#i still see him on the opposite house's roof so he's probably taking care of his wife or making his kid independent (?) lmao | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

wardencommanderrodimiss · 1 year ago

Text

In time, this world will take a dark turn; for now, in Southtown, fighting bandits, Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa gain a new ally.

-----

Plumes of dark smoke rise from the direction of the town. These blasted brigands made it before the Shepherds could intercept them, leaving Chrom scrambling to catch up. He can see the flames crawling up the sides of houses and devouring brown shingled roofs; no matter how fast they move now, there’s already damage done. Hopefully they can intervene before anyone is killed.

Chrom takes the lead and Lissa follows close behind Frederick, clutching her staff as though to use it as a club. The main cobblestone road takes them in toward the center of town, past hastily-abandoned wagons still laden with bounty from the fields. The center square, when it comes into view, shows more clear signs of daily life hastily interrupted: farm stands battered and overturned, crops littering the ground. At this distance, indistinct yells and screams reach Chrom’s ears. He is ready to charge into the fray, careful approach be damned, when a clatter of footsteps precedes a woman who throws herself around the corner of the house to Chrom’s left. She collides with an empty farm stand and then intentionally catches hold of it to bring herself to a stop. Glancing over her shoulder, her eyes catch on Chrom’s and the relief spreading across her face hardens immediately into a determined scowl.

“More of you damned brigands,” she hisses, straightening up. One hand plunges into her coat as though seeking a weapon, and she holds the other straight out, fingers splayed, straight towards Chrom. “Fine, then—”

A ball of lightning begins to form in her palm, crackling brightly and loudly sparking and snapping the way the flames do. She knows magic, and she probably means to kill them.

“Wait!” Chrom throws his hands up. He’d like to be ready to draw Falchion, but he’d like a ball of lightning to the chest even less, and if he goes for his blade she will probably strike. “We aren’t brigands! We’re Shepherds, here to help!”

“Awfully well-armed for shepherds,” the woman replies curtly, not lowering her hand even slightly. “Though you don’t sound like brigands.”

She shifts her stance and her long dark coat moves with her, revealing a glimpse of a blade sheathed at her hip. This woman is no ordinary resident of a simple farming village, that’s for damn sure. But she still hasn’t attacked him, so Chrom is optimistic about his chances to calm this situation. “So what do brigands sound like?” he asks.

“Plegian,” she says. Her eyes finally leave Chrom’s face, darting briefly across Frederick and lingering longer on Lissa, who takes up the rear. Surely she doesn’t think that a girl of Lissa’s age would be part of a bandit incursion? “You don’t, but you don’t look like knights - and certainly not like shepherds, either.”

“We hear that a lot,” Chrom says.

The lightning disappears from her palm, but her hand remains raised, still ready for the situation to turn south. She looks back behind her, toward the main square, as though expecting others to appear around the corner. When no one does, her gaze turns back on Chrom, cold and appraising. “Whatever you are, if you truly mean to help, your timing is perfect. These brigands think I’m their only opposition. You can easily ambush them while they’re preoccupied.”

“Wait,” Lissa pipes up from behind. “You don’t mean that you’ve been trying to fight a bunch of bandits all on your own! That’s crazy!”

The woman draws her hand back; her other still lingers inside her coat and the tome surely hidden away there. “What else was I to do?” she asks. “Let them run unopposed?”

“Surely the danger of such a venture has not escaped you,” Frederick says. He still looks wary of her - typical Frederick - but not as though he will be the first to strike.

The woman waves her hand dismissively. “Yes, yes, I know,” she says, and she sounds just as dismissive as her gesture was - sounds as though the danger of such a venture has in fact escaped her. “Now, they’re still going to be on guard waiting for me to attack again, but if you sneak up through here” - she indicates a thin alley between two homes that are thankfully not yet ablaze - “and I catch their attention from the main square and draw them toward us, you can strike from the side while they’re distracted.”

Her strategy, while simple, seems solid, and has more thought put into it than Chrom would have (his strategy being to run the bastards down immediately). There is just one key point that he objects to: “So you are going to charge them, alone.”

“I’m not charging them,” she reminds him. “I’m getting their attention and drawing them back, and I’m hardly alone if there’s an ambush waiting on my side.”

“That’s a lot of faith to put in strangers,” Chrom says. Her life in their hands, and they don’t even know her name. And she might be a stranger, but she’s fighting for the people of Ylisse; that makes her a friend to the Shepherds and the Exalt, and they’re short on friends as of late.

“So it is,” she agrees. Her expression doesn’t waver; her eyes don’t leave Chrom’s even as she says, “And you, girl with the staff - if this goes wrong, you might be my new best friend, not a stranger. Now shall we?”

She seems to have determined Chrom to be the leader of them. He nods and looks to Frederick. He does not appear at all happy, but he does not offer any verbal objection, either. Presumably he will go along with what Chrom goes along with, and Chrom is going to go along with this plan that is only slightly insane because he has no plan at all. “Let’s.”

The woman darts off into the main square, ducking around the broken farm stands as she moves between cover. Chrom wonders why she’s bothering, if she intends to get their attention, and several seconds later, as he advances down the alleyway, he realizes that she probably intends to make her approach appear less suspicious than an outright charge.

He really would have just charged, himself.

The alley between the houses, about two feet wide, is littered with debris. Chrom crouches behind the rainwater barrel that stands at the far mouth of the alley and presses his back to the wall. Further ahead lies the bridge across the river which cuts the town in half, and on the other side, the church. Two brigands, one with a large axe and the other with a sword, cross the bridge, yelling what must be every derogatory term to refer to a woman that exists. Moments later, a small javelin-shaped burst of lightning streaks through the air, slamming directly into the chest of the swordsman. He howls as he tumbles to the ground, still alive despite the force of the impact, and his companion continues on, disappearing out of Chrom’s line of sight.

Chrom gives himself another few moments, watching the swordsman return to his feet and put his back to Chrom. Then the sound of metal-on-metal rings through the air, and Chrom decides that is enough.

He throws himself forward from the alley, drawing Falchion. Now he can see the stranger, with a sword in her hands to parry the axe that bears down on her. The second brigand limps towards the duel and does not make it; Falchion tears through his back and he falls with a gurgling sound. The axe-wielding brigand, about to bring a second swing down on the stranger, hesitates and turns towards the sound. “What the—”

Falchion arcs through the air, meeting the chipped, rusting axe blade. The brigand’s face, contorted in fury, suddenly goes slack. He looks down; Chrom, however, does not dare take his eyes off the axe - not until it clatters to the ground from now-limp hands of a man with lightning magic still sparking in his chest.

“I killed two of them earlier, before I had to run and met you,” the woman says, lowering her right hand; in her left, she clutches a tome close to her chest. “I believe there should only be one of them left—”

She drops the tome and lunges forward. Chrom has no time to react and next he knows, she has knocked the two of them to the ground. Crackling flames burst in the air above them, right where Chrom had been standing; even from a few feet away, the spell warms the side of his face and he wonders what it would be like to have taken the full brunt of it. “I thought I killed two of them,” the woman amends, falling back onto the ground away from Chrom and fumbling for her tome again, and then with a wordless yell of anger she throws lightning right back.

Chrom scrambles to his feet. Across the square, he sees another man fall, a tome slipping from his grasp. “My apologies,” the woman says lightly, as though she didn’t just strike a man down with magic, turning her head to glance at Chrom. “I didn’t expect that.”

“That’s all right,” Chrom says. “I much prefer being thrown around a little to burning alive.”

“Glad to hear it,” she says.

“Anyone need help?” Lissa waves her staff about as she runs up, Frederick still doing his best to stay ahead of her and keep himself between her and any danger. It is, Chrom suspects, a losing battle, but Frederick valiantly fights it anyway, and for that Chrom is grateful. He doesn’t have to keep both eyes on Lissa at all times with Frederick around. “We’re all good?”

“The last man seems to have been the one giving orders,” says the woman, indicating the bandit lingering on the other side of the bridge. “Let’s see if he has any bite behind his bark.”

To the little credit that Chrom would give any Plegian brigands who are ransacking his halidom, the sole remaining man is not a coward who folds once he sees his backup is dead. Unfortunately this also means a second round of fighting, and more chances for someone on Chrom’s side to be hurt. And fortunately, when the stranger catches a thrown axe, it is with the inside of her billowing coat, and not any critical piece of flesh, and Frederick’s lance puts the bandit down before he can do any real damage to anyone.

And then there is no time to waste, as the town is on fire and the four of them cannot put it out by themselves. Lissa scrambles about trying to convince the townspeople that it’s safe to come out and help, and Chrom and Frederick search for any buckets; by the time Chrom returns to where he remembers a rain barrel, he finds that the woman has scaled one of the houses and stands on a roof about fifteen feet away from the crackling flames.

There’s something admirable in her audacity, that she’s running towards danger for the sake of helping others. That’s the kind of person who would be a good fit for the Shepherds. And Chrom’s no tactician or politician, but he can read the writing on the wall the same as anyone else: Plegia’s building up to something, and Ylisse needs to be prepared to fight back.

They need all the help they can find, here and everywhere else.

It is late afternoon before all of the fires have been put out and the wounded villagers treated. Chrom has not met a person who is not profusely thankful, offering anything they have as repayment. He politely refuses offerings of meager coin pushed on him - “it’s all we have but please, milord, you saved our homes, you saved us–” - to make his way back to the center of town. A man who had earlier introduced himself as one of the village elders greets them there.

“You must at least stay the night, milord,” he implores. “We would happily toast the valor of you and your companions with a feast - where has the last one of you gotten off to, do you know?”

Chrom looks to Frederick on his right and Lissa on his left and back at the older man. “You mean - that woman? She wasn’t with us - you mean she isn’t from here?”

“Goodness, no.” The man shakes his head. “We would surely know if we had any mages in town. I have never seen her before.”

Lissa has already begun to imagine, out loud, what sort of meal they might be having when there, rounding the corner, comes the stranger woman. She stops dead when she sees an already-assembled group of people staring at her, and she flinches when the town elder calls her over. Her eyes do not linger long on him even as he extends his grateful invitation to her; they rove, suspiciously, between all of them. “That’s a generous offer, sir,” she replies, her eyes finally settling on the village elder, “but I’m afraid I must decline. I’ve been away from home long enough and my mother will be getting worried.”

“Likewise, we must be returning to Ylisstol,” Frederick says - exactly what Chrom had expected him to say. They need to report back to Emmeryn.

Lissa, however, stops in the middle of a sentence. “Wait, what? Frederick, it’s nearly dark! We—”

“We will simply make camp where we find ourselves and hunt for our sustenance - as I believe you said that you would be ‘getting used’ to roughing it?”

Frederick has a point. She did say that, and from her expression, she clearly remembers saying that and can’t accuse him of making it up. “Frederick,” she says wearily, “sometimes I really hate you.”

The woman covers a laugh with her hand. “If you’re also heading north,” she says, “my mother and I live along the road back to Ylisstol. If we leave now, we should be able to make it before nightfall and you can have a roof to sleep under for the night - and I won’t have to worry if I run into another pack of brigands on the road.”

It’s a practical suggestion, but there’s something strange about the way she speaks it - a catch in her voice after she offers them her open door, and then the hasty addition. Like her offer of assistance would be too suspicious if she didn’t also gain something from it. Like people don’t help each other only for the sake of helping each other, like there always has to be a reward, but she was here in this town fighting bandits alone and might easily have disappeared without getting anything in return. And Frederick frowns, like he does find that offer suspicious, because he finds everything suspicious - that is Frederick’s way. And Chrom thinks of Emmeryn, and will do as his heart wills him, and he answers, “I think we all would be grateful for a roof after the day it’s been - my sister especially.”

“Hey!” Lissa aims to stomp down on his foot, but Chrom gets out of the way quicker than she can strike. “You - you shut it!”

The woman lifts her hand again, obviously shielding a smile from the way her cheeks rise to her eyes. “Oh, of course,” she says, lowering her hand and failing to compose her face into a stern expression as she tilts her body just slightly in towards Lissa. “He’s using you as the excuse.”

“Exactly!” Lissa cries, and the stranger’s mischievous smile widens and she doesn’t seem to think to hide this one. “Don’t listen to a word he says about me. He’s called me delicate before - delicate! As if!”

“Let’s not start this again,” Chrom says.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have started it—!”

Frederick clears his throat. “That is generous of you, milady, but as you said - if we leave now.” He glances to the sky, tracking the position of the sun and the length of the shadows. “So we should, then, be off.”

The woman straightens up. “Of course,” she says with a sharp nod, and already her teasing feels distant or imagined. She dropped her guard and then snapped it back up, and that just makes Chrom all the more curious as to who she is and what her story is. “That we should.”

“My name is Lissa, by the way,” Lissa says. “And this is Chrom, my brother - you actually shouldn’t listen to anything he says, not just about me - and Frederick.”

Frederick gives a curt nod of acknowledgement. “Pleasure to meet you,” Chrom says.

“Likewise,” the woman replies. “My name is Robin.”

She has short hair, a pale, sandy blonde lighter in shade than either Lissa or Emmeryn’s. Her long, dark coat has maroon detailing along the arms and through the interior and, as she offers when questioned, more than a few pockets sewn within it. Frederick’s first line of inquiry - as suspiciously as he ever asks such things - as they set off down the road is where she learned to fight, and she reaches within her coat and produces a book on battle tactics. “My mother was a mercenary tactician, and a mage,” she says. “She taught me everything she knew, and the other members of her company taught me the basics of the sword.”

“A tactician, huh,” Chrom says. “The Shepherds could really use one of those now.”

“Is that so?” Robin asks. “Is the situation with the brigands getting worse? The news we get from town was always of smaller incursions such as that, but nothing more.”

She’s eager for news from Ylisstol and hangs intently on Chrom’s every word about the progression of the situation with Plegia. If she lives a few hours’ walk from such a small town, it’s no surprise that she’s not up-to-date.

When Frederick returns to the question of her skills and Robin proves, among other skills, an uncanny knack for knowing where exactly in her tactics book to find certain references or information. It’s almost like a game, as Frederick or Chrom opens discussion of a cavalry or infantry formation and Robin immediately produces pages of diagrams in her book. As battlefield experience goes, she admits to having little - but Chrom’s recruited people to the Shepherds who have none at all, and Robin has already proven that she has quick reflexes and keeps a level head in a fight.

Gods, he’s really considering this. Ylisse is in dire straits.

“Have you always lived around here?” Chrom asks at a lull in the tactical discussion. Robin has a bit of an accent he can’t place; it isn’t the Plegian accent he’s familiar with, but she doesn’t sound quite Ylissean either.

The way she looks at him suggests that she knows the question buried beneath that: where are you from? A question of allegiance - though allegiance does not always correlate with one’s place of birth - but Frederick would probably be furious if Chrom didn’t ask before he asks his other question. “I spent my childhood in Ferox,” she says. “Until I was - eight or nine, maybe?”

Her pointed gaze lingers on Chrom for a moment longer, as if asking him if that answer is good enough, until Lissa pipes up, “Isn’t it cold in Ferox?”

“I have seen snow,” says Robin solemnly, “in every month of the year.”

Lissa scrunches up her nose. “That’s horrible!”

“It would have its charms, in moderation,” Robin replies.

“So, like, just a bit of snow sometimes would be nice,” Lissa says. “Like in the winter. Having a bit of snow in moderation in the winter, like we have here, is nice. That’s what you mean?”

Robin scratches her cheek. “Yeah, that’s - I deserve that, don’t I?”

“It was pretty silly,” Lissa says. “But you’ve sounded pretty smart otherwise, so it’s okay. You know how many silly things my brother says in a day–”

“None at all,” Chrom cuts in.

“—but without anything smart to balance it out?” Lissa continues, as though Chrom did not speak.

Frederick, as ever, stoically perseveres, his eyes on the horizon. Long ago he wisely chose that he would not involve himself in petty sibling squabbles. Robin, however, has not yet had cause to make that choice. “You’re awfully mean to your brother,” she says - as if she hadn’t joined Lissa in it back in town.

Lissa shrugs. “Yeah, but that’s what little sisters are supposed to be.”

Robin raises her eyebrows. “Is that so?” she asks, glancing to Chrom for confirmation, as though he’s going to say yeah, my little sister is doing exactly what she’s supposed to be doing every day of her life by calling me a dummy.

“Do you have any siblings?” Chrom asks. He thinks that her answer may clear the matter up quickly, or add a confounding new layer to it.

She shakes her head. “Just myself and my mother.”

“Lissa is convinced, that as my baby sister, it’s what she’s supposed to do,” Chrom says. “It does not mean she’s actually supposed to.”

Lissa skips up behind him and tries to kick him in the back of the leg.

“I still don’t understand,” Robin says.

“You won’t,” Chrom says. Lissa tries again to kick him.

“I find it better to simply carry on and not acknowledge any squabbling,” Frederick says. “It will pass momentarily.”

Robin nods and steps up beside him, leaving Chrom with room to try to ruffle Lissa’s hair while Lissa continues to try to kick him in return. A part of him has concerned himself with the impression that this will make on Robin, but she already seems to have taken easily to Lissa - and most of the Shepherds could be said to be a bit eccentric. If she couldn’t handle Lissa then what would her introduction to the other Shepherds look like?

He might be getting a bit ahead of himself.

Frederick and Robin are discussing weapons training, and if Chrom has heard right, Robin has been running the same drills since she was eight. “After we left the mercenaries, there was no one to teach me,” she says, and yes, that really does sound like it - and that means that Robin was a child traveling around with a bunch of mercenaries. Her mother worked as a mercenary with a child in tow. It’s impressive, Chrom thinks, if unfortunate.

He should just go for it. At a lull in the conversation, he clears his throat and steels himself. “Robin,” he says, and she sharply turns to look at him, eyes wide and then narrowing in suspicion. “I meant what I said earlier about the Shepherds needing a tactician. I know this is a very large thing to ask so suddenly of someone I’ve just met, but you’ve proven yourself willing and able to fight for the people of Ylisse - I’d be honored if you would consider joining us.”

“Join—” Her eyes widen again. “You want me to join your… Shepherds, as a tactician?”

“I do,” Chrom replies. “You are more than free to say no—”

“Milord,” Frederick says. “This is very sudden indeed.”

“I know, Frederick. But I said to you the other day - we have to be on the lookout for others willing to help us, no matter where we might find them. Even if your answer is no, Robin, and I’d understand that, I’d rather ask than wonder.”

Robin is quiet, her jaw moving like she keeps stopping moments before a question surfaces. Finally she says, “There are more than just the three of you, I hope?”

“Wh - yes! There are.” Her answer is a question that is not an outright rejection, so Chrom tells her a little bit about the others within the ranks of the Shepherds. He explains that they go wherever they’re needed, because the pegasus knights have to focus on the border and especially the Exalt, and with the situation with Plegia as it is, there’s more and more need to keep the Exalt protected. Robin is ready with a deluge of questions, but when she has exhausted them, she gives no further answer. That she has not outright said no bodes well - though Chrom tries to temper that hope. She has not said yes, either.

The sun is gone from sight and its light fading in the sky when Robin leads them off the road, into the trees. Frederick lights a torch which he carefully maneuvers beneath the hanging branches, and Robin conjures a ball of lightning that hovers above her head and illuminates little more than the ground directly beneath their feet. Chrom can sense Frederick’s ever-increasing suspicion - it would be easy for them to disappear here.

“Before we arrive,” Robin says, stepping over a tree root which Lissa stumbles on, “I should warn you that my mother is - well, she can be - she’s rather… brusque. If she starts to make you feel like you’ve personally offended her, you haven’t; that’s just how she is, I promise.”

She stops, holding up a tree branch to let the three of them easily duck beneath it. Lissa’s furious grumbling does not cease, but she grumbles something that might be a thanks in Robin’s direction. Robin smiles, just a little.

“Just as long as you’d understand some of the other Shepherds to be rather… odd,” Chrom says. He told her that the Shepherds have come from all manner of backgrounds, with all manner of skills. And while he’s sure that when he described Miriel as a scholar of magic, Robin can probably conjure in her head an image that’s similar to the real Miriel, describing Sully as a dedicated knight doesn’t capture what makes her Sully. And then what can even be said about the likes of Vaike?

Robin lets go of the branch behind him. “I think we have an agreement,” she says, and Chrom though he wants to does not ask if that is an agreement as someone who would be their tactician, because how weird the Shepherds are won’t actually matter to her if she never meets or joins them.

Lives alone in the woods with her mother is still very much not in the kind of recruit Chrom expected to be considering, to be hoping for, but - Ylisse is in dire straights, indeed. Lives alone in the woods with her mother is the start of fairy tales of witches who eat children.

And just as it seems that they will forever be surrounded by trees, just as Chrom is seriously trying to dig up the memory of any such witch stories, they step forth into a clearing. A fence, half constructed, partially circles a chicken coop, and past it sits a plain, weather-worn house. “Mama!” Robin calls, breaking the spell of the quiet hum of nature. “Mama, I’m back! And I brought company, so don’t be alarmed!” She glances around and stares at the chicken coop for a moment longer, and then yells louder, “Mama!”

The door of the house swings open. “I heard your squawking the first three times, birdie,” rasps a voice from within, and Robin’s magic lightning-light is joined by three small white flames which pop up into the air above the stoop. They illuminate an older woman with a stress-lined face and thin hair the same color as Robin’s where it isn’t starting to gray. “What in hell do you mean, you brought company?”

Robin holds out a hand and gestures to them. “Mama, this is Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick. They’re part of a militia and they helped me fight off brigands from town. I offered them a place to stay on their way back to Ylisstol. Everyone, this is my mother, Morrigan.”

Morrigan has the same cold and appraising glare as her daughter does. Even as she approaches Robin, her wary eyes continue to rove across Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa. She takes her daughter by the chin and turns her head side to side before she roughly lifts one of Robin’s arms away from her side, like she’s inspecting her. “Mama,” Robin sighs. “I’m not hurt.”

“Hmph.” Morrigan drops Robin’s arm and, over her shoulder, meets Chrom’s eyes with that withering gaze again. “Then I suppose I should thank these strangers for bringing my daughter home in one piece.”

“Not at all,” Chrom replies. “She helped us a great deal, as well.”

Morrigan’s attention snaps back to Robin. “Then you haven’t learned a thing from this, have you?”

Robin frowns. “What am I supposed to have learned? That everyone in town was right when they worried about being attacked? That I was right when I said they had no one to protect them?

“They did have someone to protect them!” Morrigan waves her hand through the air, a broad, sweeping gesture that encompasses Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa all. “But what of you, next time you go running off alone to defend strangers?”

She warned them that her mother was brusque, but Chrom starts to think she did not warn them that they would walk right into the middle of an ongoing argument.

“I’m not going to hide away while the countryside burns around us!” Robin says. Her gloved hands at her sides tense into fists, and she glances back at Chrom. “And I won’t be alone next time. They asked me if I’d come with them and help them fight, and I will.”

Chrom has spent this long waiting for her answer and now he’s been blindsided by it. “Wait,” he says. “You will?”

He’s not sure either of the women heard him. Morrigan stands statue-still, her expression unreadable; Robin stares back. “I know what you’re going to say,” Robin says, “and I—”

“Grab more firewood on your way in, if you please, birdie,” Morrigan says, turning away from her daughter and to the door. “Since I’ll be cooking up extra for our company.”

The door snaps shut behind her.

“Oh dear,” Lissa says.

Robin’s mouth, still open, closes slowly. She stares at the door. “That was,” she says, dragging a hand through her hair, only for it to immediately fall back into place over her forehead, “not what I thought she was going to say.”

