#i hope you guys will be happy to learn more about it through this celebratory self reblog 👍
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ladyyomiart · 3 months ago
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I'm so glad this artwork has surpassed 1000 notes! 🥰 As a thank you, I'll explain the symbolic meaning behind some of the elements in this piece:
🌠The child version of Cloud (and, therefore, "The Real Cloud") represents his shared childhood with Tifa.
⚔️The translucent sword made of ghostly mako glow represents Zack's heroic legacy.
🌻 The yellow flowers he's standing on represent his connection to Aerith and the planet.
☄️🦅And the combo of the meteorite plus the eagle flying high through the flaming sky represents Sephiroth!
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Cloud has been one of my favorite JRPG heroes since ages ago! He's such a complex, deep, and relatable character, so I went out of my way to portray his powerful spirit in a single image! 👏💖
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calyxthenerd · 10 months ago
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Now it’s time for the love languages post I promised a few days ago and was procrastinating writing
I will not attain myself to the main five because while they do exist I think everyone has unique ways of loving and those should also be considered
Sidenote: as it progresses into the side characters it becomes less about canon examples of things they do and more about how I see them in my head
So, Luna, Luna’s giving and receiving are both in the main five, her giving being physical touch, and I don’t think I need to give examples, since a scene is probably popping in your head right about now, as for her receiving, gift giving, the whole thing with her moon charm, it’s a gift that symbolizes the love she hoped her birth parents felt for her (they did), the ring Matteo gave her and she refused to stop wearing, even while she was angry with him, and how distraught she got both times she lost it, Valiente, the song Simón gifted her, do I really need to go on?
Now, Ámbar, she is a tougher one, because how do you learn how to love when you are raised by Sharon Benson? But her giving one is actually the way Sharon taught her, a little less manipulative and awful, but she protects those she loves, that’s why she didn’t tell anyone Sharon contacted her, while also trying to dissuade her from acting against the Valentes, the reason she ran into the house during the fire, to protect everyone from harm, why she pushed them away for so long, to protect them from herself. As for receiving, food, that may sound ridiculous, but think about it, who is the guy that she fell in love with? The one that saw her enough to notice her odd tastes and acted accordingly. Who was one the first people that she let into her heart and let see her as she is? The woman that had been cooking for her for years. How did she meet the girl she now proudly calls her cousin? While she was delivering her food, it may be a stretch but I stand by this
Next is Simón, his giving language is knowledge, the way he knows everything about Luna and notices shifts in the way she’s acting before even she knows something’s wrong, the way he knows Ámbar is particular about her food, that she was taught a lot of things, but never how to love and let herself be loved, he sees that and he works with it, the way he easily fills in the gaps on Nico and Pedro’s dynamic, knowing what they need, he observes, he listens and he knows, but receiving love? That doesn’t come as easy to him, he’s a giver, and seeing the people he cares about happy is enough, he receives loves through smiles, through celebratory hugs, through cheering, that is enough for him
Moving on to Nina, she writes her love, we can see with how she goes about supporting Luna, supporting Yam, the way she shows her feelings for Gastón, she’s a poet in prose. As for receiving? Reassurance, she’s had anxiety since she can remember, so she needs to be reminded that the people around her want her around, and who better to provide that than Luna “I love everyone and I will scream it out to the world if I asked” Valente and Gastón “I went onstage to sing my love for a girl who’s name I didn’t even know” Perida?
Matteo, Matteo loves loudly, he loves through his music, through the countless love songs he dedicated to Luna, through the music he shared with his friends during his time on the roller band, that’s why he was so energetic during Aquí Estoy, he got to make music with the person he loves the most in the world. Now, with receiving it’s simple, he needs the people he loves to trust him, we’ve seen what happens to him when they don’t, he shatters
Gastón, he loves with actions, be it physical affection, saving his best friend from that conversation he doesn’t want to have, asking said best friend to give his girlfriend a flower while he’s an ocean away, running across the city to catch the girl he’s in love with before she leave the country, helping his best friend dedicate a song to the girl he’s been whining about for almost a year, you pick. With receiving, he’s very similar to Simón, just existing and letting him love you is enough, but if you want to pull an uno reverse card and do something for him every now and then, he isn’t complaining
Ramiro, he loves through sharing, be it his performances with his favorite lesbians, being part of that team with Matteo, his unique passion for skating with Luna (everyone else has their own stuff) or just skating with everyone. He receives it through spending time together, but it can be anything, he can just be looking at someone do something, watching a movie together, accompanying them to the dentist, helping clean their house, anything goes, as long as it’s together
Jim loves through helping, be it doing your work with you, walking your dog, hearing you rant after a hard day, anything. And she will adore you forever if you say something reminded you of her, or if you recognize something that she worked hard on, she feels appreciated knowing you thought about her
Yam loves similarly to Nina and Matteo, with her art, be it her designs or her music, she loves showing it to the people she loves, creating with them, creating for them, and she feels loved when they recognize her talent and the work she puts on it
Emilia loves by bothering people, it’s kind of a test, if she cares enough to test your tolerance to her bullshit, it means she loves you, and if you stick around even so, she knows you love her too
I do not have enough content nor do I care enough to do Pedro, Nico, Jazmin or Delfi so that’s all
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opalesense · 4 years ago
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aaa could you do something similar to 'a funny secret' but with childe?? have a good day!
unfamiliar feeling
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childe & gn!reader (NSFW)
1k words • ~6 min. read
summary: you decide to tell childe about an unfamiliar feeling you got while watching him seize some bandits.
warnings: bondage mention
notes: two requests in one day?? i’m on a roll!!
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CHILDE DIDN’T MIND LETTING YOU TAG ALONG with him while he did his rounds of debt collection in liyue. after all, you had expressed interest in learning more about the fatui ever since you two first met and he was happy to show you his day to day obligations if it didn’t include confidential matters. besides, there was no harm in letting you watch him rough up a few bandits and scammers – in fact, he enjoyed being able to proudly show off his skills in front of you to boost his ego.
little did he know what was actually running through your mind as you watched him effortlessly use his pure strength in combat. you hated to admit it, but something inside of you would heat up as you stared at his movements, or listened to the way he would sternly command his fellow fatui underlings to clean up the messes he made after he was done with a fight. and when he dusted his shoulders off, looked up at you from the distance, and sent you a wink and a smile, you swore you could feel butterflies in your stomach. that was the best way you could describe the feeling, but it was definitely a new sensation that you couldn’t quite understand.
after the deed was done, he was happy to hold you in his arms afterwards and shower your head in kisses as you let him boast about the fight he had just finished. you always thought he had a cute childelike innocence whenever he boasted, despite the subject matter being quite grim... but regardless, he would take you to dinner, maybe stroll around the harbor, then take you home. and that was that.
but there was one particular day that got you riled up much more than usual. childe had described that he’d need to tie these bandits up this time and send them on a boat to snezhnaya, as per the tsaritsa’s request. you didn’t think much of it, and childe didn’t make it seem like a big deal either, but when you stood there and watched him rough up the men while they were helplessly bound together by ropes... your lips began to quiver in arousal, eyes widened as you entered a state of yearning, watching his every move.
the way he laughed mockingly as he crushed the leader’s chest with his boot...
the way he tied the knots tighter when they didn’t give him an answer he liked...
the way he kneeled over them and taunted them, gripping their chins and forcing them to talk...
your breath hitched as you looked away in embarassment. you wanted that, didn’t you?
you two ended up alone together in the field after his crew swiftly carried the men away. like usual, he pulled you into an affectionate hug, showering you with kisses as he did every day. but this time he noticed you seemed more distraught than usual, more nervous and quiet instead of celebratory and proud of him.
“is there something on your mind, dear?” he left some space between your bodies to get a better look at your face, “i hope i didn’t scare you, i know today might have seemed a little more intense than usual...”
“no, no at all!” you managed to work up a smile as best as you could, “it’s just... i want to tell you something... about what happened...”
he was immediately concerned, thinking he did something wrong. “you can tell me anything, [Y/N]. i’m listening,” he muttered gently.
“i-it’s not bad or anything,” you reassured him, slowly running your hands up his biceps. “i... i just don’t know how you’ll react...”
“i won’t judge you, i promise,” he tried his best to wash your reluctance away. to take it one step further, he guided one hand to your waist and caressed your side, sending your chest pounding with excitement at the touch.
well, it’s either now or never.
“i know it might be a little sudden but... i think i was getting... aroused... watching you tie up those bad guys,” you shyly muttered, your eyes darting away from his gaze. “b-but i’m not sure...!”
you glanced up to see his eyes widened with shock. “i-i know it’s sudden! i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have said–“
your ramblings were cut off by childe’s mischievous snickers as his face softened. he laughed and laughed, never looking away from your timid, red face. after the laughter subsided, he placed his other hand on your waist, both hands slowly trailing up and down your hips. “so you’re saying you got aroused by... bondage?”
all you could do was nod and bury your head in his chest out of pure embarassment. he cooed at this, “aww... so you’re saying you want me to tie you up? degrade you and have my way with you while you’re vulnerable?”
“childe...!” you whined and snuggled into his chest more to hide your blushing face. he thought you were the cutest thing in the world.
“aww, don’t be so embarassed, that’s what you were thinking about, right? well, that was unexpected,” he pulled you closer and sighed, “and i never thought you’d be into that...”
his firm grip on your waist caused you to gently press up against his hips where you could feel a bulge slowly growing. your eyes widened at the feeling of him so hard against you, a small whimper escaped from your throat inciting another teasing chuckle from childe. “i’m sure you can feel that...” he muttered into your ear, “so i should have you know that i’m into that as well.”
you both stood there for a moment, your bodies pressed up so close while the seaside wind circled around you. he was almost glad that you were snuggled in his chest so you couldn’t see how embarassingly wide his smile was at the moment.
“the general store by wanmin restaurant has some decently strong bundles of rope if you want to stop by on the way home after dinner tonight,” he cut the silence to tease you, which you playfully smacked his arm in response. but you didn’t fully oppose the idea, which left room for the both of you to individually fantasize about the night to come as you walked back towards the harbor together.
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dreamkidddream · 4 years ago
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Can I please request a scenario/hcs for how the brothers would react to mc giving Lucifer a snickers bar and saying,”you’re not you when you’re hungry “ when Lucifer is giving one of his world famous lectures. Please please
Sorry about the wait! These are just a tad bit short for some of the bros, and I loved the scenario. MC is a brave yet dumb soul. Reader is gender neutral. Hope you enjoy!
Lucifer
So you have chosen DEATH
Not only did you INTERRUPT him, but you also tried to give him some sort of human made treat as a means to calm him down??
Does he look like Beel to you?!
Is super SHOOK
Kinda just stares at you as he processes what in the world you’re doing
Which then turned into anger
You had one thing and that was the AUDACITY to do this
Oh boy, if he wasn’t about to blow his top before he’s definitely going to do it now
Especially since you can see Satan and Belphie trying to hide their grins and hold in their laugh (jk they really don’t care lmao)
While you all have gotten past the point of trying to kill each other (or really them trying to kill you), that doesn’t mean that he won’t flip out and/or change into his demon form
Luckily for everyone, he doesn’t transform.
Unluckily for you, whatever the punishment everybody received you basically got doubled
Have fun walking and cleaning Cerberus for the next 1000 years
Although he did take the Snickers and ate it once everyone left, and he did feel a little bit better
But you definitely don’t need to know that
And it was pretty good too for some human food
Mammon
Immediate shock which turns into panic
Listen human! Just because no one is trying to kill you anymore doesn’t mean you need to joke like that! Geez, are you that dumb??
Even though it was kind of funny, he’s surprisingly smart enough not to laugh (he almost cracked though, almost)
He is the main one that knows how severe Lucifer punishments can get (hello, he’s like the only brother that gets punished on a daily, if not weekly, basis)
Tries to get you to apologize/tell Lucifer that it was a poorly timed joke/distract Lucifer from getting you into anymore trouble
All of which are failed attempts, and convinces Lucifer that Mammon somehow had a hand in this even though you try to tell him otherwise
He stopped listening to either of you
So now you both got twice the punishment, which included hanging upside down in the hallway
Which he complained about obviously, but if he had to be punished he was glad it was you
You also offered him a snickers to make him feel better
Which he proceeded to swing over, flick your forehead, and called you a dumb human
He still took the Snickers though once y’all got down though
Leviathan
Oh man, you were brave enough to do that?!
Has respect for you but also thinks that you’re stupid
Another one that thinks this is funny but is very smart enough to not laugh
However, he does record it
Especially since once he uploads this to the DevilTube he needs you to live to tell the tale
You got punished sure, but look at the potential views MC! Plus, this is a good memory to LOL at in the future
Until Lucifer finds out and bans him from playing video games and buying anything that is even close to resembling Ruri-Chan for life if he doesn’t delete the video
Oh well, it was good while it lasted
Besides he totally didn’t send the video to himself and you already, psh what kind of brother would he be if he did that??
Satan
Do I even need to say it?
This man, as soon as you tried to hand Lucifer the candy, completely lost all composure
Man is laughing so hard that he has actual tears coming out of his eyes and he is close to falling on the ground
MC, if he didn’t love you before (which would be a complete lie), he definitely loves you now
His love and respect for you = through the ROOF
He obviously didn’t make the situation any better, but this is Satan, you think he cares?
He still gets punished without a doubt, but he doesn’t care
He’s definitely taking you to that new cat cafe after this
Think of it as a celebration and a date too
Just, don’t get any ideas of trying this on him. Especially when he’s really mad
Honestly just don’t try this on him at all if you value your life seriously
Asmodeus
Lives for the drama
This man is messy, honey, and does not care
Was shocked that you actually did this, but then wasn’t really surprised
How many “not smart” things have you done since you got here?? Exactly
Was definitely recording this to upload. I mean hello?? The Avatar of Pride, made speechless by a human, and still standing??
Thought it was funny, but wasn’t about to get punished with you. Everyone already has some sort of punishment, he wasn’t about to add on anything else
Was close to uploading the video but was caught, sadly
Was able to convince (ie. whine and pitch a fit) that he learned his lesson and deleted the video
Was sad about the video, but look at the bright side. You guys can totally do a story time about this for his fans, and the candy bar can be proof!
Beelzebub
You were giving away food??
Why are you only offering it to Lucifer and not him? :(
Then remembers the situation that they’re in and realizes that maybe this isn’t the best time to do this
Was thinking at first that the Snickers was enchanted or something to make Lucifer feel less stress or dare I say...happy
Then saw how everyone reacted around the room, and figured out that that wasn’t the case
Knew that Lucifer wouldn’t attack you, and in the worst case scenario that he did, he was ready to protect you
Kinda found it funny, but not really. His mind was too busy focusing on the candy and it was also the fact that he was already in trouble
And Beel rarely gets punished by Lucifer (or at least doesn’t get punished like Mammon and even Levi)
He didn’t want Lucifer to make his punishment worse, so he kept his mouth shut and face straight
Once everyone was dismissed and got their fitting punishment, he immediately went to MC and asked if they had any more bars left
“Of course Beel, I had already saved you some.”
Cue a happy Beel
Went to your room later that night to try it, and immediately knew why they had that slogan
Lucifer definitely should’ve ate it, cause Beel definitely feels much better
Belphegor
Woke up out of his daze to witness this
Another one that obviously found it funny
Wasn’t cracking up like Satan, but definitely chuckling and had a smug grin on his face the whole time
Was proud of you 10000%
The look on Lucifer’s face is just priceless
Still got punished, still didn’t care
After being dismissed, he went straight to you and grabbed you for a celebratory cuddle/napping session
Didn’t care about the punishments
“MC, you’ll have enough time to do it later and I’m sleepy now. *Yawn* See? Let’s go. I got to show you how much I appreciate you for embarrassing Lucifer.”
Makes you the member of the month for the “Anti Lucifer League/Lucifer you SUCK” club with no objections
For sure tried to make a hex (him and Satan) to have the Snickers to appear whenever Lucifer is stressed or about to blow a gasket
You’re a genius, MC, and while Belphie was sure this was going to bite all of you in the ass, it was going to be worth it
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early2000smovieimagines · 4 years ago
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Meeting and Dating Oliver Wood
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(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)
- Oliver... what can we say about Oliver.... Handsome, charismatic, sweet, ...and far too obsessed with Quidditch to use his very desirable traits to land himself a girlfriend.
- Truth be told: Oliver has never met a girl capable of sparking his interest enough for him to choose them over more time with his favorite sport. Well, no girl except you.
- You and Oliver first met when you were seated next to each other in one of your classes. Since you were seated together, whenever one of you had a question or had to do work with another person, you did it with each other.
- Oliver likes you. Oliver really likes you. He’s never gotten on with a girl so easily before, ...and you’re pretty; really pretty, and you don’t even care for Quidditch all that much and that somehow doesn’t even bother him!
- Every time there’s going to be a game, he asks if you’ll be there; surprising himself with how much he cares about your attendance. He feels this surge of pleasure every time you wish him good luck and he yearns to kiss you “for it” as well.
- I should probably give you guys a fair warning: Oliver may have a bit of a prejudice against you if you’re in Slytherin; considering they’re his main rival. He’d obviously prefer to date someone in Gryffindor but a Slytherin girl is the only one that would really throw his feelings for a loop.
- So Oliver has a crush on you for a fair bit of time, and he’s adorably shy about it because he’s never really had a crush on someone before. He’s lost count of how many times he’s had to look down at his paper to try and hide the blush and/or smile on his face because of something you’ve said or done.
- He first asks you out after a big Gryffindor win. You’d gone over to congratulate him before returning to the school like everyone else but before you got too far away, he’d called out your name, causing you to turn back to him.
“I was jus’ wonderin if ya’d go out with me?” He asked, to which you obviously agreed to, causing a relieved and happy smile to spread across his face.
- For your first date, the two of you sit out in the field together and talk. He confesses that he’s liked you for a while and is very happy and flustered when you say that you liked him for a while too. He also talks to you about Quidditch, though at the time, you had no idea just how much the game would come to affect your life....
- You share your first kiss a few weeks later. You’d offhandedly mentioned that you wished he didn’t have to go as he got ready for practice. He’d paused, smiling and asking “you do?”, momentarily forgetting about what he was doing.
- Soon enough, he was leaning in closer and closer before pressing his lips to yours in a soft, quick kiss. He pulled away, insisting that he really had to go and giving you a quick peck before he happily made his way to practice.
- And just like that, Oliver finally found something that gave Quidditch a run for its money.
- There’s quite a bit of Pda in your relationship; usually on the more innocent side of things. He’s a fan of being adorably affectionate with you.
- Handholding. It’s the easiest thing for him to do; especially when you’re walking together and he’s holding a broom in his other hand.
- Long hugs.
- Getting softly pulled into forehead kisses.
- Soft, sweet kisses.
- Celebratory snogging after he wins a game.
- Shutting him up with kisses; usually when he’s been talking about Quidditch for an hour. As much as you love him, you sometimes just can’t sit through hours of sports talk that you don’t even really understand.
- Where do you think you’re going? It’s his favorite thing to say when you move to get up from under his shoulder as you’re sitting on the couch together or when you’re hopping out of his bed while the two of you are/were cuddling.
- He’s the big spoon when you cuddle. It’s his favorite position since he can hide his face in your hair; away from the sun, and feel you pressed close, his arm wrapped around you and keeping you there.
- He probably consistently falls asleep on you whenever you cuddle. The two of you usually take naps together after practice or a tough game.
- His favorite nicknames for you are Angel and bunny. There’s just something so sweet and fitting about them.
- He likes when you call him captain. He thinks it’s really cute ...and hot; depending on your tone.
- You wearing his jersey is his kink. You asked if you could try it on one day, just out of curiosity, which he’d obliged and ever since, the vision of you in that damned sweater invades his mind.
- You gave him some kind of good luck charm at some point and now he won’t go through a game without it, whether it be something like a little heart drawn on his hand or a bracelet of yours.
- Cheering him on at games.
- Checking on him after he takes a tumble in Quidditch. He always insists that he’s fine but he does find your fussing to be pretty cute.
- Getting taught all the intricacies of Quidditch at length. He can talk to you for hours about it so let’s hope that you learn to like it or are just really patient/love him enough to suffer.
- Even though you may or may not be clueless about it, he still likes to run through his Quidditch ideas/plans with you; at least if you’re in Gryffindor. You find it sort of touching that he genuinely cares about your opinion.
- Oh the things that can happen on an abandoned Quidditch field....
- Letting him rant to you about Flint and the other teams or when practice is being canceled, etc.
- I’m sorry but you’re not the only one who’s dating Oliver, okay? You’re sharing him with Quidditch and you’ll occasionally have to vie for his attention against it.
- You know that Oliver has to be lowkey jacked from all of his training, right? He probably likes lifting you up while you’re hugging/kissing or throwing you over his shoulder, or chasing after you and grabbing you around the waist to spin you around.
- He likes being able to warm you up. He’s always all smiles when he takes your hands in his and/or breathes hot air on them, or when he just pulls you in close to his body.
- Dates at the Three Broomsticks.
- Laying out on the grass of the school. You’ll usually lay between his legs with his arms wrapped around you.
- Taking walks by the Black Lake together.
- Just being in the same room and enjoying each other’s company while doing your own thing.
- Sitting up in the astronomy tower.
- If you’re going to special events with him than be prepared to see a kilt. The first time you did, he told you not to laugh as he came out and you were; probably, speechless for far different reasons.
- He can always make you laugh. He’s hilarious; even when he’s really not trying to be.
- Teasing him about his accent every now and again. You’re the only one who’s allowed to do it and it’s only because you’re so cute.
- He is fully convinced that Scotland is the best place on Earth and he will not take any other answer. He promises that he’ll take you there over one of your breaks and prove it to you if you don’t believe him.
- Compliments, compliments, oh how he loves them. He jokingly pretends as though he knows how good he is, stretching out and brushing off your praise with a poorly concealed grin.
- Trying to cheer him up when his team loses a game. He’s always bummed out for at least a day but you do make him feel a little better just by being there.
- Giving him a light slap on the shoulder to stop him from saying something or to scold him when he says the wrong thing/something very unhelpful.
- Patient boy. He’s really good at explaining things to you, always giving you a soft chuckle and some reassuring words before going over whatever it is you don’t understand again. He finds your frustration to be sort of cute.
- He can always see if you’re not doing alright and softly checks in on you, giving you a little squeeze on the arm and tilting his head down to meet your eyes. He asks if you’re alright or makes you a little promise to make you feel better, usually asking “How does that sound?” before giving you a “Yeah? Good.”.
- He tries to be comforting but he’s not very good at it. It’s the thought that counts, right?
- He probably doesn’t immediately notice when someone is flirting with you but can’t stop thinking about it after you or someone else mentions it. It bothers him but on more of a itch that can’t be scratched level.
- He’s not overly protective but he does defend you if need be and likes to make sure that you’re safe.
- The two of you really don’t fight all too often but you will occasionally have one; usually solving it in the same day/same place after a few minutes of arguing. Sometimes, when he’s really mad, his accent gets so thick that you literally cannot understand him and have to stop and just say “what?”.
- You both expect the other to apologize if they’re in the wrong and he has no problem doing so. He’ll give a “‘M sorry alrigh’?”, taking you by the shoulders and giving you a small smile before pressing a kiss to your forehead.
- He doesn’t say “I love you” a ton but he does say it occasionally, usually out of nowhere when he just gets this sudden rush of realization that he is so lucky to have you.
- Look me in my eyes and tell me that Oliver wouldn’t want to make a little army of Quidditch playing babies. Why stop at one or two when you can make a whole team?
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la-fille-en-aiguilles · 4 years ago
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Señorita
Billy Russo x Female Reader
Warnings: S.M.U.T., language.
Synopsis: You finally get out of the city to spend a week in a beachside paradise - you’re entitled to a little getaway, you think, with your birthday coming up. When a handsome stranger hits on you at the bar, along with your birthday, some other things might come as well.   A/N: This was random? Came out of nowhere. Enjoy & let me know what you think x
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Gif not mine
Timid waves crushed softly against the shoreline, white sand turning concrete gray at their touch. The warm breeze carried around a song you thought you recognised, but couldn’t remember from where. The beach-side bar basked in a gentle blush glow, so typical for the evenings here at Mallorca… You’d only arrived a couple of days ago, but already you couldn’t picture yourself anywhere else - just sitting here, at the bar by the turquoise sea, sipping on your Pina Colada in the shadow of the palm-branched roof. The wind brushed through your salt-stained hair from the entire day spent rolling around on the beach; mindful sun caressing your thighs, peaking from behind the slit in your deep emerald dress.
Tonight was relatively calm, you thought, twirling the straw in your cocktail absentmindedly. Ever since the English rugby team packed up their balls and other attributes and set out to sea, the place became peaceful.
You were glad. The entire point of this trip was to get out of the busy city for a while, enjoy the calm. If you wanted a testosterone-filled party for your birthday, you would have stayed in New York - Karen would throw a rave that would make Coachella look like a kindergarten gathering.
But that is exactly what drove you out of America and into this seaside paradise. If there was one thing you had trouble doing, it was working a crowd of people you barely saw in your everyday life, who only came for booze and dancing. Karen said she understood, and that the party would have been a small yet tasteful affair… you still fled.
Here’s to hoping that Karen wasn’t pissed at you for bailing, you silently prayed, throwing the straw on the bar and taking a gulp directly from the glass. Judging from the text Karen sent you earlier today, saying something about getting together for a celebratory meal when you got back to the city, you figured she wasn’t mad. She did say something about introducing her to a friend of Frank’s again, and having thrown the Karen plan for the party out of the window, you had to budge.
It’d been so long it had become a running joke between you two - Karen wanting to introduce you to that “handsome hunk”, with whom Frank had served. She was especially lyrical about his manners, his big heart and his beautiful smile.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think Karen was head over heels for the guy.
Every time Karen made plans for a Sunday brunch or Saturday night drinks at Castle’s place with the sole purpose of introducing you to the Hunk, you always found an excuse to ditch. Sometimes it was an urgency at work, sometimes it was about something funny you ate the night before… You must have been dodging these “introductory date” attempts for at least five months now - and it all looked like after this get-away vacation, you’d have to face the music.
Well, it was worth it. A week of doing nothing, reading sappy novels and drinking high-end cocktails, that was what you craved for, and if you had to pretend to be interested in some nonsense a guy was trying to charm you with for a couple of hours, it was a small price to pay. With that thought, you finished off your Pina Colada and motioned for the sunburnt brown bartender to get you another one.
“Hola señorita.”
The voice was unexpected. Low, with an agreeable trace of huskiness and with a hint of power.
“Disculpe, ¿este asiento está ocupado?”
Slightly frowning, you turned your head to the right.  
Ever since the English rugby team settled in one of the villas, the women in the hotel found themselves outnumbered. It just so happened - what a coincidence - that you turned out to be their neighbour, your villa closest to theirs. Everytime you’d walk out of your temporary home to hit the bar or the beach, you’d spot at least three young men hanging outside of their quarters, their faces illuminating the minute they saw you. You’d give them a cursory smile back - you weren’t that cruel - but everytime one of them tried to approach you, you shot him down - often with a look, rarely with a verbal warning. Ever since they left, you was relishing the feeling of tranquillity - until he decided to burst your happy little bubble.
The first thing you noticed about him is that he wasn’t Spanish, despite the lack of accent. He had beautiful dark, almost black eyes, the colour of a freshly brewed espresso, that myriad of black and chocolate tones swirling in a whirlpool of tender curiosity. They held your depreciating stare well. The sun obviously loved him - those razor-sharp cheekbones glowed bronze as he tilted his head to the side a little bit. The wind caressed his dark hair, playing with the longer strands at the top.
Something about him was so familiar. Maybe you’d seen him on the beach before? You did stay at the same hotel after all…
Not in a slightest bit confused at your lack of answer, the man smiled.
His smile held a sort of a gentle surprise in it, like a summer day in a middle of October.
It was absolutely breathtaking.
“Je suis désolée,” you finally uttered, forcing your eyes to focus on his eyes again instead of his lips. “Je ne parle pas espagnol”.
His smile grew wider, much to your surprise. Instead of getting red in the face, stammering out some random apology as you expected him to, he nodded and motioned to the chair next to you with one hand, sliding the other one across the surface of the bar.
Despite your better judgement and against your utter dislike of aimless flirting, you found herself shrugging as you accepted her second drink from the bartender.
“A whiskey on the rocks, please.”
Ah-ha. He’s from New York.
You sipped on your cocktail directly from the glass, ignoring the brand-new straw the bartender supplied you with in order to hide your smirk. As the man held two aristocratic, impossibly long fingers in the air, making his order, you took the time to study him.
He was tall, much taller than you. The plain white t-shirt that he wore betrayed the solid stomach muscles hidden under the cotton - the short sleeves strained as he gripped the back of the chair and slowly lowered himself onto it.
