#i mean it's half past midnight i wouldn't be studying now

[osaemu]

ミ★ quick learner 🜸

pairing: student! gojo x reader

summary: to you, chemistry means two things – the worst subject on earth and the best feeling ever. satoru somehow teaches you both.

word count: ~2.0k

notes: suggestive. modern au. mentions of organic chemistry. making out. guest appearance by geto. gojo calls you 'smart girl' at one point. rushed. barely proofread. written while i was half asleep. like always, reblogs are very very appreciated.

a/n: i genuinely don't know how i feel about this one... there are parts i like and parts i don't like (that i was too lazy to fix) and it's kinda just stitched together ... lmk what you think in the comments pretty pls 💞

"question four – what's the difference between molarity and molality?"

"wait, those are two different things?"

since you and satoru had both procrastinated studying for your impending chemistry test, you found yourselves at the library long past midnight. 

it was an accident – when you had decided to study in the library instead of at home, you hadn't anticipated running into anyone you knew. but of course, satoru gojo, the charismatic guy in your english class, was here too. 

you wouldn't say that the two of you were close – acquaintances was a better word. satoru and you knew of each other and were on friendly terms, but until now you had never really taken the time to talk alone.

but hey, just because you didn't know the guy that well didn't mean you were about to turn down a free study partner. especially one as attractive as satoru, although it was admittedly a bit distracting when you were trying to focus on your work.

it wasn't his fault – his long, white lashes were just naturally mesmerizing. and his eyes? breathtaking. even in the dim light of the library, his eyes shone like crystals. you didn't even want to start thinking about his hands, his jawline, and certainly not his body, otherwise you'd be studying something else the whole night – him and his stupidly attractive self.

after a ton of mental self-chiding, you finally manage to get your priorities straight and actually try to study, but what started as a study session gradually turned into a tutoring session when you two realized that one of you needed a lot more help than the other.

and to your dismay, that was you.

"you really thought molarity and molality were the same thing?" satoru scoffs, shamelessly grinning. "y'know, it's really a miracle you have an A in the class. you don't deserve it."

"shut up," you reply, knowing only too well that he was right. the only reason you were able to maintain a good grade in this stupid chemistry class was because the teacher offered a ridiculous amount of extra credit.

but unfortunately, you couldn't float on that boat for much longer. your grade was still slowly slipping, from a 95 to a 93 to what was now a flat 90, and your pride wouldn't let that number fall any further.

satoru laughs and shakes his head, running a hand through his white hair. "c'mon, at least tell me what molarity is."

"uhh, that's moles per liter, right?"

he nods and twirls a pen in between his fingers. "yeah, that's right. now what's molality?"

"how should i know? i don't pay attention in class," you groan, resting your head in your palm.

satoru rolls his eyes, and you take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous they are. they were a color somewhere in between cerulean and ocean blue, further enhanced by his long white lashes.

your admiration quickly fades to indignation when satoru clicks his tongue and starts rattling off some dictionary definition of molality.

"y'know, you'd know more if you weren't on your phone the whole time in class," he says dryly. 

you groan again and lean back in your chair. "it's just so boringgg," you whine, pushing the chemistry worksheet away. "forget it, i'll just guess on the test tomorrow. it usually works."

as you start to sweep your pencils and papers into your bag, satoru grabs your wrist and gets you to meet his ocean-blue eyes. "i'll feel bad if you do badly because i didn't help you enough."

his grip on your wrist is firm but gentle as he leans a millimeter closer. "let me help you, yeah?"

after a beat of silence, you nod and look away. his glacial eyes are piercing in the kind of way that makes you think he can see right through you, and you don't like the feeling of being readable.

"so, am i gonna have to force you to pay attention or will you do it yourself?"

the question catches you off guard. something about the way he asks it makes it very clear that it's a genuine question – either you can try and make yourself focus or he can make you.

you don't quite know what the latter means, but it sounds more fun, so that's what you pick.

and that's how you ended up on his lap, hair wrapped around his fingers as he quizzed you from behind. 

satoru had somehow motivated you to actually try and study by rewarding you with a kiss for every question you got right. had the offer come from anyone else, you would've called them a creep, but satoru was attractive and he knew it. on top of that, he wasn't afraid to use his good looks to get what he wanted, which, in this case, was for you to do good on tomorrow's test.

"avogadro's number?"

"umm, 6.022 x 10 to the 23rd?"

satoru nods and kisses the side of your face, lips trailing over your jawline as his eyes flick back to where he'd scribbled a couple practice questions.

"how many bonds can hydrogen form?"

"one."

this time, his lips touch your neck, and it takes every ounce of self-restraint in your body to hold back the embarrassing sound you can feel at the bottom of your throat.

"last question, how many bonds can carbon form?"

this time, your voice comes out breathier than you expected. "four, right?"

"smart girl." 

and now, for the first time this night, he gives you a quick kiss on the lips. he doesn't linger and he doesn't give you any chance to savor the taste of his lips – one second his mouth is pressed to yours, the next it's moving with words you don't quite absorb.

he rifles through a couple papers and makes a face. "actually, my bad, there's more. not much," he quickly adds when he sees you groan. "just some stuff we didn't cover completely at the beginning."

"you're the worst."

"you'd fail without me."

"maybe, but at least i'd be happier."

despite your playful jabs, the truth that studying with satoru was a lot more bearable than studying by yourself, and it was also a lot easier to stay awake. before you knew it, two hours came and went, and you were practically an expert on everything that could possibly be on the test tomorrow.

and when you're finally able to confidently tell satoru the difference between molarity and molality, that's when he turns you around on his lap to face him and presses his lips to yours again, and this time, he doesn't pull away.

"you're a quick learner, aren't you?" satoru mumbles against your lips. he pulls back for a second to get some air before grabbing your chin and leaning in for more. "yeah, i wonder what else i could teach you. you wanna find out, pretty?"

you're not entirely sure when the studying ended and the making out started, but you certianly do know when the making out ended. 

before you could reply to satoru's rather suggestive question, a message blared from the speakers around the library and interrupted whatever you two had going on.

" it is now closing time. all remaining students, please return to your residential places immediately."

satoru chuckles and nudges you off of his lap before standing up and stretching. "well, it's almost 3, we should get some rest." 

"yeah, that's probably smart."

"of course it is. i'm smart."

"yeah yeah," you mumble after a second when no better retort comes to mind. probably because he was telling the truth – satoru was smart, and he knew it. 

"well, i'll see you tomorrow," he says, sweeping the remainder of his stuff into his backpack before slinging it over his shoulder. "good luck on the test, you'll do great."

you smile and zip up your own backpack before heading towards the exit on the other side of the library, his words buzzing around your head and the memory of his mouth fresh on your lips the whole way home.

"satoru, satoru! guess what i got on my test!"

after you made your way home from the library last night, you slept like a rock. barely a minute after you tiredly stumbled into your oh-so welcoming bed, you were out. 

despite only getting around five or six hours of sleep, you felt pretty damn good the next morning as you sat down to take your chemistry exam. and that good feeling stayed with you the whole test, and when you finished, you were able to confidently set your paper on your teacher's desk.

well, as confidently as anyone could set a piece of paper down anyways.

but now it was lunchtime, and a soft chiming sound from your phone signaled that the test was score and put into your grade. your hands shook slightly as you tapped the notification, but to your delight, a 97 lit up your screen.

and of course, who else could you credit with this besides satoru? so you walked over to where you'd seen him hang around during lunch and called out his name, but you really hadn't anticipated company.

"ah, satoru, who's this?" the dark-haired boy beside satoru asked, voice light with interest. "have you been seeing someone and not telling me about it?"

satoru laughs and shoves the guy's shoulder before turning to you and grinning. "sorry 'bout him. yeah, what was your score?"

he has a lollipop in his mouth, and as he raises an eyebrow at you, you feel yourself grin as you proudly say "a ninety seven! my grade went up to the mid-ninties, too!"

"smart girl. knew you could do it," satoru says, a lopsided smile spreading across his face.

"it's only 'cause of you," you say, a bit sheepishly. "without your help, i wouldn't've been able to do that."

satoru exhales a laugh and reaches out to ruffle your hair. he looks like he's about to say something before the other guy clears his throat.

"sorry to interrupt your... moment, but the lunch line is starting to grow and my patience is starting to shrink. satoru, you coming?" 

"yeah, give me a sec, suguru." 

satoru looks back down at you, sunglasses resting on the tip of his nose and cerulean eyes flashing in the sunlight. "looks like i gotta go."

you nod and wave him off. "yeah, i'll see you around, i guess. thanks so much for the help, really. i owe you one."

satoru grins and pulls the lollipop out of his mouth. still looking at you intently, he runs his tongue over the lollipop one last time before sticking in your mouth.

"you wanna pay me back for tutoring you last night?" satoru asks, smirking at the surprised look on your face. "drop by my place tonight. i'll teach you something else this time."

he leans in and gives you a quick, sugary kiss before turning away and walking in the direction geto left in, leaving you with nothing but a tingling sensation in your lips and a promise to see you soon.

satoru laughs to himself as he walks away, waving one hand back at you without bothering to turn around. when he catches up to suguru, the latter notices the wide smirk satoru dons and asks about it.

"oh, it's nothing. just looking forward to tonight."

you were, too.

a/n: if i wrote smut i'd write a pt 2 to this. maybe one day idk

i'm probably going to get back to writing some more angst after i finish the last of my requests. i miss writing fics that make people cry /hj

if you haven't already, check out some of my other jjk fics in my masterlist (below!)

anyways thank u vvv much for reading, reblogs are always very appreciated 💞

masterlist

[rustingcat]

Midnight

"Kara, can you come over to look at something?" Lena asked with clear worry in her voice. 

They’d spent the past 6 weeks since the decision having their lunch breaks in the lab, checking daily on the pods. So it was unusual for Lena to call her in the middle of the night, Lena's concerned voice woke her up in a second. 

Kara made it to the lab just as the clock struck midnight. She hurried to Lena's side, feeling a shot of anxiety run through her body. In those few milliseconds she already had the worst scenarios run through her mind; did their baby have a terrible mutation? Did they develop a terminal disease? Were they already dead?

Kara swallowed hard as the air around her felt thicker and harder to breathe. "What's wrong?"

"It could be a problem with the machine, I'm just not sure I'm reading it right. Look at this." Lena pointed out to the live ultrasound view on the terminal. They only got it working recently, prioritising it last in favour of more important tests. "It could be the angle, or I don't know, I might be reading it wrong." Lena continued.

Kara studied the screen closely, following Lena's finger as she pointed the anomaly out. The image on the screen was clear, as Kara's eyes grew bigger with the realisation and her smile spread bigger on her lips. "Oh, Rao." Her hand went to cover her mouth in shock as she took a slight step back. Joy and anxiety spread freely in her body.

"So it's-"

"Twins!" Kara exclaimed loudly. "Oh Rao, we're having twins!"

"Dear lord." Lena slammed down on the nearest chair, clearly not as excited as Kara was. "I really hoped I was reading it wrong."

"What? Why? It's great news Lena! Double the excitement!" Kara always wanted a sibling growing up on Krypton, specially she wanted a twin like her mother.

"It's double the trouble. Kara, do you know how hard it is to handle twins? It's two human-Kryptonian hybrids running around causing trouble and refusing to sleep."

"I know, I know, but it's still exciting! They'll have the perfect playmate to play with, someone to always understand them at every stage of their life, someone to confide with when things are tough and the world doesn't make sense."

"I… it's still going to be super difficult."

"Being super is kind of my speciality." Kara said with a smirk.

"Don't play cute with me Supergirl, you know what I mean." Despite the jab she seemed to have calmed down a bit. "I didn't even know that twins were possible to get in the machine to be honest." She added.

"Oh yeah, it is. Twins actually run in my family, I probably should've mentioned that." Kara bit her lip. 

"Yes," Lena muttered. "Speaking of sharing important information, I think this is probably a good time to have that talk." Lena said reluctantly as she got up from the chair and gestured for Kara to follow her to the couch.

Kara did and took the seat next to her. She wasn't sure she was ready to confront it yet, to make it real, but then again the image on the screen was very real, and Kara promised to do everything in the world to keep those two little beans safe and sound.

"What should we start with?" Kara cleared her throat, preparing herself mentally and physically for it.

"God, we have so much to talk about. We're going to raise half Kryptonian children together in a few months, there's a lot to cover. We'll probably not get to everything today, but we can start with what we can for today. Like where are we going to live? Are we even going to live together?" 

"Of course we'll live together!" Kara quickly responded. "If you want to of course, I wouldn't force you to do anything, I just think that it would be better. For the babies and stuff." Kara cleared her throat again.

"Yes, I think that would be for the best." Lena agreed, her cheeks slightly flashed. "Now, the question is which house. Considering your house doesn't even have one bedroom, I would say it's out of the question. My penthouse has only two and a half extra rooms, which in the long run might be a problem if we wanted to include a home office and a room for each child."

"Right, well, getting a new place is expensive. And I know you have money but this is a responsibility we share, so I want to be able to contribute equally. We're gonna need a really big house with lots of rooms, preferably in the downtown area. That's gonna be really expensive. I am making much better money in my new position, so I can start saving up and might be able to afford something in a year or so if I get a good mortgage."  And cut off some of her food supplies and any fun purchases and so on. It wouldn't be ideal, but it was doable.

"Hmm." Lena's eyebrows furrowed as she pondered their options. "Well, the apartment below me is actually empty for security reasons, we could possibly take over it and connect it to my place. The renovation should be much cheaper and give us more time to save up for if and when we want to get something bigger." Lena was obviously a genius. She never doubted that, but she still felt herself filled up with pride and joy every time Lena made it apparent.

