#i know we’d go bowling every weekend

[pawsandreflect]

i just want sleep

[dreamwritesimagines]

Sunshine [3] - Downpour

AN: My loves, thank you so so much for your wonderful support and lovely comments and HCs! ❤️ You're amazing! ❤️

I hope you like this as well, and please don't forget to tell me what you think, thank you! 🥰

Thanks to @chibi-lioness for beta reading!

Pairing: Logan Howlett x Female!Reader

Summary: Evening rain comes out of nowhere.

Word Count: 4540

CW: Smoking cigars, explicit language

Series Masterlist

Fine.

Maybe you did have a crush.

And maybe the said crush was taking over all your thoughts to the point that you could barely focus on anything other than him, but that was completely normal.

Just like you and your best friend analyzing every single second of your interaction with your crush was completely normal.

“He actually lifted your car?”

You nodded your head, filling both her glass and yours with wine before tucking your legs under you.

“With one hand,” you said, leaning back to the arm of the couch. “He did that with one hand.”

“And you didn’t jump his bones right then and there?”

“No but I may have rambled about going to jail if the car fell on him and also not knowing who would take care of Theo.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?” she asked with a scoff. “I’d take care of Theo. We’d come to visit you every weekend.”

“Thanks Julie.”

“I’d even sign you up for those inmate dating websites.”

You blinked a couple of times. “Uh, no thank you.”

“Hey, if you accidentally kill the ridiculously hot mutant guy—”

“Logan.”

“Yeah, Logan. If you accidentally kill him, you might as well exchange some dirty letters with someone else.”

“Can we please focus on the fact that I actually have a crush on him?”

“We absolutely can,” Julie grinned, swirling the wine in her glass. “Aw look at you! It’s cute.”

“It’s not cute!” you whined, slipping a little on the couch. “Julie, I talk absolute nonsense whenever he and I cross paths.”

“Babe, I mean it in the best way possible,” she said and motioned at your face. “I doubt any guy really listens to any word coming out of your mouth when you look like this, so you’re fine.”

“So not true,” you stated and sipped your wine. “I mean either way, it’s not like anything could happen between us so I’ll just, you know, fantasize about him and gaze at him longingly. Should be fine.”

Julie rolled her eyes at you. “Come on.”

“No seriously, because Theo—”

“Sweetheart,” she said. “You got pregnant at 18. Don’t get me wrong, I think Theo is the most perfect kid in the entire world but keep in mind that while we were all out partying, you were taking care of a baby.”

“It’s fine, I lived vicariously through you.”

“And now that you’re in your twenties and hot as fuck,” Julie said, ignoring your comment. “You don’t think it’s time to live a little?”

“It’d confuse Theo if I started dating around, especially with Logan—”

“Fine, then don’t date Logan. Just fuck his brains out.”

“Nope,” you said, shaking your head. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because the moment I sleep with him, I will be trying to decide on the wallpaper of our future cabin in the woods,” you pointed out, getting a handful of popcorn from the bowl and she scoffed.

“I still can’t believe you want a cabin in the woods.”

“I want a cabin in the woods and I want a horse and a cat and two dogs,” you insisted. “Anyway, the point is, no strings attached is not a thing for me when it comes to a guy that hot. He lifted a car for me, Julie!”

“And you want him to lift you up and down repeatedly,” Julie said with a grin, making you throw a popcorn at her.

“I doubt I’m his type,” you said and she groaned.

“You cannot be serious.”

“No I am, because men like him go for…” you trailed off and threw your head back. “Ugh, I so want to show you his picture so that you’ll know what I’m talking about but I don’t have one!”

“I have this mental image of a very hot lumberjack in mind.”

“That would be correct,” you said before taking a sip of your wine, but then your phone started vibrating on the table and you frowned, then snatched it off the table when you saw the caller ID.

“Theo?” you answered immediately. “Are you alright?”

“Hi mommy!”

You let out a breath at the cheerful tone of his voice, then pressed a hand on your chest and checked the time on the phone.

“What are you doing up, bean?” you asked. “It’s late at night.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “What are you doing?”

“I’m with auntie Julie,” you said and Julie grinned.

“Hi Theo, I missed you sweetheart!” she called out, making Theo giggle.

“Hi auntie Julie!” he said. “Mommy, I thought about it, and I solved how I can have fish.”

You closed your eyes for a moment, a smile pulling at your lips as you shook your head.

“I’m listening, bean.”

“Okay so,” he said. “We will get two fish, and we will put them in an aquarium, but like a bowl, not a huge aquarium.”

You hummed.

“That’s where they’ll stay at the weekends when I’m there,” he said. “And then, on weekdays, I will bring them here, and put them in the lake, and that’s where they can stay within the week! They’d even make friends with other fish!”

You let out a small laugh.

“Theo, my love,” you said. “How will you catch them again if you put them in the lake?”

He paused for a moment.

“Um, I’d call them by their names,” he said. “Cheeto and Popcorn. They’d come.”

“Fish don’t do that baby,” you said softly. “How about you make friends with fish there in the lake and on the weekends they can just spend time with their own friends?”

“Yes but—” he started but then got distracted for a moment by something. “It’s my mom!”

“I know bub,” you heard Logan’s deep voice and your eyes widened. You sat up straight immediately, making Julie tilt her head in confusion. “Tell her I said hi.”

“Mommy, Mr. Logan says hi to you.”

“Uh, tell him I said hi back,” you said after a beat, hearing Theo parrot what you said as you covered the bottom part of the phone with your palm, then mouthed ‘Logan’ to Julie.

“What?!” she whispered and you cleared your throat.

“And tell him to please watch that you don’t have any sweets before bed, for his sake.”

“No!”

“Bean.”

“Ugh fine!” he said. “Mr Logan, my mom says please watch that I don’t have any sweets before bed for your sake.”

You could hear Logan’s chuckle, making you bite at your lip before he spoke.

“Can I borrow the phone for a minute Theo?”

Your jaw dropped and you motioned at the phone frantically, and Julie pulled you by the arm and made you lower the phone a little so that she could hear as well. You pressed your finger to your lips, signaling her to be silent before Theo’s excited “sure!” and there was a shuffling on the other line for a moment before Logan’s voice reached you again.

“So no chocolate before bed then?”

Julie gripped your wrist, mouthing “hot voice!” to you and you let out a giggle, trying to focus.

“Nope,” you said. “Trust me, it’s for your own good.”

You could hear Theo in the background; “I think I can have one chocolate.”

“No no,” you said, shaking your head. “He can’t.”

“Sorry bub, whatever your mom says goes.”

“Um, Logan,” you said, your mind going overdrive again. “If he’s up this late, he will turn the puppy dog eyes on for dessert, and he can be very, very insistent but sugar makes him incredibly energetic, and he will end up blowing a hole in the wall because of his powers so you can’t—”

“Relax princess,” Logan said and you could almost hear his faint smile. “It’s fine.”

Julie’s eyes widened and she fell on her back onto the couch dramatically, kicking her legs in the air while slapping the pillow and you stood up, your heart beating in your ears.

“How’s the car?” he asked and you licked your lips.

“Oh I changed my mechanic, so it’s at the new mechanic’s shop for a couple of days. My friend has been driving me to work—” Julie waved a hand from where she was lying down on the couch. “But apparently it’ll be fixed the day after tomorrow so it’s totally fine.”

“Are you being safe?”

“I am,” you said. “Are you?”

“Am I being safe?”

“Yeah,” you said with a smile. “What with lifting cars and stuff, it can be dangerous.”

“Half a chocolate!” Theo said as if it was the brightest idea in the world. “Half—Mr. Logan, can I have the phone back please?”

You ran a hand over your face and cleared your throat.

“Sorry about that,” you said and Logan chuckled.

“Not a problem,” he said. “Good night.”

“Good night Logan,” you said, your head spinning with excitement and you heard the shuffling, then Theo took a deep breath.

“Mommy, half a chocolate!”

“Not at night,” you said. “We’ve talked about this bean. You can have chocolate tomorrow morning after breakfast, okay?”

“But—”

“Theo,” you said. “After breakfast.”

He heaved a dramatic sigh.

“I know bean,” you said softly. “You’ll be fine, I promise.”

“Mkay,” he said with a huff. “I’m going to sleep then.”

“Okay, I love you!” you said. “Call me tomorrow and be nice to your teachers, okay?”

“I will,” he said. “Love you too!”

He hung up and you let out a breath, then tossed the phone on the couch while Julie sat up.

“Oh he talks you through it!” she said, slamming the pillow on the couch. “I just know he talks you through it!”

“Julie!” you exclaimed, your cheeks burning and she let out a laugh.

“Oh please, with that voice…”

“That’s what I mean!” you said and flung yourself on the couch. “He’s…he’s so amazing and Theo adores him and he’s so good with him too and to repeat, he lifted a car for me!”

“Aw,” Julie said. “He’s gonna be such a good stepdad to Theo.”

Your jaw dropped and you shook your head.

“We’re not even thinking about that,” you said, pointing at her. “We’re keeping our expectations very, very low, okay?”

She hummed, then tilted her head.

“Do you want to check Pinterest for cabins in the woods to see which one could be your and Logan’s in the future?”

You paused for a moment, then shrugged your shoulders.

“Yeah,” you said. “That sounds like keeping our expectations low, sure.”

                                                *

Despite having drunk until midnight and consequently having a hangover in the morning, the next day went without a hitch. You’d only had a couple of rude customers, which in service industry counted as a normal day if not a good one, but because of last night you were more than ready to get home, eat a bunch of snacks and go to sleep.

Towards the end of your shift, rain started pouring and you couldn’t help the whine escaping from your lips, leaning back to the counter. You could hear your friend Stacey’s small laugh as she looked out the window, then back to you.

“It’s just summer rain love,” she said. “It’ll stop.”

“Yeah but I’ll have to walk to the subway under that rain and I don’t have a coat with me,” you pointed out. “Ugh. Great. I’ll look like a horror movie protagonist by the time I get there.”

“This is why I am a huge advocate of waterproof makeup.”

You hummed, chewing on the pen in your hand as you grabbed your phone to check the weather forecast, faintly hearing the door opening behind you.

“It says it’ll rain until—what?” you asked Stacey when you lifted your head to see her raise her brows at something by the tables area and you turned your head to look over your shoulder, your heart jumping to your throat the moment you did so.

“Logan?”

Jesus, he looked way too handsome. He gave you a small smile, running a hand through his dark hair as if he was trying to get rid of the raindrops clinging to it, then approached the counter.

“Hey.”

“H—hi!” you said, your voice going way too high-pitched all of a sudden. “Uh, welcome! It’s so nice to see you, what—what can I get you?”

“I can take his order love,” Stacey said helpfully. “Your shift is over, get home before rain gets worse.”

“No no, I can stay.”

“I’m not here to eat actually,” Logan said, making you pull back a little.

“…Is Theo okay?” you asked, your stomach dropping as the thought hit you and he nodded his head.

“Oh he’s fine don’t worry,” he quickly assured you. “He was trying to name all the fish in the lake with his friends while I was leaving. I came to take you home actually.”

You blinked a couple of times.

“You drove all the way here from the institute just to take me home?” you asked just to make sure you had heard him right and he nodded again as if it was completely normal.

“You said your car is at the mechanic’s.”

One of these days, you were going to melt into a puddle in front of him.

“You really didn’t have to,” you said. “I’d hate to be a bother, and I’m sure you have other things to do, so I can just—”

“What did we say about you being too polite?” he asked, his voice almost chiding in a teasing manner, making warmth spread from your chest to your fingertips and a smile you couldn’t stop lit up your face, making you shift your weight, way too excited to just stand there.

“Um,” you said. “Just—just wait here okay? Don’t go anywhere.”

The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. “I won’t.”

You took a step back, and rushed to the kitchen, making the line cook turn his head.

“Hey, leaving already?”

“Yeah. Paul, where’s the pie?”

“Over there,” he said, motioning at the counter. “What’s the rush?”

You grabbed the pie to put it into the container while Stacey entered the kitchen.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend, and more importantly, why didn’t you tell me he was this hot?!”

“What boyfriend?” Paul asked and Stacey motioned at the window.

“Look, right there.”

“He is not my boyfriend,” you said, your cheeks burning and Paul stole a look out the window, then let out a whistle.

“I was going to try to win you over but holy shit, that’s one hot dude.”

“And get this, he came here to drive her home.”

“He’s just being nice.”

“Car sex in the rain, got it.”

“He is my friend!”

“Oh really? So you’d be okay if I went out there and gave him my number?”

You blinked a couple of times and scoffed a laugh.

“Yeah but he…” you trailed off, desperately trying to come up with an excuse. “He has a girlfri—he’s married,” you changed your mind mid-sentence, nodding solemnly. “Yeah. He’s not wearing a ring because he is having it cleaned, and also he has—he has this condition that he can’t have sex with anyone. A disease.”

Out of the corner of your eye through the small kitchen window, you could see Logan tilting his head like a confused puppy.

“When he does, his partner’s… lower region just falls off, and it’s very gruesome, and if you haven’t heard of that condition, it’s because he’s like the only person in the world who has it, they named the disease after him,” you added. “Doctors call him a medical wonder.”

Stacey turned to Paul.

“She’s so gonna fuck him in the car.”

“She’s not gonna do that!” you exclaimed and cleared your throat, pushing the box into a plastic bag. “I’m—I’m leaving, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Theo doesn’t need a sibling yet, use protection!” Stacey teased you and you shook your head, then pushed the kitchen door and stepped out.

“Hey,” you said breathlessly, your whole face on fire and you held up the plastic bag. “The pie as promised.”

He gave you a calm smile, his eyes darting over you.

“You didn’t bring a coat?”

“Um no, but it’s fine—” you started but before you had the chance to say anything else, he had already taken his leather jacket off to put it over your shoulders.

“What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Logan said as he opened the door for you and you stepped outside, Logan gently steering you to a truck with his hand on the small of your back, making you bite back a smile. As soon as you reached the truck and got in, you let out a breath and put the plastic bag on the back seat, then put your seatbelt on. Logan got in as well, then started the engine and began driving.

“Thank you,” you murmured. “Really.”

“No problem.”

“I could just put it in the GPS or…” you trailed off when you noticed that there was no screen or phone or phone holder in sight so you nodded to yourself. “I don’t—you know, I’m against being a prisoner to technology myself so I can totally relate, and yeah I’ll just put my phone here.”

You quickly found your home address and touched the screen, then carefully placed it on the dashboard and stole a look at him.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he said. “As long as it’s not about my condition.”

“Your condition?”

“Yeah, that disease you were talking about just now?”

Your eyes widened, your jaw dropping as embarrassment hit you, your cheeks growing hot and a whine escaped from your lips.

“You heard that?”

“Mm hm.”

You slipped a little in your seat, burying your face into your hands, the sight making him chuckle as you took a deep breath and lifted your head to look at him again.

“I can explain,” you said. “It’s just that…Stacey is—you know, she’s incredibly nice but I don’t think she’s over her last boyfriend and I was trying to spare her feelings. Wait, did you want to get her number? Because if you did—”

“No.”

A small spark of hope shot through your system.

“Oh,” you managed to say. “Okay. Um, sorry I made up a nonexistent STD about you.”

“No problem,” he said with a smirk. “But for future reference, you might want to go with the wife lie. I can’t get diseases.”

You nodded slowly. “Because of clean eating?”

“Because of the X-gene.”

You blinked a couple of times, staring at him.

“Wait, what?” you asked. “But Theo got sick multiple times after his powers showed.”

“Not for every mutant,” he said. “My body heals itself.”

“Against everything?”

“Mm hm.”

“What if we had a car crash right now?”

“I’ve been in car crashes, healed in a second.”

“What if someone attacked you with a knife?”

“Happened before, healed instantly.”

“What if someone shot you?”

“Multiple people did in multiple wars. I healed.”

You tilted your head. “I’m sorry, wars?”

“Like I said,” he said after a beat. “My body heals itself. Against injuries, and time.”

You frowned slightly, trying to make sense of what you’d just heard and as soon as the thought hit you, you gasped.

“Oh my God, Logan,” you said. “Did you know Marie Antoinette?”

“What?” he asked with a grimace, turning to look at you better. “What is it with you and Theo and France? He asked me if I knew Napoleon the other day.”

You raised your brows. “Did you?”

“No!” he said. “No, I was born in 1832.”

Holy shit, Julie was right.

You did have a thing for older men but having a crush on an almost 200-year-old man was just a little bit excessive, even for you.

A silence fell upon the car and he glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. “You okay there?”

“Yeah, just in disbelief,” you muttered. “Do you miss it? Back then?”

He shook his head.

“Not really,” he said. “It was terrible. Now is better, it’s just a little too...”

“Chaotic?” you asked and he scoffed, then nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “A little too chaotic.”

“I mean I wasn’t born in the 19th century but I know what you mean,” you said. “Seriously, if I could just live in a cabin in the woods with Theo and a cat, two dogs and a horse, I’d do it. I even have all their names.”

“What are the names?”

“I’m glad you asked,” you said. “The cat will be Catapult—”

“Are you seriously going to name your cat after a pun?”

“Damn right I am,” you said, counting with your fingers. “The dogs are Underdog and Overdog.”

“Jesus.”

“And the horse’s name used to be Princess Pink Sparkle Her Highness when I was six, but now I think I’m just going to name her Hi-Horse so that someone can tell me to get off my high horse one day.”

Logan looked like he was in actual pain for some reason.

“But listen, the list used to go like, a cat, a dog and a horse, and I figured like, if I get one dog, why not have two, you know?” you asked. “I couldn’t possibly leave Underdog without a friend, because as much as I love cats, they can be kind of assholes sometimes to dogs, they can’t help it, so that’s how Overdog came into being, and there were also ducks named Comma, Colon, Semicolon, and Exclamation, and their babies were going to be named Parenthesis, Dash and Hyphen but then I realized that would mean I'd need to have the cabin next to a lake, and ever since I watched that one creepy horror movie I’m terrified of lakes at night because I really don’t think we should mess with any bodies of water and—” you managed to stop yourself and cleared your throat. “Just…feel free to stop me when I do this.”

“I like it when you do it,” Logan stated without taking his eyes off the road, as if he was talking about the weather and your heart started pacing in your chest while you gawked at him.

“…People usually hate it.”

“People are idiots.”

“Someone I used to know would cover my mouth whenever I rambled too much.”

“And you didn’t break their hand?” he asked and you scoffed a laugh, then shook your head.

“Nope,” you muttered. “That sounds like a good idea though.”

“It is,” he said, reaching out to grab the cigar resting by the gear stick, and opened his window a little.

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” you said. “You smoke cigars?”

“Mm hm,” he said, patting his jeans for a lighter, then looked around the car before his hazel eyes fell on you. “I think my lighter is in the jacket pocket, would you…?”

“Oh sure!” you said and felt around the leather jacket over your shoulders, then pulled out the lighter and flicked it, the warmth caressing your hand for a moment before you held it out for him. Logan stole a look at you, his gaze stopping on your face illuminated by the flame before he leaned in to hold the tip of the cigar to the flame.

You had no idea why, but it felt strangely intimate.

“Thanks,” he murmured and you offered him a hesitant smile, flicking the cap of the lighter back before carefully placing it beside the gear stick.