“Thank you,” he finally said to the bartender with a nod, gripping his glass with those downright pornographic fingers. Slightly pursuing his lips, the man turned his full attention back to you. When you arched an eyebrow at his antics, he flashed you a mischievous yet understanding look. “Ça tombe bien. Je me sens plus à l’aise en parlant français”.
That cheeky bastard.
Your first reaction was that of a sincere surprise. You were pretty sure that for a second there, your eyebrows almost reached your hairline. Upon catching the satisfied glint in these already all too familiar eyes, you wanted to feel irritated at the nerve of him, at the fact that he just happened to beat you at your own game. But you didn’t.
Biting hard on your bottom lip in order not to laugh, you took your glass and sipped, hard.
“While I’d love to know how many more languages the lady speaks, I would much rather learn her name”, he dropped nonchalantly, whirling his whiskey gently, the ice cubes cluttering against the glass.
The first comeback that crossed your mind was so filthy you couldn’t possibly go with it. The second one, however, was efficient and succinct.
“Diana, here’s a lady’s name.”
With a low chuckle, he let his head drop down for a moment. When he raised his eyes to face you again, your chest felt a little too tight and a little too fragile under his poignant stare - that of amusement, want and a clean cut awe.
His eyes had told you that this was more than a drifting attraction, that he was interested in so much more than your name…
You saw it, and for some nonsensical reason, chose to believe it.
“I don’t care about names,” there was such a determination to your voice that it surprised you. It didn’t startle him, though - he caught your every word as his eyes travelled from your fluttering eyelashes to the soft curve of your lips. “When there are so many more interesting things to talk about. Don’t you agree?”
As you turned away from him and took another sip of your drink, you heard him chuckle yet again, and saw him press a hesitant finger against his lips.
This was obviously new to him. This small treacherous gesture led you to believe that maybe he wasn’t one to pick women at bars, that, just like you, he felt that thrill of surrendering to the strange sort of attraction encircling you both.
“In fact, enough talking. Let’s focus on doing.”
What was it so special about him that made you decide? It’s not like there’s been no men before him, very much willing to break through your iron-clad facade, wanting you to take a leap of faith. Some of them had the potential to make you feel good, you were aware of that. Still, you didn’t want them.
What made him so different? A certain familiarity of his voice, his features, maybe? Or maybe you should just slow down, cut down on the alcohol, drink a glass of water and go back to your villa, alone.
The way his eyes skimmed your naked shoulders, a barely there sigh leaving his half-open lips sealed the deal.
You didn’t want to slow down.
Not with him.
“Here’s to doing then”, his Adam apple bobbed as he gulped down, his eyes darkening. He raised his glass towards you - a figurative shake of hands on the deal they just made.
“Here’s to doing”, you agreed, clinking your glass to his.
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His villa was located at the outskirts of the hotel beach, backed by the rocks. It was a ten-minute walk from the bar, feet in the warm sand, the star-sprangled night sky over your heads.
Despite the silence surrounding you, save for the occasional gust of breeze carrying on the sound of music from the bar you just left, you didn’t feel awkward. A soft smile ghosted over your lips as you felt his careful touch at the small of your back - those fingers sliding down to the base of your spine, feather-like. He strode forward, adapting his pace so you could keep up - you weren’t even sure he was aware of that, the change in him so spontaneous, as if it were a force of habit. Like this wasn’t the first time you walked side by side.
You would blame it on the booze, but you drank a total of two cocktails.
He only had one whiskey before they took off.
The villa he chose to stay in was slightly more spacious than yours, and provided a lot more privacy - this told you a lot about the man you were about to sleep with. He was most certainly well off, for starters. He also came here to get his share of peace and quiet, much like yourself.
Guiding you through the doors, he turned the lights on behind you, his other hand never leaving your back.
The best way to describe the interior would be neat or crisp, with a large, perfectly made bed in the center of the space, surrounded by a bar, a hanging chair, a shuttered armoire, and a desk, that could be used both as a kitchen table and a bureau. It smelled faintly of vanilla and musk, with a sea-salt aftertaste.
“Make yourself at home”, he murmured into your ear, still standing behind you, his hand gripping your hip hard for a fleeting second. When the realization of his touch had settled in, and you were finally able to react, he was already at the bar, serving himself a whiskey.
“Would you like something to drink?”
He busied himself with the bottle for a moment; then he produced another glass from behind the bar, waiting on your answer. When you didn’t speak, he turned to face you again.
You did as you were told - kicking off your shoes, you stepped onto the soft wool rug. With your back to him, you slowly made your way to his bed. One you reached it, you couldn’t resist trailing your fingertips along its surface - the sheets were creamy and silk, smooth to the touch.
You stopped short of the head of the bed, throwing a look over your shoulder. He caught your gaze, frozen in place, wetting his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue.  
“Why don’t you choose for me?” you offered, slowly lowering yourself on the bed, crossing your legs. “What do you usually serve them?”
The way his eyes narrowed at you ever so slightly almost made you smile. It looked like you’d struck a nerve.
Good.
“I wouldn’t know how to answer that question”, he said, his voice levelled, his stare unblinking. “I’ve never had an urge like that before”.
Well, fuck.
How many more times this man was going to run counter to your expectations?
And on top of everything, damn, he was good. A quick-thinker or a natural good-talker? Would you remain clear-headed for long enough to find out?
“What else would you like to know?” his voice grew huskier as he pushed the glass away from himself. He left it at the bar as he started your way, his pupils blown to hell.
“That all I’ve been thinking about ever since I saw you at the bar is how soft your breasts would feel pressed against my chest? That I’ve been hard ever since you opened that sassy mouth of yours? Or that I would have jerked off to the memory of you for weeks if you hadn’t come here with me?”
God.
The tightness that had long since made home in your chest moved lower, lower, lower, until it sank into the pit of your stomach. At his words, involuntary, your thighs clenched together, restless energy buzzing in between your legs, your toes curling.
“Stand up”.
When your eyes focused back on your surroundings, you saw him standing a couple of steps away, his strong jaw clenching as he gazed at you, his arms folded on his chest. Breath catching in your throat, you pushed off the bed. Feeling dizzy all of the sudden, you squeezed your eyes shut.
“Don’t close your eyes. Look at me, beautiful.”
Again, you did as you were told - you met his gaze head-on, and almost instantly regretted it. He was staring down at you with those black bottomless eyes, raw emotion flowing through him, filling the air around them, charging it to the brim. His hands fell down his sides now - so tense, the veins budged on his forearms.
It’s like he was pacing himself, keeping himself from touching you.
“Take off your dress,” he requested after a moment, watching you like a hawk.
Slowly, squeezing your thighs harder, harder still, you brought your hands to the spaghetti straps on your shoulders, before pushing them off completely.
The dress landed in a heap on the floor, leaving you in nothing but lacy panties - almost utterly naked under his stare.
You heard the softest groan escape his mouth as his hand snaked across his thighs and up to that bulge in his pants. When he squeezed his hand around it, his abdominal muscles flexing as he exhaled, you felt the moisture spread down your inner thighs.
With your heart pounding in your throat, you made a step towards him with your hand stretched out. Almost immediately you heard a low strangled noise, and saw the nah shining bright in his dark eyes.
“Not yet, beautiful,” he growled, taking his t-shirt off in one elegant motion. He then undid the belt on his pants, his eyes savouring every inch of your naked skin. “Play with your tits for me. With both hands.”
Your own touch burned as you carefully squeezed your nipples with your fingers. Throwing your head back, you moaned loud, unwillingly pushing your hips forward.
“That’s it, beautiful, just like that.”
His words seemed to lift some sort of barrier, as you started to tug and pull harder at the nipples, alternating the movements with firm grasps around the swell of your breasts.
You were going to come.
You were going to come and he hadn’t even touched you yet.
“Now slide one of those hands down those panties. Rub that pretty pussy. Tell me how wet you are”.
You made peace with the fact that he was a talker - but now he had surely sat out to break her. His voice washed all over your body, sending goosebumps down your spine as you slid one of your hands under the underwear.
“I’m so fucking wet”, you gasped, staring at him. “Fucking dripping”.
His moan made your thighs tremble, your fingers slowly circling around your clit. Before you let your eyes roll to the back of your head, you saw him with one of his hands hidden in his pants, slowly jerking himself off, with slow, aborted motions.
“That’s it, caress that pussy for me. But go slow - tease it”.
You nearly growled at that. You knew you were close - there was a bundle of sensation, like a ball of electricity, building inside of you - two quick flicks of your index finger, and you’d be done for.  
“Jesus, please”, you stuttered out before you could realize you were actually begging. “I’m so fucking close, please…”
You rubbed slowly over the nerves, your fingers wet and slippery. Panting, you realized his name would have come in handy just now - if he had some sort of a praise kink, you could maybe easily get the release you yearned for.
“You are so beautiful, fucking yourself like that. Wish those were my hands. Or my mouth”.
Something flared at the very end of your clit, softly spreading all over her pussy. You moaned loud and unapologetic, your fingers moving faster as you tried to chase that sensation. You needed to grasp it, to ride it out, you fucking needed it!…
“Put a finger inside, beautiful”.
You didn’t need to be told twice. Pumping fast and hard, you could feel your knees bending, your flesh begging for release.
“Come for me. Now.”
As if by command, the orgasm finally hit you - everywhere at once. It made your entire body shake as you screamed out, pussy clenching around your fingers. You barely registered you were falling down on your knees, when strong hands caught you at your hipbones, pushing you upright.
He was on you before you could come down from your high. His mouth hot and bruising against yours, you moaned, instinctively jumping onto him and wrapping your legs around his feverish body.
His scent assaulted you - a clean, musky scent made your inside muscles clench, so you wiggled against him, wanting more.
He was so painfully hard against your core, you whimpered, pushing your hips against his, needing more friction, like an addict craving for a dose.
Sensing your need, feeling you, he grabbed your ass with his large hands and stepped onto the bed, setting you down on that same wooden headboard of the bed you’d almost stroke with your fingers.
Pushing your legs apart, he settled in between them. Before you knew it, his tongue lapped at your wetness, sliding up the length of your slit. Whimpering and moaning, you arched your back, burying your fingers in his hair, tugging hard. That made him growl, adding a slight vibration as he sucked on the bundle of nerves. He slammed his fingers - those fucking fingers - into you, and it took exactly two pumps for your second orgasm to roll over you. With your eyes squeezed shut, you moaned into the ceiling with everything you had.
Helping you slide down onto the bed with his hands guiding your hips, he gave you a piercing stare. The one that made you whimper, even though your eye-side was still fuzzy at the edges.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, before he distanced himself from you - to take off his pants.
“I’m going to fuck you now - I’ll be gentle next time, right now… Right now I just need to bury myself in that pretty pussy of yours”.
“Fuck”, you moaned, propping yourself on the elbows, closing your eyes as you threw your head back. You didn’t know if you could handle more, but Jesus, did you want it. His cock stretching you wide.
You would not have been able to tell where he took a condom from - you didn’t even have time to contemplate on it. All you registered was a slight discomfort in between your legs before his huge cock pushed inside of you, inch by glorious inch. The stretch was almost too much, and you coughed out half a breath, half a moan as you tried to adjust to his size. Whatever sound you were about to let out next, as he slid out of you and pushed back in, to the hilt this time, it got lost in between your lips, as he captured your mouth in a bruising kiss.
Your nails scratched on his ripped back as he fucked into you shallowly, your teeth biting into the skin on his neck. As if not getting enough of you, he grabbed one of your thighs, flexing it, so he could thrust deeper.
The change of the angle had you swearing under your breath, and his mouth was there to silence you again, his teeth biting down on your bottom lip.
The third orgasm snuck up on you out of nowhere - there was no gradual built, no buzzing feeling in your lower stomach - it crashed on you like a bucket full of ice, having you arching your back, clenching around his cock so fiercely, it snatched an orgasm out of him, as well.
“Fuuuuuck”, he breathed out, his hips slamming sloppily into yours. “So fucking good, fucking…”
Before he could continue, you rolled forward and put your mouth on him, swallowing his words. With his palm cupping your cheek, he deepened the kiss as his cock drained itself into the latex.
The kiss grew soft, your noses touching ever so slightly as you both slowed down, a mess of tangled limbs. Smearing his wet mouth against your nipples, he pushed up from you, sliding his cock out.
“I’d take that drink now if you don’t mind”, you told him, a lazy smile illuminating your features.
A low chuckle he let out echoed in your lower stomach.
“Sure, beautiful. How does a whiskey sound?” he offered, standing up in all his naked glory.
You hummed in approval as you leaned higher against the headboard. Biting your lip, you checked out his ass unashamedly, as he made his way to the bar, throwing the used condom into the garbage bin.
“I know there are some things that we’ve agreed on, but I’d much appreciate calling you by your name instead of beautiful when going down on you next time. What do you say?”
You heard whiskey splash against the walls of your soon-to-be glass. Your inner muscles clenched at the sight of him, naked, serving you a drink.
“It’s Y/N”, you said with a small smile.
“Billy”, he responded, making his way to you. As you reached out to take your glass of whiskey from him, he pulled his hands backwards, using your position to land his lips on yours in a stinging kiss instead. You responded hungrily, grabbing his head with both of your hands.
The night was still young, after all.
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“Okay, so would you rather spent your life partying with rich assholes you barely know, still seeing your family and friends, or get stuck on a desert island with no opportunity to see anyone at all?”
You turned your head ever so slightly, feeling his muscles clench as Billy huffed out a breath.
You both laid naked on his bed, him propped against the headboard, you - with your head settled comfortably on his stomach. A half empty bottle of whiskey was getting warm against your bare thigh, both of your glasses laying empty next to it.
You had lost count of the times you came with his name a word of ecstasy on your lips. You were surely going to sport some hickeys on your neck tomorrow, but you didn’t care.
You had never felt so at ease with a man before. Granted, no man had ever managed to make you come three times in a row, but that wasn’t the point. Billy made you question your “no dating” rule, and not just because he fucked like his life depended on it. He just got you - whether it was your discomfort in big crowds, fear of subway, weird addiction to macarons or love-hate relationship with Paris. You just clicked - it was hard to believe you met mere hours ago.
Or maybe the fact that you only just met was the reason why you clicked. It certainly wouldn’t be the same in the long run. The rose-goggles period only lasted so long. When routine kicked in, it tended to crash everything in its wake.
“That’s a tough one”, he said, biting on the inside of his cheeks. “If I could invite people on my desert island, I’d definitely go with the second option.”
“Well, you can’t”, you smirked at him, and then stared back into the ceiling. “It’s either being constantly surrounded, or seeing no one at all”.
He hummed, considering the options.
“I can’t imagine being alone 24/7, even though you might have guessed already, I love being alone sometimes”, his fingers slowly caressed the soft skin under your breasts, as he voiced his thoughts out loud. “It’s funny how your mind works though”, you could hear a smile in his tone now. “With you, it’s either all or nothing.”
You thought for a moment, interlacing your fingers with his. Then you shrugged:
“Sometimes, I just want to get away, you know? See no one, speak to no one… I sometimes push people away, thinking it would do me good. But it doesn’t always have that desirable effect.”
When you stole a glance at Billy again, you saw him nod.
“I know what you mean”, he spoke quietly. “And I’m glad you didn’t push me away tonight”.
“Oh, I tried,” you assured him with a smirk. “You’re hard to shake off”, you let go of his fingers and pushed yourself up on your hands, so that your eyes were on the same level.
Billy chuckled, his lips stretching in that warm and wonderful smile.
“Keep looking at me like that, and I’ll be hard. Again. Point blank.”
You laughed quietly, dropping your gaze, your eyes traveling down his stomach and to that massive cock between his legs.
He was getting hard again alright.  
“What time is it?” you suddenly remembered, snapping your gaze around, searching for a clock.
“Quarter to four, why would you ask?” he told you, after checking his wristwatch.
You closed her eyes.
“It’s my birthday”, you said before you blinked at him in surprise.
In between all that dirty sex and orgasms, you lost track of time and completely forgot. Were you coming when the clock struck midnight? The thought made you giggle.
“Really?” Billy stared at you in disbelief before his dark cocoa eyes softened, and his voice dropped an octave. “Come here”.
Warmth spread all over your body at his words, your core the center of the growing tingling sensation. Billy used his hot hands to pull you closer, help you settle in his lap, your legs on each side of his hips. With his left hand he reached for the bedside table, pulling out yet another condom out.
“Would you like to put it on?” He whispered against the skin behind your ear, making your pussy tense. Not trusting your voice, you nodded, taking the foil packet from his hand. Tearing it up with your teeth, you slid the latex onto his throbbing cock, pumping him a couple of times for a good mesure. The noises Billy made were downright pornographic. You licked your lips.
With both of your hands on his naked shoulders, you slowly lowered yourself all the way down onto him, the sensation making you both moan this time.
“Just like that, beautiful”, he whispered softly in your ear, thrusting up into you.
You rode him slowly, arching your back, leveraging yourself on his shoulders. The position was so damn intense, and not only because that way Billy could thrust deeper, up to his balls. There was a strange sort of intimacy as he gripped your hips, helping you bounce slowly on his rock-hard cock - his cocoa eyes held a sort of intensity as he fucked into you. It made your heart ache.
“I fucking can’t get enough of you”, he confessed hoarsely. “Of that tight, wet, perfect pussy. Of your beautiful, smart mouth. All of you. Every fucking inch of you.”
His revelation combined with his soft, yet methodic thrusts was what toppled you over the edge. You came hard, your body protesting against all those orgasms Billy’s cock had already wrestled out of it. Speaking of him, he wasn’t too far behind either, gripping your hips and holding you down as he came.
His lips seemed to hold some kind of a promise as he kissed you gently.
“Happy Birthday, beautiful”, he whispered against your lips, his hot and ragged breath fanning over your skin.
You managed a tired smile, surging up to kiss him again, relishing the feeling of him inside of you still….
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Surprisingly, New York welcomed you back with cloudless sky. It was still as busy as you remembered it, but something had changed. People seemed friendlier, streets - sunnier, summer - hotter. You caught yourself enjoying the city again now that you had come back well-rested from your week-long vacation.
Well-rested might have been a wrong word for it. More like satisfied. And taken care of.
After that night, you spent the two remaining days of her getaway at Billy’s villa - no strings attached. You two barely left the place. Never had you enjoyed a man’s company this much. You cooked together, swam together, made love together… Until it was over and done, and you had to go back to the real life again, tiptoeing on your way out so he wouldn’t wake up.
You stopped cold for a moment, a plat of appetisers freezing in your hands.
Did you just think made love? Well that was a slip of epic proportions…
“Daydreaming about your boy-toy again?” Karen teased her with a smirk, walking into the kitchen. “He must have been quite something”.
Oh that, he was. You couldn’t help but sigh as you put the plate on the table.
How many people Karen was expecting for the dinner exactly? It looked like Frank and her had cooked enough for the entire goddamn naval infantry.
“It’s been a week,” you said, shaking your head as if trying to make the thoughts about him fall out. “I guess I need some time to turn that page”.
“Who said that page needs turning?” Karen reasoned, putting two bottles of champagne on the table. “Didn’t you say he was from New York? You could keep on seeing each other?”
You didn’t even take a moment to think it over.
“Nah,” you shook your head, tugging at your silk top. “We didn’t talk much about our respective jobs, but he made it obvious he travels a lot, so…”
Catching Karen’s sceptic stare, you threw both of your hands into the air, waving them.
“I’ll see him when I’ll see him, and if I don’t…” you shrugged. “Guess it wasn’t meant to be then”.
You turned to face Karen again only to find out that her expression hadn’t changed.
“Uh huh,” the noise she made was her other way of saying bullshit. “Well, you do what you gotta do, but please play nice with Russo. I swear he is a perfect guy for you”.
You let out a chuckle.
“You know, I heard it so many times I’m actually starting to believe it”, you said.
As if on cue, you heard men’s voices in the corridor.
“So how was your getaway, then?” Frank asked casually, stepping first into the kitchen. “Wow, that looks amazing, ladies,” he commented on the table, winking at Karen.
Page blushed in response, making you roll your eyes.
You was about to make a side comment to your best friend, when your mind suddenly went blank upon hearing the stranger’s voice.
“It was great, perfect actually…”
A designer-shoes-clad foot appeared in the room.
“I just feel like I left a part of me there, I’m going to need some time to rea…”
…djust, your mind supplied as you stared at Billy, her Billy, standing across the room from you - fully dressed this time.
“Oh my God,” you barely whispered, your eyes big in your face, your chest feeling like it was going to collapse on itself.
Billy’s lips slowly parted in the widest smile you’d ever seen - he just stood there, like a man on whom the greatest happiness had been bestowed, and it rendered him speechless.
Karen looked at them both in confusion, until…
Until realisation dawned on her, and she chortled, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her mouth.
“What’s… What’s going on?” Frank frowned, looking back and forth between Billy and you. “You guys know each other?”
“Hell yeah,” Billy finally spoke, his eyes never quitting yours as he closed the distance between you in four decisive strides.
Before you could even speak, he gripped your cheeks and dropped his lips on yours, as hot and burning as the sun back in Mallorca.
You moaned like you didn’t have a care in the world, pushing onto your toes, throwing your arms around his shoulders.
“I missed you, beautiful”, Billy uttered between the kisses, his forehead pressed to yours. “You ain’t getting away so easily this time”.
You let out a soft laugh, inhaling his scent, and moved to kiss his lips again. 
1K notes · View notes
ggukcangetit · 4 years ago
Text
If The Bra Fits - JJK Fic
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Final part of The Unbearable Lightness of Being... Something More series
Part 1 | Part 2 | 
Pairing: Jungkook x reader
Genre: ex-roommate au, f2l, fluff, smut, low-key crack
Rating: 18+
Summary: Jungkook knows you hate it when he pops into your apartment to borrow something, but in the 2 years that you’ve known each other, that hasn’t deterred him much. But one day when he manages to (accidentally) ruin your favorite bra while raiding through your emergency snack supply, he knows that he’s fucked. With only a brand name to help him on his search, Jungkook spends the next 48 hours buying all the bras that look even remotely like the one he ruined. The only problem is - how would he figure out which was the correct size without asking you?
Warnings: a lot of talk of breasts and the trials and tribulations of finding a good bra, oral sex (f receiving), masturbation, kissing, grinding, nipple play
Word count: 3.8k
a/n: thanks a ton to @hesperantha​ for beta-ing this! i was super nervous about writing proper smut >.< anywho, hope y’all enjoy this!
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Jungkook knew he was fucked. Worse than when Jimin had walked in on Yoongi doing the do with his girlfriend. Worse than when Taehyung had lost his pet frog in Seokjin’s spice drawer. Worse than-
“Fuck.”
He would probably have to leave the country. Maybe he could move to Canada? Or New Zealand? Anywhere that wasn’t here. Or he could change his name! That might work…
“H-hello?” 
“What the hell, Jungkook? You were supposed to meet me for lunch 40 minutes ago! This is rude and, frankly, inexcusable behavior on your part.” Seokjin’s annoyed voice, talking at 300 words a minute, rang through the phone’s speaker. “And why the hell do you sound like that? Did you walk in on Yoongi and Soya this time? I swear, that guy needs to learn to lock his door. Or maybe just change his locks. I mean this is probably-”
“Seokjin!” Jungkook pinched the bridge of his nose as his friend slowed his word flow. “I’ll be there in 10 and explain everything.”
Hanging up the phone, he surveyed the site of the massacre once more before stuffing the offending object into his backpack and rushing out. True to his word, he was at the hole-in-the-wall dumpling place in 10 minutes, attempting to explain to an irate Seokjin, the reason behind his tardiness. 
“No! You did not do that!” Seokjin yelled, nearly choking on the hot soup dumpling that was hanging - half eaten - from his chopsticks.
Jungkook had, in fact, done that. That being the most cardinal offense his frazzled brain could think of at this point. That being sneaking into your apartment when you were at work, hoping to swipe some of your favorite shrimp puffs, placing his cup of steaming hot mocha on your study table, rummaging through your emergency snack supply but somehow inadvertently knocking over the coffee on the table, and cleaning it up with the nearest article available, which tragically, happened to be your mint green bra. 
“She’s going to kill you. No” - Seokjin picked up a egg cream bun and popped the whole thing into his mouth - “she’s going to whip your ass and then hang you upside down from that metal pole on Hobi’s balcony.”
Jungkook stared at the way the cream bun smoothly travelled down Seokjin’s throat after a couple of chews, and shivered. “What do I do??”
“Why do you have to do anything? She won’t know it was you who spilled coffee on her table and then wiped it with her bra. Unless...” 
Jungkook stared at his fingers guiltily. 
“You took the bra with you, didn’t you?” Seokjin sighed, lightly smacking his friend on the back of the head for good measure. “Well, you could always blame it on Namjoon. That’s what I would do. Heck, that’s what I did when I accidentally broke Hobi’s favorite figurine.”
“I don’t know…”
“You have to commit to something, Jaykay.” Every time Seokjin used his nickname for Jungkook, it meant there was some kind of terrible scheme being cooked up. “Either be a complete little shit and blame it on Namjoon, or just go and own up to y/n. You can’t teeter on the edge like this.”
“I could always just sneak back in and leave her bra where I found it.” Jungkook felt better already. This was it. This was the middle ground he was aspiring towards - the sacred path between Seokjin and Hobi, the Yoongi of all decisions. 
“You might not have to sneak in” - Seokjin held up his smartphone where the group chat was open to a bunch of notifications - “Tae said we’re meeting at y/n’s place for tacos and UNO.”
“Why is Tae so invested in our UNO games? He gets confused every time we play it.” 
“Because” - Seokjin swiped his credit card at the counter and thanked the cashier with a quick wink - “like every good strategist, he plans to improve by observing everyone else’s style of play. He definitely knows how to play by now. He’s just giving us the confused puppy look so that we underestimate him and he can learn all our little tricks. Just you wait - a few more games and that sneaky shit will be handing our asses back to us.”
Jungkook, while mildly interested in Taehyung’s card game antics, was more concerned about returning your bra without arousing any suspicion. The perfect moment presented itself when Seokjin, Namjoon, Yoongi, Taehyung and Hobi were immersed in a game of UNO, while you and Soya were munching on tacos - because let’s face it, food trumps just about everything else. Coming up with a half-convincing bathroom excuse, he snuck off towards your room, hoping to finally rid himself of the mint green burden.
Seconds before he pushed your door open, a snippet of conversation floated towards him and made his heart stop beating.
“I can’t find it anywhere.” You were complaining to Soya about something, loud enough for him to hear. “I must’ve turned my room upside down looking for it.”
Soya didn’t seem too perturbed. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a bra. Yoongi regularly loses my underwear after we have sex in new locations.”
Jungkook chuckled because he could almost see the look of horror on your face at receiving this piece of information. 
“Ignoring that TMI,” you continued. “That’s my favorite bra, Soya! You know how our sizes keep fluctuating - well, this was the first bra I bought after getting measured at a proper place. It literally changed my life. Do you know how fabulous it feels to have your boobs at normal chest level - neither squished up towards your collarbones nor jiggling like that everlasting jello Seokjin keeps buying? I’m tellin-”
Jungkook stopped listening at this point. If he didn’t, there was little chance that he’d be able to think of anything other than that. As it was, the mere sight of you these days, was enough to get blood flowing to certain parts of his body. 
There was clearly only one thing to do.
“You want me to help you do WHAT?” Once again, it was Seokjin who barely managed to stop himself from choking on yet another scrumptious food item on yet another lunch date with Jungkook. 
“I’m going to replace her bra.” The resolute expression on Jungkook’s face crumbled ever so slowly under the scrutiny of Seokjin’s pure, unadulterated skepticism. “It’ll be easy. I-I already know what it looks like, and all the information I need is on the itchy tag she always complains about.”
Seokjin’s thick brow remained masterfully arched. 
“Are you going to help me or not?” Jungkook whined in frustration.
“What do I get in return?”
“Why would you want anything in return? Why can’t you just help me out this time??”
The masterfully arched eyebrow did it’s trick once again.
“Fine. You can borrow all my gaming equipment for a week.”
“A month.”
“No way!”
“Good luck shopping for y/n’s favorite bra.”
“Fine! A month! Now can we get a move on please?”
Thankfully, it wasn’t too difficult to find the particular store that you had bought your favorite bra from. It was a niche boutique on the third floor of the mall, full of politely judgmental staff members and pointedly supercilious patrons, all of whom were highly skeptical of Jungkook’s grey and black hoodie-sweatpants combo. 
“Guess they didn’t really get on board with the whole athleisure concept,” Seokjin whispered, earning a hard elbowing from Jungkook.