"What about the security measures?"

"We can figure out new ones. Plus we can probably open up a convenient roof entrance for when you need to leave quickly." 

"Right. Well, how big are the renovations? Do you know how long they'd be and how much it's going to cost?"

"I'll have to get back to you on both once I settle on a construction company, but I would imagine it would probably take a couple of months." Lena shrugged.

"Okay, so if you need a place to stay, you can stay with me and once it's done we can move in together, as a family." Kara smiled at her excitingly, reaching out to take her hands. Lena's eyes darted immediately to their joined hands, but made no move to take them away. "I assume the place is yours so you don't pay rent."

"Haha no." Lena chuckled.

"Mortgage?" Kara tried.

Lena raised an eyebrow "Kara, need I remind you that I'm an actual billionaire?"

"Yeah, okay. I just feel bad because this is your place, like you paid for all of this."

"And you're gonna help me pay for the renovation to make it ours. Plus, don't worry, we'll have plenty of expenses. We still have a whole lot of shoppings to get done."

Kara's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Not before the three month mark. We want to make sure before we buy." She had a point.

"Yes I know," Kara nodded in disappointment. "I should probably talk to Kal at some point, maybe he and Lois can give us some advice on raising half Kryptonian twins." She suggested.

"Good idea. Although, it's best to talk to them after we tell everyone else, meaning after three months."

"Why does it feel like forever?" 

"Eager to become a parent?" Lena teased.

"A bit." Kara answered honestly.

Lena only squeezed her hands in response. They sat together in silence for a moment before Kara made a realisation.

"Oh!" She got up from her seat, startling Lena as she rose.

"What? Kara is everything alright?" Lena asked, concerned.

"I first thought it was some new parts in the machine, but it isn't." Kara felt her eyes getting blurry with tears. "I can hear them." She turned her head to Lena once she reached the pod. "I can hear their little hearts."

Lena walked up to her and interlocked her fingers with Kara once more. "They'll be here soon." Lena promised. Kara put her forehead to Lena's, closing her eyes and focused on the tiny beating sound. "I can't wait to meet them."

Read in order in AO3

[innytoes]

Greetings if you are still taking sleepy prompts, can you do 2 and possibly 10 for Boggie? I will love you forever.

Being a year older than the rest of the band had its perks. For one, he was the first one with a license and a car, so he could hold that over their heads. Oh, you want to go to McDonalds after the gig? Too bad, I'm driving, Burger King is better anyway. (He didn't really care, he just liked to hear Luke splutter.)

For another, it means he was in college already while the rest were still at home. And college meant his own dorm room. Which despite being on the second floor rather frequently had people climbing through his window. Except Alex, who was normal and either slipped into the building and politely knocked, or threw pebbles at his window until he came downstairs and opened the door for him. Yes, even when his window was already open.

Really, he wasn't sure what he preferred.

Today, it was Reggie who had climbed through his window. Unsurprising, since Luke was back at his parents and trying not to upset his mom by disappearing again, and Alex had his new mysterious boyfriend to flee too when his parents were too much.

Reggie had a standing invitation to come to Bobby's room, especially when he needed somewhere quiet to study. Which, considering he lived in a building full of idiot college students was saying something about how loud Reggie's parents were.

From the dark smudges under his eyes, Bobby could tell this was a bad one. Reggie looked like he hadn't slept properly all week.

Go he gave his boyfriend a hug, and a granola bar, and a kiss to the forehead, and left him alone to grab something to eat at the mess and sneak some shirt back to his room for Reggie. He forced Reggie to eat something, and then let him back at it, settling down on his bed to do some reading for his own courses.

Except at midnight, Reggie was still studying. When Bobby gently suggested he take a break, he whined.

"I'm so behind," he said. "I need to catch up, please, just one more hour."

"Okay," Bobby said. "One more."

Except at one, Reggie tried the same thing.

"Babe, no, you need sleep." He knew from his own late night study sessions that anything past midnight probably wasn't going to stick anyway.

"Thirty more minutes," Reggie begged. "Please? I'll be really quiet, you can just go to bed and I'll leave when I'm done."

"Reg, you're exhausted," Bobby tried to reason with him. "Studying now isn't going to help."

"Please?" Reggie begged. "I just... I don't want to go home."

There it was. Bobby had suspected that Reggie wasn't suddenly just really diligent about the French Civil War.

"You don't have to go home," he promised. "But you do have to close the books and come take a nap, okay?" He was pretty sure as soon as he got Reggie horizontal, he'd be out like a light.

"That's allowed?" Reggie asked, hopeful.

"Of course it's allowed," Bobby said, turning the desk chair so Reggie was facing him. Reggie immediately planted his face against Bobby's stomach. "Why wouldn't it be? Alex crashed here all the time before his mysterious boyfriend who takes him on weird nighttime adventures."

"His name is Willie and they go scream in museums," Reggie mumbled. He sounded like he was already half asleep. "I thought I was just allowed to come over to study and stuff."

"Yeah, and stuff," Bobby said. "You know you're always welcome, Reg. Just because I moved from Lola's place into a dorm room doesn't mean you're not allowed over." It wasn't like he was that serious about his studies anyway. He was mostly just killing time until the guys graduated and Sunset Curve made it big. Whichever came first. Besides, it made his parents happy, and gave him access to a rather sizable allowance, which he'd been quietly saving up so they could all rent an apartment together next year.

"Oh," Reggie said, like that was a revelation. "Wait, you mean we could have been making out this whole time and I just kept coming over to study?"

God, his boyfriend was such a himbo sometimes. "Yes," he said, leaning down to press a kiss to his pouting lips. "But right now, you are going to lie down on my bed, and sleep a solid... at least six hours. I'll drive you to school tomorrow, okay?"

Reggie considered it. "Okay," he said. "And then tomorrow, I can come back and we can make out?"

Bobby laughed. "Yes. Now come on, let's get you to bed."

[silviartemis]

Who has an exam in less than 36 hours and is spending her time writing some "Race and Albert adopt a cat" fic?

Sure hope it's not me...

[thewidowsghost]

Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 1

So, I started this on my Wattpad, and if figured I'd just put it on here! Just tell me if you want me to add you to the taglist!

Percy's POV

My name is Percy Jackson.

I am twelve years old. I'm a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York, and my sister, (Y/n), taking online schooling at home.

Am I a troubled kid?

Yeah. You could say that.

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan—twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

I know—it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.

But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course, I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that...Well, you get the idea.

On this trip, I was determined to be good.

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwiches that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumble.

Grover tries to calm me down. "I'm okay. I like peanut butter -" He dodges another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." I start to get up, but Grover pulls me back to my seat.

"You're already on probation," he reminds me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."

Mr. Brunner leads the museum tour.

He rides up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

It blows my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

He gathers us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and starts telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."

Mr. Brunner keeps talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickers something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turn around and say, "Will you shut up?"

It comes out louder than I meant it to.

The whole group laughs. Mr. Brunner stops his story. "Mr. Jackson," he says, "did you have a comment?"

My face is totally red, I think. I answer, "No, sir."

Mr. Brunner points to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I look at the carving, and feel a flush of relief, because I actually recognize it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner says, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."

"Well..." I rack my brain to remember. (Y/n) would have known the answer. She was nuts for this kind of stuff. "Kronos was the king god, and —"

"God?" Mr. Brunner asks.

"Titan," I correct myself. "And...he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"

"Eeew!" says one of the girls behind me.

"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continue, "and the gods won."

Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbles to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner says, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover mutters.

"Shut up," Nancy hisses, her face even brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I think about his question, and shrug. "I don't know, sir."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looks disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifts off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."

I knew that was coming.

I tell Grover to keep going; then I turn toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go—intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. "You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner tells me.

"About the Titans?"

'"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

"What you learn from me," he says, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, swordpoint against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C– in my life. No—he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.

I mumble something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner takes one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.

He tells me to go outside and eat my lunch.

The class gathers on the front steps of the museum, where we can watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm is brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figure maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.

Nobody else seems to notice, though. Some of the guys are pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit is trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds isn't seeing a thing.

Grover and I sit on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius, not like (Y/n). She seems to know everything."

Grover doesn't say anything for a while. Then, when I think he is going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he asks, "Can I have your apple?"

I don't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

I watch the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and think about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sit. I hadn't seen her or my sister since Christmas. I want so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. Mom and (Y/n) would hug me and be glad to see me, but Mom would be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I couldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.

I am about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appears in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumps her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grins at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles are orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

I try to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I am so mad my mind went blank. A wave roars in my ears.

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy is sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"

"—the water—"

"—like it grabbed her—"

I don't know what they were talking about. All I know is that I was in trouble again.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds is sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turns on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey—"

"I know," I grumble. "A month erasing workbooks." That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds says.

"Wait!" Grover yelps. "It was me. I pushed her."

I stare at him, stunned. I can't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.

She glares at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she says.

"But—"

"You—will—stay—here."

Grover looks at me desperately.

"It's okay, man," I tell him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barks at me. "Now."

Nancy Bobofit smirks. I give her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turn to face Mrs. Dodds, but she isn't there. She is standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.

How'd she get there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.

I wasn't so sure. I go after Mrs. Dodds.

Halfway up the steps, I glance back at Grover. He is looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner is absorbed in his novel.

I look back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She is now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.

Okay, I think. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.

But apparently, that wasn't the plan.

I follow her deeper into the museum. When I finally catch up to her, we are back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for us, the gallery is empty.

Mrs. Dodds stands with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She is making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she says.

I do the safe thing. I reply, "Yes, ma'am."

She tugs on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"

The look in her eyes is beyond mad. It was evil.

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. I say, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."

Thunder shakes the building.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

I didn't know what she's talking about.

All I can think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

"Well?" she demands.

"Ma'am, I don't..."

"Your time is up," she hisses.

Then the weirdest thing happens. Her eyes begin to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretch, turning into talons. Her jacket melts into large, leathery wings. She isn't human. She is a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

Then things got even stranger.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheels his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

"What ho, Percy!" he shouts and tosses the pen through the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunges at me.

With a yelp, I dodge and feel talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatch the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hits my hand, it isn;t a pen anymore. It is a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always uses on tournament day.

Mrs. Dodds spins towards me with a murderous look in her eyes.

My knees are jelly. My hands are shaking so bad I almost drop the sword.

She snarl, "Die, honey!" And she flies straight at me.

Absolute terror runs through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swing the sword.

The metal blade hits her shoulder and passes clean through her body as if she was made of water. Hisss!

Mrs. Dodds was a sandcastle in a power fan. She explodes into yellow powder, vaporizing on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes are still watching me.

I'm alone.

There is a ballpoint pen in my hand.

Mr. Brunner isn't there. Nobody is there but me.

My hands are still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Had I imagined the whole thing?

I walk back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover is sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit is still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she sees me, she says, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

I answer, "Who?"

"Our teacher. Duh!"

I blink. We don't have a teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I ask Nancy what she is talking about.

She just rolls her eyes and turns away.

I ask Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.

"Who?" he asks, but he pauses first and he wouldn't look at me, so I figure he was messing with me.

"Not funny, man," I tell him. "This is serious."

Thunder booms overhead.

I see Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book as if he'd never moved.

I go over to him.

He looks up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."

I had Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.

"Sir," I ask, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"

He stares blankly at me, "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowns and sits forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"

Word Count: 3159 words

So yeah, this is the first chapter of this book.

Not much (Y/n) yet, but we'll get there.

Love y'all!              Kaitlynn ❤️😍

[muffindaddystyles]

𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐒.

Tw// eating disorder.

I was thinking of how I skip meals and stuff while studying, but still people could comment on how a certain way my body has gotten. So,,,yeah. Just wanted to write a blurb on that.

Eating meals thrice a day's fun thing, kiddos.

Harry's busy with album, well you with uni to the point you've no spare time to take care of yourself. You just wakes up giving a haste kiss to him, rush to university because you were studying all last night in the guest room not to disturb him knowing how half of limps he comes back from the studio. When you're back at home he's at the studio again and you straight away flops into your sheets without eating anything, then you again get up from your nap have a bit of snack and the routine goes on for irritatingly exhausting loop.

Else when Harry's not too busy in work he checks upon you while your nose's in books, he brings you snacks. green apples. your favourite chocolates. cack-buns. whatever he could steal from refrigerator. He clings to you until you don't end up taking a break pouting adorably, "what'd ye' do without me hu? starve yourself." So you always end up giving in.

When he becomes your tutor for the mean time and it all has one ending; that's him quenching out many orgasms from you while you thrash in his lap, him fuckin' you raw because he has missed your warmth too passion, him teasing you not letting you focus on what you're studying. That's the worst one from all of the above because when he does that he doesn't stop and it drives you insane.

When sometimes you're too stubborn he grabs you by ankles making you squeal in amusement and throws you on his shoulder to drag you to the nearest diner and swear you look like panda wearing his tattered t-shirt and pyjamas.

He doesn't let you sit in another room and study alone, whining that he couldn't sleep without you in his arms and he used to sleep on you listening to the buzz of whatever you were reading, cheek smashed against your tummy arms coiled around your waist.

That indeed caused you weakened eyesight from focusing under the night lamp. But, you loved it how he always tried to make you stick to him now he couldn't you miss him and his care.

Dinners long forgotten. In breakfast you eat cereal in the same bowl Harry did moments ago before leaving you have time for nothing, and in lunch you fill your system with cold coffees.

Now. You were free after your exams hanging out with your classfellows for few hours before going home and seep into your sheets for two damn days.

