quick to try to stop him. "It could be anyone."

Shockingly, Kie doesn't take Pope's side. She slaps her hands to the back of his shoulders and giggles. "Come on. I'll be lookout."

After JJ unties the boat from the dock, John B steers the boat in the direction of the motel.

"Finder's fee," John B shrugs. "Just saying."

"And hey, at least you'll only be an accomplice," JJ says as he stands next to John B, smirking down at a disapproving Pope.

"Man," Pope complains.

"Come on, bubba," John B laughs.

A couple minutes later, we pull up to the dock outside the motel, in front of the parking lot. I've seen run down motels before, but this one looks like it could be used in a horror movie. The wooden siding is peeling off, littering the pavement below. The railing on the balcony looks less than stable, most slabs even missing.

JJ whistles. "I thought the Chateau looked bad."

"This place is a shit show," John B agrees.

"Motel or meth lab?" Kie says.

"You be the judge," says Pope.

"Doesn't look like a place somebody with a Grady-White stays," I say, confused as to why a man living here had a boat as expensive as the one we found.

"No. Looks like a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed," Pope says.

JJ walks to the edge of the boat to tie us to the dock. I come up behind him to help.

"This is your captain speaking. HMS Pogue comin' in for landing," JJ announces.

"We good?" John B asks as I tie the last knot.

"Yeah, we good," JJ replies.

I get out of the boat first and flip my sunglasses on top of my head. There's only two cars in the parking lot, which is good news. Less chances of us getting caught.

"All right. Here goes nothin'," John B says, hopping out of the boat next to me. JJ follows.

As we turn to walk away, Pope calls out for us to stop. "Hey!"

"Yeah?" John B asks.

"Don't let them do anything stupid," He tells my brother, nodding towards JJ and I with his head. I stick my tongue out at him but he doesn't acknowledge it.

JJ wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his side. "Oh, we will."

I laugh and shove him off of me.

John B laughs too before turning to Pope. "I'm not making any promises."

"Yeah I know," Pope finally sighs.

"Hey!" Kie walks to the side of the boat that's next to the dock. Neither John B or Kie say anything for a moment. They both just stand there, looking at each other for about two seconds too long. If I were any closer, I'd be able to see them blushing like crazy. "Uh, be careful." She looks over his shoulder at JJ and I who are watching them with raised brows and amused expressions. "I mean it."

"Yeah," John B chuckles and follows JJ and I out to the stairs that will bring us to the second floor of the motel.

The smell of the motel is almost as bad as it looks. Like a sweat box drenched in urine with a hint of cigarette smoke. Stacked on the side of the building near every room is a bare mattress, not one of them without a yellow or brown stain.

"Why are all these mattresses out?" I ask.

"After a hurricane, they ditch 'em 'cause they're moldy," JJ answers me before turning to slap his hands on John B's shoulders. He raises his voice an octave higher to mimic Kie and pretends to fawn over him. "Just be so careful, John."

John B pushes him away and rolls his eyes. "God, you're so weird."

"What was that about?" JJ continues.

"I don't know. Maybe she wants us to be careful." My brother plays dumb. It makes me roll my eyes. I don't know if he's just trying to avoid the conversation or if he's just that blind.

"Since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's just been, like -" Again JJ raises his voice and clings onto John B's arm. "Oh be careful John B."

John B pushes him off again. "Get off."

JJ continues, "Oh, give me that John D already." He drops his voice back to normal. "When are you gonna swoop on that, man?"

I roll my eyes and lead the way. Most of the curtains are pulled down on every window. The doors lining the walls look thin enough that I could fall through them and accidentally whip them open. Even the wood I'm standing on doesn't seem sturdy enough. I feel like I'm going to fall through it with every step.

"Bro, you know the rule. No pogue-on-pogue macking."

"Yeah, trust me. I know that rule."

I look over my shoulder at the blonde boy, only to find him staring straight back at me. He quickly winks at me before I turn back around. Something flutters in my stomach.

"You're the one always hitting on her," John B retaliates.

"Of course I'm always hitting on her," JJ says. And just like that, the flutters are gone and replaced with something that more resembles nausea. "She's a super-hot, rich, hippie chick slumming with us. Why? I can't figure it out either, but who cares, bro? I know that door's locked because I've tried it. Have you?"

"You need help."

"You both need help," I say, keeping my eyes on the numbers on each door. We're getting close.

"Not a little help, you need a lot of help," John B continues, ignoring me completely. "It's like every girl who just has a heartbeat, you're like...'Uhh.'"

We finally reach room twenty nine and I turn to look at the two knuckleheads with a glare. I love being their friend and all but sometimes the bro talk needs to stay within the bros.

"What? It's not a big deal," JJ says more to me than John B which only makes me roll my eyes more. "You do the same thing."

"Shut up. This is us. Twenty-nine," I say.

JJ sighs and walks to the other side of me to peek into the window. When he doesn't see anything he knocks on the door. In an even higher pitched voice he says, "Housekeeping." I look behind us to make sure no one is looking.

"Should we try it?" John B asks.

"Yeah," JJ and I say at the same time, taking a step back so John B can use the key to let us in.

"No power. No security cameras. No one's gonna know," JJ says as a final push to invade this guy's privacy and ransack his room. Find out why he has a Grady-White and how we can get equally as lucky.

The door opens with a loud creak. The inside looks just as bad as the outside. Musty, dirty, and smells like the actual housekeepers haven't visited for weeks. Maybe months. As suspected the power is out and the windows are so dirty that barely any natural light can peek through them.

On the full size bed is a small green duffel bag and a pack of cigarettes. Next to it is a pillow I would not trust laying my head. Dirty laundry surrounds it on the floor and if I listen closely, I'm pretty sure I can hear a mouse squeaking away in a corner.

"Check the bag. See if there's a name on there somewhere," John B tells me.

I grimace as I reach my hand below the zipper. I don't know what I'm going to find in there but my mind immediately thinks there's a severed head laying in the bag. In a motel like this, the idea isn't far fetched. But instead, I pull out a coat.

"A jacket," I tell them. Nothing special but at least it's not a head.

John B holds up a pair of shoes. "Denim slides."

I look at the tag and run my fingers through the pockets. There's nothing that tells me who it belongs to. "No name on the jacket."

"It's a nice jacket though," JJ says, walking up next to me and taking it from my hands to look at it. "Definitely over 50."

John B holds up another pair of shoes. "He's got New Balances."

JJ finds a small map on the night stand and holds it out to the light. "Yo, dude, come here. Maybe this is where they were fishing."

John B grabs the map to look at it. "Let me see."

"Right there." JJ points at the part that's circled in red pen.

"No, that's off the continental shelf. That's Big Swell. Nobody fished there."

John B tucks the map in his back pocket and moves to the other side of the room. He picks up a cup and sniffs it, immediately pulling it away with a cringe. "Coffee?" He offers me the mug.

"Yeah," I reply sarcastically, turning away to shuffle through the random pieces of paper on the nightstand. Just a couple of receipts from the donut shop down the street. Nothing that has a name on it. Plus a piece of paper that has random numbers on it.

"Standard. Tissues when you get lonely," JJ says from the bathroom, tossing anything that seems invaluable over his shoulder into the dirty bath tub behind him. "Oh!"

"What?" I look up at him, hopeful that he found something that we actually came looking for. Although, I don't really know what that is yet. "Did you find anything?"

"A really awesome Dopp kit your brother won't let me steal."

John B smirks at him. "Yeah, 'cause we're not stealing shit."

JJ groans and throws the kit over his shoulder with the other crap he's not taking.

John B opens the cabinet under the TV stand. He drops to his knees when he finds a small safe with a padlock protecting it. I walk up behind him and squat next to him, narrowing my attention at the codes he's trying. I roll my eyes at the first one. "One-one-one-one." The safe beeps at the incorrect password. Then he tries "One-one, one, two." Again the safe beeps at us three times.

"Punching shit at random. That will...definitely work," JJ says behind us. He bends down to pull the map back out of John B's pocket to look at it.

"Wait a second," I say, turning back to the nightstand with the paper that had the four random numbers on it. It suddenly makes sense. "Here."

"I don't know. I don't know about the second one," JJ says, more to himself because John B and I are more focused on the safe. "These coordinates, they...wait. My cousin said you could catch swordfish here."

"Six, one, six, six, six," John B mutters to himself.

"Six, six, six. That can't be a good sign," I say.

"Nah, that wouldn't make any sense," JJ shakes his head to himself. "What about a surf spot?"

The safe's lock clicks instead of beeps at us. The metal door pops open, inviting us in. John B looks at me with a proud and giddy grin. I can't help but let out a breathy laugh and open the safe completely.

"Holy shit," John B curses when we finally see what's in the safe. My eyes grow wide at what we find. Stacks of one hundred dollar bills and a gun. The find only confuses me more. If this guy had money like this, why was he staying here? "Uh...JJ."

"Hm?" JJ finally hums after having a long conversation with himself.

"You're gonna want to see this," I say, smirking up at him.

I stand up from my spot so JJ could get a good look. He crouches down next to my brother and the smile on his face is similar to a child on Christmas morning.

He reaches in and instead of grabbing the money, he grabs the gun. I can't say I'm surprised. This is JJ we're talking about.

"You grabbed the gun," John B scoffs but can't hide the grin on his face.

"This is a SIG Sauer!" JJ exclaims, holding it up in the air and admiring it.

"Put the gun back, JJ," John B says.

"This is a fucking spendy gatt, man. Just..." JJ points the gun in front of him and pretends to fire it. "Bam! Bam!" I duck out of the way. I know he's just pretending but I wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally shot it because he was too excited. "Bam! Bam!"

"Jesus JJ," I hiss. "Quit it."

"Hey, think about it! Bam! Bam!"

"We're not stealing anything," John B says.

"Just take a pic of me. Right here," JJ holds the gun to his chest and points it up at the ceiling, posing with it.

"You want me to take a picture of you?" I purse my lips and raise one brow at him.

"Yeah, like..."

"Make our own incriminating evidence? Is that what you're talking about?"

A light tapping from the back window stops us all from our tiny bickering match. All three of our heads turn to the window, confused.

"Wait what was that?" John B says first.

JJ and I follow him to the window. He pulls the curtain to the side and presses his face against the dusty glass. Pope and Kie are jumping up and down and waving their hands like two idiots and pointing at a car parked in the lot. Their voices come through the glass quietly, but just loud enough for us to hear them say, "Cops! Cops! Cops!"

"Shit," John B pushes off the window.

"What is it?" JJ asks.

"Cops."

On cue, there's knocks coming from the other side of the door. "Kildare County Sheriff's Department!"

"Shit," I curse to myself and push myself in front of the boys. The only way we are getting out is through the window. JJ and John B climb out first. JJ holds out his hand for me to take right as the door knobs squeaks.

The jump is too high. All three of us would break our ankles if we tried. The only option we have is to stick it out on the roof and hope the cops don't look out the window.

The roof is small since the window sits on the side of the building. The only way the three of us will fit is if I'm pressed against the siding with JJ pressed behind me. Which is the exact position we're in. My right foot dangles off the side of the roof to make as much room for JJ as I can so we're as flat against the building as possible. I can hear his racing heart against my back and I can't help but wonder if it's from the adrenaline rush of being caught by the cops or being pressed up against me.

I know why my heart's beating like mad.

I try to even my breathing so I can listen in on what's happening inside. The cops' voices are muffled through the walls. I glance at John B who is trying to peek inside. His brows furrow together in confusion at what he's seeing. When he looks up at me, I mouth "what" but he only shakes his head.

JJ tries to shuffle around his footing, which only makes him fumble more and lose his balance. I can't help the gasp that escapes my mouth. I grip on to both JJ and the corner of the wall so neither one of us fall. Unfortunately, as I try to save both of our lives, the gun slips out of JJ's pocket and creates an even bigger scene.

I squeeze my eyes tight and press myself deeper into the rotting wooden siding of the motel, praying that the police think it was only a bird or a squirrel. When I peek one eye open, I see John B grimacing against the building too. He shakes his head again for me and JJ not to move.

Minutes feel like hours as we wait, but eventually we hear the door close and the voices of the police officers on the balcony outside.

I exhale a deep breath and just about dive back into the room head first.

The boys follow me out the door the cops just walked out of and we meet Kie and Pope back at the boat. When they see us approaching, they both let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that was fun," JJ says as we step back into the boat. My safe spot with nothing but water if we fall off.

"Could have warned us sooner," John B says lightly.

Kie rolls her eyes. "We would have except Pope was on the math team."

JJ turns to look at our geeky friend. "You were on the math team?"

"The cops took everything," John B says before another bickering fest could erupt between JJ and Pope. I turn to look at John B. That's what he must've seen in the room. "Like it was a crime scene."

"Did you guys find anything?" Pope asks.

"Did we find anything?" JJ says with a smirk. "No I don't think so." He holds up the gun and a stack of one hundred dollar bills. His smile grows wider. "Oh, yeah, we did."

Of course he stole them.

Pope and Kie jump up from their seats and look at JJ like he's grown two heads.

"What the hell?" Pope says in awe.

"What the hell?" Kie scowls.

"Dude, chill. Come on," JJ says, relaxed.

"Why take that from a crime scene?" Kie asks. She looks at me for some kind of explanation but I only shrug in response. I don't know what goes on in JJ's head.

JJ shrugs. "Better than cops having it."

"You serious?" Kie looks at John B who only gives her the same response I do.

Pope sits back down with his head in his hands. "I'm going to lose my merit scholarship."

JJ walks over to him and wraps his arms around his shoulders from behind him. "Hey, hey, shh, shh, shh. At least you have us, right?"

"I'm living the nightmare."

I laugh at Pope's theatrics even though I know he's genuinely worried about losing his scholarship - the only thing he has that will get him off of this damn island and make a name for himself. A selfish part of me hopes he loses the scholarship so he's forced to stay here with the rest of us, but I know that will never happen. Pope is the smartest guy I know and deserves to go off to a fancy college and be successful. The scholarship is going to give him that out we all desperately want. He's not going to lose that scholarship. I've already made sure so.

He just doesn't know it.

~ ~ ~

We dock our boat in town to grab something to eat before going back to my house. I am craving fish tacos and no one is going to stop me from getting them. As we wait outside with a couple other kids I recognize from school a couple years younger than us, paramedics and cop cars show up. Another boat pulls into the dock. A coast guard. Four men haul a stretcher off of it and wheel it up to the waiting ambulance. A sheet is drawn over the body so I can't see who it is but a sick thought races through my mind.

"Who's that?" John B asks the girl sitting near us.

"It's Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm," She says. I ignore the look John B casts my way and look at the girl's phone as she holds it out to us. "Check out this pic I got." She smiles sickly at it. "Dead body."

"Insane," I mumble, suddenly feeling sick and not in the mood for fish tacos.

"Holy shit." My brother says.

"What kind of boat did he have?" JJ asks her.

She puts her phone away. "Somehow, that dirtbag copped a brand new Grady-White. Everyone's out looking for it."

As soon as Kie walks out of the store carrying our food, we book it out of there. JJ tells her what happened on the ride back to the Chateau as I sit and think about how screwed we are if we get caught with the gun and money. They might think we killed him!

"So, um...we didn't see anything," Pope says as we walk into the Chateau. "We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia."

I fall on my couch and lean forward, biting my nails until I reach the nub - a nervous habit of mine. The smell of my tacos makes me queasy. They could have been swimming near that dead body yesterday. Who knows.

"Actually Pope's right for once," JJ says, plopping down on the seat next to me. He takes my hand away from my mouth and leans into the side of the couch, still staring at Pope who looks at him with raised brows. "See, I agree with you sometimes. Deny, deny, deny."

"Guys, we can't keep that money," Kie says.

"Okay, not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kie," JJ says which only makes Kie's scowl deepen.

"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs," Kie continues. "Otherwise, it's bad karma."

"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too," Pope adds. "We gotta go dark."

JJ shrugs. "If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree."

"I don't agree," John B finally pipes up and looks between all of us.

"What? Why?"

"Just think about it," John B says. "This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about. Same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than forty bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden, he's got a Grady-White?" He shrugs and holds out his hands in surrender. "Just saying."

I don't know what to think but I'm leaning towards JJ's idea. We should keep our mouths shut but roll around in the money that we risked our lives for. Finder's keepers isn't just a saying that dies when you've reached your teenage years.

John B continues, "All right, so think about it Pope. How does a marina rat get a Grady-White?"

Pope inhales sharply. "Prostitution."

"Square groupers, bro," John B says. He looks at JJ who will understand where he is coming from. "Okay, flying under the radar, no aerial surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean? JJ?"

JJ smirks. "They were straight smugglin'."

John B snaps his finger that's pointing at JJ, "Smuggling. And I guarantee there's a serious amount of contraband in that wreck."

"Hell yeah!" JJ stands up and slaps John B's hand in the Pogue handshake. "Fish on!"

Pope speaks up, "For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it...it probably belongs to someone else."

"Minor details."

"They could come looking for it," I say, not exactly taking Pope's side but just mentioning the risk so that everyone knows what we're up against. We don't know what kind of people could be looking for this shit too.

Pope nods. "Taking it would be catastrophically stupid."

JJ bends down so he's face to face with Pope and holds out the money in front of his face. "Right. Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time."

"I wouldn't say all the time," I say, grinning when JJ looks over his shoulder to glare at me.

"All we need to do is figure out a way to get into the cargo hold of that wreck. Until then, we just lay low. Just act normal."

"Right. And how exactly do we do that?" Pope says.

When his eyes meet mine, a light bulb ignites in my head. My frown is turned upside down into a smile and I lean forward so everyone can see how exciting I am.

"Kegger?"

Tag List: @notyourcupofteax @acvross-the-universe @jjmaybankzz @jeeperky @realistic-breadstick

#jj maybank fic #jj x reader #jj fic #jj maybank #jj maybank imagine #jj mayback x reader #jj maybank one shot #jj maybank imagines #outer banks rewrite #outer banks imagine #john b routledge #outer banks #outer banks fic #outer banks imagines #kiara carrera #kie carrera #pope heyward

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dreamiehrs · 4 years ago

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2:37 pm \

it was just another ordinary day in wizard school, or at least that’s what you thought. with your best friend donghyuck in your last class of the day, something bizarre happening was part of the package that came with him. you couldn’t even count the times he had accidentally cast a dangerous spell that blew up half of the room, and you’re honestly surprised that the room is still intact after all these years. even though that sounds bad, that isn’t even the worst of it.

besides almost blowing the room to smithereens every day, donghyuck also had the habit of misplacing his spell notes. you already knew that this habit of his would end up just causing problems for everyone, including himself, so to the best of your ability, you would help him find and organize his notes in spellcasting class every day.

however, even you were bound to make mistakes helping him with his notes, and it seemed like helping donghyuck would come back to bite you in the back today.

“y/n, do you remember where I said I was going to put my notes from yesterday? I can’t seem to find them.” he whispers from beside you, trying not to get yelled at by the teacher for talking when he wasn’t supposed to.

you sigh, setting down your pencil from writing notes, already planning on texting jeno later for the rest of the notes. “hand me your bookbag, hyuck.”

he does as he’s told and hands you his bookbag. once you’ve opened it, you can hear him whisper: “and please hurry, the teacher wants us to practice the spell from both yesterday and today in a few minutes.”

you quickly get to work to find the notes he had misplaced yesterday, taking out all of the papers he had carelessly stuffed in his bookbag and scanning over all of the spellcasting steps. unfortunately, another one of donghyuck’s habits was that he never titled his notes, so it was pretty impossible to discern which spell was which.

so far, you had slimmed it down to two sets of notes, however, another problem was that the steps for both spells looked exactly the same. it was up for your memory to remember which spell your class learned yesterday, and with donghyuck poking your shoulder to tell you that time was almost up, you had to pick the correct one, and fast.

with only a little time left, you ended up doing mental meeny miny moe to choose which spell sheet looked close to what spell you learned in class yesterday. you hand donghyuck back his bookbag and place the spell sheet on his desk. “hyuck, you really need to get into the habit of titling your notes, because it’s quite impossible to discern which spell is which. I’m not even sure if that’s the correct spell, to be honest.”

“yeah, yeah, I’ll just text you for the titles later. now, let’s go before the teacher yells at us for taking too long.”

you and donghyuck go over to a corner in the classroom with your spell sheets in hand to set up the spell. you two agree to let you go first with the first spell, then let donghyuck go, and continue in that fashion until you two are done with casting both spells.

you take one quick glance at donghyuck, to ask if he’s ready, and he sends you a smile before nodding. you look over your notes from the spell you guys learned today and start to trace a pentagon with a star in the middle of it with your wand. after doing so, you gently place your wand down on the desk closest to you and press your palms together. you close your eyes and focus all of your energy on the shape you made earlier with your wand, and a dark blue light starts to encompass both your body and donghyuck’s.

when you open your eyes, you’re relieved to see that the spell had worked and that donghyuck had now been trapped in a cube of ice. you then pick up your wand again and follow the instructions to cancel the spell and donghyuck shivers after he’s released from the ice cube.

donghyuck then casts the same spell onto you, and the following spell you cast onto him makes his hands feel like they’re on fire. you quickly dispel the spell you cast onto him, and now it was time for him to cast the same spell onto you. you were quite nervous and sure that the spell he would cast on you would be way worse than him accidentally blowing up half of the classroom.

“let’s hope this is the right spell from yesterday.” you breathe out, watching as donghyuck reads the instructions for casting the spell carefully. he pulls his wand out of his pocket and takes a look at you.

“yeah, let’s hope.”

after saying that, you watch as he traces an octagon with many various tiny shapes in it into the air with his wand. he then presses his palms together and focuses on the shape he drew into the air earlier, and soon enough, a dark pink light starts to encompass your entire body.

you furrow your eyebrows in confusion, as the light encompassing you looked entirely different from when you casted the second spell on him earlier. your jaw then suddenly drops when you realize. “wait, hyuck! I think this is the wro-”

before you could even finish your sentence, he had already finished casting the spell on you, and you could feel the effects already. your heart started to feel like it was beating out of your chest, and whenever you looked at donghyuck, your pulse would quicken, and a warm feeling would cover your entire heart.

“wait a minute… this spell… feels like… A LOVE SPELL!” you hear donghyuck yell out, and after he said those last three words, you knew it had to be true.

“YOU CASTED A LOVE SPELL ON ME?! WHAT THE FUCK!? REMOVE IT!”

“BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO! THERE WERE NO INSTRUCTIONS AS TO HOW TO CANCEL THE SPELL!”

“YOU WHAT?!”

at this point, everyone’s eyes were on you two in the classroom, and you knew that your teacher would reprimand you two afterward, but you didn’t care at this rate. what was more important was that donghyuck had accidentally performed a love spell on you and that the effects of this spell would last around a week before dispelling the spell would work.

“y/n and donghyuck! get out of my classroom right now!” your teacher screams at the two of you, and you guys slowly shuffle outside of the classroom and into the hallway. you two plop down beside each other as you put your head in your hands, not daring to look at the boy beside you.

“well, at least the spell wasn’t one that blew up half of the classroom like last time, am I right?” donghyuck bumps your shoulder from beside you, trying to lighten the mood, but it seemed to do the opposite.

you swat at his shoulder, not moving your head from your hands in fear that your heart will explode if you glance at him. “don’t even try to joke in this type of situation, hyuck. nothing you say will make me feel better. you casted a love spell on me AND we both made embarrassments of ourselves in front of the entire cast. how am I going to live this down?”

it’s silent for a while between you two, and you’re tempted to take a look at him to read his expression, but you know what you’ll face if you do so. you’re not really sure as to how you’re gonna handle being around your best friend all day with this love spell on you, since your heart basically explodes if you give him the tiniest of glance. you mentally note that you should invest in some sunglasses to wear for the next week before donghyuck starts to speak.

“hey, y/n. look at me for a second.”

“are you purposefully trying to make my heart explode into millions of tiny pieces? because if so, that isn’t fun-”

he moves one of your arms that was covering your face to get a good look at you, and once you two make eye contact, you can already feel your heartbeat pick up. he grins after he sees your expression, and you already knew that you weren’t going to survive the following week after this.

w.c: 1,432 words ♡ warning(s): slight swearing ♡ pairing: donghyuck x reader ♡ genre: comedy/crack, some fluff

requested by: @hwanunjin (17 w/donghyuck~)

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recklessmark · 4 years ago

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chapter two: encounter

—from DISCRETION series

Summary: you incidentally met a notorious CEO and your gut told you that you must claim this man. and even the fact that he’s engaged to someone else didn’t stop you from achieving what you want.

Pairing: CEO! Mark x Designer! Reader

Words: 1645

Warnings (this chapter): none /they kissed y’all/

—previous: chapter one-flechazo

“Miss Y/N, the counterparts have already arrived. They are both sitting in the meeting room.” The receptionist said as soon as she saw you approached.

“Alright. Thank you!”

Already arrived this soon? Looking like he has a huge interest for this thing. You step inside the elevator, choosing the highest floor of the tower. Your heart is beating faster and faster, that’s it, that’s the feeling!

In the large room, Mark Lee is sitting on a chair, crossing his legs and naturally talking. “Taeyong, thank you for helping me find a designer!”

“No problem, the person you need is one of my friends so I certainly can help you with this!”

‘Crack!’

The wide door is opened, you smile and walk inside. “Hi Taeyong!”, your hand comes to take off your sunglasses.

“Y/N, you are always punctual, come sit, this is the person I told you about.”, Lee Taeyong exultantly greets you.

You put on a charming smile, walking around the table to see the man. That’s the face you have been missing! “Mark, nice to meet you again. I wonder if it’s a coincidence or fate?”, you sarcastically ask.

Mark smirks, he looks at you dangerously, “I think it’s our fate, isn’t it?”. Your mouth corner curls up satisfyingly, you know this man is the one you desire.

Since the moment you stepped inside this room, your fragrance was filling up the space. It’s like that time at the bar, even the alcohol scent couldn’t overwhelm your exhilarating aroma and that makes Mark feels something, something strange.

“So what do you want me to help you with?”, you sit down, tilting your head.

Mark’s eyes followed your movements, “I want you to design for me a wedding dress...”. You froze at your seat, even the smile you have been putting on is faded, “...for my fiancé.”

“Oh I have something to do, call me when you’ve finished, we can have lunch together.”, putting his phone into his vest, Taeyong can feel the intensity between you and Mark.

When he has already gone, you blink, trying to ease the faze. “Alright, so tell me what you like or what she wants.”, you rest your chin on your palm, earnestly ask.

Mark frowns, “You will actually do it? Seriously?”

You shrug, your arms cross on your chest, “I’m always professional, I have my own rules. Nevertheless, I have way more ways to steal you from her, don’t try me Mark.” He looks at you, a mischievous smirks arises on his face. Suddenly, he stands up, stepping forwards your direction.

“Mmh!”