“Sure,” you said, trying to snap yourself out of it. “Um, I used to smoke cigarettes. Mostly to look cool.”

“Did it work?”

“Not really,” you admitted as he stole a look at the GPS, then back at the road. “Never a cigar though, do you mind if I try it?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Corners of his mouth curled upwards. “Are you trying to look cool right now?”

“Hey, if you don’t think I’m cool after learning my future pets’ names, I don’t think a cigar is gonna help it.”

That coaxed a chuckle out of him and he held out his hand so that you could take the cigar from him. The moment your fingertips brushed against his skin, his hand twitched, a warmth spreading from your hand to your whole body. You swallowed thickly, your heartbeat getting faster and you brought the cigar to your lips with a trembling hand, then took a drag.

“Don’t inhale—” Logan started but you had already inhaled the smoke, a sharp pain stabbing you in the chest as soon as you did. Logan pulled over and through the coughs, you realized you were right in front of your apartment but you couldn’t even thank him as you pounded your chest with your fist, then took a deep breath and wiped at your eyes with one hand while handing him the cigar back with the other.

“Ugh, that’s terrible!” you whined. “You smoke that willingly?”

“You’re not supposed to inhale it.”

You made a face and wiped at your eyes again, sniffling.

“Not supposed to inhale it?” you repeated as you straightened your back to look at him better, your brows pulled together in almost a petulant manner. “What’s the point of it then?”

The calm smile that graced his lips was almost taunting and he reached out to wipe at the remnant of a tear under your eye with a knuckle, your breath catching in your throat.

“The taste, princess,” he said, his deep voice sending an excited shiver down your spine as he pulled his hand back. “The taste is the point.”

…Oh.

Oh you were so going to melt in front of him one of these days.

That wasn’t supposed to sound as suggestive as it did, you were sure of it but that did nothing to stop the fire spreading over your cheeks, making you shift a little in your spot before he nodded to the window.

“Is this your place?”

You had to force yourself to drag your eyes away from him and looked outside even if you knew where you were, then nodded fervently.

“Yeah!” you said. “Yeah that’s—that’s me.”

A silence fell upon the car and you cleared your throat, trying to snap out of the daze you were in.

“Thank you,” you said after a beat. “For…for all of this, really.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said and you looked outside again, now realizing the rain had stopped so you grabbed your phone off the dashboard, unbuckled your seatbelt and slipped the jacket off your shoulders, his unwavering gaze almost too hot on your skin.

“Good night Logan,” you said softly and opened your door to step out of the car, then made your way to the building. You climbed up the stairs, a giggle you couldn’t stop escaping from your lips as you unlocked your door, then stepped into your apartment and closed the door behind you before leaning back against it.

“Alright…” you breathed out, your heart beating in your ears. “Yeah, okay. I definitely have a crush.”

[4] - Ray of Light

[ereardon]

Before I Knew [Jake Seresin x Reader] Chapter Two

A Jake Seresin unexpected pregnancy fic

Overview: On your first night after moving to San Diego to spend more time with your brother Bob, you unknowingly have a one night stand with his teammate Jake Seresin. For the first time in his whole life, Bob has a closely knit friend group and you’re desperate not to rock the boat. But an unexpected and unplanned pregnancy upends your world, forcing you and Jake closer together, against Bob’s wishes. What will happen when you find yourself actually falling for the father of your unborn child? 

Pairing: Jake Seresin x Reader; Bob Floyd x Sister!Reader 

Warnings: Pregnancy, cursing, eventual smut, alcohol

Chapter summary: Y/N tries to get her life together but finding a job proves to be difficult. So difficult that when Jake catches her in a weak spot at the Hard Deck the two reconnect behind closed doors; Y/N gets a massive surprise that threatens to change everything

Masterlist here; previous chapter here

You were late. 

Which was abnormal, because the only thing that was timely about you was the fact that you got your period on the same day every single month. It was the one thing you could count on in a world that was constantly in flux. 

This time, you were late. Three weeks late, to be exact. 

One Week Before

You weren’t sure what you had expected when you booked your flight to San Diego. The last time you and Bob had lived together you were just kids. Back then it had been fighting over the remote and who ate the last frozen waffle. 

Bob had always been quiet. Collected. He blended in with the background of things. Whereas you had preferred to be the center of attention, Bob was the wallflower. He carried your plastic pumpkin behind you while trick-or-treating and he was the one to help make scrapbooks for your high school graduation, taking a special weekend leave from the academy just for that. 

So it was surprising that almost every moment of Bob’s time was filled. If he wasn’t at North Island training, he was on a smaller mission, gone for a day or two at a time. Whenever he wasn’t flying, he was hanging out with the rest of the daggers. You often woke up and wandered out into the living room to find Bradley sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal, wearing the same clothes as the night before, smiling sheepishly about how he had crashed on the couch. 

“I’m sorry,” Bob said, his voice echoing on the phone as you filled a mug with coffee in the kitchen. “I won’t be home until late.” 

“You know when I moved here I thought we’d get to spend some time together,” you said. “Instead, I hear from you even less than when I was back home with mom.” 

“I’m sorry about that.” You could hear the jet engines roaring in the background. “This weekend. I promise, we can do something fun. The zoo?” 

You laughed. “I’m not five anymore, Bobby. You don’t have to plan a fun playdate for me. I just want to spend some quality time together.” 

“We will, I promise.” There was a pause. “Ducky, I gotta run, OK. I’ll see you when I get home.” The line went dead. You sighed, picking up your cup of coffee and walking into the living room. You needed to get a job. Pulling up your computer, you flicked over to the LinkedIn tab that was open. Back in Chattanooga, you had spent the year after college aimless. Bartending at night. Taking some classes and studying for the GMAT as you toyed with the idea of business school. But you weren’t really sure what you wanted to do. 

You still weren’t sure. That was the part that you had kept from Bob. He was the kind of person who needed a plan. An itinerary. He looked at menus before he even stepped foot in a restaurant. He refused to go somewhere if he didn’t know what the parking situation was. He was by the book. You were anything but. 

It was time you grew up a little. 

***

By the time Bob got home, the sound of the front door crashing open, you were in bed. Opening one eye, and then another, you waited for the soft footsteps of Bob entering the house. Instead, you heard a gaggle of voices, loud shushes and uncontrolled whispers. 

Cracking open the door, you peered down the hallway to where the light was on in the living room. “Bobby?” you called out, stepping onto the carpeted hallway. 

“Duck?” It was a slurred whisper. You frowned, rounding the corner into the living room to see Jake supporting Bob as he lowered him down onto the couch. 

You rushed over, eyes wide, not even realizing that the hem of your long shirt rode up as you kneeled down in front of the couch where Bob was laid horizontal, one arm hanging off and dragging on the cream carpet. You looked up at Jake accusatorial. “You got him drunk?” 

“It was Phoenix,” Jake said, hands in the air. “I swear. I’m just the DD.” 

You shook your head. “I’m getting him some water.” Bob started to sit up and you put one hand on his shoulder, shoving him down against the cushion. “Lie down.” 

“Bossy,” he groaned, fluttering his eyes closed. 

In the kitchen, you ran the tap, seething. Of course Jake had gotten Bob drunk. You barely knew him, but this just proved that you knew enough. His cockiness at the bar that first night had been charming. But you knew from your experience with men that cockiness never aged well. 

Jake entered the kitchen, one hand pressed against the doorframe. “Y/N.” 

You shook your head, pouring a glass of water. “You can leave.” 

“What if I came here to see you?” 

“Why the hell would you do that?” 

Jake inched closer. “Maybe I thought what we had the other night was pretty great.” 

“Weren’t you listening?” you asked, setting the cup down on the counter. “That’s never happening again. In fact, we promised to pretend it never happened. So in my mind, we met for the first time that day at the coffee shop when Bob invited me to meet his friends. That’s the story, Jake. Nothing else.” 

“You really think it’ll never happen again?” 

Jake was close, the warmth of his body practically heating you through your skin. You had to push away the memory of how his hands felt along your waist, in your hair, his lips on your throat. He was just a guy. There were plenty of other men you could sleep with or date who weren’t part of your brother’s friend group. You owed it to Bob not to get in the way any more than you already had. 

Even if Jake was standing in the kitchen looking at you like he wanted to consume you. Even if you felt your legs trembling at the thought of his tongue roaming over your core like it had that night. 

You straightened up and looked directly into Jake’s eyes, willing yourself to be difficult. Hard. “I don’t think so,” you whispered. “I know. Now if you don’t mind. I want to get this to Bobby before he pukes on the carpet like a cat.” 

You pushed past Jake, heart beating rapidly. A minute later, as you knelt down next to the couch, you heard the gentle clang of the door shutting closed, followed by a car engine roaring to life outside. 

Bob was asleep on the couch, glasses askew. You removed them, setting them on the nearby table along with the glass of water. Without thinking, you made your way to the window, peering out from behind the curtains. 

Jake was sitting in his truck in the driveway, lights on, but not moving. You pulled the drapes closed, shutting him out. 

***

You pressed your forehead against the steering wheel of Bob’s truck and groaned. This was your third interview that you had bombed in as many days. The first had been for a store manager of a women’s boutique on First Ave. The second had been for a barista job and the third for a bartending position on North Island. Bob had been pissed about that third one, but you needed money. 

“You have a degree,” Bob argued as you folded a pile of laundry on the floor of the living room. “From a good university. Put it to use, Y/N.” 

“Don’t you think I’m trying?” you asked, exasperated. “Nobody wants a fucking history major. It’s not like I’m going to go work for a Big Four or some land developer. These are the kinds of jobs that will hire me.” 

“You’re better than all of those,” Bob huffed, standing up and shaking his head. “I’ll find you something.” 

“You’re not responsible for me, Bobby,” you argued. “I can take care of myself.” 

“Can you?” 

His words clung in the air. Heavy, like fat raindrops. Those two words sucked all of the oxygen out of the room, out of your lungs. Just a black hole and you were falling. That’s all you seemed to do lately. Fall. Fail. Flail. 

And Bob knew it. 

***

“So you’re from Tennessee?” The guy you were talking to stepped in closer, one hand on the wooden bar behind you, practically boxing you in. But he was cute and when he smiled you felt like he was talking to only you. 

You nodded. “Moved here last month.” 

“So what do you do?” 

You hesitated. There was movement on your periphery and then Bob appeared on your right, face hard behind his wire frames. He took one look at Keith, the guy who had bought your last drink, and his lips practically disappeared into his face as they squeezed into such a tight line. “Fuck off,” Bob growled. Keith looked up, terrified. He spotted Bob’s uniform immediately. 

“Lieutenant Floyd,” Keith said, straightening. 

Bob stepped in closer. He wasn’t as tall as Bradley, or as built as Jake, but he carried a quiet presence that filled a room. It had run off more than one high school boyfriend. Keith looked like the next victim. “Leave,” Bob said and Keith grabbed his beer, scurrying away with nothing more than a grimace. 

You turned your gaze, hot, on Bob. “Seriously?” 

“A fucking ensign?” Bob asked. “No way. I didn’t bring you here so you could let some random Navy guy in your pants.” 

“You didn’t even want to bring me here!” you argued. Bob turned ashen. “I’m only here because you feel bad for me. Poor little Y/N. Has no life, no job, no aspirations. I’m your pathetic little sister. That’s all I’ll ever be to you, isn’t it?” 

“Ducky,” he said, face growing softer. “That’s not true.”

“What if it is?” you whispered, pushing yourself up and off of the bar. 

“Duck.” Bob’s hand shot out and you flung him off, eyes wide. 

Weaving around the bodies that crowded the bar, you skirted the edge of the room, headed for the bathroom. Inside, you put both hands on the sink, letting your head hang low. Just as the tears started to flow, the door opened and you spun around in shock. “Oh!” 

Jake stood in the doorway to the single bathroom. “Shit, sorry, the door wasn’t locked.” 

“It’s fine.” You turned back around, expecting him to leave. 

Instead, you heard the door shut softly, footsteps as Jake stepped near. “Are you OK?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Because you’re crying in a dirty bar bathroom.” 

You wheeled around. Before you could think, you flung your arms around Jake’s neck, pulling him in close, smashing your lips against his, tasting the beer on his tongue as he walked you back until your hips hit the sink basin, his fingertips tight along your sides. You gasped into his mouth, feeling his lips close around yours, the heat of his hips drilling you back against the counter, his massive muscular arms winding around you, holding you close, the pine scent of his cologne filling your nose as one of his hands threaded into the hair at the back of your head. 

Finally, you pulled back, lips puffy and wet, Jake’s green eyes wide, his mouth pink from kissing. His eyes roamed over your face before he stepped back, his hands falling from your waist. 

“Shit,” you whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that.” 

“No, you definitely should have done that.” Jake grinned. 

“I have to go,” you murmured, grabbing your purse, trying to skirt around him. 

Jake’s hand reached out, stopping you. “Hey,” he whispered. “It’s OK.” 

You turned to look at him, eyes filling back with tears. “Nothing is OK,” you replied quietly, one hand on the door, yanking it open. “In case you didn’t realize, Jake, I’m a mess.” 

You scrambled out the door and back into the boisterous bar before Jake could say anything else. 

***

“Ducky?” Bob’s voice on the other side of the bathroom door was soft. He must have been in the kitchen or living room. “I’m leaving!” 

“OK!” you called back, voice too sharp. 

There was a pause. And then, “I’ll see you later?” 

“Yeah!” 

The sound of the front door closing rang out and you sank to the ground, cold tile pressed against your bare feet and the backs of your legs. You could feel your heartbeat thundering in your chest. 

You looked down at the pregnancy test grasped between your clammy fingers. 

And the pink plus sign staring back at you. 

Please follow my library page @ereardonlibrary as that will largely serve as my tag list. Anyone I previous promised to tag is here:

@bobfloydsbabe @blue-aconite @wkndwlff @mamachasesmayhem @mandylove1000 @djs8891 @clancycucumber230 @rosiahills22 @buckysteveloki-me  @kmc1989 @gigisimsonmars @eloquentdreamer @mjisbby @shanimallina87 @seresinslady @seresinhangmanjake @blackwidownat2814 @yanna-banana @bbyvanessaa  @mrsjobarnes @midnightmagpiemama @ingoaliesitrust @rockbottomphilosophies-blog @iangiemae @joaquinwhorres @boiolay @sometimesanalice @spinning-away

[disneyprincemuke]

midnights, 10.1 * mv1

you take a deep breath, bottom lip quivering as another lump forms in your throat again. “max,” your voice wavers as you close your eyes, “come on, don’t do this to me.”

“it’s okay if you don’t want to.” max sounds sadder than he did. disappointed, even. his voice is low as he squeezes your hand with all that he’s got. “i just- i-“ he clears his throat, “i don’t want you to go.”

you shake your head, squeaking. you lift up both of your hands and press your lips to his knuckle. you open your eyes and let the tears flow out.

“it’s so risky for us to do that,” you frown. “getting over you is the hardest thing i’ve ever had to do. i felt like i was going to go crazy watching my phone for a text that never came.”

he nods, resting his head on the wall again. “it’s okay.”

“i want to remember you as a good person,” you whisper. you rest your forehead on his hands. “i’m sorry, max. i love you but i don’t want to hate you if all this spirals where we’d ended up in the first place.”

you breathe out shakily. “i can’t do that to you, max.”

you feel him move, taking his hand out of your grasp. he inches towards you and pulls you into his body, an arm around your shoulders and rubbing your arms.

“i get it,” he agrees, pressing his lips to the back of your shoulder. “i had the time of my life with you. thank you so much for loving me the way that you did.”

all you can do is choke out his name in a sob. you always imagined this moment, and never did you expect yourself to refrain a second chance at what you consider happiness. especially not from max.

the max that you’d fallen in love with years ago. the max that used to be yours.

“and i’m sorry if i didn’t love you the way you deserved months leading up to this,” he shakes his head, “there’s no excuse. but i hope you never doubted for a second that i did.”

you drop your head into your hands. “i love you, max. i really… i could never hate you.”

you feel him nod into your skin, cherishing whatever he could of the moment. so you lean into his hug, clinging onto the arm strewn over your torso for dear life.

max doesn’t move. it’s not often he hears you so adamant about a decision. this is something he simply has to let happen.

all he can think is how he never wants this moment to end. you have a point about getting back together, of course, but it doesn’t hurt any less. now he has to think of a future without you in it — after spending the longest time fitting you in every scenario.

there will be no more giggles in the dark during a thunderstorm, or waking up with you in his bed. no more reasons to buy unique scrunchies to add to your bowl or walking the paddocks hand-in-hand.

no more race weekends where he would rip off his helmet to see you waiting for him at parc ferme with a proud smile and open arms.

he will no longer have a reason to request for cocktail stock ups for every flight he will be taking.

even then, max knows that he will simply never be able to love anybody the way he loved you. it just feels like there’s no more moving on from this.

“thank you for letting me be a part of your family,” you hum, basking in the security of his arms one last time. “and i’m so so proud of the person you’ve become now. you’ve come so far.”

max smiles. “i was only able to do it all because you were always there.”

but you shake your head. you pat his knee, “you did it all on your own. i’m just glad i was here to see it firsthand.”

“for the record,” he whispers, “if it doesn’t work out with any other loser out there, my arms are always open for you.”

“don’t forget me, ‘kay?”

“i couldn’t even if i tried.”

you smile and glance at the wall clock. you sigh and pull away. “i’ve got an early morning with my colleagues. i have to go.”

“stay.” max keeps thinking he can bear to watch you walk out of that door again, but he just can’t. “just don’t go.”

“i have to. i don’t want to hurt you,” you frown, trying to rid his arms from your skin. when he finally pulls away, it leaves an empty feeling in your stomach. “trust that you’ll find someone again. i’m not the only girl in the world.”

he just frowns, refusing to meet your eyes. “i want you to be the only one.”

“max.”

“i know.”

he straightens his back, wiping his face roughly. “let me walk you out, at least?”

you smile with a small nod. you grab your purse on the floor next to you, accepting the hand max has extended to help you off the floor.

you huff, dusting off his shoulder. “we’ll be okay.”

max nods. he walks to you the door with his hand on the small of your back. it’s a good thing he doesn’t live here because he personally would feel sick watching the love of his life bid her final goodbye.

he counts his footsteps to the door. it feels like forever, everything happening so clearly right before his eyes.

he opens the door for you, leaning on the doorframe with his head hung low. hollow eyes bore into your teary eyes. “i guess this is goodbye.”

“i guess it is,” you say shakily, tears still rolling down your eyes. you heave a sob and reach out for his hands. “this is for the best. you know that, right?”

“i know,” max nods. “i wish it didn’t have to end like this.”

“me too.” your hands lift to cup his cheeks, wiping away the tears that fall endlessly. “don’t lose your spark, okay? i’m still a red bull fan.”

he smiles with a nod. “i’ll see you around.”

“i’ll see you on tv.”

taglist: @merchelsea @leclercdream @labelledejourr @laneyspaulding19 @lpab @graciewrote @hollie911 @thatsojasminesworld @mycenterfold @princessria127 @ironmaiden1313 @dl-yum @crlsummer @brekkers-whore @minkyungseokie @honethatty12 @barelytolerabled @vellicora @lokigoeschoki @avg-golden-retriever @lokigoeschoki @cherry-piee @telengraph @eviethetheatrefreak @hrlzy

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, April 7, 2024

My posts

This week feels like it has been a hundred years long (not in a bad way). 