"Looks like you gained weight, during this semester." One of your classmates told you with a weird pull of her brows and you chuckled nervously not knowing what to say, the plastic cup of cold mocha in your hand getting sweaty.

"Pfft. She looks fine. This one was hectic for all of us. Y/n you look great." There's a huge lie under it because you look sodden and emotionally traumatised, you know it people don't need to butter things up for you.

You excused yourself from the hangout. You looked at delcious mocha with watering mouth and yearning gaze but you gave it to the homeless little girl in your way considered how many carbs it contains.

You rambled to yourself. Muttering under your breath what you'd have said to her. 'Maybe beacuse I'm happy and when you're happy your heart makes more blood. Maybe I'm hanging out with my friends more often eating to my fullest and maybe I enjoy having late night snacks with my boyfriend.'

But you were doing none of that so you couldn't have said that to her.

When you stepped inside your home it was smelling appetizing, again watering your mouth and making your stomach growl loudly.

When you padded inside Harry was making pasta for you in the kitchen singing a melody to himself most probably of his album. He's glowing from hanging out with his friends, writing songs, and singing them whole day at studio but you're not you feel miserable.

At some point you had thought of dropping out and end this shit for real but looking forward to Harry. How he faces every hardship and never gives up, you did not too. You're always gonna idolise him.

Harry notices your presence and he wide spreads his arms for you to just cuddle into him. Wooden spatula in his hand and he grins brightly at you, "c'mere puppy. made pasta fo' m'girl." You didn't felt like eating it. Not because you're not hungry. You're fucking starving but your stomach has gotten accustomed to be empty all the time that it's feeling like a mission to fill it.

"M'not hungry. Had lunch already." You muttered lying to him walking past him to your shared room and his brows rocketed to his forehead surprised that you didn't fled in his arms as you usually do, not even a peck on his cheek, not an appreciation that you'd eat it after your nap.

You're a bit cranky, stressed and all over the place. You don't want to take it all out in him because you know you'd say mean things just as "I missed you so much, but all you cared was to enjoy yourself with your friends and make songs with them." . "Duh. Only if I could be a singer who doesn't needs to do anything." Or "you didn't once checked upon me." Because you know that would be your nonsensical words but it would really hurt him.

Not changing into comfortable clothes you dived into your sheets sleeping on your stomach. Harry felt alone and sad even though you guys aren't being that close for months despite of some quick sex in shower and when you or him badly needs a release.

He didn't even touched his home made pasta putting it in container and storing it into fridge. His ears perked up at your moans, only realizing that those were moans of pain. You were groaning in your sleep from the headache and cold sweat breaking all over you, you're feeling nauseous even in your sleep too.

Harry was by your side resting his hand atop your shoulder and he found you bathed into sweat, pulling his bottom lip he frowned running his thumb in circles at the nape of your neck.

It's so unlike of you. To not change and brush your hair before going to bed. He turned you around, "shh. sh. baby 's me Harry." He whispered when you whimpered snuggling your face to his folded thigh and tucking your hands in between your own thighs like a sandwich.

He stroked your blazed flushed cheeks with the back of his index finger. Taking in the slightest of features that looks worn out, he really missed you and he kinda feels bad that he got so engulfed into everything that he forgot to check if you're okay.

He pecked your lips removing duvet from over you changing your clothes only leaving you in your panties and your favourite rolling stone shirt of his's. He massaged your soles and ankles a timid smile creeping at his lips at the memory how he used to give you head and back massages. He missed being by your side too.

It was past midnight and you were still into deep sleep. Concerned Harry gently tapped your shoulders kissing your forehead, "bubba. wake up darlin' you haven't eaten anything." Only if Harry knew how it has become a routine.

You woke up with little yawns and cute rubs of eyes making your Harry giggle and shower you in his loud wet kisses. The storm had yet to come. When your eyes fell over your clothes anxiety ignited in all of your body and you pushed him not even glimpesing at the awfully hurt eyes he got after that.

You quickly covered yourself with duvet with wide eyes stuttering, "why did you changed my clothes." You don't want him to look at you when you're so out of shape and not feeling physically appreciative in yourself even though you're exactly how you were before.

This's what happens when someone puts the seed of insecurities inside you.

Harry did what he has been doing the whole day, frowned in confusion he doesn't want to think you're done with him and doesn't loves him anymore but it's flickering through his mind.

"M'sorry, jus' thought that I always used to change you. You wouldn't mind." At this you strewned your lip inside not to cry at your situation how do you tell him what you're feeling?

He fumbled with his rings. Shaking your head you stood up but a train of dizziness making you knock your knees with the beds foot and Harry was on his feet wrapping you in his arms.

"You need to eat. m'not takin' any excuses. When was the last time you ate?" He was furious at you. He doesn't care if you push him this time too. He loves you too much to let you ruin your health like this. When even you forgot that what was the last time you ate a proper meal He shook his head in exasperation.

The door to ensuite bathroom was open wide as he sat a tray of pasta and two plates infront of you, his head craned in your direction as you examined yourself in the bright lit mirror.

Pinching your slightest pouch then turning a little to have a proper look of yourself. Harry didn't said anything he just observed you joining the dots clearing his throat, "come to me, pet." He made space for you and you tried to give him a smile that came out wavering.

Eating in silence. After, so much time it feels like eating a proper meal's a blessing but you couldn't eat much giving it to Harry and he took it from you kissing your head.

"Sorry." You mumbled and he stood taking the trays with himself raising his finger in air gesturing you to wait.

He waddled back not thinking twice and taking you in his arms, burying his nose into your hair as you did into his sweater cuddling closer to him.

"I know you're not feelin' good. Bad days happens with all of us." His lips lingered over your hair and he's missing the usual smell of your shampoo. He smoothed down your arms and it's the proper cuddle you're sharing after so long.

"Whateva' goin' with you tell me whenev' you're ready." His finger tucks under your chin thumb circling over your softest skin.

You just wanted to let it all out but decided against it thinking you're gonna get back to normal and everything would be okay.

Sensing your hesitation just from the beats of your heart he reminded you looking you straight in your eyes, "remember. I'm gonna love you forever and always. Whateva' it takes for m'body to."

You nodded giving a chaste kiss to his lips and both of your eyes fluttered at that warmth, his fingers dipping into your hips.

Next day you were way better. Hanging out with Harry's bestest friend at café near your home, Harry has his arm slinged around your shoulder keeping you close to him as he talked joyously.

"What would you like to eat bunny? Brownie?" He asked you knowing how much you love brownies. If anyone wants to have their way to your heart it's always brownies and chocolates.

When you first started dating Harry, he knew how much you loved chocolates so he would bring a box of different chocolates with one tulip everytime he used to visit you. He used to fed those delights to you (with a kiss in return of each) so much that you had a sugar crash once which isn't your proudest moment.

You shook your head at which his friend quips, "ooooh dieting miss?" Then that same damn insecurity came back rushing to you and when you looked down then to her asking her innocently Harry's heart broke into millions pieces, realization dawning on him with a jab.

"Do you think I need to diet?" She shakes her head vigorously trying to make you understand that her intention wasn't to make you feel bad, "hey no. you're perfectly healthy I was just teasing you." You nod at her with a little "oh." and after that Harry felt you zoning out away from him emotionally.

At home on your bed while Harry rummaged through drawers for your favourite sushi socks you pondered over everything quietly, it's frustrating him. Your silence's killing him. He wants his bubbly bunny back who used to hop in excitement, who used to crack boomer jokes with him, who used to eat brownies and chocolates like it's her last sweetness.

"Bunny..." He gave a squeeze to your ankle after slipping your feet into warm socks, "talk t' me yeah? 'S killin' me." You sapped your teeth into your lower lip.

"It's been hard Harry. Very very hard." He cradles your jaw and you continued, "my head used to ache so bad while studying, eyes used to sting and I stopped eating anything...." Tears bearing at your eyeline and Harry scoots closer to you. He feels awful.

".....n' and you weren't there. I missed you so much you know...wanted to sleep in your arms after a long day...." You were full on sobbing now and Harry's own lip wobbled he can't see you crying especially when he's the reason.

"M' s' sorry baby. Such a dickhead I'm." He wipes your tears with his hands lost inside you hair and thumbs stroking the apples of your cheeks.

"Then again people had to throw it on my face that I've gained extra fats—" Harry grunted at this nose flaring, "who the fuck told ya—oh my god." His eyes enlarging and he felt so fucking remorseful that this's what you were insecure of from days.

"Listen to me y/n. You're exactly like how you were baby. Except more beautiful. Don't let any man, any woman to tell you that you're not. Don't let 'em hurt ye' bunny." He pulled you in his lap kissing your cheeks as you cried into his shoulder and he let you because you need it.

"Never hide your body from me bubba. You know that I worship it with my whole heart." He murmured and now you're full on crying with breath hitching, hiccuping like an innocent baby.

"M' an' awful person." He protested knuckles feathering your jaw, "no you're not."

"Yes I'm. You love me so much and–and I wanted to say mean hurtful things to you." You huffed at him when he smiled musingly, "because I was the one never giving my all lovin" to you how you deserve in the very first place. No' made sure you were eatin' properly or not, you know how worried I got findin' you practically drenched with sweat in bed that day? It was because of your low blood pressure."

He squeezes you in his arms, sponging light kisses at the side of your neck while you closed your eyes and he slipped his hand under your shirt tickling you hooking his thumb in your belly button.

"I'll love your soul in every body." His affectionate words soon turned into cheeky ones, "anddd yeh' know how much I like pregnant women."

You giggled at him smacking his shoulder but he captured it interlacing your fingers kissing the gap of your each knuckle.

That night. You guys made dinner together eating it with a big smile and gratefully for Harry you licked your plate clean.

"Sweets?" You asked him with a lowered gaze and a tilt of your head. He tapped his lips teasingly straddling you over his thigh and a moan fused into warm air when your lips slotted into perfect missing puzzles.

He admired. Sipped. Adored every inch of you tasting your mouth while his fingers kissed the dip of your waist and thighs.

"Hmm. Close your eyes open your mouth." He pecked your lips placing his thumb over your tongue and you obeyed closing your eyes shut.

Soon his thumb was replaced with dark sweetness and you instantly got on what he has done, immediately opening your eyes chewing the chocolate. Tangerine bursting on your tongue as the chocolate cracked open.

"Such a cute little mouth chews just like a bunny." He moans against your lips swiping at the hint of chocolate on your lower lip and you mumbled an appreciative 'thank you.' to him which was soon captured by his own mouth in the form of passionate kiss.

.

P.s: I freakin' love chocolates and this whole situation I wrote it on me because I know I've alot of people struggling through the same difficulty the thing's we've to be our own Harry.

[halfway-happyyy]

The one where Alexander takes his girl home to Sweden

First longer piece in a hot minute! inspired by this lovely ask. Thanks for looking, and as always feedback is always appreciated. 

“They'd like to meet you, kid.”

Silence followed his statement and her bleary gaze travelled upwards to a patch of dust particles dancing in a strip of light from the parted bedroom curtain. She knew immediately who he was referring to, but that didn't mean she had to make it easy for him.

“You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that, Alex. The list of people who'd like to meet me is long and painfully distinguished.”

Alexander nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, the subtle scruff of his beard ticklish against her delicate skin. His exasperated groan was almost inaudible. “My family, smart-ass.”

There it was.

Grace had known that this conversation was coming soon; it loomed above her head like a raincloud. She could sense it in the way he spoke of Sweden recently, could sense it in the way his ocean-blue eyes lit up at the mere mention of his brothers and sister. God, even just the idea of it was almost too intimidating to bear. Where she had come from a small, slightly broken family, he had been born into an inexplicably close and loving one. Though each of them led vastly different lives in vastly different areas of the world, they gathered amongst themselves in the beautiful country of Sweden multiple times throughout the year, and it would always be home base for him. She found the notion of it wonderful and jealousy-inducing in equal measure. She traced a feather-light fingertip down the bridge of his nose and marveled at the subtle flecks of gold amongst a sea of blue. Of all the things that she adored about his face, the deep creases next to his eyes were her favourite. They spoke novels of how much time the man spent smiling and the thought of it caused her heart to swell. “Your family doesn’t want to meet me, Alex. You want your family to meet me.” She murmured, finally.

Alexander clicked his tongue in mild protest. “That’s not true.” He took her hand in his and brought it to his mouth, brushing each of her knuckles with his lips. The warmth and sheer intimacy of the touch caused her to shiver violently and he grinned against her hand. Brushing a stray piece of hair from her face, he gazed at her for a while and finally whispered, “Come to Sweden with me, Grace.”

And partly because his soft voice bore the weight of recent sleep- but mostly because she always did have a particularly difficult time saying no to him, she squeezed his hand thrice and nodded her head. “Okay Alex.”

~

“We’re here, kid.” Alexander’s lips at her temple helped to rouse her from her gravol-induced coma and she hugged her sweater tighter to her frame as the temperature of the plane became apparent to her. He stood from his seat and stretched his arms high above his head to limber up after the lengthy flight. Opening the overhead compartment with ease, he brought down her carry-on and a single, worn duffle bag- the only piece of luggage he ever traveled with, and smiled expectantly at her. “You all set?”

Grace stifled a yawn and nodded her head, a slow, sleepy smile in place on her features. “Lead the way, my love.” She had expected a certain amount of fanfare upon exit of the terminal- she could not recount a time in recent memory where there had not been a fury of cameras and photographers upon arrival. Strangely, and most welcomely, Arlanda airport was completely void of both.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Alexander grinned.

She struggled to keep up with his hasty stride though the terminals- something she lovingly referred to as his airport walk. “It’s lovely.” She mused.