The looks of skepticism were further enhanced when Jungkook produced the ruined bra, asking one of the assistants where he could find the same one. Jungkook hadn’t received such a disapproving look since his junior year of college when he had eaten 8 cups of instant ramen on a dare, done a celebratory jig, thrown up all over Yoongi and Hobi’s sofa, and promptly passed out. 
“Er… I, uhm, need something!” The exclamation from Jungkook was received by a few expertly raised eyebrows. One assistant, in particular, narrowed their eyes at him and walked over.
“This is a lingerie store” - they scanned him up and down a couple of times - “sir. If you’re here to buy any lingerie, I’d be happy to assist you.”
Jungkook gulped at the expensive clothes and flawless complexion of the shop assistant. So far, things were not really going according to plan. 
“Ow!” He felt a bony elbow dig into his ribs and glared at Seokjin, who was glancing between him and the assistant so rapidly, Jungkook was surprised he hadn’t gotten dizzy and passed out already.
“Right. Umm, I’m actually looking for this particular one” - he produced the once-pristine, but now covered in ugly brown splotches, bra from his backpack - “in this exact same size. Do you have it?”
If the shop assistant didn’t look particularly eager to be breathing the same air as him before, they now looked like they’d rather choke on month old guacamole than be near him.
“Our products are made for exclusivity. We do not carry the same sizes as the general marketplace. There are 4 basic sizes with 4 variations to each size. And this particular product” - they held the ruined bra delicately between two fingers and examined the tag - “is now only available in 3 particular size variations. You are free to choose whichever one you think is the closest fit.”
Jungkook’s doe eyes widened as he realized the itchy tag that you always complained about, truly had no other purpose but to inconvenience you. His panicked stare fell on Seokjin who had busied himself examining a very interesting leaf on the potted plant near the entrance.
It was up to him now, Jungkook realized. His fate was in his own hands. Walking over to the shelf carrying the mint green bras identical to the one he was holding, he inspected the 3 options carefully. 
“I think I’ll take this one.” Was what he said out loud. Inwardly, however, he was screaming a very different tune.
“HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DECIDE?? I’VE NEVER BOUGHT A BRA BEFORE! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SIZE WOULD BE APPROPRIATE! IT’S NOT LIKE I SPEND ALL MY TIME SCRUTINIZING Y/N’S BREASTS!”
Thankfully, no one was privy to his internal screams except for himself.
“Thank you, sir. That will be $89.99.” Jungkook took out his debit card as the song playing over the system changed to No Tears Left To Cry.
Once out of the store, Seokjin let out a low whistle. “Wow… that was, undoubtedly, one of the most awkward situations I’ve ever been in. And I wasn’t even really in it.”
“At least the toughest part is over.” Jungkook felt like he had been running a 50 mile marathon while simultaneously figuring out the square roots of 5 digit numbers. In short, he was exhausted.
“Depends on what you think of that…” Seokjin pointed at a familiar figure, slowly walking towards them - someone Jungkook hadn’t expected to bump into in any of his worst case scenarios. You.
Confronted with an exceedingly dire situation with a bleak set of options, Jungkook vaulted into the nearest store, his entire being on high alert as it entered survival mode. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been paying attention to where he rushed into because-
“Congratulations! You’re our 100th customer this week! You get a complimentary hair spa and perm!” Five extremely eager faces stared back at him as he realized he had walked into some sort of hair salon. 
Whoever was writing the script for this day was definitely high on something because Jungkook walked out of the salon 3 hours later, slightly traumatized, with a head full of small curls, clutching onto the cursed purchase with every fibre of his being.
Seokjin had left hours ago, dropping a text to Jungkook which read something along the lines of catch ya later sucker - but that was the least of his problems right now.
It was nearly midnight when he finally entered his apartment after managing to sneak in the new bra into your apartment. Thankfully, you lived two floors above him, so the trek back to his place wasn’t too long. The stress from the past couple of days was finally catching up to him and Jungkook would give anything for a nice long massage and a bowl of steaming hot ramen. 
Unfortunately, all that he had at home was a few leftover containers Taehyung had left behind on his last visit a couple of days ago. There was also bread, eggs, and milk, but he didn’t feel up to making anything at this point. So dinner ended up being heated, two-day old dumplings. 
Just as he was about to head to sleep, a loud pounding started on his front door. It was well past midnight at this point and Jungkook wondered if he should be carrying some sort of weapon with him while answering the door.
There really wasn’t any need for worry because on the other side of the door stood a very angry, very disgruntled, very flimsily dressed-
“Y/n?! What’re you doing here?” 
“You!” Jungkook stepped back as you poked him in the chest. “What the heck is your problem?” Many more pokes followed, which Jungkook barely registered but which left your index finger increasingly bruised. 
“I- uh, I guess you found the parcel I left for you.” He scratched the back of his head, looking everywhere but at you.
“I CANNOT believe you!” You were fuming and Jungkook was contemplating calling someone for backup. Maybe Namjoon? Or Yoongi? Mayb- “First, you ruin my favorite bra! What were you doing in my apartment anyway? Trying to steal more stuff from my emergency snack supply?! Why can’t you just buy your own s-”
You definitely had a point about the snack stealing. But Jungkook couldn’t stop himself from going over and taking something that would undoubtedly attract your attention, because the last time that had happened, you both had ended up making out aggressively against the wall. 
“-and not just that!” You were clearly not done with being mad at him. “You go ahead and try to replace my favorite bra? With this???” You held up Jungkook’s purchase from earlier during the day.
“What’s wrong with this? It’s the same one, isn’t it? I went to the shop to make sure it was the same.” He didn’t really understand why this particular fact was making you so upset.
“You think this is the same?” You were standing very close to him and Jungkook gulped as he caught a whiff of your lavender body lotion.
“Yes?”
“You think my boobs are this small?? After the way you basically kneaded them with your hands last time??” 
Jungkook’s eyes widened, his face growing hotter with every word you were speaking.
“Why the fuck do you look like that?” you muttered, crossing your arms over your chest. 
“L-like what?” His voice came out sort of strangled as he tried to make sense of the situation.
“Like you’ve been caught eating the last cookie.”
Jungkook didn’t know how to respond to this. He was very aware of the fact that you were wearing a flimsy grey t-shirt and very old, very small, sleeping shorts. He gulped and wondered if this was some kind of dream that he’d suddenly wake up from.
“I’ve been waiting for you to make a move since you stuck your tongue down my throat last time. But nope! Nothing.” Now he knew that there was something wrong. This didn’t seem like the rational next line in a dialogue between real people who had just been in a, slightly one-sided, fight. “So, are you gonna kiss me or not?”
“W-what?” His voice was barely louder than a whisper at this point and you scoffed loudly before fisting your hands in his t-shirt and crashing your lips to his.
It took him a few seconds to get his bearings, but Jungkook was soon responding with impressive enthusiasm. His lips glided over yours with a desperation borne out of nearly two years of attraction and chemistry. He groaned in pleasure as your hands travelled into his hair, your fingers running through his freshly done curls. His hands travelled down your back before cupping your butt-cheeks and squeezing them until you moaned into his mouth. The feel of your body against his was enough to make him slowly lose his mind - but your tongue swiping into his mouth brought out a strangled noise from deep inside him. This was so much better than the first time you had both made out - there was more experience and knowledge of each other, and you seemed much more determined than the last time.
“Tell me what you want,” Jungkook’s voice came out huskier than you had ever heard, sending a surge of electricity to your core. “Tell me what makes you feel good, y/n.”
His voice was sultry and his body rock-hard at the perfect places - his breath falling in harsh pants as he recovered from the intensity of the kisses. But his eyes held the soft sincerity you had grown to lov-
“Against the wall,” you breathed, your face flushing as you verbalised your request. “And then on your bed.” You took one of his hands and placed it on your breast, firm with arousal, and guided his other hand to the waistband of your shorts. 
A beautiful pink blush dusted his cheeks as he captured your lips once again. He had you against the wall in seconds, his lips leaving a trail of devastation from your lips to your throat to your breasts. You moaned loudly as you felt his fingers rub against your clothed core while his tongue flicked over your nipples at a deliciously slow pace. 
“Gguk…” God he loved to hear that name coming from your lips. He loved it even more now that it was in the midst of him pleasuring you to the best of his ability. 
“Bed. I can’t… stand...” You managed to say. He obliged, placing his hands below your knees and scooping you up with ease, all while his lips kept pressing soft kisses to yours. 
Once on the bed, you removed your t-shirt and shorts, instructing him to do the same. Jungkook stared at your bare body for a moment, his eyes glazed with lust before he stripped himself of his clothes and continued kissing every part of your body he could find. 
Your insides were coiling, the heat growing at your core as you watched Jungkook’s magnificent, completely naked, body move over yours. Your hands itched to run over his abs but your eyes were fixed on his throbbing dick, your core growing wetter by the moment. 
“Can I?” Jungkook’s hoarse voice broke you out of your dilemma, his face hovering over your thighs. “Only if you want it, y/n.” You were pretty sure his soft, caring words would be enough for your undoing, but you nodded your head anyway.
The first swipe of his tongue against your core had you arching yourself off the mattress, your legs kicking up involuntarily. This was definitely where his gym prowess came in handy, as he held your thighs down with enough force for the feeling to be unbelievably pleasurable. Your hands found themselves in his curls once more, as his mouth alternated between dropping feather light kisses on your core and swiping along the wetness with a swipe of his tongue. 
“I-I’m not…” You didn’t have to complete the sentence as stars exploded in your vision, the high hitting you with more force than you had ever experienced. 
Something inside you tightened as you watched Jungkook emerge from between your thighs, his curls sweaty, and his mouth slick with your arousal. He smiled at you, dropping a light kiss on your lips, even as his dick stood red hot and angry with arousal.
“Can I help?” You asked, although your voice was hardly above a whisper, the tiredness seeping in, as you came down from the orgasm.
“Next time?” His voice was soft as he gave himself a few strong pumps before spilling onto his stomach. 
He grinned at you sheepishly. “I’m also kind of exhausted today.” Getting up quickly, he went into the bathroom and cleaned himself off, before coming back with a wet towel for you as well. 
You smiled shyly as you took the towel from him, wiping between your thighs quickly. 
Jungkook was beside you in a few moments, cuddling you from behind as sleep slowly overtook you both.
“Jungkook!” 
You cracked your eyes open slowly, wondering why someone was yelling at the crack of dawn. You were still pretty much wrapped up in Jungkook, both your legs entangled as your head rested on his chest while he snored softly.
“JUNGKOOK!”
A second, much louder, yell, woke Jungkook up as well. His eyes widening in alarm as he realised what was going on.
“It’s Tae! What’s he doing here?!” He whispered, his voice still thick with sleep.
“Umm what?” You were panicking now. As much as you had been wanting things with Jungkook to pick up, you did not want Taehyung to find you both wonderfully naked after a night of wonderfulness. “He cannot see us like this! Not yet! I refuse to let this be how everyone finds out about us!”
“Jungkook, I’m coming in!”
Jungkook quickly pushed you below the covers, fluffing it up sufficiently to hide the fact that you were under it. He barely managed to close his eyes before Taehyung walked in, much too sprightly for this early in the morning.
“Aww!” His deep voice sounded through the room. “Jungkookie, are you still sleeping?”
Much to his horror, Taehyung made his way over to the bed, his long fingers smooshing Jungkook’s cheeks together as the poor boy tried to feign sleep.
“Did you sleep late last night?”
“Mph.”
“Jungkookie’s still sleepy? Aww!” The cheek smooshing continued, and Jungkook wondered how much longer you could stay hidden without Taehyung’s perceptiveness deducing that you were there.
“Hmmmm.” Jungkook managed to grunt out, tossing over to trap you underneath him.
“Okay, go back to sleep.” With one last cheek smoosh, Taehyung got up and left the room.
“Thank god!” Jungkook whispered in relief, pulling the covers off your face.
“I’m so glad he didn’t figure out I was here,” you sighed in relief. 
Jungkook grinned at you, his bunny teeth poking out adorably as he pulled you closer to him. You giggled, reaching up to place small kisses on each of his moles - there were 5 according to your last examination. 
“The curls are cute,” you said between kisses, running your fingers through his hair. He sighed contentedly, resting his forehead on yours. If it were up to him, he’d stay here forever.
“Oh and y/n-” You both stiffened as you heard Taehyung’s voice from the living room. Apparently, he hadn’t left yet. “-thanks a lot! Seokjin now owes me 50 bucks!”
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please reblog this post if you enjoyed reading the story! thank you 😊 
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swan-of-sunrise · 4 years ago
Text
Taking Care of Business (Chapter Ten)
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Summary: Din and (Y/N) spend the next couple of weeks trying to repair the Razor Crest themselves, and his close proximity to the beautiful captain begins to stir up complicated feelings for Din.
Pairing: Din Djarin X Reader
Word Count: 2.9k
Warnings/Disclaimers: None
A/N: I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter Ten The Repairs (Previous Chapter)
“Son of a mud-scuffer, Mando!” (Y/N) groaned in pain, making no attempt to get up off the floor of the ship that she’d been knocked down onto. “Ow…you did that on purpose…”
Beneath his helmet, Din rolled his eyes in exasperation; he stood above the captain with his hands resting on his hips as he heaved a sigh. “That’s kinda the point, isn’t it? An attacker’s not gonna go easy on you just ‘cause you asked them nicely to.”
Din, (Y/N) and the child had been traveling through space for a little over three weeks; in that time, they’d been slowly but surely working on the repairs that the Mon Calamari hadn’t completed. Neither of them were very knowledgeable mechanics, but they did their best as they worked side-by-side.
Whenever they weren’t doing repairs, they relaxed in the cargo hold; Din would work on cleaning his weapons and entertaining the child while (Y/N) sewed, and they’d usually fall into easy conversation. True to her word, she’d quickly completed a new robe for the child – much to the kid’s delight – before starting on what appeared to be a golden-yellow dress. The captain hadn’t said anything to Din about his impromptu gifts of fabric and sweets, but he could clearly see how much the gesture meant to her; he’d often sit and secretly watch her work, admiring how carefully her hands moved across the delicate material and how her eyes narrowed in concentration. She was happy, and he was proud that he’d been the one to help give that to her.
But whenever they weren’t working or relaxing, they were training; Din hadn’t forgotten his promise to teach his partner how to fight and after their recent adventures, he decided that it would be wise for her to learn sooner rather than later. I’d feel a lot better going to Corvus to confront a Jedi if I knew she’d be safe, he thought to himself one evening as he lay awake in his bunk, remembering how easily she’d been overpowered by the Black Sun operatives and the bandits on Tatooine.
“Okay, okay,” He watched as (Y/N) gritted her teeth and clambered to her feet, her brow covered in perspiration. “Can you repeat what you said one more time before we try again?”
“Of course. More often than not, you’ll go up against attackers who’re bigger than you and maybe even stronger, so you use all that to your advantage; a well-placed kick or punch could easily change the course of a fight, but what really matters is that you act faster than they do.” Moving to stand in front of her, Din gestured for her to raise her fists. “Now, I’m gonna attack you and you’re gonna do whatever you can think of to knock me down. Got it?”
(Y/N) nodded, her eyes narrowed and body tensed in preparation, and Din threw his first punch. His partner managed to block it and twist out of the way of his second attack, sucker-punching him hard in his un-armored stomach and hooking her leg around his as he doubled over in surprise; she took advantage of his off-balance by shoving him down, where he landed flat on his back.
Din couldn’t help but grin as the captain let out a celebratory cheer at her success. “I finally did it!”
“Good job, alor’ad…” Deciding to have a little fun with her, he held his arm out towards her; the captain, being the kind-hearted woman that she was, grasped his hand to help him stand and that’s when he acted. He yanked on her arm and brought a foot up to her stomach, flipping her over him and onto her back before quickly maneuvering so that he was straddling her waist and trapping her against the floor of the ship with his hands on her wrists. “…but you should never let your guard down around an enemy.”
Struggling to catch her breath, (Y/N) flashed him a teasing grin. “Mir'sheb. You’ve been waiting to do that since our very first sparring lesson, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” Din replied, only then realizing that his joke might not have been the smartest idea; in their current positions, their bodies were flush with one another and being so close to her was only causing his head to spin and his face to warm. In an attempt to save face in front of his partner, he hurriedly continued. “How would you break away from an attacker who has you boxed in like this?”
(Y/N) bit her bottom lip in thought as she considered his question; Maker have mercy on me, he thought to himself, swallowing hard and forcing himself to avert his gaze from the tempting sight. “Well, it seems like the only way to gain the upper hand in this, um…position, is to use the attacker’s weight against them.” Before he could reply, she hooked her right foot around his leg and in one fluid motion, she flipped them over so that she was straddling his torso and he was the one now lying flat on his back. “How was that?”
Din let out a breathless chuckle. “Perfect, alor’ad. You’re coming along great.”
“Well, I guess I have my ex-bounty hunter instructor to thank for that.”
“That mean you’re finally admitting that bounty hunters are better than smugglers?”
Her smirk widened and she shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe better at bragging, but that’s about it.”
As she looked down at him with (Y/E/C) eyes twinkling in amusement, Din realized with a sudden jolt that their innocent flirting was rapidly on its way to becoming something much more complicated; his gloved hands had somehow found their way to her hips while they talked, and one of the captain’s thumbs was resting tantalizingly close to the collar of his undershirt and was only centimeters from touching the bare skin of his neck.
With his heart hammering in his chest, he struggled to find his voice but was mercifully saved by a familiar coo; they both looked over to see the child standing beside them, his brow wrinkled in concern as he stared at them with widened eyes, and (Y/N) laughed. “Aw, it’s okay, little guy, I promise I’m not hurting Mando.” She moved to kneel next to the child and pointed towards Din, who was sitting up and trying not to think about how much he missed their closeness. “See? The only thing that’s bruised is his ego!”
“Just for that, alor’ad, you’re the one who gets to change the kid today.” Smirking at the look of stunned disbelief on (Y/N)’s face, Din got to his feet and made his way over to the ladder. “Have fun!”
Her protests followed him as he climbed the ladder to the cockpit to don his armor. “Oh, come on, Mando, I was only joking! Mando? Mando! Dank farrik…”
Once Din put his armor back on, he and (Y/N) decided to try their hand at some of the more complicated repairs in the cockpit. Their work kept them busy and at opposite ends of the small space, much to Din’s relief; the temptation to touch or even be near the captain like he’d been when they were sparring was overwhelming, but it helped a little to have a complex distraction to focus on.
“Hey Mando, could you hand me those pliers on the control panel?”
Din, who was seated in the pilot’s chair and had been busy testing which switches were still operational, glanced over and nearly fell out of his seat. (Y/N) was standing on the right passenger’s chair, her arms elbow-deep in an exposed panel full of tangled wiring, but that’s not what had stunned him; it was the full, unobstructed view of her trouser-clad hips and legs right in front of him. So much for those complex distractions, he thought with an inward groan, trying and failing to avert his gaze from the appealing sight.
“Mando? The pliers?”
“Right, right,” Giving his head a small shake, he grabbed the pliers and stood, leaning against the wall of the cockpit as he handed the tool to her. “How’re the repairs going up there?”
(Y/N) smiled to herself while she continued rewiring. “Well, we should be able to land safely and avoid plummeting to our deaths now but I’m not making any promises, though. What about you? Did you get the hyperdrive fixed yet?”
“No, not yet. I have to rewire the ship’s circuit board, which just so happens to be four feet behind that tiny opening there.” Din pointed to the opening in question before sighing. “You don’t think you’d be able to reach your arm in there, do you?” The captain shot him an ‘are-you-being-serious’ look, to which he merely shrugged and glanced back at the opening. “I figured I’d ask just in case. Unfortunately, it’s one of those kinds of repairs that a ship can’t function properly without; we just need to find something small to fit…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“…I’m beginning to think this might’ve been a bad idea, Mando.”
Din shot (Y/N) a look of disbelief from under his helmet. “But it was your idea!”
“Yeah, but you’re the one who agreed to it; as my partner, you really should have better sense than to indulge my off-the-cuff ideas,” (Y/N) retorted, crossing her arms as she knelt beside the small opening; she nervously bit her lip as her brow furrowed in worry. “He’s just a baby, after all.”
Although her comment was fair, her words sparked a surge of protectiveness towards the child. “He’s not just a baby, alor’ad, he’s special. He understands a lot more than people realize and with all the crazy power he has, I’m sure he’ll be able to help us rewire a simple circuit board.” Din turned back to the control panels and began flipping switches. “All right, let’s try this again…okay, do you have the wire?” He asked over his shoulder, hearing a faint coo as one of the ship’s alarms began to blare; pressing another button, he shut off the alarm and sighed. “No, nothing.”
He got up from the pilot’s seat and went over to kneel beside (Y/N) as she patiently called out, “Did you get the wire out? The red wire?”
Peering into the opening, Din watched as the child let out a small coo and raised the tiny hand that held the blue wire, and he pointedly ignored the skeptical look the captain threw him. “No, no. No, the red one, show me the red wire. The red one.” The child looked down at the wires in his hands before waving the blue one around, and Din fought the proud smile that was tugging at his lips. “Yes, good. Now, you’re going to plug that red wire where the blue wire goes in the board.”
“I think you might’ve confused him…” (Y/N) whispered as they both watched the child tilt his head; she leaned in closer and called out, “Okay, little guy, you’re gonna put the red wire where the blue wire goes in the board. Okay?”
“But don’t let them touch!” Din hastily added, noticing how close the two wires were to one another; the child tilted his head again and let out a confused sort of whimper. “You see where you took the blue one off?” The child held up the blue wire and he nodded. “Yes. Now, put the red one – no, don’t put the blue one back. Put the red one where the blue one was, and put the blue one where the red one was.”
With the added hand gestures, Din was confident that the child had understood his instructions but beside him, (Y/N) had resumed nervously biting her lip. “But be careful, little guy. They’re oppositely charged, so keep them away from each other; make sure you hold them apart.”
The child ignored the captain’s warning and while he brought the two wires closer, Din frantically shook his head. “No, don’t let them touch-” He and (Y/N) both jumped when the wires connected and sent an electric shock through the child’s body, briefly surrounding him in bright sparks and smoke; once it dissipated, Din hesitantly asked, “You okay?” The child coughed in response, but he seemed to be uninjured, much to Din’s relief. He glanced over at (Y/N) and met her ‘I-told-you-so’ expression with a sheepish sort of shrug. “Well, it was worth a shot.”
“If you say so, Mando. I’m gonna go prepare some broth for him now.” His partner got to her feet and gave his arm a pat before turning and making her way down to the cargo hold; her touch seemed to send an electric shock through Din, his skin flushing as he once again remembered their earlier closeness, and he let out a shaky breath.
Looking back to the opening, the sight of the child standing at its entrance with widened eyes caused him to smile. “C’mon, kid, let’s get you some lunch for your hard work.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Din sat beside the child on one of their storage containers and enjoyed some warm broth, since (Y/N) insisted that he needed to eat something as well. Although he’d explained that lifting his helmet to take sips of broth in front of her and the child wouldn’t break his Creed, she insisted on sitting behind him on her makeshift cot and sewing so that he’d have more privacy. Her consideration for his Creed was touching, but after his confrontation with Bo-Katan and the other Mandalorians on Trask, he found himself realizing that for the first time in his life, someone else cared more about his Creed than he did. His recent feelings towards his Creed were…complicated, to say the least; if what Bo-Katan said was true, then he’d grown up within a cult of religious zealots who’d coerced him into swearing a Creed than wasn’t truly Mandalorian but on the other hand, the so-called Watch had saved him as a child and raised him after he’d lost his parents, and that was a kindness he couldn’t just ignore.
“You’re kinda quiet over there, Mando.”
Smiling to himself at her unspoken question, Din lifted the bottom of his helmet up and swallowed a sip of broth before answering. “Yeah, just lost in thought. Are you ever gonna tell me what it is you’re making?”
Her laugh carried through the cargo hold, and Din was reminded of how much he enjoyed hearing the sound. “What’s it look like I’m making, a fathier blanket? It’s a dress!”
“Mir'sheb. I know you’re making a dress but I was just wondering…well, why? Dresses aren’t exactly practical in our line of work, alor’ad.”
The captain was quiet for a moment and just as Din silently cursed his bluntness, she replied, “Ever since I was little, I had a dream of settling down on a peaceful planet and opening up my own shop, just like my mother had done. But then the Empire tightened their control of Naboo, she died of illness and I fell into the smuggling life…and suddenly, my dream seemed irrelevant. When the Rebellion finally ended and the New Republic was established, I began thinking about that childhood dream again; the way I see it, if I can create this one thing with only my mother’s sketchbook and the memories of my old trade to guide me, then I’ll know whether or not I’m meant for the life I’d envisioned for myself.” The cargo hold was silent for a moment. “What about you? What kind of future do you imagine for yourself?”
“I don’t know,” Din answered truthfully, the words almost falling out of his mouth as he continued. “Living the life I’ve lead, I…well, a future’s never a guarantee, so I never allowed myself to imagine one. But if I had to, I don’t think I’d want any specific future…just a peaceful one…” He didn’t know what else to say; he couldn’t exactly follow up something heavy like that with a witty comeback, so he merely nodded and glanced down at the child, who was happily drinking the last of his broth. “You want some more broth, kid?” The child tilted his head and held out his empty bowl towards Din, who couldn’t help but smile as he ladled some more broth into it. “There you go.” The child began gulping down his second helping, and Din glanced around the derelict cargo hold with a sigh. “You know, there’s no way we’re making it to Corvus in this shape.”
“I’ll have to agree with you on that. With the hyperdrive broken, it won’t be long before we’re fighting off bandits and bounty hunters.”
“You know, I think we need to visit some friends for repairs,” Din remarked, turning around to meet (Y/N)’s curious expression. “How’d you like to visit Navarro?”
“Navarro, huh? I’ve never been, but it sounds a lot better than floating around in space like a sitting porg.” Setting aside her bundle of fabric, (Y/N) got to her feet and gestured over to the ladder with a tentative smile. “Wanna help me chart our course, Mando? You can tell me about these friends of yours while we work…”
Din nodded and the captain’s smile widened as she began climbing up the ladder to the cockpit. Making sure that the child had everything he needed, Din hurried up into the cockpit after her; maybe a peaceful future wasn’t in the cards for him, but he’d be damned if he didn’t enjoy the brief moments of happiness whenever he could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Thank you guys so much for reading!
Mando'a Translations: Alor'ad-Captain Mir’sheb-Smart-ass
Chapter Eleven
Taking Care of Business Masterlist
Tagging: @remmysbounty @sinon36 @seninjakitey @thatonedindjarinfan @ginger-swag-rapunzel @mostclevermiss @momc95​ @welcometothepedroverse​ @sarahjkl82-blog​ @zukoyonce​ @itsnottilly​
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rudysrings · 4 years ago
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TEACH ME
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The lifeguard at the beach yesterday inspired me to write this...y’all tell me that’s 👆👆👆not JJ!!!!
Summary: The reader has to train a new lifeguard, a certain blonde who can’t seem to stop hitting on her.
Word count: 4.1k (Holy shit what did I do)
Warnings: Uh mentions of drowning, weed, fluff? Not much this is really just a sweet oneshot
Credit to @alexa-playafricabytoto for the killer idea...I don’t think I did it justice but here we go anyways 😂
DISCLAIMER: I don’t know shit about lifeguards and was too lazy to do research so this it’s extremely likely that this is HIGHLY inaccurate and I’m sorry about that but just go with it for fanfic purposes, eh?
“Hey, Y/N!” Mr. Rodriguez, your manager called out for you from his office in the beach’s visitor center. You had just clocked in, still in your jean shorts and tank. 
You quickly walked over, popping your head in the doorway of his office. Seated in front of him, you noticed, was a blond in a red snapback, a Kildare County Marina T-shirt on. “Yeah, boss?” You asked.
He gave you a rare, sweet smile, gesturing for you to sit down. 
Confused, you cautiously walked over, sliding into the empty chair beside the blonde boy. You felt him glance at you but you looked straight at your manager.
“So Kyle’s out on some family emergency this week…” Your manager started.
You scoffed inwardly but didn’t say anything out loud for the sake of being professional. Kyle’s family emergency was most likely him passed out and hungover after a night of drinking, smoking and a shit ton of coke or molly or acid or whatever he was taking these days. 
“And seeing as he was your partner and was supposed to train the newbie,” Mr. Rodriguez continued, gesturing towards the boy beside you, “So meet JJ Maybank, your new partner until I decide he’s learned enough from you.”
Your beach’s lifeguards worked on a partner system, due to its size. There were always two lifeguards in every tower to maintain maximum security.
You tried not to groan. JJ Maybank? Of all the people in the world, you had to get stuck with the one notorious for recklessness, theft, and starting fights? Of fucking course, you did.
“Right,” You nodded, giving your manager a tight-lipped smile, maintaining your politeness while subtly letting him know you were not happy with the cards you had just been dealt.
