#i made a silly comment on how my strong will had swayed this fine morning when I saw the covers for 5-star

[marked-unknown]

ok, i need to rant for a second. don’t mind it

[farfromharry]

Call me when you get this | College!Tom fic

Summary: you knew it’d be difficult for your relationship when you and tom went away to seperate universities. but now you were missing each others calls, your only form of communication, living off of the sound of your lover through a voicemail.

Word count - 14.3k+

Warnings - language, mentions of underage drinking, suggestive content, angst

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Friday, 7th September

Standing in front of your boyfriend’s house before nine in the morning on a cold Friday in September was not the place you really wanted to be right now, especially when you were having to say goodbye to him for who knows how long.

“I guess this is it,” he said, his voice lacking that usual boyish excitement it possessed when he was around you.

Today was the day you and Tom had been dreading for so many months. The day Tom left and really solidified the fact that the two of you had to part to go to different colleges, which were also quite a few hours away from each other. Your heart was aching as he stared at you with those sad, brown, puppy dog eyes, but you were sure your own eyes were exactly the same.

You began to tear up as you watched him pack his bags into the back of his mum’s car, your bottom lip jutting out in a pout directed at him. When he turned his head he noticed you staring and opened his strong arms for you, inviting you in. You obviously immediately accepted, rushing into his warm embrace. He squeezed you tightly in his arms, feeling your body begin to shake as you let out a broken sob.

“Hey, hey, look at me.” He cupped your cheeks, making sure you were looking at him before he spoke. He had a comforting smile on his lips, one that always made you feel all warm inside. “This isn’t goodbye,” he promised, kissing your head a few times, “‘m gonna visit as much as I can, we’ll see each other soon. I’m not leaving forever,” he said.

“I’m going to miss you, so much,” you whispered, letting his strong, calming, scent overwhelm you when you buried your head back in his hoodie. “I’m so used to seeing you everyday.”

“I’m going to miss you too, more than you know Y/N.” You sighed sadly, nuzzling your face even deeper into his chest, if that was possible. Tom smiled, running his fingers through your hair as you both swayed softly in your embrace.

The moment was ruined all too soon by Nikki shouting for him. She felt bad for breaking up your moment, but the drive was already long and they wanted to arrive before lunch.

“Tom, we have to go,” his mum announced, trying to motion for him to start heading to the car. All his stuff was already packed inside, you’d helped with most of that part earlier this morning just so you got to spend more time with him, and now he was all ready to go; even if you wish he wasn’t.

Nikki offered you a sympathetic smile, knowing you were struggling to part from her son. She’d always called it ‘puppy love’ but she didn’t quite understand the extent of your affection for one another.

“I love you, and I’ll call you as soon as I can,” he promised, pressing no less than three quick pecks onto your lips. You nodded, plastering on a fake smile. He wiped your tears with the pads of his thumb, his heart fluttering as you giggled at how silly you were being.

He leaned down to kiss you one more time, ignoring the mixed taste of both of your salty tears. Only then did you realise Tom was crying too, your heart aching.

“We’re idiots aren’t we?” you asked. He nodded, chuckling as he pulled away from you. The only touch you had now was from the way your pinkies were still locked in a promise that you were going to make this work.

“I’ll see you later, bub.” “See you later, Tommy.”

He placed one final kiss on your head before turning on his heel to walk down his driveway. As he climbed in the car you were tugged into a hug by one of the twins.

When you looked up you noticed the wild curls and rolled your eyes at Harry, but nonetheless rested your head against his chest. “I still don’t know how you put up with him for so long.”

You laughed, playfully pushing Sam for the comment to scold him.

“Seriously Y/N, he’s so in love with you. Everything’s gonna be fine,” he admits in Tom’s absence. He knew that if Tom were here right now he’d probably hit him for saying so out loud.

“He’s right, he never shuts up about you,” Harry added. “Always gushing about everything you do,” he fake gagged.

“He’s whipped,” Paddy said, the youngest of the brothers making you giggle. Your heart swelled in your chest, your body suddenly feeling warm, even in the cold London weather.

Within the time of your conversation, Tom had already left, shooting you one last longing glance along the way, a smile forming on his lips when he saw you laughing with his family. You eventually had to part from the brothers and head home to pack your own things, saying your goodbyes and then starting your short walk home.

»»——⍟——««

You didn’t expect that Tom would already be desperately missing you by the time it turned dark. But your computer ringing on your desk proved you wrong.

Seeing his contact name on your screen for a facetime call made your heart flutter, sitting down in your chair to answer his call. It was slightly glitchy for the first few seconds, just while it connected, but within a minute Tom’s pretty face was lighting up your screen.

“Missing me already, Holland?” you poked fun. You watched him roll his eyes, completely ignoring your comments. “Hi, angel,” he greeted.

You bit back a smile, tucking some loose hair behind your ear to try and tame it after you caught sight of the mess you looked like in the small box at the top of the screen.

“Hi, how was your drive?” you asked. You shuffled around a bit, trying to get comfortable in your now much more bare bedroom. You’d been packing your stuff for most of the day after you got home, so your hair was a complete mess that had just been thrown out of your face when you started getting too hot to have it in your face all the time. You had one of Tom’s many hoodies you’ve stolen clinging to your body, his scent surrounding you.

Just bringing the sleeve up to your nose was enough to make it feel like he was really with you right now and not just on a screen.

“It was long, very boring too,” he whined, running his hands through his curls. “I suppose my mum made it at least a little better.” You giggled, pouting playfully for him. “How awful.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you pack,” he said, motioning to the boxes stacked behind you, a soft pout on his lips that just made you want to kiss him. He’d already told you he’d felt guilty that you helped pack for him, but he wasn’t there to do the same for you in return.

“S’okay, one more box and then I’m all ready to go in the morning anyway,” you reassured, motioning around your pretty much bare room with your arms.

“It looks so empty,” he commented, recalling in his head how nicely decorated it’d looked during his millions of visits. You nodded, frowning as you looked at your childhood room that held almost no kind of decoration on the walls.

“Anyway, let’s stop moping, I don’t want to cry again today,” you demanded, hearing a chuckle come from his end. He nodded his head, quickly changing the subject to something more positive.

You and Tom were talking for hours. In that time he showed you his new dorm room, and told you that he’d need your assistance at some point to help decorate, but it was more of an excuse to get you to come visit already. Your parents also made themselves known at one point, greeting your boyfriend and asking how everything was going so far. You kicked them out after a while, playfully irritated that they were hogging your boyfriend from you.

“Get out,” you said, trying to hide your little giggle. Tom was laughing on the other side, watching this all go down. “I am so sorry about them.” He was still giggling, making you smile and roll your eyes.

“I love them, don’t worry,” he reassured you. You huffed. “I’m pretty sure they love you more than me,” you told him. He shrugged his shoulders, flashing you a cheeky grin.

“I can’t really blame them.” You scoffed, shaking your head at him, feigning disappointment.

Over the course of the call you could see him growing more and more tired. His words would come out slightly more slurred, his movements slower and his eyes fluttering shut every few minutes, craving sleep desperately.

“Is it bad that I miss you already?” he asked, eyes drooping as if he was about to fall asleep any second. You smiled, watching him with a heavy heart.

“No,” you whispered, so gently Tom almost didn’t hear it. “But i told you so.”

Your lips twitched into a grin, hearing an unimpressed groan come from the other end. When the moment died down you took another long look at your boyfriend. “You should get some rest, looks like you’re going to fall asleep any second.” He hummed, smiling at you sleepily as he rested his chin on his hand.

The simple action, even after seeing it a hundred times, still made your stomach erupt with butterflies, yet another smile overtaking your features. You were sure that at this rate your face was going to end up hurting from smiling so much, but you suppose those are the kind of sacrifices you have to make when your boyfriend’s adorable.

“Goodnight Tom, I love you,” you said, your finger hovering over the end call button. You waited for his reply patiently, knowing his very sleepy mind often took longer to process things.

“G’night. Love you.” He nuzzled his face into the blanket you’d given him before he left. The one you normally take with you to sleep at his house, the one that smelled just like a mix of your shampoo and perfume.

It made Tom’s heart pang, but your smell also comforted him in a way he couldn’t explain in words. You took one last look at his sleepy face before ending the call with a small sigh.

You fell back on your bed, your eyes landing on the box of stuff that you had to finish up before you could head to bed, your body and mind screaming at you for not doing it earlier. You begrudgingly pushed yourself up, moving over to the wall of your room that held your photos of your friends and you.

You smiled as you looked through each one, some of friends and family, others with Tom or Tessa or the other Holland siblings that had built up over the years.

One specific picture caught your eye, one where you and Tom were happily slow dancing together at his cousin's wedding in late June of the same year. The memories from that night all came flooding back all at once, your heart overflowing with love and adoration for the male for the thousandth time today.

“Ow tom, you just stepped on my foot,” you whined, frowning at him. Instead of apologising like a normal person would’ve, your boyfriend instead chose to burst into laughter. You gawked at him, trying not to crack up yourself, trying to keep up your angry facade.

“I-i’m sorry-“ he wheezed. You started to giggle yourself due to his contagious laughter, shaking your head at how childish he was.

“That hurt. You’re heavy,” you laughed, “You’re such a dick,” you mumbled, your smile refusing to fade. Tom beamed unphased by your attempted insults, kissing your head and somehow pulling your body even closer to him.

“But you love me,” he whispered, his head tucking into your neck, placing another barely there kiss on the skin of your bare shoulder. You rested your cheek against the side of his head, fingers stroking the short hair at the nape of his neck, listening to the sound of him humming along to the song.

“Yeah, I do.”

You didn’t even know Nikki had snapped the picture until you were in the car with his family driving home that night. Tom had fallen asleep in the car, his head on your shoulder after one too many drinks, the boy taking much advantage of being over the legal drinking age for the first time.

His mother had grabbed your attention in the silence and showed you the beautiful picture on her camera, watching as your face twisted into one of delight. “Nikki, it’s beautiful,” you told her, being completely honest with yourself, you were in awe.

“Well, I thought you two were just completely adorable.” She smiled at you. The romantic aura had your heart melting, asking her if you could have a copy for yourself. She was more than happy to oblige and the next day she was handing you a physical copy of the image.

Now here you were, taking the picture down after only two or so months of having it up. You felt your eyes welling up again, wiping them with the back of your hand. “Damn it Tom, you cursed, chuckling to yourself over how obviously in love you were with this boy.

»»——⍟——««

Monday, 10th September

Tom's classes at uni were scheduled to start almost a week earlier than yours, which is why he had to leave home before you. Today was his first day of classes, he only had the one today but he had already promised to tell you about it as soon as it was over. He also knew that you should’ve arrived at your own campus this morning, making a mental note to ask you how it was going so far when he called you later.

Everything on your end was going well, you ended up driving there by yourself because your parents were unfortunately busy, but the unpacking process was coming along well.

Tom left his first drama class after the hour with a wide grin on his face. He'd just had arguably the best class of his life and he could barely contain his excitement long enough to wait to tell you about it. He pulled his phone out almost as soon as he stepped out of the classroom, stepping out of the way of the students piling out of the class. He pulled up your contact and hoped you weren’t too busy with unpacking your stuff, so he could talk to you while making the long journey back to his dorm.

Your loud ringtone filling the silence in your room interrupted your current task, shuffling over to see Tom's contact lighting up your screen the same as the night before. You knew you couldn’t be annoyed at his little interruption, especially because you’d already missed the sound of his voice so much and it’d only been a few hours at most.

“Goodmorning, angel.” You smiled as he greeted you, almost as soon as the line connected.

“You sound cheerful today,” you pointed out. You held the phone between your ear and your shoulder, putting the last of your books on the small wooden bookshelf in your room.

“I just had an amazing first class.”

“Well, I’m glad, tell me all about it,” you told him. He talked to you about his morning class for almost 20 minutes, rambling and gushing about how much he enjoyed it and everything that happened, down to a T. You couldn’t have been happier for him. After your long discussion, making sure you asked him lots of questions to give him the chance to let him give you every detail, he seemed to finally take a breath and turned the topic of conversation around. You ended up talking about you now, one of Tom’s favourite things to talk about as he’s told you tie and time again.

“How’s unpacking going?” he asked, finally arriving back in his own dorm. You heard him greet someone with a hello, furrowing your eyebrows in confusion. “Who was that?” you asked.

“My roommate,” he answered casually, like he hadn’t forgot to mention he ever even had one.

“You have a roommate, since when?” He paused and thought for a minute.

“Since I got the room I think, his name is Harrison,” he suddenly lowered his voice, cupping his mouth around the speaker of the phone, “He’s a bit of an arsehole though, I won’t lie.” You laughed loudly, glad you didn’t have your own roommate to share the small dorm with. You quickly got back on topic, Tom asking you even more questions.

“How are you settling in?” he asked, just as you had asked him last night.

“I'm okay, have some unpacking left to do, and classes don’t start until next week.” He hummed along with what you were saying, listening to every little word. “How’s the campus?”

“It's nice, but it’s lacking a certain pretty boy that I’m so used to seeing.” He awed, teasing you thoroughly about how sappy you were. You always got nervous when trying to flirt with your boyfriend, scared it wasn’t going to come out as smooth as you’d hoped.

“Shut up,” you said, trying to mask your embarrassment. He always managed to make you flustered when you talked about your feelings for him. He didn’t let it linger too long though, changing the subject as quickly as you’d moved on to it.

“So,” he started. “When do you think you could come help me decorate?” he asked, once again changing topics, this time however you were rather grateful he did.

“Need to see me in person already, Holland?” You turned the teasing around onto him, pausing what you were doing to give him your full attention.

“You know I do,” he said. You rolled your eyes when he didn’t end up nearly as embarrassed as you had just been. Sometimes his confidence in flirting really did infuriate you.

“No, but really, I want to see you. I miss your cute face,” he said, groaning towards the end of his sentence. You giggled, shaking your head. “Well, I have all this week that I can come down and see you,” you offered.

“How's Friday? You could stay the weekend, go back Sunday,” he suggested, “If that’s okay with you,” he added, not wanting to sound so demanding like he was forcing you to come.

“That sounds perfect, but check with your roommate, I don’t want to give him a reason to be more of a dick.” Tom laughed, nodding his head. “I appreciate that,” he chuckled. “and I will, don’t worry,” he promised.

There was a sudden, unintentional shift in the mood, the two of you becoming rather quiet as you both thought for a few moments. There was still the traces of your smiles on your lips, but they were quickly fading.

“How are we supposed to do this for so long?” you asked after the laughter completely died down, finally showcasing your worry to him that had been eating up at you practically since you got your college offers.

He smiled, shrugging his shoulders to himself as if it was obvious. “We’re Tom and Y/N, a fucking power couple, we got this,” he said, quoting something your school friends used to call you, all while calming your nerves about if your relationship would work long distance. “We had this discussion plenty of times before we left, I promise you, we’ll be okay.” You smiled, not that he could see.

“Good, because I'm not letting you go that easily mister.” He chuckled.

“I wouldn’t dream of letting you go either, you’re one of a kind Y/N.” You grinned, the two of you just basking in the knowledge of each other's presence.

“How did this get so cheesy so quick?” he asked, making you laugh.

“That’s just who you are,” you said.

You heard a childish scoff on the other end. “Am not.”

“You so are!” The two of you stayed on the call until you realised how much work you really had to do with your room. The boxes were still stacked up and unopened, you hadn’t even unpacked half yet.

“I appreciate your company, but I really need to get back to putting stuff away.” You didn’t really want to stop talking to him, but you couldn’t deny he was a massive distraction from your original task.

“Yeah of course, but I can't wait to see you Friday,” he said, making that giddy feeling linger in your chest. Butterflies were erupting in the pit of your stomach the more you thought about it.

“Me too, and we’ll have to plan when you can come down here sometime,” you said. “Unlike you, I have a room to myself,” you pointed out, having a slightly suggestive undertone to your words.

“I’ll remember that,” he paused, “Princess.”

You shivered, chills shooting down your spine, the nickname was something he would only use when the two of you were having, adult time.

“You bastard,” you said, referring to the way he said that with such ease, knowing it’d play on your mind for the rest of the day.

“Alright, well i’ll text you later,” he brushed it off, making his promise instead, hearing an ‘alright’ from you on the other end.

“I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you more, see you later Tom.” You ended the phone call with a fuzzy feeling all over your body, smiling to yourself, dazed. Tom was exactly the same all those miles away, laying back on his bed with a lovesick grin painted on to his face. You were both so in love, and so, so confident that your relationship would make it through this distance.

»»——⍟——««

Friday, 14th September

Friday thankfully came very quickly, something you were very, very happy about. Before setting off on your long, lonely journey, you pulled your phone out of your pocket to call Tom.

“Hello Thomas,” you greeted, unable to wipe your grin from your face. You were seeing your boy today.

“Hi beautiful, what’s up?” he asked, sounding rather out of breath. You furrowed your eyebrows. “Do you need an inhaler or something, or-“ you teased.

“I woke up late, I'm currently running across campus to my class.” You laughed at him, receiving an annoyed scoff from him.

“I just wanted to tell you I'm leaving now, I should probably be there just after lunch,” you said.

“That’s amazing, I’m sorry you’ve got to drive all that way alone though.” You shook your head, once again forgetting that he couldn’t see you.

“It’s okay, but I should let you get back to being late for your class, good luck,” you said.

“Thanks, very funny, I'll see you when you get here,” he said. You could practically hear the smile in his voice, even over his dog-like panting.

“See you later.” You hung up with a small squeal, a small smile staying glued on your face, even well into the drive after the conversation had ended.

You had to admit, the car ride was lonely by yourself, but it was also so worth it for Tom. It’d only been, not even two weeks, but you missed him greatly already and from what you’d heard from him, he felt exactly the same.

The silence in your car was filled with the sound of your different playlists playing through the speakers. Some were just from random playlists, others from the playlist that you and Tom seemed to most enjoy together.

You could feel your heart starting to beat faster, butterflies erupting in your stomach as you got closer and closer to your destination.

You sent him a quick text when you hit traffic just outside of the campus, telling him you’d be about 10 more minutes. You just received a simple smiley face in response. You and Tom both had your locations on for each other anyway, so he’d know when you arrived. It’d become a promise that you always would after one night when you’d been out with your friends getting drunk, and you’d gone a little bit too far.

You could barely even stand straight anymore, having already forgotten about a few drunken messages you’d sent to Tom before the last shot you’d taken. You were drawn out of your daze when you felt your phone buzzing against your leg, seeing Tom’s contact on your screen. You squealed like a little girl, answering his call with a slurred yell of his name.

“Where are you, baby?” he asked, concern laced all through the tone of his voice.

“ ‘M having fun with m-my-” he heard you huff, “I can’t find them.”

Tom’s eyes widened at the thought of you being alone and drunk in now an unknown location. He cursed under his breath, trying to think of a reasonable thing to do.

“Can you turn your location on for me, Y/N?”

You hummed, pulling the phone away from your ear. You tried to steady your vision, telling Tom that the room was spinning. It made things ten times more difficult, but you eventually managed to do it, alerting Tom with a cheer.

“I did it, Tommy,” you said, “Are you proud of me?” you sounded like a scared child, desperate to receive Tom’s validation.

“So proud of you, angel.”

Tom pulled up your location on his phone, noticing you were at a bar. He wasn’t sure how you’d managed to successfully get in underage, being only 17, but you managed.

“Can you stay where you are for me?” You nodded your head before realising he couldn’t see you. You giggled to yourself quietly before mumbling a quiet yes. Tom offered to stay on the phone with you but you told him you needed the bathroom, feeling as though you were going to throw up.

When Tom arrived, he had to ask the bouncer if he’d seen you, showing him a picture. The large man motioned to where you were sitting on the curb by yourself, shivering from the cold hitting your bare arms. He bent down beside you, reaching out to place his hand on your arm, shocked by how cold you were.

“Tommy,” you gushed, wrapping your arms around his neck, “By the way, I didn’t throw up,” you stated, almost as if you were proud of that achievement.

“That’s good, but let’s get you home.” He pulled off his jacket to wrap around your shoulders, helping you up off of the floor and guiding you to his car. You were heavily drunk but you weren’t completely out of it, so when Tom drove past your house, you began to whine at him.

“I’m not letting your parents see you like this, they’ll kill me and then you.”

You huffed like a child. “You’re too pretty to die.” Tom laughed, reaching over to grab your hand and press a kiss to your knuckles.

“Yeah?” “Yeah,” you sighed dreamily.

Tom helped you inside his house, making sure to avoid any creaks in the floorboards so he wouldn’t wake his family. He guided you up to his room and then started the process of being a good boyfriend. No matter how tired you were, he helped you change into some of his clothes, helped to take off your makeup and tied your hair up and then made you brush your teeth by yourself, even when you complained.

The last move was getting you under the covers off his bed, seeing you pass out almost as soon as your head hit the pillow. “Goodnight angel, you’re going to have a horrible hangover tomorrow.”

And true to Tom’s word, you woke up the next morning in his bed and clothes, your head pounding and only a faint memory of the previous night. Tom strutted into his room clad in only a pair of plain black joggers, his abdomen on full show.

“Ah, you’re finally awake.” He placed a glass of water and two pills down on the nightstand beside you, telling you to drink up so you could feel better. He filled you in on all the basic details and you just wanted his, ridiculously comfy bed, to swallow you whole.