It was late into the evening when they finished grabbing her bag from the carousel and stepped out into the balmy Stockholm evening. Alexander’s brother Sam was already waiting for them a few cars ahead in the cue, leant against the side of a dark sedan, one long, denim-clad leg crossed over the other. “Hej hej!” He called out to them and stood from the car to wrap his arms around Alexander. They parted a few moments later, laughing at something indistinguishable. “Good to see you again, brother.” Sam beamed. “And you must be Grace…” He turned to her; a long pair of arms beckoned her forward for an embrace which she happily obliged. She was amused to discover that like Alexander, she needed to reach on tiptoes to hug the younger Skarsgård properly. She had known them to be a tall breed of men, but this? Sam broke away to gesture to the vehicle with a toothy grin. “Let’s get you two home, hm? Mum can’t wait another hour longer.”

Though the inky evening sky cloaked all of Stockholm in darkness, Grace was in utter awe of the city in which she was currently being given a rapid grand-tour of. Alexander pointed out important buildings on his left, and Sam managed to cover everything on the right side of the vehicle. She remained dazzled by the bright, twinkling lights, and was amazed at how breathtaking the city was at night. “Just wait until tomorrow, Grace.” Sam glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror and grinned.

“We’re here, my love.” Alexander uttered for the second time that evening, as the vehicle rolled to a halt in front of their mother’s house in the south of the city. A quick glance at the clock above the car radio told her that it was just past twelve thirty in the morning, and she was surprised to see My wide awake and waiting on the porch for them. Grace swallowed hard and found that her mouth was suddenly void of all moisture, nerves churning in her belly like clothing in a washing machine. Sensing the sudden shift in her mood, Alexander exited the car and came around to her side, opening the door and crouching down to her level. “Look at me kid.” He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips, kissing her slightly clammy palm. “No need to be nervous, hm? They’re going to love you.”

Taking a deep breath, Grace smiled down at him and ventured around to the boot of the car where Sam was in the process of hauling out their luggage. “Can I help you with those?” She offered.

Sam shook his head, that same boyish grin from an hour ago still split his face in two. “Nah, there’s not much here,” He gestured over to his mother with a jut of his chin. “Besides, she’s been waiting weeks to see you both. Go on.”

Alexander waited for her at the bottom of the stone path, his hand outstretched and poised to take hers. They traversed the path together, the warmth from his hand radiated into hers and helped to calm her frayed nerves immensely. “Hi mum.” Alexander grinned when they reached her.

My’s beautiful face broke into a wide grin and Grace knew right then that Sam had come by that wonderful smile honestly. Their mother, confusingly short in comparison to her two sons, reached up on tiptoes to cradle Alexander’s face in her hands and kiss both of his cheeks passionately. He reveled in her touch, but when his time was up, he stood back to make room for Grace. My embraced her exactly as she had her son, and though she could most certainly attribute it to impending jet lag, a lump of raw emotion rose in the hollow of her throat as My kissed her cheeks. She pulled back and gave Grace's arms a warm squeeze. “So happy to finally have you both here. Please, come in.”

Once situated inside the cozy, utterly lived-in home, Grace immediately felt the tension dissipate from her limbs. On her way back to the living room after putting away her belongings in the spare room, she found herself stopped in awe in the hallway. Pictures of the family adorned almost every square inch of wall space, and inexplicably, Grace's throat constricted and she felt the familiar prickle of tears behind her eyes again.

“There you are,” Alexander smiled when he spotted her. Wordlessly, he settled beside her and reached for her hand, bringing the back of it to his lips. “You okay, kid?”

She turned to him, saltwater glittering threateningly in the depths of her eyes, and smiled. “There's so much love here, Alex.” She trailed a finger over the edge of a wooden picture frame. The photograph inside depicted six beautiful, smiling children, each of varying ages. “It's so palpable. It's in the very air we breathe right now… like magic.” Alexander hummed contentedly and bent forward to kiss the top of her head. “I want a home like this someday…” She mused.

Alexander squeezed her hand thrice and placed another kiss to the top of her head. “Someday you will.”

After a midnight snack of lingonberry jam and toast and a glass of wine to wind down from the day’s events, Grace drifted off to sleep on Alexander’s shoulder at the kitchen table. She had fought it for as long as her body would let her, but the calming lilt of muted conversation in their native tongue caused her eyelids to grow increasingly heavy until they eventually gave in to slumber altogether. Alexander must have carried her to their room, because when her eyes opened six and a half hours later, she was tucked up in the guestroom bed. Her desire to move had been nonexistent until the scent of coffee and fresh pastries found her, and her mouth watered hungrily for them. Stretching her arms above her head, she stifled a yawn and shivered as her bare feet touched the cool, hardwood flooring. She took a few moments to study the room in which she would be spending the next two weeks. The walls were washed in a pale, robins-egg blue and with an unexpected pang, it reminded her of her grandparent’s guest room in their old house back home. She gazed at the folk artwork adorning the walls, and at the wicker furniture dispersed around the room and she decided then that this could be her home for rest of her life, and she wouldn't complain one bit about it. Changing into a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, she threw a knit cardigan over her exposed arms and padded out into the hallway outside her door. She hadn't meant for it to happen, but she stopped again in front of the dozens of picture frames and gazed at them for a long while.

Grace peered at a black and white photograph of Alexander as a child, grinning wide and standing tall above a younger looking My. “And just imagine that he ended being arguably the most attractive one out of all of us.” A beautiful voice, utterly melodic as it flowed from her mouth- bore a teasing lilt and caused Grace to startle on the spot.

She glanced over at the woman next to her, a spitting image of her mother, she had seen photos of her face several times in the past, but nothing could prepare her for the natural beauty that Alexander’s sister possessed. It was ethereal- like sunshine through a glass window and Grace smiled at her. “No, I doubt anyone would argue with me if I said that you won that one hands down.”

Eija tilted her head back as laughter bubbled up from the base of her throat like a pretty song. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Grace.” They chatted contentedly for the next few minutes before the allure of coffee and food became too strong, and Eija escorted Grace to the kitchen. Alexander was seated at the end of the wooden table, arms crossed over his t shirt clad chest, and in deep conversation with Sam. “How do you take your coffee, Grace?” Eija asked and reached on tiptoes for a mug at the back of the open cupboard.

“Uh, black please,” Grace could not make out what was being said, but the tone of her boyfriend’s voice had changed drastically over the course of only a few seconds and she frowned. “Are they arguing?” She whispered.

Eija dropped back onto the balls of her feet and shook her head no, her ruby-red lips quirked up into a half-smirk. “No. But they are talking politics.” She set to work brewing what to Grace, smelled like the world’s best cup of coffee and winked at her, her glassy blue eyes glittering mischievously in the bright, sunlit kitchen. “Just wait until dinner tonight… we are a large, highly opinionated family and there is plenty more where that came from.”

Grace's day had been so packed with activity that she had hardly been allotted moment to agonize over the looming family dinner. She knew deep down that there was nothing to be nervous about- that she intended on spending the rest of her life with Alexander, and that if she was lucky enough, his family would become her family too. But there was a lot of them, and the pressure to make a good impression weighed heavily on her. “You okay over there?” Alexander sidled up behind her in front of the full-length guest room mirror, resting his chin atop her head. “You’ve got your 'over-thinking-everything' face on.” She frowned back at him. “It’s still the most beautiful face in the world, kid. But I’ve known you far too long now to know when something’s on your mind.”  

She cocked her head to the side and gazed at him. She couldn't pin-point exactly when the change had occured, but she could read his face like her favourite book now. Knew where scars had started, knew the precise location of dustings of freckles. She knew what to say to make him smile, what to say to make him frown. Somehow, the stars had aligned, and she had met him and now here she was, in his home country, moments away from meeting the entirety of his family. She took a deep, steadying breath and tilted her face up to kiss the underside of his stubbled jaw. “I love you Alex.”

“I love you endlessly, Grace.”

She had been slightly taken aback at the lack of distance that existed between Alexander’s parents’ houses. She had known that they had been able to remain better friends than ever after the divorce but living within walking distance of each other seemed unheard of to Grace. Perhaps that was because her parents could hardly manage a simple hello to each other after the dust had settled.

Stellan Skarsgård’s silhouette- stark against the bright light emanating from the house behind him, stood leant against the front pillar of his porch, a full glass of red wine wedged within his grasp, which he lifted in greeting when he caught site of the emerging clan. He embraced Alexander, Eija, and My as if it was the last time he would ever have the chance to do it again, and when his gaze fell on Grace’s, he handed his wine to Alexander and pulled her in for a near-crushing embrace. When he drew back, he was absolutely beaming at her. “Grace, it is an absolute pleasure to finally put a face to the name that our Alex here, has spoken novels of. Please, come in and make yourself at home.” It was an undeniably busy house, chock-full of intentional laughter, bits and pieces of Swedish conversation, and the enticing scent of a mouth-watering feast. Grace was sat wedged between Alexander and Valter at the dinner table and was awed at how much the youngest of the boys resembled Eija, and she was surprised to note that his sass rivalled hers as well. Once the chatter had dwindled to a level white noise, Stellan rose from his seat at the head of the table and cleared his throat. “Ehm, I don’t normally make these kinds of announcements before a dinner, but tonight is a special one.” He gestured with his near-empty glass to Grace, and she felt her cheeks burn hot under the sudden onslaught of attention. “Tonight, we drink to good health, we drink to family, and we drink to our lovely, newfound Grace. Cheers, everyone.”

“Cheers to you, my love.” Alexander whispered and pressed a kiss to her temple.

Grace ate until she could not fathom scooping one more morsel of delicious food onto her plate, and she leaned back and took a deep breath, all too content to watch everyone converse and unwind from the wonderful meal they had all just experienced. After dessert, Alexander excused himself to join a heated debate at the end of the table with Eija and Valter. To her surprise, Stellan took the empty seat next to her, wordlessly topping up her empty glass. “My and I worked hard to teach them everything they know,” He murmured, blue gaze scanning the happy faces around him. “We tried to instill in them as children to question everything- and each one of them has become perspicacious, opinionated, conversationalists because of it.”

The way he spoke of his children- the obvious love and adoration he had for them caused Grace’s heart to swell in her chest and she smiled softly at him. “You both must be so proud of them.”

Stellan’s eyes twinkled in the low light of the lamps scattered around the dining room and he nodded his head slowly. “Very proud. Always.” He took another sip of his wine and turned to Grace. “I know I mentioned it already this evening but having you here in Sweden really is such a treat for all of us,” Grace’s cheeks grew pink again and she took another hearty sip of wine, savoring the slighty bitter tannin on her tongue before she swallowed, and offered him up a small smile. “Alex is an extraordinary creature, Grace. Loud and boisterous- and deeply sensitive. Almost to a fault. But humor and compassion for other people beyond all measure. Just the absolute best parts of his mother and I,” He finished off the rest of his glass and set it against the wooden tabletop with a dull thud. “He’s never brought a partner home to Sweden before, and I can’t help but be elated that it’s you he’s chosen to bring to us.”

Grace verged the edge of speechless at the sudden revelation and she swallowed hard, the kind words almost too much to comprehend. “The pleasure has been all mine, truly.” Before getting up to leave, Stellan bent down to her level and pressed a quick kiss to the apple of her cheek.

Alexander appeared next to Grace an hour later, the apples of his cheeks rosy from happiness, and the wine consumed. "Come dance with me."

Grace had just finished an in-depth conversation with Eija and cocked an eyebrow in surprise. “Right now?”

He nodded his head, his sandy blonde hair disheveled now and hanging over an eye. “Yes, right now.” He extended a hand out for her to take, which she obliged, hesitantly. He led her to a second room off the one they had just been in, and a record player sat playing on a glass table in the corner.

“Your lips are stained purple with syrah,” She giggled.

Alexander brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “Are you having a good night, kid?”

Grace smiled and rested her cheek against his chest as they swayed along to a Bob Dylan song in the background. She reveled in the heat emanating from him, and in the familiar feeling of his heartbeat against her cheek. “I’m having a wonderful night, Alex. Sweden- your family, are a dream.” The opening chords to Girl from the North Country could be heard above the crackle of the record player, and Grace gazed up at Alexander from under enviously long lashes. “God, I love this song,” She murmured wistfully. “Hope to dance to it my wedding someday.”

Alexander held her tighter to him, oblivious to Stellan and My who were now stood side by side and watching them from the other room. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle earnestly, knowing that one day soon he would be making that dream a reality. “Someday you will, Grace.”

@awaterfalls

[libsterslobsters]

Black Dog...

A Bucky Barnes x Reader fanfic

A/N: The motherfluffer strikes again! I know I said I was going to do a pt 2 of "What Is and What Should Never Be", but I was sitting with my doggo tonight and this is what I was inspired to write. It's more of a prequel, I guess.

Summary: There's not much Bucky wouldn't do for his best girl, but when she suggests they get a dog to help them readjust to life after the final battle with Thanos, he's not so sure it's a great idea.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/ fem! enhanced! Reader

(reader can see moments into the future as well as understanding all languages and processing new information quickly, plus she's also a super soldier)

Warnings: Slight angst, mild swearing, fluff!, mentions of PTSD and panic attacks, No editor, we die like men

“You want to do what?”

Bucky considers himself a fairly reasonable person (well, there is the “was brainwashed for over fifty years” part) and he prides himself on valuing whatever his girlfriend (fiance he reminds himself, she kept the ring on for five years) says instead of only listening to come up with a response, but this time, he’s almost certain he’s heard wrong. At least, he hopes he has.

“I want to get a puppy.”