“Er, right,” Chrom says. “Listen, Robin, I know I was the one to ask if you’d come with us, but if - I don’t want to be the person responsible for ruining your relationship with your mother—”

“Oh, it’s not you,” Robin says, directing them around the house to a pile of unsplit firewood and an axe, which Frederick immediately grabs and sets to work. Chrom takes the pieces he has chopped down to size, while Robin and Lissa gather the splinters into a kindling pile. “We argued before I left, too. She told me not to be stupid and risk my life, so then I snuck out and left before she got up the next morning.”

“You didn’t even say goodbye?” Lissa asks, her mouth hanging open. Chrom knows she is imagining doing that to Emm - how unthinkable to set off on a mission without their sister knowing. But Emm would never try to stop them, either; they all know what they must do for their people. They all agree on the responsibilities and the cost. Robin and her mother, evidently, don’t.

“We would have started arguing again,” Robin says. She picks up a sliver of bark that cracked off of a log and slowly bends it until it snaps. “I’d say I couldn’t stand by and do nothing; she’d say that it’s foolish to put myself into such danger for the sake of people who wouldn’t do the same in return.”

“What do you mean by that?” Chrom asks. “That - doesn’t seem right, to assume that of people without knowing them.”

“Yeah!” Lissa agrees. “Everyone in town was really grateful! They would’ve fed us!”

She turns a glare on Frederick, presumably for not letting them stay and indulge in that feast. Frederick, however, is not looking at her - and anyway, he would tell her anyway that she still has a roof to sleep under and someone else assisting with the meal, so she cannot complain. They could, he would say, be sleeping in the woods.

“Back when we were still with the mercenaries,” Robin says, “my mother saved every bit of gold she could. After years and years she had enough that every little town we passed through she’d ask around if there was enough room for a mother and her daughter to settle. But all the same people who gladly paid for her to risk her life and drive off a few ruffians balked at the thought of actually letting her - us - into their communities.”

She stares at the pieces of bark in her hands and drops them into one of the coat pockets where she has been gathering kindling. “It’s easy to be grateful to a stranger who sets off down the road at the end of the day; harder to welcome one into your peaceful village where you’ve known everyone since the day they were born. So we keep to ourselves out here, and she travels into town every week or two to trade, and we’ve always managed like that.”

“Until now,” Frederick says, “when we find you in a town under attack, rather than keeping safely to yourself.”

He does not try to conceal the air of mistrust which hangs around his words.

“Mama came home last week telling how bandit attacks are more and more frequent,” Robin replies, “and that people in the village are afraid that they’ll be hit soon. The forest out here will burn the same as a town if we hide away waiting for war to reach us. Or, I could go to meet it and perhaps make a better defense - I understand your suspicions, but all I can tell you is the truth. I heard they were afraid and I wanted to do something.”

“And the truth is, Frederick, that she helped us,” Chrom reminds him.

“And the truth is that the task of wariness has always fallen to me,” says Frederick. “Someone must be.”

“You and my mother are quite alike in that regard,” Robin says.

Frederick nods curtly. When the four of them return soon to Morrigan with the requested wood, they find that she has not started food preparations yet; she has waited to ask for their help. And that means that Frederick has an excuse to hover by Lissa’s shoulder. Make sure she doesn’t hurt herself (of course she’s not going to hurt herself; she knows how to cook). Make sure everything that goes into the meal is something that should be there (Frederick would hover to keep careful watch of ingredients anyway, but he is polite enough that he would rather have the excuse).

(Chrom wonders if the reason that Morrigan waited was to give them the excuse.)

The house is not furnished for guests, and when it is time to take their meal, Chrom finds himself seated on the floor with Frederick and Robin. A stool in the corner goes unused; Robin had insisted that she did not invite guests in so that they could all sit on the floor, Frederick had insisted that Lissa and Chrom seat themselves before him, and Chrom had insisted that he couldn’t further impose on Robin by kicking her away from her own table.

“You’re all so stubborn,” Lissa says from where she sits above him at the table with Morrigan, and even though Chrom isn’t looking at her, he knows she is rolling her eyes.

“If they all wish to be so foolishly sacrificing, then that is their prerogative,” Morrigan says. She almost sounds as if she is making a joke.

Robin shed her long coat when everyone came inside, but she still wears her gloves. “Yes Mama, it certainly is,” she says, and as she lifts her bowl to drink the broth her eyes flicker towards Chrom in a way that he can only think means something like watch this or well this had to come back up sooner or later.

Morrigan sighs deeply. “So,” she says, her attention turning without even a glance towards Robin, “this militia of yours.”

She asks many of the same questions that Robin did, but every single one of them feels particularly pointed in a way that Robin’s didn’t. And that makes Chrom feel like every answer he gives is the wrong one, especially the times when Morrigan will glance at Robin and something will pass between them. But whether they agree or disagree with each other, Chrom can’t begin to guess.

Only once everyone finished cleaning their dishes does Morrigan finally address her daughter again. “You know what I’m going to say, birdie.”

“Yes, Mama,” Robin says.

“And you’re going to tell me none of it changes your mind, is that so?”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Then that’s it, is it not? If nothing I’ve already told you will stop you, then I’ve nothing new to say that will change your mind now. You well made your point running off like that.”

It is dark outside, and in the quiet inside, even past the windows, Chrom can hear the chirping and chittering of the insects in the woods. He almost wishes to grab Lissa and Frederick and drag them out into the night; this feels like a conversation that no one else should be privy to. Robin stands rooted in place, still holding a towel for drying dishes, staring at her mother who has crossed the room and opened a door on the far wall.

“You could at least give me your blessing,” Robin says quietly. “If I’m going no matter what, I could at least not feel like I’m abandoning you.”

“My blessing to throw yourself onto the front line of a fight?” Morrigan asks, her hand still on the doorknob, and Chrom glimpses what appears to be a bedroom past that. “I want you safe. I can’t tell you I’m okay with this.”

“We’ll burn the same out here as the towns do,” says Robin. “I would rather face the bastards with the torches - die on my feet if I would die either way.”

“There’s plenty terrible fates besides death. You know if you’re captured by those bastards, you’ll be lucky if all they do is kill you.”

Lissa shudders. As royalty of Ylisse, she would be spared from death by her use as a hostage, instead, but Chrom knows that he would rather die than be used against Emmeryn in such a way, and he suspects that Lissa feels the same. Anyone else - especially a woman - captured would face one of several other dire fates.

“I know, Mama.” Robin cracks the knuckles on her right hand. That statement, at least, seems to weigh on her; her words lack the same degree of confidence as her prior answers.

“You do know,” Morrigan agrees. “You’re a smart girl despite yourself.” She sighs. “You’ve my permission to take my damn coat with you, though I can’t fathom what you like so much about it.”

Robin straightens her shoulders. “It has good pockets for tomes and other books,” she says brightly.

“You know how to sew,” Morrigan says. “You’ve plenty of coats of your own to add book pockets to.”

“But this one already has book pockets,” Robin says. “And I know it’s sturdy enough to take whatever I put it through.”

Morrigan shakes her head. “That damned coat will outlive us both if you’re not careful.”

“I’m careful, Mama.”

“Hm.” With that, Morrigan disappears into the bedroom, leaving Robin staring at the door that closes behind her.

The only sounds that follow come from beyond the windows and walls of the house. Robin sets the dishrag down and starts massaging her hand again.

“You know,” Lissa says faintly, “you really don’t have to come with us.”

Robin shakes her head. “I told you this would happen no matter what,” she says. “We argued before I left; we’d still be arguing if I came back alone. She’s just trying to protect me but I can’t just - hide here. Meeting you was - it’s safer for me to go with you than to go off alone again. And I probably would.” She reaches towards a chair but as she lowers herself, she ends up on the floor instead, her back resting against the leg of the table. “I feel like I have to go. But I can’t be angry at her. She just worries. She never wanted me to have to fight the way she did.”

“I would hope that most parents should feel the same,” Chrom says, and he thinks of the mess that his father left Emmeryn and hates him again for it.

Robin’s mouth twists into a grimace. Is it over her mother’s protectiveness, or is it a thought about another parent? What brought Morrigan into the mercenary life - what brought the two of them out of Ferox to Ylisse, alone, instead?

When Robin next speaks, she has more questions about Ylisse’s military situation, and they discuss that such situation until she retires to bed in the same room as her mother, leaving Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick to the open floor of the living area. “Better than the woods, right?” Robin asks Lissa with a wink.

“Yeah, Frederick,” Lissa says after Robin has gone. “You wouldn’t have trusted her and had us sleep in the woods.”

Chrom wakes in the morning just before dawn. Lissa is still asleep and the bedroom door is closed; Frederick is nowhere in sight, but from outside comes the sound of axe hitting wood. Chrom eases open the front door - its latch already lifted - and around the side of the house finds Frederick splitting more large logs from the firewood pile.

“I woke when Robin left,” Frederick explains. “She said that she intended to go hunting and chop more firewood for her mother before she left with us. I am simply providing my assistance, as thanks for allowing us to stay the night.”

“That’s kind of you, helping out even though you’re sure she’s going to turn around and stab us in the back,” Chrom says.

Frederick frowns at him. “I am not sure of any such thing, milord. I am cautious, as is prudent, but I always hope that my suspicions should be proven wrong.”

“Frederick?”

“Yes, milord?”

“I was teasing.”

Frederick continues to frown, as though the very concept of a joke eludes him.

Almost all of the wood has been cut down to size by the time Robin returns with a wild turkey slung over her shoulder. She grimaces at them as she approaches. “What are you doing?” she asks, as though the answer is not obvious as Frederick brings the axe down on a long branch. As though the idea of someone helping her is still so inconceivable. “I said I would handle those–”

“I was already awake and with idle hands,” Frederick replies. “This way we will sooner be able to leave for Ylisstol - and consider this our thanks for providing a place to stay the night, as well.”

This thoroughly practical explanation seems to appease her, and without further protest, she simply says, “Thank you.”

On returning inside, they find both Morrigan and Lissa awake - though Lissa is yawning a great deal - preparing breakfast. “I wondered if you had run off with my daughter and left me this one as a replacement,” Morrigan says gruffly.

“He’d regret it if he did!” Lissa huffs, staring pointedly at Chrom, though Morrigan’s you could refer to all three of them.

Morrigan’s attention turns to the turkey that Robin hands her. “Birdie, why were you out hunting?”

“I wanted to make it easier on you when I left,” Robin says. “So you won’t immediately have to go yourself.”

“I’m not infirm, you know,” Morrigan says. “Really now, worrying after me when you’re about to go marching off to battle.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m abandoning you–”

Chrom really, truly wishes that they wouldn’t start arguing again, but he suspects if he tries to intervene, they’ll both turn on him instead. Lissa’s shoulders slowly hunch up towards her ears, like a turtle retreating into its shell.

“Hell’s bells, girl, I know you better than to think that.” Morrigan sighs and shakes her head. Her tone has less bite than it did yesterday. “Even when you left without a damned note, I didn’t think you were abandoning me. You know what your problem is, birdie?” She smacks Robin’s shoulder with the back of her hand. “You keep looking back over your shoulder while you’re trying to march forward and you’ll get nowhere for it.”

“You’d really prefer I just go?” Robin asks, sounding confused and, even more than that, indignant. “Just leave without any thought to what I’ve left behind?”

“Well, I’d know that you have some confidence in the choice you’re making,” Morrigan says, “if you’re willing to burn your bridges behind you.”

“I’m plenty certain of my path, Mama,” Robin says. “Even without starting any fires.”

Morrigan huffs and turns away. “Then I suppose that will have to be enough.”

Chrom wonders what ashes Morrigan has left behind in her time.

Within an hour, they have eaten and prepared to leave. Robin has to be assured several times that Ylisstol has several libraries and large bookstores before she is willing to remove some of the books from her pack and trade them out for extra clothes. Morrigan watches silently, grumbling some answers only when Robin asks her which tomes she would rather keep here. Despite his time with Ricken and Miriel, Chrom doesn’t recognize any of the tomes; he can only guess, based on the magic she cast yesterday, that the two tomes Robin selects, each emblazoned with a yellow rune on its cover, are probably Thunder magic.

He pulls Lissa and Frederick outside soon after, to give Robin and Morrigan a private moment to say goodbye. It gives Frederick one last opportunity for questions as well: “Milord, you are certain?”

“I am,” Chrom says. “She went out of her way to help, at great risk to herself. My heart tells me we can trust her.”

“Your heart, yes; and what of your head?” Frederick asks.

“My head is telling me that this situation with Plegia will not be so easily solved,” Chrom says. “We can use the assistance of anyone willing to offer it.”

“I like her,” Lissa says. “I think she’ll be a great addition to the Shepherds! You worry too much, Frederick.”

“I find that I worry quite the proper amount,” Frederick replies, “given the circumstances.”

The door creaks open, and the object of one of those worries steps out onto the stoop. Morrigan clasps one of Robin’s hands between both of her own. “I know, Mama,” Robin says, exasperated, like she’s said it again several times already. “I know. But I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Hmph. I’ll just have to believe you, won’t I?” Morrigan pats Robin’s hand twice before releasing her, slowly, her bluster failing to mask her reluctance. “Goodbye, birdie. Don’t be a fool.”

“It’s not goodbye,” Robin says. “Ylisstol isn’t far. You know where to find us - and I’ll be home again, once everything’s calmed down.”

Morrigan shakes her head. “I don’t need you to home to stay. I just need you safe, wherever you are.” She turns her dark, piercing gaze over to Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick. “And I hope for all your sakes that I won’t hear that these skirmishes have turned to war.”

“The Exalt would say the same,” Chrom replies. And he - of course he doesn’t want war, either, but there well might come a time that these incursions turn to one, no matter what Ylisse - and Emmeryn - want. Emmeryn can hope, but Chrom has to prepare.

“Hmph.” Morrigan does not sound convinced, but she has not sounded particularly convinced by anything, especially not where the intentions of other people are involved. “But those fools in charge of Plegia hardly seem to agree, now do they?”

They call him the Mad King for a reason.

Robin steps back from Morrigan, slowly, and then another, until she stands with Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa. “I’m sorry I didn’t finish building the fence, Mama,” Robin says.

“Bah.” Morrigan waves a dismissive hand at her. The facade has sprung back up over the concern she showed mere moments ago. “If you apologize for everything you didn’t finish, you’ll be here all day. Get going, you fool girl. Stop looking back.”

“Yes, yes,” Robin says with a smile and a small laugh. “We’re going.”

“Thank you,” Frederick says, bowing to Morrigan, “for your hospitality. It is greatly appreciated.”

“Yeah, Chrom probably would’ve hunted us a bear to eat or something!” Lissa says. “Thanks for not feeding us bear!”

At that, Morrigan laughs, but it still sounds strained. Why wouldn’t it - she put these strangers up in her home and in return they stole her daughter from her. Chrom elbows Lissa, and to Morrigan, he says, “Thank you,” hoping she’ll understand that it is, really, about much more than the prospective bear meat.

He hunts normal animals, usually. Why does Lissa only remember when he brings down a bear?

“Bear’s not so bad,” Robin says, taking the lead out of the clearing to guide them back to the main road. The forest swallows them in an instant, the greenery pressing in on all sides. Robin weaves her way along a faint trail that Chrom can only see because he knows she’s following it; she stops and holds the branches of a bush back for Lissa to pass by.

“What?” Lissa says. “You’re crazy! No offense. I can’t believe we’ve let a lunatic join the Shepherds. We already have a lunatic leading us!”

“Very funny,” Chrom says, easing his way past Robin and waiting for her to resume her guidance.

But she stands there, eyes blank, and Chrom follows her gaze through the trees and the overgrown brush to catch a glimpse of the house out in the clearing, its front door already shut.

“Are you all right?” he asks.

She tears her eyes away and smiles at him. It looks strained at the edges, but the bright spark of confidence is back in her voice as she answers, “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

#i started this fic two years ago. pretty much right after i finished my first fic introducing robin's mom #since it got me thinking about how chrom/robin would've met in the original timeline/what was robin doing out in that field #when grima whacked them with amnesia.#and only now. have i finished the last third of this fic. i've had this sitting mostly done for like. a year.#roddy fanfics #fire emblem chatter tag #fe #fe awakening mamabird lore #anyway Yes the actual prologue of the game is titled 'the verge of history' everything i do with chrobin is carefully overthought #also i love to write my fics with robin or corrin where i specifically mention facets of their appearances that are #Not in line with the default appearance. i love this for me. robin has short hair that's not quite white. corrin has black hair. hell yeah.

10 notes · View notes

knockknockfan · 2 years ago

Text

Axeswap chapter 2 : Snowdin

Tonight Snowdin had a strong wind and it was getting dark. The powerful monsters out there will stop hunting and find a place to spend the night, this is a good opportunity for Aliza, she's not too weak but there's no guarantee she won't get hurt or die in a fight .Để tránh những kẻ thù nguy hiểm, tốt nhất bạn nên chọn những ngày có thời tiết xấu để ra ngoài

Aliza doesn't just go to the ruins looking for clothes, she wants to find supplies or food (although there isn't much food in there).She came there twice, the last time was 6 months ago that day the weather was the same .Uncle Paps always told Aliza never to let Sans and her go outside the wall of bones .But with the recklessness and rebelliousness of puberty, Aliza sneaks out a few times .Sans didn't know this, Paps found out the first time. It was he who saved her when Aliza got caught in a trap of some monster in Snowdin

Paps was really angry with her, but after that he didn't care anymore .And today he suddenly shared his experience with Aliza. This surprised her very much and she probably had a better relationship with her uncle .In her heart right now, she just wanted to bring back something useful to prove to Paps

Aliza put on her ski goggles and closed her window. Carefully paddle onto the roof, clinging to the chimney. Bring the binoculars over your face to see the area outside the wall

''Lapis as I guess there are no enemies here, it's time to lead the way, buddy''Aliza after checking she gave her friend directions

The moth flew in the direction of Aliza's finger pointing away from the fence ,Aliza jumps off the roof . She clung to a bone and quickly climbed up. The butterfly flew into the pine forest as if it understood what its friend meant. Aliza jumped from the wall clinging to a large tree branch and disappeared into the leaves

inside Papyrus's secret basement apartment

'' She's growing up so fast, she doesn't look like Sans at all. It's a lot like… her''Papyrus watched Aliza through the camera placed outside the house while his hand was still engrossed in the locket

A dark cellar in one corner of the room was brightly lit by Chara's wedding dress. Around the room were pictures of her, some of which featured Sans, Frisk and their friends. There is a regularly cleaned wooden shelf on which are tapes Chara filmed when she was alive (Chara's hobby is to go back to times that were deemed valuable to her, although some of them were some of them bullshit) next to it was her diary. Under the wooden shelf is a closet containing her clothes and personal items. Opposite the wedding dress is a large screen to observe the house, Frisk and Paps built it before she died.

In the corner of the room is a large screen that shows Sans sleeping soundly in the room, looking at him very comfortable this makes Paps happy.He turned off the camera. Revealing a cigarette from his pocket, he smiled faintly at his wife's wedding dress

''You know what, Chara. Sometimes I think if our baby were alive now he could be healthy and grow up like Aliza.''he took a deep breath and then exhaled white smoke

''That child… they can be as beautiful as you I can take care and protect them… a-and…''Paps lowered his head and began to cry, his mind confused. His heart feels like it's been stabbed by a knife, like a wound that's being salted

'' Chara , what should i do ?'' Right now he just wanted to leave behind and go to his wife. But then come back to reason and wipe away the tears and look at the pictures on the wall

Paps got up and walked over to the biggest picture of his family. He noticed the Sans n Frisk couple, he stared at the woman he hated the most and sighed.

''heh, this picture would be perfect without you. My brother really has no eyes"Paps sneered, walking away. He continued to talk

'''' shut up ! bonehead , you are the superfluous in this picture '' hehe .If you were still alive, you would say so. Am I right, Feak?''He imitated Frisk's voice and laughed

Paps put his hand on his chest trying to feel the soul inside him.'' As always, won't you speak up ?''

he sighed and dropped the potion on the floor . Looking at the clock, it's been 30 minutes since Aliza left. If you walk in this weather, you've already walked 1/3 of the way

''Your daughter, like a copy of when you were a child. Hateful, superior and selfish, but also smart and strong''he monologues, smirks walking towards the screen and turns on Sans's room camera

"It's fine, Frisk, you don't have to worry about Sans anymore, your daughter did a good job of it."Paps sat down on the wooden chair and watched his brother for a long time

outside of Snowdin

The moth that was flying fast through the trees suddenly stopped .The young girl jumped over the branches one by one in the strong wind. Stopped on the branch that Lapis clung to

'' huff…huff… are you okay Lapis, is it too cold? Or where are you hurt? Let's take a break."While asking about Aliza while breathing heavily. She shields her little friend from the wind

The motif on the moth's wings gives off a soft blue light. Lapis wasn't hurt, it just felt someone was calling

to be continued

I was going to talk more about Aliza's journey more. But spent too much on Pap, the next part will probably talk about Aliza's journey

axetale&axeswap by @bananafrappe-@azulandrojo

undertale by Toby fox

#axetale #axeswap #undertale #undertale au #aliza #lapis #papyrus #chara #sans #frisk #frans #frisk x sans #chara x papyrus

6 notes · View notes

bread-is-bread · 2 years ago

Text

You decide to ask for directions at the local mini marker.

As you enter the shop, you see a man well in his sixties behind the counter. He's wearing a cap, even though he is indoors, and he's playing with some prayer beads that he has in his hand. He seems surprised to see you but doesn't say anything, he just nods to greet you.

You wander around the shop for a bit, getting yourself some crackers and a bottle of water. When you bring your things to the register the rhythmic clank of the prayer beads stops.

"Συ δεν είσαι απ' τα μέρη μας ε;", he says under his thick mustache.

"Um... sorry! No Greek", you respond.

"Ah yes, you no from here ey?", he repeats in broken English.

"No, I'm a tourist. I'd like these please", you hand your things to him.

"Three euro fifty"

"There you go! Also, could you tell me how I can find Villa Marika?"

"You take that road straight ahead for fifty meter, turn right, and it's the third house on your left hand", he explains making exaggerated gestures.

"Thank you very much!", you say getting your things.

"Nothing!", says the man and waves at you smiling.

After a short walk you find the room. "Villa" is definitely not the right word to describe it, but the little white house with no roof and blue windows standing before you still seems cosy. A middle aged woman is watering the plants that are under the arbour. Their pots are probably too heavy to put them in the rain.

"You must be the booking I've been waiting for", she says when she sees you approaching, "I'm Marika"

...

Despite the humble exterior, Villa Marika has been beautifully decorated with old, traditional furniture. There's a chest of drawers with a mirror over it opposite the bed and the balcony door let's quite a lot of light in, despite the cloudy sky.

"All the furniture is vintage, this building has been owned by my family for generations", Marika says, "so please be careful not to do any damage"

"Of course", you say, putting your bags down.

When you're all alone again you change into some dry clothes and decide to have a snack. You try to open the packet of crackers that you got carefully, so that you don't get crumbs all over the floor, but at that moment thunder strikes, scaring you and you spill the crackers all over the floor.

While sweeping the broken crackers off the floor, you notice something taped under the drawers. You reach for it with your hand and you discover that it's a journal

What do you do?

#choose your own adventure #part 2

0 notes

namfinessed · 4 years ago

Text

a lil bad - m.yg.

genre: fluff, angst (11.3k) e2l

summary: you hate min yoongi the most so how the fuck do you end up in his tattoo shop? (fools!universe)

masterlist series masterlist

you don’t know how it happens in every single party, but you always end up next to yoongi, grumbling and complaining but still with him beside you and even after several incidents of pouring drinks on each other and pretending it was a mistake, or just plain insulting each other right to your faces, or ruining dates for the other by fake flirting, you always end up next to him.

you never really understood your hatred for min yoongi, but it’s always been there, whenever you see him, you always either leave the room to not be around him at all or you start bickering with him until the day ends, it’s usually always the latter, he knows just how to rile you up, he knows just what to say to piss you right off, and you always give in to his stupid arguments.

and apparently, even right now, with all your friends dancing and enjoying themselves, you stand in the corner while idly mixing your drink slowly, and it takes everything in you to not roll your eyes when yoongi catches your eye across the room and starts his making his way over to you.