Again, without looking at JJ, you stood up, your hands on your hips. “When do we start?” You asked.
“Right now.”
You nodded, turning on your heel and calling over your shoulder. “You coming, Maybank?”
You heard shuffling as he followed after your long strides. You grabbed a rescue buoy for yourself and tossed one to JJ, who caught it with ease. You walked toward the front desk, smiling at Cheri, one of the receptionists your own age who was always nice to you, letting you get away with things she probably shouldn’t have. Picking up two whistles, you walked out the door and finally greeted the boy.
“So you lifeguard now?” 
He shrugged. “I do whatever to pay for my pot.” 
You rolled your eyes, walking down the beach towards your assigned tower for the day. “I can respect that.”
“So there are a few things you should know,” You began, to which JJ listened intently.
“I figure Rodriguez has already been through the list of your duties?” You raised an eyebrow in question.
JJ nodded. “Thoroughly. He doesn’t think I’ve a single brain cell, that man. He tried to draw me a picture of the lifeguard tower.”
You held in a smile. “If you ask me, he’s right to think that,” you quipped, making JJ pout.
“Anyways, apart from that, you need to know a few other things that are kind of unwritten. For example, don’t bother telling people to get off the rocks, just be ready to save them if they fall.”
JJ wrinkled his brows. “The fuck kind of rule is that? Not even going to warn people?”
You shrugged. “Unless you want to make a scene with a bunch of Karens shouting at you for dictating rules on a public beach, then you’ll do as I say.”
JJ grumbled. ‘Yes, ma’am.”
“Bob your head every once in a while so you don’t miss the people right below you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Keep the buoy on you wherever you go.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And lastly, don’t ever think someone is faking anything. Doesn’t matter if your friend is pranking you, we gotta do what we gotta do. We have to save every last imbecile on this beach.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Frustrated, You turned towards him, stopping in the sand, one hand on your hip. “Oh, shut your trap with that ma’am nonsense, Maybank. Trust me, you lucked out with getting me as a partner over Kyle—”
JJ nodded. “I sure did, guy’s a total tool. Besides, hot girl over junkie guy,” he whistled low, “no debate there.”
You tried not to blush at JJ calling you hot, but you felt the tips of your ears turn pink.
“Right, well, you can’t be hitting on me while we’re working together, Maybank.”
“Why not?”
You stepped forward, poking him in the chest. “Because you’ve known me since we were kids, yet we’ve never spoken. So don’t go pretending that I’m not invisible anymore.”
JJ frowned. 
You turned, “Come on, there’s work to do.”
One the two of you climbed up the tower, you put on your whistle and gestured for JJ to lean forward, so that you could toss it over his neck. He did so, accidentally knocking his forehead on yours. “Sorry,” he mumbled, stepping away. 
As he settled in, you stripped your shorts and tank, now left in your ruby red lifeguard one piece.
Today was slow, being a Wednesday off-season, and JJ tried to start a conversation. He pulled out a joint and offered it to you. 
You gave him an “Are you kidding me,” look and he shrugged, unbothered, lighting it up and taking a long hit. “So what’s Keith really doing if he’s not having a family emergency?”
“Kieth? You mean Kyle?”
JJ nodded. “Right, him.”
You laughed dryly, “Probably wrecked after popping ten too many pills and sleeping with a few too many girls. Guy doesn’t know when to stop.”
JJ didn’t look at you, looking out at the sea. “So when did you two break it off?”
“What—We—” You spluttered.
JJ took another long inhale from the joint. “It’s easy to see, babe.”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” you snapped, pulling down your sunglasses from atop your head, hoping to hide the emotions that were most definitely swimming in your eyes. 
“S’not, I know,”
“Then why ask?”
“Just curious as to how a girl like you ended up with a douche like him.”
You were quiet for a moment, before you said, “He wasn’t always like this.”
“Only doing coke, not into molly yet?” JJ joked.
You chuckled. “No, not like that. He was incredibly kind, he had the biggest heart.” You fingered the wood on the arm of your chair.
“Then what happened?”
“Then his mom died, and I wasn’t enough.” Your hand retreated into your lap. 
“He dump you?”
Your eyes narrowed. “No, I dumped him. I’m smart enough to know when I’m getting less than I deserve.”
JJ hummed. “I think I have a chance then.”
You laughed. “You’ve got nothing more than wishful thinking, Maybank.”
“Come to the kegger tonight. I’ll show you wishful thinking.”
You almost gasped at his forwardness. “No, you idiot.”
He turned towards you, meeting your eyes, pleading. You didn’t relent. 
“Fine, miss, I’ll just let you keep that stick up your ass then.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
When lunch came around, you let him go first, and when he returned, smelling of way too much weed, you asked, “You mind if I catch some waves? Think you can hold your own for a half hour?”
JJ gave a toothy grin. “Hell yeah, and watch you ride those waves? It’s going to be hard for me to watch anything but you.”
You smacked him over the head. “Do your job or we’ll both be in trouble, Maybank.”
You grabbed your board and climbed down, racing across the sand towards the water. Finally, you let yourself relax, sinking into the waves as they came. You even caught yourself doing a couple tricks, unconsciously trying to impress the blonde boy who was watching you from the tower. You felt high as a kite when you even managed to successfully execute several cutbacks in a row. You thought you heard a celebratory whistle from the direction of the tower and you jokingly gave a salute towards the beach.
As you climbed back up, JJ cheered. “Holy shit! I knew you were good, but god damn, Y/N! You gotta teach me how to do that Rodeo Flip! I’ve been trying to get it down for years!”
You laughed. “We’ll see, Maybank.”
His hands tugging at his hair in excitement, he asked, “How are you not going pro?!”
You shrugged. “I don’t do it for sport. It’s just something I do for me.”
JJ nodded, a renewed look of respect in his eyes. “Word.”
You spent the rest of your shift laughing at the ridiculous tourists on the beach, especially the ones that forgot sunblock.
You told JJ to go on ahead of towards the visiting center as you had a couple of things left to tidy up. 
When you returned, he was chatting up Cheri, a thousand watt smile on her face as she enjoyed the attention from the pretty blonde.
You rolled your eyes, shoving past them to dump your equipment and clock out. You didn’t know what that bubbling feeling in your abdomen was, or why your stomach lurched at the thought of Cheri and JJ, or maybe you did, but you chose not to think about it too hard, afraid of the conclusion you’d come to.
As you walked out of the visitor center, turning towards home, you heard JJ call your name. You stopped, closing your eyes and muttering a silent prayer for the patience to deal with this boy.
He jogged out, making his way to you. “Hey!” He greeted, out of breath.
“Here to give me another half-assed invite to some kegger?��� You asked.
JJ frowned, shaking his head. “No, I just wanted to clarify something you said this morning. You-You said that I thought you were invisible, because we’ve never spoken.”
“And?” you didn’t see where he was going with this other than to insult you.
“We’ve never spoken because I had the biggest crush on you Y/N. I’ve avoided you everywhere. You were hardly invisible to me. If anything, I didn’t think you saw me.”
You laughed. “Sure, Maybank.”
JJ shuffled his feet, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s true,” he mumbled.
You smiled, “Have fun at the kegger, JJ.” You gave him a peck on the cheek before walking off into the night, the darkness hiding your flaming cheeks. 
You heard a celebratory whoop from behind you and bit your lip as you smiled. 
Your heart felt light all week as you got closer to your partner. He was actually great at his job, especially with the children patrons on the beach, which greatly surprised you. 
You remembered one day in the middle of the week, when you were dropping your equipment off, JJ didn’t have his whistle. 
When you asked about it, he simply laughed. “This kid near the docks kept pestering me for it. Little guy wanted to be a junior lifeguard. Couldn’t say no…”
It was at the end of the week when you met his friends, the infamous, self-proclaimed pogues.
The trio had shown up near the end of your shift, claiming to be curious of the job that JJ actually managed to keep for longer than a day. JJ saw them approaching and immediately swore, turning towards you to say, “I’m going to apologize now for what you’re about to experience.”
Before you could ask what that meant, he had left, climbing down the towers to stop his friends from reaching you. 
Confused, you made your way down, too, watching as a boy with shaggy brown hair clapped JJ over the back, ruffling his hair aggressively. “So this is what you’ve been missing out on pogue days for?”
A dark haired boy, who looked nervous about simply existing, added, “Not what, who,” nodding at you, standing with your arms crossed over your chest and an eyebrow cocked. 
JJ had a permanent blush on his face, but you couldn’t puzzle out why. Meanwhile, you received a slightly reserved smile from the girl holding hands with the nervous boy. She waved politely. 
The boy with shaggy hair marched forward, arms wide open to give you a hug. You thrust your hand out on instinct, which he looked at like a difficult algebra equation, before brushing it away gently and pulling you into his tight embrace. The boy gave great hugs, you had to admit. The kind of tight bear hugs you expect from your mom. 
You laughed nervously, patting him on the back and looking over his shoulder at the other three, who all laughed. JJ mouthed I’m sorry at you and you responded with I’m going to kill you.
When he finally let you go, he tussled your hair and said, “Nice to meet the girl who’s got my boy tripping over his own feet to get to work. I’m John B.”
You flicked your eyes over to JJ, who was as red as a tomato. He buried his face in Pope’s shoulder, muttering something. You snorted. “Hardly. I’m Y/N.”
The dark haired boy grinned, “Trust me, we know. I’m Pope and this is Kie,” he introduced himself and what you assumed was his girlfriend.
In the next hour, you learned that JJ’s friends were loud, blunt and lacked basic manners in some ways, but they were youthful and thick as thieves, clearly a family. 
There was something warm about Pope, something that allowed you to trust him immediately, completely. So when the other three were surfing, and he joined you on the sand, asking you, “So are you feelin’ my boy or what?”, you weren’t afraid to be completely honest.
Giving a short laugh at his bluntness, you admitted, “I don’t really know. There could be something there. There is something there, I think.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
You would feel pathetic to confess this to anybody else, but Pope seemed like he wouldn’t judge you if you admitted to having three children. “I don’t know if we want the same things. I don’t see a guy like that in a serious relationship. Doesn’t seem like the type to settle.”
Pope grinned. “You know him well, then.”
Your heart fell as you thought that Pope was confirming your fears.
“But not well enough, I think. You’d be surprised. He’s kind of...obsessed with you. But not in the “Pokemon gotta catch ‘em all!” kind of way. He doesn’t see you as some sort of spiky eared Pichu…”
He trailed off and you looked at him, absolutely baffled. “I’m sorry...I don’t follow?”
Pope cleared his throat. “He likes you, Y/N, like really respects you and wants to make you happy. Any fool can see that.”
You were sure your entire body was on fire with how hard you flushed. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. Well, you keep him on his toes so we don’t mind. And it’s made him a little softer, a little more careful, which we definitely don’t mind. He needs to be checked, that one.”
Pope stood up, reaching his hand out and pulling you up. “Now, JJ tells me you have a killer cutback. Wanna show me?” He asks.
You give him a big smile, grateful for his kind words and ability to seamlessly bring you back to reality from that heavy conversation. “I’d love to. If you can keep up!” 
Laughing, Pope followed you into the ocean, JJ giving you an excited smile as you joined him in the water, content to see you getting along with his family.
Later that night, when his friends left, and JJ was helping you towel off your hair while shaking his own like a wet dog, making you giggle and shriek at the sensation, he asked, “You wanna actually catch some waves outside of this beach sometime?” 
It was your conversation with Pope earlier that gave you the confidence to say, “How about tomorrow? It’s our day off…”
“I’ll pick you up before dawn then?”
You nodded, “Sounds perfect.”
He tossed you your towel, casually throwing an arm over your shoulder as the two of you walked back to the visitor’s center.
The next morning, you were a mess. JJ had never seen you in anything aside from your lifeguard uniform and you nearly lost your mind trying to figure out what to wear. You felt like a middle schooler deciding what to wear on the first day of school to impress their crush. 
Eventually, you thought to hell with it, and just went with a blue romper over your swimsuit, letting your hair down for once.
You didn’t bother with makeup since you were planning to get soaked anyways. 
When you heard the distinct sound of a large engine approaching, you walked out of your house, curious.
When the image of JJ on a dirt bike came into focus, you couldn’t help the cackle that tittered out of your mouth. 
He slowed down to a complete stop in front of your driveway, swinging his leg over and walking up to you, spinning the key ‘round his finger.
“Hey, dude!” He greeted, sweeping you up in an unexpected hug. Still, you melted into his frame, letting your usually rigid spine relax, feeling JJ nuzzle into your shoulder slightly and sighing.
You pulled away after a moment and JJ rubbed the back of his neck shyly, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “Sorry, I-uh, I really needed that today.” This boy was touch-starved. 
You patted his chest as you walked towards the dirt bike. “S’alright, it happens to the best of us.”
JJ followed you. “You ever ridden one of these before?”
You cocked your head at him. “Oh yeah, all the time.”
He looked surprised, before handing you the keys and raising his eyebrows in challenge. “Prove it.”
You simply smirked and mounted the bike, pretending you didn’t hear JJ mumble “That’s hot,” under his breath. Instead, you started the engine and nodded at him to get on behind you.
JJ smiled before climbing on behind you, scooching forward until every inch of your back was flush against his front. 
“Let’s go, babe!” You said, before taking off down the street. 
JJ gave you directions, steering you into areas of the Cut you had never been, which was saying something since you knew this town like the back of your hand.
Finally, he pulled up to a small cove, where you saw a small patch of sand. It was the farthest land towards the sea, meaning you would probably find the biggest waves.
“Holy shit, how did I not know this place existed?”
JJ grinned, bringing you to a small shack where a couple of boards were hidden from view in the foliage. 
He handed you a board. “I’m full of surprises. Your hair smells nice, by the way.”
“Stop that!” You laughed.
“Stop what?”
You slapped him over the head. “Making me blush.”
“Don’t think I will.”
You rolled your eyes and simply unzipped your romper, ignoring the whistle from JJ as you stepped out in only your swimsuit. You laid the fabric over the handle of his dirt bike and turned towards him. He was still in his T-shirt and swim trunks.
“Aren’t you going to take your shirt off?”
JJ gave a shit-eating grin, “My, my, Y/L/N, at least take a guy to dinner first.”
You shoved at his chest. “No, you dumbass, I meant you can’t surf in that.”
JJ opened his mouth as if to say something before pausing and wrinkling his nose. “It’s just not a good idea for me today.”
“What did you eat a little too much? I can promise I’m not afraid of a food baby, Maybank, I can deal.”
JJ tried explaining before just giving up and pulling his shirt off, leaving you shocked and incredibly confused, not to mention concerned.
Bruises littered his body, beginning at his shoulder and ending far below his ribs. Involuntarily, your hand brushed his skin. “What the fuck happened, JJ?”
He shrugged. “S’my Dad, you know. Gets angry sometimes is all.”
You shook your head sadly. “You don’t deserve that.”
JJ laughed darkly. “That’s up for debate.”
You stomped your foot. “No, it’s absolutely not! No one deserves that, especially not you.”
JJ softened. “You really think so?”
“Of course I do.”
He gave a small smile. “So you won’t make fun of me for not being able to keep up with you today? It’s only because I got my ass kicked, otherwise I’d surf circles around you all day.”
His words made you frown, but you recognized the coping mechanism and simply said, “Oh sure, Maybank. You know as well as I do that there’s not a world where you can surf better than me.”
He shrugged, walking towards the water. “I can sure as hell try, babe!”
Surfing with JJ was an experience on some whole other level. Sharing a wave was something even the most experienced surfers didn’t attempt, but something in you trusted JJ and the two of you tried it out. It was absolutely surreal, until JJ didn’t resurface.
Your euphoric smile quickly turned into a panicked cry. “JJ? JJ?!” You looked around and caught sight of him hanging on to his board, eyes closed. You swiftly untied your board from your ankle and swam over to him, pulling him towards you. He was like dead weight. You dragged him over to the shore and dumped him there, immediately leaning down to check his pulse. 
You felt it clear as day, but tears filled your eyes. “JJ! Wake up!”
You began chest compressions immediately. Before you even got to ten, however, you heard a giggle. 
Bewildered, you looked at his smiling face, his amused blue eyes laughing at you.
You instantly flinched away, retreating from him. “You were faking?”
JJ nearly choked on his laughter. “You-you should have—” He tried to breathe through the guffaws “—seen your face! Priceless!”
You slapped at his chest with your fists as he sat up, ignoring his slight winces given his prior injuries. “Ay, ay what’s up with that! Stop it, Y/N!”
“You bastard! I thought you were dying!”
JJ softened, before holding the back of your neck and pulling you towards him, leaning in to capture your lips with his. It was sweet and short and he pulled away quickly, asking. “Was that alright?”
You shook your head, pouting. “No, another!” 
He smiled, but gave in to your pleas gleefully, his other hand coming over the front of your neck, pulling you closer to him by your throat. You bit his lip harshly, still angry from the stunt he had just pulled and his whined quietly, moving his hand down your spine, hands brushing the bare skin that your swimsuit exposed. 
He lay back, pulling you on top of him. You straddled him, allowing him to deepen the kiss. You didn’t realize how much you had wanted this until you were doing it. You were kissing JJ Maybank. And it felt right. It felt as right as surfing did, maybe even better, you dared to think. 
Maybe it was the fact that he kissed you like he had all the time in the world and didn’t care, because he was hungry right now. Maybe it was how he held you like he was afraid you would let go. Maybe it was how he managed to wordlessly beg for your skin on his, clearly touch-starved. Whatever it was, it solidified the growing feelings you had for the blonde, blossoming into something new, something stronger, something better, until you couldn’t hear any of your own thoughts other than his name--over, and over and over again. 
When you finally broke that time, you smiled into his neck, trying to catch your breath. “Wow,” sighed JJ, “That was some kiss, babe. If you kiss me like that forever, I’ll die a happy man.”
You giggled, but sat up slightly, flicking his nose. You knew you had to get this awful, insecure doubt of yours out of your mouth right now before you let it fester into something that could ruin this beautiful thing you were creating with JJ. “If you ever break my heart, JJ, I swear to God, you better not cheat on me.”
He frowned. “Wouldn’t dream of it. I’ve wanted this forever. Can’t fuck it up now.”
You smiled, bending down for another kiss. JJ stopped you. “Wait. While we’re making promises, let me just say, if you ever get back with Kyle, I will sue.”
You thought the whole town probably heard your laugh then.
K so not my best work but hope y’all liked it!
Tagging @rretrophilee @jjsbxtch @drewsephsmiles @uwubonebabie bc we talked about it! You don’t have to read if you don’t want to lol 💛
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dinosaurtsukki · 4 years ago
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❀ facets | “i don’t want you to see me like this” feat. chuuya nakahara
⇢ day 4 of angstcember
⇢ synopsis: you and chuuya both have sides to yourselves that you don’t want the other to see and unfortunately, the mafia brings out the worst in everyone
⇢ a/n: so here’s the chuuya angst you guys have been waiting for !! i,,, really hope that it was worth the wait i guess cause i know some of you were excited but if it’s not apologies in advance ;-;
⇢ pairing: chuuya nakahara x gn!reader
⇢ word count: 2.7k words
ANGSTCEMBER MASTERLIST (feat. haikyuu!! and bungou stray dogs)
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it was difficult to be in the mafia without spilling blood. after all, it was what the job entailed. just like everyone who joined the port mafia, you had been accepted because of your skill in eliminating targets. you always did so quickly and oftentimes mercilessly. more than a few times, mori himself had gave you solo missions to specifically assassinate unneeded targets.
and yet, you hated having to kill. you hated that from a young age, it was the only way you ever knew when it came to surviving the world you lived in. after being orphaned, you were immediately taken in by a criminal syndicate and trained to be an assassin before eventually joining the port mafia. as much as you tried to outrun this, you gave in and grew apathetic to your job requirements. ‘just do it as quick as possible, forget, and then move on,’ you told yourself during every job. 
that was until you had met chuuya nakahara.
well, it’s not like you had met him for the first time there at a local bar. everyone in the port mafia knew about the young, mafia executive with the powerful gravity manipulation ability. in fact, you had worked under him on a few assignments. despite the reputation about his temper, you found him to be quite level-headed when it came to leading your group and making difficult decisions on the spot. there was a side to chuuya that was a bit caring too and he always checked on everyone after a mission. sometimes, you’d even watch him remove his hat in respect when a fallen mafioso was reported.
“nakahara-san,” you were about to get up and bow when he waved a hand, signaling not to.
“you don’t need to do that. we’re not at work,” he scoffed, sitting on the bar stool next to you. “this is my first time here. recommend anything good?”
you were surprised at his casual-ness, especially since he was technically your boss too, but you answered his question nonetheless. “well, they always have really good whiskey.”
“can’t go wrong with that then,” chuuya said, requesting the drink from the bartender. “so, you’re l/n, right?” 
“you... remember my name?” you blinked in surprise. 
“i mean, you have worked for me. what kind of a boss would i be if i didn’t even know your name?” chuuya raised an eyebrow at you before sipping from his drink.
“makes sense,” you shrugged. “it’s just that you happen to be the first.”
“you’re also the one koyou ane-san spoke highly of,” chuuya added. “although, i heard you turned down her offer of a promotion.”
“i’m not really in great need of money,” you reasoned. “and besides, it’s pretty much the same job content anyway but i’d have to do more things.”
“well, the doing more things part you got right,” he chuckled, downing his glass before ordering a refill. “although, i get the feeling you have another reason for turning down that promotion.” chuuya looked at you expectantly and you felt as though you’ve underestimated his intuition just a bit. you looked down at your half-empty glass and sighed.
“i don’t really like being in the mafia. i’m good at my job but, i don’t care much for it, nor do i think i’m particularly good at anything else. in the end, i just feel like i’m being used?” you shook your head and laughed. “sorry, i know that sounds terribly pathetic.” 
“if you don’t like something, can you really help it?” chuuya pointed out.
“i thought you didn’t like people who chickened out?” you dared to tease him.
“that’s not the same as chickening out,” chuuya wagged a finger. “because you still do what’s being asked of you.”
“fair enough.”
“i don’t know if this helps but, you’re pretty good at tying bandages too,” he said, puzzling you slightly. “one of the doctors at the infirmary told me that tomura-san wouldn’t have made it if you hadn’t stopped the bleeding quickly.” chuuya downed his second glass of whiskey before placing it on the counter and paying for his drinks. “just some food for thought,” he added, before getting off the bar stool and leaving you alone.
...
whether or not chuuya had intended it, his comment did get you thinking quite a bit. you did have good knowledge of the human body, thanks to your assassin training that taught you which were the best points of the human body to strike. the port mafia boss himself was also a doctor, so who’s to say that killing people and saving lives were separate forms of knowledge.
slowly, you began to pick up on chuuya’s way of reinforcing that idea he had initially planted. when you were put in missions with him, he’d often order you to help patch up the wounded, even encouraging you to take your ‘patients’ to the infirmary. there, you’d intently watch the nurses and paramedics do their valuable work. at times, you wondered if you were really of use because you were no longer in the front lines but chuuya reassured you that what you were doing was more than enough.
finally, you decided to file in a request to transfer to the medical department. it took quite a long time for it to be processed, since you knew that you were still valuable to the organization as an assassin, but you managed to convince the higher-ups of being able to work as an on-site paramedic who could also defend themselves in the front lines.
after being accepted, you went to your usual bar for a celebratory drink. it didn’t come as a surprise anymore to see chuuya already there, waiting for you.
...
aside from holding up his reputation of being a powerful member of the port mafia, chuuya also wanted it to be known that he was a leader his subordinates could trust. ‘what’s the point of mistreating them if you know they’re ready to lay down their lives to follow your orders?’ chuuya would always reason. he wasn’t one to dote, but when he knew someone wasn’t exactly working at their very best, chuuya took it quite seriously.
you had already caught his eye the first time you worked with him on a job. there was nothing to complain about when it came to your skill. in fact, chuuya was particularly impressed with how cleanly and efficiently you eliminated your targets. it’s just that the expression on your face, one of boredom, caught his attention just as much. it almost reminded him of his own. sure, chuuya loved fighting and the adrenaline rush he got from it was like nothing else. but at one point, he had grown tired with knowing that he would win anyway no matter what. it was why he decided to put on his gloves and refrain from using his fists. 
at first, chuuya was mainly concerned with what was bothering you so he took a page out of dazai’s book -- which wasn’t something he wanted to particularly confess to -- and decided to coerce you a bit into doing something that would interest you. it wasn’t fully manipulative though, because chuuya genuinely knew you were quite good at the new skill you picked up and he could see you enjoyed that more. 
then, he noticed that there was an inarguable gentleness to you. chuuya happened to read your file out of curiosity and learned about your past being trained as a young assassin. he felt a bit sorry that a different life was robbed from you and was therefore even more motivated to help steer you down the path you wanted more.
chuuya was genuinely happy that you had joined the medical department but he did find that he was seeing you less and less. you joined a few more missions as a frontline paramedic but spent most of your time in the infirmary. it was only after it hit him that he was missing you that chuuya began to realize maybe there was something else underlying his intentions.
he didn’t like chickening out of anything but that also meant he shouldn’t chicken out with facing his feelings. chuuya couldn’t come see you at the infirmary because he never got injuries. instead, he decided to meet you again at your favorite bar, the place where he first met you for real. 
this time, he came with a confession. and so did you.
...
the first thing you noticed when you opened your eyes was the ringing in your ears and the dust that had seeped into your lungs. you blinked that same dust from your eyes before sitting up in a panic when you realized what had just happened. according to the higher-ups, the port mafia was going to be engaging with a very powerful enemy organization and you and your fellow paramedics and nurses in the infirmary were expected to be working all through the next few days. you were prepared as the bodies came flooding in and you just hoped and prayed that the fight would be over.
you had just finished stitching a particularly ugly gash when you heard an explosion from within the infirmary. and then, the screaming, and then, it occurred to you that the enemy had done the unthinkable.
there was rubble all around you and you struggled to get out but thankfully, you were still in one piece. but as you looked around what used to be an operating room, you realized the extent and gravity of the damage dealt. the enemy had just bombed a hospital. it wasn’t just port mafia members they were treating there but yokohama residents who had unfortunately been caught in the crossfire. sure, you were part of a mafia and used to be an assassin and you did kill people. but there was no dignity in bombing a hospital. 
rage flooded you as you walked around the ruins, your eyes picking up the ugly sights of what was left of the survivors and those who were terribly unlucky. and above all else, there was a terrible sadness. if you were in the frontlines, would you have prevented this?
...
chuuya’s blood ran cold when he heard the news about the infirmary being bombed by the enemy, enough to bring him to use his fist to finish off an enemy before sprinting over to where he had heard the explosions. the enemy had dealt a low blow and chuuya wanted nothing more than to finish everyone off. along with that anger came a feeling of fear that almost blinded him as he sprinted off to where the explosions came from. you were working in that hospital. if anything had happened to you, there’s no telling what chuuya would do in his anger.
only, he quickly realized that you weren’t in danger. meters away from the hospital, still dressed in your lab coat, chuuya found you with a scalpel in each hand, killing enemy attackers. only, you weren’t just killing them. chuuya could only assume it was rage that consumed you as you straddled an enemy’s corpse, driving your scalpel repeatedly into his face. 
“y/n!” he cried, grabbing onto your wrist before you could bring it down. slowly, you turned to look up at your lover. the rage in your eyes quickly turned into fear as you looked down and saw what you had done.
“i... i’m...” 
“that’s enough, y/n,” you heard chuuya say softly behind you. you dropped the scalpel and looked down at your shaking hands.
“maybe i could have stopped it,” you said shakily. “i should have been on the frontlines. i just want to help people and even now, i couldn’t even do that.” chuuya watched as you covered your face in your hands.
“what am i even good for?”
he knelt down in front of you and pulled your hands away from your face. you turned away from him.
“i don’t want you to see me like this.”
“nothing can change what i think about you,” chuuya said seriously, turning your chin to look at him. with a deft hand, he removed his gloves and slipped them over yours. “all i know is, nobody is born with hands that are meant to kill.” 
you looked down at your now-gloved hands and then up at your lover. he smiled and pressed a kiss to your forehead.
“i’ll be heading out now. do what you do best, okay y/n?”
you returned his smile and nodded with renewed determination. “alright.” 
...
you’ve always known about chuuya’s powerful ability and prowess in martial arts, but it was only after you got together with him that you learned about your boyfriend being the arahabaki. at first, you thought it was pretty cool, until you saw the pained expression on chuuya’s face as he talked about how he never really knew why he ended up connected to the arahabaki in the first place. because of his memory loss at a young age and with his terribly powerful special ability, chuuya often felt that he was inhuman.