You can’t believe that Mark dares to kiss you right in this meeting room. His tongue licks your lips, he bites your lips causing you to gasp. Taking advantage, Mark slides his tongue into your mouth, the taste of blood filling up. His hands run to your ass, squeezing them, you whine trying to pull away. Mark’s lips leave yours, you swipe your lips with the back of your hand, frowning. “Could you not bite my lips, you ruined my beauty.”

Mark gives you a photo with a girl on it, “It’s her, do whatever you want.”

“I’m not doing it!”, you debate.

He doesn’t know what you’re thinking, he squints his eyes at you. “You said you’re professional and what now? Jealous?”. Mark expected to see your blushing face of shyness but he’s too wrong, who does he think you are.

You decisively nod, “That’s right! If I don’t like her I should honestly say it.” However you still carefully discern the photo, it’s not hard to recognize that girl, she’s kind of famous- Kim Yeri.

Yeri is a well-known artist, her works are popularly relished since they said that the pictures can ‘talk’. You’ve gone to her exhibition several times. But now, when the truth is revealed, you genuinely want to burn all of them. You and Yeri did have some contact before but it was indirect. She is the type of pure tender girl, very innocent and men are usually into for this kind of women. However, Yeri is simply a normal artist, how could she know Mark and even date him?

Mark quietly observes you when he saw the meditation on your face. He honestly doesn’t know why is he gradually getting more into you. You’re like a leery lynx trying to approach him, he wants to keep you with him. Is this possession?

After a while, you look up, “I know what to do.”

Unfortunately, the scarf on your neck dropped off. You nervously cover the skin with you hand, “If there’s nothing else you can go with Taeyong, I’ll follow later.”

“Ouch!”, you squint when Mark caught your wrist tightly.

“What happened with your neck?”, his eyes glistening with some anger. The hold on your wrist is becoming tighter and tighter, causing you to suffer from the pain, you point on your wrist. Seeing a red patch on the white fabric which is wrapped around your wrist, Mark quickly loosens the hold. Then he goes out of the room without saying a word, leaving you sitting there alone. You sigh, picking up the scarf on the floor, cover your neck again. You pull out a bandana in your handbag, taking off the fabric covered with blood on your wrist and then wrap the bandana on instead.

“Take it off!”

You look up to see Mark, with a stranger that you guess to be his secretary, holding a first-aid kit on his hand. He quickly walks towards you, helping you with your wound.

“Hi I’m Donghyuck.”, he carefully cleaning up the blood, “But do you work in a mafia?”

Your eyebrows furrow slightly, “What do you mean?”

Donghyuck shakes his head, “The bruise on your neck, it can only be caused when someone put a strong force on your neck. You do not look like someone who do mafia works.”

You remain silent, not wanting to say anything. Donghyuck knows that you don’t want to talk about it either so he concentrates on treating your wound.

The whole conversation, Mark didn’t mishear a single word.

—

Taeyong sits down beside you, he has been talking endlessly. “This restaurant is my sister’s, I especially asked her to close it today only serving for you guys!”

You rest you chin on the palm of your hand, twisting the other arm to check the time on your watch, not wanting to talk to the people around you.

Taeyong feels your uneasiness, “What’s wrong Y/N? You don’t like it?”, he asks.

Mark surely heard the question but he doesn’t seem to care, however he’s affably taking care of the girl sitting next to him.

Kim Yeri shyly looks around, “It’s okay Mark, I’m not a child.”

Your blood is boiling in everywhere in your body, you really want to punch Taeyong. Things wouldn’t be like this if he didn’t invite the girl who you genuinely dislike. Four people gather together, this time you can actually have a clear look at Yeri. Her appearance is nothing special, even her temperament is normal, why would Mark like her? Oh! Maybe it’s the tenderness. No way! A person who is outrageous and cold-blood like Mark Lee can never be attracted to a girl resembling to Yeri.

Feeling your intense gaze, Yeri awkwardly asks. “Y/N? Is there anything on my face? Why do you look at me like that?”

You tilt your head, faintly smile, “Yes! Your face looks meretricious.”

Yeri embarrassingly looks down, you feel a little joyful now.

“It’s alright. Wearing some makeup is normal.”, Mark casually defends her. Your mood swings to a unpleasant mixed with some ignition. This feeling is very novelty, something you’ve never felt before.

The dishes is eventually served. Yeri offers you a steak she cut herself, “Thank you Y/N! Our wedding is depended on you.”

“No problem, if Mark asks me to do it, I will definitely do my best.”, you politely deny the steak. Your words make Yeri confused, how could you call Mark by his first name naturally like that? She turns her head to glare at Mark. He of course knows but doesn’t say a word, just calmly eats the food on his plate. And this makes Yeri befuddled even more.

“Sorry, I have something to do. This meal I pay, enjoy!”, Taeyong hurriedly says while rushing out. This makes the situation become worse. Three of you sitting on a table, no one say a word.

All of a sudden, you stop eating. You lay your back on the chair, crossing your arms. “Ms Kim, I think you’re being so confused. You’re trying to figure everything out, aren’t you?”

Yeri froze at her seat, slowly looks up at you.

“You can relax, I do not murder people, unless I need to. There’s just something I want to announce you-“, you smirk, “I like Mark.”

Yeri drops the fork, her eyes glinting with astonishment. “What...what did you say?”

“I said I-like-Mark.”, you emphasize every word.

She looks at Mark, who hasn’t fazed a little, worryingly asks, “You know this?”

“Yes.” Mark looks at her, nothing in his eyes, it’s just simply a look.

You delightfully stand up, picking up your handbag. “No need to be frantic. I just said it, but I’m not sure about Mark. Hopefully you will accept my gift, I will make the most beautiful wedding dress ever for you. Goodbye!”

You walk out, but then stop at the door. You turn around, seeing the frightened face of Yeri. “Oh I almost forgot. It’s my gift but I don’t know whether you have the chance to wear it. Nevertheless, I’ll try my best.” You have completely defeated Yeri, she didn’t even have a chance to talk back, rather than a chance to win you.

On the other hand, Mark quietly cleans his mouth with a tissue. “Let’s go.”

—next: chapter three-i love him forever, is it better than you yet?

taglist: @nuoyii @jjikyuu @generantionct @keemburley

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foodieforthoughts · 4 years ago

Text

Sand and Stars - Chapter One

Series Summary: After the water pump being blown up, the insurgents in Baqubah are taking a hold of the food supply to the village. Camp Warhorse is in dire need of reinforcements. It has been eight months of submitting countless requests when the High Command commissions Sergeant Olivia Ross to take her group of men and women and help Captain Syverson and his team to restore a semblance of normalcy. But with the war raging, does it get two hearts closer too?

Pairing: Syverson x OFC x OMC

Word Count: 1750

Warnings: 18+, foul language, some ogling, smut in future chapters

A/N: Thank you again to @thelastsock for being my beta. Written from Sy’s perspective and since I am a woman, venturing in the (not) so complex mind of a man. Enjoy!

<Prologue

Title: Chapter One

Syverson watched as everyone in the camp looked at the two Humvees entering through the gates inside the compound. The chopper came flying behind them, hovering over the area they had prepared for it to land.

With arms crossed over his chest, his signature sunglasses covering his eyes, he looked at the chopper, it’s skids gently being placed on the ground. The blast of air from it’s whirring blades, blew dust and sand for which he shielded his face with his hand. The group of soldiers alighted from their vehicles, their smoother than milk skin making Sy snort. Here they were, his Special Forces guys all scruffy and rough, whereas these new arrivals looked like school kids for a photo op.

When the chopper blades stopped spinning, and the pilots hopped down from their cockpit along with the others; Sy walked up to them. He watched as the main pilot spoke to the unit and pulled off their helmet. The swagger of his walk faltered a step when he noticed her lustrous red hair tied in a bun. It was not very often that lady soldiers came down to a warzone like this.

Instinctively, when he saw she was a woman, his eyes travelled to her bottom. Even with the armored vest and her fatigues, the beautiful curve of her body was highlighted when she bent down to lift her bag. She turned to speak to the other pilot, allowing Sy to finally look at her face. Big brown eyes framed by thick eyelashes were set on her heart-shaped face. Her high cheekbones were freckled, spreading to her nose, and her lips looked full and plump.

It was inconsiderate of the Captain to check out a woman in the middle of a raging war, but he had been high and dry for nearly a year. A man has his needs.

“Captain Syverson, sir?” The other pilot addressed him, he was a young man with the signature crew-cut hair and clean shaved like a boiled egg. His duffel bag laid heavily on his shoulder as he clasped the straps with one hand.

“All day,” Sy said, taking off his sunglasses and hooking it at the back of his t-shirt. “Are you Sergeant Ross?”

Sy’s eyes darted to the approaching men and women when he noticed her walking up to them. Soldier from before brought his hand for a handshake towards Sy which he took with a smile.

“I’m Sergeant Schmidt. She is,” he turned to the red-haired beauty, “Sergeant Ross.”

Sy did not want to come off rude or appear like a male chauvinist, but he wasn’t expecting a woman to be commanding a unit. He raised his eyebrows in surprise which she seemed to catch on to.

“You are Sergeant Ross?” He asked, trying but failing to conceal his astonishment.

“All day,” she said with a smug smile, imitating him by repeating what he had said only a moment ago. “Sergeant Olivia Ross, sir.” She held her hand out, Sy’s eyes darting towards her gloved one. He took her hand in his, noting how hers looked small in his large ones, and gave a confident shake.

“Okay,” He cleared his throat looking at the group of twelve new soldiers at his camp, “We prepared a block for y’all.” He started walking towards the other smaller building besides the main wing. Their new arrivals followed behind him, lugging their bags on their shoulders.

“Keeping us separate, I see.” Olivia commented. Sy turned slightly to look behind him at her. She avoided his gaze, but her face looked unimpressed with her lips sealed tight.

Sy chose to not respond. They climbed up the flights of stairs leading up to the living quarters, bypassing their mess hall and a make-shift gym, and reached the doors to adjacent rooms.

“Guys go in there,” he pointed towards one room, “Ladies, over here.” He turned around to face the group. “Night patrols will be assigned, and I need a group to go with my boys to the village in fifteen minutes.” He folded his arms over his chest, looking directly at Olivia. “We need to get a briefing done.”

“I’ll be down in ten, sir.” she curtly nodded. Everyone seemed to understand her annoyance as they glanced at each other. Sy let out a slow breath, choosing to not address her, again.

When he was back in his office, he pulled out the Echo unit file. Pepps had informed him that women were going to be included in the arriving unit, what he had failed to mention though was that it would be led by a woman. A pretty woman with curves.

Syverson shook his head. He grimaced at his own thought. He was not there to ogle at women, he was there on a mission. He quickly read through the contents of the paper. Sergeant Ross, he gathered, was an enlisted soldier, got promoted to a corporal before she took Aviation course and earned herself a position of helicopter pilot. She got promoted to Sergeant after spending time in Afghanistan and was now leading her own unit.

Sy was impressed. He liked women who were strong and capable, but they were also usually trouble. She already looked miffed about the separate living quarters. In Sy’s defense, he had only thought about making it less uncomfortable for the ladies. Wouldn’t have minded if she had stayed right across from mine though.

He rolled his eyes, exasperated at his train of thoughts yet again. His dick was beginning to strain against the fabric of his pants and as he caught a glimpse of her red-hair heading towards his office, he chose to adjust himself. Because sitting with an erection at their first briefing was not on his agenda today.

“Sir?” Olivia asked, standing at the door with her hands behind her back.

Sy nodded for her to enter. He tried to angle himself in his chair so as to hide his bulge from the Sergeant. “Sergeant Ross,” he cleared his throat, placing the papers back in their place.

“I also go by Liv, sir.” Sy could see the confidence in her eyes glimmer when she spoke. She was fierce, he would give her that. The last time Harper had arrived with his men, they had looked weary and tired. But Olivia looked like she could go to war right now if she was asked to.

“And I go by Sy.” He smirked, watching as Liv spared him a smile. “Are your men ready?”

“Yes. They are getting prepped by your men.”

Sy nodded. There was an empty chair right next to where Liv stood, but she had chosen to stand instead. Typical soldiers. He gestured towards the seat with one hand, “You can take a seat.”

“I’m completely fine here, sir.”

He tried desperately to not let his eyes roam over her body. She had changed from her fatigues to the standard military t-shirt with her cargo pants. It was becoming increasingly difficult to not let his inhibitions down.

He caved.

Sy noted how the fabric stretched over her bosom, curving over her mounds. Her dog tags laid in the valley between her breasts, another silver chain hanging with it. The belt she had cinched at her waist highlighted her figure, making Sy lick his lips. Olivia seemed to be aware of her effect on him, as Sy noticed her fighting a smile.

He coughed and adjusted in his seat as his own soldier came to life again. “Th-the food truck… arrives every week.” He pulled out a map from underneath the table. Spreading it out on his desk, he leaned to point at an ‘X’ marked on it. Olivia took a few steps forward and leaned in too, to understand him better with visualization.

He explained to her the routes they were going to take and the air support they would be needing. All the while she had been standing bent over the table and her face was only a small distance away from him. Sy was aware of their proximity because in this dry desert where all he could smell was gas and sweat, he was getting a whiff of lavender from her.

“What happened to the food trucks from last week? Were you able to get them to the village safely?” Olivia asked. Her eyebrows knitted together in concentration as she looked at the map again.

Sy scratched his beard, looking up to her. “They have set IEDs on the road. We couldn’t even reach the truck. The bastards blew it up as it was turning up the mountain.”

Olivia let out an angry huff and stood up straight. “It’s a good thing we can look from above now.” Sy gave her a nod as she went back to standing with her hands behind her back.

He decided to stand up. In front of him she looked small. Her head barely reached his shoulder and to speak he had to look down. “About the quarters,” he started.

“If I may, sir,” she interrupted him. He gestured at her to speak. “I’m actually thankful for that. Because with your initial surprise at me being a woman and your men looking at us like we are dinner, I’m glad to be staying with the ones I really know.”

“Hey, if you feel vulnerable out here-”

“No sir.” Olivia looked him in the eye. “We are not vulnerable. We do not need you guys to protect us. But we also don’t want to be looked at, like we are for your pleasure.”

Sy understood what she was trying to convey. She hadn’t been fighting a smile earlier. No, she had been fighting a sneer. He clenched his jaw because his mama had raised him to never yell at a woman. He had found her blatant accusation to be rude and being from a higher rank, he could also inflict punishment on her.

But that is not how he worked. And, this was not how he wanted them to start their shared time in this Godforsaken land.

So instead, he decided to be formal. "You are dismissed, Sergeant Ross.”

The challenge in her eyes was somehow arousing for Sy. She had her head held high, her shoulders squared and her back straight. He watched her with furrowed brows as she turned and walked out the door, the confidence in her steps glaringly evident.

Fiery, Sy thought with a renewed smile creeping up on his lips. Just the way I like them.

Chapter Two>

✨Series Masterlist✨

Tagging:@wanderlustkitkat @michelehansel @stephartrave @yuhsophie @hennerslionhat @henrythickcavill @eldarwen333 @peakygroupie @klaine-92 @thelastsock @indigosaurus @oddsnendsfanfics @viking-raider @cavillliketravel @geralt-of-baevia @achaoticaugust @dancingwendigo @littlefreya @luclittlepond @mansaaay @agniavateira @inlovewithhisblueeyes @henryobsessed @henryfanfics101 @poucinette1333 @ohmygoodie @oolicity @wolvesandhoundshowltogether @asyverson @awhitewolfandhisvibraniumshield

#captain syverson #captain syverson fanfic #captain syverson x ofc #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #sand and stars series

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granills · 4 years ago

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Careless Whisper {B.H.}

Hey loves, I haven’t written in a loooong time, It seems I just needed a new crush to get back to writing. I missed this feeling so much. So, Billy Hargrove, that’s it. I haven’t finished the 3rd season yet and I felt like writing about this pretty boy. In my story Billy has graduated from school by the time he arrives to Hawkins, and Bob is alive. I posted the first chapter on my wattpad too, nigarrmtvseries.

1. Mars and Other Planets

It didn't take long for summer to show itself after the first hot day in June.

Mars looked out of the window only to find some people loudly talking to each other and hurrying to get back to their homes where they were awaited. A man standing near the curb didn't care much about the heating sun, he was focused on the road. Waiting.

"So hot.. Right when I was thinking about going for a jog." A young woman approached the desk Mars was sitting behind. Mars had gotten carried away with her thoughts, but seeing the woman, smiled to her and started helping her to pack the things she'd picked. Refrigerator magnets, soaps, milk.

"It's officially summer I would say." Mars was working alone today in the store. Joyce asked for a day out to spend more time with her kids and Bob, and Donald only visited from time to time so Melvald's General Store had only one company - Maristela. It was a good day, mostly because of the sun. It calmed her and it also predicted that less people would come to the store, it only made her work easier. Not like the first time.

Joyce Byers was the one who persuaded Donald Melvald to employ a girl in Hawkins, Maristela Crawford who was looking for a summer job. At first Donald disagreed arguing that the girl would leave as soon as summer ends and they would have to look for a replacement. At least that's how Maristela's plan was going until that one day when she received a letter. She knew the letter wouldn't tell her good news and it made it much harder for her.

"We regret to inform you that after reviewing your application..." That's how the letter started and it was bad, she knew it. "...we appreciate that you are interested in our university. Please do apply again next year." Shit. To get out of this shithole by getting accepted into the university in California - that was the plan. As much as she hated to admit it, it seemed the summer job was gonna turn into a permanent job, but to say that she didn't like her job, would be unfair towards her and others. She loved Joyce as her own mother and though the work was tiresome, it was essential one.

It was nearly the end of the day, she was ready to turn the lights off and close the store as soon as possible in order to get home. That's how simple it was, only she didn't know what was about to happen.

She clearly remembered how the last client left as the door behind him closed muffling the sound of the happy kids outside. But it only lasted a few seconds when the glass front door shut loudly accompanying by the voice of two strangers.

"I told you to fucking wait in the car!" The sound was so loud that Mars nearly hit her head while picking up her bag under the desk.

"Mom said I can choose myself!" A girl's voice replied as they headed towards the center aisle. Mars wanted to see who was talking but they only got more distant and she couldn't leave her desk.

The first voice mumbled something in reply. His voice was low, a bit vibrating. If Mars leaned over further the desk, she could've just fallen over it. As much as she tried to see the strangers, she gave up eventually and returned to her seat. All of a sudden she heard the voices were coming closer and looked up. The stranger was standing there comfortably looking at the lights, his appearance was screaming danger. That was only it, danger, but what she didn't know was that something was about to happen that wouldn't have ended good.

The next thing she knew the loud tap of black boots echoed in the store as he approached the desk Mars was sitting behind. Looking at him, he looked just like many of his peers: jeans, a denim jacket, a brown bag, for some reason making her doubt that he carries around his textbooks or homework, a digital watch on his right hand.

He was tall, probably 7 inches taller than her. Heels under his boots helped him look even taller as he walked towards her. His unruly blonde hair perfectly framed his face, the soft curls fell in cinnamon swirls to his face slightly reaching his shoulders. It wasn't long though, part of his hair in front nearly reached his brows in soft messy waves. But still it managed to look completely natural as if he'd woken up like this.

The tops of his jeans held fast by a black leather belt. A pair of rings on his left hand didn't stay unnoticed, as well as a pack of Marlboro cigarettes stuffed into the left pocket of his jacket.

She couldn't see his eyes because of his black sunglasses, it added more confidence to his appearance which was apparently what he'd aimed for. She was scared of him, he just looked like the sort of person who would have asked you for a date and didn't show up. Heartbreaker.

She noticed his silver hoop earring when he stood in front of the desk, his eyes under sunglasses met hers and focused on her for a brief moment before he put a pair of batteries, six pack of beer on the counter. The other stranger whom Mars noticed later appeared to be a school girl with ginger hair, she put the sweets next to other things.

Then, in a second, the tension in the store broke when he finally spoke to her.

"That will be all." He uttered and she was surprised how deep his voice was. If earlier she'd assumed he could be her age, now it seemed she could be pretty wrong. She couldn't recognise the accent, and they could, moreover, be new in this small town. What really puzzled her was the obvious tension between the redhead girl and the guy. Siblings maybe, but they don't look alike.

Mars put down her bag and only nodded before starting to bag their items.

"That will be eleven-twenty one." Mars said, her voice slightly trembling. She didn't notice how he looked at her while putting money on the counter between them. She took it and opened the cash register beside her, the one that Joyce had opened many times, and started counting money to return the change.

The stranger looked at her, corners of his lips turned up, a glint in his eyes. "Keep the change." He said before taking the bag and going to the exit. The redhead girl annoyingly rolled her eyes and went after him.

Mars followed them with her gaze, she noticed how the stranger got in his '79 blue Camaro and lit his cigarette, the smoke dragged into the air and disappeared as he started the car moving over the highway, lights on full beam. And a dangerous driver too.

It was time for Mars to close the store already, but first she wanted to clean up so that Joyce wouldn't get tired the next day. And it's not like she was keen on getting back home, every day seemed the same. She only had her friend and neighbour, Nancy Wheeler, and Rose Jagger, her friend from childhood. They tried to meet often as long as the work allowed, which meant only on weekends, but even then Mars would sometimes work long hours on weekend to make ends meet.

It was a boring job. Especially for a girl who just graduated from school. Most of her peers started working as interns, but that wasn't for her. She thought she'd be better if she continued her studies at the university, away from this town. But dreams don't get along with plans always. In order to get into the university, she needed money, that she understood now.

The list of her tasks wasn't that long. With Joyce's help she managed to do everything: to assist customers, manage the shelves, keep the store clean, operate cash register, take inventory, stock, restock and all the other things that were shifted to their shoulders.

She quickly checked the shelves, making sure products were where they were meant to be, moving them in their original place, as kids would often mess things up. After being done with the floor and the counter, she looked around the clean store and finally sighed in relief. She went back to the counter and started packing her things into her bag, already anticipating how Joyce would be happy to see the work she's done here. For Mars, Joyce was such a sweetheart and she would do anything for her, just like for her mother.

Mars opened the drawer to take the keys, when suddenly the soft sound of steps at the entrance made her look up from her seat.

She looked up, and her breath seemed to stutter in her lungs before she let it go.

The blonde guy with the denim jacket stood in front of the entrance and made a step forward. He stood in front of her, comfortably as if he was at his own house. He had no longer his black sunglasses making it easier for her to focus on his icy blue eyes. And he was alone this time. She couldn't chase away the same thoughts that had gone through her mind earlier. Heartbreaker. Also new thoughts replaced previous ones, she couldn't tell what it was, if his eyes hinted about it, as if he carried all the pain in the world, his blue eyes told about a lifetime of struggle that could never been put into words. He looked like the person who would rather hurt than being hurt.

"I'll have a pack of Marlboro Reds," he simply said. "Please."

Mars raised her eyebrows in surprise. She clearly remembered how one pack of them was hanging in his breast pocket when he'd walked in earlier. Moreover, she just wiped the floors clean and he made it dirty again by walking over it with his boots. The store was closed.

Or it wasn't. Mars regretted not putting the "closed" sign after cleaning the store and got mad even more.

"Can I see your license?" She simply asked, just in the same tone he talked to her.

The blonde stranger only chuckled clearly loving the situation. He reached to his back pocket and took out the license. He held it between his two fingers showing Mars as she leaned over to check his age only to find out that he was the same age as her. William Hargrove.

Mars moved her eyes towards his face and then turned around to open the drawer with cigarettes. She searched the packs behind her longer, not wanting to meet his eyes again, that much he intimidated her.

She then turned back and put the right pack in front of him. He gave her an unreadable glance leaning a bit into the counter. "Can I hear your name? Since you know mine."

She had to meet his baby blues again after his question. He put the money on the counter and took one cigarette out of the pack. Not wasting time, he lighted the cigarette and slowly brought it to his lips, his eyes never leaving hers.

"It's Maristela."

"What are you now a goddess or something?" He chuckled.

The name was unique, she agreed. "A star, to be precise. It means "Star of the Sea"."

"Hm." He smoked and Mars just kept staring at him, only seconds later she realised that he was literally smoking in the store and she'd allowed it by not saying anything. It was against the rules.

"No smo-," she recoiled as though she'd woken up from a bad dream when he cut her off, not letting her finish.

"Mars it is then," he said quietly before turning around and heading to the exit.

]]

I hope you like the first chapter, please let me know what you think. MMmuah

2. Ice Creams, Dreams

#billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy stranger things #stranger things #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove #fanfic #dacre montgomery #billy hargrove fanfic #careless whisper #stranger things imagine #dacre montgomery imagine #billy hargrove x female reader #billy hargrove x oc

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batterycityghoul · 4 years ago

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Love’s Strange (Billy Hargrove/Reader)

Title: Love’s Strange

Pairing: Billy Hargrove/f!Reader; background Steve/Nancy/Jonathan

Summary: Written for the ‘The Breakfast Club’ prompt for The 80s Challenge by @nellblazer . “You were starting to get your hopes up that it would only be the four of you, but then the library door opened once again and your hopes were quickly dashed by the sight of Billy Hargrove being escorted inside by Principal Himbry. Himbry had a hand on Billy's elbow, as if he thought Billy was about to make a run for it if he didn't personally usher him inside the room. “

Word Count: 9.4k

Warnings: Underage drinking

Author’s Note: Set after season two of Stranger Things. Title taken from Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. Principal Himbry is very much so based on the principal from Scream. I couldn't resist. Masterlist / Read on AO3

You thought the whole concept of Saturday detention was bullshit. You didn't understand what the point was of coming into school to waste half of your weekend. You would have preferred staying after school every day for a week than giving up your Saturday.

It wasn't as if you had anything planned, though. You would sit in your room, listening to music, and ignoring that the rest of the world existed. You would probably catch up on homework or finish the assigned novel for your English class. You didn't lead the most exciting life, but you really didn't want to spend your free time stuck in detention.

You knew what people thought of you at Hawkins High. They thought you were quiet. They thought you were a nerd who only focused on your grades and had no fun whatsoever. You usually didn't care what anyone thought about you, though. You were there to get your diploma and then get the hell out of Hawkins.

So what if you didn’t spend your weekends at parties or had a full social life? You didn’t know why you would bother to waste your attention on the other kids at Hawkins High anyways. They had never given you any consideration and you weren’t really jumping at the opportunity to try to change their minds about you.

At the end of the day, they had already made up their minds about you. Did it bother you sometimes? Sure. Were you tempted to try to change their opinion of you? Not really.

You sighed as you pulled open the front door to the school. You had been forced to walk to school, since your parents were out of town and you didn't have your own car. You didn't mind the walk, but since it was almost Thanksgiving, the air had a chill to it that took your breath away.

Once you got inside, you started pulling off your gloves.

"I see you've finally showed up," you heard from in front of you.

You glanced up to see Principal Himbry standing there, an unimpressed look on his face.

"I had to walk," you offered helplessly.

"That's no excuse," he said. "All of you little delinquents are late." He sighed before he glanced down at his wristwatch, shaking his head when he noticed the time. "You'll be in the library. I suggest you get there now," he snapped before he brushed past you to step outside.