“Maybe we should keep each other’s locations on from now on,” Tom suggested. You nodded, rubbing your side head and leaning into him. “I think that’d be a good idea.”

That’s how he knew you’d arrived in the campus car park. You had barely even stepped out of the car when he practically tackled you in a hug, taking you off-guard. You laughed loudly, wrapping your arms around his neck and nuzzling your nose into his cheek.

“I'm so glad you’re here,” he said, squeezing you tightly. You couldn’t push away your grin, your heart feeling like it was going to explode as you held your boy in your arms.

“I missed you bub,” you whispered, pulling back to kiss him. Your lips molded together perfectly, the two of you feeling as though you were complete again.

You weren’t sure you’d ever shared a kiss like this with Tom, and the two of you had shared lots of kisses. This one was different though, it felt like every moment of emotion from missing his person these past two weeks was being poured into this kiss and you loved it.

“Oi, Holland, cool it with the pda.” Tom turned his head, spotting one of the lads from his drama class and suddenly feeling embarrassed. You tried to turn his head to kiss you again, searching for his lips with yours and ignoring the obvious moron that interrupted you, but then huffing when he denied you. You followed his gaze, seeing a boy standing a few feet away.

“Who’s that?” You watched as he flipped him off jokingly, making some comment about how he at least had a girlfriend.

“That's Tuwaine, he’s in my drama class, met him the other day.” You nodded, smiling before turning back to look at your boyfriend.

“So, are you gonna show me to your dorm, or do we have to stay out in the cold?” you teased. He laughed, helping you take the bag you packed out of the back of your car and offering to carry it for you.

“Such a gentleman,” you commented.

“That I am,” he said, bowing playfully. You shared another round of laughter before you silently decided you really should get out of the cold weather.

“Lead the way, handsome.” He laced your fingers together, leading you in the direction of his building. You walked slowly, giving you both a chance to catch up. Over the small journey you’d shuffled closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder and wrapping your other hand around his arm.

“Right in here,” he said, guiding you through the door of his building. His hand resting comfortably on the small of your back. He unlocked the door to his room, opening it and like the gentleman he claimed he was, let you go first.

The two of you entered his dorm room, Tom holding out his arms and muttering a quiet ‘voila,’ making a show of it. You giggled at his behaviour, humming as you looked around at the messy and pretty much bare room.

“Very nice, it practically screams boy,” you pointed out, sending him a tormenting smile.

“Hey, hey, be nice.” He pointed his finger at you, scolding you teasingly.

“I’m always nice, whatever do you mean?” you smirked, playing dumb. He tossed your bag on his bed and pulled you in by your waist, he kissed you again, more passionate this time now it was without the interruption of the public eye. You gently pushed on his chest, ignoring his whine when he tried to follow your lips again, just as you had done earlier.

“I came here to help you decorate, not to sleep with you.” Tom rolled his eyes.

“We could do both,” he muttered. You tossed one of his pillows at him, seeing him raise his hands in defense.

You punched his shoulder lightly, kissing him quickly.

“Alright, let’s decorate,” you said, clapping your hands in front of you. Tom pulled out the boxes he had yet to unpack from his small wardrobe, handing you one that had pictures in it.

“Where do you want these?” you asked. He motioned to the wall next to his desk.

“Right there, so I can stare at your beautiful face when I don’t want to do my school work.” You giggled, nodding your head.

“Alright then, can’t argue with that.” You started pulling pictures out of the box, some of you two together, some of his family.

“Do you remember this?” you asked, holding one of the pictures of you both between the tips of your fingers. It was you and Tom at his family’s cabin in France, the one where they go skiing almost every year. You were both in big coats and snow trousers, trying to keep warm on the snowy mountain. You both had your ski goggles resting on your head, the two of you grinning widely. “Yeah, I do, he smiled, “That was such a great trip.”

“That reminds me, my mums been asking about if you’ll come again with us this year.” You smiled at the thought of Nikki thinking about you and wanting you to be around her family.

“I'd love to, I always have so much fun there,” you said, trying to be heartfelt and honest.

“Me too,” he winked, referring to the separate ‘fun’ you two always have right after midnight on new year's day, just to start the year off right.

“Behave,” you warned, pointing your finger at him.

“When's your roommate coming back?” you asked, changing the topic while stretching to put up another one of his pictures. He laughed, pressing his solid front to your back, cheekily nibbling on your neck.

“Why, something on your mind?” he asked, hinting at something else, squeezing your waist underneath his hands.

“No, stop that,” you scolded playfully, shaking your head at your boyfriend. “Just wanted to know if he’d have an issue with me being here, that’s all.” Tom hummed.

“He said he’d be fine with you being here, in his words ‘as long as he doesn’t have to hear us fuck,’ so.” You laughed, nodding your head.

“Well, he won’t have to worry about that,” you said, a cheeky smile on your lips. Tom pouted, however accepting your kiss as apology.

You spent the next few hours unpacking Tom's things, focusing more on hanging up some of his clothes on the racks he had, rather than the pictures you were doing earlier. At some point you did steal one of his hoodies, pulling it over your head just to have a sense of him close to you, even if he was already in the room with you, receiving the comment of, “Just can’t stand to be away from me, huh?” tugging at the material of the pink hoodie. “Shut up.”

After it went dark, you and Tom put off the rest of the decorating until tomorrow, not that there was much left to do anyway. You agreed on just watching movies for the rest of the night, calling for pizza. He got some extra too, to thank his roommate for letting you stay.

You spent what felt like forever searching for a film on your boyfriend’s laptop, finally settling on one that you and Tom both thought sounded good. The two of you sat together on his bed, your legs in his lap and his hand rubbing the scratchy fabric of your jeans.

“I’m starving,” you whined, burying your head in Tom's chest. Your stomach growled just to prove your point, making Tom laugh.

“It'll be here soon,” he reassured. A knock on the door made both of your heads perk up.

“That was good timing,” you joked. Tom jumped up from his bed, pulling some cash out of his wallet and opening the dorm door.

He frowned slightly when he saw his roommate.

“Forgot my key, sorry,” Tom nodded, seeing your face drop knowing you had to wait even longer for your food. “Someone did hand me this on the way in though, said it was for our room.” He held up 2 pizzas, a cheer coming from you that made Tom laugh. He handed them both to Tom. Tom however handed you one of the boxes, then the other one to the blonde male, who looked at him confused.

“This is actually for you.” He handed him the box of pizza, receiving a rather shocked thank you. “Just a thank you for letting Y/N stay,” he explained.

“This is Y/N by the way, Y/N this is Harrison,” he introduced. You smiled, waving to the blonde.

“You can join us if you’d like, we’re just watching a film,” you offered, just trying to be polite.

“No it’s okay, I’ll let you enjoy your time together, but thank you.” Tom smiled before making his way back over to you, climbing back into his bed behind you. He kissed your head, wrapping his arm around your waist and getting himself comfortable. Harrison put in his own set of headphones, watching something on his computer.

The movie dragged on, finding it growing harder and harder to keep your focus on it.

“Are you tired?” he asked. You hummed, turning your face over your shoulder to look at your boyfriend.

“We can finish the movie tomorrow,” he said. You thanked him, nuzzling your face in his chest and wrapping your arm around his stomach.

“Get ready for bed, I’ll pack this all away,” he said, motioning to the food and things on his bed and nightstand.

“Okay,” you mumbled, begrudgingly letting go of him and climbing out of his bed. You stretched your arms, your shirt riding up slightly and exposing the bottom of your stomach. Tom playfully jabbed you, making you squeal at the ticklish feeling.

“Stop,” you whined, slapping his hand away, pouting as he laughed at you. Tom kissed all over your face until you smiled, getting rid of your pout.

You grabbed your bag off of the floor, sticking your tongue out at your boyfriend childishly. You headed to the attached bathroom to change. You changed out of your current outfit, putting on some comfortable shorts to sleep in that you’d brought with you and then leaving on Tom's hoodie that you stole earlier. You put your hair up, just so it wouldn’t get in your face, tying it in a messy ponytail at the crown of your head.

“Y/N, are you decent?” Tom asked. You furrowed your eyebrows, opening the door for him.

“What’s up?” you asked, pulling your makeup remover out of your bag.

“I need to brush my teeth,” he said. You nodded, shifting to give him enough room by the sink as you began to take off your makeup. He watched you like a hawk the entire time, following your hand movements with every gentle swipe of the cotton pad on your face.

“What are you looking at?” you asked, causing him to snap out of his slight, dreamy daze.

“You’re just so pretty.” You huffed, shoving his shoulder.

“Stop being such a sap,” you commented.

“Only for you,” he teased, sending you a wink through the mirror.

Halfway through him brushing his own teeth, you began to brush yours. Playfully bouncing your hip against his own to push him out of the way of the sink. He stumbled and you let out a muffled giggle, watching him glare at you.

“Oh it’s on, I'll get you back,” he promised, receiving a teasing ‘oo’ from you.

After spitting in the sink, he flashed you a toothy grin through the mirror, one that made you giggle. Now that he had nothing left to do, he moved over to start bothering you, wrapping his arms around your waist and gently prodding your stomach to try and tickle you and get you to laugh.

“Tom,” you scolded, trying to focus on brushing your teeth.

“Hurry up, I wanna go to bed,” he whined, sounding almost like a pouty child. You finished up brushing your teeth, holding your hair back as you spit your toothpaste into the sink.

You wiped your mouth with the towel and then turned to Tom with a smile. He playfully pinched your cheeks, telling you you looked cute.

“Okay, I’m done,” you said, slapping his hands away. He placed his hand on the small of your back, guiding you out of the bathroom.

Upon entering his room again, you saw that he’d actually cleaned up his mess for once, receiving a proud, but sarcastic, clap from you. He caught on, telling you to behave.

“Come on, get in.” He pointed to his bed, letting you get in first. His bed was barely bigger than a single, so the two of you had to cramp together, not that either of you would ever complain. He climbed in after you did, pulling you back into his chest and burying his face in your hair.

“You smell really good.” You giggled tiredly at his comment, eyes fluttering shut.

“Thank you bubba, now go to sleep.” He turned off the light above his head, kissing your neck and closing his eyes.

“Goodnight,” he mumbled.

“G’night Tommy.”

You had to admit to him, his bed was almost as comfy as sleeping on a cloud- not that you’d know what that’s like, but still. It was possibly the best night's sleep you’d had in months, and you weren’t sure if it was because of the bed or because you were back in Tom’s strong arms. When you woke up though you were alone in the bed, looking around to find you were alone in the room too, Harrison’s bed already having been neatly made.

The door opened right on time and Tom strolled in. He noticed you were awake and flashed you one of his charming smiles.

“Good morning,” he greeted. You stretched your arms above your head, making a soft noise that almost made Tom melt in his converse.

“Morning,” you smiled, pulling his covers up so they were right underneath your chin. Tom thought you looked so precious, pulling out his phone to snap a quick picture of you, even after you protested against it.

He leaned down, kissing you gently.

“I went and got us some breakfast.” You pushed yourself into a sitting position, thanking him quietly. You ate together, making happy conversation. Tom asked about how you slept and also admitted he slept better with you in his arms. He basically forced you out of bed, after you refused to leave the warmth.

“Let’s finish decorating and then we have the rest of the day to spend together, doing whatever you want,” he said. “I like the sound of that.”

The rest of the weekend after that went by quicker than you would’ve liked. It felt like only hours before Tom was walking you to your car, ready to say goodbye to you again.

“I hate this,” you whined.

“Me too,” he mumbled. “I'll come and see you soon though, I promise,” he said, squeezing you tightly before opening your car door for you.

“Such a gentleman,” you teased, referencing the moment when you arrived a few days ago, kissing his lips.

“I’ll see you as soon as I can,” he repeated.

“I love you,” you muttered, running your fingers through his untamed curls.

“I love you more.” He kissed you one more time. You climbed into your car, waving to him through the window as you started up the engine. You sighed as you drove out of the gates of the campus, not really ready to start your long journey back to your own.

»»——⍟——««

Friday, 18th November

Unluckily for you and Tom, ‘soon’ ended up being almost a whole two months later. Tom was so busy with schoolwork that just kept piling up and by the time he was free, you were busy. The cycle kept repeating and it was horrible. You missed your boyfriend greatly and you were hoping he missed you just as much as he said he did.

Tom had arrived at your campus early in the morning, at a time you wished you didn’t have to be awake, just so he could spend longer with you. At least you could appreciate the gesture, even if you were losing out on sleep.

“And this is where the magic happens,” you said, opening the door to your dorm and guiding him in. He chuckled, kissing your head.

“What kind of magic?” he asked, an underlying dirty meaning to his question.

“Shut up.” you flushed.

“I can’t believe I haven’t been able to touch you in almost two months,” he whined, his boyish attitude dissolving and being replaced by your whiny, adorable boyfriend, nuzzling his face in your neck.

“I know,” you said, getting completely distracted by running your fingers through the overgrown curls that were peeking out from underneath his cap. You thought it was adorable, but you knew he’d grow to hate it soon enough. “You need a haircut,” you mumbled, pressing a kiss to his temple.

“I think I like it longer,” he said as you pulled off his cap, tugging at the long strands of dark hair. Tom stared at you as you did so, watching how fascinated you seemed to be with his hair. He couldn’t help leaning in, connecting his lips with yours.

“Uh-uh, not now,” you told him. “Later, baby.”

He huffed, pulling your lip between his teeth, running his hands up and down your body.

“Come on, you can decide if you like my hair longer.” His sentence had an underlying tone of lust to it, just like his earlier comment had too, trying to hint at a very non-pg act the two of you could be doing right now.

“Nope, later though, I promise.” He whined, throwing his head back. You bit back a grin, taking in the way his jaw looked sharp and very much attractive from this angle.

“Well, get dressed handsome, I’m taking you to dinner.” He lowered his head and looked at you with a smile, kissing you softly. “Are you trying to woo me, now?”

“Of course, now put on something pretty and let’s go, I need my arm candy.” You slapped his butt playfully, moving over to your wardrobe to pull out a slightly raunchy dress. Tom recognised the fabric instantly, one he’d seen time and time again that made him go wild.

“That’s what you’re wearing?” he asked, in a state of shock just imagining you in the material.

“Got a problem with that, Holland?” you asked. He rapidly shook his head, unsure if you were joking or not. “Good, now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go change.” You made your way into your bathroom, changing into the risky dress without any more interruptions from your boyfriend. 

You took your time getting ready, wanting to make Tom wait just to build up even more anticipation.

“Y/N, hurry up,” he whined. “I want to see you, already,” he complained, whining like a child on Christmas who didn’t get the toy they wanted. You opened the bathroom door slowly, leaning against the frame, staring at him innocently.

“Oh wow, you look incredible,” he said, getting up from his seat on your bed to shuffle over to you, sliding his hands around your waist. You made eye contact with him through the mirror, giving him a seductive smile that had his hands wandering around your body.

“How is my girlfriend so attractive?” he asked. You giggled, leaning back into his touch.

“We need to go, we don’t want to be late,” you said, dodging having to respond to the compliment that made you feel all warm inside, taking his hand and your purse and leading him out of the door.

Tom was in awe of the restaurant when you arrived, he didn’t realise you were taking him somewhere this fancy. “This place is really nice,” Tom said, looking around the restaurant. His hand clinged to your waist nervously as you told the hostess about your reservation. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been somewhere this nice that hadn’t been some sort of family function, so he felt like royalty right now.

“Are you trying to bankrupt me?” he asked, poking your stomach. You slapped his hand away, turning your attention back to the woman.

“This is my treat, come on.” You snapped him out of his daze, guiding him with you to your table. He pulled your chair out for you, kissing your head and almost daring you to make the gentleman joke again.

“You know I’m not letting you pay for this, right?” he asked. You stared at him with a furrowed brow. “Why not?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m visiting you, let me spoil my girl.” He changed the topic of conversation before you got the chance to object.

“I’m so glad we got to do this,” he said. You shook your head, a grin growing on your face. You couldn’t lie though, you were happy to see him in real life again.

“Me too, I know we say this like every day,” you laughed. “But I really missed you Tom.” 

He leaned over the table, kissing you gently before sitting back down in his own seat. You went straight for and picked up the drinks menu, making Tom laugh and shake his head. “Already on the alcohol.” 

“Oh hush.” You scanned the list of wines, finding one that you and Tom had purchased before on a special occasion. You pointed to the name, seeing the cheeky grin spread across his face.

“I remember that night,” he chuckled. “How many rounds- I’m sorry I mean bottles, did we have that night?” Your jaw dropped, giggling at his false cover up. You shook your head.

“We’re in public, stop being inappropriate,” you warned. He shot you a wink, making your whole body flush for the thousandth time since he’d got here this morning.

“Hi, are you ready to order?” the waitress asked, glancing between you two and interrupting your reminiscence into the past. Tom looked up at her with a smile, her eyes widening.

“Could we just have a bottle of red wine for now, please,” he pointed to the one you meant. She nodded, trying to give him a flirty smile that made you snicker. She glared at you, timidly touching Tom’s shoulder before walking away.

“What was that?” you asked, a playful smirk that told Tom you weren’t mad at him.

“You can’t blame me, I’m just that irresistible.”

Her antics continued for most of the night, and you were growing more and more frustrated with how she was blatantly ignoring you to flirt with your boyfriend.

“If she flirts with you one more time, I won’t hesitate to knock over my wine on her,” you threatened, seeing Tom’s lips twitch into a smile. 

“Are you jealous?” he asked, intertwining your fingers on the table. He raised his free hand in defense when you glared at him. 

“Shut up.” You kicked him gently as a warning, seeing the wince cross Tom’s face.

“But not the red wine, you know that’ll stain,” he continued to tease, sarcasm lacing his words. You huffed, flipping him off. Tom didn’t let up on teasing you about your spontaneous hatred for the waitress all night. When she brought out your food he couldn’t help but make a few sly comments in response to her flirting.

“Do you want to try some?” he asked, holding his fork to you. He was trying to make up for pissing you off. You nodded, taking the food off of his fork with a hum.

“That’s really good.” He nodded, taking a sip of his wine. 

“Do you want to try some of mine?” You offered, doing the same for him as he’d done for you. He took it with a thank you, telling you he really liked it. Your food didn’t last long, you were both starving and it was exceptionally good.

You and Tom grew more and more tipsy as the night went on. You began to flirt with him some more too. You’d forgotten how much you enjoyed spending time with Tom.

“Oh here she comes,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes. Tom laughed, squeezing your hand in his.

“Do you need anything else?” she asked, her flirty gaze focused on Tom. You rolled your eyes, teasing your heel up his thigh under the table as you sipped on your drink. He coughed nervously, trying to ignore how close your foot was to his crotch.

“C-can we get another bottle of wine, please?” She nodded, leaving you both as you were.

“Spoiling me today are we?” you teased. He laughed, nodding his head. “Always, gorgeous.”

After your second bottle you didn’t waste much more time at the restaurant after paying the rather pricey bill, calling a taxi to take you back to the campus.

You could barely even stand straight by the time you were pushed up against your dorm room door. Your hands were working on unlocking it, struggling with the way his lips were attacking your neck and shoulders. You still weren’t wasted, but you could definitely feel the alcohol in your system, making everything feel lighter and Tom’s touch even more amplified than normal.

“So, when’s your roommate coming back?” he joked. You giggled quietly, throwing your jacket somewhere in the room. 

“Very funny, now shut up and just get in my bed.” He laughed loudly, picking you up by your thighs. You wrapped your legs around his waist, grinning up at him when he dropped you back on your bed. “Get ready for the night of your life,” he whispered, attaching his lips to your neck.

“I’ve been ready.” 

»»——⍟——««

Wednesday, 3rd April

As the months went by, the visits became less frequent, finding it increasingly more difficult to find time to actually physically go and see each other. Rather than at least once every two weeks, it started to be once in a while, and then eventually you wouldn’t see each other until the trip over Easter break. 

You both tried to call as much as you could, but you eventually started missing each other's calls more and more. It got to the point where you could not talk to each other for a minimum of 3 days, with the exception of a quick text in a morning or just before you went to sleep and the occasional voicemail.

It felt like everyday one of you was waking up to the notification of a missed call on your phone, followed by the message you’d received a voicemail. They all went the same way, a greeting, making some kind of light hearted joke that you’d manage to plan badly again, a simple i love you and then a call me when you get this.

When Easter time finally rolled around, painfully slowly, you and Tom were able to organise a time when the both of you would be free so you could plan the trip you wanted to take together.

The familiar sound of your ringtone blared through your dorm room, a small smile creeping onto your lips when you saw Tom’s contact picture lighting up your phone. The picture was an old one you’d taken of his a few years ago, reminding you that you should probably update it soon with a more recent one, that is if you had one.

“Hey, Tom,” you said, greeting him sweetly. You got a hello back, followed by a rather uncomfortable silence that the two of you had never experienced before. “So, um, where are you thinking we should go?” 

The man on the other end was biting his lip nervously, not sure if you’d like the sound of his idea or not, but this also had never happened before, so what was he supposed to do? He always came up with ideas you loved.

“I was thinking we could go to this cabin I found, really pretty view, um-“ He hated that he was unable to see your face right now, not able to see what kind of reaction you were giving off to his words. “You can say no of course, but I thought it’d be nice.” His voice trailed off towards the end and he spoke much quieter, almost like he was scared to hear your answer.