“what are you doing here, doll?” he asks, hands in pockets, his ever-present smirk settled nicely on his face, the nickname that falls from his mouth makes you roll your eyes, he’s been calling you that forever, no matter how many times you’ve complained and hit him for it.

you notice his tattoos peeking from the collar of his leather jacket which mirrors the one on your body. it is hard to not do a full head to toe scan when yoongi manages to look this good even as he’s half drunk.

you hate him but you’re not blind, you know that he is attractive and he knows it too, he knows it all too well.

“none of your goddamn business, min yoongi, get back to your friends.” your bitter reply is no surprise to him and that becomes evident with how he laughs at you and pulls himself up on the table you were resting on, looking down at you with pure amusement dancing in his eyes.

“they’re shit drunk, and i don’t want to deal with anyone vomiting all over me” he shrugs as he takes another swig and you turn to look at his friends who were falling over each other and laughing for no reason at all.

somewhere in you, you know that he’s lying, he wouldn’t mind if his friends vomit over him, he wouldn’t care even when he’s going to be the one who will drive them home after this and make sure that they’re safe but yoongi doesn’t need to know that you know about him.

“such a good friend” you dryly muse and walk away from him, only for him to jump off the table and follow you, you stop in your steps and he does too, making you grit your teeth and look at him with an evident glare in your eyes.

“what do you think you’re doing?”

“none of your goddamn business, doll.”

yeah, you hate him. you take back every nice thought you’ve ever had about him.

he gives you an innocent smile and it takes everything in you to not strangle him. you swiftly turn the other way and speed walk till you’re outside the house, taking a deep breathe now that you’re free from the obnoxious people and music. just when you stretch your legs out to settle there for a bit, you see someone barging their way out, almost hitting your arm, you turn to curse them out just to see jimin come out from the same way, following the previous person.

you only know jimin because he works in namjoon’s bakery, and he’s in one of your classes, you’re friendly enough to greet each other but that’s it, so when you see him fighting with the person who barged out first, and the fight showing no signs of calming down, you roll your eyes at how stupid they sound, why can’t they just kiss already? you can literally feel the sexual tension in the air and they seem to be in absolute denial about it, but deciding that it was best to leave them alone, you unwillingly tip toe your way back into the house.

the party is still raging and loud and you can’t really distinguish who is who anymore, so you just push your way through the crowd, murmuring excuse me’s and curses to people who push you, only to find yourself in the living room where all your friends are gathered. they immediately perk up at your entrance, drunk smiles gleaming even in the darkness and you hate to admit that you sense some mischief in the air.

“i was looking for you, come here, sit down” jennie smiles as soon as she sees you and pats the seat next to her, you hesitantly sit and warily eye the bottle in the middle of the circle you’re sat at.

“what’s going on here?”

“we’re playing spin the bottle because we literally have nothing left to do” jisoo complains from opposite to you and you throw your head back with a groan, at the corner of your eye, you see yoongi walk in with his own friends and you don’t even want to look up again.

“how bored are you guys?” you complain but get comfortable in your seat anyway, it’s not like you were any less bored than they were.

“just say you’re too much of a wimp to play and leave already.” yoongi’s voice is crystal clear even with the loud music and everyone starts ooh’ing at his sentence, all of them were already used to your endless bickering and they always act like they know something you both don’t, you never cared enough to ask them anyway. you rolled your eyes before setting them on him with a bored expression.

“you’re still standing min yoongi, so who’s the real wimp here?” and now, everyone’s ooh’ing at you, he looks up at you with the same smirk that always annoys you and cocks an eyebrow before sitting directly in front of you, then pins you with only challenge clear in his eyes.

“okay, so the rules are pretty simple.” you look away from him and focus on listening to chaeyoung as she explains what exactly are the set rules.

“so when we spin the bottle, the people at the ends of the bottle either kiss each other or one of them gets to give a dare to the other, and the other cannot refuse” jisoo smiles at you as she plays with the bottle in her hand and you know what’s going on in her little head, she’s always been convinced that you have a crush on yoongi but you were close to vomiting on her when she told you that, she hasn’t backed down though and if you know her, she’s probably thinking this is some magical way to get you to kiss yoongi but you would jump into a well before that happens.

“the only person i want to kiss in this room is you” yoongi wears a wide, confident grin as he points to the random girl he’s been talking up since the beginning of the party and you watch with raised eyebrows as she blushes and buries her face into his shoulder.

poor girl, you wince to yourself.

and yoongi’s drinking up the affection, cooing at her and wrapping his arm around her shoulder, not letting her go even as the bottle spins speedily and lands on taehyung and some girl you’ve seen around the campus, you have never really looked at her but she does seem a little out of place in the party, and you make a note to yourself to talk to her later, you hate that feeling of being isolated and you wouldn’t want her to feel that way.

everyone watches them with excited and curious eyes, taehyung has a huge smile on his face as he wiggles his eyebrows at the girl who looks like she wants to run away, but then taehyung reaches over and whispers something into her ear and everyone erupts into cheers when he reaches for his hoodie on the floor and drops it on their heads, the hoodie comes off to reveal one flushed face and taehyung who is positively beaming. though the kiss is over, at least you assume it is over, everyone’s gaze lingers on the quiet girl who all but is biting on her lip and averting her gaze to the floor.

“stop making her uncomfortable and spin the bottle already” you say plainly as you leaned back on your hands, you could tell she wanted anything but attention, she just had a stiff posture and this was clearly new for her, so you decided to help her out. she flashed you a quick grateful look and you gently smile at her.

and the bottle kept spinning, most opted for the kisses, and each time someone would kiss, the entire room would be chaos, with people whooping and waving their hands, you bury your head into your hands each time that happens because you can’t believe most of these people are well in their 20’s and are still this excited over seeing their peers kiss but you enjoy the energy in the air, it’s familiar and being around your friends is something you’re always grateful for.

“wait wait yoongi didn’t spin the bottle” lisa points out along with chaeyoung and they both have happy smirks on their faces as everyone nods in agreement, soon cheering him on to spin it already and yoongi surrenders with raised hands.

the bottle spins and you hold your breath because you would do anything to not be at the other end of it.

you exhale in relief when it lands on who yoongi wanted it to land on, the girl who’s been around him all night, he just looks at her with a smile and she leans forward with sparkling eyes, and you look away just when the sound of smacking lips fills the air, immediately everyone starts shouting and that’s when you understand that maybe the kiss wasn’t innocent at all, you almost do a double take when you hear a silent moan in midst of all the chaos, looking back when the shouts die down to see the girls with pink cheeks and yoongi who had a proud smile on his face.

and you don’t know why, but at that moment, your annoyance for him touches the roof.

maybe because he was oozing confidence always?

maybe because it sounded like he was an incredible kisser?

maybe because he’s got someone blushing right next to him with just a kiss?

you don’t know and frankly you also don’t understand why you stand up from the circle right then, everyone’s eyes lands on you and you shift on your feet, you hate attention, and you particularly hate yoongi who immediately looks at you standing.

“i just need a refill, i will be back, you guys play” you gesture towards the kitchen and leave the living room with fast steps, you only let out a breath of relief once you’re in the kinda empty kitchen, it still has like 10 people but not one of them gives a fuck about you, which is exactly what you need.

you spot the tequila bottles but they are empty, making you groan out loud in frustration and you want to throw a chair into the window, because how the fuck do these people drink so fast? last time you were here, there were 10 huge, full bottles and they’re just gone now.

“fucking great” you mumble and squeeze your eyes shut as you lean back on the counter.

you don’t even want to go back to the circle and see yoongi’s face or the girl that he’s with who seems to blush about everything like who’s going to tell her that yoongi will probably drop her in a week?

you stomp your way back to the living room, and sit down with a huff, not looking at anyone, just letting the game continue around you and zoning out until someone asks you something.

your eyes don’t leave the bottle in the middle of the circle, staring as it spins and claims its victims, and you only snap out of your thoughts when jennie nudges you, you are a little startled when she pushes the bottle into your hand with a small smile.

“it’s your turn, spin it” she gently instructs, and you almost just want to cuddle her and go to sleep because she’s always been so nice to you and maybe it’s because you’re half-drunk and you’re mildly irritated by everything, but you feel so grateful to her soft voice.

but her words also make you pause, it’s your turn after god knows how many turns and you want to skip it, there’s no one in this room that you want to kiss.

“see, i told you, she’s a wimp” you glare up at yoongi as he stares you down, and with a grumble, you snatch the bottle from jennie’s hands and give it one rough spin. you silently pray that it lands on anyone but yoongi.

your heart almost pauses when it seems to slow down near yoongi, but then it tilts right at the last second, you feel lighter as you look up to see jisoo at the other end of the bottle, who has a cheeky smile on her face, you lean back with your won smile because you could just kiss her, it’s no big deal.

“so, kiss?” you raise your eyebrows at her and she narrows her eyes at you playfully, looking you up and down and you giggle at her fake horny expression.

“as much as i love kissing, i have a dare for you.” you eye her cautiously as she says this, why isn’t she just opting for the kiss?

“i’m not stripping down naked if that’s what you’re going to say” you deadpan, to lighten the tension in the room and everyone laughs, taking swigs of their drinks and someone yells party pooper.

“why can’t we just kiss and get it over with?” you whined when she stayed silent and jisoo shook her head happily as everyone’s ears and eyes focused on what would leave jisoo’s mouth, she smirks a little at their enthusiasm and your slightly scared expression.

“the dare is” she pauses for dramatics and you throw the bottle cap at her making her jump and giggle.

“okay okay, the dare is, you have to get a tattoo in yoongi’s shop by yoongi, he gets to choose which one too.”

she did not.

“i’m sorry, did i hear you right?” you leaned forward with a cocked eyebrow because jisoo wouldn’t do this to you.

right?

“i’ll go easy with the needle on you, doll” yoongi chuckles from his spot.

“shut the fuck up, min yoongi” you snarl at him and fix your gaze on jisoo again as she shrugs with a delighted smile on her face.

“hey, i could just kick you out from my store, you know that right?” you ignore his words with a roll of your tongue against your cheek and run a hand through your hair, this is far from how you wanted your night to go.

“are you going to back off from a dare, y/n?” chaeyoung raises her eyebrows at you and it feels like thye’ve definitely planned this shit from the start but the mocking in her tone doesn’t allow you to say no.

“fucking hell, i’ll do it.” you give in because again, you are never one to back off from a challenge. even if you’re really scared of needles, you can do this.

“who said i’m doing it for you?” he questions with narrowed eyes and everyone in the room breaks into scattered giggles.

“i’ll give you a month y/n, convince him and get it done.” jisoo says, triumph clear in her face and tone as she calmly hands the bottle to its next victim.

again, this isn’t how you wanted your night to go.

convincing yoongi, as it turns out, was the hardest thing you have ever tried to do, and you take history in college.

not only is he insanely stubborn, but it also feels like he seriously gets off from pissing you off every single time, because the minute you start to get somewhere with convincing him, he would say something stupid, you would curse him out and you’re back to square one with your mission.

it’s been a week since the party and you’ve got no progress on him.

“okay, i can do this, it’s just stupid yoongi” you encourage yourself lightly by tapping your shoulders in butterfly position, because there’s nothing else that calms you down from the inevitability of having to talk to him.

you’re not sure why you are doing so much for a dare, but it feels like this is the chance to prove to your friends that the only feelings you have for yoongi is hatred, you cannot have them thinking you like him when even the thought of him annoys you to the core.

but you’re still here, with a bag of tempura shrimp and fried rice because apparently that’s his favorite food, and as the old saying goes, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

now, if you were reached his heart, you would probably rip it out but you’re doing what you can to get the dare over with. you ring the bell and stand back, but nothing prepares you for the sight in front of you.

a girl in just a t-shirt, most probably yoongi’s, who’s definitely not his girlfriend.

didn’t they say the girl at the party became his girlfriend afterwards?

well, at least the girl looks just as surprised as you do, and she even starts getting teary eyed and that’s when you realized what this looks like, you brought him food, pretty early in the morning, you’re dressed up well because you just like to look good, and she could be assuming that she just slept with a taken man.

“doll, is that you?” yoongi’s voice comes from behind her and you grit your teeth in annoyance at his presence.

wait, where the fuck is his shirt?

you immediately avert your gaze from his bare skin and look at the girl in front of you who’s trembling, why the fuck did he call you doll with her right beside him?

“look, i know what this looks like but i’m not his girlfriend, i honestly hate him the most out of everyone i know, so you two are still fine, and gosh just wipe those tears please, i hate making people cry” you mumble the last part as the girl sniffles and nod while wiping the tears off her cheek, yoongi coos behind her and gives her a small kiss to the top of her head which makes her grin again.

he has a girlfriend, what is he doing?

you try so hard to hide the deep scowl on your face as you watch the sickeningly sweet exchange in front of you and tap your feet impatiently as you wait for them to finish.

“come in” yoongi says simply and disappears down the hallway with the girl, and you step in sheepishly, you look around the apartment and it’s surprisingly cleaner than you thought it would be, not knowing what to do with both of them gone, you enter the kitchen and plop down on a stool.

“i’ll call you later okay” you hear yoongi whisper and you slam your head on the table in front of you because that is a very sad attempt at a whisper, his whisper is loud as fuck, and it travels all the way to you, and you’re not a liar, his voice sounds hot, it’s husky, low and if someone whispers to you like that, you know that you will melt into a puddle.

you also hear the loud smack of a kiss and it takes everything in you to keep your ass planted on the stool and not run away from here.

the girl appears near the doorway of the kitchen and gives you a bright and happy wave, you wave back at her because as much as her tears surprised you, she still seemed friendly.

“so, what’s in that bag?” yoongi walks into the kitchen, thankfully with a shirt on, and you place the bag on the counter, not saying anything and letting him look through by himself.

“tempura shrimp and fried rice, are you trying to get me to ask you out?” yoongi chuckled as he pulled out the boxes and you frown at his statement.

“don’t flatter yourself” you mumble and pick your phone up to scroll as he sits down to eat, you notice him place a plate in front of you and look up in confusion.

“go on, serve yourself, i’m not doing that for you.” he gestures to the boxes with a wave of his hand.

“this is for you, more precisely for the tattoo.”

“i know doll, just eat the food.” if you aren’t wrong, you can hear some disappointment in his voice and he doesn’t even look at you as he says that, so you just shrug and take a box to fill half your plate with the food and continue to glance at him weirdly from time to time.

this feels strangely domestic, there is nothing but silence as you two eat but for once, you don’t want to strangle him to death, he doesn’t say shit to piss you off either, and the silence is comfortable, you thought it would be awkward to be in his apartment but you don’t feel that way at all.

“i’m still not doing your tattoo” yoongi says and the door shuts in your face as you stand outside his apartment with mouth agape and slumped shoulders.

then why was he being all nice just 10 minutes ago?

you kick the door with your foot and huff out in frustration because you really cannot think of anything else that could convince him.

what are you going to do now?

what could you possibly do now?

wait a minute.

his girlfriend.

“jisoo, are you sure that the girl from the party is still his girlfriend?” you almost yell into the phone to try and make your voice heard even with the loud traffic beside you and jisoo winces from the sound.

“yes, i’m sure, she was bragging about it in class today” you can hear how annoyed jisoo sounds though the phone and bingo!

you know just how to get yoongi to do your tattoo.

you get drowned in your own assignments the following week and don’t bother to look for yoongi, and honestly, you forget about the dare until your dear friends remind you at lunch when you were just trying to peacefully eat your food.

and you don’t even see yoongi around the campus anymore, he doesn’t even show up to the one class you have in common, but his attendance is obviously taken care of because of his friends who work in student council, you’re not going to lie, you are jealous of that, you would kill to miss some classes and still have your attendance intact.

“hey seokjin, wait up!” you spot yoongi’s friend down the hallway and you don’t really care that you literally look like a homeless person with your hoodie and loose shorts, you didn’t run all the way across campus to care about how you look, you need to know where the fuck min yoongi is so you can blackmail him and just finish the dare.

“hello y/n” he faintly smiles while sipping his coffee, how does he still look good when he’s tired though? if it weren’t for the fact that he was taken, you would definitely try to get with him but your chance is over. you feel a little self-conscious with your less than appropriate outfit and his polished look, but that shouldn’t be your concern right now.

“where is yoongi? he hasn’t been coming to classes.”

“why do you want to know? don’t you hate him?” he narrows his eyes at you and you slump a little, how many people knew of the fact that you hate each other? it’s not like you can blame them, you both fight in full parties, word is bound to travel.

“i do, i just have something to ask him.”

“is it really important?” he fixes you with a more serious look and you almost feel nervous before clearing your throat and nodding fiercely.

“yes, it is.”

“he’s been hanging out at our friend’s music studio for a while now, you can find him there, i’ll text you the address” and with that, jin blends into the crowd of people around you while you stay frozen.

what does yoongi do in a music studio? you wonder silently with your head tilted as you walk to your next class.

maybe you don’t know him as well as you thought you did.

the music studio wasn’t too far away your campus, and you could walk there even with your heavy backpack, you huff once you reach the run-down building, staring at it with curiosity filled in your eyes.

you definitely didn’t know anything about yoongi and music, sure you knew that he was a phenomenal piano player and also that he was very shy about it, you’ve only ever seen him play once and it was only because he was pretty drunk then.

you look around to try and find the room that jin told you about, brushing past several strange looking men but they are the least of your worries, you have dealt with idiots all the time at the bar and in parties, you will beat someone up if they mess with you.

“doll, what the fuck are you doing here?” you hear his irritated voice and silently heave out in relief because you immediately feel safer than you did just a minute ago.

“i should be asking you that.” you look at him with raised eyebrows and watch as he runs a hand across his face exasperatedly, only to march over to you, grabbing your wrist and dragging you with him.

if it were any other man dragging you around like this, you would break their wrist but this was yoongi, you trust yoongi, and as much as you hate him, you know yoongi would never hurt you.

he pushes the two of you into a room and closes the door behind him, you immediately snatch your wrist from his grip and rub at the spot he gripped too hard.

“okay, you didn’t have to do that.” you mumble while massaging your sore wrist.

“what are you doing here?” he doesn’t hesitate to jump right into it.

and you want to bring up his girlfriend but he looks pretty annoyed, you’re not sure if this is the time to push his buttons even more.

“i just, i was around but the real question is, what are you doing in a music studio?” you throw the question back to him and quickly scan the room you’re in right now, there’s a sound system, a keyboard, some speakers lying around and other equipment you know nothing about.

“i don’t have to tell you that” he deadpans and you retaliate a little, your posture faltering at his firm tone because while yoongi has always been rude to you, there’s a certain coldness to his voice right now that you just don’t recognize.

“you’re right, you don’t.” he really doesn’t. and now, everything you’ve done looks stupid to you, like taking food to his home and meeting some random girl, chasing seokjin on campus even when you don’t have any familiarity with him just to find about yoongi and even refusing to back down from a dare that you could just deny.

you don’t think you’re doing this for the dare anymore.

yoongi sighs when he sees your rigid posture and head hung low because damn it, he feels bad for being mean to you and he never feels bad about being mean to you, being mean to you just comes naturally to him but you just look so small right now, the air of pride and arrogance that you usually carry isn’t around you anymore and yoongi doesn’t know what to do.

“how did you find out?” he asks finally, taking a seat near the equipment and you don’t want to tattle on jin but you have no choice.

“just asked around.” you still tried to cover up jin’s name and yoongi raises his eyebrows at you like he doesn’t believe you.

“fine, seokjin told me” you squeeze out and you just hope that jin isn’t the type to hold grudges.

“you really went all the way to jin to ask about me?” jin is across campus from you, which explains why you don’t know him all that well but you did find out where jin is, just to ask him about yoongi.

but yoongi doesn’t need to know about that.

“don’t think too much about it, i had a class on that way.” you stubbornly lie through your teeth.

“no, you don’t” yoongi spins around in his chair to gather some notes in front of him.

“what?”

“you don’t have a class that way y/n, we both know that.” how the fuck does he know that?

“why didn’t you just ask me? or come to my apartment? you’ve already been there and i truly don’t understand why you went all the way to jin to ask about me.” yoongi’s words are softer, a lot less cold than before, and a lot more like the yoongi you know. which causes the return of your unfaltering confidence.

“i don’t know your number, and i didn’t want to intrude on you in your apartment again.” you answer honestly.

“but you think it’s okay to intrude on me in my studio?” the mocking in his tone doesn’t go past you and for a second, you don’t know what to say but if you’re talented in anything, it has to be the fact that you’re insanely good at changing subjects.

“speaking of the studio, what are you even doing in this studio? don’t you have a tattoo shop to take care of?” you huff and sit down on a nearby stool. you know that you’ve done a wonderful job at changing the topic because yoongi stills in his seat, not a sign of movement from him.

“or you know, just don’t tell me i guess” you add with a petty tone which has him sighing once again and turning in his seat.

“you’re really pushing the limit here, doll.” it sounds like he’s warning you but you have never been one to give a shit about his warnings.

besides, you always thought you knew yoongi, like really know him and as it turns out, you know nothing at all which has you craving to know everything.

“haven’t i always done that?” you flutter your eyelashes at him dramatically which draws a small smile on his face, it’s a rare smile, you’ve only ever seen him smile like that with his friends or when he’s flustered.

interesting.

“fine, i will tell you” you immediately jump in your place, leaning forward to listen with the utmost attention, eyes wide open and lips pursed because you can’t believe mysterious man of the campus (he gave that title to himself last year) is finally opening up to you.

“you can’t tell anyone else, you have to promise me that” the seriousness in his voice tells you he’s definitely not joking around anymore and you aren’t going to do that either, so you sit up straight and nod obediently.

“my tattoo shop, to put in one way, was a rushed decision doll, i don’t know why i thought it would be a good idea but i thought as long as it brought in money for me, i don’t have to worry about anything else but i was wrong. i was so wrong.” admitting his mistake to you, his enemy basically, takes a lot of courage and you can’t help but feel a little touched that he shared it with you. and that he’s willing to share more.

“the income was great, but it isn’t where my heart is at, you know? even the course in college right now, i don’t feel anything towards it but music, ah music makes me feel everything i’ve ever wanted to feel.” yoongi doesn’t know why he feels so comfortable telling you all this when all your previous conversations have been catty comments to each other but when he looks at you listening to him sincerely, he feels like he can tell you anything.

“you probably know that i play the piano?” you nod enthusiastically, finally it was something you knew about him.

“yeah i do, you’re good even when you’re drunk.” you beam at him and he laughs at the stupid grin on your face.

he feels like he’s the teacher here and you’re the teacher’s pet.

but he knows if he says that out loud, you will probably kick him in the leg. and yoongi hates bruises so he shoves that happy thought to the back of his head, he will laugh about it to himself later.

“i’ve been writing songs forever now doll, and i’m finally getting somewhere with it, i’m going to hand over the tattoo shop to my sister and jungkook who are more passionate about it than i will ever be.”

he looks regretful almost, like he started something he couldn’t finish but you see yoongi in a new light now, writing songs, producing music, it isn’t child’s play, you know that a lot goes into putting your emotions into words and you admire yoongi for how honest he was with you even if he didn’t have to be.

“and focus on music full-time?” you ask gently and he nods.

“that is the plan, yes.”

so, this could be why he shut the door on your face even after the tempura prawns and fried rice, he’s going to stop working at the shop soon.