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes as you made your way to the library. You weren't sure who you would be sharing detention with, but you hoped it wasn't any of the idiots you had come to dislike during your time at Hawkins High.

When you got to the library, you noticed it was eerily silent. You considered the row of three tables taking up space in the middle of the room. Each table only had three seats, so there weren't a lot of seating choices. You were glad you were the first one in the room, since that meant you got to choose where you wanted to sit.

You made a beeline for the table at the back. You chose the middle seat, hoping it would dissuade anyone from sitting at your table.

You sat in the silent library for long enough that you started to wonder if you should try to find something to read to pass the time. Just as you had convinced yourself to get up, the door to the library opened and three people walked inside.

You quirked an eyebrow at the sight of Steve Harrington striding into the room followed closely by Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. Nancy shot you a quick look before she moved to take the middle seat of the first table, Jonathan and Steve flanking her.

You were more than a bit surprised to see Nancy and Jonathan. They were a grade below you, but even you knew they were generally regarded as good students. Seeing Steve wasn't as much of a shock. You had a few classes with Steve and while he seemed like a level-headed guy, he also had a habit of bickering with Tommy Hagan or Billy Hargrove and disrupting class.

You really hoped neither of them showed up for detention, because you were sure it would lead to more bickering and fighting between the boys. You only wanted to do your time and get home to enjoy what was left of your weekend. You really didn’t want to get pulled into any drama.

You were starting to get your hopes up that it would only be the four of you, but then the library door opened once again and your hopes were quickly dashed by the sight of Billy Hargrove being escorted inside by Principal Himbry. Himbry had a hand on Billy's elbow, as if he thought Billy was about to make a run for it if he didn't personally usher him inside the room.

Billy jerked his arm out of Himbry's grasp. "I told you I know where the library is," he insisted. "I didn't need your help."

"Your grades would suggest otherwise, Mr. Hargrove. Take a seat."

Billy rolled his eyes, but didn't bother to say anything as he moved forward. You noticed Steve's shoulders tense as Billy brushed past him, but you were quick to drop your gaze to the table in front of you when you noticed Billy's attention focus on you for a moment.

You were aware of Billy dropping into the middle seat at the table in front of yours and felt relieved that he didn't choose to sit at your table. If there was anyone who didn't mind pushing boundaries just to get a rise out of people, it was Billy Hargrove.

You didn't bother looking up again until Mr. Himbry spoke. "I know you five think you've been given a free pass to just sit around and do nothing all day, but that's not how Saturday detention in my school is run."

Billy snorted as he tipped his head back, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. "Please, enlighten us," he remarked.

Mr. Himbry shot Billy an exasperated glare. "I want you to write me an essay," Mr. Himbry started as he moved over towards the librarian's desk. He grabbed a small stack of loose-leaf notebook paper and a handful of pencils before he started distributing them among the five of you. You frowned down at the blank paper in front of you before you glanced up to see Himbry standing back in front of the door, his hand on the doorknob as if he was about to leave the room.

You hastily raised your hand, hating that you were going to call attention to yourself.

"What?" Himbry asked when he noticed you.

"What are we supposed to write about?"

You heard Billy groan as a smirk appeared on Himbry's face.

"I'm glad you asked. I want you to write me an essay about your character. Explain to me why what you did was wrong and how you're going to improve so it doesn't happen again."

Billy raised his hand. "But, sir, what if we're not sorry? What if we like our choices?" His voice had a mocking tone to it and by the annoyed expression on Himbry's face, you were sure he caught it.

"Mr. Hargrove, I hope out of anyone in this room, you will take this day to reflect on your bad decisions. You’ve certainly made a lot of them since you decided to grace us with your presence."

Billy leaned back in his chair as he kicked his feet up on the desk in front of him. "That'll be the day," he commented.

"I am sick of your attitude, Mr. Hargrove," Himbry snapped. "You just earned yourself another Saturday detention."

Billy chuckled as he moved to pull a stick of gum from the outer pocket of his jacket. Mr. Himbry crossed over to him and held his hand out.

"And no chewing gum in the library. It's bad enough you kids stick it under the cafeteria tables. We don't need that in here either."

"Sure thing, Mr. Himbry," Billy replied as he handed over the stick of gum.

He waited until Mr. Himbry's back was turned before he pulled out another piece, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. When he realized he had your attention, he shot you a wink.

You rolled your eyes, not wanting to admit even to yourself that you found Billy Hargrove dangerously charming, even when he was being a bit of a dick.

Mr. Himbry turned to survey the five of you. "I want those essays finished by the time you're allowed to leave here today," he said. "You will stay right here in this room. No going off into one of the private study rooms. If I think you've left your seat when I get back, I'll add another Saturday to your sentence. Do I make myself clear?"

"Aren't you going to stay here?" Steve asked.

"I have better things to do with my time than watch you all day, Harrington. I'll be locking you all in so I can be sure you won't leave."

"But, sir, isn't that a fire hazard?" Billy’s tone suggested he didn’t really care, but he just wanted to piss off Mr. Himbry by bringing it up.

"Shut it, Hargrove. You’re lucky I gave you detention and not suspension for smoking on school grounds,” Mr. Himbry responded, a displeased look on his face.

Billy held up his hands in surrender before he reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He rocked back in his seat, not caring that his head was dangerously close to the edge of your table.

Mr. Himbry sighed and shook his head. "At least you're graduating this year," he grumbled before he turned and left the library.

You had no intention of actually writing the essay. There was no way Himbry could grade you on it, so there was no point in actually wasting your time on it. Instead, you grabbed the pencil he had left for you on the desk and started doodling in the margins of the paper. You were mindlessly drawing stars and scribbling snatches of lyrics from some of your favorite songs when you were torn out of your thoughts by Billy's voice.

"I should have known you would live for that extra homework bullshit," he said. When you glanced up, it was to see Billy sitting back up in his chair, his feet planted on the floor once again as he considered you over the top rim of his sunglasses. "Did you get turned on by the thought of writing another boring-as-shit essay, Miss Honor Roll?"

You shot him a glare before you bent back over your paper. You made sure to print the letters large enough on the page to be able to read them at a distance. You held the paper up so Billy could read your message to him.

His lips stretched in a smirk as he read the words. "Fuck off, huh? Such language from such a pretty girl."

"Just leave her alone, Billy," Nancy cut in, shooting a glare at Billy over her shoulder.

Billy turned back around in his seat, facing the table in front of him. "I'm surprised to see you here, princess," Billy said as he leaned forward in his seat, his gaze set on Nancy and Steve in front of him.

Steve turned around, a scowl on his face. "Hey, don't call her that."

Billy smirked. "I was talking to you, Harrington."

"You're a real asshole. Do you know that?" Steve snapped, turning fully in his seat so he could consider Billy.

"So I've been told," Billy drawled, seemingly unaffected by Steve's words.

"Why the hell are you even here, Hargrove? I would have thought you were above showing up for a Saturday detention."

"Oh, but then I would have missed seeing your face, Harrington. I couldn't possibly go a day without it."

"Just do what Y/N said and fuck off, Billy," Steve spat.

Billy chuckled before he pressed his hands to the surface of the table, pushing himself up to stand. "With pleasure," he hissed.

You watched him move over towards the library doors. When he reached out to try to open them, they didn't budge.

"That dick actually locked us in," you couldn't help saying. You really didn't think Mr. Himbry would go so far as to lock you all in the library. What if something happened? What if you needed to leave?

Jonathan glanced at you over his shoulder, a surprised look on his face.

Steve snorted as he leaned back in his seat. "Of course he did," he muttered. "Because that's just what today needed."

Billy turned around, his focus immediately going to you. "There you go with that smart mouth again," he said as he leaned back against the locked library doors. "How did you even end up in detention in the first place? Aren't you the perfect little teacher's pet?"

You rolled your eyes and moved to grab the paper and pencil from the desk. You pushed yourself out of your chair and then made for one of the private study rooms dotting the perimeter of the room. You didn't care if Mr. Himbry had forbidden it or if you ended up being punished for it. You would do just about anything in that moment to get away from Billy Hargrove and his insufferable attitude.

"Oh, we've got ourselves a rebel!" Billy called after you.

You didn't bother to look back at him or the others as you pushed the door closed behind yourself. You let out a sigh of relief when you dropped into one of the chairs found at the table in the middle of the room. You were sure you would be even more bored all by yourself in the study room, but you didn't care. If it gave you just a few moments to yourself, then you would happily take it.

You spent a couple of hours by yourself, absently drawing your own constellations on the paper and trying to find ways to entertain yourself.

You were thankful that it was warm enough in the room that you could slip off your jacket. You weren’t sure if the others were talking or even bothering with each other, because you couldn’t hear a thing from the main room. Sitting all alone in the study room without music or anything else to occupy your time was mind-numbingly boring, but you couldn’t help but think it was better than potentially listening to Steve and Billy fight all day.

You were starting to get sleepy and seriously considering balling up your jacket to use as a pillow when the door to the study room abruptly opened. You were startled enough that you almost tipped out of your chair.

"Get out of there," you heard Mr. Himbry snap behind you.

You sighed before you made yourself get up. You grabbed your things before finally turning and looking at Mr. Himbry. He sighed and shook his head, disappointment clear in his expression as you brushed past him.

"I'll see you here next Saturday," he told you.

Billy was sitting in the seat you had originally claimed, his sunglasses still on his face. When he saw you, he smirked at you. "Looks like I won't be lonely next Saturday after all."

You rolled your eyes, choosing to sit in the middle seat of the second table.

Mr. Himbry sighed as he passed your table. "Now, if you didn't bring lunch, which I don't think any of you thought to do, then there are pre-packaged sandwiches and chips that can be found in the cafeteria." He moved to stand near the librarian's desk, his gaze fixed on the five of you as he considered you. "You," he said as he pointed at you. "And Harrington," he added after a few moments. "Go to the cafeteria and get lunch for everyone."

Steve glanced at you before he pushed himself to his feet. You were quick to follow, glad that you would be able to leave the library for just a few moments.

"And don't take more than ten minutes," Himbry called out. "Or it's another Saturday for the both of you," he warned.

You really didn't want to spend your weekends leading up to Christmas in detention, so you simply nodded your head and followed Steve out of the library.

You didn't really know Steve Harrington all that well, even if you had been in classes together for years. However, everyone at Hawkins High knew who 'King Steve' was, even if he had recently fallen from the ridiculous heights of popularity he once seemed to enjoy.

"So," Steve started, shooting you a glance as he swung his arms idly at his sides. "Y/N, right?"

You quirked an eyebrow at him, amused by the question. "Yeah. Steve, right?" You jokingly asked.

Steve rolled his eyes before carding his fingers through his hair, pushing it off of his forehead.

"I'm just trying to make small talk. I don't really know anything about you except that you're one of the smartest kids in our class. How the hell did you even end up in Saturday detention?"

You shrugged your shoulders. "I'm more than just a nerd, King Steve."

"Alright, alright. Point taken."

"How did you end up with Saturday detention?"

Steve bit his lip before he shot you a grin. "I told Tommy H. to go fuck himself. Himbry overheard."

"Huh," you breathed. "Knowing Tommy, I'm sure it was deserved."

"Yeah," Steve agreed with a laugh. "Now will you tell me how you got detention?"

"Nope," you answered.

Steve laughed again, shooting you an amused grin, before he shook his head. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You seem to like your secrets."

"Oh, I'm full of surprises, Harrington."

"Yeah? I guess you are."

A companionable silence fell over the two of you once you reached the cafeteria. You helped Steve grab the food helpfully waiting for you on the lunch table closest to the door leading to the lunch line. You caught a glimpse of one of the women who regularly worked in the cafeteria through the open door. She raised her hand in a wave when she saw you and you offered her a smile in return.

When you got back to the library, Mr. Himbry was pointedly looking at his wristwatch. "Another minute and you would have added another Saturday to both of your sentences." He considered the both of you, a scowl forming on his face. "And where are the drinks?"

"Uh," Steve started, shooting you an uncertain look. "You didn't mention anything about drinks, Mr. Himbry," he pointed out.

"It was implied, Mr. Harrington." Himbry sighed before he glanced away. "Wheeler and Byers," he called, snapping his fingers at the pair. "Go get drinks for everyone."

Nancy frowned, but didn't say anything as she got out of her seat. Steve watched Nancy as she passed by him, a look of longing on his face. You had heard about his brutal breakup with Nancy at Tina’s Halloween party and you couldn't help but feel a bit bad for him. By the look on his face, you figured it was safe to assume he wasn't over her.

You moved to take your seat again, dropping a sandwich and bag of chips in front of Billy.

"Thanks, baby," he purred, sitting up in his chair.

"Don't call me that," you snapped, shooting him a glare. You faced forward in your seat, noticing Himbry stepping out of the library and closing the door behind him, leaving you alone with Steve and Billy.

"Sure thing, sweetheart," Billy quipped, earning an eyeroll from you. "So, hey," you heard Billy say. "I heard an interesting rumor about Harrington."

You saw Steve's shoulders tense, but he didn't bother to acknowledge that he had actually heard Billy.

"I don't care," you answered, reaching out to slowly unwrap your sandwich.

"I heard he's fucking both of them. Nancy and Byers." You heard Billy chuckle, as if amused by his own words. "The princess gets the freak and the jock. How's that for a fairytale ending?"

You noticed Steve's hands clench into fists. You only shared one class with both Billy and Steve, but that was enough to know that they had a complicated relationship. Billy constantly riled Steve up and thought it was hilarious when Steve finally snapped back. Hell, Billy liked to pick at everyone. You weren't sure if it was his own way of making sure he stayed at the top of the high school food chain or if he had another reason for bullying people, but you were sick of it.

"You know what?" You said as you turned in your seat to look at Billy. You noticed his eyebrows rise in surprise, as if he didn't think you would actually be bold enough to stand up to him. "It's none of your business if they are in a relationship. You know whose business it is? Theirs. No one else's." You considered Billy for a moment, noticing the way he seemed to be studying you. "You know what I think, Billy?"

"Enlighten me," he retorted.

"I think you're lonely," you told him. "You spend so much of your time antagonizing other people so you don't have to take a good, hard look at yourself. Because once everything is said and done, all you have is yourself. And maybe you don’t like you all that much."

"You don't know a damn thing about me, sweetheart," Billy muttered, his tone close to a snarl.

"Maybe that's because you don't want anyone to really look past those aviator glasses and that leather jacket," you pointed out. "Maybe if you let someone in, then you wouldn't feel the need to drag everyone else down with you. Maybe you should let someone lift you up."

Billy scoffed and shook his head. "That's the biggest piece of shit I've ever heard in my life."

You shrugged your shoulders, not bothering to respond as you turned back around in your seat.

Steve was watching you, an unreadable expression on his face for a moment, before he grinned. You rolled your eyes, feeling yourself flush at his silent approval, before you began to pick at the sandwich in front of you.

When Nancy and Jonathan got back, Himbry locked you in again.

You thanked Jonathan when he handed you a can of soda. You noticed the way Steve reached out to clap a hand to Jonathan's shoulder and the soft smile Jonathan shot Steve in return. You couldn't help but wonder if there was any truth to Billy's words, but then immediately felt guilty for even thinking about it. If they really all were in a relationship, then you told yourself it wasn't any of your business. Although, a small part of you couldn't help but feel curious.

You picked at your lunch, not really in the mood to eat. You really just wanted to go home and fall into bed.

An hour managed to crawl past. The silence in the library was almost unnerving. You had long run out of space on your paper, so you had taken to using your pencil to try to color in the full page.

Every so often, you heard Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan all softly whispering to each other, but you were never able to catch what they were talking about. You didn't really want to eavesdrop, but you were so bored out of your skull that you were just about ready to try anything to stop yourself from banging your head against the desk as a form of entertainment.

"I'm bored," Billy groaned, finally breaking the silence in the room.

"No shit, Hargrove," Steve snapped. "We're all bored."

"Well, I have something that'll help," you heard Billy say.

You turned in your seat to see he was reaching into his coat. When he pulled out a flask, you couldn't help but roll your eyes.

"Of course," you muttered to yourself, turning back around to face the front.

"What?" Billy asked defensively. "You have something against making things interesting?"

"How is drinking going to make things interesting?" You wondered why Billy even thought to bring a flask to Saturday detention in the first place.

"Because we're going to play a game," Billy said, reaching forward to poke at your shoulder.

Steve turned in his seat, his eyebrow quirked at Billy. "You have to be kidding."

"Nope," you heard Billy say, a smile in his voice.

You heard Nancy sigh before she turned to consider Billy as well. "What game?" She sounded like she didn’t really want to ask, but she was so bored she couldn’t help but grasp at any distraction.

Billy was silent for a moment, as if thinking over his choices. You heard him snap his fingers before he spoke again. "Never Have I Ever," he offered.

Jonathan snorted before he blushed when you all glanced at him, having obviously been caught off-guard by Billy's suggestion.

"What? You've got something to offer, Byers?"

Jonathan sighed before he glanced at Billy over his shoulder. "Just thought you'd think something like that was lame."

"I'm bored, Byers," Billy drawled as he pulled his sunglasses off before putting them back in his jacket. "There's a hell of a lot I'd do to avoid that."

You heard Steve groan before he pushed his seat away from the table. "You know what? Fuck it," he conceded. "Sounds a lot better than sitting here in silence."

"I never thought you'd agree with me on something, Harrington."

"I still hate you," Steve told Billy, glaring at him.

"Feeling's mutual," Billy sneered.

You shook your head, still working on shading in your piece of paper. You were going to have to get up soon and sharpen your pencil if you had any hope of completing your self-assigned project.

"I'm out," you muttered. "You guys have fun."

"Oh, come on," Billy coaxed. "Live a little. Have some fun yourself for once."

"I don't want to play," you told him, not even bothering to look back at him.

"Why not? You scared I'm going to get to know you like you seem to think you know me?"

You finally turned and met his gaze, momentarily getting drawn in by the smug look on his face.

Playing this game with the others was probably a terrible idea. Steve had been right to guess you liked your secrets, and it was mostly because you were sick of other people judging you. You knew that Billy likely picked at people for the same reason you also didn’t let them in. You didn’t want others to see you and then decide you weren’t worth it.

It was probably a terrible idea, but you really had nothing better to do. Besides, you didn’t like the challenging look on Billy’s face.

"Fine," you finally bit out. "Let's play."

"Great," he said, a smirk pulling at his lips. "What about you, Byers? Wheeler? You in?"

Nancy rolled her eyes when Steve turned a pleading look on her.

"Oh, come on, Nance. Don't make me play by myself." His lower lip poked out in a pout and you saw the moment Nancy began to cave.

Nancy glanced to Jonathan, catching his hesitant nod, before a reluctant smile flashed across her face.

"Alright," she agreed. "We're in."

"But how is it going to work with one flask between the five of us?" You couldn't help but ask. "Don't we all need our own drink?"

"We'll improvise," Billy answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Wait," Nancy called, hastily getting to her feet. "Maybe we don't have to."

You frowned when she went behind the front desk and disappeared into the librarian's office. She came back after a few moments with a small stack of mini paper cups. "There's a water cooler in there," she explained. "These will make things easier at any rate."

"Alright, let's do this," Billy said, getting out of his chair.

He moved to drop down into the seat next to yours while Nancy set the cups down in front of you. Steve and Jonathan had already turned their chairs to face your table and you felt weirdly flustered at the feeling of everyone focusing on you.

"Look alive, nerd," Billy said, nudging you in the side with his elbow. "Make yourself useful and help me out here," he added, nodding at the cups in front of you.

You rolled your eyes before you reached out to grab the cups. You separated them, holding one out to Billy at a time as he poured a little of whatever was in his flask into each cup. You handed them out to the others as you went, wondering if this was such a good idea.

"Don't make me regret wasting the good stuff on you assholes," Billy said as he finished. He twisted the cap back onto his flask, shaking it for a moment as if checking to make sure he still had some left. "Plenty left to go around," he added. "So, who's going first?"

"I've got an idea," you said, reaching behind you to grab one of Billy's blank pieces of paper. You ripped the paper into pieces and wrote a number on each one. You made quick work of folding each piece and then mixing them up. "Okay, we'll just go in order of the numbers we choose."

"Smart," Steve commented, shooting you a quick smile, before he reached out to grab a number.

Jonathan ended up going first. He looked like he wasn't really sure what to say at first.

"Come on, Byers," Billy groaned. "Do you not know how to play?"

"I do," Jonathan assured, shooting Billy a glare. "Never have I ever," he started, trailing off for a moment. "Used a fake ID," he finally finished.

Billy snorted before he downed his shot. You noticed Steve did as well.

Steve scrunched up his face and shook his head, turning his head to cough into his sleeve. "What the fuck is that?"

"The good shit, Harrington," Billy said. "So shut up and drink up."

"My turn," Steve said, holding his cup out to Billy to refill. He seemed to think about what he wanted to say for a moment before he finally spoke. "Never have I ever played hooky."

You quirked an eyebrow at Steve. "Really?" You would have thought King Steve would have skipped school at least once before.

"Really, really," he confirmed with a nod of his head before he smirked over at Nancy and Jonathan.

"Not fair," Nancy grumbled before she laughed and downed her shot, Jonathan not far behind her. You noticed Billy tip his head back as he had his second shot of the game.

He glanced over at you when he noticed you watching him.

"You're zero for two, sweetheart. You should join in on the fun."

"You're two for two," you reminded him. "Maybe you should start having a little less fun."

"Never," he said, smirking at you.

You rolled your eyes, glancing away from him.

"Your turn, Y/N," Nancy reminded you when you were silent for a few moments.

"Right," you agreed, staring down at the '3' you had scribbled down on the slip of paper in front of you. You weren't really sure what to say. When you agreed to play the game, you seemed to have momentarily forgotten that you really hadn't done all that much. It made it easy to do your part now, sure, but you were about to make it clear how much of a social life you didn’t have. Maybe you really were as straitlaced and boring as everyone made you out to be.

"Tick tock, babe," Billy drawled, knocking his shoulder lightly into yours.

"Don't call me that," you automatically said, barely even thinking about your response. "Alright, never have I ever been in a fist fight."

You noticed Steve, Jonathan, and Billy take a shot. You glanced to Jonathan, surprised that seemingly sweet and gentle Jonathan Byers had enough fire in him to have been in a fight.

Nancy went next, admitting that she had never been arrested.

Billy and Jonathan downed a shot for that one.

"You know, maybe I was wrong about you, Byers," Billy said. "You're quite the miscreant, aren't you?"

You noticed Jonathan's face flush, so you looked to Billy, figuring turnabout was fair play.

"Get on with it, Hargrove," you said, reaching out to tap your fingers against his slip of paper with the '5' written on it.

"Patience, baby," Billy said. "I know how to make a good thing last."

You heard Steve groan and shake his head. "Stop flirting with the poor girl and just get on with it, Billy. This was your idea," he pointed out.

"Stop ruining my fun, Harrington," Billy snapped. He considered Steve for a moment before a wicked grin appeared on his face.

You instinctively knew what he was about to say would likely be a dig at Steve.

"Never have I ever," Billy started, pausing as if for dramatic effect. "Had a three-way," he finished after a few seconds.

You reached out to smack him on the shoulder. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" You hissed at him, shooting a quick, worried look at the three in front of you.

To your surprise, all three of them were taking a shot. You felt your eyes widen in surprise before you looked to Billy, noticing the satisfied smirk on his face.

He leaned over until he was in your space. "Called it," he whispered, winking at you, before he pulled away.

You hated to admit that you felt a tiny thrill at having Billy Hargrove so close to you that you could smell his cologne and feel his hair brush against your shoulder. You also would never admit that when he leaned away, it left you feeling just the tiniest bit bereft. You didn't understand why you seemed to have a bit of a crush on him. He did nothing but poke at people and call you pet names. He thought you were a stick in the mud and would probably never seriously glance your way when every other girl in the school was attracted to him and looking to get into his pants.

"Uh, earth to Y/N," Steve called. "You still playing?"

"What? Yeah," you answered, blinking at Steve. "What did I miss?"

"Byers here has never done drugs," Billy told you, watching you expectantly. When you didn't touch your cup, he snorted and shook his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Shut up," you muttered, feeling your cheeks flush.

"My turn," Steve said. "Never have I ever flirted with a married person."

Billy was the only one to take a shot for that turn.

"Why am I not surprised?" You echoed, fixing Billy with an unimpressed look.

"I can't help it if everyone knows I'm hot shit," Billy told you, seemingly unconcerned.

"You're one of those things," you muttered, ignoring Billy's scowl. "Alright, never have I ever had a friends-with-benefits relationship."

Billy smirked at you before he downed his shot. "We can fix that, you know."

"You're the last person I'd want to fix that for me," you told him, even though it was mostly a lie. Would you and Billy actually have any semblance of a functioning, healthy relationship? Unlikely. Would it be hot as hell while it lasted? Most likely.

You were able to take your first shot when Nancy admitted she never got stitches. You noticed Jonathan quirking an eyebrow at you in surprise, but you shrugged your shoulders, not wanting to get into the story.

You hated to admit it, but as the game progressed and you got to know the others a bit more, you started actually having fun. You had managed to down a couple of more shots, admitting to being drunk at a family event and then later confessing to going skinny dipping.

"Never thought you would have had it in you," Billy said. He swayed in his seat, bumping companionably into you. "You've surprised me, angel."

You shrugged your shoulders, not wanting to fess up that the only reason you had gone skinny dipping was because you had been completely alone and didn't want to get your clothes wet. Still, when Billy shot you a pleased smile, you couldn't help but gift him with one of your own.

You noticed that, to your ultimate surprise, you all seemed to be bonding. You were all so different, but it seemed one dumb party game was enough to bring you together, if only for a small amount of time. If only because all of you had nothing better to do in that moment.

When Nancy admitted that she hadn't lied in the game, shooting a pointed look at Steve, you couldn't help but laugh when he begrudgingly drained his cup.

"Okay, so I have played hooky before," he offered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I knew it!" You pointed at him accusingly, catching the amused grin on his face.

It wasn't all fun, though. When you admitted that you never lost someone, Billy and Nancy both somberly took a shot.

"I'm so sorry," you told them both. You knew Nancy must have been thinking about Barb. The aftermath of the discovery about Hawkins Lab and their involvement in Barb's death just a few weeks before had rocked the town. You knew that Barb’s absence had to be eating away at Nancy and couldn't imagine what it was like to lose your best friend.

You noticed Steve's arm come up to wrap around Nancy's shoulders as Jonathan reached out to grab her hand. You glanced away from them, giving them a moment of privacy, as you considered Billy. You couldn't help but feel curious about his loss, but you knew it wasn't your place to ask. Instead, you reached out to cautiously squeeze his shoulder, before you drew your hand back. He gave you a lingering look, his eyes dipping down and then back up, as if checking you out.

He cleared his throat, glancing over towards Nancy. "Alright, your turn Wheeler. What do you got?"

By the time the contents of Billy's flask were dangerously low, everyone was at least a little bit tipsy.

"Somehow, I doubt this was what we were supposed to do in detention," Jonathan said, glancing around at the group.