“That sounds really nice. I’d love to.” You could hear him let out a sigh of relief, the man feeling as though a weight had been lifted off of his chest.

“Great. I’ll make sure to call the place.” “I can’t wait.” 

When the day of your trip rolled around you were nervous. You hadn’t seen your boyfriend in forever and you weren’t sure if things were automatically going to jump back to the way they’d been, even if you were hoping they were.

Your eyes landed on Tom with a smile, the man opening his arms to you for a hug. You had no problem practically jumping at him, wrapping your arms around his neck tightly while his snaked around your waist to hold your body close.

“I missed you, so much,” he whispered, his nose buried in your neck to take you all in. You agreed silently, pulling back to be able to press your lips onto his sweetly, sharing your first kiss in months.

Tom had been generous enough to pick you up from your campus and then drive you both down to the cabin, rather than you having to drive yourself. The car ride was full of the stories you hadn’t been able to tell each other yet, filling what would’ve been an awkward silence.

You were more than happy to be back with him, and little did you know he felt the exact same.

However, it felt like for the first few days of the week that you weren’t really there. Of course you and Tom were both physically there but it felt like you were sending longing gazes and looks from a distance rather than really feeling that natural spark between you both.

You’d be sitting on the couch in the cabin, both of you in silence as you watched any random movie that played on the TV in front of you. Normally the two of you would be making constant unnecessary commentary throughout the duration, but here you were, sitting stiffly next to your boyfriend.

“What is wrong with us?” Tom asked. You turned your head, furrowing your eyebrows at the pretty boy who was staring right back at you with those puppy eyes. 

“What do you mean?” you asked. You had an idea that he was talking about the atmosphere between you both.

“This is so awkward, we- we’re usually so natural and us,” he complained. You sighed, leaning your head on his shoulder with the first display of affection that night.

“Yeah, I know. We’re probably just out of practice, right?” you suggested. You didn’t want to believe that your relationship could be going downhill, you were Y/N and Tom, that couldn’t possibly happen. “We’ve got this Tom, we’re still us.” 

That short conversation seemed to have worked. Over the next few days, and the last few remaining days of your trip, you and Tom were practically back to your normal ways. Your affection and love was able to come naturally again, calming all your racing thoughts about the pair of you drifting apart.

Unlike the past few days, now you’d be in the kitchen cooking, laughing and making jokes while having mini food fights. Or you’d be getting ready for bed, brushing your teeth when Tom would wrap his arms around you from behind and start placing kisses up and down your neck, making you flush and giggle sweetly. You spent your mornings sharing sweet words and kisses that made you completely weak for the man, and even thinking about giving it up again for who knows how long brought you physical sadness.

When it came to the time you had to leave you were obviously sad, more than you thought you’d be when this week began. You and Tom had almost managed to rebuild your relationship to the strength it once was, so now it was hurting just as much as the first time he left on that Friday in September.

He drove you back to your campus in mainly silence, the two of you keeping your fingers interlocked while he drove, soft music playing over the radio in the background. 

“How much longer?” you asked, hoping to have at least a little longer with him. He flashed you a small smile. “Under twenty minutes.” 

You sighed, feeling him squeeze your hand in response while his eyes stayed fixated on the road.

In a very short twenty minutes Tom was pulling into the College, parking quickly and turning off the car. The two of you just sat there for a minute, not saying anything but at the same time saying everything that needed to be said.

“Well, I guess this is it,” you said, turning to him with a sad smile. He nodded his head, lifting your hand from where it rested in your lap to place a gentle kiss on the back of it.

“‘m gonna miss you,” he whispered, leaning forward to rest his forehead comfortably against yours. You hummed, quickly pecking his lips.

“Don’t forget to call me, Holland,” you warned, pointing your finger at him playfully.

“Wouldn’t even dream of it.”

»»——⍟——««

Sunday, 29th May

By the time June was about to roll around you hadn’t seen Tom in almost two months.

He never did call, and the calls you left for him only ended up being missed. Everything had gone back to the way it was before. Almost two whole months. You still had faith in him, and almost everyday you’d wait to see if he’d call. Most of your calls to him would go straight to voicemail, so you simply gave up on putting in the effort.

It was the same routine everyday. Wake up, go to class, wait for Tom’s call, give up. Today was slightly different because you had plans for the night. You tried to wait as long as you could in your dorm to see if Tom would call, but when the clock hit six you gave up.

Some girls you’d begun to be friends with from your History class had invited you to a party they were going to, so to take your mind off your boyfriend not calling, you agreed to go. You did some light makeup, curling your hair like you knew Tom liked, then slipped on a black dress that would’ve made him drool.

You snapped a few pictures, some of just your face but then others of you in your dress too, debating on whether or not you wanted to post them to your account where Tom would definitely see. 

After staring at them for probably way too long, you gave in and did it anyway. You smiled as your friends gave nice comments, waiting to see absolutely anything from your boyfriend.

A sudden knock on your dorm door startled you away from your entrancement with your phone, opening it to see your new friends with large smiles. They held up a bottle of alcohol that would no doubt be for pre-drinks, making you laugh. You ignored their attempts at trying to get you to do a shot, telling them you were waiting on something from Tom. 

“Are you ready to go yet?” one of them asked. You sighed sadly and nodded.

“Let me just grab my purse,” you said, you walked back over to your bed, checking your phone one last time with a sigh, still nothing. 

“Alright, let’s go.” You smiled, closing your door behind you and heading off to the party to forget. You laughed together along the way, internally grateful for them trying to take your mind off your boyfriend.

But even in the party atmosphere, after they’d gone to get drinks or find someone to hook up with, you struggled to tear your eyes away from your phone. 

“Y/N, I don’t want to see this phone again,” Lainey said, holding two drinks in her hands. You were guessing she was already tipsy.

“Hey, fuck him okay? He’s the one missing out.” You giggled, thanking her and nodding. You put your phone in your bag out of sight and took the drink from her outstretched hand.

“Now, let’s party,” she announced, dragging you into the crowd of people where you’d end up being for the remainder of the night.

When you finally got back to your dorm after the party, it was the first time you checked your phone in hours. You saw a couple missed calls from Tom, as well as a voicemail. Your excitement from the night faded and your heart clenched, frowning that you’d missed him again. Even when you were waiting for any sign of contact from him, you weren’t expecting him to call you today and now you just felt guilty for mentally cursing him out earlier on.

You played the voicemail on speaker as you were taking your makeup off. The sound of Tom’s voice still made you feel all warm inside, even when you were mad at him, and you were addicted to the feeling.

“Hi beautiful, looks like I missed you again.” He laughed. “We really need to get better time management.” You nodded your head with a smile, agreeing. “I just wanted to hear your voice, I had a pretty shitty day and uh, yeah,” he paused. After hearing that you were able to hear the obvious signs of sadness lingering in his tone. “I saw your post by the way, you looked gorgeous, I hope wherever you went you had fun.” It was quiet for a few seconds.

“Call me when you get this, I love you.” 

Your heart ached, you didn’t know he’d had such a bad day. You planned on calling him back straight away, but upon noticing the time and realising that at three in the morning Tom would most likely be asleep, especially due to him having classes in the morning, you didn’t have much faith in him answering.

Just as you suspected, the call almost straight away went to voicemail, telling you to leave your message after the beep.

“Hey Tom, I’m so sorry I missed your call,” you started. “I-I was at this party and just got so caught up in it all, I didn’t even see my phone ring,” you paused, the line going silent again.

You knew when he listened to this voicemail that he’d hear how happy you sounded talking about the party. For now you knew you needed to say something else before the line cut you off.

“Well, I’m really sorry your day was bad. Call me back, I want to hear what happened, ‘nd know what I can do,” you told him. “I love you tom.”

Your eyes wouldn’t let you stay awake much longer after that. Letting you change into comfier clothes before you passed out for the night.

The next morning was a Monday, and you had absolutely nothing to do all day due to having no classes. You woke up earlier than you would’ve liked, having a quick snack for breakfast and then climbing back into your warm bed.

You pulled out one of the books Tom had bought you over Christmas, smiling as you traced the hardback cover. You could still vividly remember how happy you were the moment he’d given it to you.

“So I know I already got you something,” he stated, grabbing the wrapped book from out of his suitcase, “but I also know how much you’ve been wanting this.”

He placed the present in your hands. You thought it felt quite heavy, beginning to tear away the wrapping paper until the mystery was revealed. Your eyes widened as you read the front cover, over and over, just to make sure your eyes weren’t deceiving you. It was the same book that you’d been trying to find since its release, however it’d been sold out everywhere and you’d complained to your boyfriend countless times.

“Tom, oh my god,” you gasped, staring at him in shock, “How did you get this?”

“I have my ways.” His lips curved into a smirk and you pulled him into a tight hug, practically suffocating him.

“Thank you, you angel.” You kissed him softly, but it was a kiss that was filled with so much passion and adoration that it made your head spin. “You’re perfect.”

“I’m guessing this means you like it?” he teased. You rapidly nodded your head, even if he was being sarcastic.

“I adore you.”

You were engrossed with reading it for the next hour or so, a soft smile on your face as you got lost in the storyline. It was arguably unlike anything you’d ever read and you absolutely loved it.

The loud, blaring noise of your ringtone filled the silence in your room, making your heart leap, alerting you of an incoming phone call. You reached over to your nightstand, picking it up and glancing at the caller ID.

Seeing Tom’s name splayed across the screen made you smile, bringing the phone up to your ear after answering.

“Hi Tommy, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you today,” you said, smile wide as you answered the call. “I was just reading the book you got me for that one Christmas, d’you remember?” You heard him clear his throat, taking a deep breath before he spoke.

“I think we should talk.” Your heart dropped, smile falling from your face, putting down your book and sitting up straighter because he definitely didn’t sound happy.

“What?” you asked, following with a nervous laugh. It probably wasn’t what you thought it was right? It was just a harmless phone call. “Where is this coming from?”

Tom felt vulnerable. He was never one who was amazing at having deep conversations where he’d wear his heart on his sleeve. And he was positively in love with you, so this was torture. “I never talk to you anymore- We never talk anymore. You’re always out having fun and I-I feel like you don’t want to be with me now.” You frowned, tears beginning to cloud your eyes at his confession. You weren’t even aware he felt like that until now. You were glad he’d told you, but your heart ached at the idea of you making him feel like this unintentionally.

“Tom, I love you, with my whole heart and I-“ You heard his shaky breath and quiet sniffle down the phone line, your heart breaking at the sign he’d been crying- or maybe even still was. “Tom.” 

“No, I, it’s breaking my heart Y/N,” he cleared his throat. “I just-“ he stopped talking, sighing loudly. He was starting to get frustrated with himself. He didn’t know how to confess his feelings and it felt to him as though he was making it harder. 

You weren’t able to process what was happening right now. Your thoughts were running wild and you were scared to death that he was about to break your heart, something he promised he wouldn’t do when you started dating. As cliche as it sounds, you thought he was it for you. You weren’t able to picture anyone else in your life besides Tom, and even though you were young, you were certain this would be endgame.

You were crying now too, tears racing down your cheeks, dripping from your chin to your lap as you sniffled. You whimpered his name into the phone, prepared to fix this and fight for your relationship, you couldn’t lose him like this, not this easy. Part of you was hurting for him, you felt utter sympathy for what you’d been putting him through, you wish he’d told you sooner so you could’ve tried harder. But, another part of you was angry at him, for springing this onto you so suddenly, for doing it over the phone and for being so selfish.

“What are you saying?” you asked, your voice coming out weak and filled with obvious desperation. “Tom, please, I can’t lose you.”

There was a few moments of silence. A few hours away from you Tom was sitting alone in his dorm room. At least he thought he was alone. For the entirety of the phone call Harrison had been standing outside of their dorm room. He was about to enter when he heard Tom talking on the phone, not wanting to interrupt he decided to wait, but the course of the call clearly took a turn from the usual lovey-dovey conversations he overheard.

Tom had his knees pulled up to his chest, his head leaning back against the wall and his bottom lip tugged between his teeth as he played out all the things that could happen from now on in the call.

He was evidently stressed, tears streaked across his cheeks as he took shaky breaths to push down his sobs. “I-I think we should talk about this another time,” he said, the sound of a small sniffle following down the phone. You squeezed your eyes shut, more tears spilling down your cheeks.

You didn’t know what that meant. Did he want to break up? Did he want to fix things? When was another time? There were so many questions floating around unanswered and you wanted to scream at him for leaving things so open ended.

“I-I don’t understand. We can figure this out- Please.” Your voice broke towards the end, showing your pain through to the man who was struggling to hold back all of his emotions. 

He hated knowing he’d put you in pain but his own heart was hurting too, and it was almost like part of his resented you for that.

He gave up a little bit, deciding he couldn’t do this anymore, not today. “I’ll call you some other time Y/N. Goodbye.” You let out a sob as the line went silent. 

Tom, for one, hadn’t told you he loved you when ending the call, and two, he’d said goodbye. The one thing you promised that you wouldn’t say to each other while you were gone, a promise you made on the very first day he left. It was always, see you later, and now you didn’t know where you both stood.

When Harrison heard the call ended he took it as his chance to enter his room, only to find Tom with his head buried in his hands as he tried to muffle his heartbroken cries.

“Hey, man.” The brunette looked up nervously, furiously wiping his eyes and trying to pretend as though he hadn’t just been bawling his eyes out. “You okay?” he asked. 

Tom wasn’t an idiot. He knew he looked a mess, he knew Harrison noticed, and he didn’t particularly feel up to lying right now. He just needed a friend.

“No,” he answered honestly. Harrison frowned, taking a seat next to Tom on his bed. The two hadn’t been that close since becoming roommates, but were much closer than when they’d first met.

Harrison pulled Tom close to him in a friendly hug. He hadn’t quite been through a breakup so he didn’t know what to say to Tom to help him, but for Tom this was enough.

“Things will get better, I promise.” He shook his head, almost laughing at how ridiculous his roommate sounded right now.

“I don’t think they will. Not anymore.” 

»»——⍟——««

Thursday, 3rd June

It got to the point where you hadn’t heard from Tom in four days. You were almost sure it was over at this point if he didn’t call you soon. You’d tried calling him of course, left countless voicemails and texts, as well as the ones to wish him a happy birthday, something you were rather upset you missed.

You’d barely left your bed in days, it felt like you were too heartbroken to even move. Little did you know Tom was exactly the same. He’d overthought everything he’d done, refusing to speak to anyone but Harrison, who was only making sure he still ate and drank, meaning he missed lots of messages and calls on his birthday.

With a lot of persuading and guilt tripping from his roommate he finally decided to do something about it. “You need to talk to her, mate. Don’t let this ruin everything you have.” 

After that he showered for the first time in days, which Harrison was very grateful for, and got dressed and was ready to head out with one last burst of reassurance to himself.

When you heard the knock on your dorm door you didn’t even consider moving to see who it was, choosing instead to keep ignoring the world like you’d been doing for the last near week. You’d ignored pretty much everyone that had tried to see if you were still alive this week, messages from friends included.

It was only when the knocking became more urgent that you started to get frustrated. Normally after a few short minutes your friends would give up and just leave, but this only seemed to be carrying on.

You groaned, wiping your dried tears and pushing yourself out of bed begrudgingly. You didn’t care that you looked like a mess anymore, so you didn’t care that this person, whoever it was, was going to see you like this. 

You pulled open the door open rather angrily, your eyes widening in shock when you saw Tom standing there with a bag on his shoulder, looking almost as broken as you did, but possibly more cleaned up as he’d actually made an effort.

You didn’t know how to react at first. You didn’t know where the two of you currently stood and you didn’t want to push his boundaries, but seeing him standing there told you he was ready to fix this. When he flashed you a small smile you didn’t waste another second, nearly flinging yourself into his arms, almost crushing whatever it was he was holding.

“Oh, thank god,” you cried, wrapping your arms around his torso. You were scared he wouldn’t hug you back at first, confirming what you thought about your relationship truly being over. That wasn’t the case though. Tom wrapped his free arm around your shoulders, squeezing you tightly in his grasp, his hand drifting to the back of your head to keep you tight against him.

The two of you thrived being in each other’s touch again after so long without it, feeling as though your heart was finally mended again. 

You were reluctant to pull away. However, you unfortunately had to at some point. You led him inside your room, trying to quickly tidy at least a little bit of your mess that had collected over the past few days, even if that meant just making your bed for you both to sit on.

Tom set whatever had been in his hands down on your desk and then placed his bag on your floor before sitting down next to you on your bed, finally letting you see the mini cake he’d brought with him. You felt your heart flutter, the idea that he still wanted to be able to celebrate his birthday with you was too precious for you to handle.

You didn’t talk for a few minutes, messing with the sleeves on your jumper that was probably Tom’s as you waited for him to talk.

“Y/N,” he said, watching as you raised your head to look at him. “C’mere.”

He opened his arms for you, not feeling physically close enough to you as he wanted to be. He helped you crawl into his lap, your legs thrown over his while your face tucked into his neck. His hand rubbed up and down your back when he felt the way you were shaking slightly.

You were trying to string together the sentence of words you wanted to say to him but for some reason it was just too emotional for you.

“I-I was so scared Tommy,” you admitted. “I didn’t want us to be over,” you cried.

Tom hated seeing you like this, knowing that he’d been putting you through this for days without returning your calls or messages, even if he was no better on the other side of the phone. He shook his head, cupping your cheeks and making you look at him so he knew his words would sink in. He gently wiped away your tears, even if they just kept on coming.

“I would never, I promise,” he said. “I could never let you go that easily, not without trying to make it right. I’m sorry for putting you through that.” You smiled, for the first time in days.

“Good, you’re too hot to leave me,” you teased. He chuckled, shaking his head at you. “I’m sorry too, by the way. I didn’t know I was hurting you.” 

It fascinated you that all you needed was to apologise and pretty much all was forgiven. Things clearly weren’t going back to normal straight away but you were glad you were able to at a minimum not break up.

The whole moment felt like something from a movie. Tom was looking so lovingly into your eyes, silently pouring all his love for you in the simple action of holding you while his thumb stroked your cheekbone. You looked back with an exact reflection of his own emotions, your heart feeling as though it was mending everything that had broken it this past week.

Tom took the moment to lean down to kiss you, his lips curving into a frown when you turned your head for his lips to meet your cheek.

“Why can’t I kiss you?” he whined. He looked like a scolded puppy, his expression bringing a smile to your lips. Your expression changed though when you remembered why you didn’t let him kiss you, letting out a huff that twisted into a frown. Tom gently kissed away the crease that had formed between your brows, your face heating up at the simple gesture of love.

“You said goodbye,” you said, hitting his chest lightly. He cocked his head in confusion. “What?” he asked, innocence lacing his tone.

“On the phone. You said goodbye, and you told me we wouldn’t do that.” 

He could tell you were getting worked up again, his hands coming up to wipe any stray tears that fell. “Oh bub, I’m sorry. I’m an idiot for doing that over the phone,” he apologised, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind your ear to keep it out of your eyes.

You smiled at him, letting him think you’d forgiven him enough to finally let him kiss your lips. He leaned in again, only inches away this time when you pulled your head back, giggling quietly to yourself as he let out an audible groan.

“Now what?” he asked.

“You need to tell me what that cake is for first,” you grinned. He rolled his eyes, reaching over as much as he could to grab it from your desk.

“I thought, seeing as we missed my birthday, we could celebrate together a little late.” 

Your heart melted as he confirmed your thoughts. You rested your head against his shoulder, letting out a sigh as you allowed your eyes to close for a few seconds.

“I missed you,” you mumbled. It was something the two of you said a lot, but even then every time was just as true as the next. He hummed quietly, kissing the top of your head lovingly.

“I know, I missed you too.” You gave in this time when he gently guided your chin so you were looking up at him, letting him press his lips to yours gently. Your hand snaked into the hair at the back of his head, keeping him close to you so he couldn’t pull away from you prematurely.

When your lips parted you rested your forehead against his, your eyes tracing the freckles that decorated the skin of his nose and cheeks. 

He lifted his hands up slightly, a motion to show the object he was holding. “So, how about some cake?” 

You let a soft giggle slip past your lips, nodding your head as you wiped away and excess tears that still remained on your face. Tom rummaged through a few things in his bag until he found some utensils to eat the cake with, making you laugh at how he’d come so prepared.

“Happy late birthday to me,” he said, taking a bite of the cake with a content look on his face. You hummed, watching him with complete adoration glittering in your eyes.

“Happy late birthday, Tommy.” 

The two of you ate in a comfortable silence, relishing in the fact you were back together again. Your mind was brought back to the bag you’d seen him bring, catching his attention long enough to ask him a question.

“Are you planning on staying?” you asked, trying to contain any excitement just in case you’d end up getting your hopes up. He nodded, trying to suppress his grin as he saw your eyes light up. “I want to take the time to make this right again, Y/N,” he admitted. “As long as it takes.” 

You agreed, pressing another kiss to his soft lips. “As long as it takes.” 