‘maybe... that’s why he chose to help me,’ you thought, as you watched the vulnerable expression on his face that he only showed around you. 
that said, you’ve only heard about the sheer destructive ability of Corruption but because chuuya only used it in the most dire of times, you’ve never really see it for yourself. that is, until now.
you could tell that chuuya was no longer himself with the markings that covered what was visible on his skin and a grin that stretched across his face. he only activated Corruption when he knew dazai was there to stop him but it just so happened that right now, he was out of reach: floating in the sky while hurling gravity bullets around him.
“y/n,” dazai called out to you. he was heavily injured but somehow still standing. “you’ll get hurt if you stay here!”
“i need to help him!” 
with a loud explosion, chuuya dropped back down to the ground, causing the earth to cave in a circle around him. he turned with his sights set on you.
“chuuya,” you backed away slowly, terrified by his empty gaze. “it’s me, y/n! you can snap out of this!” you pleaded.
“y/n!” you heard dazai yell again. he was running towards chuuya from the other side of the forest clearing. “get out of here, he--”
you couldn’t hear the rest of what he said because with a wave of his arm, chuuya sent you flying backwards until you hit a tree before crumpling down to the ground. you felt your eyes fall shut just as dazai sprinted the last few meters to touch the back of chuuya’s hand.
with his ability nullified, chuuya fell to his knees. his body was wracked with pain from having used Corruption longer than he knew he should have. he felt dazai fall to the ground behind him and turned to find that he had promptly passed out, most likely because of the blood loss from his injuries. ‘so that’s why he couldn’t stop me quicker,’ chuuya thought. it was only after he scanned the ruined area around him that he found your crumpled form lying under a tree.
it couldn’t be.
“y/n!” he cried, hauling himself to his feet despite the roaring pain in his body. he hobbled over as quickly as he could over to you before lifting you in his arms. “y/n?” chuuya called your name again. with a groan, you stirred back into consciousness.
“you’re... back,” you smiled up at him. 
“fuck, i’m so sorry. i did this to you, didn’t i?” chuuya shook his head, feeling his hands tremble as he saw your injuries. “i’m so sorry.”
“you weren’t yourself.”
“i could have stopped myself, somehow!” he exclaimed. “i shouldn’t have let you come along on this mission. i shouldn’t have used Corruption.”
“chuuya--”
“i don’t want you to see me like this,” he hung his head. despite all his strength and connection to the arahabaki, chuuya was still human. and you didn’t care if you had to spend every day reminding him of that. 
“you’re human, chuuya,” you said softly, lifting your hand to his face and turning it to look at you. no one else would be able to see the sheer emotional vulnerability on chuuya’s face as you said those words. only you could make him feel this way. “i wouldn’t be what i am now if it weren’t for you.”
“are you really sure you want this... that you want... me?” chuuya asked. you smiled, sitting up to brush your lips against his.
“i’m sure.” 
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writings-of-a-daphodil · 4 years ago
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Pumpkins
Luke x alive!reader
Summary: It's fluffy Haloween time!!
Requested?: Yes! This was inspired by @fantomlovesjuke4ever's request:
Can I request an imagine with Luke Patterson as the ghost and (yn) as the alive girlfriend who is julie and flynn‘s best friend and she went to go visit Julie’s house for halloween.
I hope you like it!
Fandom: Julie and the Phantoms
A/n: I know it's after Halloween, but oh well. I hope y'all enjoy it!
Luke was positively vibrating with excitement as he walked you to Julie’s house. As his first Halloween in technically twenty five years, you could definitely understand. You were excited to spend your first Halloween together too.
 "I can't wait to spend today with you!" Luke exclaimed, swinging your hand.
“What do you think we’re gonna do?” You asked as you walked onto Julie’s street.
Luke considered the question for a moment. “Julie was talking about doing a movie night and I know Reggie was looking forward to carving pumpkins.”
“How are you guys gonna carve pumpkins?” you asked.
“If we focus enough we can hold objects. Reggie’s been practicing everyday.”
“Ah-" you smiled "-do you think Alex finally got the courage to ask Willie to come?”
Luke shrugged. “He said he was gonna go see him this morning, so maybe.”
“I’m so excited to meet him, Alex has told me so much about him.”
“Yeah,” Luke grinned as you walked into Julie’s driveway.
“Julie?! We’re here!” You called walking into the empty garage.
“Boo!” Carlos jumped out from behind the couch and you shrieked, almost jumping into Luke’s arms. You quickly realized that wouldn’t be the best thing to do in front of Carlos though.
“Carlos, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” you scolded, but the smile on your face didn’t make you very menacing. Over the years you had learned to not get mad when people tried to scare you, and they tried a lot. You were kinda known for always being a little scared, you couldn't help it though. There were so many scary things out there, from ghosts to spiders.
Finding out that Julie was in a band full of ghosts that you could see and touch was a pretty big shock. You had been absolutely terrified to go anywhere near Julie’s house for a while. However, your fear soon faded with Luke’s persistent and kind attitude. He had helped you to realize that ghosts weren’t all bad.
From there, it had taken you a very long time to realize that your racing heart had less to do with fear and everything to do with a crush on Luke. Once you did though it wasn’t long before you were dating.
“Sorry, Y/n,” Carlos apologized as you heard footsteps running into the garage.
“Y/n!” Julie called.
“I’m here Jules!” You called back.
Julie walked in. “I heard you scream are you okay?”
“Yeah, Carlos just scared me,” you explained.
Julie nodded and turned to her little brother. “Flynn needs your help in the kitchen.” She turned to you and Luke as he left. “Are you ready for some pumpkin carving?”
“Yes!” Reggie exclaimed, proofing into the room. You jumped, this time into Luke’s arms.
“Good. Y/n, can you help me with them?” Julie asked.
You nodded. “Of course.”
Julie led you up to the house and and you admired the detailed decorations. There were tons of fake spider webs and spiders on the porch and cute little signs that said stuff like 'the witch is in'.
The inside of the house was even cuter with purple and orange streamers decorating the ceiling and few paper bats dangling from string.
"You guys always have the best decorations," you complimented as you and Julie walked into the dining room. There were five pumpkins of varying sizes stacked together and you grabbed the two smallest while Julie took the biggest.
“Hey Flynn,” you called, eyeing the delicious looking Halloween cookies. They were the soft sugar cookies that were at all the supermarkets.
"Hey," she waved, placing a cookie on a platter.
"Happy Halloween, Y/n," Ray said, coming into the room and taking a cookie. "Do you girls want some help getting these to the garage?"
You beamed at him. "Yes please."
Your arms burned on the walk down to the garage and you wished you could have Luke help you, but a floating pumpkin would probably scare Ray. You finally set the pumpkins down and thanked him, waiting for him to get out of earshot before you spoke to the ghosts.
"Where's the newspaper?" Luke asked Julie who gestured to a cabinet.
You and Julie worked together to move the coffee table and were helping the boys lay out the newspaper when you heard a faint swoosh. You let out a quiet yelp when you heard it and looked up to see Alex and who you could only assume was Willie.
"Hey," Alex said with a nervous wave. You stood up and quickly moved over to him.
"You must be Willie, it's so nice to finally meet you! I'm Y/n."
Willie smiled and you could see Alex relax out of the corner of your eyes. "Nice to meet you too."
Luke came up to you and wrapped an arm around your waist as Julie introduced herself. The six of you chatted for a little while before Flynn arrived with some food.
With everyone in the garage it was time to start carving.
You and Luke kneeled down together to start on your carving of the Julie and the Phantoms logo. You squinted your eyes in concentration as you sketched it out on paper. Once you were satisfied Luke pinned it on the pumpkin and grabbed the tools.
He did his best to carve a bit out, but his hand kept falling through after a while. He sighed in defeat before you came over.
"Here," you said, taking his hand, "let me help."
With his hand in yours, the two of you were able to easily carve the pumpkin. You took the top off and wrinkled your nose at the mess of seeds inside.
"I'd help but..." Luke waved his hand through the pumpkin, a teasing grin on his face.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," you grumbled, rolling your eyes. You reached your hand into the pumpkin and placed some of the gross goop in a trashbag.
"Almost there," Luke encouraged. You groaned as you reached your hand back in.
Though you didn't enjoy it, the pumpkin's insides were clean in no time. From there you sprinkled cinnamon in it and got your carving tools ready. Luke grabbed your hand again and you got to work.
Eventually you were all done. You and Luke took a step back and proudly admired your slightly lopsided design.
"We did it!" You cheered and Luke high fived you. You turned and  gave Luke a celebratory kiss and moved to walk around the room to admire the other pumpkins.
Reggie had carved a remarkably good guitar and you exchanged compliments.
From there you moved on to admire the pumpkin that Willie and Alex had painted rainbow. It was so cute to see how they interacted together and you hoped Willie would be over more often.
Julie's and Flynn's pumpkins were a bit more classic, but very beautiful.
After looking at all the carvings you and Luke walked back to your own pumpkin and accepted all the compliments that came your way.
The sun was getting lower and lower as you turned to chatting and for you lifers, snacking.
You always felt a little bad eating in front of the ghosts, but you couldn't resist the cookies. There was just something so good about the way they melted in your mouth.
It wasn't long before the sun had completely set and you were placing the candles in the pumpkins. The smell of cinnamon and pumpkin filled the room as you went and joined Like on the couch.
“What now?” Julie asked.
“Movies!” Reggie suggested, eyeing some dvds.
“You guys missed some good ones," Willie said from where he and Alex were sitting together.
“Oh you definitely did,” you confirmed, already thinking of ones to watch.
“Here, let's look at the options.” Julie waved her hand and Reggie went over to the table stacked with dvds under the loft.
It wasn’t long before they had decided on the first one. Julie put the movie they chose into the player while you and Luke settled onto the couch. It was just the start of the movie, but the end to a perfect day.
****
Voila! This is my first JatP request and I hope y'all liked it. Have a fantastic day/night!
P.S. I am open to requests!!!!!
P.P.S. if you want to be on my taglist for all things Julie and the Phantoms, feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.
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thewayshedreamed · 4 years ago
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Open Secrets— Nessian AU
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Prompt submission by Nonnie— Reverse fake dating au where everyone thinks you’re dating and you’re keeping it a secret, but you’re not.
Thanks to whoever submitted this prompt! I’d originally completed this prompt for Feysand, but I struggled between that one and this one! Thanks to @awesomelena555 and @bookstantrash for encouraging me to post the Nessian version too!
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Nesta pulled up to Rhysand and Feyre’s new home about 30 minutes after their house-warming party had begun. It was certainly a little out of character of her, being that she was someone who considered five minutes early as “on time”. It wasn’t really her fault. Elain had called her right before she pulled into their neighborhood to let her know they had drastically underestimated the amount of alcohol they would need for all the guests. Nesta had driven a little past the neighborhood to make the supplemental booze run, and she was about to walk into this party a hero.
She slipped into the party, aiming to keep a low profile. She absolutely hated arriving somewhere and being the sudden center of attention, so she was hoping to avoid that. The party was split; half indoors and half outdoors, making it all the easier for her.
She took inventory of her surroundings as she made her way toward the kitchen. There were several small groups sprinkled around in conversation, and some were outside playing yard games or drinking games. She already felt hungover just watching them.
Her eyes landed on Rhys, Azriel, and Cassian. They were off to the side, all sipping on drinks, and talking enthusiastically with each other. She noticed Cassian seemed to be on the receiving end of whatever hell they were giving, if his rigid posture and frequent eye rolling was any indication. She chuckled a little at that; he probably had that coming.
He excused himself abruptly from the conversation, tossing his beer bottle into a trash can a few feet away. He walked toward the house, and Nesta quickly directed her attention back to unloading the beer and liquor to wherever it needed to be stored in the kitchen. She heard the sliding glass door open, then close, followed by heavy footsteps walking through the kitchen.
“Hey, Nes! When did you get here?” He threw an arm around her shoulders, giving her a side-hug while she worked.
It seemed like such a small thing to most, but the fact that she and Cassian had made it to this point impressed her. With the way things had started when they’d originally met, things looked bleak for them on the friendship front. She wasn’t sure when his snark and cocky demeanor shifted from infuriating to endearing, but she had come to learn that those traits were such a tiny part of who he was. All of that considered, she leaned in to the casual side-hug, not wanting to take their progress for granted.
“Just now, actually. I haven’t even finished unloading the car.”
”Damn, sweetheart. How much booze did you bring?!” He grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it as he leaned back on the counter.
”Probably not enough if we’re sharing with the likes of you,” she teased. She felt a small tap between her shoulder blades, followed by a ping sound. She turned around to see Cassian’s beer cap sliding across the floor. That little shit actually threw his beer cap at her.
She glared at him and was met with a sideways smirk on his face. He broke into a laugh when she didn’t back down and rocked forward to push himself off the counter.
“Sorry, sweetheart. I’ll make it up to you by helping you unload the car. Keep me company?” he requested.
”Fine. On the way you can tell me what your friends were giving you shit about outside. I’m starting to think maybe you earned it,” she taunted.
The cadence of his steps was interrupted just a fraction by her question, but he recovered quickly enough.
”Actually, I don’t know that I did this time.”
”Well now I’m definitely intrigued.”
He hesitated for several seconds, his jaw working as he thought through what to say next.
“I’m not sure I should tell you,” he stated, as he opened the backseat of her car. He grabbed the rest of the drinks before shutting her car door firmly.
“That makes me want to know even more, Cassian.”
”Okay, fine. But just remember that you wanted this. And you can’t be mad or get weird about it.”
His disclaimer gave her pause, but she nodded her head anyway. Curiosity won this round.
“For whatever reason, they have their minds made up that you and I are seeing each other and are trying to keep it on the down low. I’m still not entirely sure why they think we would keep it under wraps if we were involved, but that’s their theory right now.” His words came out in a rush as if he was trying to get it over with and pretend they never had the conversation.
Nesta merely blinked several times before replying, “Hm. Okay. So I get that they didn’t tell you why they think we’d hide it, but did they at least say why they think we’re a thing in the first place?”
Cassian rolled his eyes as he unloaded the remaining drinks into the refrigerator.
“Who the fuck knows with those two? All I remember them saying was something about how we have way too much tension between us and how we went from hating each other to being friendly overnight.” He took a swig of his beer.
”So, since we’re nice to each other now, we’re fucking?” There was no frustration in her tone. She was actually a little amused at how faulty the logic was.
Cassian choked on his beer; the result of not being prepared for that question coming from Nesta, of all people. He coughed into his elbow several times before he recovered.
“Caught me off guard, sorry. Yes, apparently, but I told them to knock it off.”
She was lost in thought for several seconds. “This could be fun,” she mused.
”What could be fun?” His confusion was obvious all over his face.
“The more we try to prove them wrong, the more they’re going to think they’re right. So why not just lean into it and have a little fun messing with them.”
”Oo. I like this. Get them all riled up about it and let them down later. I can’t say I’d hate to watch them squirm a little,” he replied.
”Exactly. But if we do this, we have to commit. We can’t question each other in front of anyone else, or the whole thing is shot,” she warned. “If we feel like we’re not on the same page, we reconvene here and make our way back out there once we figure it out.”
He smiled at her, a true broad smile, with the gleam of mischief in his hazel eyes. “You’re a wicked little woman, Archeron. I love it.”
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They walked from the kitchen together, breaking apart once Nesta started making her rounds to greet everyone. Cassian walked back over to his friends, who were both clearly amused with themselves even still. He wanted to throttle both of them.
“What took you so long, Cass?” Rhys asked, a cocky little half smile on his face.
”Helped Nesta unload all the booze out of her car.” He took a long swig of his beer. “Don’t you say a fucking word, you prick.”
”Wouldn’t dream of it,” Rhys replied, earning a laugh from Azriel.
Both of them looked over his shoulder just as he felt someone approach him from behind. He felt a small hand rest on his bicep, turning him slightly toward them.
“Hey, Cass,” Nesta beamed up at him, and he swore his heart stopped. “I never said thank you for helping me.” She glanced down at her hand, and quickly drew it away to put it in her back pocket. She looked down at the ground and cleared her throat before looking at him again. “So, thank you. I owe you one.”
Wow, she was good. She looked every bit the part of someone who lost her bearings and was caught being affectionate. His returning smile was genuine.
“Of course. Happy to do it,” he replied, as she turned her attention to greet Rhysand and Azriel.
She walked away to make her next stop in greetings, and he made sure to watch her go for just a second longer than necessary. When he turned his attention back to the guys, they were smirking at each other like the smug bastards they were. This was going to be too easy.
——————————————————————————
The next couple of hours progressed in a similar fashion. Surprisingly, they stayed on the same page without much effort, playing off of each other from one scenario to the next. They gravitated to each other when their paths happened to cross, but they kept their interactions short. If someone walked up on them, they slipped away somewhat awkwardly as if they were guilty of something they shouldn’t be doing. They easily slipped small, seemingly intimate actions into each interaction whenever they knew Rhys or Azriel was nearby. Nesta would rest her hand on Cassian’s forearm briefly as they laughed. Cassian would shove her with his shoulder in passing, earning a playful scolding from Nesta. A couple of times when they were standing in a small group, Nesta would subtly grab Cassian’s drink to take a sip and hand it back as if it were second nature. In response, Cassian would rub his thumb absent-mindedly over where her lips had touched the rim. By this point, Rhys and Azriel were nearly bursting with their desire to call them out on their behavior.
They partnered up for a couple of games, making it a point to stand an arm’s length apart. However, occasionally when things would go their way, they would engage in a celebratory hug and simultaneously spring apart to their original places like they forgot themselves. Nesta decided they worked incredibly well together despite being such an unlikely alliance. They won the second game and celebrated with loud cheers and a high five. Nesta caught Cassian’s eye briefly, muttering “Kitchen, in 5” through her smile.
She made her way there and busied herself with refilling her drink. Right on time, she heard Cassian’s heavy footfall entering the kitchen. She turned around, meeting his amused expression with one of her own.
”Hey! Everything okay? Am I not reading this right?” he asked.
“No, no, no. You’re great. I just wanted to talk without eyes on us for a second to see how you think things are going. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught Rhys and Azriel glancing over at us,” she said through a chuckle. His shoulders seemed to relax at her reassurance.
He responded with a laugh of his own. “Oh, they’re crawling out of their skin. Especially Rhys. It kills him when he thinks he’s right but can’t say anything.”
”That’s definitely like him,” Nesta joked.
Around Cassian’s shoulder, she saw Azriel through the glass door approaching the house. She glanced up at her partner-in-crime with a conspiratorial grin across her face.
“Hug me. Hurry— make it good.” He did as he was told, looping an arm around her waist and cradling her head to his chest. “When you hear the door open, back up.”
A few more seconds passed before they heard the long slide of the glass door as Azriel pulled it open. Cassian made a show of tensing and pulling away quickly, clearing his throat. Nesta shoved her hands into her back pockets as she had done several times over the course of the day when she was “caught” touching her rumored lover.
“Well, hey guys. How’s it going?” Azriel asked with a cocky, sideways smile.
Cassian mumbled something about needing the restroom and quickly fled the premises, leaving Nesta to brave Azriel alone. He’d definitely be paying for that one.
“Good. I needed a little break from outside. Got a little overwhelmed with all the hustle and bustle.”
”Mm. Understandable,” he replied, grabbing another beer from the fridge and turning toward her. “What was all that about? With Cass?”
”What was what?”
“Nesta. All the hugging I had the misfortune of walking in on. What’s going on with you two?” He leaned back onto the counter, crossing one ankle over the other and putting his free hand in his front pocket.
It took her a second to gather her thoughts before she decided she didn’t particularly care for being the only flustered one around here. Additionally, she was annoyed that Azriel seemed so cocksure about his position, as if Nesta were totally oblivious to all the questioning he and Rhys had done earlier. Granted, as far as they knew, she was, but that was neither here nor there.
It was time for the tables to start turning, even if she hadn’t had the chance to discuss it with Cassian yet. However, if he were that concerned about it, he wouldn’t have completely abandoned her to deal with Azriel. He was along for the ride now and would have to go with the flow.
Azriel wasn’t one to be easily flustered, that much Nesta knew. She knew she wouldn’t be able to be incredibly subtle because he would see right through it. She also knew he wasn’t above continuing to point on the flaws in her logic if she were to get caught in that web. She had to be decisive, creative, and she had to commit.
She walked over a little closer to him, facing him and propping her hip on the counter next to where he was leaning. She looked up into his face, and he eyed her suspiciously, an apprehensive look dawning over his features. Perfect.
“So, that’s in then. You’ve cracked our code?” she asked quietly.
”I wouldn’t call what you two have a ‘code’, Nes.” Arrogant bastard. Any doubt or guilt she’d felt for deceiving her friends had officially dwindled to zero. Azriel’s response had served her in that way, at least. She inched slightly closer to him, running her fingertips from his forearm down to his wrist, where his hand met his pocket.
“Then you knew we were going to talk to you? What gave it away?” she whispered, looping her fingers around the sensitive underside of his wrist.
Azriel’s eyes widened, glancing to her hand and back up to her face quickly. She watched his throat bob as he swallowed.
”You hardly need my permission, Nesta,” he responded.
She brought her other hand to cup his shoulder, leaning into him a little more. She could feel his entire body tense as if moving too quickly would provoke her to attack. He took an extra long pull from his beer.
“I disagree. Cassian and I both insisted that we talk to you together.”
It was at that moment that her co-conspirator returned from his bathroom trip. She watched as he scanned the situation, noting her hands on Azriel’s arm and shoulder. He pulled his lips into a curious smile.
“The two of you look cozy. I thought we were talking to him together, sweetheart,” he said, playing off of the comment he’d overheard.
He moved to the spot on the other side of Azriel, shooting her a questioning look when Azriel’s attention was turned away from him. Nesta’s face gave nothing away as she let out a soft laugh, shaking her head at Cassian with affectionate exasperation.
“You took a little while, and I wasn’t sure when we would be able to get him alone again. I hadn’t said anything to him yet. Not without you.”
”Well, don’t let me stop you. By all means, love, carry on,” he said, using a flat palm gesture forward. He gave her a full smile in return, and she noted how much it softened his features. He truly was quite beautiful, in a rough, raw sort of way.
She peered up at Azriel, waiting until he looked down at her.
“You mentioned me and Cassian, but it’s not what you think. At least, not exactly.” He gave her a confused look. She decided to continue before she lost her nerve with this last-minute plan. She turned her gaze to Cassian for the briefest of seconds before looking back at Azriel.
“I don’t really know how to ask this properly, so I’m just going to go for it, I guess. I know you think we’re sleeping together and it’s some kind of secret. But honestly, we wouldn’t care to be secretive about just us. We’re adults. But, we wanted to be respectful of you in the event you were okay with this.”
She could see Cassian hanging on her every word beside Azriel, just as naive to what she was going to suggest. She took a breath before finishing in a low rasp, sounding way more confident than she felt. It was all for the mission, she told herself.
“We wanted to know if you’d join us, Az.” She watched as his eyes nearly popped out of his head, hurrying to finish. “I know, I know. Probably out of nowhere, but we agreed we would give you some time to think. And it doesn’t have to be an ongoing thing if you want to try and see how it goes. No hard feelings either way, seriously.”
She moved her gaze to meet Cassian’s, whose hazel eyes were also threatening to launch from their sockets. He mastered himself quickly, his timing perfect, since Azriel was snapping his head toward him.
”What the fuck is happening? What the fuck is this?” He was looking back and forth between them, begging for an explanation or an escape route.
Nesta feared that maybe she had made an executive call that Cassian wasn’t good with carrying through. To her surprise, he lifted one of his large hands to cup Azriel’s cheek, keeping his face turned toward him.
”Az, it’s okay.” He subtly rubbed his thumb over Azriel’s cheek, and Nesta had to bite her cheek to keep from giggling. “You don’t have to say anything now. It’s just... I trust you. And if I’m going to do this, it makes the most sense for it to be with someone who knows me like you do. Plus, you were first on Nesta’s list.”
She shot him a heated glare, knowing he was throwing her under the bus as revenge for keeping him out of the loop. She supposed she had earned that.
Azriel shot from his position, walking to the other side of the kitchen. He set his beer down and braced both of his large hands on the countertop. His head was hanging forward as he took deep breaths, and they heard him mutter a low, “What the fuck?”
Nesta and Cassian had both oriented toward him, their backs now toward the counter. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, Cassian with his hands in his pockets and Nesta with her arms crossed. She grabbed her drink she’d refilled earlier to take a sip before offering some to Cassian.
Ariel’s head lifted slightly as he fixed his gaze on the wall in front of him.
“Why do people always ask me to be part of their threesomes?” he whispered to no one in particular. Nesta and Cassian turned their heads toward each other, both of their brows raised in question. How often was this happening to Azriel?
He turned around to face them again, his brown furrowed in concentration.
“Az, don’t overextend yourself for our benefit,” Cassian joked. “I didn’t realize we were two of many.”
”Fuck off, Cass.” He rubbed his temples in impatience. “Can I ask, why me?”
Nesta didn’t miss a beat. They’d tortured him enough, and she was ready to reveal the truth.
“Well, seeing as you and Rhysand feel so comfortable as to insert yourselves into other’s affairs, we figured you may appreciate a front-row seat,” she replied dryly.
Cassian snorted a laugh and looked down at her with something like admiration. He bumped her shoulder with his for good measure.
“You’re messing with me?” Azriel demanded incredulously. Cassian broke out into a full laugh at that.
“Indeed. Nothing gets by you, Az,” he responded.
”We have been all day,” Nesta interjected. “You two were quick to lean in to your theory.” She couldn’t hide her laugh this time.
Azriel stood there, dumbfounded and speechless. His eyes scanned both of their faces and darkened as he noted their amusement.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You can’t just go around asking people to join you in threesomes!”
”Don’t be upset, man. You’ll always be my first choice,” Cassian teased.
Azriel’s eyes locked onto his, showing a strong promise of violence if this conversation didn’t change direction.
“Oh, stop it. Both of you. Cassian, stop antagonizing Azriel. And you.” She pointed her finger to where Azriel stood. “You think I didn’t know about you and Rhysand’s little theories about me and Cassian? All because we dared be nice to each other?”
She gave him a chance to respond. He didn’t.
“I’ve seen every single smirk you two have exchanged anytime we were within 10 feet of each other, so sure that you were right about us. We fed every bit of it to you on a platter, and you were too quick to believe what you wanted. Well, let this,” she gestured with her finger in a circle, “be a reminder that things aren’t always as they seem. And stop theorizing on your friend’s sex life. You know better than anyone that his arrogance would have him giving you the details for less than this.”
“Hey!” Cassian complained. “I’m on your side.”
Azriel lifted both of his hands in surrender, breathing a low chuckle before he spoke.
“I don’t know whether I’m more relieved by the truth or pissed off that you two did this to us all damn day. But either way, you’re right, Nesta. It’s really not our business, and we’ve been know-it-all little pricks all day long. I’m sorry. Truly.” He moved forward, holding out his arms in offer of a group hug. They accepted, Nesta gripping each of them around the waist and Cassian wrapping around both of their shoulders.
Just before they let go, Cassian nuzzled his face into Azriel’s neck, earning a curse from Azriel as he playfully pushed him away. Nesta threw her head back in a laugh, relieved, yet disappointed, that their game had come to an end.
——————————————————————————
Later that evening, what remained of their little gathering had moved inside to continue the festivities. Someone had suggested Twister, and Cassian had offered to referee and work the spinner. He was way too fucking big for this game.
“Right hand, blue!” he called.
He watched as his friends scrambled to find the closest blue space, bickering as if it were life or death. He laughed as he watched Rhysand and Nesta battle over the same blue space. The latter ended up sprawled on her ass by the time the turn was over. She huffed her frustration and landed a firm poke to Rhysand’s ribs before stalking over to the couch by Cassian.
“Cheap shot, demon witch,” Rhysand called after her. The masked affection in his tone was obvious, but she shot him a vulgar gesture all the same.
“Don’t be a sore loser, sweetheart,” he teased, as she plopped down on the couch next to him. “You got yours earlier tonight when Azriel filled him in on our ruse.”
“That’s totally different,” she insisted.
He called out the next position, watching intently for any foul play. He heard her quiet voice from next to him and had to fight the urge to turn to her.
“You know, I had a lot of fun with you today,” she said.
“I did, too. We made a good team,” he replied.
He rested a hand above her knee absent-mindedly, pulling it away just as quickly to flick the spinner for the next turn. Apparently, their day of shenanigans had lowered any reservations he had about making physical contact with her. His palm seemed to burn slightly where he’d touched her.
“Right foot, green!” he called.
She dropped her voice just a bit lower so that only he could hear over the mixed sounds in the room.
“Did it make you even a little curious? I guess all that pretending had me thinking of what it would be like if we...” she trailed off.
He couldn’t fight his glance at her this time. He took note of her bottom lip between her teeth and the slight blush across her cheeks. That was the second time tonight that he had been struck dumb by how beautiful she was.