"Yeah, this has almost been nice," you reluctantly admitted.

"Enough for one more round left," Billy said, shaking the flask in his hand. He moved to stuff it back into the inner pocket of his jacket before he glanced at you. "Your turn, babe. Make it a good one."

You didn’t even bother to tell him not to call you that, since from the shit-eating grin on his face, he knew.

It was then you noticed everyone's attention on you. You bit your lip, struggling to think of something interesting, but not embarrassing, to confess.

"Never have I ever had sex in a car," you finally offered, shrugging your shoulders at Billy's incredulous look.

Only Steve, Nancy, and Billy ended up drinking to that. You glanced down to the shot in front of you before you looked to Jonathan.

"We can be losers together," you told him, holding out your cup towards him. "Cheers?"

You saw a brief smile flit across his face before he reached forward with his cup to tap it against yours.

"Cheers," he said before he drained his cup.

Once you downed your shot, you noticed Billy staring at you.

"What?" You felt suddenly defensive, not knowing why he was watching you so closely.

Billy startled, as if he hadn't realized he was still looking at you. "Nothing," he immediately denied, shrugging his shoulders. "Just don't get how you can be so boring."

"What?" It felt like your stomach dropped at his words, a cold wash of dread crashing down on you.

"You took the least shots out of all of us. You've done nothing," he added. "You just spend your days making all your little class notes and probably having wet dreams about acing your calculus exam."

You felt the good mood you had just moments before suddenly dissipate.

"Leave her alone, Billy," Nancy snapped. "What has she ever done to you?"

"Y/N, are you okay?" Steve asked, leaning forward and watching you in concern.

"Fine," you said. "Just regretting thinking that maybe Billy Hargrove wasn't such a dick for a moment."

"Oh," Billy breathed on a helpless laugh. "So, you do have some teeth. There's the fight I was looking for."

"I would think you've had enough of fights," Jonathan told Billy, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I love fights," Billy argued. "Especially when I always win. Just ask Harrington here," Billy continued, gesturing towards Steve. "Or did you forget I just beat the shit out of your boyfriend a few weeks ago?"

It wasn't long before an argument broke out. It seemed that Billy just couldn't help riling up the others. You sat at the desk, picking at the side of your paper cup, and wished that detention was over. All you could think about was Billy calling you boring and thinking that you lived and breathed for nothing except school. You weren’t sure why his words stung, but they did.

You jumped at the sound of the library door slamming open, Himbry standing in the doorway with a scowl on his face.

"I can hear you kids yelling from just down the hallway. What the hell is going on in here?"

"Nothing, sir," Billy said, reaching into his jacket and pulling his sunglasses back out. He put them on, smirking at Himbry as he leaned back in his seat. "Just having a little friendly conversation."

Himbry snorted as he walked farther into the room. You noticed Nancy hastily reach out to grab the other paper cups and stack them again before hiding them beneath her chair.

"I know better than to think there's anything friendly about you, Hargrove. I've had to suffer through having all of you in my school for some time now. You think I don't notice things? I notice things!" Himbry's face was starting to flush red in anger as his voice steadily rose. "You kids think you run this school, but you'll be out of here soon enough! And who's stuck here taking care of the next generation? Me," he hissed, pointing a finger at Billy.

"Uh, Mr. Himbry?" Nancy hesitantly spoke up. "Are you okay?"

"No," he snapped. "I've had enough of this and I obviously can't trust the five of you to follow rules. So, you're each going to a study room and you're going to stay there, by yourself, until Saturday detention is over."

"Fine by me," you muttered, already moving to grab your stuff.

A couple of minutes later, you were back in the study room you had retreated to for solace earlier that day. You went back to trying to shade in your paper, hating that Billy Hargrove of all people had managed to get under your skin.

You weren't sure how long you had been sitting there, glaring down at the progressively-darkening paper in front of you, before the door to your study room opened.

You glanced over your shoulder, hoping it was Himbry telling you it was time to go home, but to your surprise it was Billy standing just inside the room.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Billy shrugged his shoulders before he pulled his sunglasses off. "I was thinking," he said, moving to sit down in the chair beside yours.

"I didn't say you were welcome here," you reminded him.

"Come on, Y/N," Billy said, grinning at you. "You can't tell me you weren't a little excited to see me here."

"I'm not excited to see you here. Get out," you told him, already turning away from him.

"Hey," he called, his tone softer than before. He reached out to wrap his fingers around your wrist, tugging until you faced him again. "I wanted to apologize."

"What?" You blurted, thrown for a loop by his words. "You can't be serious. Are you just making fun of me again?"

"No," he insisted. "God, this is why I don't tell people I'm sorry. They always give me shit for it."

"You have to admit it's a little unexpected given your track record," you couldn't help but point out to him.

Billy brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck, a nervous smile on his face that looked remarkably out of place. You were used to Billy practically oozing an obvious charm that he bestowed on anyone he thought he could get into bed. Otherwise, he was almost hostile, picking fights and mostly winning them. A nervous and awkward Billy Hargrove wasn’t something you thought you would ever witness.

"You know, I've seen you around school before. You get this smile on your face when you think no one's looking. Like, you're away in your head and anywhere else other than this shithole. It's nice," he said.

"You've noticed me? I thought you were too busy being too cool for someone as boring as I am."

"Oh, I've noticed you," he confirmed with a nod of his head. "And I shouldn't have called you boring. But I just always thought you were too good for me. You’re going to graduate top of the class and go to some fancy university in a big city. You’re better than Hawkins and you’re better than me."

"Maybe I am and maybe I’m not," you said, rolling your eyes. "But maybe if you stopped being such a dick to me, then you'd find that out for yourself. Maybe if you actually got to know me, then you would know that I have more to offer than my good grades."

Billy narrowed his eyes at you before a self-satisfied grin broke out on his face. "Alright, then," he said, leaning back in his seat. "We've still got at least an hour locked in here. What do you say to getting to know each other a little better?"

You raised an eyebrow at him. "Just talking?"

Billy held his hands up, palms facing towards you. "Just talking," he promised, even though the smirk on his face did nothing to convince you he wasn't lying.

You thought that maybe Billy Hargrove wasn't capable of being alone in a room with a girl without making a dozen innuendos. You thought Billy Hargrove would have hit on you relentlessly or tried to goad you into doing something more than having a conversation. You thought Billy Hargrove would rather eat his own shoe than spend over an hour with you alone, simply talking and getting to know each other better.

Billy Hargrove managed to surprise you.

During your time together, you learned that the loss he admitted to earlier during the game was his mom.

"She didn't die or anything," he told you, shrugging his shoulders as if unbothered by what he was saying. From the pained look in his eyes, you knew that he still obviously cared a lot. "But she ran out on me and I haven't seen or heard from her since. Left me in a pretty shitty situation," he confessed, carefully not looking at you. “She’s as good as dead to me now.”

"I'm sorry," you said, at a loss for anything else to say.

"Whatever," Billy breathed, his expression smoothing out. "So, what did someone like you do to end up in here?"

You normally wouldn't have wanted to fess up, but after Billy had practically bared his soul for you just moments before, or as close to it as he ever got, you couldn't help but want to trust him with something of yours.

"I threw a book through Mr. Himbry's office window. Smashed it."

"What? That was you?" Billy looked almost impressed as he finally looked at you again. "Why the hell did you do that?"

You shrugged your shoulders. "I was going to fail gym. I told him it was a bullshit requirement, but he wouldn't listen to me. I guess I got angry. He said the only reason I wasn't expelled was because I was top of the class."

"A hothead, huh?" Billy chuckled, an expression that looked a lot like fond amusement appearing on his face. "I can respect that."

As more time passed and Billy revealed more and more of himself to you, you couldn't help but wonder if he was ever this open and candid with anyone else.

You talked about favorite movies and teachers you both hated. He told you about his car and you bemoaned your lack of one. You told him about some of your favorite books and he shared some memories about his favorite places in California.

By the time the end of your detention was approaching, you felt like you had gotten to see a side of Billy Hargrove that no one else was allowed to.

"So, hey," Billy started, tapping his fingers on the surface of the table. "I was thinking I could help you out."

"With what?" You asked, wondering what he could possibly be talking about.

"With some of your answers to that game. Or, I mean, lack of answers," he amended. "You barely got to participate. It's a little sad."

You rolled your eyes. "I'm not having sex with you in your car just because I've never done that before." Even if it is a nice car, you couldn’t help but think to yourself.

He laughed, sounding genuinely amused by your words. "That's not what I had in mind," he muttered before he leaned forward in his chair. He reached out, tipping your chin up towards him, before he brushed his lips against yours. "This okay?" He quietly asked, pulling back only enough to meet your gaze.

You nodded your head, pulling him back towards you. It was strange to think that you started the day dreading the sight of Billy Hargrove and now you felt almost breathless with anticipation while he was pressed so close to you.

One little Saturday detention had somehow managed to change your opinion of him. You couldn’t help but admit to yourself that you really didn’t hate the turn of events that ended up with his lips pressed to yours and his fingers carding through your hair.

The next time the door to your study room opened, it really was Himbry.

"Enough!" He snapped when he caught you and Billy making out. "It's bad enough that you two ended up in Saturday detention in the first place, but it’s even worse that you just couldn't respect my rules for even one day." He sighed, sounding oddly defeated. "Detention is over. Get out of here. I'll see you two here next Saturday." As he turned, you heard him mutter under his breath. "Honestly, between these two and the other three, I'm starting to wonder why we even bother with Saturday detention anymore."

When you turned back towards the table, you caught Billy looking at you.

"What?" You couldn't quite read the look on his face, but it had you shivering in your seat.

"Nothing," he answered as he reached forward. He pressed his thumb just under your jaw, a smirk on his face. "Looks like I helped you out with something after all."

You remembered his biting kisses to the skin he was considering with an intent in his eyes that you couldn't help but melt at seeing. You also remembered admitting earlier that you had never before gotten a hickey.

"You're something else," you muttered, moving to gather your stuff. You briefly wondered if you would be able to hide the love bites Billy had gifted you with, but a part of you really didn’t want to.

You left the study room, aware of Billy trailing right behind you.

When you looked up, you noticed Nancy righting her blouse just outside the study room she had been confined to earlier. Steve and Jonathan were just right behind her, talking softly to each other.

It was then you suddenly understood Himbry's words from just moments before. You quirked an eyebrow at Nancy when she realized she had your attention and she blushed in response, shrugging her shoulders. You grinned at her before you mimed zipping your lips shut. She shot you a grateful look before turning towards Steve and Jonathan.

"Told you," Billy whispered in your ear.

You glanced at him over your shoulder before you shook your head. “You better not go spreading that around school,” you warned him. “It’s not yours to tell.”

Billy didn’t bother to answer, but from the expression on his face, you hoped he agreed to keep his mouth shut.

You walked out of the library, already dreading the walk home. You pulled your jacket back on, knowing that it would likely be freezing outside.

When you opened the front doors to the school, you shivered at the blast of cold air that greeted you.

You hastily tugged your gloves back on and pulled your jacket tighter around you. You only made it a few steps away from the front doors before you felt someone tug on the sleeve of your jacket.

"Hey, nerd," Billy called, an almost affectionate tone to his voice. "Let me give you a ride home. You'll catch pneumonia walking in this cold."

"And you care?"

"Just get in the car, Y/N," he groaned before nodding over towards his blue Camaro.

You watched him step towards his car before sending you a questioning glance over his shoulder. You moved to follow after him, feeling a little exhilarated as you ducked into the passenger seat.

The car ride to your house was filled with an almost awkward silence. You weren't really sure where you stood with Billy now that you weren't sentenced to spending time together. Were you friends? Something more? Surely friends didn't make out with each other, right? You had certainly never given any of your friends a hickey. But were you dating? Were you anything other than a Saturday detention fling to Billy?

By the time Billy pulled into your driveway, you had managed to almost convince yourself that the connection you thought you had forged with Billy was tenuous at best. He would probably never speak to you again past today and the thought hurt, even though you knew you didn't really have any claim to him or his time.

You moved to get out of the car. You hated that he wasn't saying anything as you pushed yourself out of the car and closed the passenger side door shut behind you.

"So, Y/N," Billy called, looking at you through the open passenger window.

"Yeah?" You pulled your jacket tighter around you, shivering at the chill in the air.

"Can I call you some time?"

You felt your breath hitch, your knees going a little weak at the expectant look on his face. He looked as if he was looking forward to the idea of speaking to you again.

"Sure," you answered, trying to keep your tone even. If you let him know just how eager you felt for more of his time, then he wouldn't let you live it down.

"Great," he said, reaching into the front pocket of his jacket and pulling out a carton of cigarettes. He shook one out before he placed it between his lips, his gaze going to you as he lit the end of the cigarette with a lighter he pulled from the glove compartment.

You weren't really sure if you were supposed to leave now, but you couldn't help but say one more thing before stepping away from the car.

"So, I guess I'll see you at the next Saturday detention," you reminded him. A part of you really hoped that it was only going to be you and Billy there. You relished the idea of having Billy all to yourself.

He smiled at you, pulling the cigarette away from his mouth to breathe out a cloud of smoke.

"It's a date," he agreed.

#nellblazers80schallenge #stranger things #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove #billy hargrove imagine #stranger things imagine #reader insert #reader imagine #billy hargrove x you #billy hargrove/reader #stranger things x reader #reader #stranger things fanfiction #love's strange fic #my edit

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holykillercake · 4 years ago

Text

Hazy Justice - 02

01 03

pairing: Cop!Smoker x MilitaryDoctor!Reader

word count: 2k

summary: After eight years serving your country in a war, you returned to your hometown as the new head of Trauma Surgery in one of the best hospitals in the country. You were expecting a calmer life now, but suddenly you see yourself choosing between your brain and your heart, light and dark, justice and evil.

notes: I guess you saw the gif already! We have the introduction of a new character!

𝕷𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘, 𝖗𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖘, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊!

Stiff neck and a headache. This is what you get for sleeping on your living room floor.

You took a quick shower and some painkillers before heading for another day of work. On your silent drive towards the hospital, your mind ran through various things.

The first being the list of your patients, the ones you had to check upon first, their conditions, and find out the attending who took care of them during the night, ask them about possible complications and current situation.

The second subject hovered your head as more of a question, though. Had you finally met your neighbor, or was it just a dream, the result of your exhausted state?

You spotted a cute restaurant when you stopped at the red light, perhaps you´d have lunch there today, it was near the hospital, and the place gave you a ¨good food¨ vibe.

The image of the man you dreamed about wandered its way back into your thoughts, despite your difficulty of seeing a perfect picture. His hair was actually the only thing you were sure about. White, a single lock was falling on his forehead, but it didn´t look like it was meant to be there. Maybe it was just ¨end of the day¨ hairstyle.

You parked your car on your designated spot and looked around the parking lot. It was the first time you´ve seen it so crowded. It made sense, though.

A yellow Jaguar drove in a couple of minutes after you did, and since that was the only yellow car you had seen so far, and you spot the small white stuffed bear hanging on the mirror, you knew it was Law.

He left his car and walked over to you with a strange expression.

¨Y/N-ya, what are you doing here?¨ always so straight to the point.

¨Well, good morning, Law. How are you?¨ the man rolled his eyes, but you refused to answer until he learned how to talk to people properly.

¨Morning, Y/N-ya. I´m good. What are you doing here?¨

¨What do you mean? I work here.¨ you gave him a duh face.

¨Yeah, but not today.¨ your head tilted to the side ¨Today is your day off.¨

¨My day off?¨ you were so used to not having days off that it didn´t even cross your mind. You asked the HR person everything but days off. ¨What am I supposed to do on my day off?¨

¨I don´t know, Y/N-ya. Go explore the city or have some rest. Today you only get inside this hospital wounded or dead.¨ he said bitterly, patted your shoulder, and entered the building.

The only thing besides work you had planned for the day was paying a visit to that cute restaurant, so it took you some good thinking to come up with a plan. Maybe Tashigi was free, and you two could do something together.

<Mornin´ Tashigi! U free today?>

<Morning, Y/N-san! I just need to take somethings to the office then I´m free!>

Tashigi´s station was inside the Justice District, so it didn´t take long for you to reach it. The journey was peaceful, and the view was something to take note of. Beautiful leafy trees were strategically planted on the sidewalks, offering shadows for those who preferred to walk, no scratched paint in any house, store, or building. They all looked recently finished. The asphalt was shiny and without bumps or holes, making every car trip smooth.

You entered the Police Department and couldn´t help but feel a bit lost.

¨The new Commissioner made quite a few changes in the place.¨ you mumbled to yourself.

Back in the day when Sengoku was the Chief of the Police Headquarters, the halls were lighter and brighter, the furniture was softer, and it smelled like spring - if that is possible. After he retired, a man named Sakazuki took his place, and to be honest, he seemed pretty decent, but he deals with justice differently, and the place shows.

First, it was damn cold; the AC was making his money worth it; the smell was the second thing that hit you. The strong odor of bleach, the freezing temperature, and the morbid LEDs on the bleak grey ceiling made you feel like you were in a morgue. Everything else was made out of either leather or metal.

This Sakazuki guy was definitely on the list of the people you didn´t want to meet.

¨Hi, can you help me? I´m looking for-¨

¨Y/N-san!¨ Tashigi yelled, almost losing balance and falling on her face.

¨Hey, careful there!¨ you hugged her. ¨You´re good to go?¨

¨Yeah, I just...¨ she turned her head around a couple of times, looking for something. She smiled and waved at someone ¨Smoker-san! Here!¨

The man was getting out of a room, sunglasses on and a cigar on his mouth. He was tall and seemed muscular under the leather jacket, but what caught your attention was his hair, the same white hair you remembered from last night. Only this time it was completely put back, no loose locks.

The change in his expression made you think he had recognized you as well, and the thought of Tashigi´s boss being your front-door neighbor made you chuckle.

¨That´s what I call a coincidence.¨ he said and took off the shades. You struggled not to gasp when his light-brown eyes met yours.

¨Right? I was so tired last night that I thought you were a dream.¨ you giggled, and he broke a smile.

¨You know each other?¨ Tashigi asked.

¨We´re neighbors! It took a while for us to meet, though.¨

¨Tough week.¨ he touched the nape of his neck.

¨Yeah, it was. We even saw you yesterday, Y/N-san!¨ the young officer said, confusing you ¨The Sora park, we were there too! But since you looked so busy, I didn´t want to interrupt.¨

So much happened, but you couldn´t recall anything.

You just focused on starting the triage process. Determining the severity of the patient´s condition, assign a priority level, taking care of those who could be assisted in the local, and having the severely injured ones being sent to the hospital where you knew Marco would take good care of them.

You were immensely wrong when you guessed that the triage process would be easier, thinking that the majority of the victims were fatalities.

Apparently, the park was celebrating its 5th anniversary, so people from not only the different districts but other cities were all gathered in the park.

¨Sorry, I didn´t... see you guys.¨ you said a little apologetic and lost.

¨No apologies needed.¨ Smoker said ¨It was pretty intense. Although we were not supposed to spread knowledge of our presence in the scene.¨ he gave her a disguised rebuke, and you watched your friend get redder than a bell pepper, apologizing.

You stared at each other for two seconds before you burst into laughter.

¨You´re still as clumsy as I remember, Tashigi.¨ you wiped a few tears ¨But don´t worry, this information dies with me.¨ you turned to Smoker, and he nodded, trusting you as a military.

¨S-Should we go, Y/N-san?¨

¨Yes, of course! Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Smoker.¨

¨Pleasure is all mine, Y/N.¨ you shook hands again, staring each other in the eyes.

His eyes slowly traveled to your lips, and you noticed that you were biting it, blushing more than Tashigi.

¨Well, see you, then!¨ you let go of his hand and rushed to the door.

¨Y/N,¨ you turned with an audible hm? and raised brows ¨knock if you need anything.¨ you nodded and smiled.

¨Will do.¨

¨I´ll have the Kenafa, please.¨ Tashigi told the waiter with so much of a look in the menu.

The cute restaurant you drove by earlier was called Terracota, and it was specialized in foreign cuisine. Even with the names and ingredients, you couldn´t figure out something you´d like, so you decided to order the same thing as the officer.

¨That´s what eight years of ration do to you.¨ you joked.

¨What have you been eating these days?¨

¨Whatever they have on the menu at the hospital. Sandwiches, pasta, sandwiches, sandwiches, chocolate bars, sandwiches...¨ you laughed ¨Haven´t had time to think about cooking yet.¨

¨Take outs are simpler, right?¨ you nodded ¨So, what do you think about Smoker-san?¨

¨Looks decent, polite, hard worker-¨

¨Aw, come on, Y/N-san! That´s not what I asked!¨ she gave you a suggestive look ¨He´s not taken, you know.¨

You open and closed your mouth a couple of times, words refusing to come out.

¨What? Tashigi!¨

¨I´m just saying!¨ she held her hands up, defending herself in the middle of giggles ¨But seriously, Y/N-san, I think he liked you too.¨

¨Ok, first, I never said I liked him, and second, I just got here. Can´t really think about this stuff.¨

¨Well, you should consider, at least. He doesn´t go out a lot, so...¨ she prolonged the last word ¨...maybe it was fate that put you two as neighbors.¨ you scoffed.

¨You believe in this stuff?¨

¨I do. Sometimes we see some crazy things...¨ her expression frowned ¨...it helps if I believe in fate. And the reason behind things... you know?¨ you nodded when she looked at you, even though you didn´t.

For your salvation, the waiter came back with the amuse-bouche, breaking the uncomfortable moment.

You didn´t want to tell her that you stopped believing that everything happens for a reason a long time ago.

¨But you said you have a brother here, right? Have you seen him already?¨

¨Unfortunately, no. He´s out of town now, so I´ll have to wait. God, I miss him so much!¨ a smile grew on your lips with the idea of seeing him again.

¨Oh yeah, you told me he runs businesses. Do you know the names? Maybe I know or visited before, or even know him!¨

¨Of course! There´s the Casino Verde, the Hotel Verde and a restaurant called Suna. I´ve never be-¨

The girl in front of you turned purple as she choked on her food, a raucous cough called everyone´s attention while one hand covered her mouth and the other smacked her chest.

¨Y-Your brother is C-Crocodile?¨ she asked with a hushed voice, still trying to fight her food from coming out.

You were expecting her to know him, but the explosive noodle reaction caught you a little off guard.

¨Yeah... are you ok?¨ you offered her a napkin which she gladly accepted.

¨I´m sorry about this, it´s just...¨ she paused a bit, brows furrowing while her fingers tore the napkin you gave her. Then she took a deep breath and recomposed herself ¨... he´s very famous, you know? He basically runs the Light District!¨

You knew he was rich and powerful, but to say that he ran the most extravagant district was a surprise. A good one, though. You couldn't help but feel proud of him.

You remember all the sacrifices he made when you were two just kids lost in this world. All the humiliating jobs he´d work at to buy you food. The pain of having his childhood taken from him at such young age.

He became a man to protect you. He never let anything or anyone hurt you, he never let you starve even if that meant he´d be going to sleep with nothing but a glass of tap water in his stomach.

You felt a burning sensation on your nose, and your eyes started to water, bringing a genuine smile to rise on your lips and tears roll down your cheeks. You didn´t mind it, though. You were too happy.

¨Yeah... he is my brother.¨

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aceofspadegrass · 4 years ago

Note

Dori is in the mood for cosplaying.

So instead of cosplaying ng as pretty princess like last time,

He decided to just cosplay as a normal girl,as he walks through the hallways of the beach,doing his job(spraying Niragi)

Lady in White? Nah, just Fancy in White

Characters: Niragi Suguru, Sakurada Sori

Genre: Fluff. Just some casual crossdressing. And a grumpy lizard.

1.6k words

Sakurada would probably rock a beach dress. He has like.... a picture of him wearing a wig for reasons I have no idea of, but it's there. I find it interesting.

Anyways, I hope you like this! I.... tried to make it fit.

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

Niragi liked having a full rest after a day and evening full of exhilarating excitement and a little chaos sprinkled into each day however he pleased.

What he didn’t like is waking up to the sound of his unintentional roommate tripping over his own pillow, hitting the floor quite loudly, then apologizing to said pillow like he tripped over his baby.

Which, Niragi had found out from having to share a room with him, was pretty much his baby. Just cylindrical. He’s never seen a man that excited over a body pillow that was simply a black air tube, yet here he was.

“ Can you keep it down, asshat? I’m trying to sleep.” Niragi grumbles, Sakurada quickly bowing and apologizing to him. It was still dark, and Niragi didn’t feel like turning on a light, pulling the blanket back over himself and huffing in annoyance.

There was quiet shuffling around the room, and the other male at least kept the lights off to let him sleep, although whatever he was doing in the dark was suspicious at best. Niragi rolls over, squinting into the darkness as he tried to figure out what the heck Sakurada was even up to. All he saw was his figure, which held a weirdly uncanny similarity to his own, although darkened. “ It’s early, go to sleep.” Niragi mumbles, glaring into the darkness. “ I apologize for waking you, Niragi, but I am merely choosing my outfit for the day!” “ It’s the Beach, your only choice is swimwear. You know you’re pushing it with all this fancy getup, right?” “ You don’t adhere to the rules either, you know.” Sakurada says, Niragi rolling his eyes.

“ Because the rules are so nobody hides a weapon.” He gestures to his gun, which he lovingly tucked into bed with him. “ And spoilers, I have a gun.”

“ I am very aware of that, but your leader of this place was very kind and let me wear whatever I want because, and I quote, ‘ You look absolutely stunning you french baked potato, and who am I to deny a man of being this nice to look at’.” “ Why the fuck did Hatter call you a baked potato.” Niragi mutters. “ You’re more of a chocolate waffle cake with truffles if anything else.”

“ I’m going to take both as a compliment, even though it is amusing how you both jump to calling me after a food item.” Niragi just rolls back over. “ Whatever. Just be quiet, it’s too early for this shit.” He yawns, and the shuffling began anew, Niragi mentally blocking out the sound as sleep reclaimed his body and mind.

—————————————————————————————————

Morning soon came, Niragi drifting out of his silent unconsciousness and into the chaotic real world. He sits up, stretching his bones and groaning as he did.

“ Good morning!” An all too familiar voice chirps out, and Niragi barely mutters one back, eyelids still firmly draped over his eyes and blocking most of his sight. “ Morning.” He finally opens his eyes, but pauses as he spots a figure that definitely didn’t look like Sakurada. Said figure was just idly standing there, fixing rather long and wavy dirty blond hair, a simple and loose white beach dress draped over her body…. A bit tall, but nothing that could deter the bastard that is Niragi. He blinks in confusion, but doesn’t falter as he gets up, grinning and approaching the mysterious person from behind.

“ What’s a sexy lady like you doing in my ro-“ Niragi gets cut off again as the figure whips around and spritzes water straight into Niragi’s face, Niragi hissing and backing up. He furiously rubs the water away and glares at the figure, face heating up in embarrassment as he recognizes the facial structure, Sakurada raising an eyebrow at him, donned in a dress and wig.