Somehow we joined together to balance the seesaw just right so Ava Gardner and Jean Seberg could both go through in the Hot Vintage Lady polls (percentages rounded). Like, I’m wearing the Ava jersey and even I encouraged people to vote Jean when necessary. Honestly, I just wanted to see if it could be done. And it COULD. 

Round three has begun. It is already horrific. This is the first round that’s really going to hurt because we spent the last one really getting down in the dirt and championing our ladies, or learning about actresses we’d never heard of before and getting attached to them. And now? We are reminded: memento mori. Everyone loses but one. 

(I personally pitched in for Sara Montiel. “BUT JUST LOOK AT--” Yeah, I did, thanks.)

Reblogs of interest

April Fool’s Day: You were here for the Boopening, yes? The whole thing was that you only got badges for giving boops, not receiving them, which is a great way to not reward popularity contests, but also means that every last one of us was out here trying to figure out who to bap with a cat’s paw 1000 times. I said, listen, my notifications are already trash garbage today. I’ll take the bullet. Boop at will.

The Activity graph isn’t too clear on this point, but it looks like I had something like 65,000--hits? engagements? boops?--that day. Listen, I got the black paw badge too. We all did what we had to do in the Boopening. 

A Shakespearean boop of goodly length: “And, Meowntague, come you this afternoon, to know our further pleasure in this case, to old Food-bowl, our common judgment-place.” 

I had to go lie down awhile after a pun like “The Purrge.”

--

I had just gotten up from that pun and then I had to go lie down again.

Account security gothic

The Canada griffin

Dinotopia nostalgia

Two pairs of spectacles, one made from slices of emerald, and the other from slices of diamond

An old favorite: Cerberus as a puppy, guarding the gates to heck

I feel like these two posts have the same energy: Time cops will not let you travel back to the Titanic and bloodthirsty gazebos are currently in a dormancy period.

The birds are still troubled

PSA: The best sunscreens for your face

Video

A collection of various American Indian/indigenous American languages, including Navajo, Tlingit, Lakota, Colville Okanagan Salish, Cherokee, Yucatec Maya, Greenlandic, Mohawk, Yup'ik, and Mi'kmawi'simk. 

A trans health-and-wellness fundraiser (Mercury Stardust, Point of Pride, and friends) kept getting banned off Tiktok due to assholes. Here’s how to donate; I saw a few “here’s how they helped me” notes, so it seems like these programs are both legit and effective. 

You think you’re going to sit staring at this video because Chocolate Guy is weaving chocolate. Then you get into it, and it just keeps going.

“Too Sweet” is doing hilariously well on the charts for a song that didn’t even make the album proper. Hozier’s bees would like to thank you for your support.

I know I said that Stevie Nicks would make you sing backup on your own haunting, but late in this 1997 live performance of “Silver Springs,” she makes Lindsey Buckingham, the man she wrote this song about, look her in the eye while she belts it at him. This specific performance was released as a single (I was there, Gandalf) and nominated for a Grammy. Watch the video and you will see why.

The Women Those ‘Evolution Of Beauty’ Videos Leave Out

I don’t really know how to describe this rubberhose-style cartoon of Cab Calloway as a singing nightmare clown. Betty Boop is also there. “You just described it!” No, I really didn’t. 

How movable type worked 1000 years ago, from scratch.

Unrestrained seasonal yak fun

A snowy raven photoshoot

The sacred texts

I don’t know how to explain this double Sacred Text about ominous dreams that comes with its own comic, except to say that they’re so iconic that I first saw both posts in lo-res Pinterest screencaps.

April Fool’s: The ultimate sacred text.

Personal tag of the week

Wet beast Wednesday, which had both a headshake stickflip and bears on a swan boat.

[rathockey]

fuck it friday suck it saturday smack it sunday

i failed you guys twice so now you get three snippets :)

tagged by @rogerzsteven @panbuckley @prince-buck-diaz @alyxmastershipper @911onabc @honestlydarkprincess @transboybuckley @cowboy-buddie @heartbeatdiaz

PHEW okay lets go

1 - buddie fighting fic

Suddenly, Buck was everywhere. Trailing along behind Maddie like a duckling, into the bar, at the station, to Bobby’s weekend barbecues. Eddie caught a glimpse of him in the grocery store and promptly abandoned his cart in the aisle, fleeing to the safety of his car. Buck had as much reason not to mention their shared hobby as he did, but Eddie’s heart pounded against his ribs every time Buck opened his mouth anyway. Buck would show up and Eddie would start sweating, the hair on the back of his neck standing up, his chest tightening. He could hear the rush of his blood in his ears and he felt hot, like the room was closing in on him. He avoided Buck like the plague, because even just seeing him made him feel like he was mid-fight.

2 - santa clarita diet au

The doorbell rang. “I vote we don’t answer that.” Eddie said, still staring, wide-eyed, at the carnage that had spread across the kitchen. Blood dripped from the light over the bar, landing in a small puddle in the fruit bowl. Buck gave a weak smile, looking between Hen and Eddie. The bell rang again. “Guys we know you’re home, your cars are in the driveway.” Athena’s voice came through the door. “Shit!” Eddie moved to put his hands on the counter but pulled away when he couldn’t find a clean spot, shaking his hands and finally closing his eyes. He looked at Buck, who was covered head to toe in blood and was munching on… a liver? “Fuck. Okay, I’ll answer. Stay here.” As he left he noticed the pepper shaker – perfectly clean, not a spot of blood on it. “At least something survived.” He took a minute in the entryway, breathing deeply, before opening the door just a crack, to see Bobby and Athena on the porch, cookies in hand. “Hey Cap, Sargent.” He gave them a strained smile. “What can I do for you?”

3 - missing buck fic

Maddie slid the wine bottle back over to Eddie, who didn’t bother refilling his glass, instead drinking straight from the bottle. “What do you think he’s doing?” He asked, before laying back down on the rug. The ceiling swam, the overhead lights twinkling at him. “If I knew that, Eddie, I’d be there with him.” Maddie slurred back at him. “No, no, not like. In general. Right this second. Wednesday night.” Eddie tested how little he could raise himself to drink before he spilled wine down his front. “We used to do dinner on Wednesday night.” “Oh.” Maddie was quiet for a minute. “When we were kids Buck had football practice on Wednesdays. I’d walk him to them until I was old enough to drive him. Sometimes we’d get ice cream afterwards.” She reached out for the bottle. “Maybe he’s wondering what we’re doing.”

tagging @cowboy-buck @messyhairdiaz and anyone who hasn't been tagged yet!

[headspaceinanutshell]

Hopeful

It seems like Sunday blogging is becoming my thing. It’s like the weeks events all boils down to the one day that I can truly reflect on how I feel.

I actually had something to look forward to this week which was supposed to be today.

On a Monday at work, people sit, sip their hot drink and make small talk about what they got up to on the weekend. Last Monday, I heard how one of my colleagues went to a lovely restaurant and spent the day child free enjoying their partners company. It raised a question in me as if to say… “Why don’t I have those nice moments to talk about on a Monday?”

Most evenings afterwork consist of a glass of wine, cans of beer and hours of watching The Chase before bed. In the summer, we were active and out walking. I honestly cannot wait for those days again where it stays light, maybe it will bring us closer.

I sent my partner a message and suggested that we arrange a long overdue date day soon. Which happen to fall on today. I suggested bowling and some lunch somewhere. To be honest, it’s not even the activities I was pushing for, it was the quality time alone together. On Saturday, we discussed a plan to potentially get the 9:40 train to Liverpool, visit the natural history museum and grab some lunch with a voucher we had received for Christmas.

So naturally, as he seemed keen, my hopes were high and I was super excited but in the back of my mind, it was like I already knew this wasn’t going to happen. I had felt this anticipation before and had something get in the way. It’s like I emotionally prepared myself for hurdle to stop this from happening.

This morning, I woke up early trying hard not to wake him from his deep sleep. Crept downstairs to get ready and sort the dogs out with breakfast etc. I did my makeup and hair with the knowing of going out to a nice restaurant together and potential photo memories being taken. I left him sleeping quite late, the past 2 nights he had been struggling with his sinuses so he needed as much rest as possible.

I watched the clock once ready, I had gotten ready 2 hours in advance to ensure that as soon as he was up and ready we could go. As the clock moved forward, we reached 9:30am. I knew the Liverpool plan would not be going ahead but was hopeful for a later start to do something else.

He eventually came downstairs, and from the moment I saw him, it was confirmed that we were not going to be doing anything. It looked like he hadn’t slept. Like I said, I had prepared myself for this to happen so I just suggested we stay at home and forget the plan. It's as if I had come to terms with this, way before it was even spoken about.

We did manage to get to the supermarket for some weekly supplies but the whole time, I could see that he was irritated and wanted to just get home. To be honest, I picked up on this and just wanted to get back myself.

Jump to now, he’s in bed. Clearly exhausted and not well. I was laying next to him, I turned to kiss his head whilst he lay there, the only physical contact we’d had all day. He mumbled, “Stop smothering me.” With that sentence, I was gone.

I’m sitting on the sofa, feeling.. well, I don’t know how I’m feeling. Every time I sit here and type, I have tears in my eyes. Empty is the only descriptive word I have right now.

[justsome-di]

Nobody Ends Up Dead In a Bathtub, Everyone Keeps Their Organs: Chapter 20

Summary: Alex is an ordinary, highly-introverted office worker. He clocks in and out and goes home to his little apartment he shares with his younger sister. He hasn’t dated in years by the time his co-workers set him up on a blind date.

The only issue is he and his date are not on the same page. At all.

While Alex thinks it’s a normal date, Damián is under the impression Alex is a client who paid to be there. No-so-quickly, they realize something is up. It’s all a prank. Damián is a sex worker Alex’s co-workers hired as a sick joke.

After reassuring that they’re both okay, Alex decides he wants revenge for both him and Damián. The plan is to use the stigma of sex work and start a 6-week, scandalous fake dating scheme with a big finale at the office Halloween party. Alex’s co-workers will be too horrified to try to prank him again. At least, that’s the plan.

You can also read this on AO3. If you don’t want to wait for new chapters, the complete story is on Patreon for only $4 with bonus stories! If you’re enjoying the story and want to support me in other ways, consider dropping me a message in my inbox or reblogging this post!

The following Monday, Alex was wasting time in the staff room with Martin. He poured himself a cup of coffee from the stained, slightly-leaky pot that nearly burned Alex every time he tipped it over for a mediocre, burnt serving of poorly-roasted grounds. They were a very successful business that raked in a lot of money every year. They should have been able to update some of their appliances. It was just one of his many gripes that he forgot about once his paycheck came through.

“Then Sam actually found that coffee in Target this weekend and was like shit. It’s supposed to be sold out everywhere at these bougie shops—and it’s just in stock at Target? She bought three bags before anyone else noticed.”

Alex didn’t mention that coffee had an expiration date. Even if it wasn’t pre-ground, if it was still the beans, coffee didn’t stay good forever. How long would it take them to go three bags? Surely, not quickly enough.

“So, did she make the tiramisu? Was it everything TikTok promised it would be?” Alex asked.

“She hasn’t made it yet. She wanted to save it for guests. Anyway, this is us asking if you and Marcus want to join us Thursday for the Tiramisu debut. Kris and Clara will be there.”

“I’ll have to check if Marcus is free, but I think we’d both be down if we can make it.”

Alex was pleased to get another invitation. He could start looking forward to regular after-work hangouts to get him through the week.

He would have to cough up more money for Damián to go with him, but he was willing to do it for another night with Damián. He would give a year’s wages to Damián if it meant he was getting to spend so much time with him. Maybe he’d keep hiring him after the party. Or maybe that would be weird.

You down for another night with Martin and Sam this Thursday?

Hold on let me send you some nudes.

Alex waited for whatever was coming, knowing full well he was not going to get a lewd picture of Damián. At least he hoped not. Sometimes Damián struggled with knowing that people worked at 1 pm on Mondays.

But even then, Damián wouldn’t send nude pictures of himself to Alex of all people. They weren’t actually dating.

A couple of seconds later, a professional picture of a bowl of ramen was sent through. Nudes. Noods. Noodles. Alex got it. He didn’t laugh.

Can we get ramen for dinner tonight? I just found this new place, and it looks so good.

Of course! Can you answer my question about Thursday?

I would 100% be down to see them again, but I have a client :( Let me know if they want to do any other night, I’m free a few nights this week.

Once he and Damián went their separate ways, Alex hoped that and Martin could keep up some type of friendship—that he wasn’t only valuable to Martin and Sam because he was part of a couple.

“Sorry.” Alex spoke while typing out his reply to Damián. In hindsight, it was a bad idea. He should have put all of his focus on either conversation. “Damián has to work.”

“Damián?”

Alex looked up. Martin was throwing him a confused smile.

Shit.

His face went numb.

“Uh.” Alex didn’t know how to correct himself. It was too late. “Marcus. Marcus has to work.”

“You said Damián,” Martin said. He laughed a little. “Is Marcus his work name? That’s okay. I get it.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah! When he hired him, we assumed he wasn’t giving out his real name. But you kept calling him Marcus, and I started to think you guys just weren’t comfortable with anyone knowing his real name yet. I won’t tell anyone, though. I’ll play along with you guys.”

Alex was going to suffocate in that little staff room. “Yeah?”

“Yeah! And honestly, Alex, I know Sam and I got off on the wrong foot with you guys, but we promise we’re trying to do better. And Kris and Clara are already cool. You guys would be safe using his real name in front of us—if he’s comfortable with it.”

“Okay.”

“There’s no reason to pretend like he’s working when he’s not. If it’s just us—I mean, if you trust all of us, and I know that might be hard—you guys can relax. You don’t have to pretend.”

Alex stared at Martin. Fuck. The downside to making new friends was that he felt bad about lying to them.

Martin had grown so much in just a matter of weeks. He had become so aware of boundaries even when no one told him about them. It was incredible how just a couple of interactions with Damián and getting away from Andrew had completely changed him.

“We’re not actually dating.”

Alex didn’t mean to say it. There was immediate regret when he saw Martin’s face change from soft acceptance to furrowed confusion.

“What?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Alex was in too deep now. It was spiraling. He was going to die right there in that office.

“What do you mean you’re not dating?” Martin asked. “You and Marcus—Damián? You’re not dating?”

“No.”

“Then why have you been saying you’re dating?” Martin laughed, but it was awkward and nervous. “Sam and I literally introduced to you our friends as a couple.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Complicated as in ‘we’re not doing as well as we thought we would, and now we can’t define it?’ Or ‘we never really wanted a label on it?’ Or is it complicated as in ‘we’ve been lying?’”

Alex squeezed the handle of his coffee mug. His knuckles burned against the ceramic. “Complicated as in ‘we’ve been lying.’”

Martin stared at him for a second.

“What the fuck?” he whispered. “Why would you lie about that?”

“Okay, hold on, you’re the one who set us up in the first place as a prank—“

“And I’ve apologized, and I’ve been working really hard to make up for it. I invited you to my fucking home.”

“Can I explain?”

“Yes. Please. Quickly.”

Alex set down his mug. His hands were so sweaty and shaky, he might have dropped it and gotten shitty coffee all over the already-stained linoleum.

He should have been consulting Damián before he went any further, but he was in so deep he just wanted to explain himself before Martin hated him forever.

“The night Damián and I met, we decided that we would pretend to be dating for real until the office party at the end of the month,” Alex said. “Like, as revenge. We thought it would disgust you three, so we wanted to mess with you. When you apologized, we thought we’d keep up the whole thing to make it more believable. I think it just went further than we thought it would.”

“Christ, Alex,” Martin said. “That’s evil.”

“Is it?” Alex had a sort of manic momentum. “Do you know how Damián and I felt the night of your prank? Do you know how scary it is for a sex worker to find out he made advances on a man who had no idea he was a sex worker?”

Martin looked to the side. He mumbled, “No.”

“It was cruel,” Alex said, quietly. “To me and Damián. We were just planning on a little revenge and then putting the whole thing behind us after this month.”

Martin shoved his hands into his pocket. He didn’t look at Alex. “I’m sorry. But you didn’t have to accept our invitations to dinner and to our apartment. You could have said no. Everyone sees you and Damián leaving the office together every week. That would have been enough.”

“We could have, but I—this sounds so stupid—after a week, I wanted to spend more time with Damián. That’s why I kept saying yes. It wasn’t totally manipulative.”

“And you couldn’t have just told him you want to be his friend? You had to create a whole Fake Dating Universe and pull me and my wife and our friends into it?”

“I couldn’t have just told him.”

“Why not? He obviously likes spending time with you. Why else would he play Trivial Pursuit for three hours?”

“Probably because I’m paying him for all of this.”

“Whoa. Stop.” Martin crossed his arms. “You hired him for three hours of a board game? How much are you paying him?”

“I think I’m up to $625. That’s for the two dates with you and Sam and the party date. Plus a planning fee.”

“What?” Martin leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “He charged us $550 for one night. How are you paying barely more than that for three nights?”

“You paid $550?” Alex slapped his hand over his mouth when he shouted it. “For one night?”

He vaguely remembered Damián telling him his regular charge was $250 per hour, but it had sort of been filed away to the back of his brain. They had spent so much time together, surely Alex should have been up in the thousands.

“He’s a pricey escort,” Martin said. “Not the priciest. God knows we found people who charged insane rates. But he said it was $250 for the dinner alone. After that, the other $300 was for the—you know. What would have been sex. We put a lot of thought into our budget. And, might I add, we didn’t want to hire just anyone. We wanted to give you a nice experience.”

“Thank you?”

“Have you been unaware this entire time that he’s, like, a really good, in-demand escort? He’s not charging you his usual rates for a reason,” Martin said. “He likes you. He’s going easy on you.”

“He might just feel bad for me. This is all probably a pity discount.”

“There’s no such thing as a pity discount. I really think he likes you. Kris and Clara were going on and on about how sweet he is to you. So, he’s either the world’s best escort and needs to start charging way more, or he does genuinely like you—and at risk of sounding like a middle schooler, I mean he likes you.”

Being liked by Damián was so much worse than what Alex thought it would feel like. It was something he had secretly wanted, but now that it was a real possibility, Alex could only think how horrifying it was. If Damián really did like him, then Alex no longer had an excuse for not pursuing anything. Feelings were mutual. Alex might no longer have to be single, alone, the state he found painful solace in.

“Good news for me, I guess, is that you guys were shit at lying to us,” Martin said. “I don’t think I feel so hurt knowing you two actually fell for each other.”

Martin was still angry. He deserved to be. But Alex didn’t want him reverting back to the person he was only a week ago—blindly following Andrew and Stu, a little malice tucked away in his heart.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said. “Can we still keep this all between us?”

“Yeah. Whatever. I won’t tell anyone.”

Martin took his coffee and walked past Alex, out of the break room.

The worst part of it all was the text Alex immediately sent to Damián.