He fought to turn his face away from hers to initiate the next turn. He called out the next position before answering her as nonchalantly as possible.
“Curiosity hit me well before tonight, sweetheart.” His heart thundered slightly at the admission.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she reached for his phone on the cushion between them. She handed it to him when she was prompted with the lock screen, and he mindlessly typed in his code. She worked for a second, locked his phone, and placed it back into its original position before reaching for her own.
He had to settle a disagreement between Mor and Feyre about hand placement before he was able to turn his attention back to Nesta. Why the fuck had he ever volunteered for this?
He unlocked his phone to see that his messaging app was open. There was an outgoing message to a number he didn’t recognize. Upon opening it, all the message said was, “Cassian.”
He glanced over at Nesta, watching as she stopped typing and locked her own phone. Within seconds, his phone vibrated with an incoming message from that unknown number. Nesta’s number.
He scanned the message, realization dawning on him within seconds. She’d sent him her home address followed by four simple words. “No pressure. No expectations.”
Before he could say anything at all, Nesta stood from the couch, reaching her arms over her head in a long stretch. His mouth went dry looking at the lines her body made as she did so.
“Alright, guys. It’s past my bedtime. I’m out,” she called as she blew kisses to her sisters.
She grabbed her things, slid her feet into her shoes, and made her way toward the door. She lingered for half a second to give Cassian a small smile. Just like that, she was gone, leaving Cassian to finish what seemed like it could be the longest Twister game in all of eternity.
——————————————————————————
Kind of already have a part 2 swimming around in my head for this one, so that may be a thing soon! 
Feel free to keep the prompts coming, and let me know if you have a particular pairing or mood in mind ☺️
If you’d like to be added to my tag list, you can comment, shoot me an ask, or reblog! I’ll be happy to add you!
Tags (Masterlist):
@polireader // @justgiu12 // @hizqueen4life // @sis-it-dont-add-up // @b00kworm // @bookstantrash // @gisellefigue08​ // @maastrash​ // @superspiritfestival // @girl-who-reads-the-books
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hxwks-gf · 4 years ago
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😩 I wish we were friends irl so I can make you some celebratory cookies for 1k!! You totally deserve it! 🥳
I hope I can do this matchup request correctly 😂.
Bakugou is my comfort character. I think I picked him bc I see myself in him but I'm not as aggressive as he is. I think we both tend to let our feelings come out in a more aggressive type of way. I don't like anyone else to bully my friends other than me as well, so I think that's another thing I we have in common lmao.
My favorite troupe is enemies to lovers (not sure why). It's just something about 2 people developing feelings for each other from butting heads a lot that's just so satisfying.🤌🏽✨ Oh and don't get me started on those relationships where the guy is an ass but has a SOFT SPOT for his boo!! 🥴 And his s.o has to like LEARN how to take care of him/understand him bc he doesn't know how to express himself (me too tho👀).
I'm short asf (5'0" to be exact). I am USUALLY a happy go lucky person and try not to let a lot bother me, but I also hide how I feel a lot. It's a reflex atp 😂. So usually I seem irritable and annoyed to others when they try to help me and I want to fix it myself (aka I know I need help but I don't want it). I love to help others! So ig my role in mha would be to heal people or help if ABSOLUTELY necessary (I'm not coordinated enough to fight fr fr). I've always thought about my quirk being something like a siren/telepathy type of thing. I alter other people's reality and disorient them if needed with my voice depending on my pitch or the melody of the tune.
Hope that's enough! Haha congrats again!
I WILL TAKE VIRTUAL COOKIES MY DARLING, THANK YOU SO MUCH 💞✨❤️🥺
hxwks-gf’s 1k follower event!  *✧・゚:*
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“Will you just listen to me for once?” you snapped, trying to step in front of Bakugo. “This is supposed to be a team effort, you know. You can’t solve everything yourself.”
Bakugo scoffed and side-stepped out of the way, turning his nose into the air. “Oh yeah? Watch me.”
You wanted to rip your hair out. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“Are you going to finish this rescue mission or not?”
“I’m trying to finish it, but you’re not working with me!”
Bakugo turned his back to you and continued walking, his footsteps echoing through the ruined building. “Either follow me or go back to the agency. I’m sure they’ll send another incompetent hero that will just whine and complain the whole time.”
“You’re an asshole,” you seethed, but you followed him anyway. “I thought you grew out of that shit after we graduated.”
“Shut up and let me work, will you?”
God, he was insufferable. You had known him most of your life and had accepted a position at his agency not too long ago, hoping he had grown out of his incorrigible attitude, but you were sorely disappointed.
The rumble of falling debris pulled you out of your thoughts, and before you could figure out where it was coming from, Bakugo was turning around with an expression of horror and shoving you out of the way. Senses regained, you quickly tumbled into a roll and safely got to your feet once the debris had stopped falling. 
“Bakugo?” you coughed, waving your hand in front of your face to disperse the dust as it settled. “Bakugo, are you hurt?” 
There was no answer. 
“Bakugo!” you called again, already feeling the panic setting in. “Answer me!” 
A moment later: “God, why do you have to yell so loud?” 
You shoved a piece of rubble out of the way and saw his face peeking out from beneath it, covered in dust and dirt. He blew some of it off of his lips and glared at you. 
“Are you going to help me out of here or not?” he snapped.
You rolled your eyes and gripped his hand, pulling him free in a waterfall of broken concrete and rebar. He dusted himself off and held up one of his gauntlets, dented from the impact. 
“You pushed me out of the way,” you said, staring at him. “You...saved me.” 
“Tch,” he scoffed, inspecting his bruised gauntlet closer and turning away from you. “Don’t go getting ideas.” 
“Bakugo...” You paused and bit your lip. “Thank you.” 
He looked up and scowled, but was unable to hide the blush that had crept into his cheeks. “You’re welcome. Dumbass.” 
“Are you always this insufferable?” 
“Are you?” 
“Are you hurt at all?” you asked, stepping closer to study his head in case he had gotten injured by the falling debris. Without thinking, you reached up and ran your fingers through his hair to get rid of the dust, as well as feel for any wounds. The entire time, Bakugo stayed completely still and just...stared at you. 
“What?” You dropped your hands and stepped back. “What’s that dumb look for?” 
“Nothing,” he muttered, lowering his eyes. “I’m not hurt.” Saying nothing else, he cleared his throat and gestured towards the rest of the building. “Let’s finish this.” 
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The rest of the rescue mission went by smoothly, and you found yourself back at the agency in Bakugo’s office watching the city skyline light up as the sun went down. You should’ve been focusing on the rest of the paperwork for the mission, but your mind kept wandering to the way Bakugo acted after you had touched him. Never in your life had you seen him stand so still, so quiet. 
“What are you still doing here?” Speak of the devil. 
You turned around and saw him standing there by the door, dressed in street clothes. “Finishing the reports, because I know you won’t do it.” 
Bakugo rolled his eyes and adjusted his scarf. “It’s late, (y/n). We can take care of it tomorrow.” 
“The HPSC will be up your ass if you miss one of these again.” 
“Goddammit,” he groaned, kicking at the linoleum floor, but he dropped his bag and sat on the edge of your desk, looking down at the stack of paperwork in front of you. “Fine.” 
“Lucky for you, all you need to do is sign them,” you teased, holding out a pen. “I already took care of the rest.” 
Bakugo blinked at you. “All of it?” 
“All of it,” you repeated, wiggling the pen. “Figured I owed you one after you pushed me out of the way earlier. Consider my debt paid.” 
“I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if you got hurt on my watch,” he muttered, staring at his feet. He noticed your dumbfounded expression and a furious blush colored his cheeks again. “Don’t get the wrong idea! I was just doing my job.” 
“Right,” you grinned, arching an eyebrow. “Will you just sign the reports, please?” 
He was at a loss for words, but reluctantly took the pen and leaned over the paperwork. You got up from your chair and pulled your coat on as he scrawled his name, picking up your bag and moving towards the door. 
“Oh, you’re walking me home, by the way,” you casually threw over your shoulder. You could feel his eyes burning a hole in the back of your head. “Is that a problem?” 
Bakugo dropped the pen and fought to keep his pace even as he caught up with you and flicked off the light. “No,” he growled, leading you out of the agency and into the chilly night air, not-so-innocently placing his broad hand at the small of your back. 
Maybe he wasn’t that insufferable. 
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mythiccheroacademia · 5 years ago
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Hi!! I don’t know if you’re doing requests rn but can you do a scenario with Kirishima, midoriya, Bakugou and todoroki learning dance moves with their s/o?? (The woah, milly rock, driving the boat, etc.)
 GIRRLLLLLLL 
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my first ask!!!! ayyeeeeee, what it do babyyyyy
k, i’m done but thank you sm for asking! and for future reference, i’m open for scenarios/imagines/anything lmao
i hope you like it! 
Characters: Kirishima, Midoryia, Bakugo, and Todorkoki
Warnings: a serious case of fucking it up (ass throwing as well??)
PG-13 
y’all, i couldn’t help myself hehe
A/N: the gag is, i was literally just turning up to my good sis Megan Thee Stallion and Rico Nasty so this should be fun
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Kirishima Eijrou:
the best hype man and dont @ me on it
It was after hours and, outside of U.A., the night was quite peaceful, for the most part. Most were tucked in their bed, fast asleep, but some of the young future heroes of Japan were wide awake. That included you and Kirishima. 
You spent the night showing him some of your favorite Western music videos. He recognized some of the long-time globally famous ones like Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, and Rihanna (who you both had a crush on). You had tried showing him the moves to Single Ladies and Super Bass, but he couldn’t quite get. 
“C’monnn, just jut your hip out more,” he laughed.
Kirishima made a face before dramatically sticking his hind up. You punched his arm to which he broke out in laughter. 
“Ahh, I’m just hopeless,” he shrugged.
You rolled your eyes. “No, no! You got the shoot, but you have to know more. There’s gotta be something.”
“What about him?”
You looked at the video suggestion he motioned towards, and your brows shot up in excitement.
“DaBaby! Of course!”
“DaBaby?”
“I’m about to change your life.”
It only took one watch for Kirishima to pick up on the DaBaby shoulder, BOP dance, and fist pound. He was a natural and went hard on it. 
*and his muscles looked real nice all flexed like that but that’s besides the point~* 
You two spent the late hours running through all his Albums and EPs, dancing and hyping one another up. It was so fun that you two ended up having to take a shower because of how sweaty y’all were. 
The fist to thigh pound was now you two’s celebratory dance each time one of you made an accomplishment.
You both passed a test?
DaBaby.
Won a team competition?
DaBaby.
Made it through a battle alive?
DaBaby.
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Midoryia Izuku:
i’m sorry but it’s like cannon this boi cant dance, but bless his heart, he really tries
You should’ve just sat down and ate your food, but, of course, you didn’t care about priorities when it came to tiktok. (just bear with me y’all)
It was an unhealthy obsession you wouldn’t admit to. You spent hours on it. Ochako had gotten you hooked on after she kept sending you tiktok dances to learn with the girls. It was fun though, especially since dancing was something you loved to do. You still kept up with your grades, so there wasn’t much harm in it.
But then, you made a mistake.
You were eating lunch with your boyfriend and watching a tiktok Momo had sent in your groupchat. The two girls in the video were dancing before they hit the woah on the beat drop. 
Izuku heard the music and looked over at what you were watching. 
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s these two girls dancing. They’re really good!”
You showed him the video and it was like he’s found his life’s purpose.
“W-what was that? At the end!?” 
“Uhh, it’s called the woah?”
“Do you know how to do it?”
“Yeah–”
“Teach me!”
So you spent the lunch period teaching him the move. It wasn’t very complicated, but you found that he had no sense of rhythm and flow. It took a couple YouTube tutorials and then some for him to decently grasp the concept. When lunch was over, he kissed and hugged you like you were his savior.
“Thank you for showing me! I must show the others!”
You were so confused.
But you didn’t know you created a monster.
That is ALL this man does now!
You’ll see him in the mornings. “Hey Izuku!”
“Hey y/n!” 
Hits the woah.
He answers a question correctly?
Hits the woah.
He answers a question incorrectly?
Hits the woah.
Beats Bakugo in a competiton.
Hits the woah.
Bakugo did not appreciate that. 
He downloaded tiktok and 80% of the videos are of him and/or someone else hitting the woah.
All Might has asked you if your boyfriend is going through something. You just pinch your nose. 
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Bakugo Katsuki:
won’t outwardly admit to knowing how to dance, but when the time comes, he’s ready for anything
also! i’m inlcuding african moves in this one, hope you dont mind
Sometimes, when you two aren’t doing anything in particular, you’ll try and teach him some moves. He’ll usually sneer about not wanting to learn and how dumb it was. You fake cry and he begrudgingly does it (bc when you cry he panics)
There are multiple snapchat videos of you putting on Shatte Wale or EL (Lomi) and you two doing the shaku shaku or azonto. You were surprised when he picked up other moves like dougie, lean back, and jerkin. 
The music was blasting in his room and you two were following the Walk It Out music video, dancing, copying what you could and just having fun with one another. At first, Bakugo was a bit stiff, embarrassed that he was even indulging in something like this, but he saw the happy look on your face and set a tiny bit of his pride aside.
Plus, you were actually kinda good and he wasn’t gonna let you show him up on something he knew he was good at. 
“Ayyee, okay Bakugo! You kinda lit!” you cheered.
The genuine praise made him blush. “I don’t know what you thought this was, but of course I can dance, idiot!” he exclaimed, trying to fight his sudden embarrassment with how into it he was getting. 
You laughed at him and he was about to cuss you out until you gasped.
Suddenly, your favorite song by Saweetie came on and your face fell into all seriousness as you broke out in dance. He sputtered when you sensually moved your body over to him, taking his hand and turning so your body so your back was to him. 
“Well if you’re so good, why don’t you prove it,” you challenged. 
He was confused until you circled your hips and he automatically followed your lead. Bakugo’s prior bashfulness left him and a proud grin spread across his lips, eyes half-lidded with desire. 
“Oh, bet.”
You bent forwards, hands on your knees as you threw it back on him–and he caught it just fine. This was his kind of dancing. He was a beast in clubs. (ofc you’re 18+). 
It wasn’t like it was anything new to him. You two have had many many opportunities to practice. 
When “Red Nose” came on, it was over. 
Well, the dancing was over~
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Todoroki Shoto:
hits the meanest milly rock and you cant convince me otherwise
*youre in an American club for this one and you all are most certainly 21+*
You two were overseas for a vacation. Well, it was supposed to be a trip for a business convention, and he was going as the next heir to his father’s company, but who wouldn’t use this as a getaway?
Plus, a chance to show your boyfriend where you come from?
And on Endeavor’s dime? Say less. 
You were going out to a club downtown with your Shoto and your friends and their partners. It would be a nice de-stressor for the long day you and Todoroki had handling business. 
At first, Todoroki was a bit hesitant. You offered to have a dance practice, but he softly declined. He wasn’t one to go out and you didn’t push it.
But then he saw you in that tight outfit, the one that makes your ass pop, and he grabbed the keys before you could. 
The sooner you went, the sooner y’all could get back home for the real party.
Anyway–
At first, you two are just standing and talking, enjoying one another’s company. You’re a bit tipsy when you’re friends drag you onto the dance floor and you let loose. Todoroki’s watching you with a soft smile and then talking to your friends’ partners before they prompt him to take a couple shots. 
He might be one of the fiercest heroes in Japan, but mans can’t hold his liquor.
He sees you dancing and can’t help but miss the way your body feels in his hands. You both make eye contact and he’s suddenly making a b-line for you.
*Big Ole’ Freak by Megan Thee Stallion begins*
Todoroki is working his hardest to catch all the ass you’re throwing, using his hands and the support from the people behind him. He won’t let his good sis Todoroki Tina down. 
He’s pretty damn good at catching.
Y’all are sin on the floor. So much so that your friends are HOLLERING. 
“FUCK IT UP Y/N!!!”
“LET’S GOOOO SHOTO”
“CATCH THAT ASS, BRO!!”
“BITTTCHHH!!!”
*Cue Pour It Up by Rihanna*
The music changes, and suddenly, both of you are facing each other, hittin’ the folks and slowing down the nae nae. Nasty Freestyle by T-Wayne comes on, and you guys are the center of attention.
Let me tell you…it was perfection.
The City Girls came on and Todoroki amps it up—you rapping the lyrics as he dances. (He loves the City Girls as much as he does Meg and hopes a woman scams his dad like that)
But you even lose your shit when Shoto starts to milly rock. He’s got the entire club hyping him up. 
The next day, you both are watching videos from last night. Your brows shot up in surprise at how natural he was. You both were kinda shook.
“I’ve never seen you dance a day in your life. Where did this come from?” you asked, a genuine pitch in your tone.
Shoto was just as clueless as you. 
“I have no idea.”
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wonderlustlucas · 5 years ago
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mistletoe? oh no! - im jaebeom
⇢ prompt Why do we kiss under a mistletoe when it’s a parasitic plant that steals nutrients from its host tree? ⇢ pairing jaebeom x female reader ⇢ word count 6.9k ⇢ genre fluff ⇢ warnings swearing. alcohol. suggestive make out at the end :D ⇢ summary Six months ago, you drunkenly kissed Im Jaebeom on a beach trip with your friends. Afterward, the awkward tension kept the two of you from ever having the ‘What are we?’ talk and eventually, too much time had passed for anything to ever happen. Luckily, Pollyanna and a stupidly placed mistletoe have brought your feelings to the boiling point.—friends to lovers!au ⇢ a/n happy new year’s my loves! as one last hurrah for 2019 & as part of @kwritersworld‘s holiday writing event, here is yet another idiots to lovers, christmas/nye au! here’s to a lovely new year, & new decade. i hope you all have a blessed, joyous, & prosperous year. i love you! ♥︎
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You once thought that you were an introvert.
You know— someone deemed shy, with a preference to keep to themselves rather than going out of their way to interact with others. Introvert. Opposite of extrovert.
It wasn’t until you were a senior in high school did you learn new definitions for these personality categories. An introvert—according to your philosophy teacher and a TED Talk speaker shown on the projector during class—is someone who, simply put, thinks of how they feel before speaking. Extroverts, on the other hand, only identify their true feelings on a topic after they have begun discussing it.
The lesson stuck with you. Albeit your perpetual reservation from others, you were always one to argue. Smart, excellent report card over the years— but found yourself blurting your opinion out at the first chance before fully thinking it through. Now, you concluded, I suppose I’m an extrovert if that truly is what it means. This knowledge, for some strange reason, gave you a token for change. If I’m an extrovert, you thought, I must start acting one.
Now, having just been accepted into law school, you think you have hit the nail on the head when it comes to meeting both definitions of an extrovert. Park Jinyoung, on the other hand, has his doubts.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Have you really thought about what this is gonna do to your life?” Despite the genuine concern laced in his tone, Jinyoung’s words make you wince. How he manages to suck the life out of a celebratory night out for drinks truly is beyond you.
“Yes, Jinyoung,” you groan, taking a desperate sip of your coquito like it’s really going to help against his insufferableness, “I’ve only been working for this for a few years, let me change my mind now.”
“You didn’t answer the question,” he counters, leaning in close enough for you to taste his Jo Malone fragrance on your tongue. You raise a skeptical brow at him. “Have you thought about what becoming a lawyer is going to make of your life?” His words are clipped and emphasized like he is speaking to a child, trying desperately to get his point across.
“I appreciate you looking out for me and my future, Jinyoung,” you sigh, reclining back in your bar stool because sitting that close to Jinyoung for that long makes your head dizzy, “but I promise you, I have thought about this. I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me, but it’s what I want to do. I promise.”
Jinyoung huffs, defeated, before tipping his wine glass back and chugging what is left like some sort of animal. Very not Jinyoung-like. “Well, then I guess there’s no reason to not celebrate with you,” he grins. Then, not even a beat later, “When are you gonna make time to marry Jaebeom and have a bunch of sexy little babies?”
“Aw, for crying out loud!” You howl, slapping a hand to your forehead before turning to him with a pointed glare and a pointed finger. “Okay, first of all, the fact that you used sexy and babies in the same sentence concerns me. And second, stop saying me and Jaebeom are going to get married! He doesn’t even look at me, how do you equate marriage out of that?”
“You mean, you don’t look at him. You guys had a great time when we went to the beach not even six months ago, saw each other half naked, shared a drunken kiss before bed, and then dropped all communication! What the hell is up with that?” Jinyoung has a habit of lecturing you like it’s his full-time job and it drives you absolutely insane because he’s always right.
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” you mumble, bringing your glass to your lips and taking a lengthy sip just to buy some time. “Come on, ___. My boy is out here drowning in unrequited love while you’re just all ‘Teehee! I’m a lawyer! Don’t talk to me when I’m doing lawyer tings!’ Cut the bullshit and let him take you on a date and blow your back out for Christ’s sake!”
You are physically unable to suppress your laughter, hand flying to cover your mouth and head thrown back at his comical outburst. He’s lucky you love him or else he would seriously regret that outrageously inaccurate imitation of your voice. He’s lucky you are tipsy enough to lose yourself in laughter and he’s especially lucky that he is correct, once again.
“Jinyoung,” you wheeze, letting out one more breathless giggle before flipping on the serious mode switch, “I would love to not only go out on a date with Jaebeom, but to date him. But things got awkward and so much time as passed that suddenly starting things up again would be weird. Don’t you think?”
“No!” Jinyoung yells. Half the people at the bar jump at the noise and turn to glare. You do just the same before shooting an older gentleman beside Jinyoung an apologetic look. “I just don’t think you’re drinking enough.”
“Yes,” then, a pause to ask the bartender for the check now that Jinyoung’s lectures are starting to put a downer on you, “that’s exactly it. I’m afraid to get drunk off my ass when Jaebeom’s around because I’ll do something stupid and either scare him off or bring him home and both are terrible options!”
“You’re no fun,” Jinyoung scoffs, “my two best friends, both pining after one another, but pulling the sixteen-year-old card and not talking to each other. Great! Just great.”
You laugh, hopping down from your seat and patting his knee once you have slipped on your coat. “Buy a mistletoe for the Christmas party and maybe something can be arranged.”
Jinyoung doesn’t find it funny.
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For the past six years, it has been tradition for you and your friends to have a belated Christmas slash New Year’s party where Pollyanna gifts are exchanged and an excessive amount of alcohol is consumed because, well, your friends are fun. For the past three, however, you have been holding said party at Youngjae’s house, because he is the only one who has a house and houses are infinitely better for parties than apartments. Plus, Youngjae is a gracious man who welcomes the company year after year. Can’t understand why he wants nine psychopaths in his lovely little abode, but that’s not your problem.
What is your problem is the fact that there actually is a mistletoe hanging from the ceiling fan in the kitchen. You’re going to kill Jinyoung.
You once thought Choi Youngjae was the coolest person to bless the planet. Now, you’re not so sure.
It’s the first thing your eye goes to upon entering Youngjae’s outrageously beautiful row home. Usually, you need a solid ten minutes to accept the fact that you will never become a model and have as many zeroes at the end of your savings as Youngjae, spending way too much time swooning over his grey vinyl wood floors and brick fireplace and white marble countertops. This time, however, while Jinyoung and Yugyeom do the whole bro hug greeting after wiping the snow from their shoes, you stand pressed up awkwardly against the front door, crockpot of buffalo chicken dip in hand, glaring at the stupid thing from two rooms over. Before you can turn an accusing finger to Jinyoung, Youngjae has turned to welcome you.
“You made it!” He cheers, flashing that thousand-watt smile of his and easing some of the tension that has begun to build up in your nerves like plaque. “Somehow, someway,” you return, relaxing into his embrace when he curves around the precious chicken dip to offer a half hug. “You need a drink,” Youngjae decides after having evaluated the lack of excitement in your response. Following after Jinyoung and Yugyeom, he leads you into the kitchen with a lively bounce to his step. “Bambam just finished making hot toddies, or you could be the first to take from our jell-o shot Christmas tree.”
He gestures to said “tree” on his dining table, a neatly stacked pile of green, red, and blue jell-o shots and you feel awfully terrible at having to ruin its perfected assembly. “It’s beautiful,” you muse, setting the crockpot on the counter and plugging its cord into an outlet, “it would be my honor to have the first one.”
“___!” Hollers Jackson as he slides open the door from the back patio and enters the kitchen, Maggie filing in after him. He must have joined her for a smoke outside. He proceeds to do a little dance shimmy as he makes his way over to you. “Jackson, my love,” you grin, squeezing him into a tight hug after he slaps a messy kiss to your cheek. “How are you, Miss I-Got-Accepted-Into-Law-School?”
That is going to be the topic of discussion for the night, it seems, and the heat of an embarrassed blush works its way up your neck at the realization. “I’m good. Really good, actually,” you say, directing your attention to Maggie who slips around Jackson to tuck into your side, “definitely not as stressed as I was. The holidays are a nice break from everything.”
“We’re all so proud of you,” Maggie hums, leaning her head on your shoulder.
“Seriously, congratulations, again. You deserve it,” Jackson praises, reaching to squeeze your cheek. You swat his hand away in fear he will mess up the foundation you spent way too much time applying.
“Thank you, guys. I’m glad someone is happy for me,” you grumble, directing a cold glare to Jinyoung who, somehow, has already managed to fire Yugyeom up.
“What?” Bambam interjects, jumping into the conversation now that he has made his way into the room. “Didn’t you guys go out when you got accepted?”
“Yeah,” you sigh, smiling to the very expensive looking boy, “but he’s more worried than excited. Thinks I’m not considering how becoming a lawyer is going to affect my future, the stress of it, having a family, but…”
Maggie scoffs. “God, he sounds like your dad.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Ugh! Everyone, shoo! Why are we all in the kitchen? Go sit in the living room,” Youngjae hisses, grabbing Bambam by the shoulders and shoving him out of the room. Bambam makes a sound of protest, gesturing dramatically to all the food and the pot of hot toddy still on the stove.
“You can come back when there isn’t an entire crowd in here,” Youngjae counters, slapping a handful of jell-o shots into his hands, “I made Yugyeom promise to not eat all of ___’s dip, you don’t need to worry.” Bambam grumbles in response, stumbling after the others and you follow suit with a laugh.
Pausing just before the living room, Bambam stops to pass everyone a shot. “Here’s to Christmas and getting Jaebeom and ___ to kiss under the mistletoe.”
“Stop!” You whine, just as the rest ‘clink’ their cups and shout, “Cheers!” Nevertheless, down the hatch the jell-o goes and you glare at them all once they are done.
“Oh, speak of the Devil,” Yugyeom snickers just as you have ran ahead to crash down on the sofa, stretching your legs out across the chaise. Rolling over off your stomach, you turn to watch Mark, Jaebeom, and Shelby arrive, one too many gift bags and bottles of wine in hand. “Oh,” Maggie whispers from beside you, elbow nudging into your side, “look at your man.”
Funny thing is, you already are. To give you the benefit of the doubt— you were already watching the trio stumble into the room anyway, but it just so happened you stopped at Jaebeom. Before things between you got complicated, when you were just friends, he always had a way of stealing the oxygen from your lungs. Now is no different.
Dressed in black slacks, a white tee tucked in and a baby blue blazer to top it all off, Jaebeom looks nothing short of marvelous. He’s been growing his hair out, too, the black waves curling down to brush his cheekbones, screaming to be combed through with your fingers. And oh Christ, you can’t even begin to talk about the nose piercing. In the midst of your swooning, Jaebeom looks up after having deemed his sneakers clean enough to walk through Youngjae’s home, scanning the room before conveniently landing on you. The blush on both of your faces is instantaneous, hardly a second of maintaining eye contact before the embarrassment burns too hot and you turn away. Still, you can’t fight your smile.
Neither can he.
“Now the party’s started!” Mark hoots, swinging two bottles in the air like he’s asking for disaster. “Hurry and put everything down so we can play something,” Yugyeom whines from his seat across the room, pushing Jaebeom’s butt to move faster. “Patience is a virtue, Yugyeom,” Jinyoung comments, throwing a Hershey Kiss wrapper at him.
“Absolute children,” Maggie mutters. You hum in agreement.
“Do you wanna play the alphabet game?” Bambam proposes, earning a groan from Jackson. He hates the game, despite how often you all play it, claiming it takes too much brain power for a party.
“Yes! I’m down,” Shelby shouts anyway, having returned in time to hear Bambam’s question. To Jackson’s misery, you all agree as well.
“Youngjae!” Bambam shouts, waiting for him to yell back. “Grab the peppermint vodka when you come in! We’re playing the alphabet game!”