“ Bad Niragi.” Sakurada lightly scolds, crossing his arms. A pair of sunglasses rested atop his head, only completing the look. “ I know I look good, but don’t think you’re gonna get away with trying to come onto me again.” He sighs, Niragi grumbling under his breath.

Stupid weird clone, looking decent in a dress. Niragi leaves him there to do whatever Sakurada was doing with himself to get ready for the day, which just equated to a quick brushing of his teeth, brushing his hair, and washing his face. He knew he looked pretty enough, so he didn’t need much else.

When he leaves the bathroom, Sakurada was still there, sunglasses now over his eyes as he smiles at Niragi. “ Ready to go?” He asks, and Niragi barely even offers a grunt as he grabs his rifle and leaves the room before Sakurada. As he usually did, Sakurada follows after him, water sprayer at his side. Niragi much rather prefer no more sprays today, as his pride kept getting damaged every time it happened, especially in front of the other Beach members. He wanted to just shoot Sakurada and get it over with, but something in him kept him from going through with it. Maybe the idea of shooting what looked just like him turned on some weird survival instinct that kept him from killing ‘himself’, even if he attempted to just treat Sakurada as the weird twin that won’t leave him alone.

The trip to the dining area was… weird. Niragi could spot other members looking towards his direction, some whispering or plainly talking to each other. Most of them were about the ‘pretty lady’ right behind him, wondering who ‘she’ was, and why ‘she’ was even following a guy like Niragi.

Niragi couldn’t help but approach every single one and sneer at them, telling them off and watching them flee with their tails between their legs, only to have to deal with Sakurada lightly scolding him on manners.

“ Yada yada yada, still don’t care!” Niragi comments after the seventh time, Sakurada lightly spraying the back of Niragi’s neck with water. Niragi hisses at the cold temperature, whipping around and glaring at Sakurada, who just gives him a disappointed look.

“ You should. I know you like doing whatever you please, but it doesn’t hurt to be a little more polite.” “ Politeness can get fucked.” Niragi grumbles, and that only earns him a second spray, right on the ear. He angrily swipes the water droplets away, and picks up his pace, Sakurada quickly matching his pace.

The two of them continue to walk, and Niragi finally decides to ask about his weird getup, looking towards Sakurada. “ So what’s with the dress? Decide you’re a girl now or something?” “ This dress was very free flowing, and I felt like dressing up like this for the day! It doesn’t have to mean anything! Don’t I look nice?” “ I mean……” Niragi just shrugs. He has no idea what to really make of it. Sakurada in a dress and looking decent was…. not something Niragi thought he’d see. Or ever want to admit. He never understood. “ Sure. But it’s weird as shit. You’re fucking weird.” “ Language. But thank you for the compliment.” Sakurada chirps with a soft smile. He still was wearing the sunglasses, so Niragi couldn’t tell what his eyes said, but the smile said enough. Niragi rolls his eyes.

They make it to the dining area, and people immediately are looking at the both of them. Some were faces of concern because of Niragi being there now, others in a curious light as who his companion was, as Sakurada didn’t bother to separate from his side yet. Niragi smiles at a few members in a prideful air, and heads to grab breakfast, Sakurada keeping in step. From the corner of his eye, Sakurada had been waving at a few, nodding his head in greeting at others, people settling easily with the sight of him instead of focusing on Niragi minding his business.

He sits down by himself at a spare table, Sakurada sitting besides him and pulling back the blond locks so he didn’t stain them in the food, simply eggs and fruits with yoghurt on the side. “ How long are you gonna stay like that?” Niragi asks, chewing on the end of a honeydew slice. “ All day!” “ You do realize you look like a girl right? Everyone’s gonna think you’re like….. my girlfriend. Which is gross. I don’t want you as a girlfriend.” Sakurada lightly laughs, smiling. “ I wouldn’t want to be, no offense to you of course. I suppose it’ll just have to look like that for today! I’ll clear up the misunderstanding if anyone asks. There’s a lot of people here that come in and out, there’s no harm in one day of looking like this, is there?” Niragi rolls his eyes again. “ You’re weird." “ But I’m good company, am I not?” “ You do nothing but look pretty and spray me.” “ It’s simply for your own good! You can’t go around all mean all the time you know! You can be tough without being creepy!” Sakurada cheerfully reprimands, pulling his sunglasses up to rest on his head, Niragi rolling his eyes even harder.

“ Shut up.” “ I think you’re very tough! Look at you go, with your cool piercings and gun! And you hold yourself very proudly! That’s enough for now! The creepy part can chill-“ “ Sakurada, if you don’t shut up right now I am going to blow your head off.” Niragi grumbles, Sakurada smiling and eating a spoonful of yoghurt. He sighs, then smirks, nodding a little. “ I am pretty cool, huh?” Niragi mutters to himself, then barks a short laugh. “ Hell yeah.” Sakurada chuckles, and gives him a thumbs up, Niragi glancing at his dress-wearing doppelgänger. Even if he was a weird, dress-wearing pretty face, at least he had a point.

Still wasn’t gonna stop him from doing fuck-all though. Water hits his face, and he sputters, head whipping over to glare at Sakurada, who blinks too innocently at him.

“ The fuck-“ “ You have very loud thoughts. Please restrain yourself today, and I’ll get you a really cool pair of leather pants on a supply run next time!” “…. Make them black and you got yourself a deal, you spring roll-looking grass stick.”

Sakurada nods. “ Of course! “

#aib #alice in borderland #aib fanfic #alice in borderland fanfic #niragi suguru #sakurada dori #sichys really likes his body pillow #niragi made him sleep on the floor by the way #the bed's reserved for him and his precious gun #yes he tucked the gun into bed #Sakurada would spray anyone who tried to come onto him in the dress #ask

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criminalmindsmad · 5 years ago

Text

Are you finished?

This one is SO long (3400 words long lol), and I must’ve been real moody when I wrote this but please don’t be mad at me! I’ve merged 2 requests together because they may have been very similar had I not! Let me know what you think! Leave any comments in replies or in the tags if you reblog ❤️- Ash x

Requests:

-Something angsty for hotch, i know this is very broad but idm what you choose to do with it since all of your stories are amazing!!

-Can I request a Hotch x reader where they’re close/kinda flirty and work well together but then Hotch is suddenly really cold to her because he realised he has feelings for her and he’s forced to talk about it when they have to share a hotel room?

“Oh hey! Aaron!” you shouted across the precinct realising there were about 7 cops looking at you. You cleared your throat “Agent Hotchner. May I see you in the conference room for a second.”

He looked at you and cocked his eyebrow, he could tell by the look in your eyes you were up to something and as much as he loved it now was not the time. “Is it important Y/N?” you couldn’t stop your cheeky smile forming on your face, it couldn’t be less important if you were honest, but you nodded anyway. Hotch gave in and walked over to you and into the conference room. “What is it Y/N?” he tried to be serious but he couldn’t help but smile a little. You paused briefly wiping the smile off your face, looking out of the window for dramatic affect.

“Your butt looks good today” you looked back over to him and he just shook his head, let out a little giggle and left. You quickly followed him.

Over the course of the case you two were your usual selves, talking about everything and nothing in between bouts of case work, gently touching one another whenever you got the chance, catching the other staring and making fun of them. You and Hotch were best friends, anyone in the world could see how close you were. Which was…great…probably…you had resigned yourself to being best friends aware that being anything more was just completely off the table.

A major storm had hit the night you’d caught your unsub, grounding the jet and leaving the BAU stuck in Dallas with nothing to do. Most of the team had taken the opportunity to get some sleep retiring up to their hotel rooms one by one. You’d decided to stay at the bar for a little while and treat yourself to a glass or two of wine, things had been a little dicey on this case and you felt like you needed it.

As you sipped at your wine and watched the rain splash against the window a warm hand pressed itself against the small of your back. You flinched at the touch and turned to face them, grabbing their wrist as you did so and yanking it away from your body.

“Hey that’s not very polite!” Some smarmy guy in a business suit smirked in your direction as he put his hand up in defence.

“Neither is touching someone without their consent.” You released his hand and shoved it away.

“Look you don’t need to be a bitch, I was just trying to be nice!” He got up in your face, trying to intimidate you “Jeez you’re not even that pretty anyway!”

“Hey back off!” Aaron had emerged from behind him and began bounding over towards the pair of you. You smirked at him as you grabbed the guy harassing you and pushed his face into the surface of the bar, not spilling a drop of your wine.

“If you think I was being a bitch then…you must think I’m a colossal bitch now! Ha!” You picked him up and shoved him away from you, Aaron caught him as he flew towards the door.

“I think you owe my friend an apology.” The guy looked at you once again and shook his head.

“Let him go Aaron, he’s not worth it.” You nodded to him as he let go of the man and walked over to you.

“You ok?” He put his hand on your arm and looked down at you. You smiled back and bought him in for a hug.

“Yeah, much better thank you"

That night you two spent hours talking, moving up to your hotel room at around 3am.

“Look I just think if the toys in Toy story come to life because kids love them then of COURSE food is alive because we’ve all seen kids eat chicken nuggets!” You both laughed as you sat back down from your rant, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him.

“Your brain is both amazing and stupid!” He laughed and leaned towards you, stopping both of your laughter in its tracks. Suddenly it felt like there was a rope wrapped around you both, pulling you together. Like the world moved in slow motion as your bodies moved closer, your eyes locked on his as you pressed your mouth against his. He returned your kiss moving his hand to your hair and holding your face against his. And then as suddenly as your lips met, your lips parted and Aaron moved away from you “Y/N! This is highly unprofessional” you looked at him with stunned eyes, your mouth hanging open in shock.

“What?” You could feel the tears prickling at your eyelids as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Aaron?"

"This should not have happened. This was clearly a moment of weakness on both of our parts.” You stood up and walked towards him, holding you hand out.

“Aaron can we talk ab…”

“No” he pushed your hand away “I won’t have to take any professional actions against you however we are not to talk about this with each other or our colleagues again, is that clear.” You nodded. Silently willing yourself not to cry. “Goodnight Agent Y/L/N.” and with that he left, leaving you in the dark of your hotel room.

You didn’t sleep at all that night. Instead sat tormenting yourself over what had happened, figuring out what signs you misread and at some point you questioned if it ever happened at all.

Morning arrived and you slumped down in the lobby waiting for your team. As you glanced around to check if anyone had arrived before you, you noticed the guy from the bar last night staring at you from reception. You pulled your sunglasses down and tried to ignore his existence.

“Hey, where’s your boyfriend?” The man wandered over a cocky expression plastered on his face “wouldn’t put out for him either?”

"Wow… I would almost have forgiven you for being a drunk asshole but I guess you’re just a regular asshole huh.”

“Listen bitch I know the sheriff. I can do whatever I want right now and you’re heading straight to county!” He tried to get up in your face. Standing up you met his eye level and tried desperately to wipe the smile off of your face.

“I’m FBI jackass, I could break your arm right now and I wouldn’t get so much as a disciplinary.” It was an obvious lie but this douche didn’t need to know that.

“Agent Y/L/N!” Aaron’s voice boomed from behind you, as you turned your head and spotted him and the team in your peripheral you suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over you “what are you doing? Do we have to have a talk about your professionalism on cases?"

"Sorry Aaron this is just the guy from the bar last night.” You motioned towards the now even more cocky man next to you.

“Once again Agent Y/L/N it is not professional to sleep with someone every time we are away on a case.” Your mouth dropped open as he spoke, eyes fixated directly on his.

“What did you just say to me?” Anger radiated from your voice. “I did not sleep with this man."

"No she didn’t but she did threaten to break my arm.” You looked at the man stood next to you and without missing a beat he recoiled away from you in fake fear.

“My apologies sir. Y/N you’re suspended. Find your own way back to Virginia and be in my office at 8am Friday.” He spoke as if it was the most natural thing in the world, as if you were just some background character that no-one ever knew the name of and not someone he considered a close friend mere hours earlier. He walked by you, stern face completely unmoved by the shock plastered all over yours. The rest of the team shuffled by offering comforting eyes and the occasional touch on the shoulder, they seemed as shocked and confused as you were.

And then they were all gone, you were stuck in Dallas, alone and heartbroken…at least you were in a bar…silver linings.

***

“Aaron… do you want to talk about what happened back in the hotel?” Rossi cornered Aaron in the plane kitchen. Concern spread across his face.

“What is there to talk about? An agent acted unprofessionally, as they had done many, many times before, and I finally realised I needed to do something about it. I will discuss this further with agent Y/L/N when we meet next week. As for now, I have some paperwork to get started on.” He walked away, leaving Rossi stood at the other end of the plane. Emily and JJ looked over to the older man with questioning looks on their faces which was met, to their dismay, with an equally confused face from David Rossi.

***

“You’re late Y/N” a very stern Hotch mentioned as you knocked at his office door, not bothering to even glance in your direction.

“I’m 15 minutes early Aaron.” You noted the clock on the wall.

“Exactly.” You fought the urge to scoff at his comment “take a seat” you did as he said, sitting yourself in front of him. Usually the time you spent in his office was either splayed out on the couch or perched on his desk, this chair was uncomfortable, no wonder you never sat here. “I’ve taken the difficult decision to place the incident and your behaviour on the case last week as a strike on your record"

"What?” Your eyes and mouth open wide, you couldn’t quite believe what you were hearing. “But Aaron! That goes on my permanent record, it could affect my role in this team and the FBI as a whole. I find it very hard to believe that what happened last week is grounds for that kind of action."

"You threatened a civilian Y/N."

"After I was threatened and sexually harassed! You saw what he was like! I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” You stood up off of your chair and turned your back on Hotch, placing your hands on your head in frustration.

“Please calm down Agent Y/L/N! Don’t make me extend your suspension further.” He stood up and slammed his hand on his desk making you turn around to face him. You stood eyes connected in complete silence breathing in unison. “The mark goes on your record. You may start back with us on Monday. Take the weekend to cool off and maybe think about what a professional wears to the office."

You looked down at your v-neck and skinny jeans, an ensemble you had worn some variation of during your entire stint with the BAU. You let out a small scoff, composed yourself and spoke "fine. See you on Monday Agent Hotchner. Have a nice weekend."

Leaving his office you shut the door and met the gaze of your teammates. JJ was the first to walk over, offering to walk you out. As you stood in the lift with her you decided to let your frustrations out.

"I just don’t get it! It’s like some weird twilight zone where my best friend has been replaced by a nastier moodier version of himself and nobody but me knows!” She laughed at your comments and placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

***

“Agent Y/L/N!” Hotch’s voice boomed across the North Dakotan precinct catching the attention of anyone within 15 miles of him. “interrogation room now!” You had become used to being dragged into rooms whenever Hotch saw fit, his eyes burning into you whenever you did anything trying to find a mistake or reason to call you up. And the once gentle touches had become rough pushes go get you to move in or out of somewhere. The last month had been Hell, on top of your one strike Hotch had managed to find a way to give you another, during a week of back to back late nights and stressful days you’d accidentally fallen asleep at a desk and no one had decided to wake you before they rolled out to apprehend an unsub, Reid had gotten injured and sure enough Hotch blamed you entirely ‘had you been there and not sleeping on the job we may have caught our suspect without an agent ending up in the hospital’ for some reason the rest of the team felt the same and your relationship with most of them had been a bit strained recently.

“Hotch, have I done something wrong?” You asked, shutting the door to the interrogation room behind you.

“What is this?” He threw a case file onto the desk, notes and pictures sliding out as it slammed against the table.

“It’s Ryan Knowles, a potential suspect, I saw his name pop up a couple times and had Garcia run him through our system, juvenile crimes, peeping tom and a non existent mother figure. He fit our profile, I asked JJ to put him on the board so that we could…”

“And why would you do that?” His question took you aback, what was that supposed to mean?

“It’s my job? To follow a hunch and see if it pans out.” You furrowed your brow unsure why you were in trouble.

“Maybe not for much longer. I’ve noticed you’re slacking, sleeping on cases, following ridiculous hunches and causing the team setback after setback!” He threw the case file against the wall sending paper everywhere “follow your hunch, and you better hope it pans out or you’re off this team"

"You can’t do that!” You shouted trying to hold onto your composer for just a moment longer. He began to walk out of the room, putting his face close to yours,

“Watch me.” He pulled his face away and walked out of the room leaving you shocked and confused. You began to pick up the papers of your case file trying to put them back into some order as your tears began to blur your vision.

You stood up and wiped away your tears, looking at a picture of your unsub you decided you were going to prove you were right and prove why you deserved that spot on the team, not that you really wanted to be there much more anyway.

***

“Put the gun down Ryan!” Your unsub pointed his gun directly at you, you’d managed to catch him attempting to bury his victim, You had radioed for backup as soon as you saw him and could hear the sirens in the distance “you don’t want to do this, hear those sirens in 30 seconds they’re all around here and if they see you standing there out in the open with a gun it’s not going to take too long for you to be the one in the ground.” You swallowed hard, keeping a level head as you gradually lowered your gun “but if you have me they’re not gonna shoot you, how about you let Amber go and take me instead, look I’m unarmed” you kicked you gun slightly away as you heard the screeching of tyres.

“Come here.” You walked slowly to Ryan he grabbed you and quickly held the barrel of the gun to your head. You watched Amber run off and be caught by JJ, you sighed with relief that they had made it to you in time.

As Aaron saw you his heart leaped to his throat and his stomach hit the floor. He’d thought he’d managed to bury his feelings for you after everything that had happened, but there you were completely vulnerable with a gun to your head and he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly worried. As Rossi tried to talk Ryan down Hotch kept his eyes focused solely on you, catching your stare right back. You nodded slightly and forced yourself downward allowing Morgan to land two shots directly into Ryan’s chest.

As you pulled yourself free from his arms you ran forward to your team and for some reason Aaron was the first to pull you in for a hug. Your body tensed up and you blinked with confusion but at least you were safe and he wasn’t firing you.

***

“I’m sorry Miss Y/N but there was an incident with your room. A pipe burst and unfortunately we cannot let you stay in that room this evening. We managed to collect all of you belongings before they were damaged but it seems you will have to share with one of your colleagues.” The older woman at the desk was ruining your life, not actually but in many ways she was. Your team had already gone up to their rooms while you spoke with reception. “I can give you a spare key to one of their rooms so you can just go and let yourself in ok?” You nodded and took the key, you didn’t mind sharing a room with most of your team, as long as it wasn’t Aaron.

You knocked on the door and began to let yourself in “Hey it’s Y/N! My room got flooded so the front desk gave me your key! I guess we’re roomies for tonight huh!” You finished opening the door and was met with the face of Aaron Hotchner. You sighed “ah. I will go get a different key.”

“NO!” He cleared his throat “no it’s ok, we can share I don’t mind.” You silent nodded and closed the door behind you, putting you go bag down on the desk you began walking over to the couch to get comfortable “Agent Y/N.” Hotch stated sternly. You stopped abruptly and sighed, you knew friendly Hotch was too good to be true. Turning on your heels you didn’t give him a chance to speak first.

“Look I know I was reckless, but you didn’t really give me much of a choice. If this means I get fired then fine because I saved a life today and that’s enough."

"I’m not going to fire you. In fact I wanted to say something.” He looked sincere, and sad like whatever he was about to say was painful or something “that night in Dallas, when we talked for hours and then we kissed, well for some reason it broke me, I knew I liked you and knew I found you attractive, I just never put it all together until that moment. I realised I loved you and I wanted to be with you, and I freaked out. Everything I’ve done over the last month was because I was so scared that I was going to get hurt or that you were going to get hurt and it would break me, but then seeing you today and realising that you could die it all went out the window, I don’t have time to be scared, I want to be with you and I realise that now. I’m so sorry” He stopped his ramble, looking into your eyes with his big brown puppy dog eyes, pleading forgiveness and willing you to return the sentiment.

“Are you finished?” He looked shocked by your question nodding to respond. “And that’s it is it? You made my life hell because you love me?” He nodded again, quickly glancing to the floor. “What do you want me to say now? That I love you too? That I forgive you? Well I’m sorry but no. I used to, but then you ruined it. You cost my friendships with the team, you cost me my perfect record and my job and you almost cost me my life, because you are an immature, petty self centred prick! I’ve been so stressed and tired I’ve lost 10 pounds for god’s sake! I’m sorry Hotch but your half assed confession isn’t going to fix this.” You sat down on the sofa and put your head in your hands leaving Hotch stood in the middle of the room, eyes drilling a hole into the floor, looking the way you looked after he left you alone in your hotel room that night. Neither of you moved, both unsure as to what should happen next. “I’m…I’m not saying that we can never happen. I just need time to process, and forgive you and learn to love you again.” His eyes had moved up to you again and you noticed the tears that had formed starting to leak out as yours quickly did too. “What… what erm… what side of the bed do you want?” He laughed slightly at you comment and smiled weakly at you a smile which you returned. Maybe in a little while, this wouldn’t be so hard again.

#Criminal Minds #criminal minds fanfic #Criminal Minds Fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds x reader #aaron hotchner #Aaron Hotch Hotchner #aaron hotchner fanfiction #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner fanfic

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wheresmynaya · 4 years ago

Text

Lopez’s 8 Ch.4 | Brittana

Thank you all for the luv last chapter and for those who stopped by here for a chat too! Still getting used to writing for such a big 'cast' so hopefully that's translating alright.

Also available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & below the cut!

With everyone moved into the loft and somewhat acquainted with one another, Santana feels like she can breathe a little easier. Keyword: a little. The team is aware of what they need to do and set off on their tasks, even Quinn’s orders are already starting to arrive at the loft. You think you’re addicted to online shopping? Well, you’ve never met someone like Quinn Fabray.

“What is all this?” Santana asks as she comes round. She’s eyeing all the empty packaging and bubble wrap then steps out of the way just in time as a hulking man rolls a large box through her path. She knew she should’ve given Quinn some ground rules when she told her to make sure they had the necessary equipment needed.

Who the hell knows what she considers necessary.

“Don’t worry, you’ll like them,” Quinn chuckles then gives the guy’s shoulder a pat, “Thank you, Hank. You can set it down by that wall over there.”

“Yes, Miss Fabray,” He nods and wheels off the box.

Santana quirks a brow, “You’re on a first name basis with the delivery guy?”

“We’ve been in business together for awhile,” Quinn nods and waves for her to come closer. “Two things first,” Quinn points to the giant box being wheeled away, “That’s a 3D Printer – which we’re going to have so much fun with once it’s installed – and these.”

Santana looks down at pair of the most dorkiest glasses she’s ever seen being handed to her.

“Try them on,” Quinn says.

Santana snorts and backs away with a chuckle, “I’m not wearing those.”

Quinn rolls her eyes, “Just do it.”

“So you can snap an embarrassing pic of me to post everywhere?” Santana waves off, “Nope. I wear contacts for a reason.”

Quinn just gives her a stern look until Santana finally relents and snatches them from her hand.

She slides them on and is immediately surprised by the graphics that pop up. These aren’t your normal pair of dork glasses, they’re super high tech dork glasses! She looks around at the various boxes and equipment surrounding before looking back to Quinn who has this proud smile on her face.

“Cool right?” She asks while Santana continues to look around.

“This is awesome,” Santana mumbles in awe. She sees an icon that kind of look like a camera and asks, “Can this thing take freaking pictures?”

“Even better,” Quinn answers, “They can capture scans which can be sent to Mercedes’ laptop or directly to the 3D printer. Once it’s up and running, we can replicate pretty much anything!”

“Like the necklace?” Santana smirks.

“Like the necklace,” Quinn confirms.

Santana’s just about to praise her for nabbing such a handy find when the door leading to the garage slides open and in comes Brittany, clad in her leather jacket and Ray Bans.

“Someone’s parked in the loading zone. I think you’re about to get towed,” Brittany calls out as she chucks her helmet on the counter and slides off her sunglasses.

“Crap!” Tina curses from her desk set up across the room and quickly bolts outside.

Quinn chuckles at the pair but Santana continues to watch as Brittany grabs a bottle of water from the fridge. Her cheeks look a little flushed as she tips the bottle back for a long drink and Santana stares the whole time, wondering why Brittany doesn’t wear this leather jacket more often. That paired with Brittany’s tight blue jeans and white t-shirt is a look Santana won’t ever get tired of.

When Brittany pulls away from the bottle, she notices Santana and Quinn and starts to make her way over to them. Now with her coming their way head on, Santana can’t help but admire the view. It seems like Brittany knows Santana’s caught in a trance again because she reaches up and rakes her fingers through her hair, attempting to bring some life into it after being constrained by her helmet.

As Santana’s eyes slowly drag up Brittany’s slim frame, her mouth goes dry.

“Jesus, give me those!” Quinn snaps when she notices Santana’s leering.

“What?” Santana sputters out.

“You’re ridiculous. That’s what,” Quinn shakes her head just as Brittany approaches them.

“Shut up,” Santana hisses just before Brittany greets them.

“Hey, finally invest in a pair of x-ray glasses?” Brittany asks but it’s directed at Santana. She’s wearing this smug grin as she adds, “Although, you don’t need them if wanted to see me naked.”

“Here we go,” Quinn groans as she face palms while Santana shakes her head.

“They’re not x-ray glasses,” Santana corrects her.

“Just for looks then?” Brittany asks, “Do we all get a pair?”

“No, we’ll just share this one,” Quinn says as Santana hands them over to her, “I already know what Santana would use them for anyway and I don’t think anyone needs that.”

Brittany frowns at Quinn, “You don’t want Santana to see? That’s kind of rude.”

“They’re not for seeing,” Santana clarifies with a chuckle, “They can take pictures.”

“Oh! Wow, really? That’s like some super secret spy stuff,” Brittany comments before taking a sip from her bottle.

“Yeah. They’ll be perfect for Emma when she and Tina go to the Cartier vault,” Quinn replies proudly.

Santana nods while Quinn stows away the glasses case for safe keeping. She turns to Brittany, “Nice jacket.”

Brittany looks down at what she’s wearing as if she forgot, “Oh this old thing?”

Santana chuckles, “Did you have a good ride?”

Brittany hops up on a counter and swings her legs, “Yeah, it was nice. Hot out, but nice. You should come with me next time. It’d be perfect for you, maybe you’ll finally find some peace.”

Santana shakes her head, “Peace? That’s the last thing I’d find if I got on that thing with you.”

“See, that’s what I don’t get,” Brittany laughs and waves at all the new equipment, “You can play with all this gear and put yourself in danger with these heists, but you draw the line at riding a motorcycle? Because that’s too risky?”

Santana takes a step closer to Brittany, “Among other things, yes.”

“Other things like what?” Brittany challenges as she sets down her water bottle. Her legs fall open a little wider and Santana nearly slips in to stand right between them without even noticing.

“Well for starters,” Santana narrows her eyes as she steps like she’s being drawn in, “There’s the helmet hair.” She reaches up and ruffles Brittany’s blonde hair, momentarily reveling in the softness, “Not cute.”

“You don’t think I’m cute?” Brittany asks behind a pout.

Santana almost falls for Brittany’s trap, “I just don’t think I could pull that off as well as you do.”