Damián, I accidentally let Martin know that we’ve been lying, and I accidentally told him your real name. I’m really sorry. I don’t know how I let it slip, and now his feelings are hurt. I’m really, really sorry.

Alex walked back to his desk, set down his coffee, stared staring blankly at e-mails. Damián didn’t reply for a while, but Alex could see three dots periodically appearing and reappearing on the bottom of his screen. There was nothing he could do but wait. He refused to start typing out a self-deprecating apology. It would only make things worse. Besides, he was paralyzed with fear.

What if Damián hated him? What if it was a huge violation of his privacy—and it was—that would get Alex blacklisted, and Damián would drop him as a client? And a friend.

He sat frozen at his desk for an hour trying to convince himself he hadn’t lost both of his new friends to the same fuck up.

Finally, a text came through.

I’ll see you later, and we can talk about it then.

Okay. Not terrible. It wasn’t the worst thing Damián could have said.

Damián sent him an address a minute later.

Meet me at my apartment.

Okay. I’ll see you then. I’m really sorry

Alex had to go through the rest of his day alone. Damián didn’t text him anymore. Martin steered clear of him. It was what he was used to, at least.

He pretended to work and pretended like he wasn’t spiraling. The day ended, and he gathered his jacket and his bag, and he followed the address on numb legs to an apartment complex not all that far from his office.

Damián answered his door with a frown, arms wrapped firmly across his chest.

“I would have liked a little heads up before you did any of that,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said.

Damián turned around and led him inside the apartment. Walking out of the entrance hallway, Alex hid his shock at how nice of a place it was. Not that he had assumed Damián was living in a bad place. Just that he had assumed that his own apartment was pretty average for a single man in his 30s—tiny, cramped, one window—and that Damián must have been living in a similar setup.

But Damián’s apartment was spacious. Alex believed that Martin and the others paid over $550 for a single night. There was no other way Damiàn would be able to afford such a place on his own. It momentarily distracted Alex from the vague feeling of wanting to vomit.

Damián had a living room that could actually hold a sizable couch, a coffee table, and a chair. It wasn’t too close to his kitchen which had a table. A table! Alex had never had a kitchen table of his own.

And on that table was a brown paper bag of takeout. Damián dug into it and pulled out two plastic bowls. He held one to his chest.

“Tell me why you did it and then you get your ramen,” Damián said.

“I didn’t mean to,” Alex said. “I really didn’t. I slipped with your name, he was understanding, and then after that, the rest just. Spilled out of my mouth. I couldn’t stop it. I felt guilty about lying to him.”

Damián didn’t relax his hold on the ramen. “Is he going to tell anyone else my name?”

“No. He promised he wouldn’t.”

“He isn’t going to go back to pranks now that he knows we’ve been deceiving him?”

“I don’t think so?”

Damián held the bowl out. Alex accepted it, knowing full well he didn’t deserve it.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“It’s fine, I guess.” Damián sat down and pulled out his own bowl and two packets of wooden chopsticks. “You didn’t mean to. Accidents happen.”  

“You don’t have to forgive me.”

Damián looked up and smiled with half of his mouth. “But I will. You didn’t mean to. I’d rather you hadn’t revealed my identity to a man I just met, but I think it’ll be fine.”

“He won’t do anything harsh.”

“We better hope not.”

Alex tucked his hands between his knees. Damián cracked open his lid. Steam rolled up and covered Damián’s face.

“I don’t have time to properly scold you, anyway,” Damián said. “I have a client tonight.”

“I thought you didn’t take clients on Mondays.”

“Well.” Damián scooped noodles onto his chopsticks. “I usually don’t, but I’m setting money aside for Leo’s tuition next year.”

Alex never offered to help Eve with tuition. But then again, they had parents and Damián and Leo didn’t seem to be totally in touch with theirs. Or if they were, it must have not been a situation where Leo could ask for help. But regardless, it made Alex feel like an inferior brother.

“Can I try to make it up to you?” Alex asked.

Damián sighed. His face relaxed. “It’s really not a big deal. It was an accident. Martin doesn’t strike me as the type to try to ruin someone’s life over this, either. What’s the worst he’ll do? Tell his wife?”

“It would make me feel better if you let me at least try to make it up.”

Damián always had such a soft, tender look about him. He set his chopsticks down on the edge of his plastic bowl and linked his fingers, setting his chin on top of them.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Anything you want from me.”

Damián pulled his hands apart and laid one across the table, palm up. Alex unclasped his own, brought them up from between his knees, raised one above the table, and finally laid it, shaking, in Damián’s. It was the first time they had held hands since the first night they met, when Damián led him down the hallways of the hotel.

Alex’s face was hot. Little tremors shook his whole body.

“If you insist on making it up to me,” Damián said, “you can let me take you out somewhere that’s not just cheap dinner or ice cream.”

Alex liked their cheap dinners and their single ice cream trip. They were so ordinary, so easily fit into his normal routine, that it had made Damián feel like a solid part of his life. He had settled into Alex’s days so easily, like he had always been there.

Damián folded his fingers over Alex’s hand. They were warm and soft. Alex’s were still chilled from the outside.

“If you let me take you out for a night, I’ll forgive you,” Damián said. “Not a hired appointment or anything. Me genuinely taking you out.”

A date. That was what Damián was asking for. A date. A date!

The little bit of residual trauma from last month let itself be known, and Alex immediately felt a rush of panic. What if it was another prank? What if it was all going to be fake in the end?

But he remembered what Martin said, and he thought about all the days he and Damián had already had together.

“When do you want to go out?” Alex asked.

Damián pulled his hand away. Alex missed it immediately. His palm felt cold, and his fingers wanted to curl back around something.

Damián scrolled through his phone calendar.

“Okay. Friday. My stupid client canceled Friday because he felt bad about cheating on his wife. Is Friday good?”

Alex ignored the cheating comment. “My parents are visiting Friday, but they’ll be gone by the evening. They’re taking Eve back home with them for the weekend.”

Damián’s eyes were bright. “Perfect. Friday it is! Have you ever been to Dorothy’s? The club?”

“No.”

Alex hadn’t been to any clubs before. They weren’t really his scene. People who went to clubs were sexier and had better wardrobes and liked being in big crowds. Alex was more of a stay at home with Netflix and Twitter type of guy. Though, he had to admit the promise of going out with Damián made him willing to try something new.

“It’s a gay club,” Damián said. “It’s one of the best on this side of the city, I swear. Best drag queens, best DJs, best drinks.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Damián tilted his head. “Have you been to a gay club at all?”

Alex’s chest tightened. He had been to so few queer places in his life. He had taken Eve to pride events, of course, but never a place like a club. There were so many queer spaces that were noisy and crowded—and that was great! Alex loved that queer people got to take up spaces and be loud and get to exist with such force and strength. It was great. It was lovely. Alex was so proud that he got to be part of a community that, after trauma and tragedy, still went out to party in large masses.

But he still didn’t like clubs.

“No.”

“Want to try one out?”

“Uh.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No! I will!”

He might have fun after all. Alex trusted Damián. He trusted him a lot. And it would probably do him good to hang out in a queer space. He needed a little more socializing, he had realized, after micro-dosing a social life with Damián.

“Okay,” Damián said, nodding. “And whenever you want to leave, we can. But I promise you you’ll have fun. Dorothy’s is a good space. If we go early, it’ll be chill. There won’t be any huge crowds.”

“Can I ask a few questions?”

“Of course!”

“What do you do at a gay club?”

“We chill. Watch other people dance. Get drinks. If we stay late enough, we can watch a drag show.”

Alex had always wanted to see a drag show live.

“What do you wear?” he asked.

“What do I wear? I’ll probably wear a crop top. I just bought a new one, and I haven’t had a chance to wear it yet. You can wear whatever you’re comfortable in. But fair warning, nightclubs get hot. So, don’t wear a sweater or anything like that.”

“Can I wear a t-shirt?”

“Yeah! Perfect.” Damián took Alex’s hand again and squeezed tight. “This is so exciting! I’ve never taken anyone to their first gay club before.”

Alex would have never expected to be excited to go to a club, but he was. He was wildly excited at the idea of being around other queer people—so many queer people. And a drag show! Every second that passed, he was getting more excited about seeing a queen perform live.

“I’ll ease you into the whole scene,” Damián said.

And best of all, Alex would be spending the whole evening with Damián. Martin was right. He and Damián had totally fallen for each other.

[anonypeng]

Feeling lonely... Day 12

I feel lonely tbh. Thats right, were jumping in...

I miss E's companionship. Someone to go do things with, someone to hang out with, someone that I know is always there waiting for me to spend time with them or even co-exist. I wish I had that moment to be able to do that with someone. Its so hard to find friends who are available anymore. Everyone's either working, doesn't live close by, doesn't drive, doesn't wanna be out and about, is a homebody, and the list goes on and on.

Like as unfortunate as this is... I miss doing things and knowing someone is there to do it with. And I realize we aren’t good as a couple and should have just remained as friends. Because I think we both just really wanted companionship. And that would have made me realized sooner that we’d make a not compatible couple. I think we were wayyy better off as friends. Someone to hang out with on the weekend. Chillin and vibing. Do some exploring since I don’t leave my house and E was to new in the area and didn’t leave their apartment.

But I can’t turn back time and now all I have is myself. I was so used to being by myself and so comfortable of it. I was sick of it and all my “friends” weren’t there for me. And now being single. Again. They aren’t there for me like they were when I was in a relationship. It felt like every person all of a sudden wanted to hang out with me when I was with E.

It’s kinda annoying lol.

Hey you wanna do this thing? Can’t I’m busy but next week? Hey are you free this day to go to a concert? Can’t I work that night and I gotta get up early for the next day. Hey do you wanna go to this festival thing? It’s free and on the weekend. I can’t I work this weekend Do you wanna go bowling? Can’t…. I have no money even though I work "x" amount of jobs and I’m posting in my IG story that I’m out with my other friend eating dinner and drinking alcheehol and spending money.

And then it makes me wonder if I’m even fun to be around and like do people even enjoy my company … which I really try to make it enjoyable. But I can’t please everyone

But I don't know, I just want someone to go with me to random events that I wanna go to. It would be so fun or maybe not for them.

Fake people in fake places... Friends are there for you when they feel like it... But what do I know about it. I just wanna stay home and not see anyone anymore because of it. Anyways have a great night.

[baconorgames]

Loss

loss has never really effected me like how it does everyone else, loss effects me in the most random ways, hitting me like a freight train on a summers eve when the sun shines through in just the right way and the birds chirp from their safe solid roosts in the trees and the smell of grass swims through the air with the grace of a swan in water. Loss hit me about my Nanny on the day she died, it was unexpected. She’d been diagnosed with cancer about 2 years prior, we’d been visiting lots over those two years, it was one of my favourite times, the way the car smoothly drifted down the country roads and empty motorways in the dead of night like a phantom, i loved evening drives. it was a 3 hour journey to get there which was spent watching the treetops dance and the sunset light glint and sparkle through the leaves as we passed them at high speeds, watching the people mill around the petrol stations as we sped past like ants in ant hills, collecting what they need and then speeding back off. We’d arrive in the dead of night to my cousins house, a place where i felt completely at home, Birmingham never really felt like home. the sea is my home. We’d always go and see her, whether it was at home or the hospital, special dinners and little gatherings, when my eldest cousins finished his gcses we had a special little dinner at a harvester, i still remember the tears that escaped down her cheeks when she realised she wouldnt be here to see the rest of us graduate. she isnt here to see me graduate. When she started being in and out of hospital we knew our days were numbered so we made sure to come down every weekend to see her, to cherish the little time we had left with her. we knew she wouldnt make it until christmas so we planned a little gathering, an early christmas of sorts. so she could see us all together happy and celebrating one last time. she died the night before, peacefully, in her sleep. i remember my mum, my aunt and my uncle bringing me into their bedroom and sitting me down with the rest of my cousins and my brother. the way the air stiffened around us and the looks on their faces told me all i needed to know, the light outside was dim and the sky grey a beautiful pathetic fallacy of how we all felt. it was like the world instantly became dull without her, no colour, no life. i cried for hours, they all left the room one by one. i stayed. there was something comforting about the room, like my acceptance of the situation was somehow morphing itself into her loving arms. Yes, i was sad, i missed and still miss her terribly. the fact im forgetting the sound of her voice or the way her face looked when she handed us home made ham sandwiches in the little plastic orange bowls that i loved so, or the Worzel Gummidge that played on the television as i watched the squirrrels and birds hop around in the garden through the big window that faced out onto it. the picture of her horse Margaret that stood proudly upon the wall and Gus, the border collie they owned who was terribly afraid of anything and would snap at you if you got to close, and little Sandy cat whos still alive now, the gentlest creature youve ever set your eyes on whose favourite spot to sit is in front of the fireplace next to the little family of wooden ducks who stood proudly watching over the house like little soldiers. i miss her.

[izzielizzie93]

High School Sweethearts Part 2-J Burrow

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

College! Joe Burrow x Reader

Summary: There's nothing like coming home for the holidays

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: None, some angst and fluff

This one is long & there will definitely be a part 3! Thank you to everyone who liked, shared, and commented on part 1 :)

-------

I’d be lying if I said moving to Baton Rouge was an easy decision; but I would also be lying if I said it didn’t feel right the moment I stepped into my dorm. I had gone earlier than most; because on top of becoming a Tiger, I had also made the LSU cheer team. 

I ended up waiting a day to respond to Joe’s text, choosing to send an emoji of a Tiger and a thumbs up in lieu of actually having the courage to say anything else. 

I unblocked him on everything and added him back as a friend shortly before graduation. We both knew we were mutuals again; but he never liked my new posts. It was morbid curiosity that had me scouring his Instagram and being pathetic when asking friends if he posted on snap.

I mostly did this late at night when I couldn’t sleep, afraid of my dreams. Sometimes I’d wake up after dreaming that Joe hated that I’d followed him to Ohio State and it would end with him breaking up with me and asking me to transer. Other times we’d be happy together and he’d be telling me he couldn’t wait to marry me after graduation. 

Both dreams felt equally horrible when I woke up in my cold dorm, hundreds of miles away from him. 

Eventually, the dreams subsided as fall term began and life got hectic just as I’d predicted it would. I grew very close with two fellow cheerleaders, Sasha and Emily, and they were great distractions. 

Of course, I’d gotten drunk about a month into school starting and spilled everything to them. I had opened up about some details of my life; but always stopped myself because it felt too personal to share with people I’d only known for a couple of months. 

Luckily, my word vomit didn’t scare them off and they helped me stop with my frantic scrolling of Joe’s pages and they even came over and stayed the night when I felt I was going to have bad dreams. 

—

In the month leading up to break, I had been dreading going home. I was hoping everyday that LSU would have a bowl game that weekend; but it was scheduled for the week after and we were all cleared to go home for break. 

I’d fallen back into the habit of stalking Joe online and nothing seemed to point toward any new girlfriends; but I still hurt my own feelings each time I clicked on his page.

“So, Y/N are you excited to be going home for Thanksgiving?” Emily asked as she sat on my bed, watching me pack. “Absolutely, I already have friends texting me trying to make plans for every second and I know my mom is going to protest and want to keep me home.” I felt myself smiling at the thought of being with everyone again. 

“What about-” I turned to glare at her before she finished her sentence. “I mean you know he’ll be there. You might see him.” Sasha piped up from her own side of the dorm. While I was happy that Sasha had become my roommate after the summer, there were times where I wish she hadn’t. 

“I know and I plan on being cordial. I’m going to treat him like an acquaintance and avoid him as much as possible.” I shrugged. Sasha and Emily shared a look and I did my best to ignore them before excusing myself to take a long shower, hoping Sasha would be in bed and Emily would be gone when I got back. 

—

Despite burying myself in schoolwork, the day to leave for Ohio felt like it came too quickly. I was doing my best to stay positive and remind myself that I didn’t need to worry about Joe, I had so many people I wanted to see. 

Once I’d landed and spotted my parents waiting for me, all thoughts of Joe left my mind. Seeing my mom cry wasn’t anything new; but seeing my dad tear up had me crying. 

They peppered me with questions the entire drive home and wanted to know everything about school, cheer, and my friends. I’d kept my mom in the loop, talking to her on the phone every week; but it wasn’t the same as being there. She and my dad had tickets to fly back with me and take a vacation in New Orleans before coming to see LSU play. 

—

Avoiding Joe was easy for the first few days of the trip; but then I was invited to a Bonfire party out at Oakley’s Ranch. Everyone who was home for the holidays, and those who’d never left, were going to be there and I didn’t want to miss out. 

“Wow, Joe is going to go insane when he sees you.” My friend Sarah gasped when I walked out to her car. “Shut up, this isn’t for him.” I glared, getting in. She rolled her eyes, knowing I was lying through my teeth. I did want Joe to see me and not be able to find a good reason why he ever let me go. 

I had on black jeans that hugged me in all of the right places, a black spaghetti strap crop top with a v neckline, black thigh high boots that I’d stolen from Sasha, and a bright red leather jacket. I’d curled my hair and done a smokey makeup look to match my dark aesthetic and I had on a bold red lip color. 

“Is that Joe’s favorite perfume?” My friend Kasey smirked as she got into the car next. After what felt like the longest car ride ever, the taunting ended as we pulled up next to the all too familiar Oakely barn. 

—

A couple of hours had passed and I was happily buzzing, dancing and singing along to songs with friends I hadn’t seen in months. 

I was so into dancing that I didn’t see a certain blonde haired blue eyed man walk in; but he saw me. “Holy shit, Joe is staring so hard.” Sarah slurred, pulling me in close. I let my eyes wander and I smirked when I caught Joe’s eye.

I downed the rest of my drink and excused myself to go outside to get air. I walked once around the barn and on my second trip, Joe was leaning against one of the walls. As I was about to pass him, he reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward him. 

Despite being in heels, I still had to look up as his 6”4 figure dwarfed me. “Can I help you with something?” I asked. His eyes bore into mine before he leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to my lips.

---

:)

@lh4455 @dessxoxsworld

[theirbbygirl]

Second Lead Syndrome

Word Count: ~8.7k words

liked this? there’s more on my masterlist!

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Comedy, Female reader insert

Description: Y/n and Minho have been friends for more than 2 years now, but suddenly she begins to see herself as the mere second lead in Minho’s story. Will she be the rare second lead who gets her own happy ending?

Warnings: some crying, themes of unrequited love (if there’s anything that I missed don’t hesitated to let me know!) 

I’d only ever encountered Second Lead Syndrome in the dramas I’d watched. Wanting the girl to end up with the second lead who was so obviously the better and healthier choice, but like every avid watcher of kdramas, it's more than likely for the main leads to end up with each other, that was just how it worked. What I never thought I’d encounter was seeing it happen before my own eyes and experience it firsthand.

Life was never supposed to be a kdrama. Life was supposed to be simple, a straight line, going from point A to B with no complications. But life never really went my way did it? It just had to throw in one variable, one man that had too much influence on my life. 

I couldn’t remember the first time I met Minho. It was probably sometime in the first grade when his family first moved in next to mine. But alas, we were both too young to remember exactly what sparked our friendship. One day we were strangers and the next we had given our parents a near heart attack when we both went after a stray cat on the way back home (my mom’s words, not ours).  From then my memories were filled with him, just us besties hanging out like anyone would with their best friend. First party, first mental breakdown, first drink, all with him. Soon enough we were in our final year of University, and ultimately, adults. 