“isn’t jungkook that guy who is friends with jimin?” you distinctly remember jungkook’s name from somewhere but you can’t remember where you’ve seen him.

“yeah, they work at namjoon’s bakery together.” yoongi provides you your answer easily and you snap your fingers, you saw jungkook when you went to get a muffin from namjoon, he told you he would give you a discount and you couldn’t say no to that.

“that’s where i saw him, i remember now.”

yoongi stays silent, drumming his fingers against his leg and thinking by himself, he looked insanely attractive even with that stressed look on his face, he’s even wearing torn jeans today for heavens’ sake and you feel a little hot, you pick at your collar to try and cool your warming body down.

you can’t let him know the effect he has on you.

“you don’t have to worry about me telling anyone, i won’t. your secret’s safe with me” you smile at him and he gives you a grateful look before rubbing his palms on his legs, he doesn’t know what to say anymore and he feels weird just leaving himself completely vulnerable to you but yoongi trusts you, he might hate you but he still trusts you to not be that cruel.

“so, what did you come here for?” he asks, leaning back on his chair and you freeze.

how are you going to tell him that you came all the way here just to blackmail him after he’s told you his passion-filled story?

“it’s nothing important, don’t even worry about it” you wave your hand dismissively with a nervous chuckle leaving your lips and like always, yoongi doesn’t believe you.

“it must have been pretty important if you ran to jin to ask him where i am” he points out and you hate that he’s right.

“it is not important at all.” you lamely respond and yoongi cocks his eyebrow before leaning over and grabbing your stool and pulling him towards you, so that you’re face-to-face with each other.

your heart literally stops beating when his eyes meet yours, his are filled with steely determination and you’re sure that your eyes have wimp written all over them, just what yoongi always called you and it doesn’t help that you can’t think with his breath fanning over your face in hot flashes.

“i-i told you, it’s not important” you whine lightly and yoongi has an easy grin on his face because of your stutter.

“just say it, doll.” the command in his tone is really something you can’t ignore, because not only does it make you shiver, but it also puts you on autopilot to do what he asks.

“i know that the girl that you were with, in your apartment the other day, isn’t your girlfriend” you breath out and your heart returns to its pace when yoongi lets your stool go with a frown.

“girlfriend?”

“your girlfriend is the one from the party so i’m saying that i know you’re cheating on her with that other girl.” you don’t know why you keep talking but you do, you wish you would shut up already because yoongi finally isn’t that much of a mystery anymore and blackmailing him will just put his walls up again, but you don’t shut up.

“what are you trying to do, y/n?” with the lack of his usual nickname, the sentence seems colder, just like the tone he used when you first walked in.

and that’s when you know that any and all progress you’ve made with him is gone in the dust, you think might as well just destroy it all while you’re at it.

“i will keep my mouth shut near your girlfriend if you just finish my tattoo” you have never felt more stupid in your life, because you’re doing all this while you’re fully conscious, at least when you’re drunk, you have an excuse.

“so, you would tell on me if i didn’t do that tattoo for you?” you feel even more like an idiot when he puts it that way but you remind yourself pathetically that you hate him, and you don’t care what he thinks of you, so you nod a simple yes.

“wow doll, you play a nice game, huh?” he chuckles darkly as he throws his head back and you know that while his words might be funny, his tone and expression are anything but.

you shouldn’t feel guilty about this but you do, there’s this sinking feeling in your chest that whatever you’re doing right now, is not worth it.

just when you open your mouth to take back the words you’ve said and apologize and reassure him that you see him with more respect now, that his story and secret will forever be safe with you, that you admire his passion, you don’t get the chance to when yoongi shuts you up with his.

“fine, i’ll do your stupid tattoo, now get out of my studio.” your heart sinks at his blunt words and he says them while not looking at you at all, you know that you deserve it though which is why you shamefully nod and turns towards the door, leaving him alone in his studio again.

the next few days are a blur, and you’re back at some stupid party.

you needed to forget.

but as much as you tried to push yoongi away from your thoughts, there’s this nagging feeling that claws at you, you don’t understand why you feel as guilty as you do, but it doesn’t go away, it increased each time he saw you in campus and turned his head away like you were nothing to him.

and you hate that you’re nothing to him, you were at least an enemy before but now, he disregards you so easily.

why do you want to be something to him?

you aren’t stupid enough to bring up the tattoo though, you just figured you would give him the chance to tell you or just not get it at all, you are not going to run your mouth again.

“oh, jin’s here, did you hear about his girlfriend? i heard she’s trouble” you hear someone mumble next to you, and you immediately look up to see yoongi with jin and some other friends you don’t recognize, he doesn’t see you though and you want to hide away, you don’t want to see him just yet.

you duck your head low, clutching your red solo cup in your hand and moving away from his line of sight, the only place you know that is safe from everyone in this party is the balcony upstairs so you inform your friends that you’re going to get some air and leave.

as soon as you open the door, you welcome the fresh air that greets you, the night is especially cold and windy but you love it, you just tug your leather jacket closer and lean your body on the railing as you think back on everything that’s been happening.

why did you open your mouth in the studio?

why did you go to the studio at all?

why are you so desperate to prove your friends wrong?

maybe your friends were right? that can’t be though, you don’t like yoongi that way. or at least, you don’t know if you do.

you bite your lip once you feel tears of frustration pooling in your eyes because you brought this on yourself and you don’t even understand why you are so mad about this like yoongi used to mean nothing to you or did you just think he meant nothing to you?

you really want to call off the dare because at this point, it’s gotten too far.

“it’s freezing here, come back in.” you stiffen at the sound of yoongi and don’t even turn around, you just wish he goes away because of how you’re ignoring him. you hear steps and you almost sigh in relief, thinking that he left but when the steps keep getting louder, you turn around confusedly only to see yoongi walking towards you. he reaches where you stand as you hold your breath and he just looks at you while you look away with flushed cheeks.

“this isn’t the time to be stubborn doll, just come in.” he lightly scolds you and you huff out in frustration.

“why don’t you go in?” you snap, finally looking at him and almost instantly shrink back down because you’re really in no position to give him an attitude. yoongi clenches his jaw, trying hard to mask his annoyance because he doesn’t understand why he can’t get his feet to just move and leave you alone like you clearly want him to.

“i told you i will do the damn tattoo, why are you still being a bitch?” his words are like a harsh slap to your face, does he really think you’re still going on about the tattoo?

“this isn’t about the fucking tattoo, yoongi!” you yell at him, throwing your hands in the air and running a hand though your hair, almost pulling too harshly at the roots.

“then what is it about?” he crosses his arms over his chest, taking more steps towards you and looks at you sternly, and you don’t know what to tell him.

“you won’t understand” you shake your head pathetically, now even more confused with the close proximity you two shared but yoongi doesn’t move, he stays right where he is, so close to you that you feel dizzy.

“you don’t know that” he fires back and up close, you can see his frown getting deeper. the tension in the air is high and both of you are breathing heavier than necessary and your eyes stay glued on each other, if you moved a little more, you would be fully leaning on him and even from your position, you can feel his body heat.

“i used to think you meant nothing to me and all you’ll ever be is someone who will drive my nail to the wall, but turns out, i was fucking wrong about that, i was wrong and i can’t stand being nothing to you and you definitely don’t mean nothing to me anymore, and i don’t even know why i’m telling you all of this when you obviously don’t give a shit.” you hold your gaze as you try to put your emotions into words, it’s a mess but you feel lighter, things are ruined anyway and all you want to do right now is pull him close to you and just hold him all night even as you’re yelling at him, as fucked up as that sounds.

“do you really want to know what’s going on?” your voice is reduced to a mumble as your eyes shift from his eyes and move towards his lips, his gaze travels with yours and his eyes land on your lips too, and before he could let another breath out, you pull his collar to you and tilt your head to meet his lips.

yoongi responds immediately, his hands snaking around your waist to squeeze your hips and pulling you closer till your chest met his, as your fingers tangle themselves in his hair, tugging lightly, just enough to make him groan lowly, and the sound sends a shiver down your body.

neither of you pull apart for air, just letting yourself getting lost in him, in the taste of him that you’ve been unknowingly chasing for so long, and every touch he leaves on your body feels like a trail of fire that burns bright.

kissing yoongi was probably the best thing you’ll ever experience in your life.

and you’re scared to pull away because you know that nothing will ever be the same again, you just want to stay in this moment for as long as you can, forever if you can, avoid reality for as long as you can.

but of course, not all of your wishes come true.

you eventually push lightly at his chest to gasp for air, fingers curling around his shirt, you don’t want to let go and he leans his forehead on yours, breathing heavily as well, his eyes are tender as they watch you catch your breath, his hands leave your hips and gingerly reach out to tuck your hair back into place, all while his eyes never leaves yours and everything feels so intimate and delicate, like it’s just you and him in this night, every sound, anyone else are all white noise.

“yoongi” you mutter as you slip your fingers away from his hair and he shakes his head, taking your hand in his and holding it to the side of his face.

“please don’t say anything” there is pleading in his tone, a wish that you owe him for all the times you’ve fucked up so you do as he says, you let him caress your hands as his forehead never leaves yours, but he isn’t looking at you anymore, you don’t complain though because this way, you can look at him all you want and he will never know.

but after a while of just letting the wind embrace you two, you decide that you can’t live in this feeling forever, especially when everything feels so confusing and neither of you have a clue about what is going on, the only thing you know is that you’re in each other’s arms and that’s it, that’s all you know.

and that’s not enough.

“yoongi, your girlfriend” you whisper painfully, your heart is caught in your throat when his fingers pause on your skin, slowly retracting back to himself and he leans away from you, hands still loosely gripping your fingers, you already miss his warmth enveloping you. but you can’t be selfish, it’s no longer only both of your hearts that are involved.

“we can’t do this.” you pull yourself away from him and wipe the corners of your eyes that almost leak your tears, yoongi doesn’t say anything, but his silence is his surrender to the situation, you take his silence to be his agreement with you, that this isn’t okay.

taking his silence and compliance as your answer, you leave before your heart breaks even more than it already has.

you walk around like a breathing shell around the campus, regretting nothing and everything at the same time.

you don’t regret kissing yoongi, you don’t think you ever will but you regret how it happened, you regret the situation you put the two of you in.

but he kissed you back, that’s what confuses you the most, you fully expected him to tear away from you and curse at you while wiping his lips but he didn’t, he kissed you back, like actually pulled you closer till you couldn’t feel anything but him.

you want to ask him why he did that, but you can’t. you can’t look at him without feeling complete humiliation because you might have just been another girl for yoongi, another girl for him to cheat on his girlfriend with and you feel…worthless.

and you also broke girl code, something you firmly believed in, or at least used to believe in, you want to talk to his girlfriend and tell her so that she won’t be constantly lied to but you also don’t want to get involved with yoongi again.

you push your books away with a groan and throw your pen on the desk you’re sat on; you can’t concentrate for shit and you really just want to disappear for a few days. when your phone dings, you almost throw it out the window because you told your friends that you needed space after they saw you looking dull at the party and you aren’t in the mood to party and forget even if that sounds lovely.

you grab your phone with a frown and squint at it when the bright light blinds you for a second, you curse yourself and reduce the brightness to see a message from an unknown number.

from: xxxxxxx

tomorrow, 9 in the morning, get the tattoo done or forget about it.

you just stare at the screen for a few minutes, it’s definitely him, even through the text messages, you know that it’s him, and he’s offering to do the tattoo? even after everything?

it isn’t right to go for it but you’ve got a dare to finish, right?

genius lab ended up being so far away from your apartment, that by the time you got to the front of it, you were heaving like a pregnant women, and you heavily grasp the handle of the shop, pulling it open with all the strength you have left. you stumble in to see a pretty empty shop, it is a working day so that isn’t a surprise, you wipe the sweat off your forehead as you look around for yoongi.

what are you even going to say?

‘hello, the kiss was great and i still feel weak from it but let’s forget that happened because that basically was just you cheating on your girlfriend?’

that doesn’t sound right.

“y/n, right?” you look up to see a younger, handsome man at the counter.

“jungkook?” he smiles and nods his head, extending his hand towards you, you shake it with a smile of your own and you really shouldn’t be smiling, considering your situation but jungkook has a very infectious aura, very bright and filled with joy.

you like him already.

“yoongi hyung is in the back room, he told me to tell you to go there” he gestures towards the other end of the room and you want to turn and run away from here, because as far as you can tell, the back rooms are private places meaning it’s just going to be you and yoongi.

your original plan was to look at other customers as you get yours done but how can you look at anything in a room if yoongi was going to be the only person in there?

“is that so? then i’ll get going in there, good luck here jungkook” you give him a nervous smile and he beams at you with a nod, eyes shining and you coo at how adorable he looks before you take a deep breath to calm yourself and slowly walk towards the room.

you’re only here for the tattoo and nothing else, you won’t talk with yoongi at all or even look at him, just let him do the tattoo and leave.

there you go, perfect plan.

you push against the door with your hip, peeking in to see yoongi with his back to you and you take a quick step back, clutching your hand on your racing heart, you haven’t even seen him fully but you’re not sure if you can stop yourself from lunging at him.

“are you just going to stand there, doll?” just as you’re about to tip-toe your way out of the tattoo shop and hopefully move to a remote island where you don’t have to worry about anyone, yoongi calls you out, with his back still to you.

how did he even know that you were there?

you clear your throat a little and step into the room, the walls are white and there’s a few boards filled with drawings here and there, and then there is yoongi who apparently has decided to wreck you by wearing torn jeans and a black hoodie.

the outfit isn’t special by any means but you already feel weak in the knees.

you decide to walk over to him with your knees still wobbly and your breath shakier than it was and look over his shoulder to see him working on a tattoo design, probably yours, you lean over to see it properly and gasp at the delicate baby’s breath drawing, your favorite flower.

“i didn’t draw it, my sister did” he mumbles as continues tracing it carefully.

“your sister is talented” you say honestly and he hums in agreement.

okay, so you two are going to act like yesterday didn’t happen, you can definitely go along with that.

“stop loitering doll, just sit down on the chair” he can’t focus when you’re walking around him with big, curious eyes and a small smile dancing on your lips, and he feels bad when you sigh in disappointment and silently walk to the big chair in the middle of the room.

but he can’t do anything about it, he expected you to be your usual self and fire back at him but you didn’t and he doesn’t have a good feeling about that.

he heads over to the chair with the tattoo design ready in his hands, he instructs you to lay down and makes sure you’re fully comfortable and his side keeps pressing against your body as he leans over to prepare things for the tattoo and it takes everything in you to not kiss him again. so, you keep yourself busy, fiddling with the hem of your shirt.

“you’re going to have to look at me if we’re doing this, y/n” he says and you lift your gaze to see him looking at you with a face you can’t read or decipher but you hold his stare as he circles around you to flicker some lights on you.

“where do you want the tattoo?” he asks, pushing his sleeves up, to reveal scatters of small tattoos all over his arms and you gulp at the visible veins on his hands.

“i get to choose?” you raise your eyebrows and he shrugs.

“well, it’s your body doll, i think it was cruel enough to make you do this, so yes, you do.”

you do know where you want to get it, you always thought that if ever, one day, you decide to be brave and get a tattoo, there’s one spot you’ve wanted it to be but you’re not sure if yoongi will be okay with it.

do you really want to push your luck here?

“are you sure you’re comfortable with anywhere?” you decided to ask him and he frowns at you like there’s an obvious answer.

“yes, that’s my job.”

“right” you purse your lips and nod as he looks at you expectantly.

“i want it on the side on my waist” you whisper and yoongi drops his head with a chuckle.

“doll, do you want to kill me?” and your face heats up at his tone and at the way he looks up with a smirk, nodding while putting on his gloves.

“then you will have it on the side of your waist, you have to push your shirt up by a lot, like right under your bra and hold it there, understood?” you do a double take at his straightforward tone, like talking about your bra is totally normal but you just bob your head hastily and agree to whatever he’s saying, trying to not make a big deal out of it but you’re sure that your red face is a dead giveaway.

“okay, lay on your side” he places his hand on your shoulder and gently pushes you back on the reclined seat, and you huff deeply because it’s only now dawning on you that you’re getting a tattoo done by yoongi, it’s going to be on your waist and you feel stupid for not just going for your arm. you stiffen under him and watch with wide eyes as he places the needles on the table, those look painful and you’re genuinely terrified now.

“scared of needles?” you nod numbly to his question, squeezing your eyes shut and trying to get rid of the image of those needles.

“it’s whatever, it’s fine” you breath out but your body definitely gives you away, your hands are shaking and you’re sure that you feel dizzy.

“doll, take it easy, it’s going to be over in no time and just remember to breath properly during it” when he gets no response from you, and your eyes are still closed, he realizes how scared you are.

“you want me to distract you?”

“please.” you mumble and he wordlessly lifts your shirt for you because you don’t look like you’re going to move but he keeps his eyes on your face while he does that, carefully tucking your shirt under your arm to keep it from moving away and if you weren’t as scared as were right now, you would have noticed the goosebumps that rise everywhere his touch reaches.

he gently holds your shirt in place and places the drawing on your skin, putting it flat and rubbing it slowly so that it would transfer well, and you feel weirdly hot, he’s just doing his job but you really want to just grab him and take him right there.

“okay, i will draw over this and then we will get to the actual tattoo” you actually shiver a little when you feel one of his hands tracing the design and the other slightly pulling on your skin so that it stays taut and you don’t know why the fuck you agreed to this because you’re clearly suffering here.

“what do you think of weird food combinations?” he suddenly asks once he’s done with the tracing.

“some are alright, i guess” you answer and then you hear the sound of the drilling needle causing you to let out a low whine and bury your face into the seat you’re lying on.

you should have stayed home, even the sound is freaking you out.

“which ones, according to you, are acceptable?”

“i don’t think mint chocolate is as bad as people make it out to be.” he scoffs at your response, making you frown.

“what is your problem?” you snap at him and yoongi smiles because you’re finally talking to him like you always do, he would recognize that tone of yours anywhere.

“mint chocolate is horrible, doll, i thought you had taste.” he clicks his tongue at you and you immediately go on a rant about how mint chocolate is too hated of a flavor and that at the end of the day, it’s just food and everyone has different tastes.

somewhere in the middle of your rant, yoongi looks at you fondly, you’re always so passionate about everything, even the simplest things, you make it sound and feel like how music affects him, and just as you’re almost done with your rant, he presses the needle on your skin making you yelp and you would’ve jumped and ended up scarring your skin if it weren’t for his hands holding you down.

this hurts this hurts this hurts.

it’s all you can think of as he slowly moves the needle around, looking at you every once in a while to check if you’re okay.

“i never got to tell you this but i think you following your passion with music is really cool and i really respect you for that, i hope you know that i will always support you on it.” you breath out quickly and if you weren’t here, yoongi would’ve cried because he appreciates your words so much, he pats your head in thanks, mumbling how grateful he is and it’s delicate, just like your first kiss.

it doesn’t last long though.

“you know, a food combination i like is french fries and vanilla ice cream.” your mouth drops open at his words, that sounds nasty as hell.

“why are you looking at me like that?” he laughs at your scrunched up face.

“what the fuck do you mean by french fries and vanilla ice cream?” you practically growled at him while looking at him with pointed eyes, can this tattoo be done anytime soon?

“don’t say shit when you haven’t tried it.” he smirks at your annoyed expression and you just glare at him.

“i don’t have to try that monstrosity to know that it tastes like trash.” you snap at him with raised eyebrows and just when he is about to reiterate with another comment, you unconsciously move, you hear him tut and hold you back down with a strong grip.

“sit still doll, or i might just drive this needle into your nerves and leave you paralyzed for life.” you know his warning doesn’t mean shit but you stay silent and stop moving anyways.

wait, you haven’t felt pain for the past five minutes, and you realize it’s because yoongi distracted you, he could’ve just done his job and leave you to suffer alone but he didn’t, and your heart swells a little.

that was sweet of him.

“how did you know that i like baby’s breath?” yoongi pauses with the needle but then continues like nothing happened at all.

“asked around” he casually replies and you roll your eyes, of course he would say that.

“yoongi, we need to talk about what happened in the party” you nervously but finally address the elephant in the room, biting your lip once the pain increases again.

“when i have a needle in my hand, really?” he looks up with an exasperated expression and you nod.

“with a needle in your hand, yes.”

“doll, all i’ve got to say is, i don’t know why you think i have a girlfriend” he laughs a little as he continues moving the needle against your skin.

wait what?

“what?”

“wait a second, your tattoo is almost over” you let him finish up while you are lost in your own thoughts, you are once again confused about everything and you don’t even feel the pain anymore, he places a patch over the tattoo after you get a look of it and you have to admit, he might not have passion in this but he’s surely talented.

he helps you sit up slowly, holding both of your hands firmly and pulling you forward till your legs almost wrapped themselves against his waist, he doesn’t let go of your hands though.

“i don’t have a girlfriend, and the only reason i let you go that night was because you didn’t look like yourself, i didn’t want to take advantage of you when you were that emotionally vulnerable, i don’t think i’ve ever seen you that dull.” he speaks sincerely and you know that he’s honest but you’ve still got so many questions.

“so, what about the girl from the previous party? the one where we played spin the bottle?”

“she wasn’t my girlfriend, i didn’t even sleep with her that night.” he shook his head as he said it and you narrow your eyes at him.

“well, she doesn’t know that because she’s bragging to everyone that you’re her boyfriend” you poke a finger at his chest accusingly and he chuckles.

“let her, i know who’s i want to be and it’s not her” your cheeks flush when he looks at you pointedly as he says that, you clear your throat and sit up straighter, taking this new information gracefully and doing a little happy dance in your heart, you wrap your arms around his neck and plays with the ends of his hair as he can’t help but grin at you.

“what about at the studio? you got so mad” you mumble sadly because you still remember how heartbroken you were that day and yoongi sighs, patting your cheek and rubbing his thumbs in circles on them.

“well, girlfriend or not, i didn’t like that you blackmailed me, doll. i had just opened up to you and you hit me with that so yeah, i was mad but i’m not anymore, okay? i know how stupid you can be sometimes” he adds the last part teasingly and you immediately gasp, pulling away from him and hitting his chest though a huge smile blooms on your face. yoongi laughs happily as you continue to try to hit him as he dodges.

eventually he gets tired of moving away from you, so he grabs your hands in his and pulls you closer till your lips meet his, your wrists stay captured in his hands as you kiss him back with every bit of your nerves ignited with a fresh need, you pull away from him with a small giggle while he wears a dopey grin.

“i hate you so much” you mumble against his lips with a huge grin, but like any other time, you don’t have a scowl on your face nor do you mean those words at all, he hums in agreement, pecking you one more time and cupping your face in his hands.

“trust me doll, i hate you so much more” he coos at you and you laugh at him because you know he doesn’t mean it either, you know that the word hate is just a replacement for love when it comes to the two of you, the way his eyes sparkle at you with a newfound joy tells you enough, and your laugh only gleefully extends once he starts peppering kisses all over your face as you try to swat him away.

so yes, you hate yoongi a lot, you hate min yoongi the most.

to: jisoo

the dare’s done, you can get off my ass about it! and guess who has a boyfriend now? 😉

406 notes · View notes

qyllenhaal · 3 years ago

Text

Good Wives Club [2]

Lee Bodecker x Reader. 3rd POV. Word Count: 4.2k.

Spin-off to American Pie

Chapter One || Chapter Three

Summary: It's been more than a year since she's escaped the ghost of her past but life is never fair to a girl like her. Lee doesn't care that she has a husband, a nice house, and sugary fake friends, he wants what's rightfully his.

Warnings (series): Cheating, smut, violence, housewife kink, period-typical misogyny, age gap (about a ten year difference), manipulation, dark themes all around.

A/N: If anyone wants to be added to future tag list just let me know!