“I beg to differ,” Brittany grins mischievously and tugs Santana in close by her hips. It catches Santana off guard, but she doesn’t move once she’s there. She’s too caught up in the look Brittany’s giving her, “I’ve had many, many dreams of you doing just that and I can confirm, you looked very sexy. No surprise there though, you make everything look sexy.”

Santana smirks as she lifts a brow, “You having dreams about me now?”

“Yup!” Brittany pops the ‘p’ while her hands slide around to the small of Santana’s back, “Hot ones too. I’m kind of jealous of dreamy me. She has way more fun than I do.”

Santana giggles but it comes out low and husky.

The sound has Brittany licking her lips and the two get so caught up in staring at each other that they completely forget that they aren’t exactly alone. With how wound up they are and so desperate for each other, giving a fuck about being alone has nearly left the building. Brittany’s got Santana trapped between her legs and if Santana’s hands start to trail inward, she’d be right where Brittany wants her.

She thinks back on what Brittany said about changing her mind soon and she finds herself really considering it now.

When has an orgasm ever gotten her into trouble?

Santana thinks of a specific instance actually but chooses to ignore that one because majority of the time it doesn’t.

“Can you two make out somewhere else?” Quinn interrupts with a groan, “Some of us are trying to work here.”

Santana and Brittany both blink out of their daze and pull away from each other.

Thankfully, Quinn and the random delivery guy Hank are the only ones around but Santana doesn’t want to make something like that nearly happening in front of everyone a habit. She doesn’t want to deal with having to explain what’s going on between them; she just wants to steal some expensive shit and get rich, not have a whole existential crisis about whether or not her feelings would be taken seriously.

“I – I’m going to make sure Tina’s alright,” Santana says abruptly and heads outside. The more distance she can put between her and Brittany right now, the better. That was too close of a call for her comfort.

Quinn just eyes Santana leaving and turns back to Brittany with this tired look on her face, “So I see you two are still like this…”

Brittany frowns as Santana disappears out the door, “I guess so.”

As the countdown ticks away, the most important day for Santana arrives. She’s trying hard to seem cool and collected, but on the inside she can’t help but feel a little anxious. Today, Emma and Tina are off to the jewelers to hopefully get a successful scan of the Toussaint so Quinn can begin the printing process and Tina can start crafting the decoy. It’s probably the most important part of the entire heist because without this scan, the whole thing goes to shit.

“Knock knock,” Brittany says softly as she raps her knuckles on Santana’s bedroom door. She’s already poking her head in through the crack, looking for where her partner might be.

“Hey,” Santana greets from the edge of her bed. She’s been sitting there for awhile trying to wrangle her thoughts so she can make it in time for the live feed of Emma and Tina’s trip.

“We’re just about to connect to the feed downstairs. You coming down?” Brittany asks.

Santana just nods, “Yeah. I’ll be there in a sec.”

Brittany frowns a little at the sight of her and the sound of that faraway tone.

“You okay?” She asks in that voice that calms Santana and puts her on edge even more so all at once. The blonde goes to take a seat next to her partner and eyes her warily, “You look stressed.”

“I think I am,” Santana chuckles lightly and turns to Brittany, “It’s an important day.”

Brittany gives her a sympathetic grin and squeezes at Santana’s thigh, “We’re gonna be fine. Everyone knows what they need to do. You know how to get us out if something comes up, right?”

Santana returns the grin, “Right.”

“So there’s nothing to worry about then,” Brittany shrugs, “We’re prepared for whatever happens. You made sure of that.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Santana nods, already feeling somewhat eased by Brittany’s words, “Just the jitters I guess.”

“We’ll be okay,” Brittany moves to stand and holds out her hand, “Now turn that frown upside down, we’ve got a show to catch.”

Santana smiles at the offered hand.

This is why their dynamic is so perfect;. when one is starting to spin out, the other takes hold of the wheel and gets them back on track. They balance each other out but also always have each other’s backs. It’s something Santana’s never found in anyone else and it’s one of her favorite things about being in this with Brittany.

So Santana takes Brittany’s hand and they head downstairs together.

It’s one of the most nerve-racking thirty minutes of Santana’s life, but just as Brittany predicted everything goes according to plan. They get a perfect scan and start the printing process so that by the time Tina returns to the loft there is a set of zirconia ready for her. While Emma’s across town attending her first session with Rachel Berry in regards to designing the gown she’ll wear for the Gala, Tina gets started on replicating the necklace.

“Wow,” Tina breathes out as she steps forward to get a closer look. The rest of the team minus Emma is huddled around her as she looks in the 3D printer’s case, almost mesmerized by how similar the fake is to the actual necklace.

“Think you can work with this?” Santana smirks, nudging her childhood friend’s arm.

Tina’s smile is big and bright, “Definitely. This’ll be fun!”

Sugar steps up too and her hands itch to make a grab at it, “You guys think I can try it on?”

“No!” Everyone says in unison.

Sugar just pouts and jams her hands into her pockets.

In the following days the team begins to find their grove and go off on their individual missions: Emma deep in designing Rachel Berry’s dress, Tina hard at work on the necklace, and Mercedes hacking away. While Brittany hangs back with her and Sugar, Santana and Quinn head to the Met for their next task: plant a Banksy.

It’s a simple switcheroo, one that’ll cause enough ruckus to grab the security team’s attention which is exactly what they want. Minus the getting caught part, of course.

So once inside the Met, the two split off: Santana gets into position with the painting while Quinn distracts a guard. They’ve done something like this loads of times before, so the switch is smooth and Santana’s out of there in no time. With the Met thinking there’s been a breach of their security system, Mercedes can slip in and do whatever she needs to do to make sure that they can get around undetected.

Once a crowd begins to form, it’s all pretty fast moving and the two slowly make their way back to the car without a second glance.

When Santana and Quinn get inside, Santana pulls out her phone to send a text to Brittany to update her on their progress. She’s surprised to find a new text waiting for her though when she swipes into the conversation. It’s a selfie with Brittany and Sugar making silly faces while Mercedes sits behind them looking as unamused as ever with both of her middle fingers up.

It makes Santana chuckle before she goes to type her text.

Quinn notices and asks, “What’s so funny?”

“Just this picture Britt sent,” Santana shrugs as she types, “It’s kinda cute I guess.”

Quinn watches Santana’s smile grow and quirks her brow, “So…what is it about you and Brittany?”

Santana sends off the text and looks to Quinn questioningly, “What do you mean?”

“I see how you two interact with each other. Neither of you have changed any after all these years,” Quinn explains, “All of the planning and the scheming and the intricacy of it all…it’s like your foreplay or something.”

Santana feels her chest tighten and quickly turns away from Quinn to focus on starting the car. Here she goes again, sticking her nose job in places that she shouldn’t. Santana wished Quinn would just mind her business, but that wouldn’t really be Quinn now would it?

“That’s just how we are,” Santana brushes off as she begins to drive, “We like to have fun.”

“So that’s what you’re calling it?” Quinn smirks.

Santana rolls her eyes, “What else am I supposed to call it, Q?”

Quinn just shrugs and goes to look out the window. The silence doesn’t last long though.

“Fuck,” Santana snaps as they catch up to all the traffic, “We’re going to be here forever!”

Quinn chuckles at her dramatics. Since asking her question, they’ve sat in near silence the entire ride so Quinn jokingly asks, “Trapped in a car with me, isn’t that a dream come true for you?”

“You have no idea,” Santana answers sarcastically then lays on the horn as if it’ll make all the traffic suddenly disappear, “Let’s fucking go people!”

“Stop! What’s that going to do?” Quinn whines and starts swatting at Santana’s hand until she quits it. She gives her an annoyed glare which Santana returns instantly.

“We’re just going to have to wait it out,” Quinn says to which Santana lets out a long sigh. “Don’t be like that. This is good, we can finally catch-up. We haven’t really talked much since you broke into my garage.”

Santana softens at that. At one point in time, she and Quinn were pretty tight. Not in the way that she and Brittany are, but Quinn was around just as much. Also, there was the whole giving birth thing that Santana had to witness and that kind of thing creates a weird bond between people.

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?” Santana relents and puts the car in park since they aren’t moving anytime soon.

Quinn looks pleased with herself, like her mood has instantly lifted at the very idea of some girl talk.

Santana regrets agreeing to this the instant Quinn starts talking about Beth and how much she misses her daughter.

Later that night, Santana’s sitting alone at a diner across from the McCallister Security tower. She’s been sipping coffee while Mercedes and Sugar are off trying to infiltrate the building. They got word that an important meeting regarding the Met’s breach was going down and it was imperative that they listened in.

Right about now, Mercedes should be tapping the room and then on her way to meet Santana at the diner where they could catch all the hot gossip. It takes about ten more minutes of Santana waiting before Mercedes finally joins her.

“Where’s Sugar?” Santana questions as Mercedes pulls out the headphones.

“Went back to the loft already,” Mercedes answers and hands Santana an ear bud, “Said listening to a meeting was even worse than having to sit in one.”

Santana chuckled as she popped the earbud in, “Fair enough. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

It’s late by the time Santana and Mercedes return to the loft and almost everyone has gone to bed, everyone but Brittany.

“You’re late,” She points out as Santana and Mercedes enter. Mercedes’ brows rise at the blonde’s tone and quickly disappears to her room without a word.

Santana just strolls over with a sweet smile on her lips, “You keeping tabs on me, Britt-Britt?”

Brittany shrugs, “Maybe. Maybe I kind of missed you? Between Emma’s weird muttering and the constant squeak of rubber gloves and Tina being annoying, it wasn’t much fun here.”

Santana laughs, “What about Quinn?”

“She’s getting into character for tomorrow. Whatever that means…”

“She has her interview with Vogue,” Santana explains as she shrugs out of her jacket, “Sorry you were lonely. Mercedes and I grabbed a bite while we listened to the meeting. She’s actually pretty cool. Oh! I brought you a cannoli. You like those, right?”

Brittany instantly perks up as Santana hands her a small box. She wastes no time in taking a bite and hums happily at the taste, “Thanks San. You bring home the best desserts.”

Santana feels a blush beginning to creep up her cheek, but she does her best to ignore it and takes a seat next to Britt on the couch.

“How’d it all go?” Brittany asks with her mouthful.

“We’re in! It was an interesting meeting but a long one,” Santana smiles proudly before it falls, “These late nights are starting to get to me.”

“That’s because you need to relax,” Brittany tells her before putting on her best flirty smile, “You know, I can help with that. My offer still stands.”

Santana lets out a breathy chuckle, “Cute. I’ll keep that in mind, but I think I know something that might help me even more?”

“What is it?”

“Take the lead on the meeting tomorrow?”

“You giving up control on something?” Brittany fakes a gasp, “Maybe you really are losing steam.”

Santana just rolls her eyes, “You really gonna give me a hard time?”

“Sorry. Yes San,” Brittany nods seriously, “I can run the meeting for you.”

And so she does.

The next day, Brittany gathers the team for an update on the McCallister Security meeting Santana and Mercedes listened in on last night and how that’ll effect what happens at the Met.

Mercedes has the overview of all the Met camera angles projected on the drop down screen while Brittany comes up to the group with a mug in her hand. She ends up handing it to Santana who is curled up the arm chair watching the various camera angles like it’s her favorite show.

“Here. Made this for you,” Brittany says softly as she hands Santana the mug, “It’s herbal. The packet said it’s supposed to help you relax or something.”

Santana takes the offered mug with a surprised smile, “Thanks Britt.”

“You’re welcome,” She winks before turning back to the team to get the meeting started, “Okay! So as you can see, the Met is covered in camera and security will be watching them like hawks. It’s almost impossible to get out of there without being spotted…let alone with a ridiculously expensive necklace at that.”

“Keyword there is almost,” Santana interjects before taking a sip of her tea because she can’t help herself.

“Right. We’re going for a spot security doesn’t even care about: the bathroom,” Upon its mention, Mercedes clicks to the angle, “But once we get going security is going to go over everything with a fine tooth comb, even angles like this. Whoever exits that is going to be a suspect. So what do we do?” Brittany asks and waits for someone to answer. When no one does, she continues, “We get a mule. Not an actual one like I thought, but a figurative one…sort of.”

The group all exchange somewhat confused looks so Santana cuts in, “Someone else is going to move the necklace for us.”

Brittany points to Santana, “Exactly.”

“Sugar, how much room do you need to plan something on someone?” Santana asks.

Sugar ponders a moment, “Like nine feet?”

Santana nods and looks to Mercedes, “And how long will it take to create a nine foot blind spot?”

“Maybe 10 or 12 days if I’m moving the camera bit by bit,” Mercedes responds.

Santana smiles proudly at their answers and looks to Brittany who’s already looking back at her with an equally pleased grin. She loves when things just come together like this.

“Sounds like a solid timeframe to me,” Santana says and turns back to the team, “What do you think?”

“Yeah, I can get to work on that now,” Mercedes replies and everyone else starts to shuffle about to continue their tasks.

“Wait!” Sugar stops them and raises her hand, “Question.”

Santana notes the hand in the air and laughs as she looks to Brittany, “Is she raising her hand right now?”

Brittany just shakes her head and laughs too.

“What is it, Sugar? I already told you I’m not paying for your Metro Card,” Santana says.

“It’s not that,” Sugar waves off as her hand drops to her lap, “I was just wondering…are you two like…a thing?

Santana looks slowly to Brittany.

“I was wondering that as well,” Emma adds, “You don’t really see one of them without the other.”

“Two peas in a pod!” Tina chimes in happily.

“Glad to see I’m not the only one that’s noticed these two fools making googly eyes at each other all the damn time,” Mercedes says next.

Santana catches Quinn’s eye and the blonde just smirks as she adds, “Didn’t I tell you that your subtly needs some work?”

Santana feels her face getting hot so she’s glad that the lights are still off for the projector because she’s sure everyone would see her as this blushing mess and that’s not a good look.

The team is all talking at once, giving their examples and theories, and it’s a lot. Santana doesn’t know how to deal and Brittany’s just kind of watching with her hand covering her mouth, hiding her smile. She thinks it’s all so hilarious and she loves how flustered and riled up Santana gets over the teasing.

The girl can dish it but struggles when it comes to taking it.

Suddenly Sugar has her hand up again and she’s speaking a little louder than everyone else, “Okay, raise your hand if you think Santana and Brittany are banging.”

Everyone raises their hand instantly, even Brittany.

“Oh my God, Britt, put your hand down,” Santana urges looking stressed.

Brittany does as she’s told as a couple giggles escape her.

Santana doesn’t think it’s quite as amusing though, “We aren’t banging. Who even calls it that anymore?”

“That explains everything,” Tina replies knowingly, “It’s probably why this heist is so immaculate, she’s gotta channel all that extra energy somewhere.”

“Preach,” Mercedes nods and goes to bump her fist with Tina.

It’s all playful – at least that’s what it was meant to be – but Santana hates feeling like the butt of a joke. She hates that her thing with Brittany is being analyzed by all these people she barely knows. People that shouldn’t be commenting on whatever goes on with them.

So she snaps and jumps to her feet to address the crowd.

“They’re immaculate because I’m a fucking genius and decided to use my time in solitary confinement wisely, so let’s just be careful here with trying to talk about things you know nothing about,” Santana threatens with her steely gaze, “Don’t forget. I’m a convicted criminal. I’ve been to jail and I will shank one of you if you happen to piss me off. So try me, I dare you.”

“Santana…” Brittany whispers and gives Santana’s arm a gentle tug, “They were just joking.”

“Well this isn’t fucking comedy hour, okay?” Santana growls and Brittany backs off as she turns to the group again, “You’re all here to do a job. Not speculate. There is nothing going on between Brittany and I – not that it’s any of your business – so let’s stay focused on the plan and do what we all came here to do. Get me?”

The group all nod in unison before heading back to their tasks.

Santana turns away from them and hits the lights. She’s still fuming and a little embarrassed but she instantly feels a whole lot better when she spots Brittany staring at her ass.

“That’s not helping,” Santana points out.

Brittany chuckles, “Maybe you should stop wearing those leather pants around me. You know they’re my favorite.”

“I thought you don’t pick favorites?” Santana asks with narrowed eyes.

Brittany lifts her shoulder casually, “Guess I make an exception when it comes to you.”

Santana’s heart skips a beat and it takes everything in her not to swoon. This is Brittany. This is how she talks to everyone. She’s charismatic and flirty and everything good in this miserable stinking world, but she can’t get wrapped up in all of that again.

It didn’t end well before and she doubts it’ll end well now.

#Lopezs 8 #Brittana #brittana fanfiction #fanfics #oceans 8

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izzy-b-hands · 4 years ago

Text

Rock/Queentober 2020, Oct. 18th: Light

Assigned band member: Roger

Synopsis: Roger/Trans M Reader. Set about 1978 because I wanted it to be lol. You’ve hit a rough patch in life as of the last few days, but at least you have your health, your things, and a cigarette or two that you can smoke to deal with the stress. That you should meet Roger is pure chance, but lucky chance indeed.

TW: Cigarettes and smoking, mentions of fears over period typical homophobia and transphobia. Mention of potential homelessness.

My love to all who read/like/reblog!

“Got a light?”

You shake your head and raise your own unlit cigarette. “No matches, lighter is empty. Been hoping someone else would happen along with a light.”

“Aren’t we a pair then?” he smiles, and you can’t help but feel a bit dazzled. Even with sunglasses hiding part of his face, you can tell he is perhaps one of the prettiest men you’ve ever met. With blonde hair artfully ruffled (though he almost certainly didn’t do it on purpose, if you had to guess), a smile like that, and the way the tight t-shirt he’s wearing under his coat had shifted up just a bit to show some of the skin at his hip...

Well. Your friends did tease you for having a type.

“Pissing like this all day, no wonder no one else is out,” he sighs and gestures to the rain, that had started pouring that morning lightly and showed no signs of stopping.

“A little dreary,” you admit. “But I don’t mind it.”

“Might have guessed,” he smiles again and god he really should warn a guy before he does that, because your heart just flutters, and the rain may be cold but you’re suddenly very warm.

You shrug. “Nowhere else to go right now anyway. May as well enjoy the day for what it is.”

He nods, and you hope he hasn’t noticed your shivering. You’ve got your warmest jacket on, but the wind and rain are really doing a number on you.

“You know, the shop down the way has matches. Why don’t we go together and pick some up? Can at least be smoking, if we’re going to be out in this,” he says.

“Oh, that’s okay, I-” you pause. ‘Have no money to my name and so can’t pay you back for the matches and the last thing I want to do is take advantage of your kindness, you gorgeous man’ is not the way you want to end your sentence, but it’s the most truthful way.

Somehow, he knows, or maybe your situation is more evident than you think. “Let me get them, don’t worry about money or whatever. Only matches anyway, and I don’t mind doing a favor for someone as handsome as you.”

You blush. So forward! But you’d be lying if you didn’t admit to yourself that you loved it. There was always the worry, the what-if that the guy you’re talking to isn’t gay (and worse yet might chase you off down the road if they gleaned that you were, and even worse if they sussed out that you were trans too.) It was a weight off your shoulders to have that what-if erased, especially after the day you’d been having.

“Long as I’m not keeping you from anything,” you manage as you stumble over your tongue.

“Nah. My band is in that building there,” he points to the nearby studio, a nondescript dark brick building. “Recording, but we were on overdub number 9000 and I was dying, so I snuck out.”

“They’ll have noticed you’re gone by now!”

“Yeah, but they aren’t out looking for me yet, so I’m safe,” he grins. “Come on. It’ll get us out of the rain for a bit, and we can finally light up.”

You nod, and follow him down the street, both of you huddled over as the rain pours slightly harder.

“Roger,” he offers his name with another smile, and are your knees weak or are you just that cold?

“Y/N,” you offer back.

“Y/N,” he repeats softly. “So, what are you doing out here anyway?”

You bite your lip anxiously. “It’s awkward. Lost my flat today; contract was up and the landlord waited until today to drop on me that he had a new tenant all lined up already, willing to pay triple what I was paying.”

“Fucker,” Roger spits. “Where are your things?”

“You know those bushes and shrubs we were standing by?” you ask.

He nods.

“I’ve got my two suitcases hidden in there for now, so it might be a little less obvious why I’m wandering the streets with no apparent purpose,” you continue.

He gives you a look, and before you can stop him, jogs back to the bushes.

He returns more slowly, weighed down by the suitcase in each hand, his still unlit cigarette carefully crooked in between his fingers on his left hand.

“You didn’t have to-”

“We are not leaving your shit to be stolen,” he interrupts with a shocked laugh. “Honestly. No, I’ll help you carry and look after it.”

He won’t hand over the heavier of the suitcases as you reach the shop, no matter how much you try and insist.

“Look,” you gently grab his shoulder before you go into the shop. “I’m not...trying to take advantage of anyone’s charity. With this. I mean, I wasn’t raised that way.”

He cocks his head. “American.”

“What?”

“Thought the accent seemed off. You’ve been here awhile, but not long enough to sound like you didn’t move here from elsewhere. And only an American would say something silly like that.”

“You caught me,” you smile. “But really-”

“Please,” he interrupts as he leads the way into the shop. “Let me help. I want to, or I wouldn’t be here, I promise. I’d be on overdub 3 million with no voice left at all in the studio instead.”

“And dying for a smoke?”

“That too,” he replies as he speeds through the transaction for the matches, not that the clerk seems to care.

“I don’t mean to pry,” he says as you both step back outside, the rain still pouring away heavily. “But where are you planning on going?”

“Isn’t that the question,” you sigh, watching as he motions you over off the sidewalk so he can set your suitcase down and light his cigarette. “I don’t know? I think the park nearby could be safe...but I don’t think I can just choose a bench and sleep, the police will come shoo me away I’m sure. But if I rest, and go from bench to bench, maybe...”

He takes off his sunglasses, and you’re met with big blue eyes, full of concern. “What about your job?”

You nod. “It’s been a week, for me. I got let go a few days ago. They could afford to keep me, or one of my friends at the shop...and I lost that battle.”

He frowns, and takes your cigarette from you, lighting it with his. “Well, I don’t know if I have a job for you, I have to check on that. But I’ve got a room, or I will have in a day.”

You’re in awe over the most casually romantic thing anyone’s done for you before, his thing with the cigarettes, but you manage a weak gasp. “You don’t know me.”

“Not yet I don’t,” he agrees as he hands back your cigarette. “But I tell you what. You come back to the studio with me. Get out of the rain, have dinner with us. Then we’ll all know you well.”

“But-”

“I won’t press it if you aren’t comfortable with it,” he interrupts gently. “But I do need a new roommate. My old one, our singer, has been dating the guitarist for a bit, and they’re finally moving in together. So I need someone in the room regardless. And we may not know each other too well yet, but I know you’re handsome, kind, and I don’t want to see you out on the streets. Personally, I think something aligned so that we’d meet up today.”

“It isn’t that I’m uncomfortable with it,” you admit. “I just...if my family knew I was taking someone’s kindness like this, the things they’d say...”

“Where are they, back in America?” Roger asks as he picks up your suitcase, and starts down the road towards the studio, with you on his heels.

“Yeah,” you reply.

“Well then, sounds like what they think doesn’t matter for this situation, because they aren’t here for it,” he continues. “You’re here, it’s your situation, and you get to decide what you want to do about it.”

“That...is a very good point,” you say.

“Every now and again I manage them,” he grins, even as the tree you’re passing dumps a decent puddle of water on him, nearly putting out his cigarette. “So. What do you, Y/N, want to do?”

Your mother would scream at you to be wary of strangers, to trust your gut.

But your gut feels fine. In fact, this is the safest and happiest you’ve felt in weeks. It could be a mistake, yes, but it doesn’t feel like one, to trust Roger.

“I want to try and find a new job, right away,” you start. “So I can start paying my portion of the rent at your flat, if you mean it, and you’ll really have me in as a roommate.”

He stops in front of the door to the studio, and somehow that smile is even brighter than before, and your heart flutters yet again.

“And...” you take a deep breath. “I may be misreading a signal, and if I am, please tell me and I’ll back off. But...I’m getting the feeling maybe I could end up being more. Than a roommate. And I would like that too, a lot, and there’s one other thing I should just ask rather than stumbling around it but-”

He giggles as he stamps out his cigarette, too damp for him to finish.

You toss yours aside and do the same. “Do I have to wait to kiss you until we get to your flat? Or can I do that now, before we go in?”

The kiss he gives you, sweet and tinged with tobacco, is the answer you’d been hoping for.

The door swings open, and a tall, curly-haired man scoffs. “There you fucking are!”

“Here I fucking am,” Roger smirks.

“Where did you go?”

“Out for a smoke,” Roger replies taking your free hand as he pulls you along with him into the studio, past the man. “Made a friend too. Well, more than a friend, but it’s early.”

“I...what...” the poor thing ruffles the curls that are long enough to hit his shoulders. “Fine, whatever. Pleased to meet you, ah...”

“Y/N,” you say. “I’m taking over the spare room Roger said he’ll have in a day or so?”

The man nods, and gestures to himself. “Brian. Freddie’s moving in with me tonight, actually. Thought it would take longer, but we realized he’s slowly dragged over most of his things already when he’s come over to mine, so there’s not much left to move.”

“That’s fine,” Roger says, taking your other suitcase from you and setting both of them aside. “We might not need the extra room anyway.”

It feels too forward to do more than nod, but in your head, you’re thrilled at the thought of going home with him tonight. And even better, the thought of coming home to him each day. It’s early days and you know better than to hang onto it all too hard, to presume it will all go perfectly.

But all the same, this is the best and most secure you’ve felt about anything in ages, and when he introduces you to the rest of the band (the mentioned Freddie and their bassist, John), holding your hand and squeezing it ever so gently, it feels like another sign.

This is going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. More than okay, even.

The way things are looking, you might even be happy.

#text post #LeeH writes #queen band fic #Lee's Rock/Queentober 2020 #roger taylor x reader #roger taylor x trans reader

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rightsockjin · 4 years ago

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BTIP: Day 2

Summary: It’s day two and already, the drama has started! With two date cards out in the open, will Y/N get to go out of the villa? Alliances begin to form in Paradise and relationships blossom. What will happen when a new girl arrives and steals Jungkook’s attention? One word. Drama.

Rating: K+ (Suggestive)

Genre: Romance, drama, slight angst

Word Count: 11,423

This is the format that will be used from now on! I hope it’s not too long! If you want to be on the tag list, please send me an ask! Thank you for everyone who’s been reading it! enjoy!

~adminKim

Last Time on Bangtan in Paradise:

Y/N was caught in two compromising positions:

- “Are we interrupting something,” Seokjin asked, looking from you to the producer who instantly jumped back.

“Uh no. Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that her mic didn’t short out since she had gotten in the hot tub without removing it. I have to replace it now so I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t let me stop you from mingling.”

-Like a magnetic force, you felt yourself lean down. Taehyung was reaching up too, his wet hand was now at your neck. It was like a spell. You would never have done something like this before. You were always the kind of person to take things slow, but you had six weeks to fall in love and you realized that maybe you would have to speed up your regular process. Would you regret this later? Maybe. But in that moment, you couldn’t bring yourself to care.