The Minho I knew was laid back, not too extroverted but not too introverted either. While I completely contrasted him, always anxious about something, wanting perfection to the T, and completely and utterly introverted.  Our friendship, moving into University, sparked a lot of questions. You wouldn’t typically find the introverted straight-A student with the borderline badboy tsundere walking and laughing in the halls together, spending practically every waking moment together. But Minho didn’t care, and neither did I, so we moved through life pretty easily. 

One of the few things we had in common was our love for cats, and when we both foudn out there was a cat cafe just a few minutes walk from our campus, you best bet we spent too much of our time and money there. Studying, hanging out, anything you could imagine. If we weren’t in one of our dorms, we were more than likely to be in the cat cafe. 

Every day after class we’d go there and we’d complain about our least favorite professors and how lectures would seemingly last for longer than they should. Additionally, Minho had almost become akin to my own dormmate with how much time he spent in my dorm. He’d come in whenever he wished, stealing my frozen pizzas and sodas, using my Netflix account on my TV to watch weird National Geographic shows and make random comments like “that snake looks just like Kim Seungmin,” or “look its Hannie” whenever a squirrel came on screen. Minho was always there when I needed a drinking partner after bombing a test or assignment, pouring me shots of soju until I passed out and bringing me to my bed and tucking me in whiel he would sleep on the couch to make sure I wouldn’t do anything stupid in the middle of the night. 

Although, more people knew Minho’s name than mine, but that didn’t bother any of us. We continued on being friends as usual, and it felt like nothing would change that. Life was moving in a straight line like it should’ve always been.

At least, that’s what it felt like until February, just a few months before we graduated. 

I make my way to our usual spot in the courtyard after buying an iced coffee and a snickers bar from the vending machine next to my classroom, I walk up behind Minho sitting on a bench when I find him staring out in front of him instead of looking at cat videos on his phone like he usually does. Slowing my walk, I trail my eyes to the vague direction he’s facing and see that he’s looking at Kim Seungmin and a girl chatting outside the classroom. I ignore the thought, opting to think that Minho must’ve spaced out thinking about how he would irritate Seungmin next class. I plop down next to him when he still doesn’t take note of my arrival, so I get right next to his ear and blow cold air into it, snickering when he jolts in surprise. 

“What was that for?” He whines, fake annoyed.

“You got lost up in your thoughts for a certain Kim Seungmin there.” I snicker some more, opening my snickers (hehe) bar.

Just as I’m about to take the first bite of the sugary goodness, the chocolate bar gets snatched out of my hands and a certain Lee Minho takes an obnoxious bite out of it, not even giving it back but eating it like it was his. I pout, watching him devour my snack, knowing that I couldn’t do anything to get it back. 

“For your information, I was not thinking about Kim Seungmin.” He says pointedly, slightly muffled by the chocolate in his mouth.

I sigh, knowing I wasn’t going to get that chocolate bar back any time soon, and open my iced coffee. “So what were you thinking about then?” I ask before taking a sip.

“Don’t know, spaced out.” Is all the answer I get and I highly doubt him, but I brush it off anyways and don’t pry. 

Minho and I slide into our usual conversation about assignments, plans for the week, and everything under the sun. We talk about how he’s planning to visit home the next day and stay for a weekend and how excited he is to see his cats after a long time, I unknowingly smile at his ramble about how talkative Dori is, and just sit back and listen. I never took into account how healing it was to just watch and listen to him talk, the sultry of his voice and his little exclamations of frustration or excitement that came once in a while. I had to catch myself from staring when he turned to look at me, having asked me a question I didn’t catch.

“Sorry what was that?” I ask.

“Am I that beautiful for you to have lost your hearing to my handsome face?” I couldn’t just tell him that that was basically what had happened, it would inflate his ego by too much and reveal everything I’d hidden thus far.

“The heck? No, I was thinking about how great it would be to get some peace and quiet while you’re not around this weekend.” I lie, having Minho around is the only thing that brings me entertainment that isn’t endless sappy kdramas on my laptop, but he can never know that. 

Minho scoffs, says something under his breath that I don’t quite catch, then turns back to me. “You love me.” He says with a pout.

“Unfortunately I do.” 

That was the first of many inconspicuous confessions. 

It was nearing 3 or 4 am and I was about halfway done with another kdrama when several knocks resound through the small living space. Knowing exactly who it is, I only shout back “you know the code!” and moments later the door opens. 

I don’t bother to get up and greet Minho, this exact scene has happened too many times for either of us to care at this point, and it doesn’t surprise me that the moment he enters he shouts, “Honey I’m home!” like we’re in some cheesy romcom. 

“Mhmm, welcome home, leech.” I enunciate the last word purposely, but I know he won’t bat an eye at the term. I continue to chew my popcorn while he wanders through my cabinets, looking for snacks. “There’s chips in the cabinet next to the fridge and sprite in there too. If you want more food order Chinese takeout.” 

“I don’t have my wallet.” I can practically hear his pout from where I sat, eyes unmoving from the TV screen. 

“You know where mine is, but you have to pay me back.” A few seconds pass with no response until suddenly he’s next to me and kissing my cheek.

“I loveeee you!” He says too sweetly, retreating back to the mini-kitchen to order takeout.

“Mhmm, I love you too.” I say, not loud enough for him to hear the confidence missing from my tone. 

Continuing to watch the episode of in front of me, I remain in my comfortable position, only moving to lift my legs when Minho comes back to sit on the couch under my legs and the blanket. 

“Oh you’re watching this one?” He asks, reaching into the bowl of popcorn I offer him.

“Yeah, didn’t have anything else to watch so I put it on since everyone seems to like it so much.” 

“Mm,” he hums while also indulging himself into the scenes playing in front of him. “You’re probably team potato guy, right?” 

“What kind of question is that? Of course I am!” I scoff.

“I don’t know, I still think she should end up with Jae-eon.”

“Are you crazy? He literally leads her on like every playboy and is ruining her mentality by not defining their relationship.” 

“Yeah, but they’re so cute together, and you can totally tell he feels something for her.” He argues.

“Just cause they’re cute together doesn’t mean they’re good for each other, the entire guy is a walking red flag, I don’t understand why she doesn’t just walk away when she’s had experience with a shit boyfriend.” I sigh.

“You, have major second lead syndrome.” He points an accusing finger at me.

“So what? It’s for good reason, the main lead is toxic as fuck and you can’t change my mind.” I upturn my nose, turning back to the TV and continuing to watch the episode. 

The mentioning of the second lead sends a flurry of thoughts into my brain for a reason I can’t comprehend. Sometimes the main leads aren’t that bad but still we want the main character to end up with the second lead, maybe out of our own natural selfishness because we prefer the second lead more. I shake the thoughts away, trying to convince myself that kdramas were only works of fiction and too cheesy to be real, yet for whatever reason I always felt a connection with the second leads, like our emotions directed to our crushes were the same, because I knew that I would always be the second lead in Minho’s story. 

Minho’s name was always called out more times than mine was growing up, which I didn’t really mind until our hangout time would be seriously cut down because he had to hang out with other friends. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that he had friends, but there was a little bit of selfishness in me that wanted him to myself.

A new drama and a few episodes later, plus Chinese takeout, lead to our eventual demise. We both fall asleep on the couch in less than comfortable positions and wake up with stiff-neck, us groaning at the pain. 

We continue on with our usual morning routines, taking turns freshening up in the bathroom before heading out for breakfast at Paws and Pastries since we were both too lazy to make food ourselves. Besides, hot coffee in the morning plus good sandwiches AND cats? What more could you ask for?

When we enter the cat cafe I notice a familiar face behind the cashier, it was the same girl Seungmin was talking to on Friday, and the same girl I caught Minho staring at. We walk up to the cashier, I order my food first, a simple breakfast sandwich with a coffee to go with it and wait next to Minho to finish ordering. 

I made the mistake up glancing up at his face as he was telling his order to her, Ahra, her name tag read. There was something in his eyes that glinted that I had never seen before, not when he talked to Han and not when he talked to me. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of emotion in the middle of my chest before forcing myself to look back down, inserting my card and paying for everything. I sent the girl a thank you and a kind smile after she told us our food would be right over, and both me and Minho went over to our usual table in the back corner next to the cat’s jungle gym and right up next to the window. I get lost in my thoughts while we begin playing with the cats we were so accustomed to. 

Like most second leads, I knew exactly what my feelings were. I was practically an adult, how could I miss the fast beating of my heart or my clammy hands whenever I was around him? But again, like most second leads, I knew I’d never get a chance with him, not when everything we did together was purely platonic. It was painfully obvious that I’d be stuck with an unrequited love for who knows how long, and I couldn’t just detach myself from him all of a sudden to get over my feelings because a) he’d notice and force me to tell him what was wrong, ultimately leading me to tell him that I had feelings for him, and b) the moment I would come back or see him for even just a second I know I would develop those feelings all over again. Neither of which were choices I was willing to take so I suck it up and see him every day, ignoring everything my heart was telling me. 

I look up from the cat that I’m petting in my lap and look at Minho again, only to find him staring at Ahra who was taking people’s orders with a perfect pearly smile. It was in that moment that I knew, I had just found the female lead of Minho’s story.

3 weeks go by in a similar manner. Minho and I see Ahra around campus a few times and with some twisted fate, she’s on the clock every time we go to Paws and Pastries. Minho, being his smooth self, easily gets himself acquainted with her. They laugh and giggle so naturally and can slip into conversation so easily I’m almost envious of Minho and his non-introverted self. 

Not being one to try and stop fate, I watch it all happen. Telling Minho to ask her out already and teasing him about how lovesick he gets when he sees her nearby or at the cafe. I know Minho likes her when he blushes or gets defensive whenever I mention her in our conversations even though he’s never explicitly told me himself. I put on a face in front of him whenever these conversations come up, not wanting to get in the way of his happiness. 

One day some of our friends want to meet up outside of campus, we make plans to meet up at a bowling alley, ready to have fun until the late evening hours. Seungmin brought Ahra along with him, asking if it was okay to invite her since they were friends. Everyone agrees and we all meet up as planned. When everyone gets there, including Seungmin and Ahra, we introduce ourselves, Minho not having to introduce himself and easily speaking with her like they always did whenever running into each other. All the the boys have raised brows and mischievous smiles as they watch the interaction between the two, but only one looks at me in concern. 

A majority of the night passes by with laughter and teasing, how Chan was terrible at bowling this night and Minho easily beating him despite never doing too well on our previous adventures to the bowling alley. I spend the night with the rest of the boys, while Minho and Ahra spend time getting to know each other even more. There’s a point in the evening where I see Minho hold out his phone to Ahra to exchange numbers, I can hear her giggle when they take a selfie together, probably for her profile picture. I have to turn my head away quickly to ignore the cracking of my own heart when Minho puts his arm on the couch behind Ahra, he does it so naturally, yet he’s never done it with me. I will my thoughts to focus on the game and not on Minho, not noticing the same pair of concerned eyes until they speak up.

“Are you alright?” Hyunjin asks. 

“Hm? Of course I am, why wouldn’t I be?” My voice cracks halfway through and I try to hide my sad eyes, even though I was fully aware that Hyunjin had probably noticed that something was up.

“‘Cause you seem pretty affected by that scene over there.” He motions to Minho and Ahra with a nod of his head. 

“It’s nothing, Hyun, just nice seeing Minho talking to more people.”

“Y/n, you know he talks to people all the time, and you’re not nearly as affected then as you are now.” 

“Hyunjin, really, it’s fine.” I try to convince him but he says something that lets me know that he knows.

“You like Minho.”

“What? No that’s absurd I-“ He looks at me pointedly, and I sigh in defeat. “Yeah, okay, you got me.”

“Why don’t you say anything? Clearly it hurts you to see him like that.” He refers to Minho getting cozy with her.

“Hyunjin, it’s clear that everything we have is platonic, he even called me his sister several times. And who am I to get in the way of him getting into a relationship? That’s not my place to say anything, especially when his last girlfriend was 2 years ago.” 

“I get that, but shouldn’t he at least deserve to know? He says that he knows everything about you, but there’s one thing that he doesn't. You know practically everything about him, isn’t it a little unfair?” 

“We have choices as to what we share with each other and what we don’t, it’s his choice to tell me what he wants to and my choice to tell him what I want to tell him. Besides, he hasn’t even told me that he has a crush on Ahra yet.” 

“So maybe he doesn’t then.” 

“Hyunjin, just look at him, he’s a puppy in love.” I glance back over to Minho and Ahra sitting parallel to us. Minho is smiling brightly, more brightly than I had seen in a while and I can’t help but let my lips upturn at the corners just slightly in another sad smile. 

Hyunjin sighs next to me, and I look back to him. “I’m sorry y/n, I really wish he would end up with you instead of her, it doesn’t seem fair to you.”

“Hey, don’t say that, Ahra seems like a nice girl, she and Minho will get along great. And nothing in life is fair Hyunjin, that’s just something you come to accept.” I say, getting up. “I’m gonna get some drinks, does anyone want anything?” I ask everyone.

“Cola!” “Me too!” “Me three!” “A lemonade please.” A few of the boys shout back.

“Anything for you guys?” I turn to Minho and Ahra. They both shake their heads. “Okay then, I’ll be back in a minute guys.” I smile at the group before going to get the drinks. 

While walking away from the group I let a teardrop fall from my eye, wiping it away just before I order.

Life’s unfair, that’s just something I have to accept. 

A week goes by and Minho’s talking about how he and Ahra message often, how he thinks they get along well and he’s gonna ask her out.

Another week goes by and they’ve gone on their first date, he takes her to the beach and they have a picnic. 

Two weeks after that they’ve gone on several dates and are officially boyfriend and girlfriend, I don’t even find out separately at this point, I find out with the rest of the group over dinner.

A few days after that Minho calls off one of our late night binge watching sessions, texting me an apology and that Ahra needs him. I tell him it’s okay and to send my regards to her. 

It’s a week and half after and Minho regularly calls off our meetups at the cafe after school or at one another’s dorms to tend to Ahra. I tell him it’s fine each time and to not feel bad. He did the same today, and I sit alone at our usual table, mindlessly petting a cat in my lap while zoning out into in my mug of coffee. 

All while this happens, I watch, and I let it happen. I don’t fight for him because it didn’t feel right, sometimes second leads let their love fall for someone else, and that’s all it felt like I could do. 

Fighting for Minho felt selfish, especially when I knew I had no chance and he’d already fallen for Ahra. I couldn’t suddenly come out of the blue and tell him “hey, I have feelings for you,” when he’s already dating Ahra, I’d look like a major asshole if I did. All I could do was watch and see how we begun to drift farther and farther apart. 

With Minho being absent more often, I don’t get to tell him much. Like the internship offer I got to continue pursuing graphic design in Itaewon. I got the email almost a week ago, and I had two more weeks to decide if I was going to take the offer. With nobody to consult about it with I continue to push it to the back of my mind, not wanting to deal with more stress just yet. 

Just as I’m taking another sip of my coffee a familiar head of long blonde hair enters the cafe. My head tilts to the side in confusion as he scans the room for someone when he meets eyes with me, he makes his way over and sits in the seat in front of me and doesn’t say anything.

“You’re rarely on this side of town, why are you here?” I ask Hyunjin first.

“I heard something from Ms. Kim in our art class and needed to know if it was true.” He says seriously.

“What…” I feel like I know what he’s going to say, but I ask anyways. “What did you hear?” 

“That you were offered an internship in Itaewon.” 

“Hyunjin I-“

“Is it really true? She said you had two more weeks to decide, how come you haven’t told anybody? Does Minho know? Are you gonna leave? What about-” He begins to spurt out question after question and it’s almost too much for me to handle.

“Hyunjin!” I raise my voice just slightly to get him to stop but I have to turn it down again when the volume of my voice makes a few of the other customers’ heads turn. “Calm down, yes it’s true, yes I have two more weeks to decide if I’m going or not, I didn’t know how I would tell any of you, no, Minho doesn’t know and I don’t plan on telling him.” 

“Are you… Are you gonna take the offer?” He asks slowly.

I prop my elbows onto the table as the cat leaves my lap and my head drops into my hands as I sigh in exasperation. “I don’t know.” Tears are gathering in my eyes as I think about it. 

“Y/n, have you thought about the offer at all?” 

“Yes and no.” I don’t need to lift my head to sense Hyunjin’s confusion. “It’s hard to think about it when you’re watching your crush of 2 years date someone else while you’re also trying to finish up your senior year. But it’s also all I can think about when I’m alone, which I find myself a lot, thinking about having to find a place to live in Itaewon and transfer and mentally prepare to leave you all here, but if I don’t take it then it’ll be even harder to find an offer like this. It’s all I can think about and also something that I can’t bring myself to think about, Hyunjin.” I lift my head and my teary eyes meet his own. 

“Y/n…” His voice breaks saying my name.

“I think I’m going to take it.” I pause. “Once I finish all of my final assignments the only thing I have left to really worry about is graduating and finding a job, and I don’t think I can take watching Minho and Ahra anymore Hyun, I don’t think I can stomach it. I’m happy for them, I truly am, but it’s also affecting me and I don’t think I should ignore that anymore. If I’m in Itaewon I have a job and I won’t have to worry about feelings anymore, two birds with one stone.” 

I see the hesitancy in Hyunjin’s facial expressions before he speaks. “If that’s what you think you should do, then I’ll support you all the way. But shouldn’t you tell Minho about this?” 

“I’m not, because if I do, Minho is gonna find some way to get me to stay and I’ll crumble and stay because he affects me the most.” Hyunjin merely nods in response. “Hyunjin, you are the only one that can know about this, okay? I can’t have everyone else know this, especially Minho, okay?”

Hesitation again, and then, “Okay.” 

Hyunjin keeps his promise, he keeps the secret of me leaving from everyone. Even as graduation inches closer and our group begins to talk more about job searching, what comes next, and similar topics, the two of us keep it a secret. Whenever they asked me what I was thinking of doing next I always just told them “oh probably looking for internships nearby,” and no more questions are asked. 

Minho and Ahra were still very much in love, even more than before, if the growing absence of Minho’s presence was anything to go by. I barely saw Minho anymore, maybe catching him at the end of the hall every once in awhile, but he was always walking with Ahra so all I could say was “hello” and “goodbye.” 

Each goodbye begun to hold more and more weight as the days passed. Even the short ones I would tell Minho after passing him in the halls. I couldn’t even conjure how I would tell everyone, maybe send a letter to each of their places? A text message? Tell them after the graduation ceremony just before I left for the train station? I thought about how I would say goodbye as I begun to pack up my dorm. Graduation was nearing, I had already turned in all of my final assignments, and all there was left was to pack. I would leave after the ceremony ended, sometime in the afternoon. I wouldn’t even get the chance to properly celebrate being graduates with my friends because I was leaving in the afternoon. I’d get situated in my new apartment in Itaewon and get accustomed to new life outside of Gimpo. 