Y/n woke up at 5am with a dry mouth and her head spinning. Her night has been plagued with restlessness and she couldn't stay still. When she did fall asleep, it was for small periods of time. Each time she woke up she was not aware of where she was for the first five seconds, panic almost setting in before she registered the sound of her husband snoring.

The end of her irregular sleep cycle ended because she saw the hallway light was on. She sighed when realized it must be time for her husband to get ready for work. She virtually got no sleep and she'll probably be tired for the rest of the day.

She gets up from their creaky bed and starts walking down the hallway. It takes a while for her eyes to adjust to the brightness as she slowly plods down the hallway. She follows the light to the bathroom where she can hear her husband getting ready for work. On the days he goes in this early Y/n is relieved that she doesn't have to get up and cook breakfast for him.

The door is cracked but she opens it to find him inside. She situates herself in the doorway, watching him shave his face through the mirror.

"Good morning," he spoke with a scratchy voice. Even though Y/n didn't marry Llewellyn for love, she's still attracted to him and likes his company most of the time. She feels an ache inside of her that wants him to take her, but after running into Lee last night she's afraid she won't be able to get Lee's face out of her mind while beneath her husband.

"Good morning. Going in early?"

"Yep. Dad wants to do inventory today since he put it off last week."

"Oh okay," she accepts quietly, ready to leave her husband alone so he can get ready in peace.

However he asks her a surprising question, "hey, did you enjoy last night?"

"Uh, it was fine I guess. Did you?" Her hope is that he at least enjoyed himself somewhat.

"You know I don't like that super fancy stuff like that, but I have to eat crow; it wasn't all that bad and Bodecker's not as bad as I thought. He's kind of a funny guy. I still think he's not as hard on crime like everyone claims he is, but personally, he's not that bad. Florence was nice too. She invited us to dinner on Wednesday night, apparently that's the only night Lee has off. I told her we'd be able to join them."

The turn of events was shocking. Y/n couldn't believe her ears and she thought maybe she indeed was still asleep. Lou was not fond of many people and his only "friends" were his two brothers so him warming up to Lee and Florence left her speechless. So speechless that she didn't register the fact that he accepted a dinner invite for them.

"What?"

"What do you mean ‘what’? You dragged me to that dinner last night and wanted me to be nice, and now you're confused when I do just that?"

"I-I'm not confused...just shocked," she admits truthfully, "I can't believe you want to go to someone’s house who isn't your mother house for dinner —are you sure you want to go?"

"We're going Y/n."

His tone of voice indicates that the conversation is done and over with and the decision has been made. Y/n didn't even get to contest his decision but Lou can tell when Y/n is in a defiant mood. Her folding her arms and walking away was confirmation for him. She stalks her way back to the bedroom where she takes to hiding under the covers.

Lee and Lou under the same roof — it makes her stomach churn just to think about it. They're wildly different from each other but the thing she hates about them is what they have in common.

All she can hope is that this nightmare ends and she wakes back up to a life without Lee's ghost lingering around.

She decided to go with a floral dress again. She really wanted to take out the checkerboard dress that made her legs look good and showed off her arms, but Lou would have made her change before she had the chance to step out of the house. The floral print is dizzying, but it's the kind of dress that Lou likes to see her wear.

It's just a small dinner at the Bodecker's house but Y/n opts for kitten heels instead of sensible flats. She feels obligated to look her best despite there being less people to dress for. She's never been alone with Florence save for that day at the grocery store. Florence is always dressed to the 10's and Y/n needs to look just as good, if not better. She claims to hate Lee, but it would be so satisfying if she caught Lee ogling her breasts.

"Are you ready?"

Y/n thought Lou was too dressed up for a home dinner of four. He wore a pinstriped suit and those nice leather shoes he bought himself around the holidays.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she sighs in an attempt to let off some steam.

It was a shorter drive than Y/n expected. Florence hadn't disclosed where she lived before, but Brewer Heights wasn't that for them to live at a distance. The sun was nearly dipped over the horizon and the remaining light that hits their house makes it look like a model home. Everything little aspect and detail Y/n was going to compare herself too. She lives in a nice house, but Florence lives in a nicer house. It tears her up knowing she has the ultimate upper hand over Florence in the form of her own husband and she can't even act upon it. She would royally fuck up her life and their lives too if she decide to let her jealousy get the best of her.

As she walks up their stairs as another man's wife, she accepts that she is jealous. She's always been jealous of Florence even when she didn't know her name. What made her so worthy of all of these things? Lee used to act like he hates the woman so she must be a bitch behind closed doors. It wouldn't be surprising if she is because most people in this town will smile in your face and then gossip about you a minute later.

Lou knocks on the door and only a second later Florence is opening the door with a big smile on her face and Lee right next to her. He wore his police uniform without the jacket while Florence looked like a Lilly Pulitzer catalog girl.

It only took one millisecond of their eyes locking together for Y/n to feel the electricity between her and Lee. She drags her eyes away from his, but she can bet that he has a smirk on her face. He always liked to see her squirm; in a good and bad way.

"Y/n, Llewellyn! I'm so glad you could make it! Why don't you come on in," Florence steps to the side, nudging Lee over with her, to make way for Y/n and her husband.

Her eyes scan over every inch of their house. It's warm, cozy, and oddly comforting. Everything little thing was in its place; perfectly dusted and polished. Y/n is sure that Lee had no hand in decorating this place, it screams Florence through and through.

"Dinner is almost ready. I started the scalloped potatoes a little too late, but it should be done soon! Y/n, do you want to help me set the table?"

Y/n didn't want to leave her husband alone with Lee, but she also didn't want to be in the room with just them. She nods at Florence and follows behind her to their kitchen.

The house smells like Lou's parent's house on holidays. Y/n's stomach rumbles and she doesn't realize how hungry she was. She despises herself for wanting Florence's cooking, but she barely ate today because of how nervous she was.

"I already laid out the place mates, you can place the plates and silverware."

Y/n picks up the expensive dining ware that Florence points towards. She wonders if Florence cooks like this all the time, even when Lee works well into the night.

The walls of their dining room have an awful floral pattern. Y/n is beginning to become sick at the sight of anything that pertains to flowers. The cedar table is perfect for accommodating guests and Y/n wonders how many dinner parties they had in this room. Florence seems to put a lot of stock into being a good hostess. Y/n herself has yet to throw a dinner party at her home, but setting the plates on someone else's dining room table feels like practice. She silently imagines her house filled with Lou's family as she cooks dinner for them.

Florence enters the room and starts placing the dishes in the middle of the table. Her presence takes Y/n out of her fantasy, and when she sees how Florence made a 3-course-meal she feels worse.

"Does the food look good? I tried some new recipes from Julia Child's cookbook to try to impress you and Llewellyn," she admits, "I wasn't sure what you two would like, but Lee loves when I make those recipes from Julia Child and I bet Llewellyn would love it too! I could lend you the book some time!"

"Of course. I love her work!" Y/n lies straight through her teeth. She has no clue who the hell Julia Child is.

Florence grabs one last thing before calling the husbands into the dining room. She places one beer on the coasters designated for Lee and Lou. Lou has never been much of a drinker, but she knows that Lee can knock down a few beers in one sitting. He might be on his best behavior tonight in front of his wife and company.

"Dinner's ready!" Florence called out.

Y/n took her seat on the right side of the table and Florence sat opposite of her. Their husbands come walking in laughing as if they were young boys sneaking back into the house during a family get together. Y/n doesn't like it; she doesn't like it at all. They look too cheery with each other and she knows that Lee is doing it on purpose — she can see it in his eyes when he quickly glances at her. He takes pride in making her uncomfortable. Y/n wishes she had that same affect on him to scare him off a bit, but no matter how chummy she gets with Florence, Lee looks unbothered.

Florence stands up from her seat as if she's presenting the food on the table to an audience. Everything is placed perfectly with the main dish being the middle of the smaller plates.

"This looks great honey, you made a whole feast," Lee walked up to Florence's side and kissed on the cheek. Y/n's eyes are trained on his hand snaking around her waist and giving her a light squeeze before letting go. When she pulls her eyes away from his hands, she sees that Florence almost looks shocked at her husband's affection; Lee is definitely putting on a show for Y/n and it's a damn good one.

Lee sits opposite of Lou and the first thing he does is open his beer. The food isn't even on plates anymore and he's drinking.

"I hope you like Schmidt's, Llewellyn. Lee loves it so it's all we have in the house."

"I'm not one to drink beer often, but I'll try it. And call me Lou, Florence."

Lou was acting out of his normal character. Him only interacting with his family and Y/n left him a bit awkward in the presence of others, but around Florence and Lee he seems to be much...warmer. If Lee was someone else then Y/n would be over the moon, but because it's him she can't even force herself to even look happy about it.

Y/n takes note of how Florence places portions of food on Lee's plate. They were small portions too. She was always strict about what he ate and how much he drank. She's surprised Florence is letting him drink tonight, but she must be trying to look nicer in front of guests.

Y/n was not as controlling as Florence. She always let Lou fix his plate to his liking. She thought it made her a good wife for letting her husband make his own decisions. But Y/n felt a tap on her shoulder after she finished making her own plate. He looked down at his empty plate before looking back at her and nodded towards the food.

"Y/n," he tries to whisper but his tone is rather harsh.

"What?" She whispers back in true confusion.

"My plate."

He looked at her as if she was crazy, as if it was a common occurrence for her to fix his plate. She starts to scramble to save herself from further embarrassment, the sound of silverware against plates so loud. She can feel the stares coming from the other side of the table but she doesn't dare look up.

Her skin began to grow hot. Her husband had embarrassed her in front of Lee and Florence. The worst part was when Florence tried to change the subject to something lighthearted to pull the attention off of Y/n. She felt small and useless. Lou never expected her to fix his plate, but he looked at her as if she was crazy for not doing so. She didn't want to spend dinner almost in tears. This changed behavior in her husband is giving her whiplash and making her dizzy.

"So, Y/n, did you enjoy the other night?"

"It was really nice Florence," she replies sheepishly.

"Susie and I put so much work into planning it. You should join us next time! We're going to start working on the fundraising events for Lee's next campaign-"

"Let's not talk about that tonight Florence," Lee interrupts. It was a moment that would've left Y/n embarrassed if she was in Florence's shoes but Florence was much better at masking her emotions. Only for a split second can Y/n see Florence flinch at his interjection before she just smiles.

"Sorry Lee, you know how excited I get about those things," she masks her apology in a cheery voice.

Dinner basically became a probe of Y/n and Lou's relationship. Florence wanted to know how they met, when they got married, how long they had been together, and what their future plans together were. Y/n let Lou answer the last question by herself because she genuinely didn't know what their future plans were. Lou usually wakes up and decides what major life change they're going to undertake, that's what happened when he decided to move to Brewer Heights.

When the topic of work came up, Y/n thought the coast was clear. Lou talked extensively about the work he does with his father and what his plan is for the next five years regarding the business.

"Once my father retires I'll have to hire someone to do his job. I didn’t go study in school after high school so I can't take over his position, even though it would make things easier."

"I'm sure you can find someone. I know it's rare for someone to leave the city and come to this little town, but Brewer Heights is always a nice incentive!"

"It is nice here," Lou agrees, "and it's quiet. We were in Meade before which is okay-"

"But, it's nothing like Brewer Heights," Florence interjects. "So, Y/n, what did you do before meeting Lou?"

Lee had not looked her way since the plate-fixing incident but his eyes were sure on her now. If his mouth wasn't stuffed with food he'd be grinning from ear to ear waiting for her answer. He knows she's not a good liar, but she's going to have to come up with something.

"I helped my mom with her business. She used to sell fruit preserves out of the house before she passed."

It wasn't a complete lie. She did help her mother label her jars, but that became less frequent when her hours picked up at Tecumseh. Her parents didn't know about her job either; she told them she was a waitress and it was a safe lie seeing as they didn't go out to diners.

"I'm sorry for your loss, I'm sure she was a lovely woman if she raised such a lovely daughter! Have you ever thought of continuing her business?"

"Not really. It was pretty small. I still make the preserves sometimes for Lou and I."

"If you wouldn't mind, would you be interested in making some for us one day? You don't have to if you don't want to, but it's just so hard to find any good fruit preserves around town." Florence's social habits were very transparent once you were around her for long; she tends to make it impossible for people to say no to her by making them feel bad about even possibly saying no.

"I'd love to Florence. I have fresh peaches at home and I can make peach preserves."

"Oh I'd love that so much," she fawns, "a jar for me and a jar for Lee! He loves his sweets."

"I'm not too big on peaches, Flo. You know I like cherries more."

"You always have," she leans into him and pats him on the chest before straightening up again.

The audacity of Lee is astounding, however not only is he a cop, he's the sheriff. It's such a cowardly move to pick at Y/n when she can't react, but what someone would call cowardly, he'd call fun. She looks like she wants to disappear from her spot and it scratches an itch for him. He missed seeing her get flustered and if he'd known that it would be much more enjoyable to taunt her while his wife was around, he would have found a reason a long time ago to bring her around.

And as if the night couldn't be more humiliating for her, Lou finished his plate before anyone else. He devoured the food on his plate, like a starved man. Y/n felt embarrassed when her husband went for seconds. He never eats this much at home, even when she makes his favorite meals. It makes her want to reach across the dinner table and smack Florence in the face. She hates her; she hates that she has to smile in her face and be friends with her. It's her own fault for continuing this "friendship" with Florence, but her rage makes her blind to her own faults.

She could ruin Florence's life with one sentence: "I've been fucking your husband for years." She'd cause a scene but it would be so gratifying.

Instead she just shuts her mouth and lets dinner continue without anymore incidents.

Y/n thought it would show she was grateful for dinner if she helped Florence with the dishes. She was glad to accept Y/n's help and the two spent their time in the kitchen while Lee and Lou sat on the back porch. With Lee's influence, Lou took another drink out back with him. Y/n wondered what they had to talk about, but she would truly not like to know.

"Your wife cooks like that every night, sheriff?"

"Enough with the title. And she cooks every night, but she went a little overboard since she was happy with having guests," he tells him. If it was anybody else, Lee would just answer the questions and not have any for himself. However, he really wants to know what Y/n has been up to since she's adopted this new image. "How about Y/n? Does she cook for you like that?"

"Not at all. She tries, but she's not the good of a cook," he brings the alcohol up to his lips before pulling away and sighing, "she tries but it's just not her best."

"Her mother didn't teach her how to cook?"

"I don't know much about her family. Her mother was dead when I met her and her father doesn't seem to be doing so well. They're from the same area as my folks but moved when they had Y/n. Maybe she was just too spoiled considering she's an only child."

Y/n's past was a mystery to Lee too, but he's surprised to learn she hasn't opened up to her husband. All he knows is that whether it was her home life or not, something had messed her up and it was almost made worse by her time at Tecumseh. He isn't sure how she made it out, but so much of her old life still bleeds through.

"You know I thought I was getting a good girl. One that would clean and have dinner ready when I get home," Lou continued.

Lee wanted to laugh in his face. Lou is proof that you can come from a smart family and still be dumb as rocks. How could he not know what type of girl Y/n was when he first laid eyes on her? She'd dress just like his sister Sandy; shorts that suffered from mistreatment over the years and a sleeveless blouse that was always stained. He's sure her hair was mussed up that day too. Many people would mistake her for a whore (which many people did see her as one even though she didn't outright sell her body to anyone).

"It can't be that bad," Lee tried to vouch for his former lover. Even he can name some good qualities about her; they just don't include any wifely qualities.

"It's not, but things could be better. Anytime I tell her to shape-up she gets this timid look on her face and flinches a little bit. I try to be nice and gentle but I'm losing my patience with her. I’m not looking to leave her, but what’s the point of marrying a woman who can’t do anything? She won’t even talk to me about having kids — was Florence ever like this?”

“No. Her family is from here so she’s been primed to be a housewife. But I will say it’s not all that fun havin’ a doting wife…she’s overbearing at times and I can never unwind with her around. She’s always on my ass about somethin’.”

Lee felt the need to vouch for Y/n. Anytime he would go to Tecumseh, she would accompany out back or get into his cruiser whenever he told her to. All the gritty things he dealt with at work, everything he kept inside, he dumped it on her. Florence would never sit there to listen to his grievances. Lee would never admit it, but he was vulnerable around Y/n, he knew that she would always be there to listen and he attached himself to that. In the beginning she wasn’t willingly listening to his problems but by the end she was. She took care of him when he was too drunk to go home, or she would let him take his stress and frustration out on her body. However, it doesn’t seem as if Lou is budging; his mind is made up.

“I work long hours. My father is putting more responsibilities on me. I put Y/n in that nice home, the least she could do is not serve me burnt food. Hangin’ around Florence and that Susie woman should have at least influenced her or something,” he continued to complain.

Florence was the last person that would be able to influence a girl like Y/n. Lee didn't know why his wife was seemingly grooming that girl. If anything it was just another person for her to control since Lee started telling her to knock it off. The only time she can get away with controlling her husband is if they're in the company of others where Lee has to be on his best behavior.

Y/n is not the type to be influenced by another woman. The only woman she held in high regard was her mother. Y/n listens to male authority. She listens to a man that will rough her up a little bit but then be sweet on her afterwards. She’s a little fucked up and jaded from her former “profession.” Lee knows this, but not Lou. He seems to know nothing of her past and Lee isn’t going to snitch on her.

“I can talk to Florence and see if she can do something. I know she likes taking people under her wing and shit. She seems to really like Y/n too.”

“I’d greatly appreciate that Lee. I know I sound like I’m hard on her, but I do love her. It’s hard for me to show when she just doesn’t put any effort in.”

"Don't worry. I'll talk to Florence — I'll make everything right."

#lee bodecker #lee bodecker x oc #lee bodecker fic #lee bodecker x y/n #lee bodecker x reader #lee bodecker x ofc #lee bodecker x you #lee bodecker smut #the devil all the time #dark fic #fic #sebastian stan

214 notes · View notes

silverynight · 3 years ago

Text

Dead end

Tanjirou has come to the conclusion that running away towards the big city was a mistake. He's never seen so many people before; it's overwhelming. Nezuko is grabbing his hand hard, almost painfully, although Tanjirou has learned to endure pain in the two years that he stayed with Urokodaki.

Nezuko pulls, managing to draw his attention away from the bakery and back to her. Almost desperately, she makes a few gestures with her hands, pointing in the direction of the mountain.

He sighs, feeling sad inside; he'd like to hear her voice again, but she has refused to speak a word since their family was killed. He's never pressed her though.

"You know we can't go back," Tanjirou mumbles, feeling bad for causing her sorrow. "I miss him too, but you know they're looking for us so he'll probably be safer alone."

Sighing, Nezuko nods, hugs his brother and keeps walking next to him, trying not to collide with the people around and holding his hand.

She's not the only one wishing they could go back, he's constantly thinking about it. Once he thought they could be happy there, in that small village with Urokodaki, but for some reason the people that killed their family also wanted to kill them both.

Tanjirou doesn't understand; Urokodaki said the man behind it was the leader of a crime syndicate and that his name was Muzan. There were two crime groups in Japan; the one led by Kibutsuji and the other by nine people who were called the hashira.

"The Pillars are skilled swordsmen; you'll never find people more capable than them in combat," Urokodaki explained one night. "But they're also dangerous in their own ways."

Urokodaki taught him how to fight with a katana during those two years; he insisted it was necessary in case Kibutsuji came back for him (and he was right).

However, since the katana was Urokodaki's Tanjirou left it behind, instead he brought an axe and hoped for the best.

Nezuko stops; she's blinking, trying to stay awake. They're both tired and hungry and even though Tanjirou would love to get something to eat, he needs to find a place where they both can spend the night first.

Tomorrow he needs to get a job.

His money is not enough to pay for a night in the first place they find. Tanjirou offers himself for any kind of job, but the owner claims he doesn't need more employees at the moment.

"I know a place where you can get money though," he grins, looking over his shoulder. "If you're willing to let your girl work."

Confused, he looks up at the man, who steps into the light to look closely at him.

"I also know a place for pretty boys like you," he adds, taking Tanjirou's chin. "Someone like you can get more than a few coins for spending a night with–"

Moving away from the man, as Tanjirou starts to blush, he runs away from there as quickly as possible.

"I think this was a mistake," he tells Nezuko.

He definitely doesn't like the city.

The second place they arrive to is even worse, not because of how it looks, but due to what they find out when they get there.

"I'm not sure," the woman mumbles, eyeing at them both. "I haven't seen you around here before. The hashira have strict rules when it comes to people from outside the city."

"The hashira?" Tanjirou shivers, feeling suddenly exposed; he looks around, nervous.

"This city belongs to them."

They need to go back immediately. Grabbing Nezuko's hand, he begins to run in the opposite direction, however in his desperation he ends up in a dark alley with a dead end.

"Alright. We just need to turn around," he mumbles, feeling nervous.

"The boy with the hanafuda earrings!" A voice says, amusement ringing in it. "Finally! My Lord Kibutsuji will be happy when I bring your head to him!"

There's a boy with her as well. He's carrying a couple of daggers while she's bouncing two temari in her hands.

"They're coming after me," he mumbles, almost in relief. "Listen, Nezuko, I want you to hide and wait for the perfect opportunity to run away. I'll try to distract them."

Nezuko narrows her eyes, she's fuming, angry at the thought of leaving him behind. She gestures something about never leaving him.

Even though he appreciates it, Tanjirou would've preferred her to choose running away.

However, there's no time to argue. He turns around with the axe in his hand, but a temari passes right over his shoulder. At first Tanjirou believes the girl missed, but when he hears Nezuko's scream and sees her fall to the ground he almost runs towards her.

He can't, there's no time. He charges at the girl quickly, dodging a temari as he runs, only to realize that the boy plans to stab Nezuko even though she's unconscious on the ground.

Without thinking twice, he throws the axe and cuts the boy's arm off; Tanjirou doesn't really like hurting others, but if Nezuko's life is in danger, he knows he'll do anything to keep her safe.

Even though the boy is bleeding because of the wound, he still tries to attack Tanjirou again.

The girl cackles in such a way before running towards his fallen sister at the same time the other tries to reach him, Tanjirou knows he will only have the time to block her attack.

But then, from the roof of the house next to the alley a shadow jumps in front of the Kamado siblings. The young man doesn't say a word as he moves his katana with such ability that it makes impossible for Tanjirou to follow the attack. In the blink of an eye he cuts their heads without even uttering a word.

They both fall to the ground, making Tanjirou gasp and think how glad he is that Nezuko is unconscious at the moment. Quickly, he gets closer and doesn't think too much before taking her in his arms. He wonders if he could run past the swordsman and back into the noisy streets.

However, the young man turns around and looks back at him. Tanjirou curls over Nezuko, trying to protect her with his own body.

"I'm not gonna hurt you or your sister, Tanjirou," he says, surprising him. The young man has black, long hair and blue eyes that don't let any emotion to be reflected in them. Well, perhaps... irritation. They're shadowed with it at the moment. "You should've stayed with Urokodaki."

"How do you know that? How do you know my name?" Tanjirou asks, flinching away when he sees the man with the mismatched haori moving his katana quickly to clean it up. When it's back into its saya, he allows himself to relax... just a little.

"I'm Tomioka Giyuu," he introduces himself, moving even closer. "I'm the one who saved you that day."

No... That's not possible. Well, Tanjirou only remembers falling on the snow from exhaustion, looking for a place where someone could patch her sister up and then... nothing.

He woke up in Urokodaki's house the next day. He just assumed...

"Come with me."

Before he can say anything, two people arrive to the scene; Tanjirou imagines them screaming and calling the police, but instead of even glancing in the corpses' direction, they bow in front of Tomioka respectfully.

"Clean the area," he mumbles and both man and woman nod, before using bandages to cover the corpses completely.