Taehyung seemed to hit it off with two people:

That was when you noticed that he was holding hands with that brunette girl from earlier. All the blood rushed out of your face. Wasn’t it just minutes ago that you guys had almost kissed?

Jin protected you from the lustful gaze of the group:

“Jin, please tell me my dress isn’t see-through right now.”

Jin’s eyes snapped up to your face, “What no! No it’s not that it’s just…” he gulped, pulling you towards him and flipping your body so that he was hiding you from the rest of the men in the resort. He didn’t seem to care that your dress was getting his shorts wet. He held you close to his body.

“It’s really just plastered to your skin. I suggest you go and change if you don’t want people to stare.”

Y/N began to trust your producer:

“Yeah okay well the sound is fine. If you need anything you can just say my name and I’ll show up,” he tapped his head set, “at the risk of sounding incredibly creepy, I’m always listening.”

He tapped his head set, then without much more of a goodbye, he walked out of your room leaving you to stare after him with a crescent on your lips.

And the first date card appeared:

Yoongi looked at Jackson in shock. It was clear that he hadn’t expected to get the first date card. He seemed to be thrown thoroughly off guard.

“Me,” he asked, as Jackson handed him the slightly ripped envelope. He scanned the card as if he couldn’t quite believe it unless he saw it. His mouth was slightly open.

“You mean I have to wake up early? And I have to exercise?”

Next to him, Hobi laughed loudly clapping him on the back, “Be happy Yoongi! You have your pick of women for the first date in Paradise!”

Who will Yoongi choose? Will Jungkook ever get his chance to atone for his actions on the Bachelor? Will things heat up between Jin and Y/N?

Find out now! On Bangtan in Paradise!

It was maybe nine in the morning when you woke up. Namjoon had appeared in your room shortly after you rose to secure a mic on your waist with a tan band of fabric that hid under your tankini top then, without much conversation, excited. You wondered if he had gotten into any trouble for the way he had already conversed with you more than he should have in a day.

You weren’t sure at what time Yoongi’s date left but you had a gut feeling that he wasn’t going to ask you. This was confirmed when you walked out of your room and to the Cabana for some breakfast and Yoongi was missing. People were already up and chatting. You wondered how early everyone else had woken up.

You yawned. You had taken a late shower and partially straightened your hair the night before so you could curl it overnight with curlers. You hadn’t slept much since your nerves had gotten the best of you and it looked like it had all been in vain. You were not going on a date that day.

“Morning,” Seokjin said, sitting next to you on a stool. His face was pale with sunscreen and he was wearing a long sleeved surfer shirt. A straw hat on his head.

“You’re chipper today,” you giggled, rubbing a particularly thick blob of lotion into his cheek affectionately. Already, you felt somehow drawn to this man. His slight flirtations from the night before and the way he’d shielded you from the impure stares of the other men stuck in your mind. Whether it was romantic, or friendship wise, Seokjin was rubbing you the right way.

“It’s a beautiful day. There’s beautiful women,” he winked at you, “What’s not to be chipper about?”

You had no answer. Instead you asked the bartender for a mimosa and an egg sandwich. Seokjin watched you. Amused.

“Also…I’m hoping that the date cards start to roll in soon. I’m anxious to be the first to take you out.”

Your blood pressure must have dropped drastically and noticeably because Seokjin’s face went from hopeful, to terrified in a matter of seconds.

“Whoa, Y/N, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

You took a large gulp of your mimosa to get some sugar in your body. Panic filled you to the brim. You could feel the eyes of your fellow bachelors on you, all of them looking at you and Seokjin curiously.

“NO! I’m fine…I just wasn’t expecting…are you flirting with me?”

Jin laughed, “Kind of, yeah.”

What a stupid question. Of course he was flirting with you. That was the point of this show wasn’t it? You had never had someone be so blatantly express interest in you before.

“Oh.”

“Is,” he cleared his throat, “Is that okay?”

“Yes!” You almost screamed. The back of your neck burned. The small hairs there prickled. As covertly as you could, you glanced over your shoulder. In the same table as yesterday sat-what was her name?-Holly, across from Kitty and Taehyung looking miserable as you spoke to Jin.

A part of you felt guilty. As rude as they had been the day before, you weren’t the type of person to go after another person’s crush fully knowing that they had it. Another part kept yelling at you that it wasn’t your fault. You hadn’t actively sought out Jin. He had found you this morning and struck up a conversation.

“Well I’m glad,” Seokjin confirmed, scooting a little closer as you turned back around and took a bite of your sandwich.

“Me too,” you said, “But uh… I really think that Holly has a thing for you. Do you uh,” what were you doing? What were you about to say? You mentally argued with yourself for a second about the words that threatened to spill off of your lips.

“Do you maybe want to talk to her? Just to make sure that you don’t want to maybe date her instead?”

Seokjin’s shoulders sagged. Instantly, you knew you had said the wrong thing. Your heart raced.

“Ok wait hold on that was stupid,” you said. Waves of regret seemed to radiate off of the man before you. He had put his heart on the line and in seconds you had crushed it.

“Look if you’re not interested, that’s fine, but don’t pretend to be interested.”

He stood up but you reached for his forearm, stopping him from leaving. He looked back at you. Like in a movie, his hair flopped effortlessly. The sun hit him in the perfect way. Oh God you were an idiot.

“I’m interested, Jin. I don’t know why I said that. I’m really sorry.” Jin’s angelic face didn’t show any expression. He looked at you as if for the first time.

“Yeah well, maybe you’ve got a point. We should both really try to meet multiple people to make sure that what we want is each other.”

He carefully pulled his arm from your grip. A dazzling smile replaced the plain expression he bore only seconds before. The sudden change gave you whiplash but before you could comment, he walked over to the table of hell and leaned down next to Holly. You couldn’t hear what he said, but from where you sat, you could see her face light up.

Seokjin held a hand out for her to take and she did so eagerly, jumping from her seat. Kitty watched them walk away with a satisfied smile. You felt your heart sink. Your self-sabotage had kicked in without warning and had done exactly as it was meant to. This is why things didn’t work out for you. If the filter from your brain to your mouth worked better, maybe you wouldn’t be in this mess.

You let your shoulders slump, looking out into the ocean where Jin and Holly were now taking a walk. Suddenly, you realized that you were in genuine danger of going home before the show had even started. You looked back at your sandwich, which was growing cold, sadly. You slowly ate the rest of the egg and discarded the bread.

You sipped on your mimosa absentmindedly. You would have to think of some way to keep yourself entertained. It was clear that Jin was occupied. You glanced over at Taehyung who was chatting idly with Kitty and a new arrival, Yumi. On the beach you could see Hoseok and who looked like Jimin watching the waves.

Soobin and Yeonjun were sitting in beach chairs, their shirts off. Sunglasses on. Wow. They were…pretty well built. Alex was sitting in the pool chair next to them. She was wearing a cute pair of beige shorts and a bandeau-like striped blue bikini top. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, her small face was partially hidden by a pair of big circular glasses. She seemed calm enough. Which surprised you since last night she was uncomfortable with Jackson and his own display of muscle.

You wondered if you should just go and talk to her instead of worrying about the guys. It would at least help to talk to her for a little while and try to forget the stupidity that you’d just displayed.

You got up, intent on doing just that when a voice stopped you. Before you, walking into the cabana in some blue swim trunks and a black surfer’s shirt. His hair was ruffled and he looked tired. Like he had tossed and turned all night and didn’t bother to fix himself for the day. Your heart skipped a beat. He was…so cute. You could remember what it was like to see him for the first time when you walked out of the limo. The way that the night seemed to frame his body perfectly and his smile was bright and excited. You could put yourself back in that place so easily. The place where you were in love with Jeon Jungkook. Why couldn’t you do that again?

“Good morning,” Jungkook said, his teeth on full display. His body language was confident and cocky. If you didn’t look at his face you wouldn’t notice the hint of uncertainty that flashed in his brown eyes.

“Good morning…” you said gesturing with your hand for him to continue. He looked confused as he sat in the stool next to the one you had previously been occupying. He towered over you. He rested his arms on the bar as the bartender, you think his name is Jorge, came over to take his order.

“Good morning…did you sleep well,” he asked before turning to Jorge and ordering a glass of milk and some pancakes.

You, not realizing that you were expecting something, were disappointed by his answer. You weren’t sure what you had wanted him to say, but it wasn’t that. Maybe an apology. An explanation now that you were ready to listen? Your name?

“Yep, Slept well. Anyway, nice talk, I’m going to go talk to Alex,” you answered rather dryly. Jungkook blinked at you. His pancakes sat before him, beautifully decorated with strawberries and bananas. Warmed syrup sat next to them and his milk was placed in a fancy wine glass with a sprig of mint. Jungkook didn’t notice any of that. Instead, he was looking at you in what appeared to be fear.

“Later Jeon,” you said then walked away, your blue flip flops hitting your heels lightly as you walked towards the beach.

Jungkook didn’t follow you. For this you were grateful. You didn’t think you could take the humiliation of him still not remembering your name after all this time. You would think that if he cared enough, he would have figured it out. You were a viral laughing stock after all. You were not going to stick around and be embarrassed again.

The day’s sea air was cool on your skin. Today you had remembered to wear sunscreen and the wind wafted the smell up to your nose. The sun was hidden behind some harmless looking clouds and the ocean roared in the background. It was then that you realized just how beautiful Playa Escondida (Hidden beach) was. The hundreds of palm trees that resided between the multiple areas of the villa made it feel that much more secluded. Obviously, you knew that you weren’t alone and the cameras that you spotted here and there were proof of that but if you closed your eyes, this would be the very definition of paradise for you.

Flowers were blooming in trees and in bushes of all sorts. Colors seemed to drown out the grey of the day. You couldn’t help but smile. You guessed that getting your heart broken would be best in a beautiful place like this.

As you neared Alex and the two tall men, you were intercepted. Jackson stood before you, his smile subtle. He was now wearing a shirt much to your dismay and a pair of swim trunks with red geometric patterns you couldn’t quite make out. He was barefoot and a tiny bit sunburned. His arms were crossed over his chest. It was like he knew something you didn’t.

“Uh…hey,” you said, taken aback.

Jackson chuckled. It felt almost deprecating though not malicious. You looked around for any signs of what he wanted to say. When the only thing that met you were his confusing actions you relaxed and waited for him to say something.

“Y/N, can I call you Y/N?”

“Uh…yes.”

“Look, I’m not trying to be rude, you’re really attractive and I can see very well why these guys want to date you, but I am not one of them.”

He said nothing else. Just waited patiently for your reply. What was going on here? The only logical explanation to you was that someone had said something to him about you and he was trying to clear the air?

“Alright, well…I think I’ll survive,” you told him, trying to walk around him but he followed you, blocking you from leaving.

“Okay good,” he confirmed, “Now that we have that out of the way, I really think we should form an alliance.”

For a second, you thought that he was joking, but his expression was serious and inquisitive. Why on earth would you need an alliance?

“An alliance?”

“An alliance.”

You waited patiently for him to explain but when he didn’t you sighed and crossed your arms.

“What do you mean, Jackson?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” he laughed, gesturing to the bed under a small room that was situated close to us. With a sigh you obliged and sat on the edge of the mildly sandy bed. Jackson plopped onto it rather ungracefully, making you bounce a bit. A surprised noise was ripped from your throat. Jackson giggled.

“Okay so here’s what I’m thinking. Things are going to get difficult really fast and when that happens, we’re going to need someone that we can trust. A confidante. A safe haven. A sort of uh-”

“A friend?”

Jackson’s face brightened, “A FRIEND! Exactly! Yes, that’s what we will call it. Friendship! No one will know that we’re in cahoots if they just think they’re friends.”

“Or,” you paused waiting for him to look at you, “We could just be friends? Just a thought.”

Jackson scrunched up his nose, “I like the way you think Y/L/N. Friends it is.” He held out his hand and shook yours without waiting for you to take his. He nodded then crawled up closed to you so he could lower his voice.

“Now that we know our game plan, I have some rules.”

“Okay,” you giggled. The more he spoke the more funny he seemed to become.

“Rule number one. And this is the most important one okay?”

“Okay,” you agreed.

“If, for some reason, neither one of us has a person at a Rose Ceremony, then we give each other roses. So that we can get a chance to meet someone.”

You puckered your lips. It seemed reasonable enough. You were giving each other the chance to continue with the show.

“Okay and that’s only if we are both single right?”

“Boy you catch on fast Y/L/N.”

“Hey!”

He ignored your outburst, “Rule number two, if we hear something that would make the other one of us sad or angry, we tell each other. No questions asked.”

“Alright, okay yeah I can do that. Anything else?”

This time Jackson hesitated. His cheeks blushing slightly. He looked away from you, towards where Alex, Yeonjun, and Soobin were sitting. You followed his gaze. A seagull flew over the trio. A wave of sea water flowed dangerously close to the chairs but none of them seemed bothered.

“Rule number three…we’re each other’s wing men,” he sputtered when he looked back at you and your eyebrows were raised, “wing woman? Wing people? We help each other alright? If I ask for some help with a girl, you talk me up and I on the other hand will help you with…” he blinked at you as if he was thinking hard, “I’ll help you with men. No matter who it is you want. I will help you get them. Ok?”

He looked at you expectantly. A question on his face. You raised your own eyebrows at him. Again waiting for an explanation at his weirdly specific rule.

“You understand what I am saying?”

“I think I do,” you said not entirely sure if you did but you supposed you would find out soon enough.

“Okay, good. Now that I said that…do you happen to be interested in… anyone?”

At that point, you sighed and threw yourself onto the Mexican handmade comforter roughly.

“That bad already?” Jackson asked, adjusting so that his head was next to yours. You both looked up at the little canopy made of straw. The salt smell of the ocean hit you harder then. In the distance, you could hear laughter and…what sounded like a dolphin?

It was day two and already you felt like crap.

“So, you know Seokjin,” you asked Jackson.

“Kim Seokjin. The really good looking one? Or are we talking about the other one?”

You rolled your eyes. Jackson was really easy to talk to. Something about his easy going nature had you spilling your heart out.

“No oh my Lord. The handsome one,” you giggled.

“Ah alright, so what about Kim Seokjin.”

You hesitated only for a second. You were going to go talk to Alex about this anyway right? Why not just tell Jackson instead? He was free and Alex was clearly busy enjoying her time sunbathing.

“So, since yesterday, he showed interest in me and this morning he flirted with me I guess? And then I stupidly pointed out to him that Holly liked him and told him to explore that connection and not only did he take what I said to heart, I think he doesn’t want to court me anymore…”

Jackson chuckled, “Court you? What century are you living in Y/N? No one courts anyone. It’s all about talking and dating now.”

You blew a raspberry, “I know… but Seokjin seemed the type to want to court someone. Something slow and respectful. I don’t know. Maybe I sound crazy but-” you cringed, there was another Easter egg for the editors, “I want a guy who does things right you get me?”

Jackson rolled his shoulders next to you, “Well what exactly is the right way to do things?”

You thought about it. Though you had spent so much time thinking about what the perfect relationship for you would be, you let yourself picture it once more before you let yourself speak.

Cautious conversation. Careful touches. Nervous actions. Soft smiles. Multiple dates and hangouts with your person. A secret code that just you two knew. He looked at you like you were the only girl in the world.

You conveyed this to Jackson in as little words as you could. He listened intently, nodding every once in a while. Never interrupting, never judgmental. You realized more and more that whomever ended up with this man was going to be extremely fortunate.

When you finished, Jackson took a second to consider what you had said.

“Well, from what you are telling me, I feel like Paradise is going to be a bit difficult for you. A man dedicating his time solely to you is a little hard here. You would be better off with someone not in the competition.”

You furrowed your eyebrows at his weird stress on the end of the sentence. Was he perhaps suggesting that you left the show?

“Well I mean, yeah. I realize that, Jackson, but it’s really hard to meet people. This is another good way to meet someone. I get that focusing on me would be hard but I’ve seen it done before.”

“I hear you. You’re right, this is a good way to meet people. Keep your eyes open. I’m sure that there’s someone here for you.”

You smiled up at the canopy again, “Thanks Jackson. It feels good to get that off my chest.”

“What are friends for?”

You lay next to each other in silence for what felt like hours. In reality, it was probably minutes.

You watched your chest rise and fall with your breath, the red of your ruffled swimsuit fluttering over it.

“What about you, Jack?”

“What about me, Y/N?”

You groaned. Must he be difficult? You sat up so you could look at him directly. Jackson did the same, looking over his shoulder at you, “Do you have any interest in anyone yet?”

Jackson looked away from you again. His gaze unfocused. You followed it out of habit and noticed that it was directed at the trio from before. Yeonjun was pouring sunscreen on Alex’s shoulders. Soobin was stretching. His muscles rippling under the dim light.

Jackson looked back at you. His features seemed to be devoid of any emotions.

“Not yet.”

It was maybe three in the afternoon when you finally listened to your stomach’s protests and pleas. After your conversation with Jackson, you had decided that both of you needed a little distracting so you suggested you both took a dip in the water.

The words had barely left your lips before he had ripped his shirt off in excitement. It was comical even. It was like he was waiting for any excuse to be shirtless and you didn’t blame him. You could tell that he worked extremely hard on his body and if you worked half as hard as he seemed to be working, you would probably strut around in next to nothing as well. Sadly, this was not your reality, so you shed your shorts self-consciously and folded them neatly on the mattress.

You had spent the next six-ish hours having Jackson teach you how to surf. He’d assured you that he was a fantastic surfer but as soon as he had gotten on the surfboard, he’d been toppled by the waves. Water ran into his nose and he insisted that he was better than he seemed to be and convinced you to just take his word and let him guide you.

To his surprise, only an hour into a lesson with him, you had surfed your first wave. Jackson had been shocked but ecstatic. He’d found a second surf board, or more so asked the staff to bring another one and challenged you to multiple races at sea.

You could feel the slight sunburn on your shoulders already and slightly under your eyes. You should have been more vigilant with your sunscreen. Luckily, you had remembered to bring some Aloe in case of an emergency and you reapplied the protectant to your body.

Now you sat in the cabana once again at the bar, this time with Jackson at your right. The crew had brought some local tacos for the bachelors to share. You had taken the tripe, and Jackson had taken some beef. He’d given you two of his and you had switched him for two of your own. You squeezed some lime and added some salt on your tacos as he watched in disgust.

“It’s good,” you argued, covering your mouth with your hand.

“Whatever you say.”

“Try it,” You urged.

“If I try it, then you have to try my protein shake.”

Horror filled you to the brim. You remembered from his season of the bachelorette the concoction of foods that he considered breakfast. It was packed full with apples, bananas, and spinach. Then he took it further and added broccoli and chicken. It looked stomach churning.

“Hell no. Eat your bland ass tacos. I’m happy knowing you’re missing out.”

Jackson laughed. Just like the morning, you could feel eyes on the back of your head. Farther down the bar, Jungkook was talking to Yumi. Her long black hair was pulled into a ponytail. She was absolutely adorable. A part of you that hadn’t yet let go of the idea of you and Jungkook got slightly unsettled, but the bigger part of you, the angry part, shrugged it off.

You could see, right before you turned back to your meal, that he was shooting glances at you. You took your Corona beer and bit one of the limes on your plate before taking a swig of the golden liquid. Beer wasn’t your favorite form of alcohol but you couldn’t fathom the idea of eating good tacos without a Corona. Either way, this one wasn’t too strong tasting and the lime made it taste that much better.

“Don’t look now but I think one Kim is looking at you,” Jackson said leaning in close to you. A thrill went through your body. If Jin was looking at you, maybe all hope was not lost.

“What do I do,” you asked, feeling a small amount of panic to run through your body.

“Well, don’t look for one-Y/N!”

It was involuntary. If someone told you not to do something, you had to do it. It was like a tick. So as soon as Jackson had said not to look, you jerked your head behind you, back to where you had seen him sitting with Holly, Taehyung and Kitty to see for yourself.

What you were met with was the back of the heads to Jin and Taehyung. They must have seen you turn and turned back to their…uh dates?

“Jackson, was it Jin or Taehyung who was looking at me,” you asked, realizing they had the same last name.

Jackson opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Soobin who sat on your left. Alex and Yeonjun sat next to him accordingly. You smiled up at the giant of a man.

“Hey Soobin! How has your day been so far?”

Soobin smiled brightly and turned towards you. His knees bumped yours because of the sheer length of him. You scooted back to accommodate him and he ducked his head, embarrassed.

“Hey Y/N, sorry, it was nice. I think I took a nap earlier and I got a pretty weird sunburn,” he said, and now that you looked at him, he was wearing a long sleeve shirt and the area around his neck was really red.

“Oh no… I got a little burned as well. Do you have some Aloe?”

Soobin ruffled his hair, “Yes. I packed some.”

“Oh alright. I was going to offer you mine.”

The conversation lulled then. You could hear people talking all around you. You looked over at Alex from next to Soobin. You smiled but she wouldn’t meet you in the eye. You frowned. She looked a little standoffish.

“Soobin,” you whispered so that he would lean in closer, “Is everything okay with Alex?”

Soobin’s eyes widened. He looked from you to Alex then back at you. Instantly, you could tell that whatever he said next was going to be a lie.

“She is a little sad that she didn’t get to uh... go on the date.”

Soobin scrunched his cute nose and shrugged his shoulders. You couldn’t be sure but based on what Yoongi told you, Alex had made it clear she didn’t want to go.

“Oh I see. Thanks for telling me.”

You turned back to your tacos, only to see that you were missing one. From your right, Jackson coughed and put a napkin to his mouth. You snapped your gaze to him and couldn’t stop yourself from laughing. In his hand was your missing taco which, unbeknown to him, was covered in lime, salt and green salsa.

The salas and lime oozed out of the back end of the tortilla. You watched him down a glass of water.

“This is what you get for being a thief.”

“I was still hungry!”

You rolled your eyes at your friend. Too distracted by the over dramatic gaging that Jackson was doing, you didn’t notice the tension in the Cabana.

It wasn’t until you heard a new female voice that you realized something was up.

“Hey guys,” Jackson’s eyes widened, looking somewhere over your shoulder. You looked over your shoulder. There, in the middle on the Cabana entrance stood none other than Marie. Her kinky hair was styled half up. She was wearing a sheer blue dress and in her manicured hands was a crème envelope.

The second date card had reared its ugly head.

Marie walked over to Jungkook first, hugging him and introducing herself. Instantly, the annoyingly cute act that you had become accustomed to on your season of the bachelor was present. She had been eliminated in a rose ceremony before you. She displayed the face of an angel at first, but as soon as your back was turned, it was all gossip. You had had a bad feeling from the beginning and when you had walked in on her speaking to another of the girls about how ‘fake’ you were, all your suspicions were confirmed.

She moved onto Yumi. Her bright blue, green eyes narrowed slightly. She was looking for ammunition. She talked to Yeonjun next. She was clearly interested in him right off the bat. She twirled a curl in her hands making brief conversation before she winked at him then moved onto Alex.

Alex seemed less than happy to be touched by Marie. She smiled awkwardly but Marie didn’t waste much time on her. She moved onto Soobin. Though instantly, you could see that he was far too tame for the wild child that was Marie and she seemed to notice it as well.

From Soobin, she took a detour and introduced herself to the table Taehyung and Jin were sitting at. The two boys stood and hugged her politely. Marie held on a little too long to both men. Holly and Kitty glared. You chuckled. Kitty really thought that she was the main runner on this show. Marie was ten times worse than that woman. The enemy of my enemy right?

Finally, Marie walked towards you, her smile faltering slightly. A slew of Camera men and producers had followed her into the Cabana. It was clear they were expecting something to happen. Most likely, they wanted to make sure they caught the interaction between you and her. You wouldn’t give the cameras the satisfaction.

“Y/N! I’m so glad to see you,” she said hugging you before you could protest. You patted her back.

“Marie, how have you been?’

“Swell,” she said, pulling away, “I’m so glad to be back here! It looks like we both got a second chance at love huh?”

“Right, I-”

But she wasn’t much more interested in you. She walked past you and hugged Jackson. Your heart sank. You could feel the eyes on you. Pitying.

You looked out into the sea of cameras and noticed Namjoon was behind one of the men. He had his clipboard and headset on. His eyes met yours instantly, what was meant to be a hiss and an apology escaping his lips. This was one curve ball he hadn’t told you about. You couldn’t bring yourself to be mad at him though. This must have been why he had rushed out of your room earlier that day. He didn’t trust himself to not tell you. You smiled a tight lip smile to signal you were fine. Tears welled in your eyes. The feeling of being ignored or unimportance filled you. You refused to cry. You were an adult. Adults didn’t cry.

“So guys,” Marie began and you swiveled your chair to look at her, now at the opposite end of the cabana, “I do have a date card here. Should I open it?”

A chorus of excited encouragement met her question. She preened at the attention. You struggled to not roll your eyes at her. She opened the envelope rather roughly. Another person who hadn’t gotten the memo that the envelope wasn’t glued shut. She ripped the card inside a little. She giggled at her own incompetence but pushed it aside. Slightly in front of you and to the left was Jackson, his shoulders erect and at attention. He was still not wearing a shirt and you could see Marie ogling his muscles.

“Marie, find a guy that suits your fancy and dress to impress. Your date leaves tonight.”

The riddle was obvious. It was a date where you had to wear something fancy. Possibly a dinner? Either way, it was sure to be amazing if the producers had anything to say about it.

“Who should I pick,” she asked rhetorically. The men in the cabana were all looking at her hopefully. All but one. Jungkook was practically hiding in his arms. He was trying to make himself as small as he possibly could.

“Jungkook,” Marie said, shocking everyone but yourself. Jungkook looked up from his self-made nest and looked up at Marie. There was a good six to eight feet between them but that seemed like it wasn’t enough. His eyes were open wide. Like a deer in headlights. A blush rose to his cheeks and he pointed to himself as if to confirm.

“Yes you silly,” Marie giggled, “would you go on this date with me?”

Silence. Disappointed silence followed her question. Everyone was looking at Jungkook expectantly. You couldn’t look at him, but you could tell he was looking at you.

“I…I guess?”

“Great,” Marie exclaimed, not noticing or caring about his hesitation, “see you tonight.”

Marie walked away then, a small crew of camera men followed her to the rooms. A couple other camera men and producers walked up to the contestants. Namjoon walked up to you. You could tell he felt guilty for not warning you this time around.

“Hey Y/N, we want to do a quick interview if you don’t mind. I also brought you some aloe for your sunburn and a replacement for your mic. You really need to take it off before you go into pools of water.”

“Maybe you guys should get waterproof mics,” you shot back but stood up and followed Namjoon. You looked back to see who else was getting pulled in for an interview. It was not surprising that Jungkook and Jackson were also flocked to. What you did find weird was that Jackson wasn’t looking at his producer. Instead, he was looking at yours.

You watched the two men exchange some strange looks before they both turned back to their jobs. That was undeniably weird.