The thought of leaving panged my heart harshly, I had never left Gimpo permanently before. Sure, I had gone on trips to the US and Singapore and Seoul before, but I had never moved from Gimpo. I was born and raised in Gimpo, met Minho and all of our friends here, so the thought of moving for the first time did something to my heart. I attended all of our group hangouts with a nostalgic mindset, remembering the first time we all met, when we all got wasted one time on a Friday night after some big exam week. I look around our table of friends and think about how much I’ll miss all of this when I leave for Itaewon. 

Another thing that panged my heart, Minho and I distancing. I knew it was coming, Minho and I didn’t text or talk about hanging out anymore. He walked Ahra to her classes now, and had dates with her after class instead of meeting me at our cafe. Eventually I stopped getting apology messages, and stopped expecting him at the cafe anymore. I couldn’t blame him, Ahra was his girlfriend and I accepted that long ago. Instead I just played the supportive friend on the sidelines, and I’d continue to play that role for as long as I had to. 

It came to be the night before we graduated, and all of us minus Minho and Ahra were sat around a table in one of the restaurants we frequented, it wasn’t too late in the evening, and we all just sat in silence after finishing our food with bottles and glasses of soju now sitting in front of us. A majority of our meal was full of reminiscing, talking about memories that crack everyone up and left smiles on our faces. 

“So, we really graduate tomorrow, huh?” Changbin says when the table quiets down.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” Chan says quietly. 

My eyes tear up and I begin to sniff without control, the weight of my department tomorrow weighing heavily on my shoulders. Hyunjin puts an arm around my shoulders and gives me a tissue, whispering “it’s okay, it’s okay” to me while I try to calm down.

Everyone looks at me in confusion before Chan speaks first. “Y/n are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I just…” I trail off, not sure what to say.

“Do you want to tell them?” Hyunjin asks softly.

“Tell us what?” Seungmin says this time.

Hyunjin looks to me first before nodding, and I begin to spill my secret. “I got an internship offer.” 

The table erupts in cheers and I get congratulations thrown back at me before I can even continue.

“But…” Immediately everyone silences and looks to me in expectation. “It’s in Itaewon.” 

There’s a tense air that falls around us. “What?” Felix says in disbelief.

“You’re not leaving us, right Noona?” Jeongin asks from another part of the table. 

I look to Jeongin with sad eyes, smiling sadly. “I leave tomorrow, after our graduation ceremony.” There’s some gasps around the table.

“What?! Y/n, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Changbin blows up and Chan has to place a hand on his shoulder to restrain him.

“I didn’t want every time we met leading up to graduation to feel like a goodbye, Bin, I couldn’t handle that. So I kept it from you all so there wasn’t this tension every time we met.” I explained.

“Does Minho know?” Seungmin asks this time, and I shake my head.

“Y/n…” Han says worriedly.

“Guys, I know I’m not the only one that’s noticed that me and Minho aren’t that close anymore, so I haven’t really gotten the chance to tell him. But I told Hyunjin this a long time ago, that I wouldn’t tell Minho specifically, because there’s some things that I need to figure out and if I told him he’d find some way to keep me from going, or even worse, follow me. At least with Ahra by his side he won’t follow me to Itaewon.” There’s nods all around the table, understanding where I’m coming from.

“We’re gonna miss you a lot.” Felix sniffs and I coo, getting up from my seat to wrap my arms around him from behind. 

“I’m gonna miss you all too.” I sniff with him, a few tears escaping my eyes. 

Chan comes to join our hug, then Han, then Jeongin, and soon enough everyone has joined the group hug with me in the middle. All of us are crying, and I had never felt more loved than that moment. 

Eventually we break away from the hug and return to our seats, everyone dabbing at their eyes with tissues and sniffing. 

“Let’s all stop crying, tonight is a night to celebrate, all of us graduate tomorrow, and our dear Y/n got an internship offer in a big city!” Han holds up a drink and we all do the same, cheering and clinking our glasses together and celebrating the night away. 

The next morning I get ready for graduation early, putting on my makeup and doing my hair, and sending a message. 

to: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

hey, can you meet me at p&p in thirty?

My heart picks up the pace as I send the message, I didn’t expect him to answer so quickly yet his message pings my phone within 2 minutes. 

from: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

sure, i can be there

to: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

sweet, i’ll see you there

I turn my phone off and take a deep breath, we still had a few hours before we had to be at the school for our graduation ceremony, I’d have to leave just a few minutes after the ceremony ended which wouldn’t give me enough time to tell Minho, so, I made the painful decision the night before to tell him in the morning. I’d do it in our favorite spot in the corner of our favorite cat cafe, tell him the news slowly and hope that he takes it well. 

I leave my house and 15 minutes later I’m in our usual booth, my coffee order sitting in front of me and the cats all wandering around as there weren’t too many people since it was relatively early in the morning. I already bought Minho his typical Iced Americano and it sat in front of me, awaiting it’s owner. 

10 minutes later Minho arrives and makes his way to the table, sitting in front of me, smiling, unknowing of what’s about to happen. 

“Hey.” I smile at him.

“Hey you.” He smiles back brightly. “Sorry I couldn’t see you guys last night, I took Ahra out for dinner last night on a date.”

“It’s completely alright, how are you guys?” 

“Pretty good, things are going okay right now.” He answers.

“That’s good.” Nervously I take a sip of my macchiato in front of me, my leg bouncing in anxiety. 

“Y/n? Is everything alright? Your leg’s bouncing pretty fast right now.” Curse Minho and the fact that he knows so much about me, he reaches out for my wrist and checks my pulse, quickly noticing how fast it’s beating as his brows furrow in confusion. 

“Minho, there’s something I need to tell you.” I say, retracting my wrist from his grip. He doesn’t answer me but instead tilts his head like a cat does when it looks at its owner questionably. “I’m leaving.” 

“What?” He asks.

How could one look so endearing, head tilted and eyes full of emotion as I break the news to him? I ask myself. “I got an internship offer for a company in Itaewon, I accepted it and I’m leaving for Itaewon, today.” 

“You’re leaving today?” He says in disbelief, sounding out of breath.

I nod and continue. “After the graduation today I have to catch my bus. I didn’t have any other time to tell you so I had to tell you now.” 

“You’re… You’re just telling me now? Do the others know about this?” 

“I only told them last night.”

“You couldn’t have thought of telling me sooner?” He starts to get angry.

“Minho I-“

“What happened to telling me everything, huh? What happened to when we used to know everything about each other?”

“Minho, those days are long behind us, you have bigger priorities now, like putting your focus on your girlfriend, Minho. I couldn’t tell you because I knew you’d do something rash, and I didn’t even tell the others until last night because I knew every time we’d see each other it would be like preparing for the day I leave. You and Ahra have something so great going on for the two of you right now and telling you that I was leaving would take you away from that, and I can’t do that to you or her. Ahra is an amazing girl, and you have her now.”

“Will you at least visit?” His eyes are full of tears, some of the first I’ve seen in years and I hate that I’m the cause of it. 

“I don’t know yet, there’s some things I need to figure out myself first, before I can visit. But at some point maybe I will, when I’ve figured things out I’ll try visiting from time to time.” I offer him a sad smile. 

After a few moments of silence I get up from my seat. 

“We still have a graduation left, Min, I’ll still see you then.” I ruffle his hair and walk out of the cafe, no more secrets but one weighing down on my chest. 

The Graduation ceremony passes by in a blur. One moment we were listening to the speeches of each of the professors and the next we were tossing our caps into the air, cheering as we became alumni of our university. 

Our friend group met up in the front of the school, taking pictures with our parents and congratulating each other. Eventually, the time comes and I have to go. 

Our group stands in a circle, unmoving, as we all look at each other. 

“I’m gonna miss all of you so much.” I say in tears as my voice breaks.

“We’re gonna miss you too, Y/n.” Hyunjin says. At his words everyone gathers into a group hug full of tears and the weight of a goodbye on our shoulders. 

“You better promise to visit us, okay?” Felix holds me by the shoulders and makes a point to look me in the eye. Not trusting my voice, I nod and he brings me into one more hug. 

I hug each of them individually, saying a few words, before I reach the last person. 

I hug Minho and look into his eyes for the last time for a while.

“I’ll miss you.” He whispers.

“Me too.” And that’s all I can say. 

I leave the campus for the last time, hopping in my car to head to the station and start anew.

Second leads always leave in the end, they leave and let the two main leads have a happy ending. That’s what it felt like I was doing, and I couldn’t tell if I was content with my choice or not. 

Two and a half months in Itaewon passes quickly. 

The move into my new apartment was smooth, and it was odd to be in a bigger space than a small dorm room. It felt like I had more space than I knew what to do with. 

My internship was moving along smoothly as well, everyone I had met so far were really kind and taught me a lot. I was worried about feeling out of place but I had met a few other girls not much older than me who helped me feel at home. 

Being alone in a big city was unnerving, but what made it so much more comfortable was the addition of a cat that my parents had bought me as my graduation gift. She was a chartreux cat who I named Luna because I had always dreamed of naming my first cat that. My parents covered most of the costs of basic things like cat toys, a scratch post, her bed, and similar things. I thanked my parents endlessly when they came over to my apartment a week after I had moved in and gave me Luna. I wasn’t gone for too long during the day and always left food for her, she was great company when I came home and worked on projects late into the evening, curling up into my lap like the cats at the old cafe used to. She was my best friend in a city I was still getting accustomed to. 

I hadn’t talked to the guys much, I’d talked with them a few times in the group chat about how their job searches were going and trips they were planning to take soon. It was nice talking with them every so often but all of us were still pretty busy moving onto the next chapter of our lives. 

I hadn’t talked to Minho since I left, I’d assumed that he and Ahra were doing well, but that���s all that was, assumption. None of the boys talked about him and I couldn’t understand why, but I never asked since I was supposed to be moving on from my feelings in the first place. I thought I had been doing pretty well until something would come up that reminded me of him, like his favorite song would play in the cafe I bought my morning coffee in and spent my breaks at, or snapchat would send me “Today, 1 year ago” memories of him and me fooling around at Paws and Pastries. Whenever that would happen I’d be sent back to square one, and it felt like I’d never move on from Minho. 

I was on my way out to grab a coffee and spend my off day walking around, maybe looking into a few shops when I got a call from Hyunjin.

“Y/n! My favorite girl, how are you?”

“Hyunjin? What’s with the call?”

“What? Can I not call my friends from time to time?”

“Not when you’re notorious for calling your ‘friends’ after you’ve done something wrong.” I sigh.

“That was one time! Besides, it wasn’t that bad.”

“You dragged Jeongin to a party! And got him wasted!” 

“One. Time. Y/n. It was one time.”

“One time is enough for you to be in trouble for life, Hyun.”

“Okay, whatever, but I was meaning to ask you, what’re your plans for today?” 

“Me? I was just planning to go out, today’s my day off so I was gonna visit this one cafe and see some shops, why?” 

“No reason, what time do you think you’ll be home?” 

“Maybe five?”

“Great, okay, I have to go now, Han’s calling me, bye!” Hyunjin hangs up before I can ask him what’s with the weird questions.

“Hyunjin- Oh great he hung up.” I put my phone in my pocket before looking down at Luna who’s stretching near my legs. “Your uncle Hyunjin is quite the odd one, isn’t he Luna, hm?” I ask her and she meows back in response. “Weird indeed, but that’s just how he is. Mommy’s gonna spend her day out and then she’ll come home and we can watch the TV together, okay? I’ll be home soon.” I pick up Luna and set her on her little bed before ensuring everything is safe and make my way out the door. 

I spend the day eating at a large cat cafe that actually had an assortment of books with little reading areas while the cats roamed around everywhere. It was much bigger than the cafe in Gimpo, but I would always correlate that one with home. 

After I spent a bit of time reading there I went out and explored the shops for a few hours, bought some new jeans and a few blouses plus some makeup things. I got Subway for lunch and explored just a little bit more before heading home. Instead of going straight home, I decided to take the long way, going through the streets not minding the extra weight the few shopping bags I was holding in my hands gave me. The sun was just barely beginning to set as I walked into my apartment complex, getting into the elevator and pressing the button for my floor. 

I walk down the hallway to my door and am surprised when a familiar figure greets me there. 

“Minho?” I say as I walk closer. 

“Y/n!” He says happily, bringing me into a hug. 

“What are you doing here? Actually- Wait- Don’t answer that, do you wanna come inside?” I ask him.

“Sure.” He responds. 

I unlock the door and bring my bags in, setting them by the door. “Luna! Mommy’s home!” I call out automatically.

Luna meows and comes out of the bedroom, walking her way up to me before I pick her up. 

“You got a cat?” Minho asks.

“Yeah, parents brought her to me about a week after I moved in.” I put Luna back down and she moves to sit on the arm of the couch, her favorite spot to sit when the sun goes down.

“And you named her Luna,” He smiles fondly. “You always wanted to name your cat Luna.” 

“I’m surprised you remember that.” I chuckle. “Do you want some coffee?” 

“Sure.” 

“I’ll get that brewing, just give me a few minutes, you can take a seat on the couch and make yourself at home!” I tell him as I quickly retreat to the kitchen.

I have to take a few breaths when I’m far away enough from Minho, my heart beating just as fast as it would when I was around him back then. It was clear I hadn’t moved on at all. 

I brew the coffee as promised and wait next to the coffee machine with two mugs ready. A voice chimes in behind me.

“Your place is much bigger than the dorms.” He chuckles.

“Tell me about it, it was so weird buying more furniture than I was used to.” I laugh with him. 

The machine finishes brewing the coffee and I pour it into the two mugs, putting it on a tray with creamer and sugar before bringing it all to the coffee table in front of the couch. 

Minho and I take seats on the couch, separated by a bit of space between us while we sip on our respective mugs.

“So,” I start the conversation. “How’s home?” 

“Not too bad, same old same old, the guys being annoying as usual, you know?” He says.

“Sounds fun.” I chuckle. “And work, have you found anything yet?” 

“Not yet, I’ve got a few applications out, but I’m still waiting on some answers.”

“I’m sure you’ll get them soon.” I respond. 

An uncomfortable silence sets over the both of us, and I run my free hand through Luna’s fur who’s situated herself in my lap this time. I take a long sip of my coffee before asking another question.

“How’s… How are you and Ahra?” 

“Oh…” He trails off. “We broke up a few weeks ago.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that…” I had no idea that he and Ahra had broken up, in fact that was the completely opposite of what I thought had happened since they seemed to work together so well. 

“Yeah, it was a mutual thing. We didn’t really feel that kind of connection anymore, you know? So we just, broke it off.” 

“Are you okay?” I ask Minho.

“Me? Yeah, I’m actually not as affected as I thought I’d be, I don’t know if that makes me a cruel person or not but I was only sad for the first week or two. Nothing too bad.” 

“I see.” Another silence settles between us. This one is longer, more tense, there was something Minho wanted to ask but he wasn’t sure, and I couldn’t depict what question he was going to ask.

“Actually, I came her for a reason.” He says.

“And what reason is that?” I ask hesitantly.

“For answers.” My brows furrow, answers for what? “There’s something Hyunjin told me recently and it got me thinking, and I wanted to hear it from you if it was true.”  

I finish my coffee and place it down delicately on the coffee table, trying not to show how nervous I was with how badly my hands were shaking. “I’ll see if I have answers for you then.” 

“When you told me you were leaving, you said you had some, things, to figure out on your own. What was it that you had to figure out?” 

I take a moment to decide exactly how I was going to answer his question. Did I want to expose my feelings to him just yet? “Just, feelings.” I say vaguely.

“For?”

“Just feelings for somebody.”

“Is it Hyunjin?”

“No.”

“Chan?”

“Nope.”

“Changbin?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Me?”

I pause for just a half second, and apparently that was all Minho needed. “I guess Hyunjin’s big mouth was right after all.”

“Wait- What? What are you talking about?” 

Minho takes a long sip of his coffee before finishing letting out a sigh after swallowing, he slowly sets the mug on the table before making direct eye contact with me and silently killing me with the suspense. “Minho please just say something you’re killing me here.”

He only chuckles in response. “Hyunjin told me not too long ago that you took up the offer to work here because you were going to sort out your feelings, for me.” He says sweetly as I suck in a breath at his last words. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Minho-“

“Now now, Y/n, we shouldn’t hide things from each other anymore, should we?” His sweet, sultry voice was affecting me greatly as he leaned closer to me on the couch. I gulp and silently curse when Luna, the only thing keeping me sane, leaves the comfort of my lap for her scratch-post. 

“Minho…” I let out quietly.

“Tell me, Kitten, is it true?” He asks once again. 

“I-“ My voice catches in my throat when Minho leans in ever nearer, still making direct eye-contact with me. “Yes, it is.” I sigh out and Minho backs away. 

“He was right.” Minho whispers while my gaze drops to my hands that I fiddle with in my lap at the secret that’s let out. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry.” I whisper.

“Why are you sorry darling?” He asks softly and uses his thumb and forefinger to tilt my head up by my chin. 

“I couldn’t tell you because I knew you didn’t feel the same, and then when you got together with Ahra we drifted apart because it hurt me to see you with her. Then I left and told you about me leaving so last minute. I made you cry, Minho, and I hate that I did. But I couldn’t see any other way out of it. I hurt you because I was cowardly and didn’t want to be selfish by telling you and having your attention move off of Ahra, when I was really being selfish by not telling you and hurting you in the end.” More tears escape my eyes as we look at each other.

“Princess, no…” He cups my face with his hands and uses his thumbs to wipe away my tears. “I’ll admit, it did hurt when you told me that you were leaving the day of, but I understood where you were coming from. Because you were right, I would have done something crazy to keep you by my side. Do you know why?” He asks, and I shake my head, still crying. “Because I need you by my side, kitten, even when I was dating Ahra I felt off but just didn’t pay any mind to it because I had her. But now I know it’s because you and I were drifting apart, I found out when after you left and me and Ahra broke up because I felt empty. I couldn’t text you to just come over anymore because you’re farther away from me now. I lied earlier, I said that I sent out some applications for jobs but didn’t get any answers yet, right?” I nod. “I got offered a job as a software engineer, here, in Itaewon, and I said yes.” 

“Why?” I whisper.

“Because I want to be near you, I need to be by your side Y/n, because I love you.” I let out a sob at his confession and he coos, bringing me to rest my head on his chest and rubbing his hands on my back and running them through my hair. 

“I love you too.” I say after a few minutes. 

Minho brings me out of his hold, and cups my face again. For the first time, he kisses me. His lips brush over mine before deepening the kiss, taking full charge of it yet somehow still being soft with me. His kisses were nothing short of addicting, and I knew I’d be in love with him for a long time. 

In that moment, kissing the man of my dreams, I remember that it may be rare that a second lead gets their own happy ending, but it’s not unheard of. Sometimes the main lead and second lead do end up with their own happily ever after. 

Notes from the author: I have FINALLY posted something y’all 😂 took a few months but she’s here, and she’s dishing out something at least. I don’t know how often I’ll be posting again, esp with school and whatnot, but I do know I need to drain out my drafts because phew, it’s getting a little full in there. 