That’s exactly what he thought she said. “Or really a dog of any age.” Where to begin with that suggestion.

He likes dogs. He had one before the war. But that was back when it was safe to walk through Brooklyn at night, not to mention walk your dog along the sidewalk after dinner. Back before sudden noises in the night, however light or normal they are made him bolt upright in bed and reach for the knife he still keeps on the nightstand just in case. Before fighting “bad guys” was part of his every-day life, and way before he himself had become a bad guy. All of that considered, there’s only one way he can answer.

“I don’t think so, doll.” The corners of her lips turn down and her eyelids lower.

“Oh.” She’s more disappointed than she’ll let on. Maybe there’s a way to smooth it over.

“Why did you want a dog?”

He takes a seat on the sofa next to her (they were going to settle into their usual after work activity; watch something neither of them will remember later as an excuse to be together, usually with her legs resting in his lap and a bowl of popcorn between them) and silently wills her to look up, not be saddened by something he’s done. Goodness knows she’s had enough of that to last a lifetime already, and the wedding isn’t for another month.

She shrugs, still absently picking at her pilling sweater.

“There’s been studies done on how having a pet helps lower stress levels and raise seratonin levels. That helps with PTSD and sleep disorders.”

Something that used to just apply to him, but after Thanos, it’s as often her waking up from a nightmare that felt just a little too real or staring at words in a book that she’s not even seeing long after midnight.

“Plus-” She laughs, but it’s not the unbridled sound he treasures, it’s… bitter somehow. “-it’ll be like exposure therapy. We’ll be forced to leave the apartment for more than groceries and work.”

It seems as if the outside world has become even louder and more unbearable since the world ended and restarted again.

“All of that sounds good-” There’s the beginings of a smile on her face. He hates that he’s about to crush it all over again. “-but what about the logistics of it?” She frowns, clearly confused. “We don’t know where we’ll be living once your lease is up-”

“There are plenty of other apartment complexes that allow pets.” He nods.

“Yeah, but not all of them. And on top of that, when we’re away on missions, who’s gonna look after the pooch?” She seems to be considering it, mulling it over, then-

“Here me out: we train the dog to come with us on missions and do reconnaissance.” The smirk on her face lets him know that it’s a joke. Good. Then she’s not completely devistated.

“If the situation looks too tough, we’ll send him out ahead of us. While he’s licking their faces and their guards are down because even the worst of the worst can’t resist a cute puppy-”

“We storm the place?” She nods, shoulders shaking in a quiet laugh.

“You’re catching on! And, we can order a special doggy uniform since you can find anything on the internet these days.”

That’s the final straw, and before he can even consider it, he’s laughing too.

“You do make a pretty compelling argument, but let’s stick a pin in it until this thing-”He indicates her left hand, which is now resting casually against his thigh. “-becomes official.”

“Fair enough.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

She’s doing better now, she thinks. Better than she was for the past few months. Still, after her last class at the community college lets out (so many new enrollments now that the population is back to normal, and the majority of them have no memory of the hell those who survived the snap endured for five years), she sits in her car for a solid half hour, shaking and crying her way through a panic attack. When it passes, she reaches for the makeup bag hidden in her purse and, in an effort that’s really muscle memory at this point, repairs the damage to her face. There. Nearly normal.

Driving home is considerably more difficult than it used to be now that there’s more cars on the road, but the route is familiar, so that’s some comfort. Not everything changes. She really should pick up some potatoes and cubed beef for tonight’s dinner, but after the day she’s had, facing a crowded supermarket seems like just a step too far. Takeout, then. Maybe a pizza. After all, she’s got the same chemicals running through her veins as he does, which means their metabolisms can keep up with excess calories. It’s one of the better side effects of being “enhanced” as her file is labeled.

She’s so busy thinking about which toppings to order that she barely manages to swerve in time to keep from hitting the animal slowly limping towards the curbside.

“Shit!”

The miriad of horns honking from behind and beside her let her know that her decision isn’t a popular one. Still, she eases the car to the curb and as soon as the coast is clear (she should just run into traffic… no, that’s an intrusive thought, acknowledged and dismissed), steps out.

The animal made it across, at least. Animal, because she can’t be sure what species it is. It’s trying to get away from her, but the poor thing is limping badly, so there’s not much chance it’ll manage that particular feat even if she weren’t faster than the average human. She approaches with caution (if she were to be bitten, would it even effect her? More than likely not) in case she startles it.

“It’s alright.” She’s got it cornered now, and she can see that it’s a dog. A pathetic lump of matted fur and mange with at least one broken leg, but a dog none the less. She crouches, holding her hand out in front of her, palm open.

“You’re okay, sweetie. I’m not going to hurt you.” The poor thing is shaking, letting out low growls that quickly turn to whimpers as soon as she touches it. “You’ve had some tough luck, haven’t you? Yeah.”

She can’t tell what color it is under the filth and… her breath catches in her throat… blood. Black for now, but maybe a lighter color once it’s washed. However, the tongue that peeks out from a swollen muzzle is unmistakably pink. “Good boy. Or girl. I’m not going to look close enough to find out right now. Don’t worry.” It’s not a huge dog. She could probably lift it. That is, if it’ll let her. “A car hit you, didn’t it? Hurt that poor leg of yours.” She leans closer to get a better look. No collar. A stray, more than likely, and definitely a mutt. The decision is made. She’s not leaving it here.

“Alright. I’m going to get you some help, but that means I have to pick you up. Now, I’d appreciate it if you’d kindly refrain from biting me when I do that, okay?” She takes the blink as agreement. “Here we go.”

She must look strange, emerging from an alleyway in the middle of Brooklyn with at least thirty pounds of unidentifiably colored dog in her arms, but if any of the other motorists notice, they don’t let on. Thank goodness for technology. With the press of a button, her car unlocks and she’s able to deposite her new friend in the passenger seat before settling behind the wheel once more. “Siri, show me the nearest animal hospital.” Once the gps is online, she adds as an afterthought, “Call Barnes.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

Somehow, when he picked up the phone and the first words out of her mouth were, “Bucky, you’re not gonna believe me…” he didn’t expect it to result in him sitting in a veterinarian’s office an hour later, waiting to hear about a dog he’s never seen. Well, that’s not quite true. She did snap a quick picture. Even though he knows it probably wasn’t at it’s best, that had to be the most pathetic lump of fur and fleas he’s ever laid eyes on, through a photograph or otherwise. He’s not even sure it had both ears!

None of that matters though, because now he’s sitting there, pretending to study his phone with his baseball cap drawn low over his eyes and a pair of sunglasses to boot while she flips through the same magazine for the fourth time. If he’s being honest with himself, he doesn’t think the dog’s going to make it (actually, it might be kinder if it didn’t, the pooch is in such bad shape), but he’s decided it’s best not to bring that up. Time will tell.

“Are you mad?” That’s the first thing she’s said since he arrived and she informed him that they’d taken the dog back for immediate surgery.

“That depends. Did you walk into traffic to save him?” It probably wouldn’t hurt her, considering she’s strong enough to stop a car if she really wants to, but it’s not exactly a healthy habit to get into. Especially if they’re trying to be inconspicuous.

“No.” She flips another page. “Although I may have swerved to avoid hitting him, then chased him down into an alleyway and cornered him by a dumpster.”

That sparks a memory from the early days in Romania, the ones where he thought he was dating someone for the first time since the forties (albeit, moving very, very slowly) and she was under the impression that he saw her as a little sister. Her apartment was the equivalent of “low rent” and when, halfway through ‘Singin’ In the Rain’, a rat made it’s unfortunate appearance, she told him, “No, don’t kill it! Just get rid of it!” while standing on top of the coffee table (because clearly, that was so much safer than the floor). In the end, he did catch the rat (thanks to her precognition), and they safely moved it and it’s nest into a quiet corner of the courtyard. That’s when he realized he was in way over his head with this girl, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It’s still one of his favorite memories, so-

“ ‘Course not.” She doesn’t look entirely convinced, so he wraps his arm around her, pulling her close despite the plastic waiting room chairs. “Why would I be mad at my girl for having a big heart?”

She chuckles, leaning into him. “You mean I’m a softy.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

Before she can reply, the door swings open. It’s late, and they’re the only ones left waiting, so it’s no surprise when the woman in scrubs stops in front of them.

“Your dog made it through surgery, although we did have to amputate the front left leg.” Huh. That’s the same one he lost. “We also took the liberty of giving him his rabies and heartworms shots, and since you said it’s a stray, we’ll call animal control to pick him up once he’s awake.”

That’s for the best. She may have a thing for hard luck cases, wounded animals, and lost teddy bears, but it’s not like they can keep the dog. He’s come around to the idea of getting a pet at some point (maybe he’ll surprise her at Christmas), but an animal that’s in that bad of condition… it’s a lot of work, and he’s not sure either of them is up for it (well, if truth be told, if he’s up to it).

“Did you want to come back to see him?” She looks up at him, clearly trying to get a read on what he’d rather do. He could just say no thanks, they’re alright. It’ll only make things harder when they have to go home. But, it’s obvious she wants to, and he’s not great at telling her no.

“Sure.”

He’s panicking just a little as they walk through a maze of corridors and metal doors that lock behind them. Calm down, it’s just a vet’s office, not a prison. You’re not going to have to fight your way out.

Finally, after the dozenth turn, the vet announces, “Here we are. He’s still a little groggy, and we had to shave him. It looked like he could use a trim anyway.” and pushes open another locked door.

Even with his leg repaired and his fur at least partially groomed, he doesn’t look like much. There are indeed two ears; one of them is just crooked, folding down instead of sticking straight up. He still couldn’t guess at the breed, but with all the muck washed away, it’s still a black dog. There’s an I.V. attached, and Bucky’s expecting that the most it’ll do is whimper if it’s touched, but as she approaches the table and gingerly begins to pet it between the ears, the dog’s eyes open, and it licks her hand.

“Hey, boy. You made it through. I knew you were a fighter.” Is it sticking it’s tongue out and- “Whoa. Your breath could take out an army!” -attempting to lick her face.

“We think he’s about eight months old. May get a little bigger, but not much.”

He’s a decent sized dog. Not exactly one you’d chose to guard your house, but not a lap dog either. And he seems friendly.

“Some nice people from animal control are going to come get you once you’re all better and they’ll find you a good home.”

Unlikely. After all, the dog’s a tripod. He’s going to regret asking this, but-

“Is there anything else wrong with him besides the leg?”

The vet shakes her head. “Nothing that a flea bath, mange treatment, and a few good meals couldn’t fix.”

So really, it wouldn’t be THAT much work. He’s seen plenty of dogs who can still walk with only three legs. He needs to get ahold of himself. The dog might not even like him. Animals are funny; they can tell a bad person from a good one, and if he’s being honest with himself, he’s not sure if he qualifies as the latter after all he’s done. There’s only one way to find out.

“Hey, boy.” He reaches out his hand (the metal one, because even if it’ll heal quickly, he’s not crazy about being bitten) and scratches under the dog’s chin. “You had a hard day, didn’t you?”

The dog sniffs at his arm and then, wonder of wonders, his back leg starts to kick. “But you still seem pretty happy even if you are a little worse for wear.”

He really shouldn’t do this. It’s a lot of work, having a dog of any kind. They don’t know where they’ll be living once her lease is up, and oh yeah, they’re getting married in three weeks. But, the big puppy dog eyes look up at him (the dog’s looking pretty desperate too), and he knows his decision’s made.

“Think Stark ever designed armor for dogs?” Her brow knits in confusion.

“You know, since we can’t very well have him out there on missions without some sort of protection.” There it is. Recognition.

“Are you serious?”

“No.” The beginnings of a smile freezes on her face. “There’s no way we’re taking an innocent dog into a situation with hostiles. Are you nuts?” That laugh gets him every time.

“So we’re keeping him?”

He nods.

“We’re keeping him, doll.”

She hasn’t looked this purely happy in ages. For once, the memories of the past and worries about the future are completely forgotten, and that makes it worth it. That, and, well… he is a pretty cute dog.

Author's note: here's a picture of my good boi and writing pal, Rigby.

[chidori-mint]

Undercover Mission [Obito Uchiha x Reader]

Pairing: Obito Uchiha x Reader

Warnings: Just angst and FLUFF, swear words

WC: 3.6k

A/N: This is my contribution for the first server collab of Konoha Simps. The theme used was Fireworks. They said that fireworks symbolizes the release of suppressed feelings. A huge thanks to my amazing wifey, @bakubabes-hatake​ for always, always motivating me to write.😘 This song inspired me to write this piece. Find all the wonderful works here! Apology in advance, English isn't my first language but I do hope you enjoy this one! ❤ 

🍭🍡🍭🍡

You can't help but stare at his smile. This man, the one and only man, who can give you this weird feeling, a blissful feeling whenever you're together. This inexplicable joy when he's around. The feeling of love and contentment.

You feel your heart racing as he leans closer to you.

"Obito... I --"

"Y/n?"

That shivering feeling when he uttered your name.

"Y/N?!" You woke up from the loud knock from your door. You knew that voice. Another knock and it made you jump from your bed.

"Y/nnnnnn?! It's me!" Someone hollered outside your door.

With sleepy eyes, you dragged yourself out of the bed to answer the door. The man's eyes grew wide seeing you in your sleep wear -- a white tank top that hugs your perfect curves matched with black tight shorts.

Rubbing your eyes, you asked him "Obito? What are you doing here?"

"Y-you wear that to sleep?!" he stammered as his eyes were still glued at you as you noticed him shaking and sweaty.

"Uhh. Yeah?" you wondered and yawned.

He turned to look away, but his blushing cheeks are still evident.