Tomioka is... He must be...

"I'm afraid you and your girl got in trouble in the wrong city, sweet boy," a young woman with a haori that reminds him of butterfly wings chuckles. Tanjirou notices that she's also carrying a sword, although it looks like a small one. "You're in hashira territory now. And you brought Kibutsuji's assassins here. Now you must face all the Pillars."

"Please... I just need to get my sister to a doctor. I promise we'll go after that and you'll never see us again."

"It's too late now," she grins gently at him at the same time Tomioka walks in the middle of them. "Oh? You've broken a few rules already, Giyuu. Do you want to break more?"

"Shinobu, he's... I'm sure they won't cause us any more trouble if we let them–"

"He needs to be judged by all the hashira, Tomioka," another young swordsman appears out of nowhere, he has a white snake around his neck; his mouth is covered.

Tomioka nods, knowing they don't have a choice now, but he gets closer to Tanjirou as if trying to shield him from the other two.

"Come," he says, as kindly as possible.

"But Nezuko is bleeding..."

"Don't worry," Shinobu smiles, clapping her hands together. "I'll take care of that."

Two people arrive and pry Nezuko away from Tanjirou. He tries to fight them, but Tomioka puts a strong hand over his shoulder to stop him.

"She'll be fine," he assures him.

However, Tanjirou knows that he's completely trapped now; if they have Nezuko he won't have other choice but to do as they say.

***

The house they walk in is huge. Tanjirou ends up sitting on the floor in a room with dim light and a table in the middle. Tomioka and Shinobu get in the room right next to it.

They don't even tell him to stay; they must know he would never leave without his sister.

He's worried, however, he doesn't get scared until he catches a few sentences of the conversation.

"See? Giyuu is putting his life at risk for them."

"That doesn't mean anything, Tengen! They mean trouble if Kibutsuji is after them."

"We're not afraid of him, Sanemi."

"No, we're not, but we also don't interfere in other people's problems."

"Besides, why do we do with Tomioka? He hid them from us all this time."

"Obanai has a point!"

"I saw the girl! She's so pretty! Is her the one you're doing this for, Giyuu? That's so romantic!"

"It's the boy, Mitsuri," Shinobu is the only voice Tanjirou recognizes because Tomioka hasn't said anything yet. Still, nothing they've been saying makes any sense to him. The only thing he's sure about is that he's in trouble. "He's doing this for Tanjirou."

"Now I'm curious, Kocho."

"Let's see him then!"

The door slides open and Tanjirou doesn't have time to react when nine people walk inside. All of them are carrying katanas.

He looks down, but a huge hand grabs him by the chin to make him look up at them.

"Hey! Be careful!"

"Calm down, Giyuu. You know me, I'd never hurt such a pretty thing like this one," the one speaking has white hair tied up in a ponytail and what it looks like a headband with a couple of gemstones all over it. His eyes are deep pink. He's one of the tallest among them.

"Come on, stand up, my boy. Let us see you!" Another says, putting both arms over his shoulders, lifting him like he weighed nothing to help him stand. His voice is loud, although the thing that surprises him the most about him is his hair and eyes. They're like fire: yellow and red. It's really difficult for Tanjirou to look away from him. "I'm Rengoku Kyojuro!"

"Kamado Tanjirou," he mumbles, after a couple of them introduce themselves.

"I want to keep him," Tokito says after a while. Uzui looks back at him with amusement.

"He's my responsibility now."

"I'm sorry, Giyuu, but you know the rules here. You too, Muichiro," Rengoku grins, cupping Tanjirou's face in his hands. Even though he knows he's in front of one of the leaders of a crime syndicate, he feels safe for a couple of seconds. "If we keep him, he's going to be under everyone's protection."

"What about Nezuko? Is she going to be alright? Will you protect her as well?"

Rengoku nods, stroking Tanjirou's hair. Right next to him, Tomioka's shoulders tense.

"Of course, but you owe us now, Tanjirou."

That's all it takes to remind himself that he's in front of dangerous people.

"I understand, I'll do my best to–"

"I can pay off his debt," Tomioka offers, surprising Tanjirou again.

"You know we don't want money, Giyuu," Shinobu says, waving her hand dismissively.

"And we want nothing from you," Tokito adds, almost bored.

"What do you want?" Tanjirou asks, nervous, even though he notices that a few of them are looking down at him with a fond expression.

Without giving him any warning, Uzui takes him in his arms, prompting Tanjirou to wrap his arms and legs around him out of instinct.

"We want to welcome you to our family," the hashira grins, confusing him.

It's hard to see them as dangerous criminals when they act like that.

"I'll introduce you to my wives..."

"Wait! I want to see Nezuko."

"Of course, my boy!" Rengoku nods, taking him away from Uzui who pouts immediately. Tomioka looks irritated, but he follows them close anyway.

She's not awake yet, but she looks much better now. She has a bandage all around her forehead and new clothes. Two girls are right there taking care of her, as soon as they see the hashira though, they start bowing nervously.

Rengoku puts Tanjirou on the bed and the boy leans to take one if Nezuko's hand in his. Tomioka kneels next to him.

"You'll be safe here, Tanjirou. I'll protect you."

He nods, feeling better despite of knowing his mother would never have approved of something like that. But what other choice does he have? If being with the hashira means Nezuko can be safe, then he'll accept it.

"You selfish, stubborn bastard! Didn't you hear, Giyuu?" Shinazugawa huffs. "We will protect the siblings from now own. Tanjirou owes us now. He's ours."

"I thought you were against this arrangement, Sanemi," Uzui chuckles, prompting the other to growl at him.

"I'm a Pillar. If the majority has decided that he's worth the risk, then he is worth it."

Even though he doesn't like when they don't mention Nezuko, part of him is glad that they consider the debt is only Tanjirou's to pay.

That way she can be free as soon as Kibutsuji stops hunting them or dies.

"No one will hurt you again," Rengoku promises, leaning enough for their foreheads to touch. His eyes are intense. "They're too afraid of us to even try."

Tanjirou is not sure, but something tells him that Muzan is not going to give up that easy.

***

Next ->

Requested by one of my patrons. Thanks for your support!

Patreon

#kny #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #tanjiro kamado #giyu tomioka #kyojuro rengoku #tengen uzui #shinobu kochou #sanemi shinazugawa #muichiro tokito #mitsuri kanroji #obanai iguro #kyotan #giyutan #mafia au #nezuko kamado

155 notes · View notes

hookingminor · 4 years ago

Note

Can you please write with Pierre Luc Dubois, fluff “have you ever thought about how much worse our lives would be without each other?” and smut “next time we get into an argument, i’m reminding you that i took your virginity.” Thank you 😘😘

43. “Have you ever thought about how much worse our lives would be without each other?”

10. “Next time we get into an argument, i’m reminding you that i took your virginity.”

warnings (18+): mentions of sex/loss of virginity

Pierre had been in your life for as long as you could remember. You two had been inseparable as children and throughout middle school, but the drifting started once you’d reached high school.

You were still friends, though. Your parents hung out frequently and you saw him enough in school, but he was on the path to professional hockey and you were heading towards the local university.

Feelings changed as did bodies. Pierre was no longer the scrawny boy you thought of as a brother but now a man whose figure had definitely filled out. Being sixteen had changed your view of him, painting Pierre in a romantic light rather than a brotherly one, but you were no longer close enough to do anything about it.

You ran in different crowds. He always skipped class, you hated his friends, but there was too much history for you to let him go completely.

When he got drafted and moved to Columbus, you thought your crush would fizzle out if you didn’t have to see him all the time, but it did the exact opposite. Your father made a point to catch every Blue Jackets game, often getting together with Pierre’s father to watch them. You couldn’t forget him if you tried.

You weren’t sure what had changed that first summer after. Pierre came back after his first season with the Eagles and you came back from your first year of college. Without the confines of high school around you anymore, you easily fell back into being friends again. The only difference was that instead of teasing you, Pierre’s chirps turned more flirtatious than normal.

Friends turned into a fleeting summer romance, and after sneaking out late one night to the lake, you woke up tangled in the bed of his truck. Your clothes were strewn in the corners, only your bare skin against each other underneath the thick covers Pierre had decorated the bed with.

He went into the night hoping to take your relationship to the next level, and you had been ready to give him the one thing no one else would ever have.

It was uncomfortable at first, awkward even, but Pierre had eased your nerves and taken his time. He was the perfect gentleman, caring and sweet, wanting to make your first time worth it. And it was.

The rest of the summer was spent rolling around in bed sheets or the back of Pierre’s car, but you knew it wouldn’t last forever. You didn’t ask for more, Pierre didn’t ask you to be his girlfriend, and he was off to Columbus again when autumn came back around.

You weren’t heartbroken or anything. You knew your lives were too different for anything permanent between you two, but that didn’t stop you from falling into his bed every time he came back in the summer. A few months of heated passion. That’s all you had.

Things changed again when Pierre was traded to Winnipeg, and suddenly he was back in your life again. Year round, not just for the summer.

He didn’t treat you like a meaningless fling. You thought he would pull away since he was going to be around more often, but the first hug he pulled you into when you visited him after the trade did the exact opposite. It was middle school all over again except you were ten years older.

The sex became less frequent as you began spending more of your time with him just hanging out rather than ripping each other’s clothes off. You had movie nights, went to his games, chirped his bad fashion taste, and made early morning trips to the market.

The upcoming season sent Pierre’s nerves through the roof.

It was his first full season with the Jets, and he was still in the middle of finding his place on the team. Not to mention his whole family was in Winnipeg, and it felt more stressful trying to impress them when they were just down the road and not hundreds of miles away.

And as his friend, you packed up your father’s truck with all the necessities for a night away: blankets, pillows, cheap beer, favorite snacks, and your bluetooth speaker.

You nearly dragged Pierre out of his house and into the truck, driving him out of the city and to that same lake you used to sneak away to when you were kids. Pierre protested the entire way, claiming he needed to be getting ready for the season, but you only turned the music up louder every time he opened his mouth.

He finally quieted down when you parked the car on the beach.

“I haven’t been here in years,” Pierre said after you opened the tailgate and propped yourself on it. He joined you and took the beer you offered from your hands, cracking it open and taking a long swig.

“I think the last time I was here I was with you,” you nodded.

The lake was quiet, as it usually was after sunset, the only sounds between you were the cicadas and hushed rolling of the waves. Soft music played over your speaker, and you reveled in the silence for a few minutes.

“Have you ever thought about how much worse our lives would be without each other?” Pierre asked after a while.

Cocking your head towards him, you raised your brows. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I was just thinking,” he shrugged. “You’ve been in my life for as long as I can remember. Not a lot of people would know how to get me out of my own head like you.”

The last part caused a smile to tug at your lips, and you bumped your shoulder against his. “Not a lot of people would be able to put up with me, so I guess I’m pretty glad to have you in my life too.”

“The first time we were out here,” you continued on, “I was so fucking nervous. Like, so jittery and anxious, and you helped me out then. This is me returning the favor.”

“No offense, but I don’t think the situations are comparable,” Pierre chuckled. The first time you were out here, he took your virginity. All he was doing was moving to a new school, basically.

“No,” you agreed, “but you’re my friend, so I’m trying to help.”

“I was nervous that first time too, if you must know,” Pierre commented, and you sent him a curious glance.

“Why? I know that wasn’t your first time,” you wondered.

“It wasn’t, but I’d never…” Pierre paused to try and gather his thoughts. “I didn’t care about the other girls like I cared about you. I wanted you to feel special and I didn’t want to hurt you or anything.”

“Well, if you must know,” you repeated his words. “It was about as perfect as a first time could have been.”

“I thought you were going to hate me when I left,” he added.

“I could never hate you, P,” you said. “You were the first guy I had a crush on, first guy I probably loved, actually. You were my best friend before you were… my first time. I don’t think I’m capable of hating you.”

“You were the first girl I ever loved,” he said. “But it’s good to know you could never hate me since I was your first.” He had a teasing smile on his face when he said that last part, and you bumped his shoulder harder this time, causing him to slosh his beer.

“That’s not what I said.” You rolled your eyes, but his grin didn’t falter.

“Next time we get into an argument, I’m reminding you that I took your virginity,” Pierre said. “Since, you know, you can’t hate me.”

“Never said I couldn’t try to hate you,” you emphasized. “Keep it up or I might be tempted to test that theory.”

Slinging an arm over your shoulders, he pulled you into his side. “I don’t think you’re capable of it,” he said, agreeing with your previous statement. “And because I love you, I’ll let it drop.”

“Wow, so courteous of you.”

“I know. I’m just filled with good manners.”

A few more minutes of silence passed.

“You know, I’m still feeling a little anxious…” Pierre started, nuzzling his nose against your cheek as his lips brushed over your jaw. “Wanna help me calm down?”

And, well, who were you to say no? You did have a favor to return.

#pierre luc dubois #pierre luc dubois imagine #nhl imagines #hockey imagine #my writing #requests #blurbs #jets13 #2k blurb weekend

184 notes · View notes

bluecoffeemugs · 4 years ago

Text

Let’s talk about the difference between Pidge’s and Keith’s rooms at the castle of lions.

The paladins’ rooms and posessions say so much about them as charachers and people don’t even realize. Here’s some of my analysis, I had to let it out:

First of all it’s important to note that none of the paladins have any of their belongings save for their clothes and probably a few minor things that fit in their pockets. Neither of them knew that the moment they entered the blue lion they were not going to return home for a very very long time. So obviously, they all began with an empty castle room.

On one hand, we have Pidge.

Her room is PACKED with stuff, a mess that she most probably considers “organized”. It is filled with tokens of things she has collected throughout their missions, maybe a few projects she has been working on, and clothes all over the place. However, we also see that even if her room is messy, she also decorated it. Note the lights, and the souvenirs of the debris-version of her freinds. She made herself feel at home.

On the other hand, we see Keith.

He has nothing but his jacket. Granted, this picture is from the earlier seasons, Keith could have barely collected anything to put up in his room, but even later, in other glipses of him in his room, we can se that he still doesn’t have anything but his jacket.

Now I interpret this as different things. The first and most obvious is the paladin’s attatchment to things. Pidge, as we have seen, loves to collect stuff and suveniers. Even at the space mall, her eyes lit up at the sight of more stuff to buy. But also, the emotional connection Pidge has to these “suveniers” is much greater. The debris-version of her friends obviously remind her of them and that she’s not alone in space, her family has grown. The video games she bought and wanted to buy when they had the chance, have this link to her hobbies and her home on earth. Pidge surrounds herself, as I said before, of things that remind her of home, just so that maybe, she can feel that the castle is her home too.

Keith is almost the polar opposite. He has much less of an attachment to material things, unless they have a direct link to himself or his past. For example, his blade. Even before he knew it was his mother’s, he’d always kept it close to him, not even bothering to tell anyone about it. This has also a lot to do with Keith’s personality, as he likes to keep things more to himself rather than to tell others.

Another reason —and a bit heartbreaking too— why I think Keith’s room is so empty is because he doesn’t actually know how to make it a home, as he didn’t ever really have one. We all know Keith’s past: his mom left, later his dad died, and then he found himself bouncing back and forth in the adoption sistem until he was old enough to live by himself. He never really had a home. Because a house or a roof are absolutely not the same as a home. As one of my favorite quotes reads “home is where the heart is” and in Keith’s case... he doesn’t even know where that place might be.

Shiro had become Keith’s home.

And with him there, there was nothing else Keith ever needed to make some place feel like “home”. It took him more time than the rest to warm up to his new friends, hence another reason why he might not have any souvenirs that reminded him of them.

More than anything, I don’t think Keith has ever had an attatchment to material things.

For exaple: after he met his mom, when she had to say goodbye again, he didn’t even hesitate to give her her knife back, no matter how much that blade meant to him and he knew that if he never got to see his mom again, he would have absolutely nothing left from her or his past. He let go instantly. And that was because he no longer needed the knife to know his mom cared for him.

Another example of this is when the castle of lions has to be evacuated, and they all need to pack everything of value and go. We get to watch glimpses of things the paladins load to their lions. But never do we watch Keith go into his room.

We already knew he didn’t have anything there, but still, the lack of that scene just made me even more sad to think that the castle never actually felt like home to Keith. Now, I’m not saying he wasn’t sad for having to give up the castle, but still, he had no real emothinal connection to it other than it being the place that had kept him safe for several months. We didn’t even see him step into the castle one last time before saying goodbye for good. And also, Keith had left the castle before. And there too, he had not brought anything with him.

However, we do see something Keith loaded into his lion. Or more so, we see someone-s get into the lion. And that is Keith’s family, THAT is Keith’s home. And he doesn’t need any thing other than them to feel at peace.

Slowly, the paladins had become Keith’s home. That was the reason why it had been so hard to leave the first time when he went with the blades, not because he was leaving the castle’s familiarity and sense of security, but because he was leaving the only family he had; he was leaving home. And THAT is exactly why, when the time to evacuate the castle for good came, Keith didn’t seem as pained as everyone else. Because he was not leaving home, he was taking it with him.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Sorry not sorry for the long post.

364 notes · View notes

hangovercurse · 4 years ago

Text

Nothing

Part i of the Without You series: When Colson and Megan break up, the boys count on Y/N to piece Colson back together, which only leads to disaster.

Colson x Reader

Warnings: Colson being kind of a dick, cursing, a little bit of aggression/ violence. This one’s definitely angsty.

A/N: This was supposed to be just a one part fic. Then that turned into 2 parts. And then 3. And then all of a sudden I had written 5 parts and over 10,000 words. Enjoy 😊 (also this is v unedited so if you see a mistake... mind ya business)

Word Count: 2084

| ii | iii | iv | v | vi |

masterlist

When you got the text from Rook, you knew it was probably gonna be bad.

Megan just left him, for good. Not gonna be pretty the next few days so maybe don’t come by anytime soon.

Your heart broke for your best friend. Colson had been really in love with Megan. And as much as you hated seeing them together for your own personal reasons, you could tell he was really happy.

Ok. Let me know if you guys need me. If it gets bad I can take Casie for a few days. Take care of him for me pls.

You and Colson had been friends for years now. You knew almost everything about each other, you told him everything. He let you crash at his place after your ex kicked you out, and you had spent many hours curled up with him, watching stupid movies to distract him from his most recent breakup or mental breakdown.

But this was different. Colson told you he wanted to marry her at some point, and you knew he wasn’t lying. And you couldn’t blame him. As much as you hated no longer being the only women (other than Casie) in his life, you couldn’t dislike Megan. She was just one of those people who everyone loved.

The thought of texting Colson crossed your mind, but you weren’t sure if it would hurt or help. From the sound of it, he was a wreck.

So, naturally, you texted Pete.

Have you talked to Cols yet?

With Colson came Pete, or came you, you weren’t really sure. Somewhere along the way you and Pete had become close friends. He was like the older brother you’d never asked for, and he would probably say something similar about you.

You couldn’t really explain it, Pete could read you like a book. And because of that, he knew everything. He was the only one to catch on to the way you sometimes looked at Colson for too long, or got irritated when he’d bring a new girl around.

I’m heading over there right now. You should talk to him.

You rolled your eyes.

Not sure that’s the best idea. You guys are better at handling... all that. Once he gets a little less angry then I’ll take him.

Pete texted you back a few minutes later.

Thanks for the support, kid. I’ll keep you updated. Just pulled in.

Good luck, Petey.

You tossed your phone on your bed, a sigh leaving your lips. You decided worrying was a problem for another day.

No more than 12 hours later you were getting a phone call from Rook.

“Dude it’s like 4 in the morning, why are you calling me.”

“Y/N, we’ve tried everything. He’s locked up in his room and every time one of us tries to talk to him he blows up. Literally he almost punched Slim a few hours ago.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, groaning at the predicament. “So now you want me to come over?” You asked, “What do you think I’m gonna be able to do?”

“Well he’s not gonna try and hit you for one. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but he’s significantly nicer to you than to anyone else.”

“What do I even say to him? “Sorry that the love of your life broke up with you but at least we can smoke pot and watch Spongebob?” I mean come on, man. I’m not good at this.”

“Please.” He pleaded, “We’re all out of options and I can’t stand to see him get any worse than he is.”

You moved off your bed and towards your dresser. “Fine, I’ll be there in 15.”

You threw on the first pair of sweatpants you could find and slipped on shoes, grabbing your key and heading out the door.

True to your word, you pulled up to the house 15 minutes later, parking on the side of the street and heading straight into the house. When the guys saw you, they visibly brightened up.

“You guys are such fucking wimps.” You rolled your eyes as you made your way towards the stairs.

Baze chuckled, “We love you Y/N.”

You rolled your eyes and continued on your way, stopping by Casie’s room to see if she was asleep. To your surprise, she wasn’t.

“Hey sweet girl,” you whispered as you entered her room, “why are you still up?”

She smiled a little when she saw you. “Couldn’t sleep. I’m really worried about Dad.”

You leaned on her doorframe, sending her a sad smile. “I am too. But he’ll be okay. Your dad’s pretty tough.”

“I know,” she sighed, “but he really liked Megan.”

“Did you?” You ask, trying to gauge her emotions.

“I mean, I guess so. She was nice to me. Most of his girlfriends aren’t that nice to me.”

“That’s a pretty shitty way to measure if you like someone or not.” She giggles at that. “Don’t tell your dad I said that word in front of you.”

“Ok. She was nice. And she made him happy so, yeah, I guess I liked her. Not as much as I like you but...” Casie’s voice got higher as she dragged out the last word and you just rolled your eyes with a chuckle.

Casie had this fantasy of you and Colson getting married one day, but you always told her it would never happen.

“Ok kiddo, whatever you say.” You teased her, “try and get some sleep, okay?”

She nodded with a smile. “Are you gonna go talk to Dad?”

“Yeah. I’ll talk to you later, okay? If you need to come over and talk or stay the night or anything just call me, okay?”

“Okay. Love you.” She said quietly.

“Love you too, Case.”

You shut the door to her room, moving down the hallway to Colson’s door. You took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare for what was about to happen, and knocked.

“I told you guys to go the fuck away.” A muffled yet angry voice said from the opposite side of the door.

“It’s me, Cols. Y/N.” You said, hoping he could hear you.

When you got no response you asked, “Can I come in?”

A few more seconds of silence followed, and then the lock clicked and the door opened. You stood face-to-face with your best friend. His hair was a mess, falling in his face. The bags under his eyes were darker than ever, and the frown he wore made him look even more pathetic. You felt your heart breaking.

As you met his eyes, you gave him a sad smile. “Hey Cols.”

Instead of responding, he wrapped his arms around you, leaning down and resting his head on your shoulder. You reached up and ran your fingers through his hair.

He started walking backwards, pulling you with him as he continued to hug you. One of his hands pushed the door shut and he sat on his bed, finally letting go of you.

You looked down at him, grabbing his hand and holding it in your own. It was something you had done before, you two were very touchy people and so half of your friendship was just you two cuddling or play fighting or holding hands.

“So we can do one of three things,” you started, “We can talk about it, we can cuddle and watch something stupid and pretend nothing’s wrong, or we can get high and do something stupid.”

For the first time in what you would imagine to be all night, Colson smiled. it was a very small smile, but you took it.

He looked up at you through his eyelashes. “And by stupid you mean...”

You rolled your eyes, “I mean we can go set off bottle rockets in the backyard or try to jump off your roof and into the pool.”

“Oh damn. I was hoping you were gonna say you would suck my dick.”

Your eyes widened at his bluntness and the implication. You shoved his shoulder, “Colson! That’s gross!” You giggled, but his expression was unwaveringly serious.

“I’m being serious.” He deadpanned and you furrowed your eyebrows.

“Colson what the fuck?” Your mind was spinning trying to figure out if he was joking.