But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this fic! I’m pretty sure it’s one of the longest I’ve written if not the longest. Hopefully it wasn’t too bad, I’m probably a little rusty but we can fix that (i think)

if you want more I still have my old stuff up on my masterlist on my account! hope to see you around :))

-nyx

[nancypullen]

Labor Day, Part Two

We thoroughly enjoyed the holiday weekend and made the most of Mickey’s bonus day off.  Our wonderful boys had gifted Mickey with tickets to see Hamilton at The Kennedy Center in D.C. and our seats were reserved for Sunday night.   We drove into D.C. on Saturday afternoon, with no solid plans for how we’d spend the day.  We’d discussed which museums we might visit, what culture we’d dive into, and how to make the most of our time.  Then we did what any red-blooded Americans would do - we put money on our Metro cards and went to a mall.   Honestly, that’s my fault. Our little town on the Eastern Shore is safe and sweet but shopping options are LIMITED.  We got off the train at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City and parted ways.  I roamed Macy’s, Sephora, MAC, L’Occitane,  Ann Taylor,  Banana Republic and it felt good.  I purchased very little, a cleanser at Sephora and a clearance purse at Macy’s.  But it was nice to see everything.  In fairness, a couple of hours was enough.  I’m good for another 5 or 6 months now.  We grabbed District Taco for dinner - quick and easy and yummy.  I had a bowl with a scoop of guacamole on top that was worth the calories. Thanks to years and years of traveling for work, the mister is a lifetime titanium member at Marriott.  We still get freebies and upgrades and they didn’t disappoint us this weekend.  We didn’t pay a dime for our room (well, we paid for parking) and they upgraded us to a two bedroom suite.  We didn’t need two bedrooms, but it felt fancy. We weren’t in the penthouse but we had a 9th floor peek at the sunsets - and you know how I love my sunsets. Soul food.

So we woke up in our lovely room on Sunday and decided that after breakfast we’d hop the metro again and visit a museum or two (p.s. -  It was also nice that we each had our own bathroom, it makes getting ready easier, doesn’t it?).  We rode a couple of stops up the line, and one escalator toward the sun later we popped out on the National Mall.  It’s such a pretty place.  I’d love to be there when the cherry trees are blooming, I just don’t want to be there with the cherry tree crowds.  And speaking of crowds, there weren’t any!  Look how empty!

I’m going to fast forward here rather than bore you with every detail of our day. I’d initially wanted to return to the National Gallery, pretty sure the mister would prefer to spend all day at the Air & Space Museum, we decided to go to the Natural History Museum, and at the last minute turned left and went to the Museum of American History. Honestly, you can’t go wrong in D.C.  We enjoyed  our visit and I snapped a lot of pictures - though there’s always a favorite.

Never forget, ladies, men didn’t give us the right to vote, they’re the ones who withheld it.  But that’s a bitter post for another day. We spent a few hours soaking up what D.C. offers (and soaking up sun, it was hot) before heading back to the hotel to shower and prep for the wonderful evening ahead.  Fast forwarding again to our arrival at The Kennedy Center. Oh, it’s just beautiful.

I told Mickey that this is the light fiture I want in the living room.

Our sweet boys had chosen spectacular seats and we were in the orchestra section with a perfect view of the stage!

What a treat! What can I say about Hamilton other than it’s magnificent.  The second act blows me away.  The first act is interesting and  is a rapid telling of history, the second act feels more personal and if you don’t cry during It’s Quiet Uptown we can’t be friends.  King George always delivers and makes me laugh, Thomas Jefferson being a total player makes me laugh, but oh, when Aleander and Eliza stroll through town, looking broken after the death of their son Philip, and the company sings about them - my heart shatters. I have a lump in my throat just typing this.

I dare you to listen and to read these lyrics without weeping.  I can’t. It’s Quiet Uptown There are moments that the words don't reach There is suffering too terrible to name You hold your child as tight as you can And push away the unimaginable The moments when you're in so deep It feels easier to just swim down The Hamiltons move uptown And learn to live with the unimaginable I spend hours in the garden I walk alone to the store And it's quiet uptown I never liked the quiet before I take the children to church on Sunday A sign of the cross at the door And I pray That never used to happen before If you see him in the street Walking by himself, talking to himself, have pity Philip, you would like it uptown, it's quiet uptown He is working through the unimaginable His hair has gone grey He passes every day They say he walks the length of the city You knock me out, I fall apart Can you imagine? Look at where we are Look at where we started I know I don't deserve you, Eliza But hear me out That would be enough If I could spare his life If I could trade his life for mine He'd be standing here right now And you would smile and that would be enough I don't pretend to know The challenges we're facing I know there's no replacing what we've lost And you need time But I'm not afraid I know who I married Just let me stay here by your side That would be enough If you see him in the street Walking by her side, talking by her side, have pity Eliza, do you like it uptown? It's quiet uptown He is trying to do the unimaginable See them walking in the park, long after dark Taking in the sights of the city Look around, look around, Eliza They are tryna do the unimaginable There are moments that the words don't reach There's a grace too powerful to name We push away what we can never understand We push away the unimaginable They are standing in the garden Alexander by Eliza's side She takes his hand It's quiet uptown Forgiveness, can you imagine? Forgiveness, can you imagine? If you see him in the street Walking by her side, talking by her side, have pity They are going through the unimaginable Oh, my heart!  Why do I torture myself? Anyway, it was an unforgettable evening in a beautiful spot.  I feel lucky to have have lived it - is that too dramatic?  I’m just grateful for moments like this that make a life rich. On Monday we slept in, had breakfast, and then Mickey pointed the car home.  I think it was about an hour and twenty minutes from door to door.  Not bad, traffic was light.  We lunched at home and slipped back into normal life.  I like our normal life.  I also like that we live close enough to interesting places to step out of normal life now and then.  Today it’s a bit drizzly (we need it) and I’m washing sheets and planning menus.  But you can bet that I’ll be singing along to the Hamilton  soundtrack while I do it. I think I’ll skip around and perform King George’s hit.

Cracks me up. Stay safe, stay well, sending out loads of love - Nancy

[hermannsthumb]

Maria. *Grabs your face* MARIA. I would LOVE to see 15 bobbing for apples from the autumn fic meme written by you. Nothing would delight me more!

Anonymous asked: Halloween prompt #15 please!!... "Bobbing for apples but we meet accidentally underwater lady and the tramp style." OR "I thought we'd have fun bobbing for apples but you actually hate it and are really mad now"

15. Bobbing For Apples

from autumn fic prompts here

KATE ❤️__ ❤️for you id write anything... and anon the lady and the tramp scenario is so fucking funny/good

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

It’s a really good thing that Hermann has Newt, because if Newt’s being honest, he has no damn clue what the poor dude would do without him. Work himself to death, probably. Or spend every Saturday night alone in his bunk. So depressing. Newt considers it his big charitable act of—well, of all time—to force Hermann into social functions, whether it's fun nights out at the bar (with Newt!), or down the hall a few feet for awesome movie marathons in Newt’s quarters (with Newt!), or something like tonight, which is a super awesome and fun Halloween party that, like, everyone on the base was invited to (including Newt!).

Hermann was all set to spend another night alone (probably changing the batteries in all his calculators or rearranging the hangers in his closet) when Newt dragged him out, more or less by the collar of his argyle sweater, with multiple threats to make his life a living hell the following week in the lab if he didn't comply immediately. "Seriously, dude," Newt had said, ominously, while Hermann looked at him like a furious cat ready to take a swipe, "you're gonna put in those vampire fangs and get drunk with me, or you're gonna regret it. I mean it." Newt was not opposed to blasting the shittiest depths of his Spotify account over his bluetooth speakers or using Hermann's favorite coffee mug to hold his dissection tools. Luckily for both of them, Hermann decided the risk wasn't worth it.

Newt knows Hermann is bound to recognize how selfless Newt is being and thank him for it eventually. Probably. Maybe a few years from now. For now, Newt is enjoying the warm and fuzzy feeling of having done a good deed, and also of drinking a considerable amount of spiked punch.

Hermann is not enjoying either.

"I did, in fact, have plans for tonight," he tells Newt, sipping his ginger ale and observing Newt with a fierce scowl. He flat-out refused the booze Newt tried to push on him. It's fine, whatever—it's enough for Newt, right now anyway, that he actually came. They'll work up to bigger stuff like that later.

"Like what?" Newt says. "Doing a crossword puzzle and watching the second half of that boring-ass documentary you put on last weekend?"

Newt considers it an affront to the very concept of movie nights that Hermann used his pick on a documentary, and one about the jaeger program that didn't even bother interviewing him, no less. Newt loves a good documentary, don't get him wrong, but movie nights are for escapist shit. You don't see him switching on Godzilla. Plus, having to watch stock footage of Dr. Gottlieb Sr. blabbing his mouth about how smart he was while you were debating making a move on his son (who was currently in you bed, looking super cute in your sweatpants, because he'd forgotten to pack pj's) was kind of a mood-killer. "It wasn't boring," Hermann sniffs, which tells Newt that his guess was dead-on. "It was...interesting. And anyway, just because they aren't your idea of plans..."

"Okay, whatever," Newt says. "Let's just have fun. That's the point of a party."

He throws an arm around Hermann's shoulder and drags him closer, until their heads knock together painfully. He hears Hermann growl low in his throat. Newt doesn't say, soon, we won't have the time to do stupid shit like this anymore, so we should enjoy it while we can, even though he wants to. It's better to not make fun stuff depressing. Plus, Hermann might decide to take that as an invitation to bail and put on his documentary. Instead he reaches up across Hermann and flicks his chin. Hermann's whole body stiffens. "I can't believe I got you into this super awesome party and you're not even pretending to be thankful," Newt says.

With no great deal of difficulty, Hermann pushes Newt off of him. Newt lands heavily back in his chair, making the whole thing wobble, and he laughs as he just manages to catch himself from falling off the other side. "You got me in?" Hermann says. "Newton, I was invited three weeks ago."

Newt stops laughing. "You were?"

"Yes," Hermann says. The corner of his lip twitches up, with a smugness so powerful Newt can feel it radiating off of him in waves. Bastard. "I took it upon myself to ask if you might be permitted to come, too." He adds, sarcastically, "Out of the kindness of my heart. I know how terribly put out you get when you aren't included in these sorts of things."

Newt considers this new information, and then discards it, because it really doesn't fit the image of himself he's been cultivating as the cool, hip friend to Hermann's uncool, unhip nerd. Like, come on, between the two of them, Newt is obviously the one you'd want at your party. Hermann's gotta be kidding. Probably. Maybe. "It's a lame party anyway," Newt mumbles.

He tries to put his arm around Hermann's shoulder again, remembers that Hermann really didn't like that the first time, and then drops it back down at his side instead. "Totally lame," he continues. Newt recalls the Halloween parties of his youth with a warm, fond glow: elaborate costumes, tacky decorations, passing around bowls of peeled grapes in the dark, carving jack-o-lanterns while his dad hovered protectively over him to make sure he didn't take a finger off with the knife. This is none of that. Barely anyone even dressed up! The lack of Halloween spirit is tragic. "There aren't even any party games."

"Yes there are," Hermann says, mildly.

He points across the room at a large metal tub that Newt somehow missed before. It looks like it's filled with water, and...

"Dude," Newt says.

He doesn't wait to ask before he's hopping to his feet and dragging Hermann along after him by his blazer cuff. Hermann swats at his heels a few times with his cane, but eventually—like he does with most of Newt's ideas—gives in. "I'm a fuckin' champ at bobbing for apples," Newt boasts. "I used to—oops, excuse me," (he runs into two guys who are, like, twice his height, upsetting their drinks, and he hears Hermann groan as something purple spills on his sweater), "I used to always win it at the fall fest when my dad would take me." And then when he went back as an adult by himself, but it was less impressive a win when you were up against a bunch of ten-year-olds.

"You do have an exceptionally large mouth," Hermann says, rubbing at his stained shoulder. "I suppose that helps." As Newt bends to investigate the iron tub, he says, "Oh, Newton, don't, it's been out all night. Who knows what sorts of germs are in there?"

Newt gets to his knees and rolls up the sleeves of his PPDC-issued labcoat. He's a mad scientist to Hermann's vampire (vampire librarian?) tonight. Yeah, it's kind of a lazy costume, but it was free—he already had everything he needed in the lab. "I can get it in five seconds, max," he declares. His record is one second, but he's the first to admit he's a little rusty, and he'd rather impress Hermann by beating his estimate. "Will you hold my headlamp?"

Grumbling, Hermann takes it. Newt sets his glasses on the ground. "You're going to get yourself bloody soaking," Hermann says, and then he complains about something else, too, but Newt is screwing his eyes shut and ducking his head into the tub, which makes it difficult to hear him. One second—two seconds—two and a half—Newt emerges victorious from the tub, teeth clenched down firmly on an apple, and accidentally splatters a large amount of water on Hermann's shoes. He pulls the apple out of his mouth with a grin and waves it at Hermann. "See. I'm a fucking pro."

He tucks his glasses back on his face to discover that Hermann is staring at him with a very strange expression on his face. Newt can't decide if it's the blacklight bulbs overhead that are washing him out and making him look so flushed, or something else entirely. Then, in a second, he's grumpy and scowling and tsking over his wet shoes. "A pro," he echoes. "Hardly. It can't be that complicated."

Newt gestures grandly at the tub and takes a bite out of his apple. Hermann can always be relied upon to never turn down a challenge, especially when it means making Newt look—potentially—stupid. Newt uses it to his advantage often. Whatever it takes to help the guy have a good time. "It's all yours, dude."

Hermann grumbles something again about Newt being too arrogant for his own good, and something else about showing Newt how to do it without making a mess of everything, then gets down to his knees with a quiet hiss of discomfort. He shoves his cane, and Newt's headlamp, at Newt, though bewilderingly leaves his blazer on. "I'll be just a moment," he says, and dunks his head into the tub.

He splashes back up no more than five seconds later. Apple-less. "Bugger," he coughs, and then coughs some more. The entire front of his sweater is soaked. "I didn't—I didn't start out right. Let me—"

Newt watches Hermann try to drown himself a few more times in mild interest before he finally intercedes. "Need a hand?" he says, getting to his knees next to Hermann.

"No," Hermann splutters.

Newt takes his glasses off again. "Yeah, you do. Okay, now watch me—"

He emerges with another apple in seconds.

Hermann grits his teeth. "Newton—"

"One more?" Newt says, his grin widening.

Back under. Another apple. He winks at Hermann when he goes in for a fourth time, and this time, he feels the water of the tank being upset as Hermann (refusing to be outdone once again) splashes in alongside him. God, Newt loves riling Hermann up like this—he gets so funny, and kinda cute, when he's mad about something. Red in the face, and scowling, and sometimes (when he's real mad) speaking in a dangerously low and rough sort of voice with his r's rolling that makes Newt shiver, just a little. Like, Newton, you worthless, pathetic little man, cease this immediately, or else I'll... He actually said that to Newt once. It made Newt feel a little warm under his collar. Hermann's probably going to say something similar to him this time, and Newt can't wait.

Ten seconds in. Newt has been cutting Hermann a little slack at first, just to see if he can catch up, but finally decides to just go for the apple that's been bobbing steadily against his mouth this whole time. (He loves beating Hermann at stuff.)

And, well, apparently Hermann goes for it too.

They both miss the apple. Newt's mouth is up against Hermann's for another five seconds before he realizes what's happening (that that is definitely not an apple, that that is definitely a mouth, that that mouth is wide and weird another to belong to only one person Newt knows, that that mouth is parting in surprise, oh my God) and then he pulls away so quickly that he breathes in what feels like half the tub of water. He falls back on his ass, coughing furiously, and it's not until he shoves his glasses back on with a shaking hand that he realizes that Hermann has done the same. "I," Hermann says. His eyes are wide. "I'm sor—"

"It's fine," Newt squeaks.

"It was—"

"I know!"

Newt and Hermann's mouths were touching for five whole seconds. Underwater, while apples bobbed against their foreheads, but their mouths still touched. Oh my God. In elementary school, Newt thinks dizzily, that would be enough to catch cooties. This was so not how he wanted his awesome eventual seduction of Hermann to go down. For one thing, it wasn't even a seduction.

"I'm gonna get a towel," Newt says.

Hermann nods. He looks strangely adorable with water droplets on his nose and his hair plastered to his head like that. Newt has to get out of here before he does something stupid, like take Hermann's pointy cheeks between his hands and put their mouths together on purpose. He doesn't think Hermann would respond to that very well right now.

"I'll get you one too," Newt says, and it takes a lot of effort to force himself to his feet.

Hermann nods again.

"Okay," Newt says, and stumbles away. Out of the corner of his eye, he just catches Hermann raising a hand to his mouth.

[17wishbones]

Aaaaand I’m back with another chapter! Chapter VI is finally here! I’m happy that I made it this far with the story. So, just to let it be known, the last chapter will be short and sweet, to end this lovely ride of a short fic. I’ve other ones to finish and write afterwards. I’m planning a special one for the month so long as I have the time to do it. It’s gonna be a smut scene that I’ve been thinking about writing ALL week. Anyways, please enjoy!

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                                                      Chapter VI: Pick a Side

Rengoku’s visit has been nothing but a game changer for you. It solidified your standing with him, and now with the red, titanium ring on your finger, it was getting as real as it was getting.

You listened to no one but him and your heart.

Every moment spent with him that week after Christmas came was nothing but magical. You both went out to Korean BBQ, karaoke, bowling, ice skating (he looked good sliding across the ice while you skirted here and there), watched movies at his place, and cuddled a lot. 

The only thing he’d let you buy with your money were groceries, since you didn’t want to tell him what you were going to make while he was visiting. Anything else you both did, Rengoku footed the bill without hesitation. He was a man’s man. A man that took care of his woman no matter the circumstance.

So, call you surprised when your dad reached out to you Friday evening, asking, “Hey, baby, how’re you doing over there?”

“I’m doing good. My fiancé and I are getting ready for a night inside. What’s up?” You put him on speaker.

“I talked it over with your mother and we’d like to have him come over so we can get to know him a little more face to face. How does that sound?”

“Let me ask him, hold on. Kyo-kun,” you sweetly cooed for his attention though he was already attached to you from behind with his face buried in your hair, “Dou omoimasu ka?” (What do you think?)

“Kono shuumatsu wa itsu kara itsu made?” (This weekend from when to when?)

“How long can he stay?”

“Your mother’s playing nice this time so he’s allowed to spend the night. Just one though! And in separate rooms.” You groaned. “Her rule, not mine, _____.” He laughed. “So, what does he think? Will he come?”

“Doyoubi kara nichiyoubi made desu yo!” (From Saturday to Sunday!)

“Eh!? Hitoban taizai suru koto ga dekimasu ka!? Hontou ni desu ka!?” (Eh!? I can stay the whole night!? Really!?)

“Hontou ni dekimasu yo!” (You really can!)

“Kare to hanashi wo sasete kudasai!” (Please let me speak to him!) You held the phone up to his face, letting him answer for himself. “Mr. _____, I’d be honored to be a guest in you and your wife’s home! I will abide by any rules made, be respectful, and be on my best behavior.”

“Ha ha, that’s reassuring to hear, Kyōjurō. Well, let me not hold you two up. We’ll be waiting for you two tomorrow. Let us know when you’re coming.”

“Alright, bye Dad! Love you!”