"Uh, I-I see. Uhm. B-bakashi asked us to meet him in the Hokage's office." stuttering as he kept his eyes away from you.

"Oh, did he say why?" The three of you have been best friends since you can remember. So this is new to you, knowing Kakashi, he hates early morning meetings.

"He just said that it's important. So we gotta head there now, Y/n." He gave a half-smile as he threw his arms to the back of his head.

"You wanna come in while you wait for me?"

He blushed again at your question, "Uhm, you sure it's okay?"

You nodded as you let him in your apartment. "I'm gonna make us coffee, please make yourself comfortable."

  🍭🍡🍭🍡

You entered the Hokage's office and both of you were surprised to see that Kakashi was already waiting at this early hour.

"Sorry for the short notice, but I have a mission for the two of you," he said as he tucked his hands in his pockets.

"Mission? You, idiot! Did they officially make you the sixth Hokage for you to give out missions?!" Obito complained.

"Obito, I am already the sixth Hokage. The Recognition day is just for formality." Kakashi boasted, he really knows how to annoy his best friend. "And anyway this mission is urgent." He declared.

"What kind of mission?" you ask.

Kakashi crossed his arms as he leaned on the desk, "An ancient Scroll of Seals was stolen from the Kazekage. Gaara specifically asked for a skilled shinobi from our village, and he believes that it was an inside job. They already have a suspect actually." He explained.

"You have to go undercover. You can't let anyone recognize you as shinobis." He handed out a brown envelope and Obito took it. "The details about the suspect are all there. Oh, and by the way, you have to go to the Sand Village and act as civilians, more specifically, as husband and wife."

"AS WHAT?!" you both yelled in unison.

"Kakashi, is there a specific reason why we need to go undercover as husband and wife?!" you blurted.

"Y/n's right!" Obito objected, but as you turned to look at him, you noticed him blushing again. "I mean -- we can go as normal civilians, r-right?"

"The Kazekage and three of us are the only ones who are aware of this mission. You can’t speak about this to anyone. He can't seem to trust his subordinates. We still don't know if the suspect works alone or if he has allies within their village. If you go there as a married couple, it'll be less suspicious."

"You idiot --"

"It's okay, Obito. Kakashi's right." You cut him. "I just hope we can make it back before your recognition day."

"Y/n, are you sure you're okay with this?" Obito implored.

"Obito, we've done thousands of deadly missions before." You smiled at him. Yes, you did missions with Obito and Kakashi. This is just a retrieval mission. This is nothing compared to the missions given by the previous Hokages. But this one is different. 

"You can go start packing now if you wanna be back before the recognition day. I want my best friends to be with me on that special day. After all, I'm the Hokage. Right, Obito?" He bragged.

"Whatever you say, you idiot." Obito retorted, "Let's get going, y/n."

"Hey uhm, you go, I still have questions regarding the mission. I'll meet you at the gates?" you asked.

"Oh, okay. I'll meet you there." Obito slowly walked out of the room. You turned to Kakashi as the door shut.

"Kakashi. What was that?" You sounded worried and anxious.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" He walked around the large wooden desk. He turned his swiveling chair and sat lazily on it.

"You know, you can count on me on S rank missions, right? But this? This is just a simple retrieval mission! Why don't you send someone else? Why does it have to be Obito and me? And are you serious with that married couple bullshit?"

Kakashi sighed as you bugged him with your questions.

"You just told Obito you were okay with it, didn't you?"

"I only agreed because I don't want him to think I'm not comfortable doing this with him!" You snapped.

"It's just a cover, y/n. What could possibly go wrong? As you said, this is just a simple mission."

"This is far different from the missions I’ve handled before. You know what could happen if I go on this mission with him! I can't keep pretending, Kakashi. These feelings I have just get stronger every goddamn day." You sighed.

"Then why don't you just tell him the truth?" He asked.

"You think that's easy?" He doesn't understand.

 You give up. You can never win against Kakashi. "Nevermind. See you when I get back."

You headed to the door and left him.

As you walk home, you try to convince yourself that everything will be just fine. As you reach your apartment, you gather all your essentials.

"Two days tops. Finish the job in two days. Then that's it!" you thought.

  🍭🍡🍭🍡

Your journey to the Sand Village was rather quiet. You are not used to this. Obito is usually cheerful, loud, and always giving random compliments about you. But today, he didn't even utter a single word to you. As you reach the Sand Village at past midnight, you both try to look for a place to settle in for the night. You entered an old looking inn and let Obito do the inquiry. Your legs feel numb, your shoulders stiff, you’ve been leaping from tree to tree the whole day. And as you reach the outskirts of the Sand Village, you change from your ninja uniforms to civilian outfits and Obito did the same. He has been awkwardly quiet the whole time.

“We only have one vacant room left, are you going to take it?” asked the young lady from the front desk.

“As long as it has two beds, we’ll take it,” you said, your exhaustion painted in your face.

“I’m sorry, maam but the room has only one bed.” The lady smiled at Obito and it made your eyes narrowed at the young lady.

Unexpectedly, you felt his arms wrapped around your waist as he pulled you closer to him, “Doll, it’s okay, there’s no need for two beds.” he whispered in your ear. He's so close you can feel his warm breath on your cheeks. He gave out a chuckle.

You forgot you were still undercover, “Oh yes, so silly of me. Miss, we’ll take the room.”

“Okay, then. Please enjoy your stay!” She handed the room keys.

  🍭🍡🍭🍡

Obito unlocked the door and turned the knob. You followed him as he entered your shared room. You stared at the bed.

“It’s okay, y/n you can take the bed. I can sleep on the floor.” His voice was tight and serious. You study him as he drops his bag on the floor. You felt the cold rush of the wind blowing as he opened the windows. He has been giving you the silent treatment, you so decided to break the ice.

"Obito. Is there something wrong? You've been awfully quiet since we left the village. Are you okay?" You approached him.

"Wrong? No Y/n, nothing's wrong" He denied.

"I'm your best friend. You can't lie to me. I know something's bothering you." You insisted.

"Best friend, huh? Of course. I'm just your best friend. That's why you have the guts to lie to my face. I heard you and Kakashi." He ruled as he turned to face you.

His words shocked you, freezing your body in place. You swallow the building lump in your throat as you pressed your lips together. There's no more point in lying. He knew it. He knew everything.

"Obito, I've been meaning to tell you. Believe me. I have always loved --"

"Just save it, Y/n, please. Let's just get it over with this mission." He walked towards the door.

"I thought you --"

"Well, you thought wrong, princess." He slammed the door shut. Leaving you alone in the dark room.

Tears start to pool in your eyes, your chest feels heavy, it's like the air has been sucked out of the room. Warm tears had started to roll down your cheeks as you slowly sat down at the edge of the bed. You covered your face with your cold hands trying to muffle your cries. You laid yourself in the bed, staring at the ceiling. Blaming yourself for falling hard for your best friend. So this was the price you have to pay. Hopeless love in exchange of friendship. You covered and curled yourself under the sheets. This is just a bad dream. Just. A. Bad. Dream.

  🍭🍡🍭🍡

You stretched your numb arms only to feel that the bed was cold and empty. You slowly opened your heavy and swollen eyes, you searched for Obito, but there was no trace of him.

If it wasn't for the mission, you wouldn't have the reason to get up from the bed.

  🍭🍡🍭🍡

After taking a shower and putting on a nice sundress, you went down to look for Obito. The young lady from last night was back in the front desk.

"Hi! Good morning, uhm have you seen my… husband?" You asked her politely.

"Oh you mean, him?" She giggled.

"Hello, wife." As you face him, he holds your chin and kisses you. As soon as his lips parted from yours, it left you dumbstruck and speechless.

"Shall we?" He winked and held out his hand but you can't help but stare at him. "Y/n?"

"Oh… Yes. We should go." You took his hand as he bid goodbye to the young lady.

"You could at least do your part and act like my wife, y/n." He whispered as both of you exited the inn. "You're good at pretending anyway." He grunted.

You felt another pang of guilt.

"Obito, about last night…"

"Forget it. Not interested, anyway."

You felt embarrassed and hurt. You just want to finish this stupid mission, get back to the village and punch Kakashi right in the face.

  🍭🍡🍭🍡

"I think that's our guy." He signaled. After hours of surveillance, you finally confirmed the suspect.

You both were sitting on a bench, while your guy was eating his ramen not too far away from your position. You both settled on the bench waiting for the man to move. You try to focus on the mission but the flashing images of last night's incident kept replaying on your mind on loop.

"So… How long have you been hiding that from me?" his voice brought you back to your senses as he gazed at you.

"I… pretty much a long time." You confessed. "I wanted to tell you but," You clenched your jaw, trying to hold back the tears from falling "I can't risk our friendship. And, I’m not sure how you’re gonna feel about it."

There was another odd silence between the two of you.

"This mission is important; we can't let our personal issues get in the way." He sounded stern.

This sudden change from his behavior made it clear to you that he's really not into you. And it rips your heart apart. You sat right next to each other but he still feels like he’s so far away from you. You’ve been dying to grab him right now, to hold him close, to kiss him, and to make him yours.

You get his point, "Of course," you agreed.

The man stood up from his seat and paid the ramen guy.

"Come on, we have to follow him." You complied quietly as you let Obito lead the mission. He rose up and stretched out his arms, "Let's go, princess."

"Wait, does he really have the scroll?" 

You watched him as he activated his Sharingan. "He has the scroll. But wait a minute," he sounded intrigued. "His chakra. It's… weird. It's… familiar."

He tried to study the man. “I mean look at him, who would wear a coat and a hat on a hot day like this?" he muttered as he expressed his disbelief.

The man started walking casually along the busy street of the Sand Village. You both tailed on him while keeping a safe distance. You slowly grabbed Obito's arms, you noticed he became stiff and surprised as you clung on him. "Relax, Obito. Husband and wife, remember?" you quietly reminded him. The least you could do, is to focus and make sure you accomplish this mission. 

“So, Kakashi mentioned that this mission is exclusive for us, right? And that nobody knows about it. Just us and the Kazekage?” he sounded unsure as he kept his eyes fixed on your target.

“Well, that’s what he said,” you confirmed. “Why?”

“I know that this may sound weird but, I have a feeling that we know this guy.” he stated.

Hearing Obito’s theory made you anxious. You both halted when you saw the man turn and entered an inn. 

“Is he luring us in?” you asked. "Why do I have a feeling that he already knows he's being followed?" 

“There's only one way to find out."

🍭🍡🍭🍡

You both entered the building and started searching for the man. You have combed all the rooms in the first floor, but he was nowhere to be found.You both climbed up the stairs as quietly as possible. You reached the first room on the second floor, just when you're about to open the door, Obito clasped your arm and pulled you closer to him. When you looked up at him, he put an index finger to his lips, "Let me," he whispered. 

He grabbed the door handle and slid it open only to reveal a very familiar man.

“YAMATO?!” you both screamed his name. 

His face was as white as the snow, his eyes grew wide as you guys barged in his door. 

“What are you doing here?” Obito asked.

“Did Kakashi send you?” you interrogated him. You rushed towards Yamato as he nervously stepped back.

“Well, I’m on a separate mission actually.” he chuckled nervously as he scratched his head. 

“Separate mission? What mission? I thought Kakashi said that this mission was exclusive for us.” Obito was puzzled.

“Well, uh yes. But you see, Kakashi sent me here to make uh sure that uhm..” he was avoiding any eye contact and was already stuttering. 

“To make sure that what? Spill it now, Yamato before I slit your throat!” you said furiously as you took out one of your Kunai and pointed it at him.

“Kakashi’s gonna kill me...” he muttered under his breath, beads of sweat were already forming on his forehead and upper lip.

“What does Kakashi have to do with this?” asked Obito, who seemed like he still was not getting the point to all of this. Your eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

“I will kill you now even before he gets his chance! Start talking now, you tree man!” you demanded as you inclined your head and gave him a death glare. You are fuming right now, something in your guts are telling you that this was all Kakashi’s stupid idea! 

“Well, you see, Kakashi asked me to help him finish his last mission before he could officially accept the responsibilities for being the Sixth Hokage,” Yamato said, trying his best to stay as calm as possible.

“His last mission?” you repeated as you exchanged glances with Obito.

“He said that both of you were uh…  giving him endless headaches. That you guys should just…” he paused as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Just what?!” you both exclaimed.

“Just date already!” he declared. You froze. How could Kakashi tell Yamato about your secrets? 

“Tch,” Obito snorted. “How would I date her if she likes Kakashi?” He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked away, his words left you bewildered.

“Wait up, you said you heard us talking in the Hokage’s office?” 

“Well, weren’t you referring to Kakashi?” he questioned.

“You idiot! So that’s why you were avoiding me the whole day when we left the village? Because you assumed that I liked Kakashi? You dumb ass! I was trying to confess to you last night but you won’t let me finish!” you cried. 

Your words struck him, his cheeks were blushing crimson again. “Y-you mean --?” swallowing the forming lump in his throat, “the mission was… fake?” he asked, giving you a perplexed look.

“Oh God. You really are the dumbest of all the Uchihas, aren’t you?!” you sighed in exasperation as you pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Obito,” Yamato butted in, “Y/n just admitted her feelings for you and you’re asking if the mission was fake?” he facepalmed. “Y/n, please enlighten me -- what did he do to make you swoon over him?” he teased.

“Me? Swoon over him?!” a flush crept up your face. 

“For heaven’s sake. You both are dumb, you know? I can’t believe this is what Kakashi has to deal with everyday. You guys are so exhausting. Work this out, you two.” he retorted in annoyance. He collected his things and headed to the door.