━━━━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━━━━

tom holland taglist → @seutarose​ @lmaotshollandd​ @photoshopart15​ @hopelessly-harry​ @call-me-baby-gir1​ @icyhollands​ @sinisterspidey​ @siriuslyslyslytherin​ @musicalkeys-blog​ @itstaskeen​ @tpwk-grande​ @zspideyy​ @spideyssunshine​ @givebuckyhisplumsnow​ @lowkey-holland​ @hollandcrush​ @wizkiddx​ @sannie-san-shine​ @sonnydoesrandomshit​ @hopeless-romantic-baby​ @thehumanistsdiary​ @dummiesshort​ @itsbieberxholland​ @lillucyandthejets​ @piscesparker​ @bvttercupbby​ @mymilliefrommarketing​ @spideyspeaches​ @kujokura @l0velyevans​ @jess-holland23​ @felicityparkers​ @quxxnxfhxll​ @captainamirica​ @tomsirishgirlx​ @lou-la-lou​ @slutforsr​ @tayyx​ @bora-world​ @annathesillyfriend​ @lovableparker @whoeveniskendall @hollandswife @sunwardsss @dhtomholland @messedupmyfuckinglife @bi-lmg @londonspidey @multixfandomwriter @mrsholland96 @tomhollandismyhusband1996 @just-lost-inbetween-worlds @magicalxdaydream @hallecarey1 @aayaissaa

[alicedopey]

The Wallflower

Gorgeous moodboard made by the talented @naaladareia Thanks babe !

Fandom: Vikings

Pairing: Hvitserk x Plus-size reader

Genre: Modern AU, Drama, Angst, Romance

Words: 1742

Warnings: Angst, some self-depreciation (barely)

Summary: The only thing you wish for is to dance...

A/N: Here is my contribution to @youbloodymadgenius​ 1k Celebration. I’ll let you find out which famous line I picked up, it would spoil the plot. This might turn into a multipart series, depends if you like this one or not.

Your boss was a flirt. Well, one of them was, to be exact. When every employee of the food company you were working for had learnt that two young Danish men had bought the firm from your very American boss, brows were raised. What would they make of it?

Two years later, it turned out they had drastically changed it and made it one of the most famous brands of Danish food in the United States. Those different brothers seemed to complete each other and formed an effective duet.

Ivar was very professional, blunt, harsh sometimes but his mind was swirling with ideas and he knew how to deal with all the competitors his company could cross path with.

Hvitserk was…quite the opposite. He was the cook so he was very creative and more easy-going, funny, smiling and very friendly. Sometimes, he was even too friendly; you reminded yourself as you heard a fit of giggles coming from your other female colleagues on the other side of the room where Hvitserk was probably telling one of his silly stories or praising the women with endless compliments.

It would be a lie to pretend that he was not very charming but contrary to most of your colleagues, you did not take the praises coming out of his mouth very seriously. It was just in his nature to flirt with every girl he met and that also included an older and heavier woman like you. In your mind, Hvitserk could not date a woman like you but rather a perfect looking woman who would shine next to him. It was perfectly fine. Your curves were not everyone’s cup of tea but you did not mind because they were yours and you loved them – well, more like learned to love them.

“So…what did you decide to do for your reunion this weekend?”

Your brows furrowed at your closest colleague’s question and your eyes looked away from Hvitserk. “What do you mean? I already told you I was going.”

“Not that.” Lisa scoffed. “Did you find someone to go with?”

“I did not look for anybody. I’m going alone.”

“You can’t do that.” She replied in a categorical tone. “This would be highly humiliating.”

Lisa was known for being overdramatic over many things so you were not surprised she was reacting this way.

“I was single at the time, you know.” You tried to reason patiently with her. “So, it won’t be a surprise for them if that still is the case fifteen years later.”

Her eyes widened. “You are kidding, right?” She exclaimed a little bit too loud for your liking. “You have to…okay, you know what? I will help you find someone. In fact, I think my brother is free this weekend. I can ask him, he wouldn’t mind.”

“No, thank you.” You had already met the man. He was nice and handsome but not very discreet, just like his sister. “Besides, I don’t like the blind date thing.”

Lisa leaned forwards and whispered, “Pay someone then…” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Right. Paying for a man to play your date, way to boost your ego. You knew Lisa meant well but the more she kept suggesting things, the more humiliated you felt. “No.”

She looked at you as if you were too stubborn for your own good. “You know, having a date means you would be able to dance…”

You sighed. She clearly knew which weak spot to strike on. “Lisa…”

“Good morning, ladies!”

The two of you startled at Hvitserk’s voice. “What’s the topic today?”

“Convincing Y/N to bring a date to her high school reunion.” Lisa answered without thinking. She instantly mouthed an “I’m sorry” as Hvitserk looked at you questioningly.

Thankfully, he did not have the time to make any comment as Ivar entered the room. Every employee ran back to work and even Hvitserk left hurriedly to join his brother, which brought a smile to your lips.

                                               ¤    ¤

The rest of the week went in a blur. After her little mishap, Lisa did not insist on the date issue and Hvitserk did not mention anything either. He probably did not care or even remember it for that matter. So, that Friday night, you got dressed with a nice dark blue dress, high heels, called for an Uber and arrived at your high school, ready to have a good time.

The moment you entered the enormous gymnasium of your old high school when the party was taking place, you were brought back to the past. Some of your friends instantly greeted you and you were all so happy to see each other again and share some memories that none of you really lost too much time thinking about your current marital status or your professional situation.

There was a huge buffet to enjoy, the music was a nice reflecting of the past parties you had attended. Everyone enjoyed themselves on the dance floor, especially you.

Dancing was a real joy and a great opportunity to express yourself. When you were dancing, you forgot everything and everyone around you to just focus on the music and how it made you feel free and finally yourself.

Then, slow-dancing time came. This was the moment when you had to get out of the picture and go back to your usual spot, against a pillar or a wall.

Being curvy had its flaws when you were a teenager. You could not say you had suffered from bullying because you had a strong personality and was not afraid to fight back when you needed to. No. The worse part was during the parties. No boy would invite you to dance, even amongst your friends. It looked like friendship had its limits. You thought things could change with time since teenage years were always considered as the hardest ones when you did not fit in completely. You were clearly wrong. You were an adult now and no men wanted to dance with the fat girl. Nothing had changed and nothing would.

You watched the couples on the dance floor with a sting in your chest. It was probably time for you to go home instead of brooding like you usually did.

“Care to dance?” Your eyes turned away from the dancing couples to meet those of the owner’s voice. Your jaw opened slightly when you saw Hvitserk Ragnarsson standing in front of you dressed in a dark suit, his middle length hair tied in a loose bun.

“Come on.” He extended his hand. “Nobody puts baby in a corner.”

You smiled and put your hand in his. Hvitserk led you to the dance floor. He pulled your curvaceous body against his hard one, his hand on the small of your back and the two of you gently swayed to the music. This was completely new to you, it felt so nice. Tears were welling up in your eyes so you closed them for a few seconds. When you opened them back, the green eyes of your boss were looking at you with gentleness and concern.

You smiled. “Why are you here, Mister Ragnarsson?”

“Hvitserk.” He replied. “Why don’t we enjoy the night, first? I promise I will answer all of your questions afterwards.”

You nodded. Hvitserk winked at you.

                                              ¤   ¤

The two of you did enjoy your night. After sharing a few dances, Hvitserk met your friends. He introduced himself as your boyfriend which led you to choke on your drink. Nonetheless, you did not correct him, secretly enjoying the fact that some of your friends were watching you with some obvious jealousy. It was a nice change for once.

At the end of the night, Hvitserk offered to drive you home and you accepted. The ride was silent, awfully silent but you did not wish to break this silence. You felt almost afraid to ask him why he was here because you did not want to discover this was out of pity.

Almost too soon, he parked in front of your little house and turned off the engine. You knew there was no other chance to escape explanation time.

“You did not have to do it, you know.” You finally said, your eyed fixed on the windshield. “As I said to Lisa, I don’t mind going alone. I certainly do not need…”

“Pity?”

This made you look at him. “Exactly.”

“I don’t do the pity thing, I only do what I want to do. And I can assure you I wanted to be with you tonight…I just wish you would have asked me.”

You felt a little bit comforted at his words but choose not to read too much into them. “Thank you, then. I had a great night.”

“I did too. Would do it again whenever you want to.”

Once again, you chose to ignore any deeper meaning behind his words and simply smiled at him. He smiled back.

“So…can I get a good night kiss?”

You burst out laughing at this. Now, that was more like Hvitserk. You chuckled, leaned in and kissed his cheek. His facial hair tickled your lips. Then you realized what you had just done, meaning pecking your boss on the cheek and abruptly straightened up. Heat was creeping up your neck and ears. Hvitserk was looking at you with a playful twinkle in his eyes.

“I did not know you had watched Dirty Dancing.” You blurted out to embarrass him. He chuckled though.

“I never did. I heard it from one of the ladies at the office. Guess I spend too much time in marketing.”

He winked and you felt yourself blushing again although this time, you smiled at him.

“Good night, Hvitserk.”

“Good night, Y/N.”

You got out of the car, walked to your front door, opened it then closed it behind you without even looking back at him once. You did not wish to show him he had charmed you even more, particularly because you were convinced he was not interested in you at all.

But Hvitserk’s eyes never left your body, enjoying its every curve until you had disappeared behind your closed door. Then he started his car and left, a satisfied smile lingering on his lips.

Tagging (please tell me if you want to be added or removed): @naaladareia​ @tephi101​ @gearhead66​ @therealcalicali​ @ivarswickedqueen​ @akamaiden​ @peaceisadirtyword​ @deans-ch-ch-cherrypie​ @mblaqgi​ @captstefanbrandt​

[thatmultifandomhoe]

A Lifetime under Moonlit Nights

Word Count: 5,289

Overview: It was a love story that began when Gods roamed the Earth, and lasted over the course of several centuries, always under the beauty of the moonlit sky. But when one life is cut too short, you realize how tiresome it is to constantly be reborn.

Pairing: Seokjin and Reader

Genre AU/Rating: God AU - Fluff - Angst - Past Lives - Reincarnation - Rated: PG-13

Warning: Character Death - Greek Mythology - brief mention/appearance of Jungkook and Seonghwa.

Master List:

Pinterest Mood Board:

A/N: Part of the Bulletproof Bingo Event hosted by @ficswithluv​

©thatmultifandomhoe 2020. Do not repost, translate, or use my stories without permission.

The sun had long since fallen for its slumber, allowing the moon to grace the world with its silver beauty. Millions of stars were intricately stitched into the sky overhead, and the dew from the grass leaving small wet patches on Seokjin’s clothes, but he didn’t mind.

It was in the early hours of the new day that he waited for you. The meeting spot was far from the world he called his home, but he went out to the country side where the grass reached his knees and the purple wisteria tree you loved so dearly created a veil between the two worlds.

Every night when he came to this spot, you were already there waiting from him, hidden within the branches and their petals, that ever-patient smile painted on your lips. Only on rare occasions did he find himself arriving first.

On those nights, he’d usually hide behind the tree until you arrived, cheeks flushed red and chest heaving, worried that you’d been too late. It was then that you’d sigh, allowing yourself to catch your breath as you sat on the ground, fingers running along the blades of grass as if they were a dear friend. He’d then wait, a gentle smile always present as he listened to your soft mutterings for a few moments before suddenly appearing.

Sometimes there would be the clanking of glasses, an occasional treat hidden within the picnic basket you’d bring along. Then the kisses would be rich with sangria stained lips, but Jin would always say that he’d get drunk off you and not the wine. You’d laugh, possibly even call him corny, and the stars would shine brighter in the midnight sky.

Tonight however, he laid on the grass in front of the trunk of the wisteria, recalling the day it had been planted. That had been a different time and way of life. Easily over a hundred years and was yet just as beautiful as the day it grew, unknowingly from his magic.

Magic that sadly, many have forgotten.

These were now the days of lore and myths, stories told to wide eyes souls and used for lessons to navigate life, but everyone seemed to forget that perhaps, once upon a time, were the very fabric of everyday life. Gods and Goddesses once roamed the Earth before retiring to their new homes in the heavens. Only a handful remained and lived in modern society.

As God of the moon, Seokjin slept his mornings away and spent his nights making sure that the moon stayed in the sky until dawn. Whether or not he was in a good mood or not, was reflected in how dull or bright the stars appeared.

Most of the time, the stars were easily seen. When he was with you underneath the wisteria tree, they gleamed liked freshly polished diamonds. For living as long as he had, it was hard to be affected by the on goings on mortals and he had all but managed to turn a blind eye to their antics. Sometimes on his travels, he’d spy someone walking alone or a couple out on a late night adventure and he’d be reminded of you, and partially amused, he’d bless the rest of their night or offer them protection with the moonlight, ensuring a safe journey to wherever they wandered.

You were the only human that he cared deeply about, and when you were sick or hurt, the stars would dull, and remain so until you were yourself again. Jin was a God and yet, the very thing he was in charge of, was really controlled by you. He was wrapped around your precious fingers, wanting nothing more than to please and treasure you.

“Jin?”

Tilting his head, his lips curled into a smile when seeing you standing in front of him, the wisteria petals parting like a curtain for you. The scarf you wore to cover your head was silver, glowing every so faintly that one might mistake it for a reflection of the moonlight up above. For a brief second, the light surrounding it grew brighter in his presence before disappearing.

“What are you doing here so early?” you softly asked, letting the branches slide from your palm as you joined him.

Jin raised an eyebrow as he stood, slipping his hands into yours as he gave a gentle kiss to your cheek. “Is there another who you meet here?” He teased.

“Ah, but you’d know if I was meeting someone else,” you shot back, unfolding the blanket on to the ground by the tree.

“That is true, the moon sees all.”

His smile softened as you laughed, the sound reminding him of the music that Jungkook played to soothe the other Gods when things didn’t go their way. But yours was better.

You carefully lowered yourself to the ground with his help, sighing when you leaned backwards against the trunk. For a brief moment, his smile faded at the sight of your face scrunching up, knowing that it wasn’t because you had sat on an awkwardly placed root.

“Darling,” Jin said, settling next to you on the blanket. “I can come to you so you don’t have to walk this far out.”

But you shook your head, choosing to lean against his chest as he curled his arm around your waist. “I’m fine. I swear, these trips are the only time I get to leave the house these days.”

He knew that. Which was why he had asked Jungkook to check on you when he made his journeys with the sun. Some days were better than others, but according to him, you spent the days sleeping more often than not. It worried Jin greatly, and even his brothers were showing their concern. With the modern age and new medicine, mortals had begun to live longer than before.

However, this mortal body was already failing, and you were barely halfway to your thirty years.

Inhaling the sweet scent of the wisteria, he laced his fingers with yours, trying to ignore how they had a shake to them that didn’t used to be there.

“Please,” he whispered, kissing your cheek once, twice. “I’d hate for you to get hurt on your way.”

“Jin—”

“If you won’t let me take you to see Jungkook, then at least let me visit you at home.”

You pressed your lips together in silence, choosing to focus on the flowers instead of meeting his gaze. This wasn’t the first time the two of you had this discussion. Ever since that fateful day two years ago, all he wanted to do was make things comfortable for you, but that wasn’t what you wanted. You wanted life to go on as normal. Like you always have.

But how could he do that when the life you were supposed to live was only a small fraction of what it should be?

“Do you remember the first time we met?” You suddenly asked.

He frowned at the change of conversation, slightly frustrated that once again, you were choosing to ignore your safety. Despite his worries, he leaned his head against the tree, able to recall the memory with ease.

“I had been a so young,” he simply said.

A warm breeze drifted into the area, the purple branches swaying as both of you recalled a simpler time.

“And so handsome,” you teased, squeezing his hand.

The indignant sound that left his mouth would have sent his brothers laughing from their homes in the heavens, but it had you giggling. “I am still handsome,” he argued. “In fact, I’m even more handsome now. I’ve aged like fine wine over the centuries.”

Rolling your eyes, you settled your free hand on his leg. There was a twinkle in your gaze that was strong tonight, glowing brightly as you stared at the grass in front of you like it held all the secrets in the world.

“Still so full of yourself,” you joked, relaxing once again upon feeling his other hand settle on top of yours. “And that was how I knew you were a God. So cocky.”

If any other mortal had said that – and it was a couple centuries earlier - they would have been cursed without a second thought. Coming from you, Jin simply chuckled. “Usually you’re praising me for that darling,” he murmured, kissing your temple as you elbowed him.

Blush tinted your cheeks but you ignored his comment. “If you told me back at our first meeting that I’d be spending the rest of eternity being reincarnated, a new body, a new life, to be with you – a God nonetheless – forever…I wouldn’t have believed you.”

Your voice had softened, piquing his interest as he recalled that fateful day himself. He hadn’t expected anyone else to be in the clearing, especially in the middle of the night, but there you were, standing alone and hugging yourself as you stared up at the stars. The plain dress hadn’t done anything to emphasize your figure, but the fire in your eyes was alive, daring him to do the wrong thing.

One gaze was all it took for him to be interested, and with your smart remarks, he couldn’t help but be drawn to you. Every night he went back to that spot hoping to see you again. Sometimes you weren’t there, but more often than not, you waiting for him with a witty remark.

“Do you remember our first kiss?” He asked, resting his head against yours.

Closing your eyes, you hummed in agreement.

Back then you thought it was impossible for the two of you to be together. He was a God, destined to live forever while your existence was numbered by the Fates.

The idea had been silly, but you had been concerned with what would happen after you passed away. A young woman who was in love with Jin, you knew that unless you became pregnant with his child, your legacy was going to die with you since you refused to love another. You wanted something to live and prosper long after you had left this world.

The sapling had caught your attention one day at the market, the idea that it would have bloom purple and grow into a massive tree was what you sold you as you handed over the coins to the seller, eagerly carrying it back to your home where you waited until the stars came out to plant it. You had been digging the hole when Jin arrived, curious as to what you were doing.

“This is my legacy,” you told him, stopping to wipe your brow.

He frowned while smiling, amused that you were concerned with such a simple thing. “A tree?”

“Yes, a tree. But it’ll grew tall, and beautiful, outshining everything in this clearing forever.”

Not wanting to waste time, you continued to dig, only needing to go a little further until it’d be deep enough.

The air was warm that summer, and as you dug, he took the chance to admire you. You weren’t like the Goddesses he knew, who demanded to be pampered and chased after by multiple partners, vying for everyone’s attention but never satisfied when someone specific wasn’t looking their way. Dirt didn’t scare you, and because you lived in a small home by yourself, you did the work that men usually did, thus making your hands rougher and leaving aches in your body from the day’s work.

“Won’t your legacy live on with your children?” He forced himself to ask, his chest aching at the mere thought of you being with another.

Hesitating, you barely glanced at Jin. “I…I don’t plan on getting married,” you said instead.

Deciding that the hole was big enough, you tossed the shovel to the side and got on your knees to remove the cloth wrapping from the base of the tree.

This was news to Jin however. He had always thought that you’d one day marry someone who was your equal. “Why not?”

“I won’t marry someone who I don’t love.” With delicate touches, you carefully undid the twine that held the wrapping together, setting it to the side for later use.

“Do you love someone?”

“Yes…but it’s not possible for us to be together.”

You hadn’t planned to say that, but the words spilled out of your mouth before you were able to stop them. It was too late now.

The wrapping was finally removed, but you didn’t hurry to plant it into the ground. Instead, you kept it in your lap, the dirt staining the cloth of your dress. There was a longing within to tell him the truth, wanting to say that you loved him so much that it hurt when he hugged you goodbye, or how during the day while doing the simplest of tasks, your mind wandered to what it would be like to kiss his plush lips, even delving into fantasies of sharing a bed with him. Of being by his side as more than a friend.

With every daydream, your heart swelled with love only to get beaten when you remembered what you both were. There just was no possible way it could work out.

Your vision blurred and stung as you sniffed, reaching up with the back of your hand to wipe away the tears, but a hand stopped you from doing so. Lifting your head, you saw Jin on his knees in front of you, the sapling in one hand while he caressed your cheek with the other. He quietly wiped away the tears, took your hand, and placed the sapling into the hole. Together, the two of you pushed the dirt back over it, gently patting the mound it made once it was securely planted.

“You know,” Jin softly spoke, lacing his fingers together with yours. “Anything is possible, if you’re willing to take a chance.”

He was closer than you originally thought, your gaze darting down to his lips before looking into his eyes. They were as dark as the night, timeless even. A soft breeze rustled his black hair, his bangs covering his forehead and without realizing it, you were reaching up to brush them out of the way.

As if under a spell, you leaned forward when he did, his lips gently touching yours in a sweet kiss. And then another, and another. He released your hand to cup your face, allowing him to add pressure to the kisses, drawing them out to make each one last.

It was the moment the two of you had been holding yourselves back from, and now that it happened, there was no going back. Jin hadn’t even realized that he was crying himself until your fingers gently touched his face, forcing him to pull back at the wetness on his face. Seeing that you were in a similar state, he brought you into his arms, being mindful of the newly planted tree.

Caught up in your emotions, neither of you saw the silver moonlight outlining each branch and leaf of the sapling, the tears of two lovers mixing together and sinking into the tree itself, going all the way down to the roots to help anchor it to the clearing. Forever.

“I miss those days,” you murmured, resurfacing from the memory.

Jin simply kissed the side of your head, trying to ignore the tightening in his stomach. “They were simpler times.”

You tilted your head back against his shoulder, gazing up the wisteria tree. It had grown so beautifully since the day you planted it, and while no one else remembered who had been the one to do it, the legacy you had so desired back then was fulfilled.