“Love you, too. We’ll talk later.” Your father hung up the phone with a smile on his face. Even though he didn’t have a clue on what you two talked about, it made him happy to hear you, his daughter, sound so happy and enthusiastic when he was around you. Rengoku was a dream come true, a man that treated you right. Honestly, he couldn’t wait until you have a grandchild that he could show off to the world like he did with you. “My baby’s really growing up.”

                ( space )

“Are you ready, my love?”

‘Why isn’t he having a hard time? I’m getting anxious and goosebumps all over!’ You’ve been feeling nervous about this meet and greet since yesterday. Since fucking Friday evening when your dad called. 

Rengoku was all gung-ho about this meet-up! Like, absolutely ecstatic as he was this much closer to being your husband. 

“You must be nervous!” He got out of the Tesla and came to your side, his hand taking yours. “I’ll be right there beside you. Take a couple deep breaths.”

‘Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.’

You took in one final breath as you got out the Tesla and followed him to the door. “Well, look who finally made it!” Your father opened the door, having expected yours and Rengoku’s arrival. “Welcome home, baby.” 

“Thanks, Dad.”

“You, too, Kyojuro.”

“Thank you, Mr. _____!”

“Please, just call me your second dad.”

“Really?”

Your dad nodded. “We’re damn near family already.” He chuckled. “You’re like the son I never had. That’s a good feeling.”

Rengoku’s face suddenly brightened, his smile somehow illuminating the room when your father accepted him with open arms. He was so elated that he embraced your dad in a tight squeeze. “That means so much to me!”

“Glad for it, but your grip, son, it’s,” he coughed, “Tight.” 

“Oh, my apologies!”

“Don’t worry about it. Now, come on inside. The food is ready. I heard you got quite the appetite on you, Kyōjurō.”

Your mother was there, watching from the sidelines. She hadn’t spoken a word. She merely watched him from a distance, sizing him up with every utterance and step he made. She never felt anyone you found to be worthy of her approval, worthy of you, but that night, you completely rejected her idea and ran off with a man she had just physically seen in person.

This wasn’t just some man you clung to, no. You had spoken vows with this man, ones that you stood on that you dared a bold confrontation with your own mother. She wanted to be sure that this was more than puppy love, that she wouldn’t be sending you off with the wrong man.

Her skepticism had nowhere to be placed as Rengoku proved himself honest and trusting despite your outward actions. Like the both of you were attached to the hip, inseparable the moment you two crossed each other’s path.

You felt awkward in this situation, but Rengoku quietly took note of the way your mother gazed at you two, especially him. He had never been in this position before, but he was for certain not going to fuck it up. Rengoku refused to give up the life he wanted to create with you, the life that the two of you didn’t have together.

Pieces of those dreams reared their ugly heads when you returned home, and it worried him every single day that he’d wake up and you wouldn’t answer his calls anymore. That you’d disappear out of his life forever. That you’d be gone.

“Doushita no?” (What’s wrong?) Your hand wiggled in his hands, held tight.

“Gomen nasai!” (I’m sorry!) He loosened his grip as he brought your hand up to his lips, kissing on top of your knuckles softly. “Zutto anata no koto wo kangaeteru yo!” (I’ve been thinking about you!)

“Aww! How sweet. Think about me when you go back to Japan.”

“I will! Every day!” He met your gaze. “Will you think about me every day, too?”

You cupped his cheeks, laughing, “How silly of you to ask that.”

It was hard to tell what you two went on about, like you both were in your own little world. Nothing else mattered outside of the two of you, and your dad saw it. Your mother was the one still adjusting to your relationship with this man. She didn’t want to believe it was there, but his eyes never lied.

“You recognize that look, don’t you, honey?” Your father asked as he went to stand by her side, observing the intimate interaction. “We used to be like that when we first met.”

“Yes, but they're too young to get married.” Your mother commented as you both walked into the kitchen to get some food and as you both chatted away rather loudly. “And she’ll be so far away from us.”

“Seems like she’ll be in good hands.”

“How would we really know?”

“You see it,” he rested a hand on her back, comforting her, “Whether you want to or not. That one right there. That’s not just any man.”

To your mother’s chagrin, she hadn’t yet found a good way to break you two apart. She didn’t want you to go off so far away and never come back, but expressing such concern for her child, for you, would be too much. Maybe even a sense of weakness, something that she doesn’t like to feel.

Your father wasn’t making anything better as he actually agreed with this arrangement. She only had one chance now. One that could make or break this evening. It was a far reach, but it was one she was really to go behind everyone’s back for. 

With Ray, she knew him. She knew his family. He was good company during the holidays and on trips. The family loved him overall and it was something that your mother favored most about him. He was safe, he was familiar.

That’s why the ring at the doorbell had you turning, surprised and in fear. A melody Ray always played when he had arrived. Your reaction garnered Rengoku’s attention. He set his plate down and pulled you in close, rubbing his hands up and down your back. “Daijoubu, boku ga tsuiteru yo.” (It’s okay, I’m here with you.) He murmured into your hair as he comforted you.

“I wonder who that could be…” Your father sighed frustratedly.

You watched with horror as your father opened the door, revealing the last person you didn’t think about seeing after you left the other night. If you could bury any deeper into Rengoku’s chest, you’d leave not a trace in sight for Ray to catch.

“Good evening, Mrs. _____, Mr. _____.” Ray glanced your way. “And you, too, _____.” His eyes rose to Rengoku last. “And I guess you, too.”

“What are you doing here, Ray? It’s supposed to be just the four of us.”

“Your mother invited me over.” You frowned visibly. “Who am I to say no to her invitation? It’s obvious, isn’t it? You’re meant to be with me. So, tell him to step off and go back home.”

You drew in your bottom lip, holding back what you wanted to say. You couldn’t believe that your mom was really trying to get you back with Ray. Well, you weren’t going back. Not even in the next ten lifetimes.

“You have no respect.” You covered your mouth just as soon as an audible gasp had left between your lips. “Not for me, yourself, and especially for her.” Rengoku’s muscles tensed up. “She wants to feel safe and comfortable. You are a disgrace of a man for making her feel otherwise.”

“Those are some feisty fighting words. You sure you can back them up?”

“If that is the language that will make you understand, then I accept your challenge.” 

“You don’t have to, Kyōjurō.”

“Yeah, Kyoooojurō. You don’t.”

Rengoku’s face drew on a dark expression. “In her honor, I shall.”

“Then come outside then. We’ll handle this once and for all.”

Rengoku squeezed you tight before following Ray outside, where some bystanders might see. He stood a few feet away from him, staring him square in the eyes as he began unbuttoning his shirt. The way that your father and your mother’s jaw dropped upon seeing his fine physique was picture worthy. Ray was in shape, but he was nothing compared to the regime Rengoku’s body had gone through.

“Tryna show off?”

Rengoku bared nary a smile as he folded his shirt and set it on the cold ground.

“Be careful with him!”

“He’ll be alright. So serious--” Ray’s chattiness almost got him swept by a clean grab going directly for his neck. He saw every muscle in that arm twitch with a vengeance. It was then that he believed he made a mistake. 

Ray was a damn good fighter, but he suddenly felt he didn’t compare from how Rengoku read his every move, anticipating where to strike before Ray could even get good footing in the ground. Ray retaliated with a one-two and a hook, but it looked as if his opponent was moving faster than the eye can see, weaving and tapping Ray whenever he reached forward.

Unfortunately for Ray, as much as the fight had his adrenaline rushing, he took too wide of a swing and was caught, flipped over, and put on his back with a large, calloused hand pressed down on his chest. One close up gaze into those vermillion eyes made Ray feel like he was encroaching on a lion’s den with fangs bared to snap his neck.

Ray wasn’t ready to give up yet as he wrapped his legs around Rengoku’s arm, rolling off and onto the ground, pinning him down. It wasn’t long until both of them scuffled from another and back on their feet. Rengoku left Ray no time to breathe as he attempted catching Ray off guard by grabbing at his neck. He barely blocked that, going in for a kick at his chest.

Your man was focused like back at his in-home dojo. He quickly regained his stance and was out for blood (metaphorically) as he caught Ray slipping. His calloused fingers grasped tight at the front of Ray’s shirt with force as he cocked back his left hand for a hit that never came.

Ray had always fought and won the majority of his battles. However, tonight wasn’t his night as he faced a beast in the arts of fisticuffs, with attacks so strong that the wind sang in his ear. The war was over as quickly as it had begun.

“Alright, alright…” He heaved hard. “You can have her.” He tried pushing Rengoku off of him but he wouldn’t loosen his grip..

“Apologize to her.” If Rengoku’s gaze could kill. “Now.” He leaned in close. “Or you’ll regret coming here to make her sad.”

Ray’s heart missed a beat. Rengoku was serious, frightening. Not the man he had speculated on before. He had a killer look in his eye, one that he hadn’t seen in a long, long time. He could only turn his head to the side as Rengoku released his grip on the front of his shirt. He was fully overpowered and embarrassed in front of your parents, but also in front of you.

“My bad, _____. I… I won’t be around any more. Looks like you got him to look out for ya. Enjoy ya life in rice town.”

Rude, but you had gotten an apology nonetheless. Ray made a quick exit, jumping into his stick-shift Impreza and speeding off into the distance, disappearing out of the neighborhood as quickly as he had come.

“_____-”

“Daijoubu!? Itai desu ka?” (Are you okay!? Are you hurt?)

“Daijoubu desu yo!” (I’m fine!)

“Hontou ni?” (Really?)

“Nn!” Rengoku wrapped his arms around you the moment you were close, embracing you. “Are you okay, Sunflower?” You don’t know why, but when he asked you if you were alright, tears started rolling down your face as you struggled to speak. He said nothing more as he wiped your tears away with his thumbs while also caressing your cheeks in turn. 

Your mother was ready to step in, but your father caught her gently by the shoulder. “But--”

“She’s in good hands now.” He looked on at the two of you with a smile widening on his face. “You either accept it, or we lose her forever.”

Your mother couldn’t fathom the thought. You were their only child, and the more she tried to involve herself in your life, the farther you’d distance yourself. She wouldn’t… be able to handle that.

( space )

“Thank you so much for allowing me to stay the night!” Your gracious and grateful fiancé deeply bowed to your parents. “I shall remain in my room for the remainder of the night!”

“I’m sure you will!” Your father laughed heartily. “What you did today was impressive. I’ve no doubt that you’ll treat and protect our daughter well.”

“You have my word, my second dad!” He was working on the honorifics, but it was the thought that counted. “Goodnight to you as well, my second mom!” When he turned to you, he couldn’t help but smile. “Oyasumi nasai, boku no himawari.” (Goodnight, my Sunflower.)

“Oyasumi nasai, watashi no konyakusha.” (Goodnight, my fiance.) You kissed him three times, for luck. Two on the cheek, and one on the lips. “I’ll be in my room like the good girl I am. Goodnight, mom, dad.” Rengoku couldn’t help but gaze at your walk to your room and catch one more look before you closed your door for the night. He went into his room next, and then your parents. As he snuggled up in the guest bedroom, he believed the night a success.

Slumber was just moments away after having such an eventful day. He’d wake up early and call his family, tell them everything that went down and how both of your families would finally unite as one.

His drift into REM sleep was quiet, peaceful, warm, wet, electrifying, and-- ‘What’s this feeling!?’ His eyes opened wide as he peeled back the sheets, catching the sight of you giving him a blowjob. He almost lost it when you continued on as if your parents weren’t just down the hallway!

“_____!” He exclaimed in a whisper. “I thought we would be separated for the night! You said you’d be a good girl tonight!”

Rengoku was doing his damndest to be serious, but it proved difficult when you crawled onto his lap. Even more so when he deviated his eyes down your soft, pajama dress that outlined damn near every line and curve of your body. Was it deplorable that he wanted to pull the front of your dress down and suck on your nipples as you both grinded on each other? Such a tempting thought, but he must adhere to their rules.

“I am a good girl.” Even worse, yet better. You peeled off the pajama dress and tossed it to the side. “Your good girl.” His whole face went red after seeing you bared no panties and no bra. It was like seeing you for the first time though you’ve spent copious amounts of time together. He never got enough of you. “Oh!” You suddenly mused. “Someone’s happy to see me.” You leaned down and enveloped Rengoku in a series of tantalizing kisses.

He was supposed to hold on strong, but he lost to your seducing little ways. Both calloused hands smoothed down your back, cupping the meat of your ass as you aroused him to no end. You were damn near insatiable and he loved that about you. How you came to him for your needs. He felt that he was the only man in your world that could please you how you wanted, that could make you feel how you do, that could make you come like he did.

It was selfish to think it but who else would compare to him in your eyes?

When he saw into your dark, lustful eyes, he knew the answer. It made him prideful. It made him protective. It made him pursue your happiness to the fullest.

However, he suddenly remembered, “Condomu ga arimasen. Gomen nasai.” (I’m sorry, I don’t have a condom.)

“Zenzen ii yo,” (No problem,)  you filtered through the sheets, pulling one out. “Arimasu yo.” (I have one.)

Rengoku knew he was in trouble then. He hadn’t expected his future wife to be so bold as to pull out a condom like that. It surprised him, and it also turned him on! “My Sunflower is so prepared!” He exclaimed in a somewhat hushed whisper.

“Not so loud, or our little rendezvous will be cut short.”

You looked glorious even with any weight you’ve gained, lost, or maintained. He loved sinking his fingers into you. However, you didn’t leave him much time to admire you as you scooted back, ripping the wrapper open with your teeth, and slipping the cap over his hardened erection. 

Seeing him fight made you so hot and heavy from before that you needed a piece of him before the sun rose. With it fit on snugly and oh so nicely, you moved back forward and hovered over it. “Be gentle with me.” You heed as you lowered down on him, your pussy clamping on him every inch of the way down.

Rengoku bit down on his bottom lip, muffling his deep breath as you took him in. You were such a sight to hold in this position that he could’ve come right then. However, that’d be no way to satisfy his future wife if he came so suddenly. And even if he did, he’d continue as if he didn’t at all. 

When you sat on top comfortably, you leaned over him as you both slowly rocked your hips, meeting skin to skin. It wasn’t long until the pace hastened, and it was when the urge hit him. He caught your right nipple in his mouth, sucking and licking as you rocked as quietly as you could, damn near throwing inhibition and decency into the wind.

He somewhat came back to when your moans started to fill the air, becoming louder and louder. But you were just a step ahead as you sat upright with your nipple leaving his mouth with a pop. This cowgirl position was dangerous as the tip of his dick often kissed your cervix, but you weren’t tryna play meek and nice. You wanted Rengoku deep inside of you.

Though he worried about your parents waking up from the squeaking bed, he couldn’t help but oblige, especially when you looked so good on top of him. If it wasn’t for the condom, he would’ve cum in you two times by now.

The rendezvous was quick, but oh so hot.

Your clenching walls coaxed the last bit of his seed out, a splatter of a mess on his pubes as you slowly lifted up, looking down at the mess you two made. Fortunately for your man, you didn’t give him a chance to protest your next move as you slowly pulled the condom off and returned to your position from before, cleaning off his sensitive dick with soft strokes of your tongue and visibly swallowing all that he had to offer.

Rengoku hadn’t expected that at all, and you knew that as you stared at him while cleaning your lips. “Mmm, my favorite.” You got off of him, even though you didn’t want to and pulled his drawls and pajama shorts back up. You wrapped the condom up in some tissue and tossed it in a nearby trash bin. “See you in the morning, Kyōjurō.” Kiss blown, you threw on your pajama dress and headed back to your room as if you weren’t on that demon time with your man.

Poor thing was left stunned, satisfied, and bewildered. That feeling of excitement, wonder, and love kept him going on long and strong. ‘There’s nothing I won’t do for you,’ he thought with a smile on his face, ‘No other woman can make me feel the way you do. That can make me smile the way you do. That can make me laugh the way you do! I can’t wait for us to be together!’ 

He truly felt for Ray now because he had given up on someone as great as you, as wonderful as you, as loving as you. You were worth fighting for and then some because he knew that when the fight was over, you’d be there by his side.

That was why it was going to hurt him when he had to leave. Going back to Japan without you was going to be hard on him just like it was going to be for you when he left. Only one more year was left, but he wanted her to forgo all of that and come with him now. How selfish of him to think that but when it came to you, could you blame him?

Rengoku hadn’t been through something like this before and it was exciting, thrilling, and hopeful. No matter what you looked like on the outside, he loved it. Your skin, hair, and nails? He lived for all of that. He didn’t want you to change anything for him or for anyone else unless you wanted to.

You filled him with something he had long been waiting for. You’ve filled him with love, so much that his heart could burst from the overflow. What he had chosen to do was the right decision. All of the pieces were finally falling together. His commitment to you will never falter.

As waking up in the morning and finding you snuggled up on him helped solidify what everyday life with you would be like, it was the joy and adoration on your face when you looked up at him that made him all the more amorous. “Mornin’, handsome.”

Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Perfect for him and only him. And he was perfect for you, magnificently perfect. Perfect for you and only you.

                 ( space )

Rengoku didn’t let it show, because it wasn’t masculine to express such soft emotions, but he longed to have you in his arms every day. That’s why it hurt to wake up in his apartment in Japan without you there beside him. Though he wasn’t given much time to linger on his thoughts, he didn’t let that get him down. Every day, he printed out any pictures you had taken over the time you both had been together. It kept his mind off of you not being here. Actually, it acted as a countdown to when you were coming.

There was going to be a bit of a gap until you received your diploma and certification to work abroad. The moment you showcased your graduation gown, Rengoku immediately implored you to send in an application to where he worked - Kimetsu Academy as they had just added on English classes and would be looking for native assistant language teachers.

On his word did he swear to put in a good word for you and get you a job, and that he did! Once the eight weeks had passed, you spent the next couple of months getting the necessary documents signed, notarized, and sent. Background check done, and everything approved, you applied and received your work visa and was planning on your next trip into your new life with him.

You wouldn’t believe the plans that Rengoku had set up, thanks to his mother’s guidance. His father kept him busy with financial stability, and having everything in order even though he wanted to work primarily as a history teacher. He wanted to give back to the school that gave him the experience of a lifetime, his friends, and, of course, his soon to be wife.

“Sorosoro iku jikan da yo.” (It’s time to go.)  His driver called from the doorway of the empty home Rengoku just purchased. It was just outside of the city. Space for him, for you, for Senjuro, for his parents, and, of course, for your future children.

With a knowing nod, he was out and in the car, on that two hour drive back to the airport. His stomach turned and twisted in excitement and nervousness. Yeah, he just spoke with you the day before, but he wanted nothing more than to see you coming down the escalator and out into the departure terminal, where he’d be waiting.

Time ticked slowly, from the time he left until the time he got there. He kept himself from pacing by clenching his fingers together over the bouquet of sunflowers in his arms. “Kyōjurō! Tadaima!” (Kyōjurō! I’m home!) His eyes met yours. The moment he saw you coming down in your sweats, two suitcases, and a carry-on bag, Rengoku lost his breath as he met you when you came down, embracing you close and tight. He kissed your forehead sweetly as he whispered in your hair, “Okaerinasai, _____!” (Welcome home, _____!) - - - - - - - - Chapters: 1 (Part 1) / (Part 2) / (Part 3) / 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7