Yamato shut the door behind him and Obito did not make any effort to come closer to you and you were frozen from where you’re standing. No one talked. You could cut through the tension with a knife.

“I’m sorry about last night, Y/n. For driving you away…” Obito finally said. “I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“Okay… How else would you have?” you smiled dryly.

“Princess please, I need you to just listen to me, okay?” he bit down on his lip.

He grabbed both of your hands and brought them to his chest. You could feel his heart pounding below the skin, a very similar tempo to yours. “I like you, wait, no. I love you. The only thing that kept holding me back was that I really thought you liked Kakashi. I confronted him. But he said that you liked someone else, not him. That Bakashi, he should have told me the truth! Y/n, I can’t keep pretending anymore. I can’t pretend that I don’t want to hold you or that I’m not falling in love with you. I can’t and I won’t, not anymore.”

“What?!” Your jaw was on the floor. “You like… me? But last night --”

“Last night was a mistake.” He held both of your wrists in one hand and cupped your cheek with the other. Everything that he had said last night was starting to make sense a lot more sense now. It was heartbreaking, but now it made sense. 

“You were so infuriating, I was trying to tell you that I love you last night,” you said as you leaned into his palm.

“I am not infuriating!’ he denied.

“Okay but you’re dumb!” you jested.

“Okay, I’ll take that. But I know you love me.” his thumb traced your bottom lip, and he moved even closer to you.

Your heart skipped.

“So what are we doing then?” you asked, distracted by his touch on you. “Are we… together? Like, together together?”

“Well if you’ll have me, yes,” he said as his eyes flickered. “I want you, Y/n. Just as you are.” 

“I want you too,” your smile grew along with his.

“I meant what I said, princess. I love you.” his forehead pressed to yours, as you close your eyes in relief.

“I love you too, dumb ass.” you pressed your lips onto his and he took you gladly.

His arms slid around your waist, while the other went back to the back of your neck, to hold you in place as he kissed you like it was his last.

“I’m really sorry about last night, for being an asshole,” he told you through the kiss. It was mostly tongue and teeth, desperate and messy. “ Let me make it up to you, Y/n.”

He was intoxicating and all you could do was nod, your eyelashes fluttering as his lips travelled down your neck, sucking on your skin.

“MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!” Yamato appeared in the window making Obito’s posture straightened. He kept his hands on you, pulling you close to his chest like you were in danger.

“Maybe that’s why Bakashi and this tree boy get along so much,” he murmured.

“Huh, why?” you asked.

“They’re both cockblockers.” he whispered.

“Hey! I heard that!” Yamato narrowed his eyes. “So are we getting back to the village?”

“Uh, we’ll stay a little longer.” Obito replied, as he smirked at you. “I have to make it up to her. We might miss Bakashi’s recognition day though. I plan to ravish my princess and we have to make up for all the times we should have been together.”

[renjunvinates]

Radio Days

summary: a short internship as a radio host but you didn’t expect to fall in love?

genre: radiohost!Jaehyun, stranger to lover, fluff

pairing: jung jaehyun x reader

word count: 3680

-

Day 1:

You were chosen to be an intern radio host for a month and a half, along with someone else, you didn’t know who the other person was, but you didn’t really care also. As long as you were chosen then that's all that matters. You walked into the radio broadcasting room and saw a really cute boy. He smiled at you with his dimples appearing, you blushed and looked away.

“(Y/n) this is Jaehyun! The other radio host that was also chosen, from now on you guys will be working together for a month and a half, I hope you guys get along very well!” The manager said.

He grabbed, walked towards you and smiled and reached out his hand, “My name’s Jaehyun, pleasure to meet you, I look forward working with you,” He smiled.

You took your hand out and shook it and smiled at him, “Nice to me you Jaehyun, my name is (y/n) and I look forward to working with you too!” You smiled brightly.

Your heart was beating fast, because he was really cute, you felt like your cheeks were on fire and beating red, you were hoping he wouldn't notice or couldn’t tell.

“Okay great! Let’s get you guys started, I will show you guys everything and how things are worked around here, if you guys have any questions please let me know,” The manager said.

We both nodded and looked at each other and smiled and continued to follow our manager showing us the controls and how everything worked in the broadcasting system.

Day 6:

Five days have passed and you and Jaehyun have gotten to know each other, you tend to act really nervous around him still because you can’t help but think he’s really cute. You’re convinced it’s a small crush because of how cute and attractive he is, but you pushed it aside because you assume he has a girlfriend or is interested in someone else.

“Are you ready to go live?”Jaehyun asked.

“Yeah, are you?” You joked.

“Always ready,” He winked.

Your heart raced and you couldn’t help but have shaky and sweaty hands. The radio broadcast started and you and Jaehyun were live. Luckily, being on the radio made you feel at ease because once you were live, all of your worries went away.

Day 12:

You and Jaehyun have started spending more time together outside of the radio hosting internship and it felt nice, before the radio hosting you guys would get coffee together and walk on your way together to the broadcasting. Sometimes you guys would grab lunch together and discuss ideas and topics on what you guys should talk about on the next airing.

“Sorry to get sidetracked but besides radio hosting what else do you like to do?” Jaehyun asked.

“Nothing, I think maybe reading or drawing, I like to binge Netflix shows too when I have a lot of free time too,” You laughed.

“Me too!” He smiled.

“What about you, what does the star Jaehyun do in his free time?” You asked.

“I just sit home watch videos and sing and listen to music,”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow, “You like to sing? You should sing on the broadcast,”

“Never going to happen,” He blushed.

You looked at him and saw his ears turning super red and noticed he was getting embarrassed and your heart melted. Jaehyun was too cute, and you fell hard and felt ridiculous for this.

“I have an idea! Let’s watch a netflix series together and review it and then talk about tv shows and movies tomorrow?” He suggested.

“So you want Netflix and Chill?” You joked.

“Not like that!” His ears turned red again.

“I’m joking, besides I wouldn’t want some girl to come after my neck,”

“Some girl?”

“I mean, I don’t want your girlfriend to get on my ass for watching Netflix with you,”

“I don’t have a girlfriend,”

“Oh, my bad, I just assumed,”

“Assumed what,”

“You had a girlfriend, I don’t know,”

“I don’t,”

“Oh okay, my bad, sorry,”

“It’s no big deal, besides I’m not seeing anyone right now, so you don’t have to worry,”

“That’s a relief, anyways yeah I’m fine with that, your place or mine?”

“Yours? I live with roommates and they can be quite annoying,”

“Fair enough, okay. I gotta get going, I’ll text you the address and see you then,”

You got up and waved goodbye to him and left, your heart was beating fast and you felt like it could burst at any moment. Jaehyun was coming to your place which meant you had to tidy things up or else you would be seen as a mess.

Day 20:

After the whole Netflix hangout, things between you and Jaehyun have gotten closer and better, it's now tradition to have Netflix marathons every night just for fun and also could help to talk about on the radio. You guys started hanging out more and more just for fun and not because of internship, and at this point you have to admit to yourself, you’ve fallen for Jaehyun and there’s no going back.

Day 27:

“Hey (y/n)! Are you going to the party that Johnny’s hosting?” Taeyong asked.

“Probably not? Parties aren’t my thing and you know that,” You smiled.

“Yeah I heard Jaehyun’s going to be there too,” Taeyong smirked.

“So what?” You laughed.

“So, that means you should go, don’t you like him?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything, besides he doesn't even like me, we’re just friends and radio host, remember,”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I just know,”

“You should still go,” Taeyong pouted.

“I’ll think about it,”

You drove home and plopped onto the couch and turned on the TV, it was 6pm already, and you were still thinking about whether or not you should head to the party. You weren’t really a fan of parties because there were too many people, and you weren’t a fan of seeing drunk people, and also loud places gave you a headache. Your phone rang and you noticed that it was Jaehyun who called you.

“Hey?” You answered.

“Sorry to call you, but is it okay I swing by?” He asked.

“Aren’t you heading to the party? To Johnny’s?” You asked.

“You mean the party at my place? Yeah, I didn’t even know this was happening, I wanted to study and get homework done, but it’s too late,”

“You live with Johnny?”

“Yeah, he’s one of my roommates unfortunately,” He joked.

“I see, yeah, feel free swing, by. I was actually thinking heading over to the party but never mind,” You laughed.

“Nah, there’s nothing great about this, I’ll be over in 10,”

“Okay,”

You hung up the phone and smiled, you were happy that you decided to not go to the party, and that was when Taeyong texted you, “I heard Jaehyun was heading over to your place, be safe (;” you rolled your eyes and replied back to him, “Oh my god, shut up, he’s coming over to do homework and study, keep dreaming,” You tossed your phone away and then Taeyong replied back, “I think you need to dream, anyways have fun!!”.

You smiled at Taeyong's silly messages and heard the doorbell ring, you ran to your door and opened and saw Jaehyun carrying take out food. You smiled at him and he walked inside the door and set the food down.

“I assume you haven’t eaten, so I bought food,” He smiled.

“You’re right, thanks Jae,” You said, but then realized you called him something else, “I mean Jaehyun,” You said while flustered.

“You can call me Jae, it’s okay. I don’t mind,” He chuckled.

You smiled at him and he smiled back, and there it was again, his cute dimples appeared and you looked away to hide your bright red cheeks. These feelings were never going to go away and you didn’t know what you were going to do. You walked away to grab the plates and utensils for the food, and after a few hours of eating and talking. You decided it was time for Jaehyun to study and do homework, he groaned and frowned but he knew better and proceeded to do so. You went to grab a drink and went towards your room to chill for a bit because you didn’t want to bother him.

After a few more hours past midnight, you wondered if Jaehyun was still awake or he had left yet, so you quietly opened your door to see if he was still studying at the dining table but all you could see was him slouching. You tip-toed over to his body and saw him sleeping in slumber, you didn’t want to wake him up, so you decided to get a blanket and put it over him. You also decided to set up the couch for him to sleep just, you brought out extra blankets and pillows for him and as you were setting them up you looked up and saw he had woken up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” You apologized. “I set up the couch for you to sleep, you can spend the night, I don’t mind. It’s past 12 but according to Taeyong’s Snapchat stories people are still at your place,”

“You didn’t have too, it’s fine,”

“Don’t worry about it Jaehyun, it’s okay. I don’t really mind, besides you looked tired, Just stay the night and head home tomorrow morning,”

“Thank’s (y/n),”

“Anything for you Jae,”

Day 32:

A month has passed on your internship at the radio and you were starting to feel a bit sad over it, you were in the broadcasting room just going over the script and couldn’t help but frown.

“Hey why so glum?” Jaehyun frowned.

“We’re almost done with this internship,” You frowned.

“I know,” He pouted. “Don’t remind me, I wish this internship was longer,”

“I wished that too, but I’m glad I met you through this internship,”

“Me too,”

“Promise me something Jae,”

“Hmm?”

“We’ll still be friends after this internship right?”

“Of course! What are you talking about come on (y/n)! I’m a bit hurt you would think we wouldn’t be friends after this internship ended,”

“I just want to make sure, friendships mean the world to me!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll always be friends,”

“Ready to go live?”

You nodded and gave the producers the thumbs up as well as Jaehyun did, we smiled at each other and started to talk on the radio live. Today’s topic was about the upcoming love month February and it was super interesting learning that Jaehyun’s birthday was on Valentines day.

“So Jaehyun, it’s going to be the love month, do you have anything set in mind,” You asked on air.

“Not particularly, but probably just celebrating my birthday?” He answered.

“Oh? When’s your birthday?” You asked.

“You’re going to laugh and not believe me,” He joked.

“Oh come on, I’m sure everyone wants to know the Jung Jaehyun’s birthday,”

“Fine, fine, it’s February 14th,”

“No way!” You laughed. “Aw! Your birthday is on Valentines Day! That’s so cute,”

“It’s really not,” His ears turned red.

“So is there anyone special in mind then? Spending that special day of yours?”

“No, not really, although… ah nevermind there will be another day for that,”

“Oh come on, is there someone out there?”

“Maybe, but we’ll see. What about you (y/n)?”

“Me? Nothing special on this month,”

“Oh? Why not? I’m sure you have someone in mind you want to spend time with,”

“Hmm not really,”

“Are you lying to me, or possibly to the whole world?”

“Maybe? Maybe not? Let’s just say… I don’t think they have me in mind and so it doesn’t matter,”

“Oh come on! I’m sure there’s many people out there would want to be with you,”

“Maybe, but there’s only one person that I want, but it’s okay, now what about you mr. vague, who’s the lucky girl, I’m sure everyone listening is very curious,”

“She’s really kind and cute, but I don’t think she’s interested in me, I think she likes someone else,”

‘Well that girl is missing out then! I hope you get her though!”

“We’ll see,”

“And that’s the end of this broadcast, see you guys tomorrow!”

Day 40:

After that radio broadcast about Jaehyun talking about who the lucky girl was, you were very awkward, on edge, and sad, because you were wishing it was you. Lately you’ve been trying to avoid him even though it hurts your heart because you were afraid the more time spent, the more you would get attached and be broken hearted.

“Hey (y/n) are you busy today?” Jaehyun asked.

“Yeah, I actually have something to do with family,” You replied.

“Oh okay… it seems like we haven’t been spending much time together as before? Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh, of course not! Sorry Jae, there’s something going on with family things,“You lied.

“Oh… do you want to talk about it?” He asked.

“No, it’s okay. There’s no need to worry about me, things will be okay,”

“Oh okay, then I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later Jae,”

You left the broadcasting room feeling sad and hurt for lying to Jaehyun, but you knew better to keep your distance because you were trying to protect yourself from a broken heart.