“Jin, are there any wisteria trees where you live?”

He froze, the tightening of emotions traveling to his heart as he recognized the longing in your voice. It was the same one he had heard all those years ago when you brought up being with him always, but wanting a mortal life at the same time. Reincarnation had been the answer to solve both problems.

“Yes,” he answered, licking his lips as his arms tightened just the slightest around your frail body. “This exact one in fact is in my garden. Why do you ask Darling?”

“I’m tired,” you said.

There was no easy way to say it, but it was true. For the first time in all your reincarnations, the body you were given for this life was not going to die of old age like the others had. You were sick. The treatments and medicines made you worse and you ached everywhere. When you weren’t at the hospital you were stuck in your bedroom, your parents always there to help you move about and get you things, hovering by the doorway in-case you needed something else. It was overwhelming and tiring. The only time you felt like yourself was when you managed to sneak out while they slept, taking these stolen hours with Jin to relax and be yourself.

Now that you tired out more easily, you took naps often and each time you closed your eyes, a memory from before replayed itself out. Whether it was from your very first life, or your fortieth, to all the weddings you and Jin had, you got to relive them all. There were just so many. It was truly a gift to be able to live so many lives and remember them, but it wasn’t until now – diagnosed and dying from cancer – that you realized how simpler it all would have been, had you only joined Jin’s side in heaven the first time.

Yes, the two of you had been so young, so in love, but you had also been so wrapped up in finding a solution – him wanting you to be with him forever, and you not wanting to have more than a mortal life – that you had been blind to the consequences.

Until you were able to truly understand your memories and locate the wisteria tree, Jin spent years alone, waiting for you appear once again. The reunions and the years together were always worth it, but he also saw you grow older, watched as strands of hair turned white and grey, and the wrinkles became more defined. He stayed by your side through it all, the good and bad, and he was always the one to suffer when the day came where you wouldn’t open your eyes.

The weight of living so many lives wasn’t a light burden either.

“Darling, I can bring you home –”

You shook your head though, carefully reaching up to remove the scarf that Jin had given you the night after you shaved your hair off. It had been thinning and falling out in clumps, and this way, it was easier to manage. “No Jin, we both know that’s not what I mean.”

He pressed his lips together, feeling his eyes sting at the possibility of what you were implying. “What do you want to do then?”

Heart racing, you turned to face him, unable to keep your own tears at bay upon seeing his face. Jin, your lover, husband, hadn’t age at all since the day you met. He was exactly the same, while you felt like a stranger with the memories of a million different versions of yourself.

“I don’t want to be reborn after this,” you said. “I want to go home, with you to the stars. As grateful as I am for all these lives I’ve lived, it’s exhausting and not worth having, when we could have had one life together this entire time.”

For a split second, Jin was prepared to argue your request, to give multiple reasons for why you shouldn’t let this go, and then the fight was all gone. Gods were always giving. Whether they were gifts, blessings, curses, punishments, they gave and gave, but rarely did they take it back. You were the love of his immortal life. He didn’t want to lose you, and the idea of you not being reborn again was terrifying.

“I can’t take you straight to heaven with me,” he softly explained. “Your soul will go to the Underworld where it’ll be judged. Only then can I try and plead our case, but it won’t be up to me.”

“I know Seokjin,” you said, using his full name for the first time in so long. “Just because I’ve had more than my fair share, doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten our ways.”

He didn’t stop the chuckle that escaped. Only you would reprimand a God. Cupping the side of your face, his smile reappeared when you leaned into his touch, sighing as he ran his thumb across the skin. There had been so many rebirths that he had lost count of which life you were on, and while your physical features were not always the same, the littlest things from your first life were still there. Like the small scar on your chin from when you had been sharpening an arrow. Or the slight curve in the middle of your nose, a result from when he suggested taking a swim in a lake after midnight. How was he supposed to know that you’d slip and land on a rock?

Jin leaned in and kissed your chapped lips, the scarf slipping from your hands as it landed on the blanket underneath you.

“This will be your last mortal life,” he firmly said, pulling back to see the relief in your eyes. The power of his words rippling in the air, the stars dulling as his heart ached. How long have you wanted this but not said a word to him? “After this, your soul will go to the Underworld to be judged by Seonghwa, just like everyone else.”

You gently smiled at him as you watched Jin take the scarf you always wore and loosely tie it around your neck. His fingers brushed against your skin but he remained quiet, the moon light dimming when he felt how cold you were.

“Thank you,” you said.

He shook his head, bringing you to his chest and hugging you. Whether or not releasing you of being reborn hurried up what time frame you had left, he wanted to enjoy this moment. The last thing he wanted to think about was the fateful day to come. All he wanted was to pretend that he wasn’t a God, because instead of healing you like any other would have done, he had taken away the one thing that guaranteed you a future.

All because you asked, and he loved you too much to say no.

Jin held your hand to his lips, refusing to look anywhere else but at you.

It was the moment that he had been dreading, the one you had been looking forward to.

Jungkook had woken Jin up in the middle of the day – something that no one would ever do – and it was only when he mentioned your name that Jin listened to what the sun God had to say. Apparently, your illness had taken a turn for the worse, and the doctors now had morphine in your IV drip.

“It’ll make her comfortable,” Jungkook explained, having followed after Jin to the hospital room that you were staying in.

It had been a few days since then, and Jin had taken to staying by your side as long as he could. The only time he left your side was when he was needed to make the moon rise and descend, but even then, it was a half-hearted effort. Like always when your time came to an end, his emotions bested him, dulling the stars to smudged glass and cloudy nights.

Normally, he’d be able to find hope within his heart at the prospect of you returning to him in your next life, sometimes even making a game out of it to see where you might come from, what language you’d speak, how’d you look, but it was all different now.

Lowering his gaze, he kissed the back of your hand, a small smile appearing at the sight of the silver wedding band on your ring finger. While the two of you hadn’t been able to get married in this life, it had been his one request that you eagerly said yes too, sighing when he had slipped it on for you. He always wore his, having refused to take it off after the first wedding because in his eyes, no matter how many lives you lived or centuries passed by, you had never stopped being his wife.

He had thought that he’d get used to seeing you grow ill and passing away by now, but it never got any easier. Usually it was when you reached your older years, so it was jarring to see you so young but so ill and fragile. The sight of you in pain made him collapse to his knees, begging you to take back your last wish so that you’d be reborn again. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.

But you had simply shook your head, even daring a slight smile as you offered your hand for him to take.

The heart rate monitor was slow, consistently beeping in the otherwise silent room. Both your parents had gone for the today, having been convinced by the nurse that they needed to go home and get some sleep even if it was just for a few hours.

Even without Jungkook’s expertise in the area, Jin knew that by the long paces in-between each beat, your heart was slowing down. This was not a battle you were going to fight this time. Although, with a fond smile, he recalled how well you once fought with a sword when you had to defend your home from thieves back in Greece.

Or that time when in Paris, some fool thought that he could run off with your purse when the two of you had been walking along Le Mur des Je t’aimes in Montmartre in Paris at dusk. Not only had you made the French raise an eyebrow at your choice words – spoken perfectly might he add – but you had even made the police nod in approval.

“Oh darling,” Jin whispered, kissing your hand again as his eyes watered up. “You have lived so many beautiful lives. I just wish I had been there more than I was.”

Tears dripped down his cheeks as he bowed his head, sending a silent prayer that your soul would reach the Underworld without any trouble, and another to Seonghwa personally, pleading for him to take care of you until he decided your fate.

When he lifted his head, your hand slumped in his while the glimmer of silver light that had been surrounding your body disappeared. Gently, he placed your hand back on the bed, the nurses rushing in when a single long beep echoed from the heart monitor.

But Jin was gone by then.

It had been weeks since the funeral. Not a word had been heard from Seonghwa about his decision, there hadn’t even been a heads up to let Jin know if your soul arrived to the Underworld or not.

As a result, the night sky had been cloudy. With the exception of when he visited your grace and he made the moon and stars glow brightly just for you, the nights had been dark and dreary, just like how he felt. The other Gods were used to him being emotional after your deaths, but this hit harder for Jin, and the longer he went without knowing where you soul ended up, he was starting to think that he’d never see you again.

He had centuries of memories with you, and as wonderful as they all were, there was nothing better than being able to hold and kiss you all over again.

He hadn’t been back to Earth since then. There was no point, you had been the main reason for all his visits. He had debated on going down to visit your wisteria tree. It was your meeting spot, a sacred place the two of you shared, but it wouldn’t be the same if he were to arrive and not see you there with a smile.

Instead, he had taken to walking around his garden more often than not, isolating himself from the other Gods and choosing to be by himself. The night the two of you had planted the sapling on Earth, in his own personal garden up in heaven, the wisteria sapling appeared even though he hadn’t planted one. Over the years it grew alongside yours, a perfect replica that reminded him of you that he visited often when you were in-between lives.

It was to the wisteria tree that he found himself walking towards, hands crossed behind his back, the moon high in the sky. His mind drifted away, barely even thinking about the duties he had to attend to. There were already plenty of council meetings that he had missed and as lenient as Namjoon was, Jin needed to get his act together soon or there’d be consequences. His brothers knew how much he loved you, they themselves all had their own experiences with their own special human, but he had gotten more time with you than any other.

The time to move on was drawing near.

Gently separating the branches, Jin entered the hideaway that the wisteria tree created, it’s petals and branches acting as a veil from reality for the time being. Perhaps he would stay out here and reminisce on the past, at least until it was time for the moon to descend.

“Hey there handsome, you’re late.”

Jin’s eyes widened as he suddenly looked towards the trunk of the tree, staring at the woman standing there.

Your eyes twinkled brighter than the stars, a subtle silver laurel wreath style crown was placed gently on top of your hair, and you wore the white cloth dress with the silver belt that you had worn on the day you two got married. Your first wedding to be exact.

“What?” You asked, your smile widening as you stepped closer to your husband, unable to help yourself from teasing him a little bit. “Do you usually meet up with another woman here?”

In his chest, he felt his heart warm up and begin to beat again at the sight of you. Not wanting to risk you disappearing from him, Jin hurried to your side and swept you off the ground, your laughter echoing throughout the garden as you hugged him back just as a tightly, both his and your bodies glimmering with a silver outline in the darkness.

“Darling, I’ve missed you,” Jin cried, not wanting to speak anymore to kiss your shoulders and neck. Everywhere and anywhere he could, he kissed before finally reaching your soft lips, not letting you get a single word out as an explanation because to be frank, he didn’t care anymore.

You were by his side once again, and without either of you breaking from the sweet reunion, the stars began to illuminate in the night for the first time in months. The moonlight bathed the world in silver stardust, protecting the humans who walked in the night and granting safe journeys to wherever they went, and a blessing for lovers all around.

Even the Gods themselves were stepping out of their homes, all admiring how beautiful the moon and stars looked tonight.

Jin would no longer have to mourn the loss of you, or only have one life at time with you. Now…now the two of you had an eternity of moonlit nights to be together.

[quickspinner]

MLHolidays2k19 - 20. Traditions

Part 1 - 23. Carols

Part 3 - 21. Blankets

This one ended up skating a little close to NSFW - mature, but not explicit. Nothing actually happens onscreen. I think it should be fine, but use your judgement. Also, you know, everything I learned about French traditions came from the internet, so take it with a grain of salt. The point is, Marinette goes overboard because of course she does.

Marinette had a Plan. She was now a woman on a mission for a traditional French Christmas Eve dinner. She felt bad because she knew she was blowing up Luka’s phone with all her texts, but he seemed more amused than annoyed as far as she could tell. So far, she had asked him about food sensitivities and preferences, and what he wanted to drink with dinner besides wine, if there was any type of food his family traditionally had for Christmas, and his favorite color. She was standing in the grocery store pouting at the lack of oysters when he actually texted her. 

Should I dress up? 

No, no she sent, and then changed her mind. Well Maybe a little bit? Not like, coat and tie, but maybe a button-down? I’m going to wear a dress so But it’s just us, so whatever you’re comfortable with

Luka sent back, If you’re making dinner, I can handle wearing a nice shirt.

Marinette passed the dairy aisle and her eyes lit up with an idea. She texted him, If you want, you can stay over. We can do Christmas breakfast in the morning!  

It took her about thirty seconds to realize how that sounded and quickly she added, On the couch! I didn’t mean that how it sounded. Just on the couch. Sorry! Marinette groaned and dropped her head on her arms on the handle of her grocery cart. Ugh, she was so lame.

Her phone buzzed and she was almost afraid to look at it, but finally she peeked at it through her fingers. I got it, I got it. You’re a funny girl, Marinette. I’d love breakfast if that’s really okay. I’ll pack a bag. For the couch. Promise.

She blew out a relieved breath, and added ingredients for breakfast to her cart. She winced a little at the checkout, but she was normally pretty frugal, and it was worth it for just tonight. Because she had a Plan.

A plan that turned out to be a bit more challenging than she expected, getting everything ready in her apartment’s tiny kitchen, but challenging was nothing to Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and when Luka arrived that evening, Marinette opened the door in breathless excitement, a Christmas plaid apron still over her sparkly red sweater dress. “Hi!” She beamed, and without thinking, she rose up on her toes to offer him la bise like he was an old friend. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it, bending to meet her and returning the gesture easily. He straightened and gave her his slow smile as he offered her the wine he had brought. 

“It smells amazing in here, Marinette,” Luka commented, and Marinette beamed at him. 

“I couldn’t get everything I wanted,” she said, bustling into the kitchen to start carrying plates out. “I couldn’t find any oysters, and I had to get turkey instead of goose, but I have salmon and foie gras, and the bread isn’t as good as Papa’s but I think it’s all right.” 

Her small table was covered with a deep red cloth, knotted at the ends, and three candles in mismatched but harmonizing candlesticks stood waiting to be lit. 

Luka was looking at her with unrestrained wonder as she got the matches and lit the candles. “You planned and pulled all of this off in one day? You—“ He shook his head. “You’re amazing, Marinette. I can’t believe you got up a full Réveillon just for the two of us.”

Marinette felt a little foolish, all of a sudden. “It is a bit much, isn’t it,” she admitted, twisting the hem of her apron. “I probably went overboard. I just wanted everything to be perfect.” She glanced up at the garlands she had hung around the room, and the lights that framed her windows.

Luka chuckled and gave her a soft look that made her blush. “Marinette, I could tell from the moment I met you that you’re the kind of person who puts her whole heart into everything she does. I’m just impressed you managed to do so much in so little time.”

Marinette was still embarrassed but pleased by his praise. She saw him notice her tiny tree on a side table, and smile at the small package wrapped in blue under it, with his name on it in big, enthusiastic letters. Without commenting, he took a small package from his pocket and placed it under the tree as well.

She got him the corkscrew and let him serve the (very nice) wine, and soon they were sitting down to enjoy their dinner. Marinette told him about the meals she had at home with her family as they sipped the wine and made their leisurely way through the food. Luka was as good a listener as she remembered, and he seemed interested in everything she said as she talked about the food and how it compared to her family’s normal dinner. 

“We’re not nearly so fancy as this,” Luka commented, gesturing to the table with his fork. “My mother’s not big on formality, and we’re a little limited with the just the galley for cooking. It sounds nice when you talk about it though,” he smiled. “I always figured it would be kind of stuffy, but it sounds cozy. Like this,” he gestured to the meal between them. “This is nice.” 

“It can get stuffy and boring when you have a lot of people,” Marinette admitted. “We’ve had some awful ones when there were a lot of relatives in town, but usually it’s just Mama and Papa and me, and then it’s like this. No rush, but no waiting for everyone else to finish either, and it’s all just—“ she shrugged. “Comfortable.”

“I like comfortable,” Luka agreed. “This has really been great, Marinette, truly.”

“It’s not over yet!” Marinette proclaimed, hopping up from the table and running into the kitchen. She could barely contain her excitement as she set the bûche de Noël on the table. “It might not be as good as Papa’s,” she said cheerfully, “but it was as close as I could get.”

“It looks fantastic,” Luka said, impressed. 

“Papa’s might taste a little better but even he can’t beat me for decorating.” She handed Luka the cake knife.

A short time later they both set down their forks and looked at each other in defeat.

“It’s amazing, Marinette, but I really can’t eat any more,” Luka sighed. 

“Honestly, me neither,” Marinette giggled. 

“Let me help you clean up.”

It did take quite a while to get all the leftovers packed away in the fridge. Marinette made sure to put some in a container for Luka to take home later. Fortunately Marinette’s apartment had a dishwasher, so they only had a few things left to wash by hand.

“I didn’t actually pick the apartment or most of the stuff in it,” she confessed to Luka as they stood washing up at the sink. She kept trying not to be too obvious about looking at his forearms while his sleeves were rolled up. “It was all selected and paid for by the company for as long as I’m on this assignment.”

“I’m sharing a place with two other guys from the band,” Luka said ruefully. “I’m used to living in small shared spaces, but it’s different when it’s not family. Sometimes I just need some space and quiet, and it’s a little hard to find when you’re sharing space with rock stars in New York City.”

“Well, you’re welcome to come hang out here when you need to,” Marinette said absently as she scrubbed the last dish that wouldn’t fit in the washer. “It’s almost too quiet most of the time.” 

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Luka asked admiringly. “You just have to offer help if you can.”

“I’m sorry,” Marinette said quickly, embarrassed again. “I’m a fixer. I don’t always think things through before I offer. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I know we just met—“

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” Luka interrupted. “And really, I appreciate the offer. I might take you up on it. And...I hope this comes out right.” He sighed, and Marinette was surprised to see a bit of color appear on his cheeks. “I don’t feel like we just met. You know, sometimes you meet people and you connect right away. Sometimes you meet people and no matter how long you know them, you just don’t quite vibe.” He smiled at her, a little tentatively. “It feels easy, being with you.” He gently took the dish Marinette was holding and began to dry it off while she blinked at him stupidly. “I hope that didn’t sound weird,” he muttered, shuffling his feet.

“No, it—I get what you mean. Really.” She smiled. 

“Well, now that that’s done—“ Luka set the dish on the drying rack and turned to her, with a broad grin that somehow still looked a little shy. “You want a little taste of a Couffaine Christmas?” 

Marinette giggled. “What do you have in mind?”

“Are you a good dancer?”

“Ah...no, not really.” 

“Perfect,” he said with a wink. “Where’s your music?”

It was a little embarrassing at first, dancing silly with Luka, but he joked and teased and had no problem looking ridiculous himself, and soon she was giggling too hard to be self-conscious. 

“You have pretty good taste in music,” he told her as they bopped around the room. 

“Actually credit goes to my friend Nino,” she admitted, swishing her hair and swinging her hips without a care in the world. “He put this playlist together and sent it to me to, and I quote, ‘keep you from getting too depressed at Christmas.’” She giggled. “I’m not sure that this is what he intended, but it works!”

When she began to protest that she was getting tired, Luka swept her up in a waltz hold and swirled her around the small space. His hold was gentle but strong and firm, and she relaxed into it and let him whirl her around until they were dizzy. 

“Christmas at your house seems like a lot of fun,” Marinette laughed as she leaned into him and waited for the room to stop spinning. 

“It’s not quite the same without the boat rocking and Juleka trying to trip me every few minutes,” Luka grinned, leaning on her as well as he swayed slightly on his feet. “For a Couffaine Christmas Dance Party that was pretty tame. But I think I can live without hitting the deck four or five times and getting beer spilled all over me.”

“Do you live on a boat or in a club?” Marinette teased. 

“It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes,” Luka admitted, pulling Marinette into a slow dance with him as a soft piano intro played and a female voice crooned “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” Marinette leaned her head on his shoulder, glad to have a breather as they swayed lightly. 

“Thank you, Marinette,” he said near her ear. “This is so much better than what I had planned. This is—this is perfect, really. Thank you for sharing Christmas with me.”

Marinette smiled and cuddled a little closer. Luka was warm and comfortable, and maybe she should have been more self-conscious about being held by someone who was practically a stranger, but...he was right, what he’d said in the kitchen. He didn’t feel like a stranger. 

“So…” Luka began, and she could hear amusement in his voice. “I do have one question.”

“Hmm?” Marinette lifted her head to look at him, and he nodded upwards. 

“Is that French good luck mistletoe or American kissing mistletoe?” He grinned. Marinette gasped for a moment and then laughed.

“I completely forgot the tradition was different here. I guess we might as well be thorough.” She rose up on her toes to peck his lips, but he lowered to meet her and somehow made it something softer and a little longer than she intended, though still little more than a quick press of lips. Still, it sent a jolt of warmth through her body that she hadn’t been expecting.

Then again, she reflected as he pulled back, she hadn’t been kissed in a long time, so maybe she should have expected it.

Luka grinned, oblivious to her suddenly wobbly knees. “Well, so much for the kissing, and I certainly feel lucky,” he chuckled. “I think we’ve got our bases covered.” He took a step back, hands sliding down her arms to take her hands. “Usually about this time we’ve all had enough party, so we’d get out our instruments and take turns playing. Can I play for you, Marinette?”

Marinette was delighted with the idea. “Yes, please! Hot chocolate?”

He shook his head. “I’m good, but feel free. I’ll get the guitar in tune and meet you on the couch.”

Marinette was actually glad for a little distance from those warm eyes and that gentle, knowing smile and those rough, strong hands, as she went to the kitchen and served herself a mug of hot chocolate. She turned down the lights, blew out the candles on the table, and flicked on the apartment’s little gas fireplace, which came to life with a faint whoosh. 