The way you all play most likely has deviated from the original rules of the game, but it works and it’s fun. Sitting in a circle, you go through the alphabet, naming something in a certain category that begins with whatever letter you’re on. For example, if you were doing fruits and were on the letter W, you could say watermelon. But, the person to your right is counting to ten, and once that time is up, you have to take a shot and the letter moves on to the next person until someone gets a word. Sounds easy, until you’re three shots in and not even halfway through the alphabet.
With Shelby collapsing down between Yugyeom and Jackson on the love seat, Youngjae on the armchair by the fireplace, and Mark on the bean bag brought down from upstairs, you realize with a rising sense of panic that the only possible seating for Jaebeom is by—
“Hey,” he says, tapping your outstretched legs, “can I sit here? You can keep your legs stretched. I don’t mind.”
“Oh, sure, sure!” You squeak, jerking to sit up and to pull your legs to your chest. However, just as he sits, he grabs your ankles to tug them back. Hesitantly, and with an appreciative smile sent his way, you hesitantly lay your legs over his lap, his arms comfortably rested over them. Oh, fuck.
Swallowing hard and trying to ignore the way your heart flutters in her chest, you turn back to your friends where the game is just starting.
“Okay, I’ll start since I’m in the middle,” Mark announces, readjusting himself in the bean bag to sit closer to the coffee table, “Yugyeom, you count. Actually, you don’t need to, I already have my word. A, as in artificial tree.”
“One word, idiot,” Youngjae scoffs, smacking the back of Mark’s head, “take a shot. Yugyeom, you go.”
The younger boy pales, panicking when Mark does as he is told. Then, he blurts, “A as in angel!”
“B as in bells!” Shelby shouts.
“C as in… Christmas,” Jackson says with a wink.
“D as in December,” Jinyoung hums nonchalantly.
“E as in eggnog!” Bambam cheers.
“F as in…” Maggie pales, trailing off. In your head, you start to count, while simultaneously trying to think of a holiday word that starts with F. “Festive!” She shouts suddenly. “Oh, shit, um… G as in… gingerbread?” You huff, relieved.
“H as in holiday,” Jaebeom says with a soft smile. All eyes are on Youngjae as he stares hopelessly at the ceiling. “I, as in…”
In your head, you count alongside Mark. “What the fuck starts with I?” Youngjae hisses, slapping his knees anxiously. The silence is deafening until Mark shouts with a sadistic grin, “TEN!” Youngjae hangs his head low before reaching for the bottle. Ironic, because Mark can’t think of a word, and neither can Yugyeom, Shelby, or Jackson. Jinyoung grins at their expense until it’s his turn. “Icicle,” he says without a beat.
“That’s not Christmas-y!” Yugyeom whines, hands thrown up dramatically. “Can you think of anything better, stupid?” Jinyoung fires back, evidently shutting him up. Poor Yugyeom, he can never win.
“J as in Jesus,” Bambam says with a laugh.
“K? Bruh, you gotta be joking,” Maggie sighs, throwing her head back against the sofa, trying to concentrate. “Ten,” you sigh sadly even though you counted to fifteen, patting her knee and Youngjae passes her the bottle. “Um, K as in…” Christ, you can’t think of anything either. Kris Kringle? No, two words, fuck.
“Ten!” Jaebeom chuckles, squeezing your calf and you quickly take a swig with a wince. The round goes all the way to Shelby, who happily yells, “Kings!”
The game drags on, keeping you all at the edge of your seats by the time U and V come around. When it comes to W, everyone has had one too many shots to be able to think quickly enough to come up with wreath. Except for Jinyoung, of course. You give up on Z, deciding there is no such word and you all let out a relieved breath at the game’s conclusion. “Does this mean we can eat now?” Jackson mumbles, far too gone for a party that has only started hardly an hour ago.
“Yes! I’m ravenous,” Bambam groans, helping his friend stand. Together, they’re the first to make way into the kitchen and you’re surprised Youngjae doesn’t chase after them to make sure they don’t knock anything over.
“Well,” Jaebeom yawns and you are suddenly mortified to realize that your legs are still casually stretched out over his lap. “That was fun.” Swinging your legs away and moving to sit up, you nod in agreement. “Very fun. Love watching you and Jinyoung outsmart us every time.”
“Hey,” he frowns, elbowing your arm now that you’re sitting upright beside him, “nobody could think of tree for T, but you did, so shush.” You turn to give him an unamused look. “That’s because Jinyoung was overthinking, and Maggie and Bam drank too much,” you laugh, standing with a stretch. Jaebeom raises an eyebrow. “What?” You ask, unsure of what that look means.
“Why does your snowman have a cape? Oh—” he starts, lifting the fabric attached to the winking snowman on your ugly sweater to find a carrot penis below the three buttons. Jaebeom breaks out into laughter, face scrunched up and head thrown back and it consequently makes you laugh, too. Well, if there was any person that was going to ask first, you’re glad it was him. “Was not expecting that,” he chuckles, wiping the tears that have accumulated at his eyes before rising to stand and oh, suddenly you feel so small with him standing so close to you like that. God, he’s beautiful, you admire. Without thinking, you brush away a tuft of hair that has fallen over his eye, just to see your favorite pair of moles. It isn’t until rosiness blooms across his cheekbones do you realize what you just did.
“Sorry,” you rush breathlessly, taking a step back and turning to make sure nobody saw that. Luckily, only Shelby and Yugyeom remain, too busy cozying up to one another to notice. “___!” Maggie shouts from the kitchen like some godsent angel whose purpose is to save you from awkward moments. “You have to come see this!”
You shoot Jaebeom an awkward smile before swinging around him and making a beeline for the kitchen. Idiot, you scold yourself before taking a deep breath and bringing a smile to your face. “What?” You hum, leaning your head on Maggie’s shoulder. All it is is a SnapChat story of someone you went to university with, a picture of an engagement ring, but you are beyond grateful she called you in. After she stops to take a selfie with you, you navigate around your friends to start a pile of food on your plate, everything from dim sum (thanks, Jackson), grilled pork belly, kimbap, bulgogi sandwiches, spaghetti (thanks, Jackson, part two), and, of course, tortilla chips with your buffalo chicken dip. Big plate for big brain.
Despite the crowdedness, thankfully you are able to avoid standing anywhere close to the mistletoe once Jaebeom enters the room only a few moments later. Finally making your way to the dining table, you let out a sigh of relief now that you don’t have to worry about anything looming above. Of course, your friends have a different idea.
“___,” Maggie purrs just as you have set your plate down, gazing at you expectantly and fluttering her lashes.
“What do you want?”
“Could you get a water for me? There’s bottles in the fridge. Pleeeaaase?” She sings. You wave her off, having already turned around. Can’t be mad at her, honestly; you forgot to grab something for yourself to drink, anyway. Pulling two bottles off the shelves and nudging the refrigerator door closed, you’re just trying to grab a potato chip from the bowl on the counter when Mark rounds the corner and trips over his own feet, coincidentally falling towards you but when you step back to avoid the red wine sloshing in his glass, Jinyoung has suddenly appeared behind you and you stumble over his foot.
It’s a good plan, you think, expecting Jaebeom to catch you like some fucking knight of shining armor and steady you just below the mistletoe, but unfortunately for them, you’re quick to reach for the counter and Jaebeom has literally just turned around in his search for silverware. Regaining your balance against the cabinets, you do not miss the group’s combined groan of disappointment and can’t help but triumphantly grin. “You okay, Mark?” You ask, spinning around and suppressing a laugh at the ‘please don’t kill me’ look in the older boy’s eyes. “Yep,” he coughs, stepping to the side as you brush past.
Dinner is tense, to say the least. Maybe it’s just you. You’re annoyed, beyond so, at your friends’ lack of maturity. Relatively speaking, yes, they are trying to help push you and Jaebeom in the right direction, but their ways of operation lack any beneficial qualities. This is your problem, and you have to deal with it yourself.
You stay quiet, for the most part, occupying your thoughts simply on eating and the approaching excitement of Pollyanna. When you all picked out of a hat a little over a month ago, you initially panicked at Bambam’s name looking back at you on the folded piece of paper. As it turned out, buying gifts for him ended up working out; first, you found matching sweaters for him and his cats, then a travel set for his Bleu de Chanel cologne, a mermaid blanket he had found an Instagram ad for and wouldn’t shut up about, and finally a gift card to his favorite Thai restaurant. What’s more exciting is finding out who has your gifts. Plus, everyone did incredibly well keeping quiet this year, managing to make it all the way without slipping who had who.
Unfortunately, your irritable emotions aren’t done for the night. After finishing your much needed, sobering meal, your goblin friends are prepared to have you and Jaebeom beneath that mistletoe if it’s the last thing they will ever do. Trying to clean up before everyone really gets trashed is an absolute nightmare, everyone taking part in the scheme of leaving just the two of you in the room, nudging him your way, asking you to help Jaebeom do this, help Jaebeom do that. It only gets worse once he realizes what they’re trying to do, curving around you like you have the plague and each time you make eye contact, you contemplate fleeing to the bathroom just to scream.
After what feels like ages spent in the stifling kitchen, you migrate back to the living room to finally, finally open gifts. Good riddance, mistletoe. At everyone’s look of general disappointment, you let out your umpteenth relieved sigh of the night and collapse back into your precious spot at the sofa. You know you’re getting old when you have only been out for two and a half hours and you’re already exhausted.
To make matters worse—or better, you can’t really tell at this point—Jaebeom also sits back down beside you. You can tell he’s anxious; he’s gone back and forth between picking at his nails and a scab on his jaw for a while now and you almost want to say something until you remember how deliberately he dodged you in the kitchen. Maybe, just maybe, a part of you had hoped he would have taken the opportunity and kissed you himself. Why would things ever be so simple?
“Alrighty, friends,” settling into his chair, Youngjae beams. “Let’s get this party started. We’ll go in the same circle as before.”
In turn, Mark flashes that boyish smile of his and leans across the table to pass a bag and small box to Jinyoung. “Ooh,” the younger boy hums excitedly, “thanks, Mark.” Next, Yugyeom hands Jackson a bag, Shelby slides a big box to Youngjae, and, breaking into a fit of laughter, Jackson ends up giving a bag right back to Yugyeom. Jinyoung passes Maggie her gift, and when Bambam rises to hand Jaebeom a hefty bag, you can’t help but miss the way he glances sadly to you before smiling gratefully at his friend and engulfing him into a hug. Suddenly, it dawns on you that there are only three other people left, and watch with an impending sense of dread as Maggie walks across the room to give Shelby her gift. Two left.
Grinning excitedly, you lean over to pass Bambam his gift bag, earning a smile in return bright enough to put the Sun out of business. Now, the moment you all have been waiting for.
Sucking in a deep breath, you turn to Jaebeom, sending all prayers to God that he will rise to hand Mark the bag in his hands.
The universe laughs.
“Ugh,” Jaebeom groans, grinning like a Cheshire cat, “you’re so far.” He places the gift bag, which, is surprisingly heavier than expected, on your lap. “Thanks, Jae,” you manage, smiling fondly at him. Behind him, Youngjae drops a box by Mark’s feet, but by now everything around you has faded into the background, leaving only you and Jaebeom floating in the midst of it all. Even though he has turned away, you can’t stop staring at him. Why’d it have to be him? What are the chances? God, something tells you you’re going to fall in love by the time the night is over.
It isn’t until the tearing of wrapping paper registers in your mind do you snap out of it, coming back to reality and quickly redirecting your attention to opening your gift.
There’s a lot to unfold here, you think with a racing heart, removing the tissue paper and finding three separate items inside. You go for the small box first. It’s a jewelry box, no doubt, but this doesn’t keep the butterflies in your stomach at bay once you lift the beige lid to reveal a rose gold bracelet, diamonds in the pattern of a constellation. There’s a small card attached to the lid, too, and flipping that over you read that it is the constellation for your zodiac sign. “Jae,” you whimper, lips curling into a pout and he laughs at your touched expression. “This is beautiful.”
“Shh! Open everything first,” he hushes, waving you off and returning to his own gift.
Sucking in a deep breath, you do as you’re told and reach for the much larger box. Tearing open the wrapping paper and lifting the lid, you find a glass dome atop a wooden base, and inside is a beautiful red and gold rose with little fairy lights surrounding it. A Beauty and the Beast replicate, without a doubt, and it is so stunning you wish you could lift the glass and feel the fake rose for yourself. A man of taste, without a doubt.
Last but not least, you grab the envelope and excitedly tear it open, because envelopes mean one of three things: 1) a card 2) tickets 3) money, all unlikely options when it comes to Pollyanna.
Well, maybe not, because inside are two passes for the art museum up in the city. “Dude,” you kick Jaebeom’s ankle and stammer out, “how did you? When did you?”
He laughs. “You mentioned wanting to go a few months ago, and I didn’t think you ever got a chance. You haven’t, right?” He sounds worried. “No, I never got to go,” swallowing past the desert dryness of your throat, “thank you, Jaebeom. Everything is so beautiful.”
“Of course, ___,” he smiles, reaching for your hand and even though it’s only a gentle squeeze he gives you, it has your heart doing somersaults. “Anything for you.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. You are going through some serious torture here and still won’t make a move!
Everyone is extraordinarily jovial after opening gifts. With Christmas music filling the room with cheer and one too many drinks being mixed, holiday charades and pin the nose on Rudolph are played with high spirits and excessive competitiveness. The night is fun, without a doubt, and you try to ignore the way your friends are still trying to get you and Jaebeom under the mistletoe no matter how annoying it may be. Why can’t they do it to Yugyeom and Shelby? Sure, everyone knows they fuck but neither of them have the balls to officially ask the other out, so why are you the one targeted? Jaebeom didn’t ask for this, either.
“Fuck!” Youngjae groans when Maggie makes her shot into their cup for jingle bell beer pong. Since freshman year, you and Maggie have fought back and forth for the champion's title against Youngjae and Jackson. With this being the second win against them for the night, you get to wear the label proud until next time. “Oh, yeah, baby!” She shouts, doing a funky celebratory dance before jumping to give you a hug.
“I’m a disgrace to the Chinese community,” Jackson cries—literally—before squatting to bury his face in his knees.
“HA!” You laugh mercilessly, jumping along with Maggie in triumph. “You guys are so mean,” Mark chuckles, walking away from their own losers’ championship to see what all the commotion is about. “Just to Youngjae and Jackson,” Maggie defends, gesturing to the pair having a drunken meltdown together. You hum in agreement.
“Yugyeom and Jaebeom are playing Jinyoung and Bambam. It’s pretty intense,” Mark explains, blatantly sarcastic when you glance curiously to the other table. “They’re all so drunk, they’re literally just throwing bells at each other.” He holds up one such bell that must have strayed away from the game. You laugh, hugging your jacket closer and watching Yugyeom begin to twerk when he finally makes a shot.
“My God,” Maggie snickers, shielding her eyes and turning away from the scene to comfort the still depressed Jackson.
“So,” Mark starts, “you and Jaebeom, huh?”
You groan. “Me and Jaebeom, what?”
“I mean, those gifts he gave you were pretty cute. What’s it gonna take for you to ask him to go to the museum with you, hm?” He purrs with a rise of his dark brows. Shit, he does have a point. Why else would Jaebeom give you two passes? To bring one of your other, definitely less artsy friends to go with you?”
Mark simpers at your speechless self, knowing he’s trumped you.
Sucking in a deep breath, you hold the cold air in long enough to gather your scrambling thoughts before releasing a heavy exhale with absolutely no change to how you feel. “I’ll try,” you grumble, “why can’t he make the first move?”
Mark lets out a dry laugh. “___, are you serious?”
“Huh? What—”
“He’s been making the first move for months,” he interrupts, shaking his head at your textbook definition denseness, “you’ve just been curving him the entire time. I know you’ve been busy with law school stuff the past few months, but come on, now. You have to grab him before someone else does.”
If it weren’t for the chill of the air keeping your cheeks and the tip of your nose cold and ruddy, you know the color would have drained from your face. Embarrassed and in desperate need for some space, you quickly turn away to look in the direction of the house, where Coco scratches at the backdoor.
“I, um, I’ll be right back,” you say, voice small. Heart hammering in your chest as you jog up the steps and across the small deck, it isn’t until you have slid open the door to let Coco out and closed it behind you do you let out a shaky sigh. “Jesus Christ,” you hiss, shaking off your jacket and slinging it over a chair before moving to cower in the corner. Reaching for what little tortilla chips are left, you anxiously take the lid off your chicken dip and begin shoveling mouthfuls into your mouth. Is it true? Have you really been the one dodging Jaebeom all this time? Sure, everyone always says it, especially Jinyoung, but it has seemed like Jaebeom has been curving you, too.
Maybe he has just been giving up.
This makes your head hurt, you think, bending down to rest your forehead against the counter. The fucking gifts, man. Mark is right—the bracelet, the rose lamp, the museum tickets. How did he remember that small detail you mentioned… when did you even mention it? You can’t remember, yet he did! Jesus, all this time you’ve wasted being an absolute clown over this. You’ll have to do something about it. Tonight, you decide, looking to the clock above the stove. 11:12 PM. Forty-eight minutes until New Year’s. You’ll kiss him, and that’s when you will—
“Ahem.” Behind you, someone clears their throat and it quite literally feels as if you have jumped out of your skin. “Jesus Christ!” You jump, spinning around with a heart thumping in your chest. Your heartbeat only mildly slows once you realize it’s only Jaebeom. OnlyJaebeom, yeah. “I didn’t even hear you come in.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he says, chuckling awkwardly. “Did I interrupt something?”
You wince, beyond humiliated he caught you mid-pep talk slash breakdown. “No, no. You’re fine, I was just, um…”
“Catching a breath?” He finishes when you trail off. Maybe he’s not so drunk, after all.
“Yeah,” you whisper, looking to your feet.
After a long moment of silence, Jaebeom clears his throat. “Listen, ___, I… I’ve been meaning to talk to you, and—”
“Wait!” You interrupt before your brain has even caught up. His eyes widen in surprise at your sudden excitement. “I need to tell you something, first.”
“Ohhh ‘kay,” he laughs nervously, stepping closer to lean against the counter beside you and his proximity suddenly makes it very hard to breathe, let alone figure out what you want to say.
“I don’t know where to start. Okay, um, first, I guess. The gifts you gave me? Amazing. Probably one of the best I’ve ever gotten. So thank you, really,” you start, rushed and out of breath. Jaebeom hums, lips tilting into an amused smirk. You don’t miss how he leans just barely closer. “Second. Mark was just talking to me, and he said something that just… fucked me up. Apparently, I’m good at school but not at catching when someone actually, truly likes me.”
At this, Jaebeom’s curiosity has peaked and his heartbeat starts to mirror your own. “I don’t know how this happened. I know we kissed over the summer, and you have been my friend for years but all of a sudden, I realized that I like you. You’re like, one of my favorite people in the world. But then things got crazy busy and I told myself I needed to concentrate, but for fuck’s sake, I’m still head over heels for you after all this time. And Mark said that if I don’t stop curving you, soon you are going to find someone else and, Jesus, I don’t think I can live with myself if I let you slip by.”
Somewhere in the middle of your ramble, Jaebeom has pressed himself to you and curled a finger through a belt loop in your jeans to keep you there against him. Even up close, he is so unbearably handsome, nose still beet red from the cold, lips cracked and face left unshaven. “So,” he whispers, raising his free hand to cup your face, “are you ready to finally stop running from me?” You offer a tiny nod, nuzzling into his hand before, “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Can you kiss me?” Jaebeom doesn’t waste any time bothering to answer, tipping your chin up to meet his lips. Jaebeom’s kiss is soft, just a drawn-out peck but it’s enough to drop kick your sanity right out the door. “Tastes like buffalo chicken,” he whispers with a smile, just barely pulling back. Just as soon as he has stopped, you are fisting your hands into his jacket and tugging him back, greedily opening his mouth with yours and whimpering against him once he has caught the hint and slackened his jaw to deepen the kiss. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but kissing Jaebeom leaves you breathless, limbs weak kind of drunk on his taste and leaving you desperate for more.
“Jaebeom,” you sigh dreamily, arching into him when he drags a hand down your spine. “Fuck,” he whispers, pushing you further against the cabinets and mindlessly gyrating his hips with yours. Hands brushing past your ass to grip the back of your thighs, he orders, “Jump.” You do as he says, allowing him to help you onto the counter and you distantly pray someone doesn’t walk in on you, especially Youngjae. He’ll murder you if you knock something down.
“Can’t believe you’ve kept me waiting all this time when you kiss like that,” Jaebeom mutters, kissing along the length of your neck and groaning against your skin when your hands brush along the waistband of his pants. “Never met someone who wears an ugly sweater and still manages to be the hottest one in the room.”
Your breath hitches when his hand slips beneath your sweater, fingers brushing just over your bra and leaving fire in their wake. “Impossible,” you huff, wrapping your legs around him to pull him impossibly closer, his involuntary thrusts brushing deliciously against you, “when I say the same thing about you.” Jaebeom chuckles, returning to your mouth and cradling your jaw to meet him. You could do this forever, you think, nails digging into his arms when his hand cards through your hair and he kisses like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do.
“God, I can’t do this when I’m not sober,” he sighs, leaning his forehead against yours and you can’t help but smile at the soft gesture. “Me too,” you admit, reaching to play with the soft hair at the back of his neck, “we can do this whenever now, though.” Jaebeom chuckles, leaning back to admire you before placing a much softer kiss on your lips. “Does that mean you’ll go out on a date with me?”
“Well, yes, of course,” you grin, sliding off the counter and cupping his face, “I meant what I said. I can’t bear the thought of not giving us a chance.”
“It’s about damn time,” Jaebeom teases, earning a light punch to his arm. “Hey! I’ve been stressed out of my mind. I was blind when it came to seeing you flirt with me.”
“I’m kidding, ___,” he chuckles, “I’m glad it took us until now. It’s a good way to start off the year, knowing I’ll meet my New Year’s Resolution and be able to bone you sooner than later.”
Your eyes widen at his words, warmth instantly blooming its way up your neck when you glance to the growing tent in his slacks and he lets out a triumphant laugh. In the midst of your embarrassed flush, the back-door slides open and none other than Jinyoung starts shouting, “Where the fuck have y’all been? Oh— shit! What happened?”
Then, not a heartbeat later, “Kiss! KIIIISSSSSSS!”
“KISS!” Maggie screams, bouncing behind Jinyoung and it isn’t until you look up do you understand. Of fucking course— the stupid mistletoe.
“Shall we, m’lady?” Jaebeom asks, voice laced with amusement. You quirk a brow at him, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him closer.
“We shall.”
·
·
·
Not even three hours into the new decade, Jaebeom has already met his New Year’s Resolution.
936 notes · View notes
generallybarzy · 5 years ago
Text
smile like sunshine
Introduction: ~7,600 words
mat barzal series
summary: A lot changes in ten years, and a lot changes when someone grows used to having constant attention, fans, and fame- so surely the boy you knew back then was long gone. Even if you had been the closest of friends that one month back in 2008, there was no way he remembers you, or even wants to talk to you anymore...
an: Here it finally is!!! I know, I know, it's super long. I was gonna split it up, but it made more sense to keep the intro in one part for the backstory and setting up the main plot and then have the rest of the story on the beach. I really hope this comes together like I want it to!
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From the moment you first saw him, you knew you were going to be best friends; but what you could never know, at only nine years old, was that you were going to fall head over heels in love with him one day.
Looking back now, he was adorable as a child, but that wasn’t what your little nine-year-old mind was thinking at the time. All you were focused on back then was the sheer awesomeness of that sandcastle he was building and the overwhelming amount of loneliness that was overtaking you on what was supposed to be a fun, month-long family vacation. He was just a boy, caked in sand from crawling around on his hands and knees to construct what you thought back then was the most complex structure of architecture in existence, and you were just a girl, your desperation for a friend to play with outweighing your shyness. Your parents seemed too busy with the new babies to pay attention to you, so you had to find someone else to hang out with, and here was this boy. You had approached him hesitantly, just really wanting something to do and someone to play with other than your annoying siblings, hoping that he wouldn’t turn you away.
“Did you make that?” Your first words to him were spoken shyly, hesitant, and had him looking up at you, squinting from the sun through his dark locks of hair.
“Yeah.”
“All by yourself?” He nodded again, looking proud. “It’s awesome!”
“Thanks!” He glanced back to his work for a second before pushing himself to his feet and offering you a sand bucket. “You wanna help?”
“Yes, please.”
“Cool.” He smiled brightly, showing off a missing tooth, and you smiled back, it was impossible not to with how full of sunshine this boy seemed to be. You followed him out towards the water to scoop up some wet sand. “I’m Mat.”
“I’m (Y/N).”
It was really that simple to become friends. You soon came to find that Mat was really funny, one of the funniest people you’d ever met- and still to this day you couldn’t forget how green his eyes sparkled in the sunlight while he was laughing, even if he was just laughing at his own silly jokes. The two of you slaved away at building your sandcastle in the hot sun and laughing at each other’s jokes for what seemed like hours before your parents came over to find you playing with a new friend. Your parents and his talked- about nothing you cared about at that age- while you and Mat sat with your feet in the water, eating ice pops and getting sunburned without a care in the world.
You still thought back to that month to this day. It was still one of your happiest memories: those hot watermelon and ice pop summer days giving you sticky faces and hands and sunburnt skin, eating ice cream on your tenth birthday and skipping along the pier next to him with your moms chatting behind you, collecting shells and messing with crabs together, being splashed with seawater and laughing even though you wanted to be mad at him. That was your happy place.
One conversation you remember distinctly from later that month was when you and Mat were sitting on the beach, sifting through the sand and collecting shells. Well, you were the only one actually collecting shells; Mat thought it would be funny to sit there and throw little crustaceans at you and make you shriek. Eventually, a hush had fallen over the two of you, and Mat spoke up. “I’m gonna be in the NHL one day.”
“The what?” Mat laughed at you, but you genuinely didn’t know what he was talking about. You laugh at yourself today, looking back.
“Do you know what hockey is?”
“Duh. My dad watches it.”
“I like to play hockey. I’m going to as a job one day.”
“That sounds cool!” Your young mind couldn’t even comprehend having any adult job, let alone knowing at this age what you want to do for the rest of your life Obviously, Mat was a boy who had plans. “It looks dangerous, though, do you get hurt?”
“I don’t really get hurt much.”
“I bet you’re good at it, then.”
“I am!” You smiled and laughed with Mat and leaned over your pile of shells to hug him, the deepest form of showing affection you knew at that point.
“I’ll come to see you play one day. I promise.”
Remember when life was so simple that a sandcastle was all that was needed to spark the beginning of a wonderful friendship, even if it only lasted a month? Remember when we didn’t have to worry about grades and work and money and taxes? Sometimes you wished you could take yourself back to that month, so you could have a distraction. You’ve been looking for a distraction like Mat had been all your life- while your parents fought from the other room, while you stressed over tests in school, during heartbreak after heartbreak, while you dealt with pressure taking standardized tests or getting your first job, or moving to New York City alone only weeks shy of your 20th birthday during the summer before you started college. Every now and then you would forget about that summer, but the moment you’d stress over something, your mind just drifted off and daydreamed of that lighthearted smile, and those shining green eyes, and you hoped he was happy wherever he was.
Mat.
Damn it, you would have tried years ago to google him or something if you knew his last name, or even where he lived. Unfortunately, those aren’t topics of interest to children, so they never popped up in your conversation, and neither your mom or dad seemed to care enough to remember what they talked about with his parents, probably too busy fighting all the time, you mused.
The fall after you’d moved to New York for college, your roommate Amy, who was extremely welcoming and always made you feel at home, decided to introduce you to the sports teams of the city in an effort to get you out of your apartment and away from your work. It was just your luck, you realized later, that she was especially into hockey. You were vaguely familiar with hockey, your dad used to be a huge hockey fan in your youth, but stopped many years ago in the midst of your parent’s marriage practically falling apart. Now he only watched it occasionally, a few years behind on who was up-and-coming. “Hey, might as well learn the sport. Maybe one day you’ll reconnect with that boy from your long-ago summer romance!” She spoke teasingly, lightheartedly, always loving to hear the sweet story of your childhood best friend who had slipped away and may have disappeared forever. She was always one for cliches. You had told her many things about your time with Mat, but never used his name; no, that felt too personal, as if he was a secret for only you to know about.
“Oh, come on, Ames!” You laughed, but you couldn’t help but hope. “We were, like, ten! I don’t think that qualifies as romance.”
“Maybe not, but the way you describe him… If you would’ve met in your teens, that story would have ended with some cute, awkward first kisses.” She loved a good love story, and you smiled and shook your head. Yeah, honestly, you wish you’d known him later in your life.
“Yeah, maybe.”
So, eventually, she took you to an Islanders game, letting you borrow a blue hoodie of hers from her large collection of NHL merchandise so that you would look like more of a fan. You sat through the game with her, excited and interested and eager to learn as she kept pointing things out to you to help you understand the game. Despite it being an NHL game, you hadn’t thought of the boy that sparked your interest in the sport all night, until, about halfway through the game, you saw a name mentioned overhead.