You didn’t ask Namjoon. It was a brief enough look. It could have been anything. You let Namjoon and his camera man lead you closer to the ocean by a formation of pretty rocks. The waves crashed against them cinematically. Namjoon smiled.

“Here’s good Y/N. I’m just going to ask you some questions and I want you to answer them as if they’re happening in real time. So like ‘I feel that…in this moment I am doing…’ that kind of thing. Got it?”

“Got it chief,” you saluted, instantly cringing at your own actions. There you went again. Why were you always so cringy when he was around? To his credit, Namjoon chuckled and saluted back.

“Fantastic. Okay. So…tell me who arrived and what you are doing while she does.”

You groaned. The interviews were the absolute worst.

“So I’m sitting with Jackson,” you said cautiously, thinking hard about the tense of your words, “and I’m laughing at him because he stole my taco and it has a lot of salsa in it so he’s gulping down water.” You paused again thinking.

“I guess because I am so focused on that, I don’t notice when a new girl comes in.

“Okay great, now tell me how that made you feel,” Namjoon pressed, writing something on his clipboard.

“Well… we all know how much she likes me… so I am not exactly ecstatic about her arrival but she’s here.”

Namjoon paused and looked at you. He winced at your words.

“I’m really sorry to hear that Y/N. Uh… what did-you-feel-when- she-asked-Jungkook-on the-date?”

This last question, he seemed to spit out. He said it so fast that it almost was incoherent. You blinked at him but then it clicked.

“Oh um…I feel nothing really. I’m here for another chance at love and it’s not with Jungkook. He deserves that second chance as well. If it’s with a girl he’s already dated then so be it. But that’s not me.”

Namjoon let a sigh escape his lips. A small smile on his face.

“Okay well, last question. You and Jackson? Is that a thing or…”

“Me and Jackson are just friends.”

“Okay that should tie that up. Thank you, Y/N. Chris,” Namjoon now directed himself at the camera man, “You’re dismissed. I’m just going to mic her again and I’ll be back in a bit.”

Chris nodded and turned his camera off. When he was a decent distance away, Namjoon looked back at you.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t say anything Y/N. I had no way to say something without someone knowing. Can you turn around?”

You complied, “Is it okay if I pull your shirt up a little?”

“Uh yeah,” you said, holding your chest so it didn’t move too much.

“It’s not your fault. I’m sure you would have told me if you could or something. Careful, this is a swim suit. I’m not wearing anything under the top, Namjoon.”

“Wait what?” As if burned, he let go of your bikini top. It plopped against your skin heavily.

“Ow dude that hurt!”

“I’m so sorry,” he said instantly, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I was just trying to switch your mic. You rolled your eyes.

“It’s okay. I’m fine, you’re fine. Just switch it.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Namjoon tentatively grabbed the edge of your top again and shimmied it up your torso. You felt his hands cautiously take the short circuited mic from the little compartment in the skin color band he’d helped you in that morning. His fingertips grazed your skin.

“How’s it looking boss?”

“I’m not the boss of you Y/N,” Namjoon said, “I’m just your handler.”

“I know Namjoon. Is my sunburn really obvious?”

Namjoon didn’t say anything. You felt him slip the new mic in the pouch and then flip the on switch. He fiddled with the knob of the volume for a second before he pulled your top over the tan band.

“Say something.”

“Namjoon is my handler and not my boss,” you laughed. You turned to look at him and noticed the blush in his cheeks. You’d missed him today. Maybe you would break more mics just to talk to him.

“Okay that should be good. Here,” he held out a blue, cold bottle of gel, “put this on. You’re starting to look a little past sunkissed.”

“Yes sir,” you said, eagerly taking the bottle of what you knew was aloe. You squeezed a small amount and plopped it on your shoulder. The cooling sensation was instant. Relief swept through you.

“Can you put it on my face? I can’t see where I need it,” you said holding it out to him as you rubbed it into your neck.

“Yeah, sure.”

Namjoon placed his clipboard between his legs then squirted a little lotion on his enormous hand. Your eyes widened as he took a single long finger and dipped it in the blob in his wide palm.

“Namjoon, your hands are huge,” you said.

Namjoon raised an eyebrow, “maybe your hands are small. Did you think of that Y/N?” With the most careful touch he could muster, he evenly placed the cooling gel under your eyes and on the tip of your nose. He gently massaged it in. You closed your eyes enjoying the sensation. That is until he booped your nose.

“Hey!”

“Sorry I couldn't help it. You have a boopable nose.”

“Okay yeah whatever. Do I need some anywhere else?” you asked, turning so he could look at you. His eyes raked your body methodically, as if scanning.

“You look okay for now. Just keep putting sunscreen on and put more of this lotion on at night after your shower. I’ll leave it in your room okay?”

“I already have some in my room,” you pointed out.

“This one was in the fridge. It’s much more effective.”

“Fine. Take it to my room but it’s going to be not cold by the time I get there.”

Namjoon and yourself started to walk back to the cabana where people were still eating. Jackson and Jungkook seemed to be done with their interviews as well as they were back to their old seats.

“You underestimate me,” Namjoon feigned hurt, placing a hand over his heart, “just trust me.”

“I do. You might be number one of two people I trust at this moment.”

Marie was also back. She had taken Yumi’s seat at the bar, a long island iced tea in her perfect hands. She was laughing at whatever Jungkook had just said. Jungkook seemed a little less surprised now. He smiled kindly at her, not even glancing in your direction. You felt a little hurt. Maybe he wasn’t there for you. As you said your goodbye to Namjoon, you returned to your seat near Jackson. He looked downcast.

“Hey, did I miss anything?”

Jackson was looking at Marie and Jungkook. He swirled a finger in a green drink that you couldn’t identify.

“Maybe.”

You spent the next hour and a half taking a shower, doing a treatment on your hair, drying it, then straightening and curling it. The sun had not been kind to your hair over the last two days and in all honesty, you weren’t helping it but you couldn’t help trying to fix it. Your hair had a history of being unruly and frizzy. You wanted to tame it as much as you could.

You applied a thick layer of sunscreen on your body before changing into a weaved, tie-dyed navy blue dress and some brown sandals. Your hair was half up with some wispy hairs surrounding your face. When you were done, it was around five thirty. You waited in your room for a little longer, needing a small reprieve from people and cameras, at least physical cameras. You looked through your phone. Messaged your family that everything was okay then scrolled through social media. You were starting to doze off.

A knock at your door startled you awake. You checked your phone and realized that it was almost seven then. For a second, you thought you imagined the knocks but there they were again. You swung your legs off your bed. It must be Namjoon. He was the only one who knew which room was yours. Maybe he was dropping off the gel for sunburns. Regardless, you welcomed the idea of seeing him so you hurried over to the door and pulled it open without inquiring.

“Hey Nam- Jungkook?”

Alas, it was Jungkook who was behind your door, patiently waiting for you to open. He was dressed for his date already. He was wearing an obviously soft white button up with crystal buttons. The top two were left open. His muscular chest peaked out at you. His smart jacket was left open and was boxy. Stripes of darker black ran up his arms, one rested on the door frame, the other in the pocket of his black wide leg slacks. He seemed to be a little taller as well, unless you hadn’t noticed your height difference before then, but that seemed unlikely. He shifted his weight, his pants riding up slightly, and you noticed that his dress shoes had a slight lift.

A strand of wavy hair fell into his eyes. Fear was evident in them but also was that hope you saw?

“Yeah, hi,” he said, sticking his other hand in his pocket as well, then quickly thinking better of it and hiding both hands behind his body. You waited as he fidgeted for a bit longer. He was obviously nervous.

“Y/N,” you said as if to introduce yourself, “I was on your season of the bachelor.”

Jungkook blushed, his tattooed hand running through his hair to distract himself from your words.

“I knew that,” he assured, still not meeting your eyes.

“Well, if you say so, but you haven’t said my name once since you arrived here. I’m starting to think that you can’t physically say my name,” you joked. Behind him, you could see that a camera man had followed him. He must have told them something.

When he said nothing, you spoke again, “I don’t know if you’re looking for Marie but this is the wrong room.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened, “Oh no! I came to find you.”

“Uh, why?”

You crossed your arms, genuinely confused. The card that Marie had read hadn’t been specific enough to tell the time but judging by Jungkook’s attire it was soon. So why was he here instead of with his date?

“I was waiting for you to come back to the cabana but you never did- to talk to you!- and so I went to get ready but I just really wanted to clear the air before…well before I went. Tell you why I’m going.”

“Jungkook, you don’t owe me an explanation for why you are going on another date.”

Jungkook looked taken aback, he scratched his nose. You could tell that he was hot in his outfit. His forehead was starting to sweat.

“I feel like I do,” he admitted, looking over your shoulder.

“Oh um, do you want to come in?” You stepped aside but Jungkook didn’t walk in.

“I just came to say that…I came here for you.”

Your heart stopped. You suddenly felt tiny and far away.

“When they offered me the spot here, in Paradise, I was going to turn it down but when they mentioned that you would be here…” he paused then took a deep breath as if it was hard for him to say, “When they said to me ‘Y/N is going to be there’ I didn’t hesitate.”

Suddenly, you didn’t know how to stand. You fidgeted with your dress, balling and unbaling your hands in the thin fabric.

“I needed to see you and while I realize that right now isn’t the right time to talk about all of this, I just want you to know…the first date card that I get, I will use it on you.”

Silence rang through your small room. Your heart was racing. You felt your mouth open and close but no words were leaving your mouth. Your brain had gone fuzzy. You didn’t know how to feel. What were you supposed to say?

Jungkook seemed to be waiting for you to say something, anything, but after a minute or so of you acting like a goldfish, he sighed, his shoulders slumping.

“I hope you will consider it Y/N,” he stressed, “have a nice night.”

And with that, he and the cameraman were gone.

It wasn’t a surprise to you that Namjoon showed up not too long after that incident with the same camera man from before. Your door was open wide and you were sitting on your bed. You were blank. All emotions seemed to have left you. You felt nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Maybe it would scare you if you could feel anything at all.

Namjoon knocked on the door tentatively, even though he could have walked in if he wanted to. In normal circumstances, you would have thought this was sweet of him.

“Y/N? Is it okay to come in?” He peeked his head around the corner. When his eyes landed on you, genuine concern shot through him.

“Chris, can you give me a minute to talk to her?”

You weren’t paying enough attention but Namjoon walked in cautiously and quickly looking around the room. In a matter of seconds, he had covered the multiple cameras that were hidden around the small space. He kneeled down before you. His legs spread so that your legs were between his own. He looked up at you, his big brown eyes scared and sad.

He raised his hands so that you could see them and you could, but you didn’t react. His hands were up like a stick up by his head. A question in his eyes. When you didn’t move, he began to lower his hands slowly. He placed them both on your knees. The sensation instantly grounding you from whatever place you had been floating.

“Namjoon I-”

Quickly, he held up a finger to your lips then pointed at his head set. You understood. They could hear you. Namjoon looked at your phone, which sat next to your body innocently. He grabbed it then held it up for you to unlock.

You took it from his hands and did as he implied, then handed it back to him. Quickly, he typed then held it up for you to read. His hand not holding the phone went back to your knee.

I wanted to check in on you before we interviewed. Are you okay?

You looked down at him. He raised an eyebrow as if to punctuate his text. You nodded. Air seemed fresher all of a sudden. You could feel your heart beating in your chest. Instead of a blank mind, it was once again buzzing. You touched your chest over your heart with your right hand. The thumping was confirmation. You were ok. Why had you reacted that way to Jungkook’s confession?

Namjoon watched you carefully. His eyes scanned you from head to toe. He squeezed your knee and it was then that you realized that he was touching you once again. Just like the last time, his touch was comforting to you. His warmth engulfed you.

I’m okay. Let’s get this over with.

You typed. You hesitated.

Thank you for checking on me…you’re a good friend.

You handed the phone back to him so he could read. He removed his hands from your clothed knees and read what you’d written. His lips stretched over his teeth, his dimples making an appearance. You felt your whole body buzz. You liked to be the cause of his smile. He must have read it over a couple of times, his smile kept growing.

He finally looked up at you. His white teeth showing- were they always this perfect?- his eyes sparkling. He winked at you then gave your knee one last squeeze before he stood up, uncovered the cameras and walked out to get the camera man.

You tried your best to pull yourself together, ruffling your hair slightly, then self-consciously combing it so it was flat to your head.

When Namjoon walked in, he was all professional. Any hints of the small moment you had shared before was hidden but not gone. He winked at you once more. A silent reminder that he had your back and even though the camera was around, you felt at ease.

The interview was quick and painless. You realized that if you pretended that you were talking to Namjoon instead of a camera, then it was much easier to get your feelings across. When you were done, Chris and Namjoon left together with a small bow and you felt much more ready to face the group.

You walked towards the cabana only to find that no one was there. You could hear voices in the distance. You followed the sounds of laughter. They were again by the pool and the jacuzzi. The sun was already setting. People were sitting around the pool and on chairs. Everyone seemed happy. Excited. You wished it could stay this way. But you had seen this show before. You knew it wouldn’t last. You were happy that you could enjoy it while it lasted.

Jackson was the first one to notice you. His shirt was off. You weren’t even surprised. He was dripping wet. Droplets of water slithered down his body and in the crevices of defined muscle. He smiled at you.

“Ayeee, Y/L/N! Where have you been?”

Jackson bounded up to you, his wet hair bouncing on his head as he ran closer to you. On instinct, you help your hands out to stop him short. He bumped right into your outstretched palm, his arms open as if he was going to give you a hug.

“No, no. I showered. I’m sunburned. I do not want you to get me wet.”

“How did you know I was going to do that,” he pouted.

“Instinct,” you shrugged, side stepping him. He followed you up to where the rest of the group was. Kitty and Holly were both in skimpy bikinis in the pool with Taehyung, who had also forgone his shirt. He wasn’t defined like Jackson, but you wouldn’t say that he was hard to look at. His hair was plastered to his head.

Jin was wearing the same swim trunks from earlier but he had changed into a more comfortable looking t-shirt. He was only dipping his feet and Holly was hovering around him. He wouldn’t look at you. Yumi was sitting a little bit away from him, looking like she wanted to talk to him, but the shark in the pool seemed to stop her.

Hoseok and Jimin were chilling in the hot tub. Both shirtless. Both, strangled tones. Under the blue light and slight bubbles, you could make out a tattoo on Jimin’s torso. Words of some sort that you couldn’t read. To your surprise, Alex was sitting in the hot tub with the two boys. Her head barely sticking out of the water. She might have even been floating because the hot tub was a little too deep. She also wouldn’t look at you.

Briefly, you remembered what Soobin had said to you about her being upset at not going on the date with Yoongi. Had she actually wanted to go and you and Yoongi misunderstood?

Soobin and Yeonjun were sitting at the shallow end of the pool sipping on beers and chatting. You hadn’t seen Yeonjun talk to anyone in the villa so far and he was highly attractive. Maybe he was waiting for someone specific. If he was lucky, over the course of the week, that person might arrive.

“Hey guys,” you said shyly, quickly realizing that you were off on the wrong foot with more people than you would have liked.

Yumi smiled and you thought of that as a safe invitation to sit next to her. You would give Alex some room and hopefully she would talk to you when she felt ready. Yumi’s smile brightened. You crossed your legs, making sure that your dress covered you up.

“Where have you been Y/N,” Taehyung said, swimming closer to you. Kitty wasn’t far behind.

“Yeah, we all totally missed you,” she said, a fake smile on her freckled face.

“I wanted to shower. I was covered in sand from surfing with Jackson all day,” you said with a light chuckle.

The aforementioned man chose that moment to cannon ball into the pool. A wave of water instantly covered you from your lap to your stomach. Shock was your first reaction. Indignation the second.

“Jackson!”

You looked over at Yumi, who had been wearing some cute jean shorts and a white top, and were horrified to see that she too had gotten soaked. From across the pool, you could hear Jin’s squeaky laugh and Holly’s ironically silent one. You glared at Jin but he only shrugged finally meeting your eyes. Maybe this would be punishment enough for you in his eyes. The day hadn’t been an easy one. What with Marie showing up, your brief lack of feeling and your weird habit of being completely soaked when you didn’t want to be. Did twice warrant a habit?

When Jackson surfaced and saw what he had done, saw the fire in your eyes, he cowered before he burst out laughing. He swam closer to you.

“Sorry Y/L/N,” he said hanging on the pool edge, “I swear I didn’t mean to get you wet I swear.”

You growled at him but before you could snap at him again, Taehyung’s hands were on your wet legs. Unlike Namjoon’s touch, Taehyung’s made you unsure and tense. Especially when Kitty was so close. He squeezed your calf softly. Your eyes snapped to him. His expression was sultry, his hair slightly wavy.

“You might as well come in. Your dress is already wet.” He picked at the seam as if to make his point. His bottom lip was pulled between his teeth innocently. It was so easy to be pulled into Taehyung’s bubble. It was smooth and dark. He made you feel like you were alone even when the room was full. Like a siren on sailors, he lured you in with his smooth voice and good looks and what came next, you weren’t sure.

“I-I can’t break another mic. Namjoon would kill me,” you said pointedly.

Taehyung rolled his eyes.

“They have like millions of mics. Come on,” he tapped the surface of the water, “It’s warm.”

“I can’t swim,” you lied, as if this would save you but you had gone into the ocean earlier and on a date where you needed to swim on the bachelor so no one was believing you.

Taehyung clearly knew this. His head tilted as if to say “Seriously?”

“I’ll protect you Y/N. I promise,” he found your ankles and gently unfolded your legs, pulling your feet, sandals and all into the illuminated pool. He was right. The water was warm from the day and the blue tint of the light was so inviting. Chlorine stung your nostrils and you could almost hear Namjoon’s exasperation at having to replace your mic twice in one day, but you let him pull you forward.

Yumi put a hand on your shoulder but your eyes were locked on Taehyung’s. He was temptation. He was the devil incarnate. He was lust like you hadn’t ever felt before.

“Get a room,” someone yelled, and only this broke your spell.

You looked around for the source and realized it had been Jimin. He had a wide smile on his plush lips. He giggled when you looked at him, his eyes squinting prettily.

“Be cool Min,” Taehyung chastised, caressing your calf. You could see Kitty fuming. She was watching the way that Taehyung was touching you. You wondered if he did this to her as well.

“You’re eye fucking her in public. Why don’t you be cool,” Jimin asked, stepping out of the hot tub and slithering into the pool. He shivered as the much cooler water touched his smooth skin. He swam over to you two, accidentally pushing the brunette girl away.

“Am not,” Taehyung argued, “Right Y/N?”

Both men looked up at you expectantly. You shook your head.

“I guess not.”

“See? Settled. Come one Y/N. Jump in the pool,” Taehyung pressured.

Like a switch, Jimin looked up at you.

“It’s nice and warm,” he singsonged.

“Come on Y/L/N, don’t be a weenie,” Jackson added. Your eyes widened. Jackson too?

You looked at Yumi, confusion on your face. Yumi blinked back at you, her pretty face nearly as confused as yours.

“What do you think, Yumi? Should I jump in?”

A chorus of your name began to go around the small group of people. Mostly the men save for Jin chanted it over and over.

“Do you want to?” She asked, squeezing your shoulder comfortingly.

“I’ll do it if you do it,” I bargained as the chanting became louder, “This way, at least my producer won’t be the only one upset.” Yumi chuckled, “Okay let’s do it.”

At Yumi’s proclamation the men cheered as if their favorite team had scored. Yumi stood and helped you up. She was such a gentle person. You wished you had talked to her sooner.

She held out her hand for you to take.

“Move out of the way,” You warned. They left you some leeway and you and Yumi gave yourself some room.

“On three?” She asked.

“Okay,” you agreed.

You counted down together, then on three ran towards the pool. You were submerged in seconds. The water pressed against your skin. When you came up, you were instantly pulled onto someone.

Your hand was torn from Yumi’s and your body pulled away. On instinct, you wrapped your legs around the person’s torso. You came face to face with none other than Kim Taehyung and his smug, triumphant smile.

“Hey there gorgeous,” he whispered, knowing that no one could hear. Your heart thumped wildly in your chest at his proximity. Memories of the day before plagued you. This time though, there were way more people around.

“Look who’s back,” Hoseok yelled. Grateful for the excuse to look away from Taehyung, you looked around wondering if Jungkook and Marie had come back early even though that didn’t make any logical sense.

Instead, you were met with the sight of a really smiley Julie and a softly smiling Yoongi. Their hands interlocked. They were casually walking closer to the group. Jackson wolf whistled and Hoseok clapped as they neared.

“Do I see a smile on your face, hyung?” Jimin yelled teasingly. From the short distance, you could see him roll his eyes.

“You have no respect, Park Jimin,” he yelled back but his smile only grew.

He was wearing a pair of black shorts and a nice summery blue shirt with some sandals. Julie was wearing a cute ruffled top and some high waisted shorts. Just by their outfits, you couldn’t tell what they had done. You were impatient to know. They seemed to have had fun on their date.

“How was the date,” Yumi asked as they finally neared enough to not have to yell. Julie smiled brightly at her and pulled her shoes off so she could dangle them in the pool. When she noticed that Yumi and yourself were fully clothed, she squinted but didn’t ask.

“Careful,” you warned, “That’s how we got pulled into the pool.”

It was when she raised an eyebrow at you that you realized what a compromising position you were in. You quickly unwrapped your legs from Taehyung’s torso and stood on your ruined shoes. You tried to get away but Taehyung followed and wrapped his arms around your waist. His torso to your back and his head on your shoulder. You couldn’t bring yourself to push him away.

“Yeah well, it was great! Yoongi and I took a bachata class and then we got to go explore the city,” she gushed as Yoongi took his own shoes off and sat down next to Julie with a groan.

“Wow hyung you danced,” Hoseok asked, also switching to the pool unceremoniously to better listen.

“Yes. I danced, is that so hard to believe?”

“Well it took six alarms to wake you up this morning and the last time I saw you do any real work outs you napped after five minutes so…”

Yoongi splashed water at his friend, a chuckle escaping his baby lips. Yoongi was unbelievably cute, you thought, and he seemed to be into Julie, or at the very least, the date.

“He was actually really good,” Julie laughed, “I was the one struggling to be honest.”

Yoongi smiled gratefully at her and placed a hand on her thigh. Julie placed her own hand on his and entwined their fingers. Just like that, you watched the first couple in paradise form.

It was midnight before Jungkook and Marie were back at the villa. It was a general consensus that you would all wait for them to return to inquire about their date and also to see if two couples were formed that day. Your hands were pruny, and your body felt heavy from being in the water for so long, but Taehyung refused to let you leave. So your dress floated around you ethereally.

He’d managed to pull you closer to Jin and Holly who seemed less than bothered with your existence. Kitty had given up trying to get his attention for the night and was now chatting up Yeonjun on the other end of the pool. Jin and Taehyung were having pleasant conversation, but when you tried to answer, Jin only looked at you, then changed the subject. At this point, you weren’t sure if he was punishing you for the morning, or for the way that you were being held.

Namjoon hadn’t come around to fix your mic either. You assumed that there was no need since you were still in the water.

When Jungkook and Marie showed up, it was both a sigh of relief and an added tension. He had poured his heart out to you and he was coming back to the sight of you in the arms of another man. Guilt ripped through you. You tried once again to get Taehyung to let you go but he tightened his hold and buried his head in your neck.

“Hey Kook! How was the date,” he called out as they neared the pool. Marie was smiling widely, her A- line dress fluttered in the wind. Jungkook was also smiling. His hand was clasped firmly in Marie’s hand. You didn’t expect it, but his smile and affection felt like a punch to the gut.

He looked over to you guys and his smile flattened when his eyes landed on the way that Taehyung was holding you.

“Uh yeah. Good date. We had dinner,” he explained.

“It was amazing,” Marie confirmed, “We had a table on a glass, water covered floor. There were fish swimming under us as we ate. And the food,” she gasped clutching at her chest as if it physically hurt her, “it was prepared by a five star chef.”

“Sounds like you guys hit it off,” Taehyung encouraged.

“I think so,” Marie giggled, nuzzling her nose against Jungkook’s cheek. He didn’t stop her. He smiled brightly, pulling his eyes from you and shrugging his shoulders in embarrassment.

“Looks like we have two couples set up in paradise then,” Yeonjun said wisely.

“Looks like it,” Taehyung agreed. If you would have looked at him, you would have seen a satisfied smirk on his face.

Taehyung sat in front of the camera comfortably. His face expressionless, waiting for Namjoon to begin the interview. He’d done many of these before and he knew exactly what he needed to say. He’d learned from his first show and he wasn’t going to make the same mistake. He wouldn’t let himself be hurt that way ever again.

It was a couple of minutes before Namjoon held up his clipboard and pushed up his glasses on his nose. There was a weird tension that Taehyung couldn’t put his finger on but he didn’t read into it.

Namjoon cleared his throat.

“Okay Taehyung, I just have a couple of questions and then you can go to sleep. That okay?”

“Sure hyung,” Taehyung answered instantly, smiling sweetly at his elder.

“Okay, roll the camera Chris,” he said. Chris nodded then held up a thumb to signal he was ready.

“Okay. How do you feel about the two couples in Paradise so far?”

“Julie and Yoongi hyung seem like a nice couple. I knew when I saw them leave that they would fit nicely together. As for Jungkook and Marie…” he paused, not sure what he wanted to reveal just yet, “they seem okay, but if Kook didn’t like her before, I don’t see why he would like her now. He eliminated her from his season for a reason.”

Namjoon nodded.

“Honestly though, I hope she keeps him for a while. I like being able to mess around with Y/N.”

Namjoon looked up sharply, his expression gave nothing away but Taehyung felt that tension again. Where was it coming from?

“What about Kitty?”

Taehyung laughed, “She’s fun to mess around with as well.”

“So, you haven’t decided on a girl then.” Namjoon tried to clarify.

“It’s the second day hyung! I have six weeks to figure it out and this time, I’m not going to get hurt. I can promise you that.”

Namjoon wrote something on his clipboard then, without looking up, he asked the last question.

“You think that both women like you?” His voice was strained but Taehyung chalked it up to having worked all day. Namjoon seemed tired. He felt a little sorry for him. Late nights and early mornings. Not the best job in the world.

“What’s not to like?” he asked cockily, his mouth pulled into a devilish smirk. He chuckled, then winked at the camera.

Namjoon patted Chris on the shoulder and the camera was off. Taehyung smiled at his hyung and though Namjoon returned it, it felt stressed. Or forced. Again, he chalked it up to his exhaustion. He bowed politely.

“Is that all, Namjoon hyung?”

“Yeah Taehyung. Have a nice rest.” Namjoon didn’t look at him. He walked over to a Styrofoam cooler and placed the paper he had been writing on, on top, then taped it so it would stay. He found it weird but he didn’t question. Taehyung bowed once again, the tension thickening before he walked out of the recording room and towards his bed room.

Things were going to be different this time. Taehyung would make sure of it. Even if he had to be the one doing the hurting.

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