“Now that’s atmosphere,” Luka chuckled, plucking a string and adjusting the tuning peg. “I brought the acoustic because it’s more apartment friendly than my electric, and now I’m glad. It definitely goes better with the vibe tonight.” 

“I always love listening to you play at the bistro,” Marinette smiled as she sat down on the couch, tucking her feet up under her. “You play with so much passion.”

“I always love it when you come to listen,” he said, darting a look at her from under his lashes without actually looking away from the guitar. “When I play with Jagged, the audiences are huge and nobody’s there just to listen to me. I miss that connection, so I play at a couple small places like that around town. I really like it when you come because you seem so invested In the music. It’s nice to see someone enjoy it so much.”

“You...noticed me?”

He smiled, still not looking up from the guitar. “You’re hard to miss, Marinette. Now I’m only sorry I didn’t talk to you sooner, but you always seemed so engrossed in what you were doing that I didn’t want to interrupt.” He glanced at her again, and it was hard to tell in the firelight but she thought there was a little pink in his cheeks. “But with eyes like those?” He reached out and curled a finger under her chin, lifting her face to the light. “Yeah. I noticed you. Every time.” He dropped his hand quickly and strummed slowly and deliberately down the strings. “There, that sounds about right. Anything you want to hear?” 

Marinette shook her head. “Anything. You pick.” 

So Luka played, and Marinette listened, sinking more fully into the couch as the music relaxed her. 

“That was lovely,” she said when he paused. 

“That was you,” he smiled, and shrugged slightly when she turned wide eyes on him. “It’s a thing I do sometimes, just for fun. Like your sketches, only with music.”

“That’s so cool, Luka,” she said in surprise. “Can you play your mom?”

He wasn’t expecting that, plainly, but then he smiled brightly. “The electric suits her better, but I’ll give it a shot,” he said, turning back to the strings. The tune he played was lively, almost jumpy, though a little bit...hard? It had a Celtic feel to it and the rhythm rolled like the ocean.

“This one’s my sister,” he murmured, changing to a slow and almost somber tune, quiet, but rich, with a thread of mischief. When it ended Luka lifted his head and smiled at her. “Thanks for asking. Playing them actually makes them feel a little closer.” 

“I wonder what my parents would sound like,” Marinette mused aloud, turning the cup in her hands. 

“Tell me about them,” Luka said, picking a few seemingly random chords. “Let’s see what we can do together.” 

In the end Marinette brought her sketchbook over, and sat pressed to his side, turning through the sketches she had done before she left home. 

“Hang on,” Luka stopped her. “Is that me?”

“Oh,” Marinette ducked her head shyly. “Yeah, I’ve sketched you a couple of times now.”

“May I see?” he asked, and though it made her face burn, she opened the book fully. Luka put his arm across the couch behind her so he could lean closer. 

It wasn’t a cleaned up sketch and there was no color, and parts of it were indistinct. His eyes and his hands were clear, and his smile, and the rest of it was more of an impression than a picture. Marinette held her breath while Luka studied it, but he only looked up and said, “Thank you,” and let her turn back to the beginning of the book, to the pictures she’d been looking for. 

These were complete and meticulous, carefully done to help her cherish the memory of home while she was away. Her father laughing in the bakery, her mother at the register, the two of them reclining together on the couch. Their faces, lovingly rendered, her father’s squinty, happy eyes above his thick mustache, and the warmth of her mother’s smile.

Luka smiled softly. “You can really see the love in these,” he observed. “Not just their love, that’s obvious, but the way you love them. All the little details you worked to get just right.” It felt natural to lean against him, to seek his support as her heart began to ache for home again. Luka reached over and gently closed the book. “I think I can try now,” he murmured into her hair. “If you still want me to.” 

“Yes, please.” 

Luka waited for her to move off him, and then drew back to pick up his guitar again. He seemed to sit thinking for a moment, trying out different chords. Then he flashed a quick smile at her, and began to play. 

Marinette clasped her hands over her heart and squeezed her eyes closed against the tears that threatened as Luka played, first a warm, passionate, boisterous tune, and then adding in a calmer, more relaxed and level harmony. 

“What do you think?” he asked when the notes faded away. “Did we get close?”

“That was beautiful,” Marinette quavered. “It was just like them.” 

“Hey now,” Luka said, setting down the guitar and scooting closer. “It wasn’t supposed to make you sad.” He touched her face tenderly and then slipped his hand to her shoulder, applying a gentle pressure. She obeyed it, leaning on him and letting him fold her up in his arms. 

“I’m sorry,” she gasped. 

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. “This is why I’m here. So neither of us has to have these feelings alone.” 

“We were having such a nice time,” Marinette sniffled.

“It’s still nice,” Luka said, reaching to grab her a tissue from the end table. “It’s wonderful. Thank you for inviting me into your home and going to all this trouble. It’ll take more than a few fully justified tears to ruin any of it.”

“Can we just stay like this for a bit?”

“Of course.”

Eventually she calmed, her breathing evening out, and she moved her face out of his shirt to lay it on his shoulder. It felt so good to be held. And Luka could have been so many things, this man she’d known only for a couple of days, but he was kind and sweet and gentle and genuine and just...wonderful. She found herself staring at the opening of his collar, and just above, the hollow of his throat.

Without questioning the impulse too much, she turned her head just enough to kiss the spot. She liked the way it felt, both his warm skin against her lips and the sudden catch in his breath. She sat up a little more, nose and lips gliding up his skin until she found another soft place to kiss below his jaw. He swallowed and tilted his head slightly, which she took as permission to continue, laying soft kisses along the column of his neck. 

Luka pulled away, just far enough to see her face. He cupped her jaw and rubbed his thumb lightly against her cheek, the firelight making his eyes look dark. 

Or maybe it wasn’t the firelight, because when her lips parted to speak, he kissed her, and it was soft but firm and wanting. That warm, fizzy feeling from before came rushing back, even stronger as Luka began to brush tender fingers across her face and neck.

They exchanged slow, deep kisses, gravitating toward each other, arms slowly circling and tightening, bodies drawing closer until they were pressed as close as they could get. Luka’s hand slipped down under her thigh, tugging lightly. Marinette moved, shifting into him, allowing him to guide her knee across his lap. Her fingers slid into his hair and his hands massaged her thighs before slipping up her sides and down again. 

Her teeth scraped his lower lip and he gasped, his hips jerking up into her and she broke away with a breathless cry and for a moment they both hung, panting, undecided. 

“Marinette?” Luka prompted, voice raw. She didn’t answer, hyper aware of everywhere they were touching, the very movement of his breath enough to fuel the fire in her belly. 

“We can stop now and I can still sleep on the couch if that’s what you want,” he said softly. 

Marinette buried her face in his shoulder for a moment, gathering her courage, and then lifted it to look him in the eye. “What if that’s not what I want?”

He held her gaze for a moment, as if waiting for something, maybe giving her a chance to back out. Marinette let out a shaky breath, but didn’t look away. “I don’t want to stop. And I don’t want you to sleep on the couch.” 

“Okay,” he breathed into the barely-there space between them as he brushed his lips against hers again. 

Despite her bold words, part of her was panicking as they sank down in her bed together, because what was she thinking? At the same time it felt like the most right, most natural end to what otherwise would have been a lonely night full of tears. Though eager and near shaking with want, he was as gentle and considerate as he had been all night. It made her feel powerful and wanted and treasured and safe all at once, and when it was over, all the wanting and tension spent, the gentleness, the care for her remained, and he asked her in that same soft way if she wanted him to leave. 

“No,” she whispered, drawing him back down to her, “Stay with me. Didn’t we agree not to be alone on Christmas?” Luka relaxed back down into the bed with a sigh that sounded like relief, slipping one strong arm around her waist. She traced it lightly with her fingers as he kissed her shoulder and murmured “Joyeaux Noël, Marinette.”

She glanced up at the clock smiled, seeing it was well after midnight, and officially Christmas Day. “Joyeaux Noël, Luka.”

[sarcastic-sunshines]

Letters for my Love - Chapter 4

A/N: I just wanted to wish everyone a happy school year! I officially start this week as well. I wish all of us nothing but growth in knowledge and 4.0 GPAs

Pairing: T’Challa x Black Reader

Chapter 1 I Chapter 2 I Chapter 3

My Love,

I do not know where the time has gone, but somehow, our daughter is graduating from kindergarten. It seems like just yesterday I was nervous about her beginning school, now Nono is off to Year 1 in a few months. Sometimes it feels as though she is growing up too fast for me to soak in all the memories. I am blessed to have a child who sees me as her best friend and lets me experience all her happy moments with her, though I am not sure how long that will last. Everyday it seems her friend Fatou gets closer to stealing my spot. Perhaps Nobomi is more independent than I would like to admit. Perhaps admitting my daughter is growing into her own little person will also force me to admit that I am still struggling to formulate my own life outside of her.

I have tried to take baby steps, just like the therapist suggested, but evidently my progress is slow. Having Erik home more has been helpful, his presence always pushes me to explore myself outside of being King and a father. His teasing however, is not always appreciated when it comes to the fact that I have made no actual attempt in befriending Akina. After how things ending with Ayesha, I was sure it wasn’t the right time, but now I am not sure. It is as though Bast is playing a trick on me. I went from never seeing her to suddenly bumping into her almost everywhere I go. I am hoping to get to talk to her more at Nobomi’s graduation.

The little girl has invited almost everyone that she knows for her special day. And it is hard to say no when I see the excitement on her face. You should have seen how big her smile was at the seamstress as she took her measurements for her graduation dress. It reminded me so much of you, I still find myself longing for your presence in these special moments. For you to get to experience how much our daughter holds your spirit. How much it brings me comfort to see you glimmering through her. Though I know my morning glory is always with me, I still long for the love that we once shared. Some days it feels like the void your death brought will never be filled, and I am not sure how I feel about it. It helps no one to dwell too much in what could have been, instead I will focus my energy on planning a ‘super duper fantastic’ graduation party for Wakanda’s graduating princess. I am not sure what exactly counts as ‘super duper’ to a six year old but I am excited to find out.

Yours Forever,

T’Challa

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T’Challa sat with his cousin on the couch, as they waited for Nobomi to try on her dress for her graduation. He hadn’t thought too much about the whole event, until realizing how excited his daughter was for reaching her first educational milestone. She couldn’t stop talking about the day, making her excitement contagious. So when she asked for a new dress, he had no choice but to say yes. Somewhere along the planning, he had been persuaded into hosting 20 six year olds for a party to celebrate the end of their kindergarten years. Planning had not been easy, considering event planning was not his forte, but again Nobomi’s excitement was worth it.

T’Challa nudged Erik awake once he heard little shuffles coming towards them. They both turned their heads to look at Nono as she strolled in like the princess she was. Her smile went passed her eyes, which held a twinkle that reminded T’Challa so much of her mother, it felt like a constant reminder that she was always there. T’Challa felt himself getting emotional watching his daughter twirl in her dress wishing his wife was here to see the beautiful strong willed child they had brought into the world. He cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes before speaking.

“You look so pretty Nono, and your smile makes your dress even better.” he said opening his arms to allow her to hug him, though she didn’t stay for long, quickly going  back to twirling.

“Yeah baby girl, you sure you're not heading to a runway and not graduation.”

“No uncle Erik! You are so silly” she said still giggling at his comment, her four missing front teeth open to the world to see.

“ I didn’t know serving looks was a requirement to graduate from kindergarten” he replied tickling her while littering her face with kisses.

“Baba said I get to wear Mama’s hair pin so I get to look extra pretty and have my good luck charm” The pin had belonged to his wife’s grandmother. She had always planned on giving it to her child, so T’Challa did just that when he found it again. Nono somehow understood the importance of the gift and only asked to wear  it during special events.

The seamstress came from the back quickly with a needle and thread in hand  “ Nobomi sweetie, I have one more adjustment to do at the sleeve please. You were supposed to go and come back” she bent down to the little girl’s level as she used some pins from her pincushion to have the sleeve fit as perfectly as she wanted.

“Imani, you really outdid yourself this time. She looks amazing”

“Oh I cannot take credit Kumkani, your mother had been working with a local designer named Akina,  she owns a dress shop closer to end of the city. Nobomi had insisted on having one of her dresses.  She entrusted in me in doing the final fitting” Imani stood back up leading Nobomi to the back to carefully take off the dress without the pins hurting Nobomi.

This was all new information to T’Challa. He had left every detail of the dress to his mother who had gone to every fitting prior to this one. He would always ask Nobomi how the fitting went but she insisted she wanted it to be a surprise. He only ever got a ‘good’ or a ‘fine’. He hadn’t even known that Akina was a designer. It just proved how little he hadn’t gotten to know her.

Erik turned to make sure that Nobomi and Imani had gone to the back.

“I didn’t know your lady was a designer”

“I didn’t know either, and she is not my lady” he said with a little nervous stammer

“ That’s shocking, you shoulda seen the way your eyes lit up just by her name” T’Challa frowned as Erik laughed. “ Man, it has been literal months, if you don’t ask her out soon I’m gonna have to.”

T’Challa’s expression became a glare that even Erik felt a cold chill from  “Chill, it was a joke. But seriously, you need to step up , because home girl is definitely crazy about you. Look at the dress she made for  your daughter, she really didn’t have to. And the added bonus is baby girl already likes her so there is no sign of there being an Ayesha situation.  Just use Nono’s party as an excuse to casually talk to her. ”

T’Challa thought about Erik’s words for the rest of the day. For a while he had been sure that his feelings were not reciprocated, if anything,  he was sure he was imagining the connection he felt between them. Every interaction he had with her had been a stuttering mess that was either interrupted by Nono needing his attention or her having to leave. He was convinced Akina was being polite because of how much she liked Nono and the fact he was still the King.

Erik was right though, she didn’t have to make Nono a dress, and it was strange she never mentioned it. Maybe this was actually a gift from Bast, seeing as now he had something to talk to her about at the party. He just hoped he wouldn’t get lost in her eyes as he always did. He prayed her beauty wouldn’t distract his brain from the words that he was supposed to form.

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

T’Challa looked around the auditorium, waving at some of the parents he recognized. There were all smiling faces as the crowd prepared to see their young ones walk across the stage for the first time. Erik looked at his cousin trying to hide his laugh. It may not have been obvious to the passing eye, but Erik could see that T’Challa was waiting for Akina to slip in. Adanna had explained her sister may be running late, but that didn’t stop T’Challa from looking at the door every time he heard it open. The lighting in the auditorium suddenly dimmed, leaving a spotlight on the stage, where the headmistress stood, welcoming friends and family to the joyous moment. Just as the headmistress walked to her seat on the side of the stage, Akina snuck in taking the empty seat next to her sister. Her eyes connected to T’Challa’s as they both smiled at each other, only looking away when the name of the first graduating pupil was called. T’Challa’s smile however, did not fade, he was ashamed to admit, but he was sure Akina gave him butterflies. He hadn’t felt anything close to this since his wife, it scared him a little that another could make his heart so vulnerable.

His mind cleared as he heard Nobomi’s name called, there was his princess with her big smile, walking so her dress could sway as she made her way across the stage. Her hairpin glistened in the light. The pin really did match her outfit, he was just proud that Nono wanted a piece of her mother with her on this special day. Despite the fact the headmistress had asked for applause to be kept until the end, T’Challa and Erik shot up from their chairs clapping loudly, T’Challa let a tear slip as he watched his little girl grow up before his very eyes. Akina watched from the end of the row, completely mesmerized by the dedication the man had towards his child. It made her heart yearn for him, the feeling seemed so foreign, it had  been so long since she truly felt this way. And for the King, it felt so wrong, yet whenever she caught him looking at her, she knew it was right.

Erik’s whistling and yelling of “Okay baby girl! Show them you didn’t come to play!” broke Akina  out her thoughts. She watched as Queen Mother reached over to pinch her nephew harshly, urging him to sit down, while he brought T’Challa down with him. She let out a giggle, much louder than she thought, T’Challa’s head turned to her again, before they both watched as Nobomi joined her class. She was the second last, so not long after, the auditorium rose to applaud the graduating class. T’Challa smiled at Nobomi as they mouthed ‘I love you’ to one another. He caught the kiss she blew at him making sure to hold it to his chest for her to see. What would he do without the gift that was his daughter. He thanked Bast for the moment, hoping to bask in it for a moment longer.

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

Shrieking, that was all T’Challa could hear. The shrieking matched the scene of twenty tiny humans running around the palace garden engaging in a variety of games. He sat by Erik and Shuri, not listening to a word either was saying. His concentration went on Nobomi, making sure the little girl was having fun. And she appeared to be, she had gotten her face painted, just like she wanted. He had watched her jump in the bouncy castle with Fatou, letting their screams and giggles ring through the party. They had just had her favourite chocolate cake, made by her maternal grandmother and she was allowed to eat as much as she wanted. Nobomi was on cloud nine, he could tell, by watching her on the dancefloor with Fatou. They seem to be recreating a dance they had done at their recital. He watched them with a slight smile on his face, her growing personality was always so fun for him to see.

He looked away for a second, surveying the grounds, his eyes landed on Akina talking to one of the parents. Their eyes met for a moment before T’Challa looked away shoving cake into his mouth. Erik noticed and kissed his teeth.

“What happened to talking to her today, or are y’all just gonna keep staring for the rest of your lives”

“Brother is scared” Shuri chimed in steal icing from T’Challa’s cake “I have seen him this nervous since he was proposing to Nono’s mama”

“I am not nervous, or scared. “

“If you not scared go up and talk to her once she’s alone. We all know she is waiting for you” Erik said cocking his head towards Akina before downing his drink. He turned to his cousin and lowered his voice before switching to Spanish so only T’Challa could here.

“Plus I bet your sister 500 dollars you could do it and I don’t plan on losing” T’Challa rolled his eyes before passing the rest of his cake to Shuri.

“That’s not fair Erik! You cheated!” Erik smirked patting T’Challa’s back as he nervously stood, he watched as the mother left Akina to tend to her child. Their eyes connected again, T’Challa took the opportunity to head to the tree Akina was standing under, his eyes never leaving hers. He made it to the tree, but didn’t say anything, it was happening again, he was too mesmerized to speak.

Akina saved him, letting out a breathy “Hi”

“Hello” he said, his voice an octave higher than he would have liked. He cleared his throat before trying to speak again.

“I just wanted to thank you for the dress you made Nobomi. I had no idea you were the one working on it this whole time.” he said with a smile, he pocketed his hands to stop fidgeting.  He watched her own smile grow with every word he said.

“Oh that wasn’t an issue Kumkani, I was honoured Nono wanted me that bad. And she wanted to surprise you so it was our little secret” he nodded

“Well considering she hasn’t stained it yet, I know she really does love it” they shared a laugh “So thank you anyway, I really do appreciate”

“Then you are welcome Kumkani”

“I thought I said we could drop the formality?” He said with his charming smile. Akina could feel her face heating up as she nodded acknowledging his words.

They kept talking, conversation flowing naturally like they had known each other for a long time. T’Challa learned Akina was quite sarcastic, her humour fit so naturally into the conversation, he found himself having to stop to laugh every time. Without even trying, the distance between the two of them began to disappear. Both of them forgetting there was a whole party going on around them  “By the way, what is the name of your shop, I don’t think I know it”

“Do you know every store in Birnin Zana? I didn’t realise that was part of your job” She said with a smirk, T’Challa was surprised by her sarcasm but appreciated it, letting out a chuckle to go with it.

“Funny, well I would love to see it some time, especially considering how much Nono loves it”

“That would be nice, I rarely do men’s clothing but I think I could make an exception for you” her eyes looked at him longingly, they lingered on his lips before going back to his eyes.

“I would love that, a king can never have too many Kaftans”

“Especially if he hasn’t had one of Akina’s yet” He smiled, taking a large breath before saying what he wanted to say. Akina could sense he had something else to say, she waited with her heart beating fast, hoping he would say what she wanted him to.

“Perhaps, after we could- “

“Baba!” instantaneously, the moment was gone, and both of their attention was turned to Nobomi who came running towards him. She slowed down when she noticed Akina was also standing by the tree. “Are you busy Baba?” she asked meekly smiling at the both of them

“ I am never too busy for you Nobomi wam. What can I do for you darling?” he asked, squatting to her eye level. Akina watched admiringly, the father daughter duo always warmed her heart to see.

“I want to jump in the castle with you?” T’Challa put on a shocked expression making Nobomi laugh.

“Me?! Are you sure? Where is Fatou?”

“Fatou is playing, but I don’t want her I want my Baba” she said with a pout to match her big brown eyes. Just like her mother, T’Challa thought to himself. He turned to Akina, apologizing with his eyes and a nod towards Nobomi. She smiled shrugging the moment off.

“We can talk a different time, but bouncy castles are very important issues that should be handled with urgency, right Nono?” Nono nodded her head excitingly at Akina. The simple interaction warmed T’Challa’s heart. He stood up, apologising once more to Akina before running after Nono.

The pair spent the rest of the party running around the bouncy castle. Nobomi’s laughter took away his disappointment of not getting to ask Akina out on a date. It was her day, so saying no to his little girl was not an option. He didn’t mind though, these moments of just the two of them were becoming more rare as time went on. She was not going to be this little forever, so maybe it was okay if he decided to create more of his own life outside of her. As always, he took in every moment of them jumping the castle, both their boisterous laughs ringing through the garden. It might have been his favourite part of the day, things always seemed simpler when it was just them.