Mathew Barzal.
You knew it was nothing. Literally nothing. There are plenty of other people named Mathew, idiot. But you couldn’t help the soft spark of memories in you. You pushed it out of your mind and went back to the game, even though something, just something was nagging away in your head. When you looked up to the screen above the ice, you caught a glance of the name again. Mathew, spelled with one ‘T’.  A vivid memory pops to your head- you and Mat tracing your names and other words into the sand with sticks, just for fun, because that’s what entertains a ten-year-old apparently.
“I’m gonna be in the NHL one day.”
Mathew. One ‘T’. NHL. You knew it wasn’t that big of a deal, plenty of people probably spelled it that way, and you were probably grasping at straws, but hey what were the odds? A hockey player, Mathew. If only you could get a good look at the guy. Or… or something. You probably wouldn’t even recognize someone after ten years of not seeing them; you could hardly recognize ten-year-old you in photos! In your head, Mat was still eleven years old. Honestly, was there even a way to figure out if it was him or not? Ask him if he happened to meet a girl on a family vacation a decade ago? Yeah, and when would you get the chance to ask a professional athlete such personal questions?
...Well, tonight, apparently.
As you left your seats after the game, everyone happy and celebratory after a win, you almost had a heart attack when Amy grabbed your arm and shrieked. “Oh my God, oh my God, (Y/N)!” She pointed to her phone in shock, and you still couldn’t tell what she was reacting to, but calmed down, realizing it probably wasn’t life-threatening.
“Holy shit, Ames, are you trying to kill me?”
“Listen, listen.” She calmed down a bit, letting out a small laugh. “So let's just say someone I know, knows somebody,” You laughed a bit, knowing this was gonna be some new interesting gossip. “And they know where the players are going out to celebrate tonight.” She sent you a suggestive, winking look.
“No way. You want to go and… interact with them? Professional athletes? Us, talking to professional athletes?”
“I mean, yeah. Are you telling me you don’t want to flirt with a hockey player?” She saw the look on your face and shook her head. “Or! Or not even flirt. Just talk. Get a picture with them, or a signature? Or just let me talk and you can wave to them. I can promise you they’re all pretty nice to their fans.”
“You sound as if you’ve talked to them all before.”
“No, only one. And it was more of me talking and him saying ‘cool, cool.’ while he signed my jersey. But I always hear that they’re really sweet.”
“Well,” you thought for a moment. It would be pretty freaking cool to try and befriend a professional athlete, or even just pretend for a night that you knew them. You definitely don’t go out enough, you hadn’t really been to many bars- you had only turned 20 a few months ago and couldn’t drink yet, so what was the point? In fact, you’d barely left your tiny apartment since moving, and even though you weren’t one for bars or clubs, you were in New York City, for fuck’s sake! Might as well go out and live, right? “Alright, let’s go. But if we actually see them, you have to be my wing-woman.”
“Oh, hell yes.”
The bar you were going to wasn’t far from the rink, and according to a google search of the place, it didn’t seem too sleazy or gross- that was good. Of course it’s not sleazy, why would someone as rich as a bunch of professional athletes go to a sleazy bar? Because it was only a little further than where you had parked, the two of you walked together. As it settled in your head that you might actually see professional hockey players tonight, you started feeling a little nervous. Partially because you’ve never been in a place with that many famous people at once, but also because of the name that was still circling your brain.
“Hey, so I’ve had something on my mind because of this game.”
“Oh yeah?”
“You’re gonna think I’m completely crazy, but listen.” She looked up with a face, ready for your story.
“Give it to me.”
“Okay, so... this kid I told you about, that I met that summer? His name was Mathew. Spelled with only one ‘T’, I remember that clearly.” You laughed a bit, wondering how crazy you must have sounded to her. “And he told me he was gonna play in the NHL, right?”
After a second, you saw it click in her head. “No fuckin’ way. You think it’s Barzal?”
“Ames, I don’t know, I don’t know! There are plenty of Mathews who play hockey, right? But maybe he doesn’t even play hockey after all. Kids aren’t great at choosing their career paths, ya know? I just never learned his last name. I need his age or... something to identify him with.”
“He’s… like, 21, I think.”
“Yeah?” You paused. Why was this all actually matching up? “Yeah. So ten years ago he would’ve been eleven.”
“Holy shit, hoooolllly shit.”
“But I’m sure there are plenty of Mathews who are 21 right now.”
“Girl, holy shit. Look up a picture of him right now. If you had a summer romance with Barzy, I need to know immediately.”
“Okay, it still wasn’t really a romance, but same.” You pulled out your phone and typed his name into the search bar. “I don’t even know if I’ll recognize him after ten years.” Immediately after you opened the images tab, the first thing you noticed about him was the hair. Dark and thick and kind of wavy and looking extra soft in a few pictures, it did remind you of your Mat- whose hair had been full of sand and salt water and kept drying softly as he ran around in the sunlight- but you still couldn’t be 100% positive. It was after you scrolled past all the on ice pictures where you couldn’t really see his face well behind the helmet and found a picture of him- unstaged and off the ice and genuinely smiling- that you felt a strange spark ignite inside of you. Sunshine. His smile felt like sunshine. Maybe. Just, maybe.
Scrolling through other photos, your eyes caught one in particular. You opened a close up of his face and zoomed in a tiny bit more. Those eyes, shining all pretty and green in the sunlight. You could never forget them- not after ten years, and not after a hundred. His eyes, his chin, even the size of his goddamn nostrils, all the tiny, stupid details in his face… was this actually him? “Biiiitch....” Amy leaned closer to you and bumped shoulders with you in acknowledgment.
“What? Do you recognize something?”
“Kinda, yeah. It’s so weird.”
“So you think it’s seriously him?”
“I don’t know. But the last picture of his smile, I’d recognize that smile anywhere and… this. His eyes- that eye color…. I remember thinking it’s so pretty… even his fucking nostrils, Amy!” The fact that you took note of his nostrils might have been funny at another time, but you were currently having a crisis as to whether or not you were once friends with fucking Mathew Barzal.
“Yeah, I mean, they’re kinda big…”
“I… I don’t want to say that I think it’s him, that might just be me being too hopeful. But...”
“Holy shit. You might have been Barzy’s friend at one point. You could reconnect with him, and we could hang out with the players!” You shot her a look, and she knew to calm down. “Sorry. Alright, whether or not it was him, I’m still gonna get you to talk with him tonight.” You hadn’t realized that you had basically arrived at the bar, and you felt your heart start pumping you full of nerves as she opened the door. “You have my word.”
The bar wasn't too crazy- there was music playing overhead and that weird hazy bar feeling lingered in the air. Immediately you could see that there was a celebratory group of of tall men, some standing at the bar talking with each other, others talking with girls- some shared wedding bands with the women they were talking to, their wives apparently. So you figured those were the players. 
 “I can’t believe it.” Amy was still in shock next to you; you were too, but you needed to pull it together. “You and Barzal…”
“Well, we don’t actually know yet.” You pulled her into you by the elbow. “But please please don’t mention that to them, I don’t need them to think I’m crazy before I even talk to them.” She nodded back, but before either of you could comprehend what was happening, somebody- obviously one of the hockey players- seemed to catch her eye as they came into view near the bar. “A player you like?”
“Anthony Beauvillier.” She pronounced his name with an obvious swoon and you laughed. Oh, so this was that favorite player that she kept talking about. “Tito. Yeah. He’s cool.” She nudged you, smirking. “Oh! And he’s besties with Mat! I bet I could get him for you.”
“You? Talking to them?” As much as Amy liked to talk and wanted to meet the players, you knew she wasn’t the type to just go out and throw herself into conversation with somebody, and you knew she easily got tongue-tied- that’s where the two of you were most similar. But maybe it was just the fact that she was trying to help you out that gave her the boost of confidence to begin chasing after him. “Hey, actually, maybe we shouldn’t bother them. I’m sure they’re tired of dealing with fans.”
“We won’t pester them or anything. I’m sure they’ll see we’re not like, crazy crazy fans. Anyway we have a mission.”
“A mission?”
“Operation… I don’t know, Operation Find Mat Barzal for (Y/N).”
“Wow. Creative.”
“I know.” She laughed and smiled at you reassuringly. “Come on, both of us need to learn to be more assertive, don’t you think? We’re not annoying them, just telling them we think they’re cool, and maybe getting a picture. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.” There was nothing you could say before she was- to your horror- reaching out and tapping Anthony’s arm. You were sure you looked nervous as he turned to look at the two of you, and your friend started rambling with a big starstruck smile on her face. “Hi, uh yeah. You’re cool.” You weren’t only feeling embarrassed yourself, but also for her. “I’m a big fan!”
To your surprise- or maybe not, he seemed like a sweet guy- he smiled back at her, and you almost melted under kinda his blue eyes as he looked between the two of you. He thanked her as she complimented his performance tonight and motioned to the phone in her hand. “You want a picture?”
“Yes please!” You took her phone for her to snap a couple of pictures of the two of them, glad that this guy seemed so chill and friendly. After the picture was taken, Amy still didn’t let him leave, no, to your absolute horror, she motioned to you. “My friend here, (Y/N), tonight was the first game she’s ever been to.” You could feel your cheeks heat up when he looked over at you, but couldn’t help but smile back up to him. Oh, he was kinda really cute...
“Oh yeah? Hope you enjoyed it.”
Oh. Oh, he was actually talking to you! “Yeah, yeah. I didn’t understand everything that was happening, I’m still learning, but.. it was still really fun!”
“Actually,” you felt Amy’s arm fall across your shoulders, and you looked over at her. God, what was she planning now? “(Y/N) happens to be a big fan of Barzy.”
“Oh God, Ames stop…”
“And I’m sure she’d like a picture with him. So if you could, I don’t know… point her in his direction, please? If he’s here? And if you think he’s got time for it?” You were in the middle of burying your red face in your hands in embarrassment when you heard him laugh goodheartedly.
“He wouldn’t mind. He likes talking to his fans.”
“Really?”
“I’m sure he’ll be especially happy to meet a new fan. He loves the praise.” All three of you laughed a bit, and you couldn’t believe that you were currently chatting with an NHL player. He looked behind his shoulder for a moment, before moving aside and motioning to the bar. “He’s over at the bar somewhere, by himself for the moment. Better hurry before someone else beats you to it.” There was a certain lilt in his voice, was… was he teasing you? You smiled- but it probably looked pretty nervous- and glanced over to Ames.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” She winked at you and nudged you in the direction of the bar. “Go!”  
You bit your lip to hold back the growing smile at the thought of getting to talk to him, whether or not he remembered you at all. You looked up at Tito with a quick “Thank you!” before snaking around him and finding your way to the bar.
It didn’t take you long to notice him- he had a recognizable face, and you’d recognize him anywhere after looking at pictures of him for the whole ten-minute walk from the rink to this bar. He was standing at the bar, drink in his hand, and scrolling through his phone, a lock of dark hair drooping onto his forehead. His skin looked so golden in this light, as if he was back under the sun on a hot summer day- and it gave him a striking resemblance to the boy you knew ten years ago. There was something so different about seeing him in person rather than as a photo on your phone- it sparked up a weird feeling inside of you. If this was really him, it had been ten years since you last saw him, and a lot changes in ten years of somebody’s life. It may have been a strange thought but, wow, puberty really hit him in all the right places. He looked… wow. His cheekbones, his jawline,…. Okay, maybe it was kinda thirsty- ogling him like this- but you couldn’t help it.
Not only had he obviously changed physically, but he might be a completely different person. He was a professional athlete now- why would he need you anymore? That much attention changes a person. He might not be as kind as he was back then at eleven years old, he might not want to be friends with you or reconnect.
That is, if this even is him.
You swallowed down all your nerves and slid up next to where he was standing.
“You really made it to the NHL, huh?”  No shit he made it to the NHL, you thought. What the fuck kind of conversation starter is that?  It was a painstakingly slow moment as he directed his full attention away from his phone and towards you, and could practically feel the shot of confidence and adrenaline draining from your body when his pretty, confused eyes met yours. Oh, they’re a lot more light brown than they are green, you noticed, and you wondered if maybe all your memories of his “dazzling, gleaming green eyes” were wrong. You realized how strange you must look to him- you were just a random girl, approaching a super successful, let alone attractive, professional athlete at a bar. He probably thought you were trying to get a drink off of him or get into his pants for the clout.
Maybe you were expecting him to look up and immediately recognize you after ten years and sweep you up into a hug like in the movies, but it certainly didn’t seem like that’s what was coming.
“Yeah…?"  
He looked confused- his eyebrows furrowed up a bit as he looked you over, sizing you up or checking you out or just trying to figure out why this stranger was approaching him about his career choices. Suddenly, you found it difficult to hold eye contact. Of course he didn’t remember you. Who needs to remember their one-month-long friendship when they’re busy getting into the NHL? This was really starting to make you feel pathetic for holding onto the memory of your super short friendship for so long.
Well, you officially wanted the floor to open up and swallow you. Right now would be great. "Okay… that probably sounded really, really strange if you don't remember me. Or if it’s not even you. Umm, we hung out together in 2000 something…. 2008? The summer of '08?” You laughed awkwardly, trying desperately to lighten the mood. “We were, like ten, eleven?" He still said nothing, just watching you with a strange, unreadable look in his eyes. Oh god, you wanted  lightning to strike you dead, NOW. Literally anything would be better than standing here waiting for him to say something, anything! Even if he just says 'Who the fuck are you?' It would be better than silence. The silence was humiliating. "Okay, I’m so sorry. I probably got this all wrong and look like a weirdo." Right as you started to back away to run to find Amy and get the hell out of here, he held out a hand.
“Wait, wait!" His eyebrows shot up as if he couldn’t believe something, his outstretched hand reaching back to run through his hair. "Holy shit. Is it… (Y/N)?"  Your heart almost stopped right there, the moment he said your name, either that or it was beating so fucking fast you couldn't feel it. He said your name. Your name. He knows your name.
"Yeah.” You watched his face relax into a gleaming smile. Like sunshine. It’s him. You knew it now. “So I’m not crazy? It's… it’s actually you? Mat?"
"It's actually me." For the first time since you set foot in the bar, you felt yourself relax completely, and although you hadn’t had any alcohol, you felt all warm and fuzzy inside. Jesus, it was actually him. You crossed your arms on the bar and lay your forehead down on it. "Sorry, I just, it took me a second. I should have recognized you sooner.” You laughed a little bit into your arms at the sheer craziness of the situation. He still had that same warmth to him, the way he was always able to make you feel happy and safe, like when he distracted you on the beach while your parents were yelling inside or when he went too far trying to scare you with crabs and had to hug you and promise you he’d protect you from them.
“I can’t believe this.” You lifted your head to look back up at him, and he had a wide smile spreading across his face. “We actually ended up in the same city ten years later without even knowing each other’s last names.”
“Holy shit. Ten years? I feel old. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday.” Your heart soared at the idea that he still thinks of you- of the fun you two had together that summer. He took a sip from his drink, going quiet and just staring at his glass with a smile.
“You still think about it?”
“Sure, sometimes. I wonder how you’re doing, and where you ended up. I guess you ended up in New York.” He looked back up at you, eyes catching yours and gleaming all honey-hued golden brown and sending butterflies straight to your stomach. You could barely contain yourself, it didn’t matter that this was Mathew fucking Barzal you were talking to because to you he was still just your Mat, and that was even better. The sandy little boy with scraped knees. You couldn’t help but imagine how many people would kill to be in your position right now.
“I guess I just thought you would have forgotten about that summer, considering how successful you are now and stuff.”
He shook his head, smiling softer and reassuringly. “C’mon. I could never forget about that. It was my favorite summer to date.” He extended an arm and dropped it across your shoulder, pulling you in closer- no closer than two friends should be, but much closer than you ever thought you’d be to someone of his "social rank". It wasn’t any closer than you’d been in the past, but you were children back then. Now, you were young adults with hormones. He was a man. You would be crazy not to notice how warm and built he felt under his hoodie from obvious years of playing hockey, and there were dirty thoughts spinning around your head as soon as his large hand dropped to your arm and the dizzying scent of his cologne hit your nose. “You want a drink?”
You blushed and stuttered, shaking away any indecent thoughts. “Uh, I- I can’t. Yet.”
He seemed confused for a moment before laughing. “That’s right! You're a year younger than me, right? Aww, you’re still a baby. Can’t even drink yet.” He ruffled your hair gently, careful not to actually mess it up, and called the bartender over and asked for a glass of water, making sure to let him know that you weren’t old enough to drink yet. You could only laugh, remembering how much he loved to tease you back then. He obviously hasn’t changed in that department. “Ya know, you could’ve just DM'd me or something as soon as you found me. You didn’t need to dramatically approach me in a bar.”
“Well, I did kinda only find you tonight,”
His eyes went wide with a smile. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, like an hour ago. Listen...” You launched into your story as to how you came to realize that your long lost friend was NHL star Mathew Barzal, and how you didn't actually know who he was as a player. He actually listened intently, unlike any of the disappointing boyfriends you’d had in the past. Man, whatever girl he gets is gonna be lucky. “I wasn’t sure if it was you or not. I spent the entire walk here looking up pictures and trying to decide if I actually recognized you or if it was just my brain being hopeful.”
“Wow. I guess I’ve changed, huh?” He rubbed a hand across his face, still smiling that stupid, beautiful smile that made you all nervous, and your eyes followed, tracing over the familiarity of his features- from his eyes up to his hair and down to his chin, maybe lingering for a second too long on the way his lips looked so soft and tender right now, curled up at the corners into a little smirk.
“Not that much, actually.”
You hadn’t realized how intimate that moment seemed until he caught your gaze, smiling cheekily, and you were pretty sure he knew you were just checking him out. “Lucky for you, you got to skip past my awkward teenage years.” He lightened the mood, poking fun at himself like he knew how to do. Brushing the hazy hot feelings out of the air and blaming them on the rush of meeting your childhood friend after all these years, you reached for your water in order to cool the fire inside of you and the blush on your cheeks.
“Oh, I’m sure I would’ve loved to see that.”
You and Amy were over the fucking moon when you went home that night. You had exchanged Instagram handles and said your goodbyes to each of the men you had been talking with- she claimed to have been talking to Tito for the rest of the night and honestly, you’d believe anything at this point, after learning that your childhood romance- ahem, friendship- was with Mat Barzal. It took everything in you not to shriek like crazed fangirls. As soon as you got out of the bar, the realization finally hit you that you finally found Mat, and meanwhile, Amy was starstruck, having spent the night actually talking to NHL players and actually holding solid conversation.
“Holy shit please tell me everything! Right now!”
“Ames…” You could have told her what it was like to talk to him, disregarding anything in your past, the way he listened intently and made you feel like the only person in the world when his eyes were on you. You took her hands and looked into her eyes seriously, “Ames, we were right.” Okay, so much for not shrieking. Your friend threw her arms around you, jumping up and down for you. You couldn’t blame her, everything that happened tonight was crazy.
“You’re telling me that the kid you hung out with at ten years old has evolved into the one and only Mathew Barzal? Did he remember you?”
To be honest, it had taken everything in you not to try and drag him home with you or go home with him. He was intoxicating in all his warmth, the way his nose scrunched up, and his eyebrows arched when he smiled. The way he threw his head back when he laughed. The scent of his cologne had buzzed around your senses all night, clouding your judgment and making you want to say “fuck reconnecting as friends” and jump him right there. In fact, it still lingered around you after being pulled against his chest all night, and part of you wondered if it was the alcohol in his system, though not enough to make him drunk, that caused him to wrap his arm over your shoulder. If you had maybe harbored a tiny crush since your summer with him, it was heightened times 100 because of tonight.
You could tell that reconnecting with him- and eventually becoming friends again- was going to take a lot of self-control if you were gonna feel like this the whole time.
“Yeah. And he wants to catch up tomorrow. He said he’d DM me.” Amy was in the middle of shrieking in joy for you when, as if on cue, your phone buzzed in your pocket, and the first thing you saw after opening it was a message.
barzal97: Get home safe :)
“Girl, he loves you!” You laughed and shook your head as she shook your shoulder and patted your back, “You snagged yourself a hockey player!”
After you left, Mat didn’t see any reason to stay out longer. He almost couldn’t believe it- had someone slipped something in his drink? Was this just a dream? But then he opened Instagram and scrolled through your Instagram momentarily after DMing you and stopped on a picture of you and your friends, it was clear- he’d found you. You’d found him, more like. After ten goddamn years. It felt like a movie. You still had the same vibe, he could feel it in him the moment you were beside him. What was it…? Familiarity. Warmth. Comfort. Nostalgia. Whatever it was, it was you. After taking a moment to reflect on everything that had just happened, he was quick to finish his drink and find his friend, wanting to head home and prepare for his little meetup tomorrow.  
As he was heading out the door with Tito, Mat knew he needed to confide in somebody. “You’ll never guess what happened.”
“Does it have something to do with that girl I sent over?”
“(Y/N)? You sent her over?”
“Yeah, I was talking with her friend. I noticed she didn’t come back after going to look for you.” Mat noticed the suggestive tone in his friend's voice and felt his face go pink at the thought of hiding away in a bathroom to make out- and maybe more- with you.
“No! Nothing like that. She was my friend when we were kids.” He had a serious look on his face, and Tito knew that Mat wasn’t kidding about this. “Really. We have a crazy story. We met ten years ago on vacation. We hung out for a month, and I haven’t heard from her since. I didn’t know her last name or anything, and she didn’t know mine, so it’s not like we could look for each other. But she found me.”
“Wow. She just said she was a fan.”
“Well, wouldn’t you think they were crazy if they told you that story.”
“It does sound like a movie.” He laughed a bit, patting Mat’s back. “So, what’s the deal with her now? Friend? Do you liiiike her? Do you like-like her?” The teasing tone in his voice didn’t go unnoticed.
“What are we, in middle school?” But he still shrugged, sighing. “I don’t know. We’re going out to catch up tomorrow.”
“Ooh.”
“Shut up.” He went silent for a moment, wondering over his question. Did he like you? He wasn’t sure. “Ya know, she’s with me in almost every photo from that summer. That’s how much we were together.”
“Well, if you guys hit it off, you should date.  I don’t need a competitor for best friend.” It was a joke, Mat knew and smiled at it, but he honestly couldn’t shake the idea of dating you. No, no, he’s only feeling this way because he hasn’t seen you in a while. It’s nothing but a bunch of resurfacing memories.
Hopefully, anyway.
The two of you really did hit it off the next day. And the next. And the next. And the next. You still got along just as well as you did when you were young, and maybe even better, now that you were adults and had more interesting things to talk about. He was funny, even funnier than he was as a child, and despite your original thought that the fame of being in the NHL must have changed him, he was actually kind of modest and shrugged and smiled with a pink flush on his face when you brought up his accomplishments. It was easy to be with him. He could talk and talk about his life and still keep you comfortable, inviting you to tell your own story, gushing over accomplishments that felt so small to you.
And that one catch-up date ended up being months and months more of friendship.
Friendship with Mat was one of the best things that ever happened to you. He was the ideal friend, he listened to you and kept an eye on you and pushed you out of your comfort zone when it was necessary. He loved hearing you talk about things you enjoyed and tried his best to find joy in your hobbies, even if he thought some were funny or boring. He was sweet, endearing, teasing. And it wasn’t long before he began bringing you out on casual outings with some of his personal friends, gushing and getting really into telling the story of how you were separated for ten years and reunited by maybe fate, maybe luck, who knew.
The only problem was that you wanted him to kiss you.
You wanted him to kiss you when you went out with him and Tito and Amy on Christmas, singing carols together and teasing him, asking him to sing louder because you loved the sound. You wanted him to kiss you on New Years, when you stood hand in hand in Times Square, shivering and smiling with red cheeks, but instead settled for a hug. You wanted him to kiss you after returning from his first All Star game in January, you wanted to congratulate him on being an All Star, because he spent so much time praising you and you wanted him to know he was just as amazing. You wanted him to kiss you when he was drunk on his 22nd birthday, all red-faced and giggly and dancing in the nightclub with a red solo cup in his hand and that stupid snapback on that made him look like a frat boy but suited him so well. He was hugging you to his side with one arm and, even like this, you were just praying that he would lay a messy, drunk kiss onto your cheek.
You just wanted his lips on yours. So, so bad.
But despite that, behind Amy, who was still holding onto the title of best friend, he was always the one you went to when you needed comfort or a companion or a distraction, or just to talk about certain things. Things like this.  
A week after his birthday, seven months into your friendship, you showed up at his door without warning, slumping against the doorframe when he opened it. “I have a problem.”
“With showing up unannounced? Yeah, I know.” He was joking and smiling, but maybe you missed it with how stressed you were. When you didn’t respond, he must have noticed the tired, strained look on your face and his happy expression dropped. He let you into his apartment, snaking an arm around your shoulders and pulling you into his chest. It wasn’t an odd thing in your friendship, he was always a touchy guy, especially when you were down, and you always welcomed it. He pulled you over to sit at the island in his kitchen and sat across from you. “What’s wrong?”
“I got a voicemail from my parents today.” You were already pulling out your phone to play the voicemail for him. Ever since that one month on the beach eleven years ago now, you and your family had been going back every summer for a week, up until four years ago, when you suddenly had a summer job and couldn’t afford to take a week off. You missed the beach, sure, but you definitely didn’t miss the way your parents would always find a way to argue and fight. Now, they were calling you and asking if you could come along this year.
“I think I’m missing the problem here. What’s so bad about a beach trip?”
You sighed and lifted your head. “Well, I want to go, and I already got my boss’s okay to take that week off. I really miss the beach. But my family is just… so overwhelming sometimes. I could try to hang out alone the whole time, but I’ll go crazy before the week is over.” There was a pause as Mat leaned back in thought, considering his options. Was this crazy? Was he crazy for doing this? Definitely. But, fuck it, ya know?
“I can come with.”
You scoffed. "No way, I'm sure you have other plans."
"Not really. Not that week." He saw the look on your face, and he really didn’t want you to have to deal with your family all alone for a week. "Look, I'll pay for my share of the trip, and I won't bother anybody." You laughed. There's no way Mat could go a week without bothering anybody. He laughed along, glad to see you happy. "Seriously. If you need somebody, I'll be there."
And that was it. That was how you ended up on a beach trip with the one and only Mathew Barzal, eleven years after you first met..
The first few hours of the trip down were blurry. Your family, in true vacationer nature, decided that all of you, your parents, siblings, you and Mat, should carpool together. So, at 8:00 AM, you loaded into the car, your parents up front, obviously, your younger twin siblings behind them so they could be monitored, and you and Mat in the very back. This was definitely a bad idea, 100%, but you couldn’t help the giddy feeling that sparked up inside of you when you told your family you would be bringing a boy along. Or the feeling you got when you looked at Mat sitting next to you, looking worn out and sleepy after six hours of travel-rest stop-travel-gas stop, with four more hours of travel left and suggested he try to get some sleep. You slept through the rest of the day, only waking up for bathroom breaks and rest stops, until eventually, you woke up around six in the evening with your head on Mat’s shoulder and his body angled towards yours, snoring softly and looking ever so soft.
“Mat, Mat wake up.” You shook him gently, laughing at the way he was drooling a little bit. He blinked his pretty eyes open and looked around, a little dazed.
“Are we there?” His sleepy, mumbling voice was so cute.
“Technically, yeah. But we can’t get into the rental house until tomorrow morning. So we found a place to sleep.” He groaned, his eyes slipping shut in protest, and showed no sign of moving from his seat. “Come on, you’d rather sleep in a real bed than this car, right?”
Those words had him slipping out of the car, his eyes half shut and holding your hand loosely, dragging his feet the whole way as you led the way to your shared room. He looked so cute in this outfit, grumpy and soft in a tee shirt and shorts and his hair looking extra messy. There was nothing you wanted to do more than sleep, but one detail had you stopping in your tracks as you opened the door.  Your parents had paid for three rooms- one for them, your siblings, and you and Mat- and of course, since your parents hated each other and apparently can’t stand to sleep in the same bed anymore, you and Mat got stuck in the room with one bed. Mat didn’t seem to care though, as he dropped his slides by the door and immediately collapsed in the bed, falling asleep almost immediately after mumbling for you.
“C’mon, (Y/N), get in...”
As you dropped down beside him in bed an appropriate distance from him and tried to ignore the sleeping beauty beside you, you began wondering if this whole trip was a bad idea. No, no way, you quickly pushed that thought away. This was Mat, your Mat, and you’re actually on the beach again with him. You fell asleep that night with a smile on your face, listening to the soft snores of the man beside you and trying to imagine what your week had in store for you.
Realistically, there's only one thing you can predict about this trip- it’s gonna take a lot of self-control.
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