Day 45:

Today is Valentines Day, the day you’ve been trying to avoid and well just hoping your heart doesn’t break too much.

“Alright are we ready to go live today? Today’s a special day so let’s be positive and happy,” The manager cheered.

You smiled and nodded as well as Jaehyun did, the manager gave you the signal and the live sign went on.

“Hello students of SM High, today’s the day you’ve been all waiting for! That’s right guys, today’s Valentine’s Day everyone, and you all have my blessings,” You smiled.

“She’s right, you guys have my blessings also, today’s the day where we all share love with our significant others! And to the people who don’t have someone, it’s okay!” Jaehyun said.

“Jaehyun’s right! It’s okay to have no one,and it’s okay to be single guys! There’s no rush to things! But speaking of that! Jaehyun, any advice to the listeners who are single?”

“Right! Just to let you guys you’re not alone! If it makes you feel any better I’m on the same boat with you guys! But to be honest even if it’s the day to celebrate with your significant other, it's still the day that shares love! So share the love to your friends and your loved ones and tell them how much you appreciate them!”

“Agreed, today is essentially the day where we spread love! Again it’s okay to not have someone by your side because I’m on the same boat too!”

“The guy didn’t confess to you?”

“More like, I think he likes someone else. What about you Jaehyun? Did you confess to the girl?”

“Nah, I don’t think it’ll work out, I don’t think she feels the same way,”

“Well that’s a shame. I bet you received many chocolates,”

“I did, but chocolates never my thing,”

“Oh! That’s right!! Happy Birthday Jaehyun!”

“Thanks (y/n), I honestly forgot it was today,”

“Anything special planned then birthday boy?”

“Maybe just dinner with roommates?”

“Sounds fun!”

“What about you (y/n)? Did you get any chocolates?”

“Me? Nah, but I don’t care as much,”

During your talk with Jaehyun you felt a bit relieved that he didn’t confess to the girl, but also felt bad that the girl didn’t feel the same way, you were hoping it was you, but there was still no way it was you. After the broadcasted ended, a bunch of staff showed up in the room with a surprise cake for Jaehyun for his birthday. Everyone sang happy birthday to him and wished him a good happy birthday, and after a couple minutes everyone had left and it was just you and Jaehyun.

“So dinner with the roommates for your birthday?’ You asked.

“Yeah, it’s nothing too special, Johnny wanted to throw a party, and well we both know parties are not my thing,” He replied.

“That’s cute though,” You laughed. “Your roommates wanting to throw you a party,”

“Yeah, but I’m good, do you want to come over for dinner too?”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t mind, plus we’re celebrating my birthday! I would love for you to come,”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll be there then, let me go drop off my stuff and I’ll see you there,” You smiled.

“Okay, I’ll let the boys know you’ll be there!”

Your heart was beating fast, you forgot to buy Jaehyun a present. You lied about dropping off your stuff and drove straight to the store to figure out what to buy him. It was hard choosing a present for Jaehyun considering you didn’t really know what he liked. You saw a microphone speaker on sale and decided to buy him that, you remembered that he liked to sing, so you thought it would be a great present.

You arrived home and you didn’t know what to wear, should you wear something casual or fancy? You were stressed and panicking, you took what look mixed both and left the house and drove to his place. His roommates opened the door and welcomed you in. When you all entered they all looked at you intensely and you felt very awkward.

“So you’re the famous radio host (y/n),” Johnny asked.

“I wouldn’t say I’m famous,” I replied.

“I don’t know, Jaehyun’s always talking about you,” He smirked.

“He does?” You asked.

“Yeah, it’s probably because he likes you,” Jungwoo said.

“Yeah, there’s no way, he said the girl didn’t like him so he didn’t confess so I don’t know what you guys are talking about,”

“That’s weird, he’s always talking about you,” Jungwoo replied.

Your heart was racing and you felt your face heat up, there was no doubt that you were blushing at this moment. You were thinking to yourself and wondering why Jaehyun would talk about you, and you felt no reason why he would talk about you because you’re not very close with him.

“Hey (y/n)!” Jaehyun appeared.

“Jaehyun!” You stood up and gave him a hug.

“Sorry, I had to do something,” He said.

“It’s no problem. Here,” You said while giving him the present bag. “Happy birthday,”

“You didn’ have to get me anything,” He smiled.

“It’s your birthday you deserve something!”

“Oh my god! You didn’t have to get me this!” He said with excitement.

“I hope you like it! I remember you told me you liked singing,” You smiled.

“I love it! I’ve actually always wanted this,”

“Well now you have it!”

Jaehyun’s roommates were staring at you and smirking, they all knew something was up but luckily they didn’t say anything about it.

The night went by smoothly, you celebrated the birthday with him and his roommates and it seemed like he was enjoying his time. Hours had passed and you decided it was time to head home. Jaehyun offered to take you home, but you rejected and told him it was okay, he frowned and still insisted. You gave in when he gave you his cute puppy eyes while pouting.

“So did you enjoy today?” You asked.

“I did. It’s actually one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had,” He smiled.

“Well, I’m glad. I still find it so weird that your birthday is on Feb 14,” You chuckled.

“Yeah, I find it weird too. So, did you end up confessing to the guy you like?” He asked.

“Nah, I don’t think he feels the same way,”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because I heard he wanted to confess to someone else,”

“Oh… Were you hoping it was you?”

“I… yeah… just a little bit, but it’s okay. What about you? Were you hoping for the girl to confess to you?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t seem like she likes me,”

“Well that’s a shame, I think you should tell her, you never know,”

“Maybe… What about you? Maybe you should tell him too,”

“I’m not the type to confess, it’s okay Jae,”

“What about this… we both text the person we want confess too, let’s just start with a simple “hi” as a text,”

“I don’t about that,”

“Come one, it’s just a simple ‘hi’ besides we can back out if we both are nervous…”

Your hands were shaky and sweating, you weren’t for sure if this was a good call, all you knew was there was a high chance your heart would be broken and there would be no turning back and this friendship could be ruined, but you really liked Jaehyun. You prayed to the lords that love and luck was on your side.

“Okay…” You nodded.

“Okay, ready,” He asked while he pulled out his phone.

You nodded and took out your phone also, you both looked at each other and nodded, you clicked on Jaehyun’s contact number and typed the words. You looked at Jaehyun again and then he counted down, and when he counted down, you closed your eyes and sent the message. You glared at your phone and looked at the text message and saw Jaehyun texted the same thing, and that's when everything clicked, you looked at him and he looked at you and smiled. He came in for a hug and you could feel tears coming out of your eyes, you hugged him tightly and started sniffing.

“Why are you crying?” He asked.

“I’m just overwhelmed, I didn’t think you like me back and I was scared to lose this friendship we have,” You sniffed.

“Well I like you, I like you alot,”

“I do too… Happy Birthday and Happy Valentine’s Day,”

“Thank you (y/n), thanks for making this day great, now let's go on a date,”

[sarah1982sblog]

The real Malory Towers experience: Take your child to boarding school!

"You have to dress up posh too, mummy," says my daughter, half stern, half playful. "Or we'll never get away with it!"

Saturday morning and me and my 11-year-old daughter are going undercover.

We're going to the most expensive girls' boarding school in Britain (£37,275 a year to be exact) for their Open Day – as a pretend prospective pupil and parent. My bog-standard-state-school educated daughter has devoured Enid Blyton's Malory Towers series – just as I did when I was a kid – and her head is filled with a fantasy life of midnight feasts and hockey sticks. Wouldn't it be fun – and a tiny bit mischievous – to see inside that world for real? We're a little nervous (do we have the acting abilities to pull it off?), but really, what difference will one extra mother and daughter tagging along make? They'll barely notice us.

Wrong! All parents potentially willing to fork out £37K a year on their daughter's education will be noticed. People have flown in from all corners of the globe for this Open Day. It's a v. big deal. As soon as we enter, my bobbly coat is whisked off me (in the end I’d decided the I'm-so-posh-I-can-be-scruffy look would be more convincing) and we are greeted with fresh coffee, still-warm Danish pastries, and programmes with our names on (sports fixtures in school today: showjumping and lacrosse). 

A pretty, skirt-suited woman, a member of the leadership team, bounces over to us. "Just act confident," I whisper to my daughter. "It's all about confidence." The woman introduces herself and reassures us that she has worked in prep schools for many years before coming here so she "knows where the girls are coming from". "What school do you go to now?" she asks my daughter. My daughter looks her straight in the eye and says the name of her bog-standard-state-school loudly and clearly. I see the woman flicking furiously through her mental files of prep schools. Nope, that one's not in there. She moves on quickly. "So, would you be a boarder or a day girl?" "Oh, definitely boarding!" says my daughter, beaming. (Impressive acting!) "Oh yes, boarding is great fun," says the woman. "Like a perpetual sleepover, right? The other day, the girls all took their duvets down to the den with hot chocolate and marshmallows and slept there all night!" she continues, feeding my daughter's fantasies. 

Then she plucks us our own personal schoolgirl to be our tour guide: a quietly-spoken, very sweet girl in Year 8. I notice that both her shoelaces are undone and she has a big smudge across one of the lenses of her glasses (seems £37K a year doesn't get you quite the care from Matron you might hope for). "First, it's really great here," she says, without changing her expression."I have to tell you that first." (Have to? Like, instructed to?)

She takes us down Alice-in-Wonderland marble corridors and past a huge wood-panelled library with spiral staircases. "Wow, wow, wow!" my daughter and I mouth to each other with sneaky sideways glances. Her tour is interjected with bits of housekeeping information, like, "That's where you put your lac stick while you're in lessons". I nod, knowingly, as if lac is a word I bandy around a lot. 

I notice the door security code she presses to let us into the drama department is in roman numerals. (That should keep the riff-raff out.) She seems super-excited about using the lift to take us up to the theatre. "It's the only lift in the whole school," she tells us. "Everyone loves using it." I look at the buttons. There is only G, 1 and 2. "Erm, do you ever get to go out of the school?" I ask. "Yes!" she says. "Sometimes on a Saturday, Matron takes us to Waitrose." 

She escorts us to the astonishingly beautiful Assembly Hall with chandeliers, balconies and organ playing and we take our seats for an introductory talk and Q & A session with the Headteacher and senior teachers, a row of neat grey bobs and androgynous types in tracksuits. I get myself into slightly sticky waters when the couple next to me strike up a conversation. "It does make one reflect on one's own schooling, doesn't it? And whether you want the same or different for your own child." (Erm, yes, but not in the way you think). I bluff my way through with vague answers, reddening. I'm glad I put foundation on at least.  

The Head actually has a bun. And an ample bosom. Perfect. She's like a nice Miss Trunchbull and has a down-to-earth sense of humour. In answer to the question, "How do you keep the girls secure?" she replies, "Well, if I lose a girl, it's game over for me!" We're also reassured that House Mistresses keep an eye on the girls' table manners. She tells us that she went to this school herself. Now she works here. This is her world. "The chance to go into town with Matron [not just Waitrose] when they get to Year 11 becomes a wonderful thing," she tells us, without a hint of irony. 

Next we are taken to a Boarding House by two pupils from uk.. It is modern. Smart. Comforting, if not exactly cosy. We are greeted by the House Mistress (who lives in an adjoining apartment with her cat) and shown around: Dorms, showers, prep room, dining room. There's also a common room on every floor with sofas, cushions, beanbags – and microwaves. For their Waitrose-bought snacks.

Now, who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? It's fantastic. A choice of hot meals with a choice of hot side dishes, a salad bar, an assortment of fruit and desserts and cheese and crackers. We sit down with our trays and a group of five girls immediately join us. "Great food!" I say. "Yes," they agree. "Though you have to moan about school food. It's just what you do!" They seem eager to meet people from the outside world. Super-eager. They compete for my attention, talking over the top of each other, and I feel motherly towards them all. 

We're feeling really brave now and ask all the things we really want to know. Were you homesick? How often do you see your parents? Can you choose who you share a dorm with? Are you made to have a shower everyday? Do you have midnight feasts? They use words that are foreign to us like mufti and exeat and tell us the nitty-gritty details of their daily life: How their dirty laundry comes back to them washed, ironed and folded in their cubbyhole. How they have to do prep for an hour and a half every evening (though they're allowed to personalize their study booth). How you must walk to and from lessons with your Walking Buddy. How they get sanctions if they talk at night. And how they have to keep their mobile phone in a pigeon hole and are only allowed access to it twice a day (though one parent, they tell me with joyful horror, gave her daughter two phones, so she could secretly call her anytime). The chef rings a bell and two of them jump up like Pavlov's dogs. "That means seconds," they say. "Do you go to school with boys at your school now?" the others ask my daughter. She fends them off wonderfully. "Yes, but I  wish I didn't. Boys can be soooo annoying." She's way better at this than me. 

“So what are you doing this afternoon?" I ask as we get up from the table. "We're going to Waitrose with Matron!" they answer. "Everyone seems really keen on Waitrose here," I say. "Why's that?" They look puzzled. "Well...it's really big," one of them ventures. "So what's on your shopping list today? I ask curiously. "Strawberries!" they say. I look round at the food counter. There is a big pile of strawberries ready for the taking. Clearly, the thrill of Waitrose isn't about the food. 

As we enter the outside world, I'm eager to know my daughter's opinion of the place. "It's a bit like a prison," she says. In Malory Towers, it always says things like 'Daryl nipped off to post a letter', but those girls are there 24/7 – apart from when they go to Waitrose."

"That reminds me," I say."We need to get a few things for dinner on the way home. Let's go to that Waitrose over there." "Urgghhhhh..." she groans. "Do we have to?"

~maisarah dato waad~