You got your answer when he stood up, grabbing your waist and leaning over you. “I thought you’d want to...”

You took in a breath at the sudden proximity, trying to back away from him but his grip remaining firmly on your waist. “Colson, stop. Please. This isn’t funny.”

You could smell the alcohol on his breath and you had to keep reminding yourself of that fact. He’s drunk, and sad, and doesn’t know what he’s saying.

“I thought you’d want to, cause it’ll make me happy. And you’ll do anything to make me happy.” One of his hands reached up and grabbed your jaw, making sure you couldn’t look away.

“Colson you’re being a fucking weirdo, let me go.” You raised your voice. Your heart was racing at this point and the thoughts flowing around your head were not pretty.

You were always anxious for the day he’d figure you out. When he’d finally realize how you felt for him. But this was worse than anything you’d thought of.

“You’ll do anything to make me happy because you love me, right?”

You felt tears stinging in your eyes, wanting nothing more but to look away from his sinister expression. The way he was looking at you made it very clear that he was enjoying your discomfort, your embarrassment.

“Colso-”

He walked forwards, pushing you gently against the wall. His arms went to either side of you, his face inches from yours. You tried to look away, but his hand on your jaw forced you to face him.

Any other time you would have loved for Colson to pin you against his wall, but this was wrong.

“Just say it. Say you’re in love with me, and I’ll drop it.”

“Colson, what the fuck are you on right now?” You tried to steer the topic away from you, but he wouldn’t have it.

“Say it.”

You reached up to try and push his chest away from you, but he was much taller and stronger than you, so you did nothing.

“Just tell me!” He yelled at your silence. A tear slipped down your cheek as you trembled under him. His face was red and his eyes were watering.

“Why are you doing this?” You whispered. This all felt like a bad dream, like a nightmare you couldn’t wake up from.

“Because I need to know if she was right.” His voice got a little quieter, but he still wouldn’t move away from you. “I need to know if the reason the love of my fucking life just left me is true.”

You were shaking, your breaths getting shorter. “What are you talking about.” Your words were choked. The grip on your jaw started to get a little too tight.

“I defended you!” He yelled, tears falling from his face. “She told me that you were in love with me and I defended you.”

“Colson you’re hurting me.” You whined, trying to wriggle your way out of his grasp. He ignored your statement and continued talking, but his grip loosened slightly.

“And then she told me that she thinks I’m in love with you.” His voice was getting darker. “And that’s why she left. So I want to make it very clear to you.” He paused, leaning closer to your ear. “I will never love you. Ever. Not now, not in a million lifetimes. You mean nothing to me.”

Your vision was blurry from your tears, so you blindly reached out to push him away from you. His body seemed to have given up, as he moved backwards out of your way, stumbling slightly. Through your tears you could make out a smug smile on the man before you ran out of the room, slamming the door behind you.

You ran down the stairs, the guys waiting for you to give them good news, but their hope turned to concern once they saw you. You walked straight past them towards the door, not trusting yourself to say anything without breaking completely.

As you reached for the door handle you heard a faint yell from upstairs, followed by loud banging, and then silence. You sniffled, turning the handle and leaving the house, much to the protest of your friends.

#mgk #mgk imagine #mgk angst #machine gun kelly #machine gun kelly imagine #Colson baker #colson x reader #colson baker imagine #colson baker angst #est #xx

296 notes · View notes

andvys · 4 years ago

Text

New friend (part 3)

Warnings: fluff, a bit of angst

Pairing: Ellie Williams x Reader

A few months into staying in Jackson, you’ve had the best time. Having a roof over your head, food at all times, being able to take hot showers and sleep in safety was something you never thought you would have. You grew up in this world, hearing stories from how it was before the outbreak from the older people, you used to envy that. Wishing for a bit of normalcy, which you got now, you were so happy and thankful that you met Ellie and decided to trust her and go with her. You haven’t been this happy in such a long time. You just wished that the people from your old camp were alive and safe somewhere, hoping they found something similar to Jackson.

You tried different jobs, you tried gardening, working at the stables, helping Maria organize some stuff. You figured patrolling would be more your thing, you’ve been out there for so long you knew how to handle yourself, letting your survival skills go to waste like that while being copped up behind the safe walls of Jackson would be a waste. So that’s what your job was now. You’d mostly been patrolling with Joel, learning more about him and his relationship with Ellie. You found him a little intimidating at first but you liked the older man, he was nice to you. You mostly talked about music, telling him all about your favorite bands.

Right now you were just coming back from a long patrol, currently riding on your horse right beside Joel, about ten minutes away from Jackson. The sun was beginning to set, the spring air getting a little fresher with the light wind blow against your face, you sighed, closing your eyes for a second, enjoying this moment, it was nice to be outside. Sure you loved being in Jackson but you also loved being outside, you loved nature, it always gave you a calm feeling.

“You miss it?” Turning to Joel, he was watching you curiously. “Being outside.” He added.

“I mean, yes and no. I love Jackson don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for the opportunity to live there. It’s safe and I haven’t felt safe in a long time but being outside gives me the feeling of freedom you know?” You looked at Joel, he nodded at that, understanding what you meant.

“But I know what is out there and I don’t want to live this life again.” You added.

“I get it kid, I felt like that too when Ellie and I got to Jackson but I would just think about what’s out there and compare it to the safety in Jackson, I would never want to get back outside again. You’ll need some time to get used to being behind walls but it’s all gonna be okay.” He gave you a smile. You smiled back at him, nodding to that.

“I see you made some friends too.” He was referring to Ellie, Jesse and Dina. “Ellie cares a lot about you, she constantly talks about you when she comes over.” Getting shy at that, you hoped he didn’t catch your awkwardness because of the last sentence.

“I.. yeah.. I.. umm.. I care about her too. Ellie’s amazing, she saved my life that day, I owe her.”He smiled at that, seeing you getting a little embarrassed about him telling you that Ellie talks about you, he knew there was a little more than friendship between the both of you.

From what Joel has seen from you so far, he liked you the most out of Ellie’s friends. Despite being out there for so long, probably encountering the worst people and going through things no one should go through, you were still a positive person, you were nice always cracking jokes with him whenever you were patrolling with him. You could also stand your ground, killing clickers and stalkers as if it was the easiest thing in the world, Joel knew that Ellie would be safe with you if something happened, even though he knew Ellie can handle herself, it was nice to know that someone was there to protect her in case something went wrong.

Arriving at the gate, it was opened for you. You went inside, both you and Joel got off your horses. Smiling at him you told him you could bring the horses back to the stables.

Shaking his head at you he gave you small smile “I got it, someone’s waiting for you.” He looked behind you.

Furrowing your eyebrows, turning around you saw Ellie walking towards you from afar. Smiling you turned back to Joel, “alright, thank you Joel. I’ll see you tomorrow have a nice night.”

“You too, (y/n).” He smiled at you, waving at Ellie he guided the horses back to the stables.

Walking towards Ellie, you noticed a worried look on her face.

“Hey stranger, I mis-“ not being able to finish the sentence she rushed over to you pulling you into a tight hug. You were confused about the sudden contact, hugging her back.

“Ellie? What’s going on?” You questioned, worried about her.

“I- what’s going on!? What took you so long? You were supposed to be back two hours ago, I was so worried about you!” She exclaimed, pulling back from the hug but keeping you close, holding your hands. Your heart almost burst at her being worried about you.

“I’m sorry Ellie, we had a few run ins with some clickers, there was a small horde we had to wait it out at one of the cabins.” You explained.

She nodded at that, “I was so worried something happened, I’ll ask Maria if she can assign us to patrols together, that way I won’t have to worry something happened.”

You could kiss her right then and there. She was worried about you just like you were always worried about her whenever she left for patrols.

“I’d like that Ellie, now let’s go home.” Taking her hand in yours she smiled at you, squeezing your hand she started guiding you back home.

You still lived with Ellie. You wanted to move out multiple times already not wanting to bother the girl any longer. Knowing there were some free houses but Ellie wouldn’t let you leave, telling you you should stay with her and that you weren’t a bother at all, you couldn’t decline that offer. You loved living with her and you loved her. You wanted to kiss her every night you went to sleep and you wanted to kiss her every morning she made you breakfast but you didn’t wanted to ruin the friendship. The way ellie worried about you all the time and the way she would hold your hand whenever you were uncomfortable, making you breakfast every morning, occasionally giving you kisses on your cheek was clear enough that it wasn’t just friendship but you didn’t wanted to mistake anything and ruin your friendship. You’d let Ellie make the first move.

Arriving home, she pulled you inside. Telling you to go take a shower while she would make you something to eat. This moment reminding you of the first time she brought you home. You felt so loved and safe with Ellie. Clearly she cared about you just as much as you cared about her.

After your shower you got dressed in some clean jeans and one of Ellie’s big flannels, stealing her clothes was your favorite thing to do, they were just so cozy and Ellie always told you how adorable you look in them.

Walking out of the bathroom to the smell of food, your mouth watering at that, haven’t eaten anything since breakfast you were happy to finally eat something.

You watched Ellie setting your plates down on the table. This setting reminding you of a movie you watched recently where a couple went out on a date to go eat dinner. You decided to tease her.

“This looks absolutely delicious darling, work has killed me today, are the kids asleep yet?” You grinned at her.

Ellie let out a groan but smirked deciding to tease you back “come on (y/n), you and I both know that I’d be the one going to work while you’d stay at home with the kids.”

You started laughing at that, “oh is that so Williams?” Sitting down looking down at the food, you were desperate to eat.

“Yup” she winked at you, sitting down opposite of you.

After you cleaned the dishes you let yourself fall on the couch beside Ellie where she was currently drawing something in her journal. Groaning you complained about the horde that you and Joel saw today but quickly changing the subject at the mention of Joel you remembered how he told you about a story he told you from back in the day. Ellie listened to you, she loved hearing you talk about Joel, it was important to her that you and Joel got along, she did plan on asking you out and making you hers. Zoning out she admired your face, the way you enthusiastically talked about patrolling with Joel and hearing all the stories the older man had to offer. The way your eyes lit up whenever you talked about something you loved or the way your lips curled up whenever you would manage to make Ellie laugh with your stupid jokes. Ellie was in love with you. You were special to her, it’s like she knew it right from the start even when you were covered in mud from top to bottom, she knew you’d be special to her. She could skip the dating part and marry you right away. She would do anything for you.

Right in the middle of a story you were telling Ellie you were interrupted by someone knocking on your door. Ellie realized she just completely zoned out while you were telling her a story, feeling guilty because she didn’t even know what you were talking about blaming your pretty face for that. She watched you open the door.

“Hey guys” Dina and Jesse walked inside. You and Ellie looked at them curiously.

“Umm what are you guys doing here?” Ellie asked. Not remembering making plans with them.

Jesse clutched his chest, acting offended “Ouch Ellie, can’t we come see our friends?” He wiped an imaginary tear away. She rolled her eyes at him.

Dina slapped his chest playfully “you forgot about it?” She looked back in forth between you and Ellie.

“Forgot about what?” You asked. Watching Jesse look for some snacks in your kitchen making himself comfortable on the couch next to Ellie once he found some almonds to eat.

“The dance! That was all what I’ve been talking about, are you guys even listening?” Dina exclaimed, looking annoyed at the both of you. “What were you guys doing?”

“Probably having sex, that’s why Ellie here is so red in the face.” You gasped at his words. Dina laughing at your reaction, she started to tease you too “ouuuhhhh you finally did it, it was about damn time you guys.” She winked at you.

“What the fuck is wrong with you guys?” Ellie exclaimed. She was indeed red in the face, now even more so than before.

“You know I was just kidding about that but giving the blush on your face Ellie.... I thought you had something going on with that bartender (y/n)?” Jesse smirked at you. You rolled your eyes at him at the mention of the slimy bartender that kept trying to make moves on you.

“What bartender?” Ellie asked asked angrily, not having heard about a bartender before.

“Thomas right?” Dina asked. Great so Dina knew about him too but Ellie hasn’t heard from him yet? Did you like men? She was convinced you liked girls? She felt her heart racing, feeling like it was going to break any minute. Just thinking about seeing you with someone else made her want to throw up. She thought you felt the same way about her like she felt about you.

“He’s trying to date (y/n).” Jesse teasingly said. You stayed quiet, feeling awkward about this whole situation, you didn’t tell Ellie about it because you didn’t think it was relevant, you hated that stupid bartender and you were angry at your friends for bringing this up.

Feeling betrayed even though you weren’t even dating she grabbed her jacket, leaving her house quickly. She couldn’t stay there any longer, knowing she was about to start crying plus your silence wasn’t helping, making Ellie think you actually liked that guy.

Confused about her reaction you watched her leave, looking back at Dina and Jesse they looked just as confused as you are.

“What was that about?” Jesse asked.

“I have no idea, I should go check on her. You guys go have fun at the dance.” You said.

“Are you sure?” Dina asked. Looking guilty for what just happened. She knew about Ellie’s feelings for you, she didn’t think Ellie would be this insecure about the mention of someone else. You clearly weren’t even straight. Ellie had nothing to be insecure or worried about.

“Yeah go have fun, please.” You gave them both a hug. Grabbing your jacket you ran after Ellie trying to catch up with her. You saw her walking down the street.

“Ellie!” Ignoring you she kept walking.

“Come on, Ellie wait!” She listened this time, stopping. You finally got to her.

“Ellie what’s going on?” You grabbed her shoulders, turning her around you noticed she had tears running down her face. Shocked at that, you never saw Ellie cry before.

“What’s going on Ellie?” You worriedly asked, wiping away her tears.

“It’s nothing (y/n) go back to Jesse and Dina they’re probably waiting.” Tears falling down again. She angrily wiped them away.

“I don’t wanna go back, are you gonna tell me what’s wrong?” You asked, worried about her.

She mumbled a no, turning to walk away again, you grabbed her hand pulling her back again, not letting her leave.

Looking at her you waited for her to say something. She looked down, refusing to meet your eyes. “Who’s Thomas (y/n)?”

“I- what? He’s no one, he keeps trying to ask me out on a date” you said, confused about why she was making such a big deal out of this.

Annoyed at the mention of someone asking you out on a date she huffed.

“Do you like him?” She asked.

“Like him? I don’t even lik-“ Realization hitting you. “Wait are you jealous Ellie?”

Like a deer caught in the headlights, staring back at you she couldn’t get a word out. Feeling embarrassed about this whole situation she looked down on her shoes.

Grabbing her chin you made her look at you. “Ellie?”

“Yes” she said.

“Yes what?” You asked.

“Yes I’m jealous, (y/n)” she looked away, knowing you knew now that she has feelings for you.

“You have no reason to be jealous Ellie. If you haven’t noticed I love you, like a lot and I’m gay like super gay, I don’t care about Thomas or anyone else, I only care about you.” You smiled at her.

Staring at you she didn’t know what to say, she didn’t expect this right now. She almost felt like she was in a dream, hearing you say that you love her was all she ever wanted to hear.

“I-“ not even letting her finish you grabbed her face, you leaned in to kiss her.

She looked at you wide eyed, shocked at the feeling of your lips moving against hers. She closed her eyes, she grabbed your waist pulling you closer to her she kissed you back. The kiss even better than what she imagined it like to be. Your lips were soft, she could get used to this. Pulling away from her, you looked into her eyes. She gave a second to catch your breath she pulled you back in for another kiss. Her hands moving from your waist towards your face, stroking your cheek with her thumb, you stayed like this for a while.

Pulling back she kissed your nose, “I love you (y/n) no actually I’m in love with you” looking at you, she smiled sweetly at you.

Smiling back at her, happy about her confession. “I’m in love with you too Ellie.” You pecked her lips.

Ellie wanted to cry out of joy, she was so happy about you confessing your love for her.

You pulled her into a hug, kissing her neck.

Pulling back you brushed some hair out of her face, just when you wanted to kiss her again you heard something coming from the bushes behind Ellie, looking over her shoulder you saw something moving, Ellie watching you curiously turning around to see what you were staring at. She pushed you behind her, protecting you from whatever it was. She told you to stay quiet, grabbing her knife she walked towards it.

Suddenly hearing a quiet “ouch” followed by a “stay quiet” you both looked at each other understanding who was behind those bushes.

“Jesse, Dina we know you’re behind those bushes.” Ellie annoyingly said rolling her eyes at her childish friends.

They got up, coming around from the bushes they grinned at you. You started laughing at them, Jesse had leafes in his hair and Dina looked annoyed about getting caught.

“Why aren’t you at the dance?” You asked them.

“We wanted to watch you guys confessing your love for each other, that was pretty cute not gonna lie.” Jesse said.

“Yeah and then you had to ruin their moment” Dina annoyingly said.

“You’re just mad that you lost the bet.” Jesse said smirking at his girlfriend. “Whatever.” Dina grumbled.

You and Ellie looked at each other confused.

“What bet?” Ellie asked.

“Dina and I had a little discussion about you two. I said (y/n) would make the first move and Dina here” gesturing to her “said Ellie would make the first move, so we decided to make a bet.” Jesse explained.

“I’m disappointed in you Ellie, I thought you’d confess first.” Dina said with a disappointing face.

“Technically we confessed at the same time.” You said, shrugging.

“Nope you confessed first (y/n) and that’s final.” Jesse said.

“What does the winner get?” You asked curiously.

Suddenly they both got quiet, avoiding your eyes. Ellie noticing their awkwardness she started laughing. “Hah you made a bet over sex, I’m guessing Jesse gets to choose whatever he wants.” Ellie said.

You started laughing too, now it was both of you teasing them instead of the other way around.

“Very funny guys, ha ha.” Dina mumbled annoyed.

“It’s okay babe, let’s leave the gays alone now, they got some stuff to do.” Jesse wiggled his eyebrows at you smirking. Grabbing Dina’s hand he started, walking back. “Bye Ellie, bye super gay (y/n).” Dina yelled out from afar.

“Ugh why are we even friends with them?” Ellie asked.

Laughing at that, “they’re the worst but they’re funny I guess.” Nodding at that Ellie pulled on your hand, walking back home. You enjoyed the quietness of the night.

“Hey Ellie?”

“Yeah?”

“Even if I was straight, I’d turn gay for you.” You grinned at her.

Ellie laughed at that. “I’m glad I have that effect on you.” She said proudly.

Stopping her, you pulled on her hands turning her to you, you put your arms around her neck, she put her hands on your waist, she leaned in to kiss you, staying like this for a while under the night sky enjoying the slightly fresh spring air, kissing your lover, what more could you ask for.

You found each other and you’d have each other for the rest of your life’s.

#ellie williams #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams imagine #tlou imagines #tlou

161 notes · View notes

biggest-stupidhead · 4 years ago

Text

Bad Timing (Levi x reader) Part 1

Summary: How do you tell your friends that you’re falling in love with your big brother’s best friend?

word count: 6k

You sighed, slumping in the uncomfortable plastic chair. Your back was killing you, it was only 1st period but you were more than eager for the day to end. Your chemistry teacher stood in the front of the room flipping through the slides on the board. You couldn't care less, it was Friday, and you were ready for the weekend. You folded your arms and rested your head in the crook of your elbow, turning your head slightly to the left you gazed longingly out of the second story window. It was a gloomy fall day, surely there would be a football game tonight, not that you would be attending. A strong gust of wind blew a flurry of colorful leaves past the, the clouds seemed to grow increasingly darker. You managed to turn back to the front of the class and at least pretend that you were paying attention, your classmates on the other hand did not even try to hide their disinterest. Sasha was rummaging through her lunch box, Connie was balancing a pencil on his upper lip, Eren had his head rested on his forearm his other hand held his phone under the desk as he mindlessly tapped through peoples' snapchat stories. Mikasa would send him disapproving glares every once in a while as she diligently copied down the notes. Armin sat next to you, separating you from Mikasa and Eren, he also was taking excellent notes, even going as far as copying down all of the graphs and diagrams. You risked another glance out the window to your left to see a few fat rain drops falling out of the sky.

You smiled softly, the thought of sitting at home tucked under your favorite quilt with a cup of tea and a good book. You would have the house all to yourself tonight, your older brother Erwin was a senior, captain of the football team and golden boy of the school. He was the school's varsity quarterback, giving him an impressive social status, he would surely be playing in the game tonight. Your mother worked as a nurse at your local hospital, often opting to take the nightshifts, meaning you rarely saw her. You hummed thoughtfully, your mind wandering as you increasingly lost interest in the lecture. Now you were considering what to make for dinner, you could make macaroni and cheese, or a grilled cheese with tomato soup? Your teacher still droned on at the front of the class, now working out a simple stoichiometry problem. The sound of the door opening and quickly closing drew you out of your daze, Hange entered the room carrying a large box of beakers and test tubes. She gently kicked the door closed before making her way to the back of the large classroom to begin organizing and cleaning the glassware. You caught her eye and smiled at her, wanting very badly to speak with her, she always managed to keep you on your toes and very much in the present. You had a bad tendency to get lost in your thoughts and daydream, but she never gave you a chance whenever you were in her presence. She smiled back as she gently placed the box on one of the lab stations in the back and began pulling the equipment out one by one.

Hange was also a senior this year, she was easily the top of her class, she had already accumulated enough credits so instead of taking pottery or something she opted to be a teacher's assistant for your chemistry teacher. You slid your phone out of your pocket and opened your messages, you scrolled until you found Hange's contact, you quickly typed out a message, "want to come over and bake pumpkin cookies after school?" before pocketing your phone once more. The loud ding from the back of the room signaled that she had received your message, your teacher paused and gave Hange a pointed glance, one eyebrow raised. Hange chuckled nervously and squeaked out a meek 'sorry'. Satisfied, your teacher turned back to the bored and continued the lesson. Your phone vibrated, you pulled it out of your pocket and smiled at the message, "of course! then we can take them to the game!" the excitement you felt quickly vanished, you should have known she would want to go to the game, she was dating your brother for crying out loud. You sighed and glanced out the window once more, the rain had slowed to more of a mist than a shower, but now a fog was rolling just above the damp ground. It looked freezing out there, you couldn't imagine how cold it would be tonight. God it was so tempting to text Hange back with some bull shit about a project due Sunday night, but that would be shitty of you. Reluctantly you typed your reply, "yeah of course!" you sent the message and then placed your phone face down on the desk.

There was only about ten minutes left in class, thank God. You risked another glance at Armin's notebook and frowned at the neat handwriting, why was he so neat? It bothered you, you flinched when you heard your phone vibrate on the desk, you quickly picked it up and flipped it over to see the lock screen. You'd gotten a snapchat from Eren, you opened your phone and quickly opened the message. You couldn't help but smile as you looked at the picture, it was dark but you could make out his face and his bright green eyes, the classic text written across your screen made you smile, "what's the move tonight?" . Over the years your house had become known as the party house, due to your mother never being home your older brother had thrown some impressive parties, and you often had your friends over as well, nothing like the events your brother hosted, but still a gathering. You copied Eren's position, bringing your phone beneath the desk to snap a quick picture, and quickly typing back, "going to the game with Hange, Erwin might have something planned I'll be in touch." . You pressed send before you began packing up your things. Eren lifted his head and caught your eyes, you shared an impish grin before you returned your focus to gathering your things. Your teacher closed the powerpoint and began wrapping up class by reminding you about assignments that were due, not that you were listening. Finally only two minutes left, hopefully the rest of the day would go by faster than that class.