Guest had started to leave, but the two of them laid in the castle, taking a break from jumping. Nobomi cuddled into her Baba’s side. He could tell her sugar rush was dying down, and soon she would be ready for bedtime.

“Did you have fun today Nono”

“It was the best day ever” her hands shooting into the sky to emphasize her point. T’Challa felt accomplished. His only goal for the party was for her to be happy.

“I am glad, that was all I wanted to hear” he closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them again when he felt Nobomi’s little hands on his face. She leaned in and gave him a kiss on each of his cheeks. She snuggled back into his side and whispered. “I love you Baba”

He wrapped his arm around her and whispered back “I love you more Nobomi”

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

The streets of Birnin Zana were busy, it was the end of the working day and traffic began to pick up leaving and entering the Golden City. All that could be heard was the sound of hover car engines as people hurried to get back to their families. T’Challa had chosen to walk, not telling anyone other than Erik where he was going. He entered the shop quietly, but was let down by the bell that sat on top of the door.

“We’re closed!” Akina yelled from the back, she was packing up ready to end her own workday. She did not have time to deal with any new customers, and quite frankly she was starving.

“Really? Even for special order kaftans?” T’Challa yelled back. Akina stopped what she was doing to peak to make sure she wasn’t hearing things. She patted down her Afro to even it out, she made sure her dress was smooth before emerging from the back. Her smile gave away the excitement that she was feeling, which was fine seeing as T’Challa’s matched hers. She moved slowly towards him.

“I think we have time for measurements.”

“Great, but that isn’t the only reason I am here. This is a bit overdue, but I think my heart is pointing me to the right place.” he ended reaching for her hand, her fingers closed around his so perfectly. He kissed their entangled hands moving them closer to each other.

Barely above a whisper he asked “ Would you like to come to dinner with me?”

“I was waiting for you ask me.” She let out a giggle which T’Challa found himself falling in love with. “And you came at the right time, I am starving”

They turned towards the door, their hands still entangled. T’Challa led them down a path to his favourite restaurant that hid them from passersbys. It felt instinctive to be this close to her at all times. He never thought he would feel anything close to this again, but now that he was, he was glad it didn’t feel forced, and overall, it was something that he really wanted to work. He was excited to see what the future held for him and Akina.

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

My Love,

What a busy week it has been. I got to see our little girl walk across the stage and she did so with so much swag. It reminded me of you my  love. How I wished you had been there to see the excitement on her face. But as always, I know you were there and Nono does too. Her insisting to wear your pin made it clear to me that she understood the importance that you hold in her life and that is all I can really ask of her. It makes me feel like I am doing a good job.

I must be if our little girl is ready to move on to Year 1 and start ‘big girl school’, as she calls it. I am just focused on keeping her busy through the summer. Speaking of summer, this may be an interesting one for  me as well. Things with Akina have progressed even more than I had hoped. It was hard not to really. I am not sure if it will ever be like the love that we once shared, and I am not even sure if I want to replicate that. But whatever I feel for her now makes me excited for what the future holds. I am ready to give this a try, and what a perfect time. This summer may lead to self growth, not just for Nobomi, but for myself. I am ready to let love back in my life, and knowing it is with someone who gets along with Nobomi calms my heart.  She may be my first thought always, but I am ready to start making decisions that keep me happy as well, just as you would have wanted. As always, I ask that you guide us as we venture into new territory. I know with my morning glory as my guardian angel everything will be fine.

Yours Forever,

T’Challa

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Taglist: @writingmarvellousimagines @chaneajoyyy @ghostfacekill-monger @abrunettefangirlnerd @ashanti-notthesinger @mellowjellow6 @fonville-designs @royallyprincesslilly

[lovemychoices]

Before There Was You-2B

TRR X ROE

Song inspiration: Lauv- I like me better

Three years ago while travelling in Europe, Eve Sommers was involved in a car accident. She woke up from her coma two weeks later with no memory of what happened to her in the past seven months. Three years later and still no recollection about what happened to her before the accident. But all of that is about to change. Will she finally know the truth? Will there be consequences?

*THIS SERIES PRACTICALLY THROWS CANON OUT THE WINDOW* YEET!YEET!

Characters except my OCs belong to Pixelberry, I am just borrowing them

Word count : 2500

Chapter Summary: Eve takes Liam to her secret spot. Liam tells her the truth about who he really is.

Series chapter # 1 2A

A/N : This is my first fiction series so it will definitely not be 100% perfect. In other words be kind :). Feedback and comments are welcomed, also hit that reblog button if you like what you read. Sorry for any grammatical errors! 🤭

Warning : I’m rating this PG18 cause there will probably be PG18 stuff that’s going to happen in future chapters. So if you read this series you acknowledge that you are 18 and above.

BTWY Tag list: @thecordoniandiaries @leelee10898 @ao719 @annekebbphotography @desiree-0816 @rainbowsinthestorm @emceesynonymroll @the-soot-sprite @carabeth @cora-nova @charliejane-blog @dcbbw @hopefulmoonobject @cmestrella @jlpplays1 @pixieferry

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The next day after a quick breakfast the guys waited outside their hotel for Eve to come to fetch them. A familiar motorcycle parks in front of them. They watched as she and took off her helmet, suddenly everything began to move in slow motion, the way her hair swayed as she shakes her head letting her hair fall back into place. “Good morning gentlemen, I hope you’re ready to have the some fun today.” She grins.

Drake cocks an eyebrow. “Not to state the obvious but I don’t think we’ll all fit on that.” He pointed to the jet black two wheeler.

Eve chuckles. ”The bike isn’t for you, your ride is over there.” she answers and points to the back of the motorbike where a black convertible jeep is parked. Ruby gives a honk and a slow wave from the driver's seat. A sigh of relief escapes Tariq, it wasn’t the ride he’d expected but it was still better than riding one of those monstrous two wheelers.

“I call shotgun!” Maxwell shouts excitedly and ran ahead while the others followed behind him towards the jeep.

Eve grabs hold of Liam's right arm. “Not you Mr, you’re riding with me.” she grins and pulls him towards her motorcycle. She pulls out a second helmet and offers it to him. “Here you go.”

Liam chewed his bottom lip. As a prince, growing up he was never allowed to ride on a motorcycle. They were too dangerous as his father put it, not that it stopped his older brother but Liam was always the obedient one.

“Don’t worry Liam it will be fine, do you trust me?” She smiles softly.

Fck it. He thought and takes the helmet from her outstretched hand. He puts on the helmet before climbing onto the back of her bike. Eve couldn’t help but grin as he settles in behind her, she puts on her helmet and began to turn the throttle. “Hold on.” She says to him over her shoulder. “This is going to be one hell of a ride.”

Liam held on to Eves waist as she maneuvered through the bustling New York traffic, cutting corners here and there. As they are about to approach one of the traffic light started flickering giving a warning signal that it was about to turn red, he could feel the bike starting to pick up speed. She’s not serious is she? The thinks. They were about 150 meters away from traffic light there was no way they were going to make it.

“Hold on!” She shouted as she turns the throttle and changes gears. The speed meter went from 80 to 120 in just mere seconds. Liam closed his eyes as she zooms straight ahead. They manage to pass the traffic light just in time before it turns red.

He opens his eyes and look over his shoulder. “That was insane! I can’t believe we actually made it!” Liam yelled over her shoulder but Eve merely grins. It didn’t take long before they were out from the city. An hour of riding later Eve began to slow down and eventually stopped at a nearby tree. Liam hops off the motorbike and Eve followed after, they both took off their helmets.

“THAT.WAS.AMAZING!” He howls, feeling the rush of adrenaline through his veins. “It was crazy but also amazing!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed the ride, maybe next time you’ll be the one in the front and I’ll be the one at the back holding onto you.” She grins and gave a playful wink.

Liam takes in the surroundings, furrowing his brows. “Hey, are you sure we’re in the right place? This seems a little quiet and deserted for a beach party.”

“Oh no we’re in the right place, the beach party is further up ahead, I thought we’d take a little detour so I can show you my secret spot.”

Liam quirked an eyebrow. “Secret spot? Now I’m intrigued.”

“It’s a little walk up from here but I promise you the scenery will be worth it.” She grins and holds his hand. “Now common, we don’t want to waste anytime.”

She takes him to a cliff to show him a secret cove. “Don’t worry about the rocks just follow my lead.” She assures him. To reach it they had to climb down a rope which terrified him but she managed to coax him down. Liam had never met a woman like her with such agility and determination. They combed the beach for seashell that had washed up on the shore, then climbed onto a small cliff and sat there. Liam closes his eyes slowly inhaling and exhaling while focusing on the sound of the waves. He finally opens his eyes and turns to look at Eve who smiles fondly at him. “Was it worth it?” She asks.

“Everything and more.” He grins.

“Well then there’s only one more thing left to do.”

She grins and slowly gets up on her feet. She starts taking off her clothes one by one.

Liam eyes go wide open but quickly averts them the other way. “Wha- what are you doing?” Liam stutters.

“What does it look like I’m doing, I’m going in for a swim silly.” Eve chuckles. “I hope you brought the proper attire.” She finally manages to take all of her clothes off till there is nothing left but her black bikini. Liam could help but take a peak, mouth hung slightly then swallows hard as he takes in the site of her curves. Without any warning she stood in front at the edge of the rock and dives straight into the clear blue water only to surface a few seconds later. “What are you waiting for? The water is perfectly warm, come on Liam jump right in.”

Liam looks down from where he has standing , his knees were wobbling like jelly and he swallowed hard. He had to be at least 2 storeys high.

“I promise you it’s perfectly fine, you’ve trusted me this far haven’t you? Think of it as a leap of faith.”

What could go wrong? He thinks and starts taking off his clothes. “Just a warning, I didn’t think we’d go swimming so I did not bring the proper attire.”

Eve chuckles “don’t worry, I'm sure they’ll dry up quickly while we ride on the motorcycle.”

Liam takes a deep breath standing on the edge, he lifted both his arms in the air taking on a diving position and dived into the water with a splash. He resurfaced a few seconds later only to find Eve missing. “Eve?” He turns around to search for her. “Over here!” She startles him from behind and as he turns a wave of water cascades over his head. “Hey! That was a cheap shot!” He grins and returns a splash of wave back at Eve. They continue to splash each other till finally Liam surrenders. “Okay.. okay.. I yield! I yield!

Eve chuckles, her eyes wandered towards the rocks near the shore and mischievous grin forms on her face. “Do you want to swim to shore?” She asks. “C’mon— I’ll race you.” She immediately takes off in an elegant but powerful freestyle stroke. Liam shakes his head with a smile and swam after her. He’s body was fit and strong but he still needed the effort to keep up with her. They reach the rocks by the beach with Eve a few strokes ahead of Liam.

“Looks like I won.” Eve grins then narrows her eyes at Liam. “You didn’t let me win on purpose did you?” Liam chuckles. “No. you are fast swimmer, it was a fair face.” “Well as the winner I demand a prize.” She commanded lifting her chin up. “Oh, and prize did you have in mind?” Liam cocks an eyebrow. “How about a kiss from a handsome stranger?” She said biting her lower lip while batting her eyes flirtatiously.

Liam gives a soft smile he felt himself lean towards her closer and closer, his hands cup her face. Her skin was so soft underneath his fingers. Eve returned the smile, closing her eyes then lifting her lip to him. He moves that final fraction of an inch and then he was kissing her. Her mouth felt warm and soft as he slowly deepened the kiss. Breathing hard he pulled back to look at her, her emerald eyes glimmered as she looks back into his ocean blue ones. “Is something wrong?” She asks concerned. Liam lets go of her face, looking away. He knew this was the moment that he had to tell her the truth about him, about who he really was. “We need to talk.” He murmurs. They both sat on an outcropping rock just at the water level. Liam rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a sigh. “I haven’t been 100% honest with you, the truth is—.”

Oh god please don’t tell me he’s got a girlfriend or even worst married!

“The truth is I am not just some normal European guy, I’m—.” He pauses and turns to look her in the eye. “I’m the crown prince of a small country called Cordonia.”

Eve’s eyes go wide open, she was slightly taken aback by his confession. He’s joking right? This must be some kind of prank a crown prince and I’m only hearing about this now? She looks around her surroundings trying to see if there was a hidden camera crew somewhere or something.

“Eve?”

Eve lets out a nervous chuckle. “I’m sorry I’m just processing what you just said. So let me get this straight you’re a Crown Prince? You’re joking right?”

Liam’s lips formed a thin as he looks at her. His expression was serious he didn’t even flinch.

“Oh my god you’re really serious? So. Wow. a prince huh? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Liam heaves a sigh. “Well Maxwell wanted to celebrate his 25th birthday in New York with just as guys. To convince my father to let me go without bringing along a huge security detail, we promised to keep a low profile and I wasn’t allowed to mention to anyone that I was a prince. Because if anyone knew then—.”

“The paparazzi would start swarming in and you wont get to the whole normal guys just want to have fun experience. Not to mention the danger you’d be in without the whole security detail thing.”

“Exactly. Also people tend to act differently around me when they know what I am. When we met yesterday morning and you didn’t have the slightest clue who I was it actually felt nice. I like you Eve, which is why I couldn’t lie to you.”

“Liam.” She smile softly and held his hand giving is a squeeze. “I like you for who you are being a prince won’t change that. And there’s something I need to tell you about me as well.”

Liam stares curiously at her. “You’re not married are you?”

“What? No of course not.” She chuckles. “So a few years ago I was involved in a car accident and I woke up 2 weeks later with completely no memory of what happened the past seven month. I mean the last thing I could remember was getting a letter into med school, the rest after that was a total blank.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a part of your life just missing. Have you tried getting them back?”

“I did. I’ve tried hypnotherapy and whatever therapy you can think of but nothing worked. At times I could see patches of the memories they would even appear in my dreams sometimes but none of it ever makes any sense. In fact I don’t think any of them are memories at all, maybe they’re just things my mind fabricated. Trying to force myself to remember everything made my life miserable. So a year I realize I could either keep trying to live in the past and be miserable or move forward and actually enjoy life wherever it takes me.” Eve gives a faint smile. “I hope this doesn’t freak you out or anything, I mean usually when I bring up the whole amnesia thing on dates they would look at me all weird or freaked out.”

“Are you saying this was a date?” Liam grins.

“Only if you want it to be?” Eve answers. Liam moves closer, cupping her cheeks and leans in to kiss her deeply. He pulls apart but his hands still linger on her. “Honestly I’ve never met anyone like you Eve Sommers and there is nothing you could ever say Eve that would freak me out.”

Could this man be anymore perfect? she thought. Is it so bad that I feel like I want to kiss him again? A lite breeze blew towards them which made Eve shiver a bit. “Eve are you okay?” Liam asks. “I’m alright. It’s just getting a little chilly maybe we should head to the beach party, we’ve been gone for an hour and your friends would probably be worried.”

“You’re ur probably right.” He smiles ruefully and stands on top of the rock. “Shall we?” He asks offering his hand. Eve smiles and takes it they both climbed back up the small cliff to get their clothes and get change then proceed to head back to the beach party to join their friends.

***

“Woohoo! This party is AWESOME!” Maxwell cheers as he shows off his moves at the beach party. “Drake watch me do the running man!”

“No one wants to see you do the running man Maxwell.” Drake sneers while trying to avoid getting pushed around by the sea of people dancing to the music played by the DJ.

While Drake and Maxwell were in the crowd dancing, the rest of the group decided to take a break and have a seat by the brightly lit fire, drinking their beers while watching the sun as it set.

“Maxwell has been dancing for hours, how has he not run out of energy yet?” Ruby asks in amusement.

Liam chuckles. “That’s Maxwell for you, his motto is the party stops when he stops.”

Drake eventually gave up and joined them leaving Maxwell behind, he takes a bottle of beer from the ice chillers and took a seat on the folds up chairs next to Ruby. “I don’t know about you guys, but all that dancing made me feel hungry.”

“Oh, I brought something to eat.” Ruby beams reaching in for the basket next to her. She takes out packets of s’mores and a few barbecue sticks then passes it around to the rest of the group and they began to cook the s’mores in the fire pit.

“This is the life.” Drake grins as he leans back on the beach chair taking a bite of his perfectly burnt smore. “No fancy balls, no decorum this and decorum that. Just good music, good beer, some s’mores, good friends and Tariq.” He grins. Tariq merely rolls his eyes at Drakes comment. “Too bad we’re going back to Cordonia tomorrow.”

“You’re going back Cordornia tomorrow?” Eves asks. She knew that Liam would have to go back eventually, she just didn’t think it would be as soon as tomorrow. For a moment the groups is silent Drake and Ruby looks back and forth with each other.

“Hey Drake, maybe we should go check up on Maxwell.” She suggested giving him a signalling look. “Uh yeah.” He replies clearing his throat while subtlety nudging Tariq with his elbow. Tariq looks at both of them curiously, Drake narrows his eyes at him while Ruby tilts her head towards Liam and Eves’ direction. He finally gets the message and excuses himself as well.

“So you're going back to Cordonia tomorrow? I mean I knew you would go back eventually, I just didn’t think it would be so soon as tomorrow.”

“Yes, we leave first thing in the morning.” Liam heaves a sigh. “Believe me I wished I could stay a little longer, but I promised my father I’d be back in Cordonia by tomorrow.”

“It’s alright, I understand.” She gives a rueful smile. “Besides it’s not like this goodbye forever, you have my number we’ll stay in touch. Maybe someday when you’re free I might come visit you.”

“I’d like that.” He smiles. “I look forward to getting to know more of you, Eve Sommers.” “I look forward to getting to know you too, Liam Rys.”

​

[simple-skarsgard]

Not As Think As You Drunk I Am

Pairing: Bill x Reader Prompt: Bill sees you drunk for the first time. A/N: This is all silly and fluffiness. I’ll possibly do a separate part to it where Bill’s drunk, haha. But this is it for now.

“I’ll be back for you at one on the dot, got it?”

“Yeah, babe I got it,” you hardly were listening to his words as you were texting your girlfriends. It’d been a long time since you’d gone out to hang with your friends and were so excited. It was her engagement party and you’d told Bill he could stay, but he insisted you go alone since he was exhausted but wanted you to have your fun.

“Don’t drink too much,” he warned.

“I won’t babe,” you gave your boyfriend of three years a kiss and stepped out of the car.

As Bill watched you walk up the steps to the house in that tight black dress and high heels, he could tell that you were here to party and there was no stopping you.

He just wished he’d better prepared himself for what was coming later that night when he found you.

***

2:35 a.m.

“(Y/n)!” Bill shouted over the loud music, desperately trying to grab your attention, but you were so busy dancing on a table top with half your drink spilling out the cup you had it in.

Everyone around was drunk and cheering for you as they watched your hips sway and head swing side to side, you’d always been a good dancer and normally leave Bill infatuated but he was tired and wanted nothing more than to leave this noisy setting. Especially since he must’ve looked like a crazy homeless person in a beanie, striped sweater and plaid pj bottoms with blue fuzzy slippers to match.

“(Y/n)!” he grabbed your hand and managed to get you down without dropping you. 

“I’ve been waiting in the car for over an hour! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” he was trying to be serious, but you just kept laughing hardly paying mind he was in front of you.

“I’ve been dancin’, ya silly,” you laughed about to take another drink, but Bill took the cup from you before it touched your lips. Which you seemed upset about, but he didn’t give you a chance to protest.

“(Y/n), you’re drunk, I’m taking you home.”

He took your hand and began to lead the way out from the crowd to which several people were sad their entertainment was leaving. ‘Aww’s collected around the two of you, but Bill was getting more claustrophobic the longer he lingered.

Reaching the porch, you’d yanked your hand free of his,”I can’t go home with you.”

“What? Why?” Bill frowned and noticed you were unusually shorter than when he’d left you earlier. Glancing down, you were bare foot to his surprise. He sighed knowing you’d hate yourself in the morning for losing your favorite heels.

“’Cause my boyfriend would be angry,” you shook your head, but couldn’t stop the fit of giggles falling into the palm of your hand.

Bill half laughed himself,”Is that so? He sounds like he’s a loser.”

Your giggles ceased and you gaped at him, completely offended. “You’re a loser.”

You spun to walk away and before you could make your escape Bill scooped you up in his arms. “Trust me sweetheart, your boyfriend’s gonna be fine with me taking you home.”

You whined as he had you tossed over his shoulder. “If I get in trouble, I’m blamin’ ya.”

“Fair enough.”

***

“How did ya’  know where I live?” you were so fascinated as he was carrying you bridal style into your home. You gasped, “How did ya get the keys to my house? Only my boyfriend has them.”

He shook his head, his smile showing little restraint. You would not stop talking about your boyfriend the entire car ride home. From simple songs he’d dedicated to you that would come on the radio to just talking about how talented he was and how in love you were with him.

Bill almost wondered if you were really talking about him and not some other side hoe you’d possibly have. But he trusted you and knew you were in love with him as much as he was with you.

He set you on your feet to which you stumbled and he caught you. Your chest pressed to his as you latched onto his arms and lifted your little pink face to stare at him clumsily.