______

You bounced your knee anxiously as you watched the clock hands slide sluggishly across the face of the clock, only 15 minutes until the school day ended. You had agreed to meet Hange at her beat up Honda CR-V. You shifted in your seat, your eyes lingered on the window as your Spanish teacher reviewed the key points of her lecture. You could see the parking lot from where you sat, some kids had already slipped out of the building and were running through the rain to get to their cars to beat the traffic. You considered asking to go to the bathroom but decided that you would feel too guilty to skip your sweet Spanish teacher's class. You sat up a bit straighter when you caught the sight of a particular dark haired boy walking briskly across the parking lot. Levi Ackerman, the school's designated bad boy, known for his standoffish behavior and his foul mouth, he was a fiend always ripping a juul and coming to class hungover. Yes he was a bad kid but somehow he had managed to keep his grades up and remain in the top ten percentage of your class. But the strangest thing about him was his unique friendship with your older brother, his complete opposite. You'd known Levi for a long time now, he often came over to your house on the weekdays to work on homework with your brother and then he'd be back on the weekends to drink all of your liquor. You pursed your lips as you watched him climb into his beat up 1981 BMW, he loved that car. You'd only gotten the privilege of riding in it a handful of times but each time he had explicitly told you not to make a mess of his car. You watched him pull out of the parking lot and out onto the campus' main street to get onto the county road that lead to your remote house. You sighed rather loudly as you realized Hange probably invited him over, since they shared a common bond with Erwin they had also grown rather close. You glanced once more at the clock and felt a rush of relief when you saw that the day would be over in precisely three minutes. You quickly threw your things into your backpack and gathered yourself to congregate by the door with your classmates. As you rocked on the balls of your feet you were startled when a heavy hand fell onto your shoulder. You turned around and met Jean's hazel eyes, he left his hand on your shoulder as you turned around to address him. You pulled your ear buds out with a small sigh.

"What's up?" you asked, Jean's cheeks flushed slightly as he realized he had your undivided attention. You raised an eyebrow, quickly losing patience with the boy.

"Oh I-" he was cut off by the loud ring of the bell, your classmates pushed you out into the already crowded hallway. Jean kept a firm grip on your shoulder as you both rushed into the hallway. You weaved through the crowd with Jean trailing behind you like a small child, he switched his grasp from your shoulder onto your backpack. You felt your lip curl with annoyance as you felt him lagging behind you. Finally you found yourself in a less crowded area where he could switch to your left side, releasing your backpack once he was sure you wouldn't run away.

"Anyway as I was saying... You going to the game tonight?" Jean asked as he matched your pace. You nodded, struggling to wrestle your umbrella out of the side pocket of your backpack. Jean noticed and quickly moved to pull it out for you. You pushed through the front doors of the school and paused under the overhanging roof, Jean pushed the umbrella open and held it up to cover the both of you. You smiled up at him as you both stepped into the rain.

"Yeah I wasn't planning until the second half though." you yelled over the wind as he followed you towards Hange's car. He nodded, daring to look up at the clouds as the wind whipped around the both of you.

"Where you heading to now?" he asked as you reached the parking lot,

"Hange's car, it's the black one over there." you said, lifting your finger to point at her car, you could already see her in the driver's seat scrolling through her phone. Jean nodded and picked up the pace as you hurried through the busy lot. Just as you were about to turn down the row to get to Hange, a car pulled straight out in front of you, a brand new black audi. Jean snarled, leaning forward to pound his fist onto the hood of the car. You laughed at Eren's enraged expression, Mikasa turned and scolded him, while Armin leaned forward from the back seat to wave apologetically to you. You tugged on Jean's arm to get out of the way, as they pulled away Eren stuck up his middle finger to Jean, who kindly returned the gesture. Finally you reached the car, thanking Jean, you let him keep your umbrella since he had gone so far out of his way to walk with you. You waved goodbye to him as you settled into the passenger seat. Hange raised an eyebrow, you blushed slightly offended that she would think that you would ever give Jean the time of day.

"What? I hate when you make that face." you giggled as she wiggled her eyebrows and put the car in drive. Getting off of campus took about 15 minutes due to the heavy traffic, it was only a good 20 minute drive to get to your house. Your school was located in a small town, mostly made up of farmers, factory workers, and other small business owners. You lived out in the woods, your house tucked nicely behind a thick wall of oak trees and the occasional walnut. Hence why it was such a hot party spot, your driveway was long and winding through the trees, just off of the county road. Hange turned up her music as you pulled off campus and onto the road. You felt the stress slowly falling off of your shoulders as you got further away from the school. You focused on the colorful trees and the houses that blurred by. Hange's phone rang, interrupting the music, she unplugged it from the aux and wordlessly handed it to you. Without looking at the name you answered.

"Hello, uh this is (Y/n) Hange's driving, can I take a messge?" you said, looking at Hange for support, but her eyes were glued to the road.

"Tch, yeah you tell her that if she doesn't hurry up and get here I am going to freeze my ass off in this weather." you blinked, surprised to hear Levi's monotone voice on the other side of the phone.

"Be there in 5." you said returning his clipped tone. With that you hung up, wanting to have the pleasure of ending the call before he could. Hange glanced over a smile spreading across her face.

"Maybe he shouldn't have left school so early if he didn't want to wait on us huh?" she joked, jabbing her elbow playfully into your bicep.

"Yeah" you huffed as you watched the suburban scenery melt into the more remote countryside that you called home. The manicured lawns morphed into golden fields of corn pastures with cows out grazing. Finally you turned onto your road and you reached into your bag to pull out your house key. You knew that if you spent extra time fishing out the key in front of Levi he would probably hit you. Don't ask how you knew that. Hange turned onto your driveway and pulled up to your garage. Levi's car was parked off to the side under your basketball hoop like usual.

Hange pulled right up beside him, leaning over to wave enthusiastically at him. He barely spared her a glance before climbing out of his car. You and Hange followed suit, you didn't bother greeting Levi, having learned a long time ago that he wouldn't return the sentiment. Instead you focused on making it to the front door before Levi so you could open the door without having to worry about him kicking out your knees or something. He liked to pick on you, especially when Erwin wasn't around. It didn't bother you much but it was annoying, you were used to your brother picking on you in a similar manner so you weren't very surprised when Levi picked up the habit as well.

You quickly unlocked the door and pushed into your house. You kicked your shoes off and dropped your bag before shooting upstairs to your room to change. The game didn't start until 7:00 which gave you about 4 hours until you would leave here. Plenty of time to make cookies and prep the house for whatever would be going on tonight. Just when you were taking your shirt off to slip on an older shirt that you wouldn't mind getting dirty, you heard a crash downstairs. You froze in your tracks, a loud groan and then the sound of Hange's manic laughter floated up the stairs, filling the silence of your house.

You groaned, pulling the shirt on, not bothering with a bra, and a pair of sweatpants you quickly made your way down the stairs. You frowned when you walked into the kitchen and found Levi staring in horror at the sight of pumpkin puree spilled all over the floor. Hange was doubled over, pointing at the mess as she cackled, "It looks like barf!" she howled as she leaned against the counter for support. You couldn't help but crack a smile at Levi's horrified face as he quickly left the kitchen, no doubt in search of a mop. Despite his careless attitude he actually did care about maybe three main things, 1.) having clean surroundings, 2.) keeping a full stock of weed, or some other means of getting intoxicated, and finally 3.) getting occasional pussy.

At least that's what you figured to be his top priorities. Maybe you could put defending his friends honor in there somewhere, but that usually was followed by him degrading them himself. For example if someone was talking trash about Erwin, Levi would beat the shit out of them and then precede to tell Erwin later that afternoon that his face looked like a butt. You blinked as you watched Levi return with a mop and a bucket of sudsy water, You bent down with a paper towel to pick up the majority of the puree before Levi scrubbed the wood floors of your farmhouse style kitchen. Hange turned an excused herself to go to the bathroom as you both cleaned the mess. You felt a surge of panic rise in your chest when you realized that you would be alone with Levi.

You swallowed nervously as you eyed his feet that were much too close to your face, he wore a pair of plain white socks, so at least it wouldn't be his usual steel toed combat boots. He noticed your uneasy expression and the way you put some pep in your step in picking up the mess. As you dropped the soiled paper towels into the trash bin you took note of Levi's outfit. He wore a pair of stylish ripped jeans that were a lighter wash they hung loosely off his hips. You noted a worn black belt kept his pants secured and for a moment the thought of Levi's pants falling off his hips made you smirk. You allowed your eyes to pass over his midsection that was clad in a plain white t-shirt and layered with a thin yellow plaid over-shirt. You smiled, you knew for a fact that he had thrifted all of these clothes and probably altered them himself. He had gotten better at sewing over the years. He finished mopping up the mess, you quickly averted your gaze when he looked up at you. You pretended to be busy gathering the ingredients, pulling out a jar full of flour as Levi stooped to pick up the bucket and dump the small amount of dirty water into the sink. He leaned against the porcelain farm sink as he ran hot water to clean the large sink. You could feel his eyes on your back as you reached into the pantry, sliding the barn door back so you could grab your apron. You fumbled with the ties on the back of your neck, feeling self conscious under Levi's hot gaze. You finally managed to tie off the strings, you heard Levi shut the water off and head off down the hallway to put the bucket and mop away. Just after Levi left you heard the toilet flush and Hange returned, stretching she sighed, a content smile on her face.

"Why were you gone so long?" you asked, almost immediately regretting your question.

"Took the fattest shit in my whole life, I wouldn't go in there if I was you." Hange chuckled as you watched her grab your mother's apron and effortlessly tie it around her waist and neck. You cringed, "At least light a candle or something." you murmured as you continued setting out ingredients.

"Oh don't worry I sprayed lots of air freshener." Hange said nodding proudly as she began preparing the wet ingredients. Levi stalked back into the kitchen and plopped down on the opposite side of the island in one of the barstools. Lazily he pulled out his phone and connected to the speaker in your kitchen. He scrolled through his phone for a minute before he finally picked a song, you immediately recognized the band Cigarettes After Sex. You fell into an easy pace with Hange as you both moved through the kitchen, after you made the dough you let Hange set about baking the cookies. Meanwhile you began to make a simple vegetable soup that you could put in thermoses and take to the game.

Also you knew that it made Erwin happy when you brought him dinner after his games. You set out your cutting board and began chopping a carrot, your fingers curled into a bear claw as you moved the knife up and down. You slid the chopped carrot into the pot and then diced an onion, and some broccoli. You also took the liberty of chopping up a stalk of celery and adding a can of diced tomatoes. Finally you added some water and chicken broth before letting it heat up on the stove. By the time you'd finished the soup Hange has finished most of the cookies, all the while Levi had sat on his phone, occasionally throwing in some advice. You leaned against the counter and wiped your hands down your apron as you considered the spices you wanted to add to the soup. You reached for your phone and began responding to your messages. Hange dusted her hands off on her apron as well and came over to watch you on your phone, her head resting on your shoulder. You opened a snapchat from Eren, who was currently at the game, he sent you a winky face in response to your snap from earlier that day. You couldn't help the smile that spread across your face, Eren was undoubtedly cute, charming even. But you knew better than to jump on that train, he was a bit of a hot head and besides, Mikasa obviously had a major crush on him. Hange gasped when she saw the picture of Eren cheekily sticking his tongue out and the winky face emoji. She turned, gripping your shoulders in a vice, "Huh?! What the fuck is that? Eren Jaeger?!" Hange gasped as she shook you. Levi perked up slightly, interested in the sudden commotion.

"Wh-What? Oh god no Mikasa would have my head, he just snapchats like that, don't worry about it!" you said, flailing your arms in hopes of loosening Hange's death grip. Instead she tightened her grasp, "What a shame, you really should start seeing people, I'm getting worried for you." Hange said with a sigh as she let you go. You furrowed your brows, slightly offended by her words. "I... see people." the last words slipped past your lips barely above a whisper. Levi scoffed, rolling his eyes he stood abruptly and walked around the island. Both Hange and you widened your eyes as you watched him approach the cookies, he carefully selected one of the frosted ones and took a bite. You waited for him to finish chewing, he looked back at you, his gaze steady on the both of you. "Stay away from that fool, he's no good he'll only drag you down." Levi said with a shrug before padding off into your living room and dropping down onto your couch. Hange looked at you with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open, "What's gotten into him?" she whispered as you gently slid past her to check on your soup. You simply shrugged, a bit thrown off by Levi's words. Eren was your friend you liked spending time with him and you sure as well weren't about to stop because Levi told you to. You stirred your soup, pleased to see that it was finished, you set about filling the three thermoses that you had, meanwhile Hange was packaging the cookies. Levi was still on the couch, slumped down low enough that you could just see the top of his dark hair. You glanced at the clock, and then back at your phone, you had no idea where they were in the game, so you decided to give Eren a call to see where they were at. You called him over snapchat, the phone only ringing twice before he picked up. You began to pace the kitchen as you listened to Eren fumble with his phone.

"H-Hey (Y/n), what's up?" he said over the roar of the game.

"Oh nothing much I just finished making dinner and I was wondering what the game was looking like." you said brushing some hair off your face.

"Oh yeah yeah of course, we just got a touch down, and halftime just started." he said, his voice clearer now, he must have left the bleachers you thought to yourself.

"Perfect, I'll be there in 30, save me a seat?" you asked sweetly, a smile warming your features.

"Anything for you." his voice lowered in pitch and you couldn't help but blush a bit, you and Eren had always had good banter between the two of you but in the recent months you'd noticed a palpable tension arising. You giggled, brushing off his suggestive tone, "I'll see you soon Eren." you said, pulling the phone away from your ear and hanging up. Hange smirked at you as she pulled the apron off of herself. You noticed that Levi had sat up a bit on the couch, he was giving you major side eye. You smiled at Hange, deciding you'd ask her if she knew what Erwin planned to do after the game.

"So Hange, do you know if Erwin was having people over after the game?" you ask partially wanting to change the subject, and partially wanting to know if you could have an excuse to have Eren over. Hange shrugged, a thoughtful look passing over her sharp features, "I suppose so, not a lot though just Mike, Nanaba, Petra, Eld, maybe Oulou? Bah I couldn't say." she said shaking her head in frustration. You knew that Hange was a forgetful person so you weren't expecting much. Levi huffed from across the room, he noticed the gears turning in your head, the way your cheeks blushed slightly. You were surely planning something.

"Why do you ask?" Levi arched a thin brow at you as you turned to face him.

"Just wondering if that meant I could have some of my friends over." the truth, but you were hoping for more than just a friendly interaction. Levi noticed the way you bit your lip and your ears turned a bit pink. Levi had seen all he needed to see, he turned his attention back to his phone, disregarding you. He vaguely caught bits of your conversation with Hange, something about changing, and getting ready and then the two of you hurried upstairs to your room. You were only upstairs for fifteen minutes before you came back down, Hange wore a pair of ripped jeans and one of Erwin's football sweatshirts. You on the other hand wore a pair of black nike leggings, the fabric could almost be described as shiny because of how clean they were, you wore an emerald green crew neck, the sweater was clearly something you'd thrifted, it had a brown teddy bear in the middle. Levi couldn't help but scoff at the sight, you reminded him of a grandma. You tugged at your sweater a bit self conscious under Levi's scrutinizing gaze.

"I'll drive." Levi said, his tone clipped. Hange shrugged, a light in her eyes as she spun her own keychain on her index finger. Levi narrowed his eyes at the brunette, remembering all the times when they had fought about who got to drive. Luckily Hange wasn't in much of a fighting mood, so she simply shrugged and pocketed her keys. You swiped your own keychain off the counter and stuffed them into your small purse. You rocked on your heels as you waited for the older teens to gather themselves. Hange was slipping on her beat up tennis shoes, while Levi stooped down to pull on his Vans. You shifted impatiently on your nike airs, Levi squinted in disgust when he took in the appearance of your old nikes, they weren't very white anymore. He figured he'd find some excuse to berate you on this topic later. He finally stood up and made his way out the door before you and Hange without a word. You all piled into his old BMW, Hange in the front and you in the back.

Thankfully the rain had let up and the clouds had drifted on to leave the night sky clear, the moon illuminating the road as you drove. You gripped the edge of your leather seat anxiously, you didn't like Levi's driving, he drove 20 over the speed limit no matter what road you were on. He blared classic rock and other alternative music, which wasn't the problem, just you could never hear what other people were saying over the loud noise. Finally your car ride came to an end and before you knew it you were paying for tickets and making your way towards the bleachers. You pulled out a thermos and handed it to Hange, "Here this is for you to share, and take these too!" you shoved a baggie of cookies into her hands as well before slipping into a throng of people before they could say anything more to you. Eren had told you where to meet him Armin, and Mikasa. You found them loitering by the bottom of the bleachers, you came up behind Armin and pulled him into a hug from behind. He yelped in surprise and wriggled in your grasp.

"Hey guys" you said, your tone raising a bit in the presence of your friends.

"Hey (Y/n)! When did you get here?" Armin asked as he turned just enough to return your embrace.

"Oh just now." you said sweetly as you then moved to hug Mikasa, you skipped Eren though, feeling a bit awkward with Mikasa's heavy gaze hitting your back. But you were pleased to see the disappointment in his eyes when you skipped over him.

"How's the game going?" you asked lightly as you turned your attention to the empty field.

"Good, we're winning! Your brother is playing well!" Armin said as he pointed at the score board.

"Yeah, he took out one of the other teams defensive players." Mikasa said, nodding her head across the field to where a player was sat on the ground with trainers surrounding him. You raised an eyebrow, Erwin usually didn't do that much damage, he must've been pissed.

"Interesting, well do you guys want to head to our seats? Looks like they're getting ready to start." you asked, they nodded and the four of you climbed the cold bleachers. They led you to a pretty remote section, just off the side to the student section which was bustling with your loud classmates. You settled into your seat on the end, Armin seated next to you, Eren in the middle of Mikasa and Armin. You rubbed your hands together and blew a breath of hot air onto your palms. The game was about to start, the players fanning out and back into their positions. You spotted Erwin in the thick of all the players, he reached out and shook one of his team mates by his helmet. A smile easily slid on your lips as you watched your brother settle into the play. You loved your big brother and you were glad to so him succeed in what he loved. Just as the game was about to begin you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. You fumbled to answer it, worried about who could be calling you.

"Hey (Y/n) where did you run off to? I was hoping you'd sit with me, Levi is being awful!" you immediately recognized Hange's voice, and you felt for her you really did, but you were not in the mood to deal with Levi.

"Ew, I'm definitely not sitting with you if he's causing trouble." you joked, but your words held a semblance of truth. Hange groaned and then yelpd, the sound of her phone hitting the ground made you wince. Finally you heard her breathing again, guessing she had managed to recover her phone.

"Hurry please, in the back top right section, he's getting physical." Hange said, hanging up before you could argue. You noticed all of your friends were watching you with curious gazes.

"Want to go sit with Hange and Levi? We can hash out some plans for tonight?" you asked desperately not wanting to sit alone with Hange and Levi right now. Eren raised an eyebrow but nodded in agreement. You knew that was all you needed for Mikasa and Armin to agree as well. But it didn't escape you how Mikasa's eyes darkened at the mention of Levi. You vaguely recalled being hammered one night, laying on the ground with Eren, and you remembered someone tugging you to your feet. It was Levi, he was pulling you back towards your brother and his friends, but you wanted to stay with Mikasa and Eren. Mikasa had come to your rescue and surprisingly given Levi a solid punch to the jaw. He snarled but didn't move to defend himself, instead he had stalked off into the group of older kids. This memory reminded you that when Mikasa and Levi were in the same space they tended to bump heads. You felt slightly guilty knowing you were putting her in a bit of an awkward situation but at the same time you knew Levi would be uncomfortable too which would hopefully prevent him from bothering anyone. With everyone in agreement you all gathered your things and quickly climbed the bleachers to the mostly empty top right section. Sure enough you could see Levi with his arms crossed and a sour pout on his face. Hange's shoulders sagged with relief at the sight of your crew. You waved as you approached, a smile on your lips, you let Eren sit next to Levi and Mikasa next to Eren and then Armin on the end. Hange scooted over to make space between herself and Levi, which you eyed skeptically, it would've been easier for you to sit next to Armin, but you complied. You drew in on yourself, pressing your right side into Hange's left to avoid Levi. A memory flashed across your mind of you getting too close to Levi and him literally shoving you out of his space. You were not in a hurry to see if that had changed. Levi scowled at you, his cinder eyes catching your (e/c) ones momentarily before you averted your gaze back to the game. Hange threw an arm around you and drew you closer, her eyes analyzing the play that your team was about to make. Levi noticed the way the tension left your shoulders as Hange pulled you flush against her, giving Levi plenty of space. Instead of appreciating your respect of his personal space Levi only felt more annoyed. Just as he was finally managing to focus on the game you turned and leaned over to look around him.

"I'm feeling like watching a movie." you said, Eren also leaned forward and smiled.

"Same here, I brought some wine, we can watch a horror movie and get wine drunk." he said, you nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah I cleaned the basement the other day so you guys can go crazy upstairs and we'll stay downstairs." you said, this time directed at Hange. The brunette raised an eyebrow, "If that's what you want, Mike was going to bring his pong table and Nanaba is bringing some good games." Hange said, a skeptical look on her face.

"Maybe we'll come up after the movie?" you said, glancing at your friends for back up. They all nodded and then you all turned your eyes back to the game as the whistle blew shrilly. You noticed that your team had scored and you also took note of one of the opposing players gripping his ankle as he rolled in the grass. Trainers and coaches rushed over to aid the player as your brother fled the scene, his face grim as he went to join his team in a huddle. You sat forward with Hange as you watched one of the reffs storm over. You blinked as you watched the reff scold your brother and point towards the bench, the head coach quickly came to your brother's defense and fired back at the reff.

"Something's wrong, why is he being so aggressive tonight?" Hange asked, looking to you. All you could do was shrug and frown as you watched the reff storm back onto the field. You were so engrossed in the game that you forgot to mind Levi, who unlike you, was completely disinterested in the game. He noticed how close your knee was to his own and took advantage, he reached over and closed his fingers around your knee and squeezed. You yelped, at the pinch, a cow bite, one of your least favorite and dirtiest moves that Levi pulled on you. You glared at him as you rubbed the sides of your knee tenderly. Levi met your eyes and cocked his eyebrow, a false mask of innocence on his features. Hange spared the two of your worried glance, but ended up only feeling relieved that it wasn't her this time. You narrowed your eyes, a small warning to leave you alone, one that you were certain he would ignore. You turned back to the game, determined to watch the last half of the game. Levi turned to also face the field, but still kept an eye out for you, it wasn't often you would let him pull something like that. You cheered when a point was scored by Erwin, Levi watched as you rose to your feet with Hange and the other dorks, all screaming your heads off. Levi took this moment to shuffle over a few inches, so when you sat down you would be slightly closer. As predicted you sat down and as soon as you felt his thigh brush against your own. Levi reached into his pocket and pulled out his juul to take a hit, he lifted the juul to his lips and felt pleased to know he had at least half of your attention as you watched out of the corner of your eye. He blew the vapor out of his nose and wordlessly offered you the juul. You eyed it for a moment before taking it , you coughed when you inhaled too much, the smoke billowing out of your mouth. Hange frowned when she saw you fall into a coughing fit.

"Erwin is going to kill you if you get his sister addicted to nicotine." Hange scolded as she watched Levi take another hit.

"He'll get over it." Levi grunted as he stood and stretched, the game was ending and he wanted to beat the traffic. You looked up, still fighting back some coughs, Eren was laughing at you and Mikasa had a small smile, Armin looked sympathetic.

"You leaving?" you asked, your voice gravely from coughing up your lung. Levi nodded and shoved his hands in his front pockets.

"Back to my house?" it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah wanna come?" he asked, you looked to Hange who shrugged.

"Yeah good idea you two go on ahead and set up things for the party." Hange agreed, quickly turning her attention back to the last minutes of the game. Levi scoffed and then lumbered down the bleachers, not waiting for you as you checked with your friends.

"Go, we need to drop by the liquor store anyway for some Smirnoff's." Eren dismissed with a wave of his hand and with that you followed Levi down the stairs.

317 notes · View notes