“You’re strong,” straightening yourself,”Almost like my boyfriend.”

“It’s pretty late, maybe you should change into something more comfortable,” he suggested tugging on the strap of your dress until you smacked his hand away.

“Excuse you! I have a boyfriend.” As if you hadn’t made that clear enough already.

“Yeah (Y/n), I know, I’m your boyfriend,” he spun you around and managed to pull the zipper half way undone before you bolted off to your room not giving him the opportunity to go further.

There was so much about seeing you this way that had Bill entertained but he was not going to lie you’d only be twice as stubborn drunk than when you were sober. He loved that about you in certain times and admitted it was cute in a kind of irritating way.

"(Y/n), c'mon," Bill sighed half miserably as he followed you to the bedroom and leaned against the doorframe as he watched you strip out of the dress and face plant into the matress. You scrambled recklessly to get up and go through the drawer of Bills clothing.

He quirked his brow,"That's not your dresser."

"Its my boyfriend's Im allowed to use it," you said matter-of-factly.

He opened his mouth to make a witty remark but started laughing as seeing you slip on one of his hoodies backwards. The hood of the clothing material resting upon your chest and the sleeves being too long for your hands to peek through, the hem stopping just above your knee.

"I think it fits," you smile and run your sleeve-hands down to smooth out the fabric.

"Perfectly," he shakes his head before going over to plop onto the bed and bring you close to him. His arms curled around your waist as you stood between his legs.

This time his touch may have sobered you up some because you didn’t move from his embrace. Your small hands actually cupping his face to let him lean into your touch- his large green eyes looking at you completely mesmerized. 

“I’m so in love with you,” he admitted half mumbling as if he was still somewhere in his mind.

You giggle and run your hands up to slide the beanie he’d been wearing all this time, off his head. Your fingers retracing to dig into his locks before you lean in and kiss his nose..

“Silly Billie, why were you hiding under this hat?” You hold up the beanie to his line of sight and toss it over your shoulder before moving to sit on his lap and curl your arms around his neck.

“Wow you really are drunk,” you felt the vibrations of his laughter in his chest against your cheek,

“I’m not as think as you drunk I am.” 

“Right.”

A/n: Short little one shot to give you guys something while I continue my other writings. Sorry I’ve lagged on updating. I’m just trying to get all these drafts finished so I can update regularly again ( if I ever did). I appreciate comments ! :)  Also go follow my other blog @simple-skarsgod if you wanna send me asks about Bill there as well! :* <3 Thanks for being here. Almost to 2.5K followers!!! <3  Masterlist

[sennaleee]

yusuke and/or mishima omo headcanons?? youre writing is soooo good!!! you have no idea how happy i was to see you in my dash again!! （＾ω＾）

Ahhh, omg, thank you so much!

Okay, Yusuke headcanons:

Yusuke has a tiny bladder and itdrives him CRAZY, because when he’s in the middle of a painting, he doesn’tlike having to stop what he’s doing to go to the bathroom. He knows it’s better(and healthier) to be taking regular breaks anyway, and distraction isn’t greatfor his work, but it’d be so much easier if he could sit for more than an houror two without his hands starting to shake and his legs starting to bounce (ofif he’s standing, swaying back and forth and bending at the knees and crossinghis legs and squeezing his thighs together and all of these things added to theshaking hands do nothing to make his painting any better). More than once he’shad to completely paint over a section of the canvas because his fidgetingruined the strokes of his brush.

(The rest under the cut, because as per usual, this got very long, lol)

Akira absolutely once saw one ofthese “wobbly paintings” before Yusuke had time to fix it and commented on howit was interesting how one half of the painting had an entire different feelingto it than the other half, and Yusuke flushed bright red and made up some sillyexcuse about trying to show “the duality of man” and sure, Akira gave him afunny look, but he dropped the topic and Yusuke painted over the entire canvasthe next day.

Yusuke’s small bladder doesn’t helphim when the Thieves are exploring a palace or Mementos either. More than once,he’s been the reason for Akira deciding they were done for the day, whether dueto too many missed attacks or just by him falling behind as the group wasexploring. Usually if they’re in Mementos, Yusuke can make it to the nearesttrain station bathroom before wetting himself, but when leaving palaces … Hehasn’t yet been seen with wet pants by any of his friends, but the closest callwas when he was when he barely made it around the corner of the nearestbuilding before his bladder gave up entirely.(Unbeknownst to Yusuke though,Akira, Ryuji, and Ann had gone in the same direction and were absolutely closeenough to hear his muted sighs of relief. The three of them promised each otherthey’d never mention it again, and Yusuke was none the wiser.)

Akira is Well Aware of when Yusukeneeds the bathroom. After all, he takes his role as leader very seriously, andthat role includes knowing the health status of the rest of the PhantomThieves. More than once, Akira has tried to prod Yusuke into admitting he hasto go if only so Akira can assure him that it’s fine to let them know, butYusuke’s pride is too strong.(Granted, with how much Yusukesquirms and gasps and stumbles it’s hard to miss when he’s desperate. Luckily,he also gets very distracted in his desperation, so he misses all the worriedlooks of his friends that would surely just cause him more embarrassment.)

And Mishima:

Mishima has a pretty strongbladder, but there are definitely times when he gets desperate. Back whenKamoshida was still coaching the volleyball team, expectations for the teamwere so high that most of them chose not to take breaks, even if they weregiven. Mishima was one of those people, since he wanted so badly to be astarter on the team.Usually, he’d be able to make itall the way through practice without getting desperate, but a few times, he’dbe kept late after class for whatever reason and not be able to stop in thebathroom before practice if he didn’t want to risk being late and those dayswere nearly unbearable. Practice on Kamoshida’s team was bad enough when Mishima wasn’t fightingto keep from losing control over his bladder in the middle of the gym, and the end of practice always saw him bolting straight for the bathroom.

Even after Kamoshida had his changeof heart and left the school, Mishima continued having nightmares about hisexperiences on the team. Thanks to the permanent association of being desperateduring those practices, his nightmares resulted in a lot of bedwetting.Unfortunately, Mishima had one ofthese nightmares while sharing a hotel room with Akira on the class trip. Akirafinding out about this would’ve been bad enough, but Ryuji barged into the roomthat morning while Mishima was still very much in panic mode and hadn’t decidedwhat he was going to do.As Ryuji and Akira went aboutgetting ready for the day (or, Akira did while Ryuji sat on Akira’s bed andtalked to them, having gotten ready in his own room), Mishima just sat in hisown bed, blankets pulled up to his chin, trying to hold back tears from acombination of embarrassment from his accident and residual anger from hisdream.He tried to get his friends toleave without him, but Akira refused to leave him behind. He’d never admit it,but it wasn’t until he really did start crying that Akira and Ryuji managedto get the truth out of him.(Of course, Ryuji and Akira werevery understanding and kind. While Mishima was in the bathroom cleaning himselfup, they worked together to strip the bed and even called room service to collectthe dirty sheets so that there was no evidence of Mishima’s accident by thetime he came back out of the bathroom.)

When Mishima gets desperate, theonly way to tell is that his hands shake. He is able to keep a remarkableamount of control over the rest of his body, even to the point that he doesn’tstiffen up—he can keep a natural stance with a calm expression on his face andhis voice won’t even waver, but his hands will be trembling up a storm, fingerstapping on his thigh or on a nearby table or on his arm if his arms arecrossed. When he does finally get to go though, the relief basically turns himto jelly—his knees will shake to the point of collapse and he’ll moan loudlyand even once he’s done and comfortable again, he’ll feel wobbly and light andout-of-sorts for a good hour afterwards.

[texanredrose]

Celebrity Matchmaker (Part 2)

Meet the next contestant. Until someone clues me in to the ‘official’ name for the ship, I’m going to just start tagging it with the random ones I come up with. I can’t find any fics on FFN and AO3 and I really don’t believe I’m the first one to write this, so someone help me out here.

Part 1 / Part 2 (here) / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8  

Weiss watched as the Faunus took her assigned spot, the faintest twitch to her ears conveying her nervousness while she offered a composed front to the cameras. In those stolen moments spent by the horses, she'd learned exactly what sort of relationship she could expect from pursuing a romance with Blake: quiet, reserved, and with only a fraction of the passion visible to the naked eye, the true depths kept for behind closed doors. In truth, she wouldn't mind that, and she could probably coax the Faunus out of her shell a little bit with time. They’d probably never reach the point of making out on the red carpet of a movie release, but a little public affection wouldn’t hurt, and it was at least feasible. Not because she personally preferred putting her life on display for all Remnant to see but... well, she certainly had become well adjusted to the idea of public displays of affection over the past sixteen weeks, and the prospect of losing that little bit of open emotional connection dismayed her more than she was willing to admit.

If she had one regret from her time spent with the Faunus thus far, it was not telling Blake that the stolen kiss out beneath the stars was actually the first one she'd had that wasn't for the benefit of a camera or an audience- the very first kiss she'd ever exchanged purely for its personal meaning. At one point, she might've been a little embarrassed to admit such, but now she wished she could tell the Faunus how much it meant to her. Her personal thoughts, however, did nothing to slow the progression of the show as the host turned her attention to the first of Weiss’ final choices.

"Good to see you, Blake, though it's a bit bittersweet," Coco said, moving closer to the author so the shot could be framed just right. "This is probably your last time standing here at the manor. Do you have any thoughts you'd like to share?"

"Plenty, but I'll keep it short." Amber eyes flicked her way before looking towards the camera. "Spending the past sixteen weeks here, with Weiss and everyone else, has given me some of the greatest moments of my life. Regardless of the outcome, I'll truly cherish my time here."

The audience gave a round of applause, a few members vocally shouting encouragement; well, it was nice to see others saw the romantic potential between them, too. Idly, she wondered how many fans they had rooting for Blake to be her choice at the end of the night, how many were watching and hoping- she knew they had to exist, based on previous seasons, but everyone at the manor had turned over all their devices that could access the CCT at the onset of filming. So her opinion wouldn’t be ‘swayed’, according to the producers.

"Alright, let's call out our next finalist." Coco stepped back towards the movie star, tugging slightly on the formal jacket she wore. "Please, give a warm welcome to the woman of a thousand talents, the Invincible Woman herself, Pyrrha Nikos of Mistral!"

The introduction pulled her attention away from admiring the Faunus, blue eyes falling on the tall, redheaded woman now striding towards the center of their temporary stage out on the lawn of the manor. She wore a shimmering red dress with matching heels only an inch high, golden bracelets and a necklace matching the traditional Mistrali circlet she wore, emerald earrings swaying in time with her step. The sleeveless designed allowed the hard won muscles of her arms and shoulders to be on display, which she'd always admired for a multitude of reasons, and she had to admire the modern take on Mistral’s traditional formal wear. Pyrrha offered a wave and a charming smile, more than accustomed to greeting crowds that cheered her on, but this was a different woman from the one Weiss had gotten to know over the past sixteen weeks.

Champion Pyrrha, tournament winner Pyrrha, Olympic gold medalist Pyrrha- that was the woman all of Remnant knew and adored.

And she was one of the very, very few people to meet and enjoy the company of dork Pyrrha, unsure Pyrrha, fan Pyrrha- the Pyrrha the rest of the world didn't get to see, who became even more endearing when the camera crews were out of earshot.

The Pyrrha who would rather cheer others on than be cheered on herself.

The downside to starting the show's run at the tail end of summer became apparent by week ten, with late fall turning the wind cold and the sky dreary. Their excursion on horseback marked the last time they had genuinely pleasant weather for all parties; now, it erred too cold for some while remaining bearable for others. Being born in Atlas and raised among the white peaks of the northern mountains, Weiss had an affinity for the cooler weather that baffled some, not even bothering to wear a heavy jacket as the shooting moved into a nearby ice rink. It wasn't cold enough for them to use the nearby pond but she always liked the charm of a well maintained complex like this, where so many people from warmer climates regarded it as either a fool's notion or a whimsical curiosity. She'd spent well over three hours skating, either with one of the contestants or solo while the others got warmed up or cooled off. They weren't doing anything exceptionally difficult, just skating around and talking one-on-one, but she'd always enjoyed the feel of moving along the ice, the brisk wind in her face when she moved quickly or the subtler sting of cold air in her lungs when she slowed down. It just felt... liberating.

"Hello!" With a twist of her hips, Weiss turned her feet and stopped on a dime, looking over to see Pyrrha skating towards her with a warm smile, bundled up with a scarf around her neck and a beanie over her head. Being from Mistral, which had markedly warmer weather, the movie star honestly found it a little surprising that the woman had returned to the ice.

"Hello, Pyrrha. Is everything okay?" In the back of her mind, she dreaded an extension of about half the scenes- honestly, they'd spent more time teaching people to ride horseback than maintain their balance on skates, and she felt both presented equal opportunity for personal injury- purely because she'd entirely lost interest in half the remaining prospects. Trying to maintain the facade through the remaining weeks until she could eliminate them proved troublesome, especially when they were back at the manor, seeing as she could almost never let her guard down. Here, between the one-on-one segments, she could steal a few moments to herself.

"Everything's fine." The redhead smiled, coasting to a stop beside her. "It's just... the crew is taking a break before shooting the final segment and I volunteered to come tell you."

The movie star narrowed her eyes. Truth to tell, out of all the candidates, Pyrrha Nikos was the only one she immediately recognized; an accomplished practitioner in the old Huntress ways and a stunningly gifted athlete, the woman was known all over Remnant as a beloved sports icon. And while every commentator from Mistral to Menagerie would laud her ability to retain a cool head under pressure and never telegraph her moves, Weiss had come to find out that the redhead absolutely couldn't lie to save her life. She possessed far too many tells- like the subtle bunching of her shoulders and the way her gaze darted away- to fool anyone, and while that normally would spark more than a modicum of mistrust in her, Weiss couldn't help but find it a bit... comforting. Despite how obvious Pyrrha was when she told a lie, the behavior never cropped up when they were talking. Immediately before or after, when the redhead needed an excuse to have the movie star's attention or quickly depart? That was when all those little signs appeared.

It was almost like she was nervous when talking to Weiss, and wasn’t that just a funny little thought?

"Oh, is that it?" She smiled a little, pushing off to continue her lap around the rink. "Just a little delay for no reason?"

"Something like that." The taller, much strong woman followed, though those differences weren't nearly as apparent here on the ice as they normally were. Normally, the athlete's gait would be obviously adjusted so she didn't leave Weiss in the dust when the two walked side-by-side, but between them, the movie star had far more experience turning every little bit of effort put into her skates into forward motion and an innate sense of balance. Now, she was the one adjusting her strides so she didn’t leave the other woman behind. "Are you enjoying this week's event?"

"Was it not obvious?" She flashed a small smile at the redhead, clasping her hands behind her back and quickly shifting her weight around, allowing her to transition into a backwards glide. She wasn’t showing off... too much. "This was something of a pastime of mine for a number of years."

"I can tell; you're very good at it," Pyrrha replied, swinging her arms slightly to try and match the smaller woman's speed.

They shared a much different dynamic than Weiss had with any of the other contestants. Knowing about the athlete beforehand, having been a fan for a number of years, all that extra baggage made their first few interactions awkward and a tad forced, something that still made her cringe a little when she reflected on those early segments. It wasn't until one morning in the third week, when someone had turned on the television in the den, that Weiss got over that rockiness, amending the mental image she had of Pyrrha to include the starry eyed redhead sitting on the couch, completely enamored with the newest episode of some silly cartoon show that she absolutely adored.

"Thank you. You've taken to it remarkably well yourself." Without looking, she leaned to the side, guiding herself through the bend in the rink as the redhead followed. "Have you ice skated before?"

"Once, when I was very small." The athlete pushed off exceptionally hard with one skate, momentarily overtaking Weiss. It didn't last long, however; even skating backwards, her years of experience and technique beat brute strength. "Have you ever considered competing?"

"Once, many years ago," she replied, coasting to a stop while looking towards the center of the rink. After seeing that peek of who waited just beneath the athlete's calm exterior, Weiss found it easier to approach the redhead, and they bonded over that unique sensation of constantly playing a role they weren't even sure they wanted anymore, forced into a mold early and thriving despite personal misgivings. "I remember watching the Olympics one year and thinking: I could be a professional figure skater. I could be that graceful, that dedicated, that agile- I wasn't at the time, but I could be." Pyrrha slid to a halt beside her, the both of them watching an imaginary routine play out along the mostly untouched center. Normally, the camera crew would be there, using a platform to keep from slipping while they recorded the necessary video and audio. However, whatever prompted them to take their 'break' had taken the platform with it, though the markers on the ice remained. "It was a flight of fancy."

"I think you would've been good at it." Pyrrha offered, offering a genuine smile that reached all the way to emerald eyes. "Would you show me?"

"Show you?" She looked at the taller woman, confused.

"Come on, Weiss. You can do more than skate backwards." The redhead gestured to the rest of the rink. "Just... have fun."

That was another thing that had taken her by surprise; despite being serious and determined during competitions, Pyrrha was one of the first to advocate for having fun and relaxing whenever the opportunity presented itself.

With only a moment more of hesitation, she pushed off, lazily cutting large arcs towards the center of the rink while mulling over what tricks she could do. While she hadn't attempted any in quite some time, she trusted her sense of balance and muscle memory to carry her through some basics- well, perhaps 'basic' wasn't the proper word, but the movements had become old hat to her years ago. As she came to a stop in the center, an old song came to mind, one she'd known through and through since she was a little girl, from some opera or other. The words were lost to her now but she remembered the melody, and she let the music in her head accompany her motions.

She started simple, arms raised and moving around her as much to keep her balance as to direct unseen string instruments through each measure as she streaked from one side of the rink to the other, switching between skating forwards and backwards effortlessly. She spun a few times and jumped at others, following a routine she designed with every breath, tilting her head back and losing herself to the motions. Were this a professional endeavor, there would be a million critiques- her form, her footwork, being too cautious at times and too risky at others- but she could put all those aside here, with Pyrrha as her audience, because the woman understood perhaps better than most that not every undertaking had to be perfect to be meaningful, that passion could supplement skill, and that some of the most enjoyable things in life weren't for the spectacle of others.

When she finished, coming to an abrupt halt with her arms raised high, awaiting the verdict of an imaginary crowd, Weiss returned to her senses while listening to the singular, echoing applause bouncing off the rink's walls. She couldn't help but smile, noting her racing heart and heavy breathing from the exertion, and turned to see the tall redhead standing by the wall near the rink's entrance.

"I trust that was satisfactory," she said, skating towards the woman.

Pyrrha's smiled widened, reaching out to steady her as she came to a stop. "That depends entirely on if you enjoyed yourself."

"Well, when you put it that way." A breathless chuckle passed her lips, the sweat gathered on her brow calling attention to just how much effort she'd put into the display. In the moment, she hadn't registered it, too busy being lost to the sensation of the cold air all around her, gliding along to a muted melody, but now she could feel the heat in her limbs from being pushed so hard after being mostly idle the past few hours. "I did, immensely."

"Then from where I was standing, it was absolutely marvelous." She paused, emerald eyes scanning Weiss' form before she came to a decision, unzipping her jacket and reaching inside. "I'm glad you got to enjoy yourself while we're here."

"I rather liked skating with you, too, for the record," she replied, opting to omit the few others she'd liked as well. It was difficult, at times, to keep everything separate, but only the crew asked her opinion of the other contestants during her interviews, so she tried to maintain that division and maintain the illusion that only one relationship was naturally developing at a time. She’d played hundreds of roles with utter dedication- why not this one, too?

"I'm sure you did, but I also know you were holding back." Pyrrha pulled out another scarf, this one white with a little blue stripe, and quickly unfolded it, looping it around the movie star's neck. "I'm not sure if I could ever skate like that."

"I'd be willing to teach you. I've never skated like that with a partner." She left out the observation that the athlete could easily learn; she had the athleticism and work ethic for it, and she'd shown a great deal of grace and agility through her many events. Yet, pointing all that out would be the exact sort of response the redhead would receive from countless others, affirming her natural and hard won talents instead of just allowing the woman to show a bit of vulnerability every now and again. They still called her Invincible, but Weiss had learned that hearts were fragile things even in the strongest warriors. And she respected that. "But... what's this for?"

"You should know so much exertion in this sort of cool climate can get you sick, silly." Pyrrha chuckled, looping the scarf around her neck one more time before tying it in a loose knot just beneath her chin. "You've still got one more segment to film."

"That's very considerate of you." She raised a brow. "Have you been holding onto it this whole time hoping for an excuse to let me borrow it?"

"'Let you have it' would be more accurate, but, yes." A small flush crept into the taller woman's cheeks. "I noticed you packed rather light when we left the manor this morning, so I went to the gift shop when we got here."

Weiss blinked. "Let me have it?"

"Of course." Despite her blush, the athlete smiled even wider. "Now, you have a memento of your excellent routine."

For a moment, she couldn't really process it- like a gear had gotten stuck in her head- but then Pyrrha leaned down and brushed a soft kiss against her forehead, and it didn't even matter. How could anyone not fall in love with someone so endearing? She found herself shifting her weight just enough to drift forward, arms wrapping around the other woman's waist as the embrace was returned. Already, she could hear the clatter and clamor of the film crew returning, which meant the redhead would be slipping away to avoid being chided for sharing a moment when they weren't rolling, but they could simply enjoy the presence of the other for a few moments more.

So, she did.